LANGUAGE. 
the fame found, it is communicated by two words, with 
marks to inform the inquirer, that the confonant of the 
fird word, and the vowel of the fecond, joined together, 
form the precife found wanting. The compoiition of 
many of the Chinefe characters often difplays considerable 
ingenuity, and ferves to give an infight into the opinion 
and manners of the people. The character exprefiive of 
happiriefs, includes abridged marks of land, the fource of 
their physical, and of children, that of their moral, enjoy¬ 
ments. This character, embellilhed in a variety of ways, 
is hung up in almoft every houfe. 
Before the time of Fohi, the fird Chinefe emperor, the 
Chinefe ufed knotted cords, fimilar to thofe of the Peru¬ 
vians. Fohi, in the place of thefe knots, employed two 
horizontal lines, the one whole, the other divided, and by 
their various combinations in threes, formed the text of 
the molt ancient work among the Chinefe, known under 
tlie name of Ye-King, or the Book of Production. The 
Chinefe regard this work as a precious monument of the 
molt ancient philofophy ; but, notwithftanding the nume¬ 
rous commentaries which have been publilhed upon it, 
fotne fo early as noo years before Chrift, it is ltill unin¬ 
telligible. They are, however, fuppofed to contain, in a 
few lines, the molt fublime truths, and are ltill employed 
for the purpofes of divination. Subfequent to the trigrams 
of Fohi, Xin-nang, the next in fucceilion, is faid to have 
invented fixty-four hexagrams, which are fuppofed to ex- 
prefs the whole circle of human knowledge, and, together 
with the trigrams, are to be coniidered as the molt an¬ 
cient written characters of the Chinefe. 
Upon the formation, changes, and allufions, of compound 
characters, the Chinefe have publilhed many thoufand vo¬ 
lumes of philological learning. No where does criticilm 
more abound, or is more drift. The introduction or al¬ 
teration of a character is a ferious undertaking, and feldom 
fails to meet with oppofition. The molt ancient writings 
of the Chinefe are ftiil claflical among them. The language 
feetns in no inftance to have been derived from or mixed 
with any other. The written feems to have.followed the 
oral language, foon after the men who fpoke it were formed 
into a regular fociety. The Chinefe printed character is 
the fame as is ufed in molt manufcripts, and is chiefly 
formed of llraight lines in angular pofitions, as molt let¬ 
ters are in ealtern tongues. A running hand is ufed by 
the Chinefe only on trivial occalions, or for private notes, 
for the eafe and expedition of the writer ; and differs 
from the other as much as an European manufcript does 
from print. 
The confirmation of Chinefe fentences is often the 
fimplelt and molt artlefs poflible, and fuch as may 
naturally have occurred at the origin of fociety. A 
Ample character repeated, (lands fometimes for more 
than one of the osjefts which fingly it denotes; and 
fometimes for a collective quantity of the fame thing, 
v The character of moo, fingly, is a tree; repeated, is a 
thicket; and tripled, is a forelt. The nouns and verbs 
admit of no flexions; in (hort, everything relating to this 
language is peculiar, and incapable of being compared with 
any other dialect fpoken by any civilized people. Moll 
barbarous languages exhibit fomething that refembles an 
attempt towards thofe diacritical modifications of fpeech; 
whereas the Chinefe, after a .fpace of four thoufand years, 
have not advanced one ftep beyond the very firlt elements 
of ideal communication. This circumftance, we think, 
is' a plain demonftration that they did not emigrate from 
-that region where the primitive race of mankind is thought 
to have fixed its refidence. Seme have imagined, we be¬ 
lieve with good reafon, that they are a Tartarian race, 
which, breaking off from the main body of that numerous 
and widely-extended people, directed theif march towards 
the fouth-ead. There, falling in with delightful and fer¬ 
tile plains which their pofterity now inhabit, they found 
themfelves accommodated fo much to their liking, that 
they dropped all defire of changing their habitations. The 
Vol. XII. No. Szo. 
