Page:The History of the American Indians.djvu/51

 tfhe idiom and genius of their language. 39

When the Hebrews compare two things, and would fignify a parity be tween them, they double the particle of refemblance j " I am as thou art ; and my people as thy people :" And the Indians, on account of that original defective ftandard of fpeech, are forced to ufe the like circumlocution -, as Che Akobafia^ " I am like you-," and Sahottuk Chthottuk tooah, &c. for Hottuk fignifies people, and the S expreffes the pronoun my, or mine : and it likewife changes an active, into a paffive verb. Although this Indian and Hebrew method of fpeech, is rather tedious and defective, yet, at the fame time, they who attain any tolerable (kill in the dialects of the one, and language of the other, will difcover the fenfe plain enough, when a comparifon is implied.

There is not, perhaps, any one language or fpeech, except the Hebrew, and the Indian American, which has not a great many prepofuions. The Indians, like the Hebrews, have none in feparate and exprefs words. They are forced to join certain characters to words, in order to fupply that great defect. The Hebrew confonants, called ferviles, were tools to fupply the place of the prepofitions. The Indians, for want of a fufficient number of radical words, are forced to apply the fame noun and verb, to fignify many things of a various nature. With the Cheerake, Eeankke, fignifies a prifoner, captive, Jlave* awl, pin* neejlz, &c. v which occafions the Indian* dialects to be very difficult to flrangers. The Jewim Rabbins tell us, that the Hebrew language contains only a few more than a thoufand primitive words, of which their whole language is formed. So that the fame word very often denotes various, though not contrary things. But there is- one radical meaning, which will agree to every ienfe that word is ufed in.

By cuftom, a Hebrew noun frequently fupplied the place of a pronoun ^ by which means, it caufed a tedious, and fometimes an ambiguous circum locution. From this original defective ftandard of fpeech, the Indians have forgotten all their pronouns, except two primitives and two relatives ; as, Anowab, Ego^ and IJbna y Tu : the latter bears a great many fignifications,. both as fingular and plural, viz. Eeapa and Eeako, which fignify he, fhe,, this, that, &c. : And they are likewife adverbs of place, as here, there, &c. NlPl Hewa, fignifies he or ihe ; "ON Ani t we ; and ijji, diwwa, he, Ihe,, him, her, &c.

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