But this language, which had also partly spread in Florida, and in South America, has the appearance of being a mixt speech. This appears from the many synonyms, the deviations of dialects, and the double forms, or relative position of words. In the small eastern islands the Eyeris or Cabres had been destroyed by the Caribs, who preserved the women, and these preserved their own language, mixt with some Carib words and taught it to their daughters; so as to produce a double language, that of the women being quite peculiar. This singular fact well authenticated, will enable us to presume a similar conquest and custom, wherever we shall meet in America, with a peculiar female idiom.
The many nations or tribes mentioned in the traditions, which had gradually amalgamated; and the settlement in Cuba and [pg 217] Hayti of the Mayas, will account for this mixture of synonyms. But the existence also of many homonyms, leads us to a former more simple speech, probably monosyllabic and quite regular as the oriental idioms, to which it is most akin.
From the primitive languages of North Africa and South Europe, it had received this regular position of ideas; but by the mixture with the Maya and Mexican nations using the inverse form, it borrowed that new form. The same happened in Europe to the Celtic and Oriental tribes, who received in Greece and Italy the inverse form of speech from the Scythian, Illyrian and Gothic tribes.
The comparative examination of the Haytian and dialects, was pursued by me, upon all the languages of the earth, as I was determined that one American nation at least, should be traced philologically to its real origin. Thus I found many thousand analogies of it, out of which I have used about 1500 in the annals, notes and vocabularies. A single American language does then contain more comparative analogies in about 200 words than all those collected by Vater and Malte, out of 400 American languages; and this fact upsets all the illusions, theories and false views, based thereon by them, Humboldt and others.
But this comprehensive labour teaches [pg 218] other facts, by far more important and available. 1. That American languages have analogies with all the languages of the earth, 2. That they have similar analogies with each other, 3. That it is only the superior number of analogies that may indicate a filial or parental connection out of America, 4. And that also similar greatest number of analogies, indicate the parental relations of American languages and nations between themselves, 5. Lastly that unless a language and nation is compared with all the others, we can never ascertain accurately, nor trace its real parentage philologically.
This consequence is obvious, although it will not please the lazy or timid philologists and historians. It shall be further pursued and elucidated hereafter; but now let us apply these rules to the Haytian.
I could give 400 comparisons. Let us select a few.
1. Ainu of Choka islands between Japan and Kamchatka, 22 comparable words 4 alike in Haytian—Boat, house, no, drink—Mutual affinity only 21 per cent. No parentage.
2. Singala of Ceylon, 50 comparable words, 16 analogies, with Haytian—Mutual affinity 32 per cent. Very distant parentage.
3. Guanch of the Canary island nearest to Hayti in the east, 32 comparable words, 14 akin. Mutual affinity 42 per cent. Distant connection.