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PREFACE.
PREFACE.
So far as I know, this is the first attempt at a systematic classification of the whole American race on the basis of language. I do not overlook Dr. Latham’s meritorious effort nearly forty years ago; but the deficiency of material at that time obliged him to depart from the linguistic scheme and accept other guides. While not depreciating the value of physical data, of culture and traditional history, I have constantly placed these subordinate to relationship as indicated by grammar and lexico
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RACIAL HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS.
RACIAL HISTORY AND CHARACTERISTICS.
The differentiation of the species Man into various races, with permanent traits and inhabiting definite areas, took place early in the present geologic epoch. Of these races there are four which are well-marked, each developed in one of the continental areas as they existed at the time referred to. They are the Eurafrican or white, the Austafrican or black, the Asian or yellow, and the American or red race. The color-names given them are merely approximations, and are retained for the sake of c
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Scheme of the Age of Man in America.
Scheme of the Age of Man in America.
Many difficulties present themselves in bringing these periods into correspondence with the seasons of the Quaternary in Europe; but after a careful study of both continents, Mr. W. J. McGee suggests the following synchronisms: [31] Of course it would not be correct to suppose that the earliest inhabitants of the continent presented the physical traits which mark the race to-day. Racial peculiarities are slowly developed in certain “areas of characterization,” but once fixed are indelible. Can w
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I. THE NORTH ATLANTIC GROUP.
I. THE NORTH ATLANTIC GROUP.
The word Eskimo, properly Eski-mwhan , means in the Abnaki dialect of Algonquin, “he eats raw flesh,” and was applied to the tribe from its custom of consuming fish and game without cooking. They call themselves Innuit , “people,” a term the equivalent of which is the usual expression applied by American natives to their own particular stock. The Innuit are at present essentially a maritime and arctic nation, occupying the coast and adjacent islands from the Straits of Belle Isle on the Atlantic
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II. THE NORTH PACIFIC GROUP.
II. THE NORTH PACIFIC GROUP.
The lofty chains of the Rocky Mountains extend from north to south, leaving a narrow coast line seamed with deep and fertile valleys along the Pacific from Mt. St. Elias to the Gulf of California. In spite of its great extent in latitude—from the 30th to the 60th degree—there is less difference in climate than one would suppose from analogy in any other part of the world. The warm ocean current which bathes the northern coast mitigates the cold of the winter to such an extent that the isothermal
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III. THE CENTRAL GROUP.
III. THE CENTRAL GROUP.
Of all the stocks on the North American Continent, that which I call the Uto-Aztecan merits the closest study, on account of its wide extension and the high development of some of its members. Tribes speaking its dialects were found from the Isthmus of Panama to the banks of the Columbia River, and from the coast of the Pacific to the Gulf of Mexico. The relationship of these numerous bands is unquestionable, although many of them have freely adopted words from other stocks. This, however, will
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GENERAL REMARKS.
GENERAL REMARKS.
The linguistic classification of the South American tribes offers far greater difficulties than that of North America. Not only has it been studied less diligently, but the geographical character of the interior, the facilities with which tribes move along its extensive water-ways, and the less stable temperament of the white population have combined to obscure the relationship of the native tribes and to limit our knowledge about them. The first serious attempt to take a comprehensive survey of
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I. THE SOUTH PACIFIC GROUP.
I. THE SOUTH PACIFIC GROUP.
This region includes the mountainous district in northwestern South America, west of the basin of the Orinoco and north of the equator—but without rigid adherence to these lines. The character of its culture differed considerably from that found in the Atlantic regions and was much more closely assimilated to that of Peru. Three lofty mountain chains traverse New Granada from north to south, the intervening valleys being beds of powerful rivers, rich in fish and with fertile banks. This configur
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II. THE SOUTH ATLANTIC GROUP.
II. THE SOUTH ATLANTIC GROUP.
Those two mighty rivers, the Amazon and the Orinoco, belong to one hydrographic system, the upper affluents of the latter pouring their waters for six months of the year into the majestic expanse of the former. Together they drain over three million square miles of land, [335] clothed throughout with lush tropical vegetation and seamed by innumerable streams, offering natural and facile paths of intercommunication. It is not surprising, therefore, that we find linguistic stocks extended most wid
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YUMA DIALECTS NEAR THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA.
YUMA DIALECTS NEAR THE GULF OF CALIFORNIA.
The above vocabularies illustrate the extension of the Yuma stock to the southward. The Cochimi and Guaicuru are remote dialects, but of positive affinities. The Yuma words which I have added for comparison are principally from the Mohave dialect, and are taken from the vocabularies published by the “U. S. Geographical Surveys west of the 100th Meridian.” The Seri words are chiefly from the satisfactory vocabulary obtained by the late John Russell Bartlett. The relationship of the dialect to the
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DIALECTS OF THE UTO-AZTECAN STOCK.
