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fore, at present, no known natural connection between vocal 
sound and intelligent meaning. 
The narrative in the second chapter of Genesis gives us 
invaluable suggestions respecting human language. Adam 
and Eve were created on the sixth day. Previous to the 
formation of Eve, the Lord placed Adam in Paradise, gave him 
instruction and admonition, and showed him all the newly- 
formed beasts of the field and fowls of the air. Adam gave 
them names when he saw them. If we may assume that there 
is no natural connection between sound and sense, God must 
have bestowed upon Adam a language sufficiently extensive 
for his then present needs, with the power of enlarging it as 
new objects were presented to his senses, and new thoughts 
came into his mind. It was in this way that Adam gave 
names to all the animals presented to him. The Hebrew lan- 
guage, as now known to us, is probably an adequate repre- 
sentative of the original language spoken by Adam. The 
names of himself and his descendants, of Eve, of Abel, and of 
Cain and his descendants, are all significant in Hebrew ; they 
are not so even in the cognate languages. Now, as we may 
be certain that the first who gave the name of George was a 
Greek, so we may assume that those who gave those signi- 
ficant names spoke Hebrew. In examining the names of 
animals in Hebrew, we find that they do not describe their 
nature, but simply some one distinctive character. Some 
names are taken from their cries, others from similar causes. 
So it is with the names for man : Adam is man in the Divine 
image, from dama, to resemble; ish is man as lord of the 
inferior creation, from the formative aleph, and yesh (an exist- 
ence), i.e. the principal being; enosh is man in wretchedness, 
from the same formative alepli, and noosh , rendered “ full of 
heaviness 99 in Ps. lxix. 20. From these suggestive hints in 
Scripture we learn that the fundamental elements of language 
were God^s immediate gift to Adam, with the power of enlarg- 
ing it as his wants or his circumstances demanded. 
In confirmation of this view there are two phenomena of 
biblical Hebrew worthy of attentive consideration ; one is the 
significance of some remarkable words, the other the modifica- 
tions of meaning in the usage of some words. In illustration 
of the former, let us take the words Earth, Deep, Firmament, 
Lights ; and of the latter. Living Soul, Life, Priest. 
Earth. — y™ (eretz) is from fn (rootz), to run, with the formative w 
(aleph). 
Deep. — airrn ( the-hom ) is from am ( hoom ), to agitate, to break up. It is 
the crust of the earth, and is distinguished from the sea in J ob xxviii. 
14, although it is metaphorically used for the sea in various places; 
