THE ALPHABET. 
the name of inti* nearly the same as in Sanscrit ; while 
God is called Vinay Htiayna, ‘ the eternally young.’ t 
The arrangement of words in the Chayma is similar to 
that found in all the languages of both continents, which 
have preserved a certain primitive character. The object 
is placed before the verb, the verb before the personal pro- 
noun. Tlio object, on which the attention should be prin- 
cipally fixed, precedes all the modifications of that object. 
The American would say, ‘ liberty complete love we,’ instead 
of ‘ we love complete liberty 1 Thee with happy am 1 ,’ 
instead of ‘ I am happy with thee.’ There is something 
direct, firm, demonstrative, in these turns, the simplicity 
of which is augmented by the absence of the article. May 
it be presumed that, with advancing civilization, these 
nations, left to themselves, would have gradually changed 
the arrangement of their phrases? We are led to adopt 
this idea, when we reflect on the changes which the syntax 
of the Romans has undergone in the precise, clear, but 
somewhat timid languages of Latin Europe. 
The Chayma, like the Tamanac and most of the American 
languages, is entirely destitute of certain letters, as f b, 
and d. No word begins with an l. The same observation 
has been made on the Mexican tongue, though it is over- 
charged with the syllables tli, tla, and ill, at the end or in 
the middle of words. The Chaymas substitute r for l; a 
substitution that arises from a defect of pronunciation com- 
mon in every zone.J Thus, the Caribbees of the Orinoco 
have been transformed into Oalibi in Trench Guiana by 
confounding r -with l, and softening the c. The Tamanae 
r.as made choraro and solalo of the Spanish word soldado 
(soldier). The disappearance of the f and b in so many 
American idioms arises out of that intimate connection 
between certain sounds, which is manifested in all lan- 
B In tlie Quichua, or language of the Incas, the sun is inti; love, 
munay ; great, veypul; in Sanscrit, the sun, in dr a ; love, many a ; great, 
vipulo. (Vatcr, Mithridates, torn, iii. p. 333.) These are the only exam- 
ples of analogy of sound, that have yet been noticed. The grammatical 
character of the two languages is totally different. 
■f Vinay , 'always,' or ' eternal;’ huayna, ‘in the flower of age.’ 
t For example, the substitution of r for l, characterizes the Basina uric 
dialect of the Coptic language. 
