Greek; but in earlier times it was also used in some original German words to express i. It must be ascribed to the form of the epiglottis, that there can only be three original vowels, though in a variety of shades and colouring. This is a natural fact in language and grammar. All other vowels are only considered as shades and approximations. Of these three, the vowel a is the easiest, most simple, and universal sound.-The radical vowels undergo various changes in the declension and formation of words.-1. By a shade changing the i into e, and the u into o; as Moes. niman, Ger. nehmen to take: Moes. giban, Ger. geben to give: Moes. uftô, Ger. oft often: Moes. fugls, Ger. vogel a bird.-2. By upsound (auflaut) or thinning of the vowel or sound, by earlier etymologists called (umlaut). If, for instance, in the inflection or formation of a radical syllable which has a, o, or u, and consequently a strong full vowel, an i is added, but which in the new German is changed into e, or entirely omitted; then these three vowels change into a higher but weaker sound, the a into a or e, the o into ö, and the u into ü; as adel, edel: Old Ger. adal, edili : ast a branch, æste branches: Gott God, götter gods: Old Ger. kot, kotier: blut, blütig, and blutig: Old Ger. pluot, pluotic, or pluotac.-3. By change of vowels (umlaut), or change of one vowel into another, by some etymologists improperly called offsound (ablaut). In the formation of a word it thus happens that some roots of a go over into i and u, as binde, band, gebunden, properly band, binde, gebunden.-4. By insound (inlaut), in the Sanscrit called Guna, that is, in the formation of a word another vowel is placed before the radical vowel, like an internal augment, to denote the change which an idea undergoes. From the nature of the vowels the following law is deduced,—that the insound or guna can only proceed in the following order, a, i, u. A can be placed before a (a+a), before i (a+i), and u (a+u); i only before i (i+i), and before u (i+u), and u only before u (u+u). According to the radical vowels, or what we call organic sounds, there can, in reality, only exist the following six diphthongs, aa, ai, au, ii, iu, uu.—In the reverse series, the vowels may be also compounded, but they form, as the pronunciation directly shows, no simple diphthongs. The diphthongs in the new HighGerman are formed partly by shades which the radical vowels or sounds suffer, and partly according to the peculiarity of the dialect which is become the written language, as û, (6), ai, au, (ô), ei, eu, and ie.-In pronunciation and writing, the û as a diphthong is put aside; but it ought to have the power of a+a in the expla nation of words. The three simple vowels a, i, u, with the guna+ aa, ai, au, ii, iu, uu, are partly the natural and partly the historical normal sounds, and the original type of vocalism.

12. In the different dialects, the vowels, by upsound, shading, disorganization, &c. are softened and tinged different ways, but all in a certain order and according to determined rules. Thus, as the comparative zoologist is able to recognise the type of the genus in all deviations of the form of the single animal, so the comparative etymologist must be able to reduce the vocalism of the dialect to its original type, and thus comprehend it, for otherwise his perception is dark, and his whole proceeding uncertain, and vain

Some complain that the doctrine of the guna is difficult, but nothing is more simple. In the diphthong we have only to consider the first letter as a prefix, denoting the formation, an inserted vowel equal to the insound

A table of the changes of the radical vowels in the Germanic tongues will be found in Dr. Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik, vol. i. 573, 575; a table of the long vowels in p. 578. + A table of the vowel forms, by the application of guna, in the Germanic languages may be seen in p. 59 of Schmitthenner's Deutsche Etymologie, 12mo. Darmstadt, 1833.

(inlaut), and the last letter as the radical vowel. In some cases, only ie makes an exception.

