On the Evolution of Language

the Evolution of Language, by
John Wesley Powell

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Title: On the Evolution of Language First Annual Report of the Bureau
of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-80,
Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 1-16
Author: John Wesley Powell
Release Date: July 13, 2006 [EBook #18818]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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* * * * *
SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION--BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY.
J. W. Powell, Director.
ON THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE,
As Exhibited In
The Specialization of the Grammatic Processes, the Differentiation of
the Parts of Speech, and the Integration of the Sentence; From a Study
of Indian Languages.
By
J. W. POWELL.
* * * * *
ON THE EVOLUTION OF LANGUAGE
* * * * *
Possible ideas and thoughts are vast in number. A distinct word for
every distinct idea and thought would require a vast vocabulary. The
problem in language is to express many ideas and thoughts with
comparatively few words.
Again, in the evolution of any language, progress is from a condition
where few ideas are expressed by a few words to a higher, where many
ideas are expressed by the use of many words; but the number of all

possible ideas or thoughts expressed is increased greatly out of
proportion with the increase of the number of words.
And still again, in all of those languages which have been most
thoroughly studied, and by inference in all languages, it appears that
the few original words used in any language remain as the elements for
the greater number finally used. In the evolution of a language the
introduction of absolutely new material is a comparatively rare
phenomenon. The old material is combined and modified in many ways
to form the new.
How has the small stock of words found as the basis of a language been
thus combined and modified?
The way in which the old materials have been used gives rise to what
will here be denominated THE GRAMMATIC PROCESSES.
I.--THE PROCESS BY COMBINATION.
Two or more words may be united to form a new one, or to perform the
office of a new one, and four methods or stages of combination may be
noted.
a. By juxtaposition, where the two words are placed together and yet
remain as distinct words. This method is illustrated in Chinese, where
the words in the combination when taken alone seldom give a clew to
their meaning when placed together.
b. By compounding, where two words are made into one, in which case
the original elements of the new word remain in an unmodified
condition, as in house-top, rain-bow, tell-tale.
c. By agglutination, in which case one or more of the elements entering
into combination to form the new word is somewhat changed--the
elements are fused together. Yet this modification is not so great as to
essentially obscure the primitive words, as in truthful, where we easily
recognize the original words truth and full; and holiday, in which holy
and day are recognized.

d. By inflection. Here one or more of the elements entering into the
compound has been so changed that it can scarcely be recognized.
There is a constant tendency to economy in speech by which words are
gradually shortened as they are spoken by generation after generation.
In those words which are combinations of others there are certain
elements that wear out more rapidly than others. Where some particular
word is combined with many other different words the tendency to
modify by wear this oft-used element is great. This is more especially
the case where the combined word is used in certain categories of
combinations, as where particular words are used to denote tense in the
verb; thus, did may be used in combination with a verb to denote past
time until it is worn down to the sound of d. The same wear occurs
where particular words are used to form cases in nouns, and a variety of
illustrations might be given. These categories constitute conjugations