1030 Comparison of Indo-Chinese Languages. [Dec. 



changed, according to the organs of the natives, like the Latin and Greek 

 words in our tongue. Having numerous inflections and a regular gram- 

 mar, in a few points resembling the Mantchu, it is easier to express our 

 ideas in it than in the Indo-Chinese languages. The Chinese character 

 is universally read amongst the natives with a different sound and accent, 

 more full and euphonical. For the common business of life, the Japanese 

 use three different syllabaries, the Katakana, Hirahana, and Imatskana, 

 which consist of certain Chinese contracted characters, and amount to 48. 

 From hence it appears that all the radical syllables of the language are no 

 more than 48, which by various combinations form all the words of one of 

 the most copious languages on earth. Its literature is very rich. The 

 Japanese have copied from and improved upon the Chinese, and have also 

 availed themselves of the superiority of our European literature." 



XII.— Corean. In regard to this language, Mr. Gutzlaff makes the 

 following remarks. 



" Corea is little known, and the language still less. The collection of 

 words here inserted was copied from Medhubst's Vocabulary. This 

 nation has likewise adopted the Chinese character, and is in the possession of 

 the same literature ; but in point of civilization it is below its teachers. The 

 Coreans have a syllabary of their own, far more intricate than the Japan- 

 ese, and formed upon the principle of composition. It consists of few 

 and simple strokes, and is not derived from the Chinese character. Fif- 

 teen consonants and eleven vowels are the elements, which form 168 com- 

 bined sounds, the sum total of the syllabary. The influence of the Chinese 

 Government in this country has been far greater than in Japan, and hence 

 the language is far more tinged with the language of Han. There are a 

 very great number of composita, of which the first syllable is native and 

 the last the Chinese synonym, pronounced in the Corean manner. We 

 have not been able to discover any declension, but it is not unlikely that it 

 has a few inflections. Many words resemble the Japanese, and the affinity 

 between these two nations is not doubtful. The language being polysylla- 

 bic, does not require any intonation, and if such exist, it has entirely escap- 

 ed our notice." 



I now proceed to give specimens of all the Languages and dialects of 

 which vocabularies have been received : to which I shall add a table show- 

 ing the number of words per cent, which in any two languages agree, or 

 are so similar as to warrant the conclusion that they are derived from the 

 same source. It must be noted that the words are spelled according to the 

 Romanized orthography. The vowels are sounded as follows : — 



a as in far, father. 



e „ they. 



i ,, pol/ce. 



6 „ note. 



u „ ride. 



The letter h is always used strictly as an aspirate, whether at the begin- 

 ning of a syllable, or following another consonant. Thus th is sounded as 



a as in 



America, 



woman. 



e 



>> 



men. 







i 

 o 





pin. 

 nor, 



not. 





u 

 u 





pwt. 

 l'wne 



,(F> 



•ench.) 



