30 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



unrestraint. The tie of clanship, however it originated, 

 was strong ; in fact the bond of relationship was the only 

 acknowledged union among those who first settled down as 

 a family and established among themselves some sort of 

 community. The most important information for the indi- 

 vidual to receive was to know to whom he was related, and 

 how near of kin he was to his relation. Under these 

 circumstances, when the knowledge of one's own family 

 connections was a matter of paramount necessity, in fact 

 when existence itself often depended on that information, 

 it is not too much to presume that the expressions which 

 explained such a fact were a subject of great importance 

 and consideration, and contained and showed in their 

 construction sure traces of mental activity — one may 

 perhaps say the earliest signs of thought. For these reasons 

 words denoting consanguinity are well worthy of our 

 consideration. 



It is in the home that language becomes an actual neces- 

 sity. A man who lives by himself, apart from human 

 beings, does not require speech. But when once the system 

 of companionship of a family is introduced, circumstances 

 are changed. Judging from probabilities we may con- 

 clude that man and wife, especially in primeval times, 

 belonged to one and the same race, though this race may 

 possibly have been split up into numerous, generally even 

 hostile clans. It does not matter for our purpose what sort 

 of domestic life is prevailing, whether it is founded on 

 polyandry, polygyny, or monogamy ; the difference in the 

 forms of marriage does not affect the construction of the 

 words denoting the nearest degrees of consanguinity. 

 Those three species of companionship have always existed 

 in the human race, and are at this very moment to be met 

 with among numerous tribes in various parts of the earth. 

 Nations have repeatedly altered their marriage customs, 

 have exchanged polyandry for polygyny or monogamy, but 



