Observations o?z Language, 

 Names. 



Hebrew, 



Greek, 



Latin, 



French, 



English, 



Dutch, 



vulgar, 

 Italian, 

 Spanish, 



John. 

 Johanan. 

 luavvyjg. 

 Johannes. 

 Jean. 

 John. 



> Hans. 



Giovanni. 

 Juan. 



A fourth cause of changes in Language, is found in 

 the State of Society. 



It must, I think^ be admitted, that, if a nation, or per- 

 haps as a better example, a tribe, were to continue for 

 many ages in the same spot, where the same natural ob- 

 jects were presented to every succeeding generation : in 

 the same state of manners, laws, and religion ; and, uni- 

 versally, were to be possessed of the same ideas, and the 

 same occasions to communicate them ; they 7vould keep 

 their language unaltered. But, with every change in 

 society, an alteration in their language will take place. 

 This part of the subject has been, to some extent, illus- 

 trated in laying down the scheme, at the commencement 

 of these observations. I will attempt further to illus- 

 ti'ate it in the following manner. 



Suppose a ship, from a country in a state of complete 

 civilization, containing a numerous body of passengers ; 

 men, women, and children ; to be wrecked on an unin- 

 habited shore ; and these people enabled to find suffi- 

 cient subsistence, and to inhabit the country, through an 

 indefinite series of generations. What effects would 

 these events produce on their language ? A satisfactory 

 answer to these enquiries will be found in the folio vnng 

 observations. 



\st. They would in a short time lose a great part of 

 their language. 



It has been observed above, that men liave those 

 words in their customary speech, which express such 

 ideas, as they have occasion to communicate ; and no 

 other. These people, being without books, ar.d metals, 



