In this case the verb consists only of the stem, and the person,
tense, and mode signs. The former are originally pronouns, the latter
particles. Before they are worn down by use to mere affixes, the three
following cases may arise:
1. That all three of these elements are equally separable and loosely
connected.
2. That one of the two, the person or the tense and mode signs,
obtains a closer connection with the stem, and becomes formal, while
the other remains loosely attached.
3. That both these are incorporated with the stem, and the whole
approaches a true grammatical form, although it does not fully
represent it.
_Case 1st._
The only language I can instance here is that of the Omaguas, as I
know no other with such a decided absence of all true grammatical
forms in the verb. The independent pronouns, the stem words of the
verbs, and the particles of tense and mode are merely placed together
without any change, without internal connection, and apparently
without fixed order; _usu_, to go; 1st pers. sing. pres. _ta usu_; 2d
pers. sing. perf. _avi ene usu_ (_ene_ is the pronoun, _avi_ the sign
of the perfect). Subjunctive, 1st pers. sing. pres. _ta usu mia_; 2d
pers. sing. perf. _avi epe usu mia_.
Sometimes, when a misunderstanding is not feared, the verbal stem is
employed without these qualifying particles, and cannot then be
distinguished from a noun. _Paolo amai amano_. The last word means "to
die," but grammatically the sentence can as well be rendered, "Paul
only die" (_i. e._ has died), as "Paul only dead."
It is true that the suffix _ta_ changes nouns to verbs: _zhiru_,
clothes, _zhiru-ta_, to clothe; but it also changes verbs to nouns,
_yasai_, to cover, _yasai-ta_, a cover. This may be explained by the
theory that this suffix conveys the idea _to make_, which is taken
sometimes actively, sometimes passively.
According to the above, the Omagua conjugation falls in the class
where an attributive is united to a pronoun and the verb is omitted;
only that here definite tense syllables appear, and this brings the
construction nearer to the idea of a conjugation.
_Case 2d._
1. The Maipure, Abipone, Mbaya and Mocobi languages place only the
personal sign in intimate connection with the verb, and allow the
tense and mode signs to be loosely attached. They have therefore but
one type of personal forms to be applied in every tense and mode by
means of the particles or the affixes formed from them. This type,
taken alone, usually forms the present; but, accurately speaking, this
name cannot be assigned it; because the signs of the other tenses are
also dropped when this can be done without obscurity.
_Ya-chaguani-me-yaladi._ Here the first word is in the indefinite
form, though it is not the present but the perfect. The _me_ is really
the preposition "in;" but usage has adopted it for the subjunctive
sign, and so the Spanish grammarians call it; or rather, the verb is
considered to be introduced by a conjunction, "if," "as," so that it
is usually not in the present but a past tense. If this is the case
with the last verb, the first one must have the same tense, and so the
whole phrase, without any tense sign, means, "I had helped him when I
said it."
One would scarcely expect to find anything like this in cultivated
languages. Yet it does occur in both Sanscrit and Greek. The now
meaningless particle _sma_ in Sanscrit when it follows the present
changes it into a past, and in Greek ~an~ alters the indicative
into a subjunctive.
To form this general type, the Maipure makes use of the unchanged
possessive pronoun, and treats nouns and verbs in the same manner. The
noun must always be united to a possessive pronoun, a trait common to
all the Orinoco tongues and many other American languages. In the 3d
person sing., however, neither the verb nor the noun has such a
pronoun, but it is to be understood; _nuani_, my son; _ani_, alone,
not son, but "his son." The 3d pers. sing. of the verb is often the
mere stem, without a personal sign, but that this peculiarity should
also extend to the noun I have met only in this tongue. It is evident
that a pronoun is considered as essential to a noun as to a verb, and
although a similar usage is found in many tongues, yet it appears in
none so binding. There are, indeed, some nouns which are free from the
necessity of thinking them in connection with a person, but these have
the suffix _ti_, which is dropped when the possessive pronoun is
added; _java ti_, a hatchet, _nu java_, my hatchet. From this it is
evident that _ti_ does not belong to the stem, and is incompatible
with the use of a possessive, hence it is the sign of the substantive,
in its independent condition. The same occurs in Mexican, and the
chief termination of substantives, _tli_, is almost identical in sound
with that in the Maipure.
In this respect the verbal, conjugated with the personal signs,
differs nothing from the noun united to its possessive pronouns.
Grammatically, the form first becomes a verbal one by the added
particles of tense and mode. The signification of these can generally
be clearly ascertained, and thus are united closely to the stem.
