The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt: With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb — John Shaqi
The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt: With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American VerbBrinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Philosophy
The Philosophic Grammar of American Languages, as Set Forth by Wilhelm von Humboldt: With the Translation of an Unpublished Memoir by Him on the American Verb
Brinton, Daniel G. (Daniel Garrison)
Grammar, Comparative and general; Humboldt, Wilhelm, Freiherr von, 1767-1835; Indians -- Languages
As has been seen, the theory of Incorporation is to express the whole
proposition, as nearly as possible, in one word; and what part of it
cannot be thus expressed, is left without any syntax whatever. Not
only does this apply to individual words in a sentence, but it extends
to the various clauses of a compound sentence, such as in Aryan
languages show their relation to the leading clauses by means of
prepositions, conjunctions and relative pronouns.
When the methods are analyzed by which the major and minor clauses are
assigned their respective values in these tongues, it is very plain
what difficulties of expression the system of Incorporation involves.
Few of them have any true connecting word of either of the three
classes above mentioned. They depend on scarcely veiled material
words, simply placed in juxtaposition.
It is probable that the prepositions and conjunctions of all
languages were at first significant words, and the degree to which
they have lost their primary significations and have become purely
formal elements expressing relation, is one of the measures of the
grammatical evolution of a tongue. In most American idioms their
origin from substantives is readily recognizable. Frequently these
substantives refer to parts of the body, and this, in passing,
suggests the antiquity of this class of words and their value in
comparison.
In Maya _tan_ means in, toward, among; but it is also the breast or
front of the body. The Mexican has three classes of prepositions--the
first, whose origin from a substantive cannot be detected; the second,
where an unknown and a known element are combined; the third, where
the substantive is perfectly clear. An example of the last mentioned
is _itic_, in, compounded of _ite_, belly, and the locative particle
_c_; the phrase _ilhuicatl itic_, in heaven, is literally “in the
belly of heaven.” Precisely the same is the Cakchiquel _pamcah_,
literally, “belly, heaven”=in heaven. In Mexican, _notepotzco_ is
“behind me,” literally, “my back, at;” this corresponds again to the
Cakchiquel _chuih_, behind me, from _chi_, at, _u_, my, _vih_,
shoulder-blades. The Mixteca prepositions present the crude nature of
their origin without disguise, _chisi huahi_, belly, house--that is,
in front of the house; _sata huahi_, back, house--behind the house.
The conjunctions are equally transparent. “And” in Maya is _yetel_, in
Mexican _ihuan_. One would suppose that such an indispensable
connective would long since have been worn down to an insoluble
entity. On the contrary, both these words retain their perfect
material meaning. _Yetel_ is a compound of _y_, his, _et_, companion,
and _el_, the definite termination of nouns. _Ihuan_ is the
possessive, _i_, and _huan_, associate, companion, used also as a
termination to form a certain class of plurals.
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