THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE. 61 



languages had their issue were significant 

 sounds, simple sound-symbols of percep- 

 tions, conceptions, and ideas, which might 

 assume the functions of any grammatical 

 form, although such functions were not 

 denoted by any particular expression, 

 although they were not organized, as we 

 might say. In this remote stage of the 

 life of speech, there is consequently no 

 distinction in word or sound*' between 

 verbs and nouns; there is neither declen- 

 sion nor conjugation. Let us endeavour by 

 one example to illustrate our meaning. 

 The oldest form of those words, which in 

 modern German sound T/iat, gethan, time, 

 Thaeter, tJiaetig,\ was at the dawn of the 

 Indo-Germanic primitive language dha, its 

 meaning, to put, to do : old Indie, dha ; 



* lautlich.— T. 

 f The same holds good with the corresponding forms in 

 English, deed, done, do, doer, doing. — T. 



d3 



