dialect spoken by the ancient Jews of Palestine, and preserved to us
in their sacred writings known as the Old Testament Scriptures. The
old Hebrew character, as found on coins, &c., has much resemblance
to Phœnician. The Biblical alphabet, called Square Hebrew, has been
traced by some to the captivity at Babylon, B.C. 603-536, but is
regarded by others as much more recent. The Rabbinic characters are
of a more cursive form, and the modern Jews of Germany and Poland
used running hands of somewhat differing forms. For LATER HEBREW,
_see_ TALMUDIC, and for MODERN HEBREW, _see_ JEWEY. Lexicons by
Fürst; Gesenius: Grammar, Lex.; Thesaurus, &c.
HEBRIDES, NEW, _see_ MALLICOLLO.
HEILBRONN.
A sub-dialect of HIGH-GERMAN.
HELEBI.
A name for the Gipsies of Egypt; perhaps from Heleb or Halib, the
ARABIC form of Aleppo, in N. Syria. W. E.
HELIGOLAND.
A sub-dialect of FRISIAN. See Oelrich’s “Kleines Wörterb.” 1846.
HELLENIC.
INDO-EUROPEAN: class name for the Greek language and its dialects.
HELSINGA.
A sub-dialect of SWEDISH. See Lenström: “Ordbok,” Upsala, 1841. _See_
HELSINGIC.
HENNEBERG.
A sub-dialect of HIGH-GERMAN. See Brücker: “Beitrag,” Meiningen, 1843.
HEREFORDSHIRE.
A provincial dialect of ENGLISH. “Glossary” by Sir G. C. Lewis,
London. 1839. W. W. S.
HERERO.
African: classed by Barth and Bleek as S.W. BANTU, with BENGA,
BENGUELA, and BUNDA. The name of the language is “O Tyi-hereró,” that
of the speakers is “O Va-hereró”; it is now nearly extinct. See Hahn:
“Grammatik,” Berlin, 1857; Kolbe: “Vowels,” 1868; specimens collected
by Dr. Rath.
HEREVI, HETZVI.
An extinct dialect of OLD PERSIAN, formerly vernacular at Herat.
HERZEGOVINIC.
SLAVONIC: a sub-dialect of SERVIAN.
HESSIAN.
A sub-dialect of HIGH-GERMAN.
HEUMA, _see_ SHENDU.
HEVE.
A native dialect of the aborigines of Central America, vernacular in
Mexico; it is also called EUDEVE, and closely allied to PIMA. See
Smith’s “Grammatical Sketch,” 1862.
HHAMARA, _see_ WAAG.
HIANG-YAN.
A name for the common colloquial language of CHINESE.
HIAQUI.
AMERICAN: spoken in Sonora and Sinaloa; also called IBEQUI and YAQUI.
HIERATIC.
GREEK name for the cursive alphabet used by the ancient priestly
caste of Egypt; it is from the word “hieros,” “sacred.” ☞
HIEROGLYPHIC.
Greek name for the symbolic alphabet or figure painting which
constituted the most formal writing of ancient Egyptians, from
“hieros” and “grapho.” The Aztecs of Mexico also had a system of
hieroglyphic writing. Brugsch: “Hierog. Demot. Wörterb.,” 4 vols.,
Leipsig, 1867-8. _See_ NAHUATL.
HIERONYMIC.
SLAVONIC: name for the Glagolitic characters.
HIGHLAND.
HIGHLAND-SCOTTISH: name sometimes used for GAELIC.
HILDESHEIM.
A sub-dialect of LOW-GERMAN.
HILIGUEINA.
MALAYAN: a dialect of the Philippine Is. _See_ ILOCANA.
HIMALAYAN.
Name for a class of native aboriginal languages of Hindostan,
comprising KOOCH, DHIMAL, BODO, all closely allied to NIPALESE and
BHOT. See “Essays by Hodgson,” Calcutta, 1847.
HIMYARITIC _or_ HIMJARITE.