DIALECTS OF THE UTO-AZTECAN STOCK.
The eight dialects which I give from the extensive Uto-Aztecan stock will illustrate the relationship of its members. The words marked M. in the Ute or Shoshonian vocabulary belong to the Moqui dialect, which appears to approach nearer the Aztecan branch than the speech of the northern tribes. The Tepehuana words are from the vocabulary obtained by M. Tarayre, and published in his Explorations (see anté , p. 136 ). I have placed the geographical extremes, the Nahuatl and the Ute, side by side, t
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DIALECTS OF THE UTO-AZTECAN STOCK.—(Continued.)
DIALECTS OF THE UTO-AZTECAN STOCK.—(Continued.)
Still more substantial proof of the unity of this stock is furnished by the comparative grammar of its different members. These present various phases of morphological development, but always on the same lines. The Nahuatl is much the higher of them all, and in some of its forms attains to a truly inflectional character, as has been shown by Professor Steinthal....
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CENTRAL STOCKS.
CENTRAL STOCKS.
The Totonaco is spoken in two diverse dialects by the inhabitants of the plains and the uplands. The difference is not so great as appears in the written tongue, as they are mutually intelligible. A number of works on the Tarascan language have recently been edited or written by Dr. Nicolas Leon, of Morelia, Michoacan, so that there is abundant material for the study of the tongue. The Otomi presents so many sounds unfamiliar to the European ear that the attempt to represent it by our alphabets
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CENTRAL STOCKS.
CENTRAL STOCKS.
In the above vocabularies the relation of the Zoque to the Mixe is more clearly shown than that of the Zapotec to the Mixtec. A more extended comparison of the two latter has been instituted by Pimentel in his work on the languages of Mexico, which appears to strengthen the belief that they belong to the same stock. Prof. Friedrich Müller, however, continues to regard them as separate stocks ( Grundriss der Sprachwissenschaft , Bd. II., Ab. I., s. 298, sq.). The question is discussed with fullne
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CENTRAL STOCKS.
CENTRAL STOCKS.
The Chinantec is included in the Zapotec stock by Pimentel, who follows the dictum of Hervas, confessedly without examination ( Lenguas Indigenas de Mexico , Tom. III., cap. 37). This was not the opinion of Dr. Berendt, who has compared both tongues, and a comparison of the short vocabularies which I give shows only one word, that for “foot,” which is identical in both. The Huaves, who claim a migration from the south, do not reveal a connection in their language with any of the southern stocks.
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INTER-ISTHMIAN STOCKS.
INTER-ISTHMIAN STOCKS.
The above four vocabularies are taken from MS. material in my possession collected by E. G. Squier and Dr. C. H. Berendt. They do not appear to indicate the slightest relationship either between themselves, or with any other known stocks. The careful researches of Lucien Adam on the Musquito grammar do not bring it into connection either with the Carib or the Chibcha families, with which it has sometimes been supposed to be affined. The Lenca dialects, of four of which I have vocabularies, do no
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INTER-ISTHMIAN STOCKS.—(Continued.)
INTER-ISTHMIAN STOCKS.—(Continued.)
The Guatuso is taken from the vocabularies collected by Bishop Thiel, and several times republished. The remaining three are from MS. materials collected by Dr. C. H. Berendt. The Xinca I have previously published, with a general discussion of the tribe, in the Proc. of the Amer. Philosoph. Soc. , 1885. The Matagalpan or “Chontal of Nicaragua” (see anté , p. 149 ), is from the vocabulary collected by the Rev. Victor Noguera. It appears to stand quite alone. A few remote resemblances to the Talam
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COLUMBIAN STOCKS.
COLUMBIAN STOCKS.
The Cuna and the Changuina or Dorasque are from M. Alph. Pinart’s various publications on these dialects; the Andaqui from the collections of the Presbyter Albis; and the Tucura, a Choco dialect, from the report of Dr. A. Ernst ( Zeitschrift für Ethnologie , 1887, 302). The last mentioned was obtained on the upper Sinu river, near the junction of the Rio Verde. It is not of the San Blas (Cuna) family, but clearly Choco. I have already referred (p. 200 ) to some slight similarity of the Andaqui t
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DIALECTS OF THE CHOCO STOCK.
DIALECTS OF THE CHOCO STOCK.
The Choco family had probably at one time a much wider extension than we are familiar with in historic times. I have suggested ( anté , pp. 274 , 275 ), that even the sparse material for comparison as yet available seems to indicate an affinity with the Betoya stock. As our knowledge of the Orinoco and the Columbian region extends, probably other tribes will be discovered speaking related dialects. The four vocabularies which I give above serve to illustrate the comparatively slight differences
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DIALECTS OF THE CHIBCHA STOCK.
DIALECTS OF THE CHIBCHA STOCK.