13. The modern German has the following sounds: A, ä = ae; ai = a + i ; au = a + u : E = a, ë, ei, ê : Ei = ai, î (i+i): Eu = iu: I = old iu, io, ai, ei : 0 = u; ô == au, old uo, â; ö = the increased sound of o: U, û : = = gunited a; ü the upsound of u and û.-4. By the preceding, it is clear there are only three radical vowels from which the others take their origin; thus from A originate o, ä, e, i, (e), u, (o), û, ô; I goes over into e, ei, (ai), ie: U changes into o, ie, eu, au.—Hence it is very easy, in a great number of cases, to recognize the radical vowel in a word, especially by comparing it with other words of the same family. We often find the root in verbs, as soon as the vowel of the perfect tense is divested of all its changes by guna and upsound. From binde, band, bund bind, bound, bound, we find band is the root. From ritt rode, reiten to ride, is the root rit a riding. From fliege, flog fly, flew is the root flug a flight.

14. OF CONSONANTS. The natural articulation of the consonants according to the organs, is represented in the following table.

It is evident, by this table, that in the modern Ger. the aspirated palatal and the sibilant labial sounds are wanting, while it has a double aspirated labial and a double sibilant lingual sound. The q is a double letter. The s possesses a double sound, the one is expressed by s, and the other by sh.

15. No root or radical word has originally a double consonant of the same kind. An original i in the derivation has given rise to gemination or hardening of the sound, which is found nearly in all words of the same family. In this manner ori

kj or hj

setzen
zicke

sperren - hüpfen

from suamjan

helja

ranjan

sparjan

huphjan

satjan

zikja.

pf (Old Ger. pph)

tz (zz)

ck (Old Ger. cch) This law is of great importance in etymology, showing how to reduce words with a double final letter to their roots. Instead of the double letter, we ought to put the soft simple letter; and, instead of the upsound, originated by the derivative i, there must be a full original vowel. Thus, for example, from kennen to know, comes the

Z

root kan; Old Ger. chan; from fallen to fall, the root fal, Old Ger. val; from bücken to bow, the root bug-by guna biegen to bend (Old Ger. puk-piokan); from ricke a doe, reh (instead of rih), &c. In the old as well as in the modern Ger. language, a double consonant is used in writing only to express the sharpening of the consonant.

16. OF THE ROOT. The root is the simple syllable which designates the first conception of a thing. According to its signification it has a simple vowel a, i, u, and a single consonant. It is often very easy to discover the root, for we need only take from the word the vowel forming the umlaut, and the guna (inlaut); the gemination, and the terminating syllables.

For example, let us take from the verb leuchten to light, the guna e, and the postfixed syllable ten; then will remain luch, Old Ger. luh, Lat. luc-ere.-From fuhr (Old Ger. vuor) take the guna, then remains fahr (Old Ger. var), &c. In general, a comparison with the old form is quite necessary.

17. According to its signification the root is neither a noun nor a verb, but it is what precedes both. It is the expression of the simplest intuition by a sound, without determining any associate idea of the gender, the time, &c.

Let us take the appearance of blau,—then the root is blu, f. Lat. fulvus (which, however, signifies something else,) and by guna blau the expression of the sound instead of it without any further determination, whether it be a thing, a quality, or only a relation. But being in reality a quality, it is afterwards used as an adjective, and the principal word or noun bläue blueness, and the verb bläuen to blue or to make blue, are only derived from it by additional letters. In the same manner let us take the impression which the cry of chickens or crows produces on the ear; the simplest expression of the sound will be kra, Old Ger. chra. As this impression quickly vanishes, there is directly formed the verb krähen to crow, Old Ger. chrâhan; present tense ich krähe I crow, Old Ger. chrâ-hu, and krähte, Old Ger. chrâ-ta I crew, and also in the same manner the noun das krähen the crowing, Old Ger. chrâ-t; die krâhe the crow, Old Ger. chrâ-ja, &c. In this manner language springs up everywhere full of fine signification and inexhaustible life.

Of the formation of words by umlaut and inlaut, or by change of

vowels and by guna.

18. This takes place when, for the designation of the gender, case, or time, vowels or sounds are added. The transition of the root into different words is in all cases easily understood. Let us take the root luh, New Ger. hell clear, light, then by guna (inlaut) and an added t, is formed lioht, New Ger. licht (instead of liecht) the clearness, light; and also the adj. licht light, &c.

The determination of the signification of words and roots.