Name for the characters used in some early inscriptions of S. Arabia
in a dialect allied to the MAHARI of Abyssinia. Mr. Palgrave,
“Central and E. Arabia,” vol ii., p. 240, states that the modern
Himyarites, who speak a dialect of modern Arabic, are called the
“reds”: “ahmar” in Arabic; but it seems more probable that they are
the Hi or Hy-Mahari: “Hy” being a tribal prefix in Africa as in
Ireland. Compare the Hi-breasail, the Hy-Many, or O’Kelly people; the
Hy-Fiachrach or O’Dowdy people. The use of the same prefix in Africa
is proved by the Ki-Suaheli, the Hi or Ki-Kamba, Ki-Sambala; cf. the
Heb. ה; ח; which gives the transition from “h” to “ch” or “k”;
thus also we may have Ki-Afer for the people of Africa, the original
Kaffirs: indeed we have the mature word in Ke-Kuafi, _see under_ U.
Hy-mahari would mean “the shore-people.” _See_ EKHKILI.
HINANTSHI _or_ HINA.
African: assigned by Barth to HAMARUA.
HINDI _or_ HINDUWI.
The vernacular language of native Hindoos; it is derived from
SANSKRIT, and closely adhered to by all the Brahmin castes. It
was probably the court tongue of Canaug or Kanoj, a chief city of
Hindostan when Alexander the Great crossed the Indus and defeated
Porus, B.C. 327. The language has many branches or sub-dialects, and
is written in the Devanagri, or sacred alphabet used in the Vedas;
also in Kyt’hí, a sort of running hand. Ballantyne: “Elements,”
London, 1869; “Chrestomathie,” Garcin de Tassy, Paris, 1849.
HINDOO.
Class name for the INDIAN branch of the ARYAN family of languages,
derived, according to some, from “Hapta Hendu,” “Seven Rivers,” old
name for the Punjaub.
HINDOSTANI _or_ URDU.
The vernacular tongue of the Indian Moslemim, or Mussulmen; first
originated by the Muhammadan invaders, _circa_ A.D. 1004. It is a
compound of ARABIC and PERSIAN with SANSKRIT, called URDU-ZABAN, or
“camp lingo,” and written in a cursive character, called Taghlik,
derived from Arabic; also in uncial letters formed from Sanskrit.
N.B.—Hindu-stan means the “land of the Hindoos.” Forbes: “Dicty. H.
and Eng.,” 1859; “Grammar,” 1849.
HINZUAN.
African: a KAFFIR form of speech; language of the Comorn Is., off the
E. coast.
HITCHITTEE.
AMERICAN: spoken by a division of the Creeks. “Arch. Amer.,” vol.
ii., p. 377.
HOCH-DEUTSCH, _see_ GERMAN.
HOCHELAGA.
American: sub-dialect of MOHAWK, formerly spoken in the locality now
known as Montreal, Canada.
HOCHUNGORAH.
AMERICAN: native name for the Winnebagos.
HOHEN-LOHE, HOHEN-SCHWANGAU, HOHEN-STEIN.
Sub-dialects of HIGH-GERMAN.
HOK-KEEN.
Dialect of CHINESE. Dicty. by Medhurst, Macao, 1832-9.
HOLLAND _or_ HOLLANDISH.
(1) A name for the NETHERLANDISH, a dialect of PLATT-DEUTSCH.
(2) For provincial Dialects. See Latham’s “Opuscula,” London, 1860.
HOLOPHRASIS.
Grammatical term; mode of analysis; reducing whole sentences into
words. _See_ POLYSYNTHETIC.
HOLSTEIN.
Sub-dialect of LOW-GERMAN. See Schütze: “Holsteinisches Idiotikon,”
Hamburgh, 1800-6. W. W. S.
HONDURAS.
American: geographical term for the LENCA class.
⁂ The languages are allied to the KOUMA, LEGBA, &c., of W. Africa. H.
C.
HOOPAH.
American: a variety of ATHABASKAN, spoken so far S. as U. California.
HOR _or_ HORPA.
THIBETAN: a local dialect of BHOT, called also (1) KHACHE: Chinese
KOATSE; (2) IGUR, the native name, which appears to be the same as
UIGHUR, a Turkish dialect. The affix “pa” in “Horpa” is Bhot, as
quoted by Mr. Hodgson, who gives W. Thibet along with Dzungaria and
Chinese Turkestan as the area over which it is spoken. R. G. L.
HOTONTALO.
Polynesian; a sub-dialect of MENADU.
HOTTENTOT.
African: name for a large number of S. dialects, spoken by the
Quaiquai or K’hoè Khoep, and distinguished by a peculiar sound in
utterance, known as the Hottentot “click.”
