[114] “Travels” (English translation), i. 298.
[115] Gibbon: “Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire” (ed. Milman and Smith), vii. p. 387. Dr. Deffner, however, asserts that there never was a tithe of that number of dialects in the country.
[116] Prince Lucien Bonaparte reckons that there are 660,000 Basques in Spain and 140,000 in France.
[117] Sayce: “Principles of Comparative Philology” (2nd edition), p. 87.
[118] The progress of cuneiform research has shown that a similar woman’s dialect existed among the Accadians, and “a woman’s language” is also said to exist in Bengal.
[119] “United States Exploring Expedition,” vii. 290.
[120] “Natal Colonist,” Sept. 3rd, 1875. Mr. Theal says (“The Cape Monthly Magazine,” June, 1877, p. 349): “A woman, who sang the song of ‘Tangalimlibo’ for me, used the word angoca, instead of amanzi, for ‘water,’ because this last contained the syllable nzi, which she would not on any account pronounce. She had, therefore, manufactured another word, the meaning of which had to be judged by the context, as, standing alone, it is meaningless.” This is a good instance of the way in which a savage dialect may grow up.
[121] Waitz, iii. 477.
[122] Mi took the place of o in old Japanese, hence the title of the Mi-kado, or “high Gate” (Grande Porte).
[123] See Hoffmann: “Japanese Grammar,” pp. 72 sq. and § 111-120.