The American Nations, Vol. I.: Or, Outlines of a National History of the Ancient and Modern Nations of North and South AmericaRafinesque, C. S. (Constantine Samuel)
History
The American Nations, Vol. I.: Or, Outlines of a National History of the Ancient and Modern Nations of North and South America
Rafinesque, C. S. (Constantine Samuel)
Indians; Indians -- Origin; Taino Indians; Taino language
But this language, which had also partly spread in Florida, and in South
America, has the appearance of being a mixt speech. This appears from the
many synonyms, the deviations of dialects, and the double forms, or
relative position of words. In the small eastern islands the _Eyeris_ or
_Cabres_ had been destroyed by the Caribs, who preserved the women, and
these preserved their own language, mixt with some Carib words and taught
it to their daughters; so as to produce a double language, that of the
women being quite peculiar. This singular fact well authenticated, will
enable us to presume a similar conquest and custom, wherever we shall meet
in America, with a peculiar female idiom.
The many nations or tribes mentioned in the traditions, which had
gradually amalgamated; and the settlement in Cuba and Hayti of the Mayas,
will account for this mixture of synonyms. But the existence also of many
homonyms, leads us to a former more simple speech, probably monosyllabic
and quite regular as the oriental idioms, to which it is most akin.
From the primitive languages of North Africa and South Europe, it had
received this regular position of ideas; but by the mixture with the Maya
and Mexican nations using the inverse form, it borrowed that new form. The
same happened in Europe to the Celtic and Oriental tribes, who received in
Greece and Italy the inverse form of speech from the Scythian, Illyrian
and Gothic tribes.
The comparative examination of the Haytian and dialects, was pursued by
me, _upon all the languages of the earth_, as I was determined that one
American nation at least, should be traced philologically to its real
origin. Thus I found many thousand analogies of it, out of which I have
used about 1500 in the annals, notes and vocabularies. A single American
language does then contain more comparative analogies in about 200 words
than all those collected by Vater and Malte, out of 400 American
languages; and this fact upsets all the illusions, theories and false
views, based thereon by them, Humboldt and others.
But this comprehensive labour teaches other facts, by far more important
and available. 1. That American languages have analogies with all the
languages of the earth, 2. That they have similar analogies with each
other, 3. That it is only the superior number of analogies that may
indicate a filial or parental connection out of America, 4. And that also
similar greatest number of analogies, indicate the parental relations of
American languages and nations between themselves, 5. Lastly that unless a
language and nation is compared _with all the others_, we can never
ascertain accurately, nor trace its real parentage philologically.
This consequence is obvious, although it will not please the lazy or timid
philologists and historians. It shall be further pursued and elucidated
hereafter; but now let us apply these rules to the Haytian.
I could give 400 comparisons. Let us select a few.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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