On the Evolution of Language | Page 4

the parts of speech are
differentiated in Indian languages, as compared with English.
Indian nouns are extremely connotive, that is, the name does more than
simply denote the thing to which it belongs; in denoting the object it
also assigns to it some quality or characteristic. Every object has many
qualities and characteristics, and by describing but a part of these the
true office of the noun is but imperfectly performed. A strictly denotive
name expresses no one quality or character, but embraces all qualities
and characters.
In Ute the name for bear is he seizes, or the hugger. In this case the
verb is used for the noun, and in so doing the Indian names the bear by
predicating one of his characteristics. Thus noun and verb are
undifferentiated. In Seneca the north is the sun never goes there, and
this sentence may be used as adjective or noun; in such cases noun,
adjective, verb, and adverb are found as one vocable or word, and the
four parts of speech are undifferentiated. In the Pavänt language a
school-house is called pó-kûnt-în-îñ-yî-kän. The first part of the word,
pó-kûnt, signifies sorcery is practiced, and is the name given by the
Indians to any writing, from the fact that when they first learned of
writing they supposed it to be a method of practicing sorcery; în-îñ-yî is
the verb signifying to count, and the meaning of the word has been
extended so as to signify to read; kän signifies wigwam, and is derived

from the verb küri, to stay. Thus the name of the school-house literally
signifies a staying place where sorcery is counted, or where papers are
read. The Pavänt in naming a school-house describes the purpose for
which it is used. These examples illustrate the general characteristics of
Indian nouns; they are excessively connotive; a simply denotive name
is rarely found. In general their name-words predicate some attribute of
the object named, and thus noun, adjective, and predicant are
undifferentiated.
In many Indian languages there is no separate word for eye, hand, arm,
or other parts and organs of the body, but the word is found with an
incorporated or attached pronoun signifying my hand, my eye; your
hand, your eye; his hand, his eye, etc., as the case may be. If the Indian,
in naming these parts, refers to his own body, he says my; if he refers to
the body of the person to whom he is speaking, he says your, &c. If an
Indian should find a detached foot thrown from the amputating-table of
an army field hospital, he would say something like this: I have found
somebody his foot. The linguistic characteristic is widely spread,
though not universal.
Thus the Indian has no command of a fully differentiated noun
expressive of eye, hand, arm, or other parts and organs of the body.
In the pronouns we often have the most difficult part of an Indian
language. Pronouns are only to a limited extent independent words.
Among the free pronouns the student must early learn to distinguish
between the personal and the demonstrative. The demonstrative
pronouns are more commonly used. The Indian is more accustomed to
say this person or thing, that person or thing, than he, she, or it. Among
the free personal pronouns the student may find an equivalent of the
pronoun I, another signifying I and you; perhaps another signifying I
and he, and one signifying we, more than two, including the speaker
and those present; and another including the speaker and persons absent.
He will also find personal pronouns in the second and third person,
perhaps with singular, dual, and plural forms.
To a large extent the pronouns are incorporated in the verbs as prefixes,

infixes, or suffixes. In such cases we will call them article pronouns.
These article pronouns point out with great particularity the person,
number, and gender, both of subject and object, and sometimes of the
indirect object. When the article pronouns are used the personal
pronouns may or may not be used; but it is believed that the personal
pronouns will always be found. Article pronouns may not always be
found. In those languages which are characterized by them they are
used alike when the subject and object nouns are expressed and when
they are not. The student may at first find some difficulty with these
article pronouns. Singular, dual, and plural forms will be found.
Sometimes distinct incorporated particles will be used for subject and
object, but often this will not be the case. If the subject only is
expressed, one particle may be used; if the object only is expressed,
another particle; but if subject and object are expressed an entirely
different particle may stand for both.
But it is in the genders of these article pronouns that