The particles which the language of the Abipones uses to form the
general verbal type are quite different from the possessives. The
tense and mode particles have elsewhere in the tongue independent
meanings. Thus _kan_, the sign of the perfect, means a thing which has
been, time that has past.
In the language of the Mocobis the personal signs consist merely in
letters, prefixed and suffixed, and have no apparent relationship to
the pronouns. By affixing these letters, phonetic changes take place
so that the stem is combined with them into one form.
Among the tense signs, a prefixed _l_ indicates a past time, a
suffixed _o_, the future; but the others are independent particles,
loosely attached to the stem.
I have already shown how the Mbaya language conjugates adjectives with
the independent pronoun, and participles with the possessive pronoun.
The signs used in the conjugation proper of the attributive verb, do
not appear elsewhere in the tongue, and must have descended from an
older period of its existence.
In the tense and mode signs it is easily perceived how descriptive
phrases pass into true forms. For the imperfect and pluperfect the
speaker can choose among a number of particles, all of which indicate
past time. The modes have definite signs, but these are merely
appended, and some have separate significations. The future and
perfect have not merely fixed particles, but these are worn down to
one letter, so that the stem is actually incorporated with them.
2. In the languages heretofore considered the personal signs added to
the word make up the conjugation, and the other signs are attached
loosely and externally. The reverse of this, though not perfectly so,
appears in the Lule language. The tense and mode signs, often of but
one letter, are immediately and firmly attached to the stem, and the
pronouns are affixed to this to complete the conjugation. These
pronouns are, however, the ordinary possessives, so that noun and verb
become in a measure identical; thus, _camc_ means both "I eat" and "my
food;" _cumuee_, "I marry" and "my wife;" only in a few examples are
the verbal pronouns distinct from the possessives.
In this case, therefore, the personal signs are independent elements,
occurring elsewhere in the language, while the tense and mode signs
are true affixes.
The inflection-syllables form with the stem real verbal forms, and so
far the conjugation of this language belongs to the third case. But
each of the elements has its fixed position, and as soon as one has
the key to the combination, he can recognize and separate them at
once.
Reasons which it would require too much space to set forth render it
probable that all the tense signs are really auxiliary verbs or come
from them. This is evident of the optative, as has already been shown.
The present only is simple, as it has no tense sign.
Slight differences are found between the personal signs of some
tenses, so that these tenses can be distinguished by them, a trait
usually seen only in tongues so far cultivated that the grammatical
forms have undergone such changes as no longer to present simple and
uniform combinations. Equally curious is the regular omission of the
tense sign of past time in the third person plural only. Although,
except in this case and that of the present, each tense has its
definite sign, inserted between the stem and the personal sign, yet
there are, besides these, various particles expressing past time,
which can accompany the usual tense form, so that there is a double
sign of time, one in the word itself and one loosely attached to it.
The languages of the Mbayas, Abipones, Mocobis and Lules are closely
allied both in words and in some grammatical forms. It is all the more
extraordinary, therefore, to find the last-mentioned pursuing a method
in the structure of its verb which is almost totally opposed to that
in the other three tongues.
_Case 3d._
The languages of this class approach in their conjugations those of
the more cultivated tongues, in which each verbal inflection has a
fixed and independent form. Both the person, the tense and the mode
signs are united to the stem, in such a manner that none of the three
can be said to be either less or more loosely attached than the
others.
All the conjugations about to be discussed lack, however, that fixity
of form which grammatically satisfies the mind.
The elements are placed definitely and regularly one by the other, but
are not incorporated into each other, and are therefore readily
recognizable.
They are found, moreover, outside of the verb elsewhere in the
language either without any change or with slight differences of
sound; the personal signs as pronouns, the other affixes as particles.
The composition of the verb is separable, and may receive into itself
other parts of speech.
No American language is free from these drawbacks to perfection of
form in the conjugations. In some all three are found; in most the
first and last. In really grammatically developed tongues, as in the
Sanscrit, Greek, Latin and German, none of these imperfections exists.
The verb includes in itself no part of its object, the affixes
modifying the stem have lost all independent life, and the analysis of
the formal elements becomes a difficult philological task, which often
fails and only rarely can be fully proved.
I shall discriminate in regard to the conjugations about to be
considered that which is an approach toward a fixed form from the
intentional separation of the form to insert a governed word.
_1. Approach toward a Fixed Form._
In the Mixteca language, the personal sign is the unchanged possessive
pronoun. If the verb is governed by a noun in the third person, the
possessive is dropped. It is left to the speaker to choose whether he
designates the person, either by prefixing the personal pronoun or
suffixing the possessive. The tense signs are prefixed syllables, but
the perfect and future signs are altogether different from those of
the present, and materially alter the verbal stem.
