Observations on Language, -J2f 



>o, from this source. The present chemical nomencla- 

 ture furnishes a strong example of a numerous, and sys- 

 tematical, addition, suddenly made in this manner to the 

 principal languages of Europe. 



From the observations, already made, we derive an 

 obvious reason for the remarkable fact, that one lan- 

 guage contains ivords, to which there are no correspond- 

 ing zvords in another. A nation under a monarchical 

 government has occasion to communicate few ideas con^ 

 cerning subjects, involved in a state of freedom. In a 

 free State such words form a large vocabulary. When 

 the people of France formed tliemsch es into a republic, 

 they were obliged to transfer many words, expressive of 

 such ideas, out of the English into the French language. 

 The modern nations of Europe^ also, have for the same 

 reason derived most of their technical tenns from the 

 Greek language. 



In the names of simple ideas, all languages, it is be- 

 lieved, extensively agree ; because most ideas of this 

 sort are necessarily subjects of communication in every 

 country. 



Complex ideas are partly acquired from objects^ pre- 

 sented to us in nature, or created in their existing forms 

 by the power of Gon ; or they are formed in the nnnd* 

 in the three processes of Composition, Abstraction, and 

 Comparison. The names of the former class will be 

 extensively found in most languages ; because the ob- 

 jects, whence they are derived, are found in most coun- 

 tries ; and because they are, to a great extent, substan- 

 tially alike, wherever they are found. Thus hills and 

 mountains, valleys and plains, rivers, lakes, and tlic 

 ocean, are the same things throughout the w^orld. This 

 is extensively true, also, of animals, vegetables, and 

 minerals ; and ahnost absolutely tree of the appearances 

 in the heavens. With respect to this class q£ objects, all 

 languages must, in a great measure, necessarily agree. 



The diversity in languages is chiefly confined to tlie 

 names of Complex ideas, formed by the mind. By en- 

 lightened nations these invariably have been multiplied, 

 exactly in proportion to their improvement in the prog- 

 ress of Society. By savages they are scarcely formed 

 at all. 