⁂ According to Dr. Bleek they are a widely different class from the
KAFFIR. R. G. L.
HOVA.
Native term “ank′ova”; used for the central tribes of Madagascar,
said to be a fair race. It is, apparently, of African origin, as
under HERERO. _See_ MALAGASY.
HOYA.
Malayan: a dialect of CERAM, allied to TELUTI.
HUACHI, HUANCAS.
AMERICAN: Indians of Bolivia.
HUASTECA.
American: dialect of Mexico, and apparently the same word as “Aztec.”
It is spoken in the province of Tamaulipas, and is a language of the
MAYA class. See De Olmoz: “Grammatica,” &c., Mexico, 1560.
HUECO _or_ WACO.
American: name for the TALLEWITSUS. It is vernacular in Texas, and
allied to KECHAI, PAWNEE, &c.
HUILLICHE.
AMERICAN: name for tribes of Araucans, the aborigines of Chili. The
“che” here means “men,” being a Chileno word, so we have “men of the
south.” It is applied also to the Patagonians. _See_ VUTA. R. G. L.
HUMMING-BIRD INDIANS.
AMERICAN: name for the Uaenambeu tribe in the province of Rio Negro,
Brasil.
HUNGARIAN _or_ MAGYAR.
UGRIAN: dialect of an Asiatic race, derived from the OSTIAK of the
R. Ob or Oby in Siberia, and closely allied to FINNISH. The Magyars
are now the dominant race in the Austrian kingdom of Hungary, which
they subdued about A.D. 900. It has a copious modern literature. See
Ballagi: “Wörterbuk,” Pesth, 1864; Ollendorff: “Newe Methode,” Pesth,
1869. _See_ UNGARN.
HUNGARIAN-WENDISH.
Slavonic: a local dialect of Hungary, allied to the WENDISH of
Lusatia.
HUNZA, _see_ KHAJUNA.
HURON.
American: classed as IROQUOIS; language of the Huron Indians, spoken
on the shores of the lake so named.
HURRIANA.
A dialect of HINDI spoken in a fertile district of N.W. India, an
oasis on the Jumna, near Delhi. The word “Hurya” signifies “green.”
HURUR.
Abyssinian, dialect of AMHARIC. See Salt’s “Voyage,” appendix, vol.
i., p. 6.
HUZVARESH.
IRANIC: same as PEHLEVI. See Spiegel: “Grammatik,” Wien, 1856.
HYMIARITIC, _see under_ HI.
HYPERBOREAN.
Dr. Latham’s class-name at one time proposed for the DZHUKAGHIR,
SAMOYED, and YENISEIAN group of languages.
ADDENDA.
HADAREB, HADAREM, _under_ A.
HADENDOA.
AFRICAN: a dialect of Nubia.
HALHA.
Same as HAILHA, also written GALGAI.
HALLANDIC, HELSINGIC.
SCANDINAVIAN: dialects of Sweden, cited in Ihre’s “Svenskt
Dialect-Lex.,” Upsal, 1766. W. W. S.
HALLE.
Germanic: sub-dialect of SWABIAN, see “Mundartliche Sprache,” 1814.
HALLENGA.
AFRICAN: a dialect of Nubia.
HAMBURG-INDIANS.
AMERICAN: ENGLISH name for the T-ka’s of Scott’s River; they speak a
dialect of SHASTA.
HARAR, HARRER, HARRARGIE, _see_ HURUR.
HATTAQUAHE.
Caucasian: a dialect of ADIGE or CHERKESS. H. C.
HAWSTEAD (HALSTEAD).
Suffolk dialect of ENGLISH. See Cullum’s “History,” &c., 1784.
HAZORTA.
African: same as SHIHO, a dialect of DANAKIL.
HELSINGIC, _see_ HALLANDIC.
HENNEGA.
American: KOLUSCH dialect of P. Wales’s Is.
HERVEY ARCH., _see_ RAROTONGAN.
HIGH-GERMAN.
English form of HOCH-DEUTSCHEN.
HILLUNA, _see_ ILOCANA.
HINDELOPIAN.
Germanic: a sub-dialect of FRIESIC. See specimen in Bosworth’s “A. S.
Dicty.,” p. 74. W. W. S.
HINDMARSH LAKE.
Dialect of AUSTRALIAN. See Eyre’s “Journals,” London, 1845.