The Beto language prefixes the personal signs and also the possessive
pronouns to the nouns. As the latter are not fully known, we cannot
judge of their identity with the verbal pronouns. The latter do not
seem to differ much from the personal pronouns. The tense signs are
easily recognized suffixes.
Another conjugation of the same language, by the suffixed pronoun
without tense signs, and with the verb omitted, has been mentioned
above (I, 1), as forming a substantive verb.
A second substantive verb arises from the conjugation above explained,
with the tense signs.
These two forms may also be combined, and this illustrates with what
superfluous fullness grammatical forms spring up even among rude
nations. The conjugation with the tense sign is changed by a
participial suffix into a verbal, and then the pronoun is suffixed, as
in the conjugation without the tense sign. The latter, therefore,
stands twice in the form. The pronoun used in the conjugation with
tense signs may also be prefixed to a simple adjective, and the
pronoun used in the conjugation without tense sign is suffixed to
this, and the participial ending is then added. This is treated as a
verb with the substantive verb understood. But sometimes the verb "to
be" in the form without tense signs is added, and then the whole form
contains the pronoun three times, without gaining thereby any
additional meaning.
The Carib conjugation seems to have arisen from the forms of many
dialects or epochs, and is therefore more complicated and formal, and
less easy to analyze.
The personal signs are prefixed. In the substantive verb there are two
classes, of which only one is also common to attributive verbs. The
other indicates in the verb "to be" also the connection of persons
with the infinitive and gerund, and is therefore of the nature of a
possessive. It may also be that when it is combined with other tenses,
the notion among these nations is altogether a substantial one, as we
have already seen with the subjunctive.
The stem often receives the addition _r_ or _ri_, the meaning of which
is not known.
The structure of the Tamanaca conjugation also reveals a combination
of at least two separate structures. Some tenses use as their personal
signs entire pronouns, almost identical with the personals. Other
tenses merely change the initial letter of the verb, while there is
little similarity between these affixes and the pronouns. In the
plural some of the persons insert a syllable between the verb and the
tense sign.
The tense signs are suffixed, and consist merely of terminal letters
or syllables, except two true particles, which distinguish the
continued present from the present aorist.
There are an initial _y_ and a _t_ occasionally appearing in all
persons, of which we can only say that they are not radicals.
The conjugation of this language, therefore, consists of elements not
readily analyzed.
The Huasteca language prefixes the possessive pronouns as personal
signs. It may also drop them, and use in their stead the independent
pronouns; or may combine both; or may use abbreviated personals; so
that there is a prevailing arbitrariness in this part of the verbal
form.
The tense signs are usually suffixes; but in the future they are
prefixes, which are incorporated with the personal sign placed between
them and the stem. They consist of simple sounds, of no independent
signification. But the particles of the imperative are so separable
that when this mode is preceded by an adverb, they attach themselves
to it.
The Othomi language does not make use of the possessive pronouns in
the conjugation, but suffixes abbreviated forms of the personals, or
else prefixes others of special form, but identical in many letters
and syllables with the personals. In the present condition of the
language the suffixes are used only with the substantive verb; in the
attributive verb, however, they may have been driven forward by the
governed pronouns suffixed. Every verbal inflection may also take,
besides its pronominal prefix, also the unabreviated[TN-9] personal
pronoun in front, or the abbreviated one after it.
The tense signs consist principally of single vowels, by means of
which the pronominal prefixes are attached to the stem. The imperfect
and pluperfect alone have besides this a loosely attached particle.
The past tenses possess a prefix, which we have already seen appears
to have been derived from an auxiliary verb.
In the third person of some tenses in certain verbs the stem undergoes
a change of its initial letters, which appears to transform these
inflections into verbal adjectives, an instance of the confusion of
the ideas of noun and verb common in all these languages.
The Mexican language possesses a peculiar class of verbal pronouns
which form the personal signs. This pronoun is similar to the personal
in its consonants, but has a vowel of its own. It is a prefix. The
plural is marked by the accent, or by a special termination. This
personal sign is inseparable from the verb, but the speaker may also
prefix the independent personal pronoun.
The tense signs are all without signification, being single letters or
syllables. The perfect is marked not so much by an affix, as by
changing, the termination of the verb in various ways, but chiefly by
shortening and strengthening the sound. All tense designations are
placed at the end of the word, except the augment for past time. If by
augment we mean a vowel sound prefixed to the verb in certain tenses
in addition to their usual signs, then the Mexican is the only
American language which possesses one.
