The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and ManuscriptsSchoolcraft, Henry Rowe
History
The American Indians: Their History, Condition and Prospects, from Original Notes and Manuscripts
Schoolcraft, Henry Rowe
Indians of North America
these ancient wars with the Tallagees or Allegewy, may be thought to
refer to this ancient people, who had, if this conjecture be correct,
extended their dominion to the middle and northern latitudes of the
present area of the United States, prior to the appearance of the
Algonquin and Iroquies races. Mr. Irving has suggested the name of
Apallachia, or Allegania, derived from the stock, for this division of
the continent.
LANGUAGE.
LECTURES ON THE GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE OF THE INDIAN LANGUAGE.
The course of lectures, of which the following are part, were delivered
before the St. Mary's committee of the Algic Society. Two of them only
have been published. They are here continued from the article "Indian
Languages," at page 202 of the "Narrative of the Discovery of the actual
Source of the Mississippi, in Itasca Lake," published by the Harpers, in
1834. The family of languages selected as the topic of inquiry, is the
Algonquin. All the examples employed are drawn from that particular type
of it which is called Chippewa, in our transactions with them, but which
they uniformly pronounce themselves, Od-jib-wa. These terms are employed
as perfect synonyms. The phrase "Odjibwa-Algonquin," wherever it occurs,
is intended to link, in the mind of the inquirer, the species and the
genus (if we may borrow a term from natural history) of the language,
but is not fraught with, or intended to convey, any additional idea. The
three terms relate to one and the same people.
LECTURE III.
Observations on the Adjective--Its distinction into two classes
denoted by the presence or absence of vitality--Examples of the
animates and inanimates--Mode of their conversion into
substantives--How pronouns are applied to these derivatives, and
the manner of forming compound terms from adjective bases, to
describe the various natural phenomena--The application of these
principles in common conversation, and in the description of
natural and artificial objects--Adjectives always preserve the
distinction of number--Numerals--Arithmetical capacity of the
language--The unit exists in duplicate.
1. It has been remarked that the distinction of words into animates and
inanimates, is a principle intimately interwoven throughout the
structure of the language. It is, in fact, so deeply imprinted upon its
grammatical forms, and is so perpetually recurring, that it may be
looked upon, not only as forming a striking peculiarity of the language,
but as constituting the fundamental principle of its structure, from
which all other rules have derived their limits, and to which they have
been made to conform. No class of words appears to have escaped its
impress. Whatever concords other laws impose, they all agree, and are
made subservient in the establishment of this.
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