A Record of Study in Aboriginal American Languages

by Daniel G. Brinton

In ([70]) recent vocabularies of the Andoa and Cataquina tongues are examined and their linguistic relations discussed.

Many of the above articles, written previous to 1890, were collected by me in that year and published in a volume entitled “Essays of an Americanist” (pp. 489. Philadelphia). For the convenience of those who may wish to refer to them I add here a complete list of the essays which it contains.

Part I.—Ethnologic and Archæologic.—A Review of the Data for the Study of the Prehistoric Chronology of America. On Palæoliths, American and others. On the alleged Mongolian Affinities of the American Race. The Probable Nationality of the Mound-Builders of the Ohio Valley. The Toltecs of Mexico and their Fabulous Empire.

Part II.—Mythology and Folk-lore.—The Sacred Names in the Mythology of the Quiches of Guatemala. The Hero-God of the Algonkins as a Cheat and Liar. The Journey of the Soul in Egyptian, Aryan and American Mythology. The Sacred Symbols of the Cross, the Svastika and the Triqetrum in America. The Modern Folk-lore of the Natives of Yucatan. The Folk-lore of the Modern Lênapé Indians.

Part III.—Graphic Systems and Literature.—The Phonetic Elements in the Hieroglyphs of the Mayas and Mexicans. The Ikonomatic Method of Phonetic Writing used by the Ancient Mexicans. The Writings and Records of the Ancient Mayas of Yucatan. The Books of Chilan Balam, the Sacred Volume of the Modern Mayas. Translation of the Inscription on “The Stone of The Giants” at Orizaba, Mexico. The Poetry of the American Indians, with Numerous Examples.

Part IV.—Linguistic.—American Aboriginal Languages, and why we should study them. Wilhelm von Humboldt’s Researches in American Languages. Some Characteristics of American Languages. The Earliest Form of Human Speech, as Revealed by American Languages. The Conception of Love, as expressed in some American Languages. The Lineal Measures of the Semi-Civilized Nations of Mexico and Central America. The Curious Hoax about the Taensa Language.

[6-1] Beiträge zur Lehre der Wortzusammensetzung. Leiden. 1896.

[6-2] In this connection I would refer students to an instructive passage of Heinrich Wrinkler on “Die Hauptformen in den Amerikanischen Sprachen,” in his work Zur Sprachgeschichte (Berlin, 1887) and to his essay on the Pokonchi Language in his Weiteres zur Sprachgeschichte, (Berlin, 1889).

[6-3] See my remarks on this tongue in the American Anthropologist, August, 1898, p. 251.

[6-4] Interesting examples in the Preface to S. T. Rand’s Micmac Dictionary (Halifax, 1888).