The modes are designated by loosely attached particles, also by a
different structure of the tenses, and in the second person a peculiar
pronoun.
Thus the Mexican conjugation consists of true verbal forms, not of
separate parts of speech of independent significance; but the elements
of these forms are easily recognizable, and can be reached without
difficulty.
The most difficult to analyze, and hence the most nearly approaching
our conjugations, is that of the Totonaca language.
The personal signs differ from the pronouns. That of the 2d pers.
sing. is not easily recognized, and several forms of it must be
assumed. Its position as a prefix or suffix differs, and it is
variously located with reference to the other verbal signs. Still more
difficult is it to distinguish the tense signs. There are three
different systems of prefixes and suffixes in the conjugation, and the
plan on which these are combined with each other serves to distinguish
the tense. But only a few of these affixes really appear to designate
tense; of the others this may be suspected at best, and of others
again it is improbable.
Thus there are verbal affixes which cannot be considered to designate
either persons, modes or tenses.
The stem undergoes little change, but the attaching of the affixes to
it renders it impossible to apply the same scheme to all verbs, and
hence leads to a division of them into three conjugations.
Some tenses have two different forms, without any change in
signification.
_2. Divisibility of Verbal Forms to allow the insertion of governed
parts of speech._
Of the Mixteca tongue it cannot exactly be said that it divides the
essential parts of the verbal form to allow the insertion of the
governed object. As a rule, the object is merely appended, and where
it appears in the form itself, it is inserted between the stem and the
suffixed pronoun. The latter is, however, no necessary part of the
form, as it is dropped when the verb is governed by a noun, and can
always be replaced by prefixing the indefinite pronoun.
Nor is it mentioned that the Beto language includes the object in the
verb.
The Carib tongue unites the governed pronoun with the verbal form, and
in some cases the personal sign is thus displaced. But here the object
is not inserted in the middle, but is prefixed or suffixed.
Our information about the Tamanaca language discloses nothing on this
point.
In the Huasteca, the governed pronoun separates sometimes the last,
sometimes the first syllable of the inflectional form from the stem.
The Othomi merely attaches the governed words closely to the verbal
form, in this resembling the Mixteca.
The Mexican language is that which has developed this peculiarity to
the greatest degree. The governed noun is placed in the middle of the
verb; or, if this is not done, a pronoun representing it is inserted.
If there are two objects, an accusative and a dative, then two
corresponding pronouns are inserted; and if no object is named, but
the verb is of that class which is followed by an immediate or remote
object, or both, then two indefinite pronouns appear in the verb. The
Mexican verb therefore, expresses either a complete sentence, or else
a complete scheme of one, which merely requires to be filled out. It
says, in one word, "I give something to somebody," _nititlamaca_, and
then defines what it is and to whom.
It follows necessarily that a part of the verbal form is fluctuating
according to the sense and connection of the sentence, and that the
governing pronoun stands sometimes immediately before the verb, and
sometimes is separated from it by indefinite pronouns or even nouns.
In the Totonaca language, the prefixes and suffixes make room for the
governed words between themselves and the stem.
This examination of the languages whose conjugations approach a fixed
form, shows clearly that this fixedness is seriously shaken precisely
where it is most important, through this insertion of the governed
words.
------
Now if we reflect on the structure of the various verbal forms here
analyzed, certain general conclusions are reached, which are
calculated to throw light upon the whole organism of these languages.
The leading and governing part of speech in them is the Pronoun; every
subject of discourse is connected with the idea of Personality.
Noun and Verb are not separated; they first become so through the
pronouns attached to them.
The employment of the Pronoun is two-fold, one applying to the Noun,
the second to the Verb. Both, however, convey the idea of belonging to
a person; in the noun appearing as Possession, in the verb as Energy.
But it is on this point, on whether these ideas are confused and
obscure, or whether they are defined and clear, that the grammatical
perfection of a language depends. The just discrimination of the kinds
of pronouns is therefore conclusive, and in this respect we must yield
the decided pre-eminence to the Mexican.
It follows that the speaker must constantly make up his verbs, instead
of using those already on hand; and also that the structure of the
verb must be identical throughout the language, that there must be
only one conjugation, and that the verbs, except a few irregular ones,
can possess no peculiarities.
This is different in the Greek, Latin and ancient Indian. In those
tongues many verbs must be studied separately, as they have numerous
exceptions, phonetic changes, deficiencies, etc., and in other
respects carry with them a marked individuality.
