32 



ON THE CLASSIFICATION 



the first sounds a child pronounces, and these sounds, if once 

 permanently applied to signify father and mother, form 

 afterwards the roots for words which convey the chief 

 qualities supposed to be found in parents when regarded 

 from a filial point of view. It is thus not surprising that, 

 e.g., the Sanskrit roots pa and ma convey the meaning of 

 feeding or protecting, and of making or measuring, as they 

 appropriately express the qualities expected to be found in 

 a father (pitri) or mother (matri). Such an origin of the 

 words father and mother has been often and long ago 

 suggested, 30 but many scholars, and among them scholars of 

 the first rank, as Professor Max Muller, 31 are still averse to 

 this explanation, and prefer to derive the noun from the verb, 

 that is pitri from pa, matri from ma (the tri being the 

 well known Sanskrit Kritaffix) . However this may be, the 

 origin of the words for father and mother- (whether they are 

 derived from childish babbling, their sources then lying in 

 natural causes alone, or whether they are a product of 

 argumentative reasoning, the former explanation appearing 

 much more plausible than the latter) is for us in this inquiry 

 a matter of small importance, for the formation of parental 

 words does not require any special mental exertions. 



There are, on the other hand, words of relationship whose 

 construction requires a certain amount of reflection in 

 consequence of their more complicated nature, and which, 

 showing in their external formation some thoughtful consi- 

 deration, provide us with a clue for explaining idiomatic 

 peculiarities, and thus assist us in our scheme of classifi- 

 cation. 



Comparing, as far as we are able to do, the words denoting 

 kinship with each other, as they occur in the several 



(30) See : The Origin of Civilization, by Sir John Lubbock, second edition, 

 page 328 ; Sayce, pages 323-25. 



(31) See : Chips from a German Workshop, by Max Muller, second edition, 

 Vol. II, page 23. 