169 
country of China is, indeed, fo environed with moun¬ 
tains, deferts, and leas, that it would have been difficult 
for men in their primitive date to have emigrated into any 
of the neighbouring regions. Thus fecluded from the relt 
of mankind, the Chinefe, in all probability, were left to 
the llrength of their own inventive powers to fabricate a 
language, as well as the other arts and improvements ne- 
ceflary for the fupport and convenience of life. 
It is indeed obvdous that their dock of vocables, when 
they emigratetf'from Tartary, was neither ample nor pro¬ 
perly accommodated to anlwerthe purpofes of the mutual 
conveyance of ideas. With this (lender dock, however, 
they feem to have been fatisfied ; for it does not appear 
that any additions were afterwards made to that which 
was originally imported. Indead of framing a new race 
of terms by compounding their primitive ones; inftead of 
diverfifying them by inflections, or multiplying them by- 
derivatives, as is done in every other language; they ra¬ 
ther chofe to retain their primitive words, and, by a variety 
of modifications, introduced upon their orthography or 
pronunciation, to accommodate them to a variety of lip- 
nifications. Were it poflible to ferutinize all the Tarta¬ 
rian dialefts, and to reduce them to their primitive moop- 
fyllabic character, perhaps the original language of the 
Chinefe might be invettigated and afeertained. We know 
that attempts have been made to compare it with fome of 
the other Aliatic languages, efpecially the Hebrew. This 
labour has, however, proved unfuccefsful, and no prime¬ 
val identity has been dil'covered. Before this comparifon. 
could be indituted with the mod didant profpeft of fuc- 
cefs, the language lad mentioned mud be dripped of all 
its adventitious qualities; and not only fo, but it mud be 
reduced to the rnonofyllabic tone, and then contraded 
with the Chinefe monolyllables; an undertaking which 
we are perfuaded would not be readily executed. After all, 
we are convinced that no refemblance of any importance 
would be dilcovered. 
We are therefore clearly of opinion, that the Chinefe 
bears all the flgnatures of an original unimproved lan¬ 
guage. It is univerfally allowed that, in drufture, ar¬ 
rangement, idioms, and phrafeology, it refembles no other 
language. Is not every learned man now convinced that 
all the Aliatic languages yet known dilcover unequivo¬ 
cal fymptoms of their cognation and family refemblance? 
The Ethiopians, Chaldeans, Arabians, Perfians, Egypti¬ 
ans, Hebrews, Phoenicians, the Brahmans, Bengalele, the 
Hindoos bordering upon China, all fpeak only different 
dialects of one language, varying from the original in dia¬ 
led only, fome in a greater, fome in a fmaller, degree. Why 
fhould the Chinefe alone dand altogether infulated and 
unallied ? 
The languages of the north all wear congenial features. 
The Tartar or Tatar dialefts of every clan, of every can¬ 
ton, of every denomination, exhibit the mod palpable 
proofs of a near affinity: the Gothic and Sclavonian dia¬ 
lefts, which pervade a great part of Europe and fome parts 
of Alia, are obvioudy brethren, and may eafily be traced 
up to an Afiatic original. Even fome of the American 
jargon-dialects contain vocables which indicate an Afiatic 
or European original. Our readers, we flatter ourfelves, 
will agree with us, that, had the language of the Chinefe 
been the original language, a refemblance mud have dill 
exided between it and its del'cendants. If it had origi¬ 
nated from any other language, it would have retained 
fome charafteridic features of its parent archetype. As 
neither of thefe is to be found in the fabric of the language 
under confideration, the conclulion mult be, that it is a 
language entirely different from all other tongues; that it 
is condrufted upon different principles, defeended from 
different parents, and framed by diderent artids. 
The Chinefe have ever looked upon themfelves as 
greatly fuperior to the reft of mankind. In ancient times 
they entertained fuch contemptible notion's of foreigners, 
that they fcorned to have any further commerce with them 
X x than 