The difference between these cultivated and those rude languages is
chiefly merely one of time, and of the more or less fortunate mixture
of dialects; though it certainly also depends in a measure on the
original mental powers of the nations.
Those whose languages we have here analyzed are, in speaking,
constantly putting together elementary parts; they connect nothing
firmly, because they follow the changing requirements of the moment,
joining together only what these requirements demand, and often leave
connected through habit, that which clear thinking would necessarily
divide.
Hence no just division of words can arise, such as is demanded by
accurate and appropriate thought, which requires that each word must
have a fixed and certain content and a defined grammatical form, and
as is also demanded by the highest phonetic laws.
Nations richly endowed in mind and sense will have an instinct for
such correct divisions; the incessant moving to and fro of elementary
parts of speech will be distasteful to them; they will seek true
individuality in the words they use; therefore they will connect them
firmly, they will not accumulate too much in one, and they will only
leave that connected which is so in thought, and not merely in usage
or habit.
------------
_Notes (by the translator) on the various American Tribes and
Languages mentioned by Humboldt in the preceding Memoir._
_Abipones._--A tribe formerly residing on the broad grassy plains
known as _El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana river and on the right
bank of the Rio Vermejo. They are a nomadic, hunting people, and are
related by language closely to the Mocobis and Tobas, more remotely to
the Mbayas. The Jesuit, Father Jose Brigniel, wrote an _Arte y
Vocabulario de la Lengua Abipona_, which has not been published.
_Achaguas._--A small tribe formerly living in Venezuela, between the
Apure and Meta rivers. They are mentioned by Piedrahita as an
intelligent people. Aristides Rojas says they are now extinct
(_Estudios Indigenas_, p. 214. Caracas, 1878).
_Beto._--Usually spelled _Betoi or Betoya_. They live on the upper
waters of the Meta river in Colombia and are related to the Yaruris.
_Caribs._--This widely extended stock occupied much of the northern
coast of South America and had planted colonies on many of the
Antilles. It is believed that they are distantly connected with the
Tupis and Guaranis.
_Guaranis._--The name of a number of affiliated tribes in Southern
Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and the Argentine Republic. The Tupis of
Brazil are a branch of the Guaranis.
_Huastecas._--A northern colony of the great Maya stock of Yucatan,
dwelling in the province of Tampico on the river Panuco. At the time
of the discovery they were an important and cultured nation.
_Lule._--One of the nations of _El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana
river. The _Arte y Vocabulario de la Lengua Lule y Tonocote_, by
Father Antonio Machoni de Cerdeña (Madrid, 1732), was republished with
a careful ethnographic introduction by J. M. Larsen, at Buenos Ayres,
1877.
_Maipures._--Tribes of various dialects who live on both sides of the
Orinoco river where it forms the boundary between Venezuela and New
Granada, about 5° N. lat.
_Mayas._--Natives of Yucatan, and the most highly developed of any of
the American nations. Related dialects are spoken in Guatemala, in
Tabasco, and by the Huastecas.
_Mbayas._--A people of the _Gran Chaco_ in the northern part of the
Argentine Republic, and distantly related to the Abipones.
_Mexican._--Otherwise called the Nahuatl or Aztec language. Spoken in
the greatest purity in the valley of Mexico, it extended from the Gulf
of Mexico to the Pacific, and along the latter from Sonora to
Guatemala, with few interruptions.
_Mixtecas._--A tribe speaking several dialects living in the State of
Oaxaca, Mexico.
_Mocobis._--One of the four principal nations who formerly occupied
_El Gran Chaco_, west of the Parana river. By some the name is spelled
_Mbocoby_.
_Omaguas._--Once a nation of considerable extent and culture between
the Marañon and the Orinoco.
_Othomis._--A tribe resident near San Louis Potosi, Mexico, and
neighboring parts. Their proper name is said to be _Hi[=a]-hi[=u]_.
Their language is monosyllabic and nasal.
_Tamanacas._--These dwell on the right bank of the Upper Orinoco, and
are connected by dialect with the Carib stock on the one hand and the
Guaranay on the other.
_Totonacas._--A nation asserted by Pimentel to speak a mixed language
(Nahuatl and Maya) dwelling in the southern portion of the Province of
Vera Cruz, Mexico, and parts adjacent.
_Tupis._--The natives of the eastern area of Brazil, related to the
Guaranis of the south and perhaps to the Caribs of the north. The
_Lingoa Geral_ of Brazil is a corrupt Tupi.
_Yaruris._--Residents on the upper streams of the Meta river in New
Granada, related to the Betoi.