HIO, _see_ EYO.
HIONG-NU.
Alatyan: dialect of TURKISH. It is the name used by Chinese, and by
them applied to the mediæval Huns.
HLASSA, _under_ L.
HO.
(1) African: BOMBA dialect of Guinea. _See_ SALA.
(2) INDIAN: native name for the KOL of Kolehan. It means “man.” _See_
SINGHBHUM.
HOLLAND (NEW), _see_ AUSTRALIAN.
HONIMOA.
MALAYAN: dialect of the Moluccas, closely allied to SARAPUA.
HONIN.
Negritic: dialect of PAPUAN.
HOOD-SUNHOO.
American: KOLUSCH dialect of Hood’s Bay.
HORDE.
That is “herd,” a body, tribe, family, or clan, applied to nomade
Tatars. It is the same word as Urdu, “a camp,” in URDU-ZABAN. _See_
HINDOSTANI.
HORN IS.
POLYNESIAN: dialect of the Friendly group.
HOROJE.
AMERICAN: a name for the Winnebags.
HO-TE-DAY.
AMERICAN: native name of the Yeka or Shasta-butte Indians of
California.
HOUSSA.
African: German form of HAUSSA.
HUAHINE.
EASTERN POLYNESIAN: same as TAHITIAN. W. G.
HUDSON’S-BAY INDIANS.
AMERICAN: tribes of Chepewyans.
HUME R., _see_ MURRUMBIDGEE.
HURN-PARDEE.
INDIAN: also called BAORI; a nomadic tribe who subsist by catching
antelope and the hunting-cheetah; they speak a peculiar dialect of
HINDI. W. E. _See_ BOWRI.
HUZZAW, _see_ OSAGE.
I.
IAIAN.
A Polynesian dialect, allied to LIFU.
IAKON, _under_ J.
IAPYGIAN.
A language spoken in the S. of ancient Italy; it was allied to
OSCAN, but containing a large number of Greek words. See Mommsen:
“Unteritalischen Dialekte,” Leipsig, 1851. G. R.
IBAREKAB.
African: a dialect of BEJA. See Salt’s “Voyage.”
IBBIBBY.
African: a name for the QUA or CALEBAR.
IBEQUI, _see_ HIAQUI.
IBERIAN _or_ IBERIC.
A name for the pre-Roman dialects of Spain, and sometimes used as a
synonym for BASQUE, which is supposed to have been derived from it.
_See_ CELT-IBERIAN.
IBO _or_ EBOE.
AFRICAN: dialect of the W. coast, at the delta of the Niger.
ICELANDIC.
Old Icelandic is the same as OLD NORSE, and the modern dialect
differs from it but slightly. A language of Teutonic origin,
belonging to the SCANDINAVIAN branch, planted in Iceland by Norwegian
settlers, _circa_ A.D. 874. Rask’s Grammar, translated by Dasent,
London, 1843; Möbius: “Altnordisches Glossar,” Leipsig, 1866;
Egilsson: “Dicty. of the Poetical Language,” Copenhagen, 1860;
Cleasby and Vigfusson: “Dicty. of the Prose Language,” Oxford,
1869-71, completed as far as “R.” W. W. S.
IDEOGRAPHIC.
Name for writing in which single characters express ideas; the
hieroglyphics or picture writing of Egypt, and the languages of
ancient Babylonia and Assyria are partly ideographic. G. R.
IDIOM.
A native peculiarity of speech.
IGARRA.
African: dialect of the YORUBA.
IGBIRA.
African: a dialect of the YORUBA. _See_ IGALA.
IGBIRA-HIMA, IGBIRA-PANDA.
African: dialects of the NUFI.
IGHUR, _see_ UIGUR.
IKA.
AMERICAN: dialect of L. California.
ILLINOIS.
American: the ALGONKIN of the State so named after the original
tribes, “Illeni,” “the men.” Vocab., “Trans. Amer. Ethnol.,” vol.
ii., p. 112.
ILLYRIAN.
Slavonic: a written dialect of SERVIAN, closely allied to WENDISH.
See “Grammatik.,” by Babukic, Wien, 1839; Dicty. by Fröhlich,
“Ill-Dutch,” Wien, 1853-4.
ILLYRIC _or_ THRACO-ILLYRIC.
