I, 157: “So wie das Völkerrecht jetzt im Staat zum Gesez ward: so in der Sprache.... Es entstand ein Adel ein Pöbel und ein Mittelstand unter den Völkern wie er in der Gesellschaft entstand.” Herder here has traced the development of prose out of poetry. He finds that the language of passion gave way to that of mediocre wit, and this in turn became the speech of reason. Here is suggested a parallel between the rights of the people, which passed into state laws, and the language which passes from _Poebel_ to _Mittelstand_ and then to _Adel_. If we make parallel the _Völkerrecht_ in the development of law with the _Mittelstand_ in the social status, then _Volk_ is a class between the rabble and the nobility. If we follow the analogy suggested in the second sentence of the quotation, we shall make the rabble those who have the language of passion; the _Volk_ those who have the language of mediocre wit; and the nobility those whose language is that of reason. Herder’s _Volk_ here would be a middle class. _Volk_ is used commonly to mean primitive peoples, i.e., people who have reached only an early stage of civilization. Among those to whom frequent reference is made as such are: Greenlanders, Laplanders, Early Scandinavians, Early Germans, Greeks of Homer’s time, Ancient Hebrews, Ancient Celts in Scotland and Ireland, and American Indians. The moral standards and intellectual equipment found among these are eulogized and idealized whenever these peoples as groups are compared with civilized communities. V, 189: “In mehr als einer Provinz sind mir Volkslieder, Provinziallieder, Bauerlieder bekannt, die an Lebhaftigkeit und Rhythmus und Naivetät und Stärke der Sprache vielen derselben gewiss nichts nachgeben würden.” Here _Volk_ is put in apposition with that which is provincial, which has a peasant character. A meaning which is equivalent to the less cultured. Herder is discussing the whereabouts of _Volkslieder_ which he locates among the _Volk_, and _Volk_ are to be found in the lanes, in the fish markets, and in the country. V, 185: “Zuerst sollten also wohl für die Seele des Volks die doch nur fast sinnlicher Verstand und Einbildung ist.” ... Herder here considers the _Volk_ as having the kind of soul which would be formed by contact with the forces of nature, unaltered by the hand of man, and, especially, little touched by reflection, the reasoning faculty. II, 349: “Alles was für das Volk redete und schrieb, Redner, und Geschichtsschreiber, musste populär sprechen; alles was für Gebildetere schrieb, Dichter, und Philosoph, und Redner, und Briefschreiber war freyer.” This statement clearly opposes _Volk_ to those more cultured. The adjective, “populär,” used with reference to that which would befit them, gives a shading to the meaning of _Volk_, derived from the meaning of “popular,” that which partakes of a quality peculiar to the populace. _Volk_ here are the less cultured. V CONNATIONS ARISING FROM USES WITH ADJECTIVES