19. Language generally originates from the most simple perception of our senses. The appearances which offer themselves to the sight, not yet dimmed by any reflection, are the qualities and the relation of things

in time and space, such as, light, dark :-black, white :-great, small: —standing, running—to rise, to fall, &c.

20. These appearances are immediately determined or marked by the language, whether they are resting qualities, as; blue, yellow, great, small, &c., or a temporal relation, as, flows, stands, burns, smokes, &c. or only relations of space and number, as; by, at, for one, two, &c. Things, of which the appearance only shows the special situation, the number and their relation, can only be designated by language in such a manner that it either points to their situation in space, by which pronouns originate, as, I, he, his, that, &c., or it describes them by nominating their qualities and their temporal relation, as, the bird, the floating in air. Thus originate the names of things, and each name is originally a short description.

21. It is the task of etymology to pursue the signification now in use, through all changes, till we come to the radical signification. So we are led to a proper knowledge of the language, as a clear conception of the common signification can, in general, be only discovered in the light of the radical meaning.

22. Easy as it may be, in most cases, to find the form of the root by decomposing the words, yet it is often difficult to ascertain the original signification. Where it remains perceptible to the senses, it is immediately discovered: thus, fliessen to flow, from the moving on of the fluid; wehen to blow, from the soft movement of the air; blau blue, from a colour, &c. In other cases there are difficulties which can only be overcome by close investigation.

23. The doctrine of the interchange of consonants,* and that of umlaut↑ and guna‡ are the two gates which lead into the sanctuary of etymology. The former opens the insight into the true nature of the consonants, the latter into that of the vowels. He, then, who has a clear view of these two doctrines, has received the consecration, and can look into the interior of the sanctuary.]]

• § 14.

† § 11,—3.

‡ § 11,—4.; § 12, 13.

It ought to be acknowledged again, that this is a very imperfect view, but the shortest and best that could be found. Those who would enter fully into the subject, must consult the original authorities quoted throughout this abstract, and especially Professor J. Grimm's invaluable Deutsche Grammatik, 3 vols. 8vo. Göttingen: Bopp's Vocalismus, with the works of Schmeller, Becker, Wüllner, Graff, &c. See xiii. § 10.

XIV. THE ORIENTAL ORIGIN OF ALPHABETIC WRITING, AND ITS PROGRESSIVE EXTENSION TO THE WEST.

1. Hitherto the History, the Affinity and the Etymology of the Germanic or Teutonic languages have claimed almost the sole attention. Proofs have been adduced to shew that these languages, even in the present day, are not only very similar; but that, in early times, they were almost identical, and that the widely extended nations, who now speak them, were originally of the same tribe, and probably inclosed in one encampment, when they first migrated out of Asia into Europe, on the north of the Euxine and from the vicinity of the Caspian Sea. Some collateral evidence of the oriental origin of European population, may now be gathered from the invention of alphabetic writing in the east, and its gradual diffusion to the west, as well as from the affinity and etymology of their languages, previously discussed.

2. As the Germanic tribes were free, they extended, with their power, a spirit of liberty,—a manly independent feeling, over the north and west of Europe; so the cultivated and scientific Phoenicians awakened the dormant faculties of the mind, and excited a love for the arts and sciences, when they planted their colonies in the Mediterranean and the west. Thus, Europe not only received her population from Asia; but the lights of science and literature dawned upon her from the east-while our liberty and energy sprang from the north east, our civilization, our intellectual culture, and the art of writing-of rendering thoughts visible, and thus conveying them to distant climes and ages, were of south-eastern introduction.

3. It will not be difficult to prove, not only that the art of Alphabetic writing was received from the Phoenicians, but that the European alphabets were derived from the Phoenicians or ancient Hebrews. This, at first sight, may appear improbable, as the Hebrews wrote from right to left, while Europeans write from left to right; but a short investigation and a few specimens of early writing will remove all doubt. Those which will be produced to prove the oriental origin of European letters, and the gradual introduction of writing in our present manner, from left to