I.
SERIFORM STOCK.
Physical conformation.—Mongol.
Languages.—Either wholly aptotic, or with only the rudiments of an inflection.
Area.—China, Tibet, and the Indo-Chinese, or Transgangetic, Peninsula, as far as Malaya; the Himalayan, and parts of the sub-Himalayan, range of mountains.
Chief Divisions.—1. The Chinese. 2. The Tibetans. 3. The Anamese. 4. The Siamese. 5. The Kambojians. 6. The Burmese. 7. The Môn. 8. Numerous unplaced tribes.
I have begun with the nations and tribes represented by the Chinese, Tibetans, and Indo-Chinese, on the strength of the primitive condition of their languages. This represents the earliest known stage of human speech; by which I mean, not that it was spoken earlier than the other tongues of the world, but only that it has changed, or grown, more slowly. I should also add, that over and above the fact of these languages being destitute of true inflection, the separate words generally consist of only a single syllable. Hence the class has been called monosyllabic. This latter character, however, has no essential connection with the aptotic form. A language of dissyllables or trisyllables may, for any thing known to the contrary, be as destitute of inflections as a monosyllabic one. Still, it must be admitted that no such tongue has yet been discovered.
THE CHINESE.
Locality.—China; bounded by the countries of the Koreans, Mantshu, Mongolians, Tibetans, and the hill tribes of the Transgangetic Peninsula and Assam.
Religion.—Modified Buddhism, or the religion of Fo.
Mode of Writing.—Rhæmatographic, i.e. the written signs represent whole words;[9] not merely the parts of words, single articulate sounds or syllables.