Name for a class of ARYAN languages, of which the SKIPETAR or
ALBANIAN is the only modern representative. _See_ PELASGIC.
ILMORMO.
African: a dialect of GALLA.
⁂ It is a name for the GALLA proper, by some alleged to be Semitic or
Sub-Semitic, but the relations are very remote. H. C.
ILOCANA _or_ ILOCO.
MALAYAN: a dialect of the Philippines. Vocaby. by Carro, Manila, 1849.
INBASK _or_ INBAZK.
Moghol: a dialect of YENISEIAN or OSTIAK, somewhat allied to ARINI.
Klaproth: “Asia Pol.,” p. 171.
INCA.
American: a name given to the QUICHUA language, after a dynasty of
Peru. _See_ QUICHUA.
INCORPORATING.
A name for the agglutinative languages of America. _See_
POLYSYNTHETIC.
INDENI.
A dialect of PAPUAN, also called NITENDI.
INDIA.
Name for HINDOSTAN: land of the Indus, or of the Hindoos, who inhabit
it.
⁂ For aboriginal languages see Hunter’s “Comparative Vocabulary of
the Non-Aryan Languages of India”; Caldwell’s “Comp. Gr.”; Papers by
Dr. Seth Stevenson, &c. _See_ WEST INDIES.
INDIAN.
A name given to many dialects of the aborigines of New England and
other parts of America. ☞
INDIAN ARCHIPELAGO.
Languages POLYNESIAN: classed as Malayan and Negritic.
INDIAN, OLD.
A name for SANSKRIT.
INDIANS.
N. AMERICAN: The Nova Scotia Indians have all decayed away. They were
a people who in their habits more especially used the sea-coast,
banks of lakes, rivers, &c.; the mountaineer is the country Indian,
solely engaged in hunting spoils for trade and subsistence. The E.
States have still a sprinkling of mongrel races, so intermixed as to
leave but a slight trace of the old N. American sons of the forest.
The Red Indian of Newfoundland was cannibal in his habits, and the
race is utterly extinct. I have not met, on the Labrador, any mixture
between the Esquimaux and the mountaineer and Mic-mac tribes, but
frequently children of English and Esquimaux. J. T.
INDIC.
A name for the HINDOO branch of the great ARYAN family of languages,
comprising SANSKRIT, PRAKRIT, PALI, MAHRATTA, HINDI, BENGALI, &c. The
country N. of the Indus was called Arya-âvarta, “abode of the Aryas.”
⁂ A S.W. branch of the great ARYAN family, who in pre-historic
times were settled to the N. and N.W. of Kâbul, became in the end
the Brahmanic Aryans of India, and the Zoroastrian Aryans of Iran
(Persia). There is no doubt that the Indian Aryans travelled mainly
to the S.W., crossing first, and settling in the Land of the Seven
Rivers—the Indus, Punjâb (or Five Rivers), and the Sarasvâti—and
that they proceeded thence gradually along the Jumna and Ganges,
till they reached the Bay of Bengal. Ultimately, under the name of
Hindûs (whence Hindûstan), they occupied all the district around and
in connection with this great river system, displacing and driving
to the south an earlier race, who still inhabit the S.E. and S. of
the Deccan (Dakshina, so called as on the right hand—dexter—of the
invading Hindû race), and who are allied to the Moghols of Central
Asia. The dialect of the earlier, as of the existing populations to
the S. and E., is of Turanian or Nishada origin. The principal Aryan
dialects at present are BENGALI, HINDI, and MAHRATTA, all of them
lineal descendants of the Devanagari or Sanskrit, which is no longer
a spoken language. HINDUSTANI, though mainly Aryan in its vocabulary,
and wholly so in its structure, is rather the language of general
communication than a distinct dialect. See “Comparative Grammar of
the Aryan Languages of India,” by Beames. W. S. W. V. _See_ DRAVIDIAN.
INDO-CHINESE.
A collective term for a class of languages embracing ANAMITE,
SIAMESE, and allied dialects. See Leyden in “Asiatic Researches,”
vol. x.; Brown’s “Comparative Table” in the “Journal of the Asiatic
Society of Bengal,” 1837.
INDO-EUROPEAN, _see_ ARYAN.
Bopp’s “Comparative Grammar”; “Vergleichende Grammatik des Sansk.,
Zend., Griech., Lat., Lithau., Altslav., Gothischen und Deutschen,”
4 vols., Berlin, 1833-42; English translation by Eastwick, 3 vols.,
London, 1862.