The relations of the Chibcha dialects are so important in their bearings on the question of the migrations from South into North America, that in addition to the specific comparisons on page 186, I here add vocabularies of six dialects; three, the Chibcha, Aroac and Chimila, from south of the Isthmus, and three, the Guaymi, Talamanca and Boruca, from north of it. The Chibcha proper is a language of extremely difficult phonetics for a European, and doubtless the Spanish orthography, in which it i
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PERUVIAN STOCKS.
PERUVIAN STOCKS.
The wide differences between the four main Peruvian stocks are seen in the above vocabularies. The Kechua and Aymara alone have anything in common. The Yunca is presented in the Mochica dialect, which is that adopted by Carrera in his Grammar. The vocabulary of the Etenes, as furnished by Bastian, differs from it only in the word for “eye,” tassack , and “head,” chätz , which is remarkable, considering the extreme difficulty of the Yunca phonetics. The grammars of these three tongues are careful
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SOUTH ATLANTIC LINGUISTIC STOCKS.
SOUTH ATLANTIC LINGUISTIC STOCKS.
The four chief stocks of the eastern Amazon region present a fundamental diversity both in vocabulary and grammar. The Arawak is shown as it is, as current in Guiana and along the northern affluents of the Amazon; the Tapuya is in the dialect of the Botocudos, as presented by Dr. Paul Ehrenreich; the Tupi is the “lingua geral” of Brazil; and the Kiriri is from the Arte of Mamiani. In most of the South Atlantic stocks the numerals are imperfectly developed, all quantities above three being usuall
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DIALECTS OF THE ARAWAK STOCK.
DIALECTS OF THE ARAWAK STOCK.
These four vocabularies of some dialects of the Arawak stock, from localities wide apart, disclose extensive variations from the standard tongue. They are, however, rather apparent than real, and often depend on either variations in orthography, or the substitution of synonymous or allied words. This is well seen in the comparative table of thirty-six Arawak dialects presented in tabular form by Karl von den Steinen in his Durch Central-Brasilien , s. 294. Neither he nor Adam includes the Chonta
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DIALECTS OF THE CARIB STOCK.
DIALECTS OF THE CARIB STOCK.
The oldest existing forms of the Carib stock are believed by Von den Steinen to be preserved in the Bakairi, which I have accordingly placed first in the vocabularies of this family. The Motilone, which is placed beside it, is one of the most northwestern dialects, and shows singular tenacity of the radicals of the language. The Guaque, which is substantially the same as the Carijona, is the extreme western member of the family, but presents unmistakably the physiognomy of the stock. Of the Tama
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DIALECTS OF THE CARIB STOCK.—Continued.
DIALECTS OF THE CARIB STOCK.—Continued.
The Roucouyenne and Macuchi are dialects on either slope of the sierra south of Guyana. Both appear to have been affected by their proximity to the Arawak stock. The Maquiritare of the Orinoco and the Cumanagoto of the northern portion of Venezuela are comparatively closely related, and both present few foreign elements. We may expect a thorough treatment of the comparative grammar of the Carib dialects from M. Lucien Adam, who is engaged in this study at the present time. A large amount of mate
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LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.
LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.
The Opone and the Carare have evidently been subjected to foreign influences, but still retain the characteristics of the Carib dialects. The Peba and the Yahua are not attached to the Carib family. They, however, reveal the traces of its influence, and appear to have adopted many words from it. Probably they are largely jargons, and between themselves indicate a rather close relationship. Of the Saliva, which seems to stand alone, the materials are inadequate. Some texts, with an effort at a gr
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LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.—(Continued.)
LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.—(Continued.)
The above four lengue matrice were among the most important on the Orinoco. The Guaraouna or Warrau was, and continues to be, spoken by the tribes of the delta, who are numerous and intelligent, when they have a fair chance to live undisturbed. Of the Otomaca only the merest fragments have been published, and my vocabulary is nearly empty. Several recent travelers have brought back information about the Piaroa and Guahiba, some of which may be found in the eighth volume of the Bibliothèque Lingu
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LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.—(Continued.)
LANGUAGES OF THE ORINOCO BASIN.—(Continued.)
The Omagua is a well-marked Tupi dialect. Adam has shown the grammatical concordances clearly ( Compte-Rendu du Cong. des Amer. , 1888, p. 496). The Yarura and Betoya reveal faint resemblances in the words for “sun” and “tongue”; but not enough to justify assuming a relationship. Their grammars are quite unlike, that of the Yarura preceding by suffixes, that of the Betoya by prefixes (see Müller, Sprachwissenschaft , Bd. II., Ab. I., s. 361). The Correguaje shows less analogy to the Betoya in th
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DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.
DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.
