Gabb.] «^^*5 [Aug. 20, 



brialso, while the latter, as the conquerors, despise the Cabecars and never 

 attempt to learn their language. The Cabecars of Estrella rarely speak 

 Bri-bri, but nearly all understand it, as well as Spanish and some speak 

 English, and words of both these latter languages are gradually being 

 adopted. The Tii'ibis are too isolated to acquire many foreign words ; 

 but their near relatives the half-civilized people of Terraba as well as the 

 neighbors of these latter, the Borucas, are rapidly acquiring Spanish at 

 the expense of the corresponding words of their own language. In a party 

 of five Borucas, there was not one who could count except in Spanish ; 

 and one of my Terraba friends could remember no word for girl, ex- 

 cept mihclmclia (Spanish), until I suggested (supported by analogy) the 

 word wa-re' (woman), when he remembered that he had heard some 

 of the old people use wa-wa-re' ! In like manner, he persisted in giving 

 me the Spanish, '^lucero''^ for star, besides many other words. 



Many roots run through the entire group of languages unchanged, or 

 with changes so trifling that they are not worthy of note. Again some- 

 times the root varies while the ruling idea is the same. An illustra- 

 tion of this last case is the following: In Bri-bri, to forget is hen-i- 

 cho ; to remember is ke lien i-cho, from ke not, Mn the liver, andii-cho to 

 lose. To think is also Mn be-ku (probably from be ket-ke, ready). Liver in 

 Tiribi is wo, in Terraba wo, and in Cabecar lier; while to thiuk is, in 

 Tiribi wo tnizung, in Terraba woi-du, and in Cabecar her-icik. The acts 

 of thought, memory, &c., have been attributed to the liver, with about as 

 good reason as we yet place the seat of sentiment in the heart. 



In Bri-bii, to lie down is tu is, to throw down ; imperative me (yourself) 

 tu is. In Terraba tush ko (down) is used in the same manner ; fa tush 

 ko, thou sit down, and /a bu tush-ko,He down (bu) long. 



Changes of roots are illustrated by the following. In Bri-bri, kl-puk' is 

 to sleep, and a hammock is ki-pu'. In Cabecar a bed is kd-pu'-gru, in 

 Tiribi and Terraba it is hu'-kru ; and in Brunka kap is to sleep. 



In Brunka a ghost is i-ioik, and a shadow is ka-xoik' , and a devil or evil 

 spirit is kag'-bru. In Bri-bri, a ghost, or spirit of a dead person is wig'- 

 hru. In Cabecar, a shadow is wig'-ra, while in Tiribi it is ya'-gro, and 

 in Bri-bri, si-ri-u'-gur, thus connecting the word in Bri-bri for ghost, or 

 departed spirit, with that for shadow by means of the allied idioms, 

 although without the intermediate changes of the root, it would not have 

 been demonstrable. 



It is evident that the Cabecar mog-i', straight, and the Bri-bri maio'-ki, 

 true, are identical. Although the Bri-bri word si'-gita, foreigner, has been 

 replaced in the other languages, by other words, it remains in the 

 Terraba, as a compound, in the name of the banana, bin-sigua, evidently 

 "foreign plaintain," from bing, a plaintain ; because it may have been 

 introduced at a later date than the larger fruit, and when the word sigtia 

 was yet in current use. 



Again, the idea changes, and with it, words from other roots come in, 

 thus : lightning, in Bri-bri is ara wo'-nyn, " the thunder flashes ; " the 



