icq 
1884.) 351 (Brinton. 
expression of one of the most cultivated indigenous races on the continent ; 
it was, and still is, maintained with a singular tenacity ; it is largely 
composed of monosyllabic or dissyllabic roots ; and its grammatical con- 
struction presents a marked contrast to that of its near neighbor, the Na- 
huatl (Aztec), and still greater to the native tongues of the United States 
with which we are most familiar, the Algonkin, Iroquois, Dakota, Musko- 
ki, Cherokee, etc., by its very much more pronounced analytic tendency. 
The latter trait prevails through all its dialects, though more obviously in 
some than in others. Especially for the latter reason its examination is 
important to students of languages, as indicating the feeble development 
of polysynthesis in an American tongue. 
Moreover, the Cakchiquel has been, as I have above intimated, one of 
the most thoroughly studied of native languages. There isa large body 
of theological literature extant in it, and several semi-historical works by 
native writers. Very little of this has been printed. So far as I know the 
following memoranda show all that has been put to press. 
1556. According to Remesal, Historia de Ohiapa y Guatemala (Lib. 
III, Cap. VII), there was printed at Mexico in this year a Doctrina Chris- 
tiana, in ‘‘the Utlateca language commonly called the Quiche,’’ by order 
of the first Bishop of Guatemala, Fray Francisco Marroquin. Remesal 
adds, ‘‘although the title of the book sets forth that the work was accom- 
plished with the aid of the friars Juan de Torres, and Pedro de Santos 
(read, Betanzos), of the Franciscan and Dominican orders respectively, 
yet this was owing to the humility of the Bishop, who could readily 
write in the native tongue without their aid, but who was anxious to have 
the terms used in the translation satisfactory to both orders.’’ 
Although no copy of this edition is known to exist, I have no doubt 
that Remesal was in error when he said that the above work was in the 
Utlateca or Kiche dialect, Elsewhere he himself says it was in ‘the lan- 
’ 
guage of the country’’ (la lengua de la tierra), which, with reference to 
Guatemala, would undoubtedly mean Cakchiquel. But the most conclu- 
sive evidence is the following title from a work, evidently another edition 
of the above : 
1724, Doctrina Christiana en lengua Guatemalteca: Ordenada por el 
Reverendissimo Sefior Don Francisco Marroquin primer Obispo de Guate- 
mala, y del Consejo de su Magistad, y con parecer de los interpretes de 