The grammatical and phonetic relations of the Pano stock have been judiciously analyzed by M. Raoul de la Grasserie ( Compte-Rendu du Cong. des Amer. , 1888, p. 438, sq.). The Pano and Culino are seen to be closely connected, those who use the one doubtless understanding the other. The Baré, which is an Arawak dialect, I have inserted here for the sake of convenience. The Puinavi is unclassified (see anté , p. 278 ). In the few words above given, those for “sun,” “water,” and “foot” appear to ha
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DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.—(Continued.)
DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.—(Continued.)
The Catoquina and Ticuna are mixed dialects or jargons, but clearly related to each other. Martius hesitated whether to assign them to his “Guck” or his “Gês” stem. They both contain elements of the Arawak, probably by borrowing. Locally they are neighbors. The vocabulary of Ticuna is from Paul Marcoy’s work. The Tucano, which is in the form obtained by Coudreau, shows elements of Betoya and Arawak. Its relationship to the Tapuya is not fully established. The Zaparo from the Putumayo is from the
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DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.—(Continued.)
DIALECTS OF THE UPPER AMAZONIAN BASIN.—(Continued.)
The interesting group of the Tacana stock is illustrated above by three of its dialects. I regret that the recent publication on the Arauna by Rev. Nicolas Armentia ( Navegacion del Rio Madre de Dios ) has not been accessible to me. The scanty vocabulary of the Araua does not permit any extended study of its relations. I call attention to the numerals of the Sapibocona and Cayubaba as given above and on page 360. Prof. Fr. Müller has transposed the two in his lists of examples ( Sprachwissenscha
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LANGUAGES OF THE BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS.
LANGUAGES OF THE BOLIVIAN HIGHLANDS.
The variety of stocks on the Bolivian highlands is clearly shown by the vocabularies on this and the following page. I have taken them from the D’Orbigny MSS., in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, the collections of Hervas, and the papers of E. Heath in the Kansas City Review , 1883. I have not been able to connect any one of the eight tongues with any other, although each has some words which have been borrowed from others or from some common stock. Thus, the Yurucare suñe , man, Mosetena zoñi
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LANGUAGES OF THE CHACO TRIBES.
LANGUAGES OF THE CHACO TRIBES.
The three dialects of the Guaycuru stock above given show considerable diversity. The first is from Castelnau, the second from Fontana, the third (Toba) from Carranza and de Angelis. The Payagua is also from Fontana ( Revista de la Soc. Geog. Argentina , 1887, p. 352, sq.). All the Chaco tribes are singularly defective in numeration. Pelleschi says that intelligent chiefs among them cannot count the fingers of one hand. Above the two numerals are generally compound words and have not fixed forms
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LANGUAGES OF THE CHACO TRIBES.—(Continued.)
LANGUAGES OF THE CHACO TRIBES.—(Continued.)
The near relationship of the Lule, Vilela and Chunupi appears clear from the above comparison. The Chunupi words are taken from Fontana ( ubi suprá ), the Vilela from the vocabulary of Gilii’s Storia Americana , and the Lule from Machoni’s Grammar. The Mataco is also from Fontana, and represents the dialect as spoken to-day. The words marked D. are from the D’Orbigny MSS....
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LANGUAGES OF THE LA PLATA BASIN AND PAMPAS.
LANGUAGES OF THE LA PLATA BASIN AND PAMPAS.
The vocabularies of the Guachis, Guatos and Carajas are from the collections of Castelnau ( Expédition , Tome V., Appendix); that of the Araucanian from Febres’ Diccionario . The Guachis are classed as belonging to the Guaranis (Tupi stock), and by tradition came from the west (see anté , p. 233 ). A comparison with the Samucu vocabulary (page 359) seems to me to suggest several resemblances which would be worth further study on more extended material. The Guatos may be a mixed off-shoot of the
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PATAGONIAN AND FUEGIAN STOCKS.
PATAGONIAN AND FUEGIAN STOCKS.
The vocabularies of the Tsoneca, Tehuelhet or Patagonian differ considerably in the various writers. No. 1 is from Von Martius, completed from D’Orbigny’s lists. No. 2 is based on Lt. Muster’s examples, supplemented from the vocabularies in Ramon Lista’s Exploraciones . The Yahgan and Alikuluf pass for independent stocks. Yet in a number of words they resemble each other, and in a few, for example, those for “eye,” “woman,” “moon,” “man,” there seems more than a chance similarity....
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ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
ADDITIONS AND CORRECTIONS.
P. 24 . Auriferous Gravels of California. The principal reference is J. D. Whitney, The Auriferous Gravels of the Sierra Nevada of California , pp. 258-288 (Cambridge, Mass., 1879). Professor Whitney believes that the evidence is sufficient to attribute the mortars, pestles, beads, etc., found in the auriferous gravels to late pliocene man. But Dr. Joseph Leidy describes equine skulls, molars, incisors, etc., found in these gravels, thirty-five to forty feet below the surface, “not differing in
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