INDO-GERMANIC.
Same as INDO-EUROPEAN. See Schleicher: “Indo-Germanische
Chrestomathie,” Weimar, 1869; Fick: “Wörterbuch der Indogermanischen
Sprachen,” Göttingen, 1871. W. W. S.
INDO-PARTHIAN.
Name for an early dynasty of Kabulistan, then probably of much
greater extent; their coins are found over the whole of the Punjab
and into India. W. S. W. V.
INDO-PORTUGUESE.
Mixed dialect used at the seaports of Ceylon, formed by a combination
of PORTUGUESE with DUTCH and SANSKRIT.
INDO-SCYTHIAN, INDO-SCYTHIC.
An early dynasty of Kabulistan founded about B.C. 80, by a nomadic
people called Yue-tchi by the Thibetans.
⁂ The language used by these monarchs on their coins is two-fold;
Aryan and Greek. See Wilson’s “Ariana Antiqua,” pp. 347-381. G. R.
INFLECTIONAL.
Same as polysyllabic; name for the highest class of speech yet known
to man. It is specially applied to the Aryan family of languages,
which express the “moods, tenses, cases, and all other modifications
of meaning in verbs and nouns by means of suffixes ... mutilated
fragments of words.”—_Farrar._
INGANOS.
AMERICAN: Indians of N. Granada. See “Vocabulario,” “Los Indios del
Andaqui,” pp. 20-21.
INGUSH.
Lesgian: a dialect of TSHETSH, spoken by the Lamur, hill-men of
Georgia and Circassia.
INHAMBANE.
African: a dialect of the MOZAMBIQUE.
INKALAIT, INKILIK, INKULUKHLUAIT, INGELMUT.
American: dialects of ATHABASCAN, spoken at the Eskimo frontier in
the N.W.; belonging to the KENAI stock. ☞
INKRA, _see_ ACCRA.
INNIUT _or_ INNUIT.
Native name for the ESKIMO. It means “the people.”
INONGO.
African: dialect of YARRIBA, vernacular on the W. Coast.
INSAM.
A PAPUAN dialect of New Guinea.
INSCRIPTIONS.
The most durable means of preserving individual records of written
speech. They are termed, variously, “incised,” “impressed,”
“lapidary,” “monumental,” “numismatic,” “painted.” The famous Rosetta
and Carpentras stones, and the decree of Canopus from Egypt, and
the Behistun rock inscriptions, are examples of bilingual records,
that serve, by means of comparison, to facilitate decipherment. The
Assyrian cuneiform writing and the Egyptian hieroglyphs have thus
been explained, and the Chinese have in use extensive libraries of
stone inscriptions at the present day. See Gesenius: “Scripturæ
Linguæque Phœniciæ Monumenta,” 2 vols., Leipsig, 1837.
INTIBUCA.
American: one of the four native languages of HONDURAS.
IONIC _or_ IONIAN.
A sub-dialect of classical GREEK; the original Ionians are said to
have been PELASGOI. It was largely cultivated in Asia Minor, and is
the dialect of Homer and Herodotus. For some time before the rise of
the Attic school, _circa_ B.C. 400, it was the established language
of prose literature. See Portus: “Dict.: Ionicum-Græc.-Lat.” London,
1825.
IOWA.
American: a dialect of DACOTA or SIOUX. Iowa, a State admitted in
1846, is derived from the PAHOJA, or “Grey-snow,” Indians, who now
reside N. of the R. Des-Moines. Schoolcraft: “History ... of the I.
Tribes,” Philadelphia, vol. iv., p. 307.
IQUITO.
American: a dialect of CARIB.
IRANIC _or_ IRANIAN.
Class name for the PERSIAN branch of the ARYAN family of languages.
It includes BACTRIAN or ZEND, ancient PERSIAN, PEHLEVI, PAZEND, and
modern PERSIAN. The word “Iranian” is from “Arya.” _See under_ ARYAN.
IRELAND, NEW, _under_ N.
IRISH _or_ ERSE (FENIC).
CELTIC: the native dialect of Ireland, and closely allied to GAELIC.
In writing it an alphabet is still in use, formed from the Latin, and
closely resembling the old Anglo-Saxon characters, which were in fact
borrowed from it. See Dicty. by O’Reilly, Dublin, 1864; “Old Irish
Glosses,” by Stokes and others. W. W. S.
