10 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



words of relationship are formed in the several dialects 

 supply us with the principal subdivisions of our system, 

 which subdivisions are subsequently arranged, according 

 to the external characteristics of formation, as previously 

 stated. 



The subject of number will claim also our attention, but 

 not to such an extent as gender does. 



This mode of classification has the advantage of deter- 

 mining by unmistakable marks the character and position 

 of a language, and of preventing any hypothetical vagaries 

 concerning the relationship of languages, such as have 

 been indulged in only too often. The division of languages 

 here proposed endeavours to place their arrangement on a 

 firm foundation based on scientific principles. Such a 

 classification will in its turn open an insight into the nature 

 and process of thought existing among the various nations, 

 and may eventually become a truly important auxiliary of 

 ethnology. 



CHAPTER II. 



ON THE NATURE OF LANGUAGE. 

 The science of language is no doubt a physical science, 

 and its proper place is in the natural history of mankind. 

 This being so, we shall try to discover whether a careful 

 research into the development of human society does not 

 provide us with a key to open the gates to some hidden 

 secrets. 



Articulate language is a gift which a benign Providence 

 has vouchsafed only to man. It is especially by means of 

 articulate speech, and the capability of preserving in it and 

 through it the ideas, inventions, and deeds of preceding 

 generations, whether they were merely committed to retentive 

 memory or secured in addition by writing, that man has 

 reached a high state of civilization. Without articulate speech 

 such a progress could not have been achieved. By speech 