IROFA.
JAPANESE alphabet, taken from the first three letters.
IRON, IRUN, IRAN.
A dialect of the Caucasus. _See_ OSSET.
IROQUOIS, IROKESE.
AMERICAN: it has a double import—1. As the special name of a tribe
or nation, of the State of New York. 2. As a general name for the
class, the most important members of which, the Iroquois themselves,
the Onondagas, the Senecas, the formidable Mohawks, and others are,
probably, the most familiar representatives of the traditional Red
Indian, especially in his capacity of hero and warrior. R. G. L.
See Schoolcraft: “Comparative Vocaby.,” Albany, 1847; Vocaby. by
Howse, “Proceed. Philol. Socy.,” vol. iv., London, 1856.
IRULA, IRULAR.
Dravidian: a dialect of CANARESE, vernacular in the Nilgherry Hills;
it is allied to BUDUGUR. Vocaby. in Hunter’s “Comp. Dicty.”
ISANNA.
American: a dialect of BANIWA; others are the TOMO-MAROA and the
JAVITA.
ISÈRE.
A sub-dialect of PROVENÇAL. Ducoin: Notice in “Courrier de l’Isère,”
1834.
ISIELE.
African: a dialect of the YORUBA, allied to ARO, MBOFIA, and ISOAMA.
H. C.
ISMAELITE, ISHMAELITE.
ARABIC: dialect of N. Arabia.
ISOAMA _or_ ISWAMA.
African: a dialect of the YORUBA, with the same affinities as the
ISIELE. H. C.
ISOLATING.
A term for monosyllabic forms of speech.
ISSEL.
OVER-YSSEL: provincial dialect of Holland.
ISUBU.
AFRICAN: spoken near the Cameroon, W. Africa; it is classed by Bleek
as BANTU.
⁂ One of the three best known languages of the coast belonging to
the N.W. branch of the Kaffir; the BENGA and DUALLA being the other
two. In all three there is a large and laudable amount of missionary
literature: the most in the Dualla, the least in the Benga. R. G. L.
ITALIAN.
(1) The native tongue of Italy, spoken in many dialects. It is formed
directly from the LATIN or OLD ITALIC, by union with the TEUTONIC
forms of GOTHIC and Longobardic settlers. Called the “vulgar tongue”
by Dante, Petrarch, and Boccacio, it has since been much polished in
Tuscany, and now forms one of the most refined languages of modern
society, lending itself specially to the requirements of vocal
melody. See Manuzzi: “Vocab. della Crusca,” 4 vols., Florence, 1868.
(2) Dialects are divided into classes: 1, the LOMBARDIC, or dialects
of Upper Italy; 2, the ROMANIC, or dialects of Middle Italy; 3,
the NEAPOLITAN, or dialects of S. Italy; 4, Cant or slang, called
FURBESCO and ZERGA or GERGO.
ITALIC or OLD ITALIAN.
A collective name for that branch of the ARYAN family of languages
which includes classical Latin, Oscan, Umbrian, Messapian or
Iapygian, and perhaps Tosk, Tuscan, or Etruscan, all with alphabets
allied to the early Roman. Fabbretti: “Glossarium,” Turin, 1838, &c.
_See_ ROMANCE.
ITAM.
Term in MALAY. _See_ BOLONG.
ITE _or_ ITENAZ, _and_ ITONOMA.
American: dialects of BOLIVIA, spoken in the missions of Moxos, and
allied to CHAPACURA. H. C.
ADDENDA.
IBBODAH.
AFRICAN: native name of the Kacunda, who speak SHABUN.
IDDOA.
AMERICAN: native name of the Scott’s Valley Indians; they speak a
dialect of SHASTA.
IDIBAE.
AMERICAN: aborigines of Darien.
IGALA.
AFRICAN: a separate language from IGARRA, spoken in the Yoruba
district. See Kölle’s “Pol. Afr.” H. C.
IHONGWORONG, _under_ J.
ILDEFENSO.
AMERICAN: same as ALDEFENSO. _See_ PUEBLO.
ILLANO, ILYANO.
Same as HILLUNA. _See_ ILOCANA.
INABAK, INAGATA.
Malayan: sub-dialects of ABAK.
INGRIAN.