SECTION II.
Of the Origin, Manners, and Language of the Chilese.
The origin of the primitive inhabitants of Chili, like that of all the nations and tribes of the aboriginal Americans, is involved in impenetrable obscurity. Many of the natives consider themselves as indigenous, while others derive their origin from a foreign stock, supposing their ancestors to have come from the north or from the west; but as they were utterly unacquainted with the art of writing, they have no records or monuments from which to elucidate this inquiry, and their traditionary accounts are too crude and imperfect to afford any degree of rational information on the subject. The Chilese call their first progenitors Pegni Epatum, signifying the brothers named Epatum. They call them likewise glyce, or primitive men; and in their assemblies invoke their ancestors and deities in a loud voice, crying Pom, pam, pum, mari, mari, Epunamen, Amimalguen, Pegni Epatum. The meaning of these words is uncertain, unless we may suppose it to have some connexion with the word pum, used by the Chinese to signify the first created man, or the one who was saved from the deluge. The lamas or priests of Thibet are likewise said to repeat to their rosaries, the syllables om, am, um, or hom, ham, hum; which corresponds in some measure with the customary exclamation of the Chilese.
It appears probable that the whole of Chili had been originally peopled by one nation, as all the native tribes, however independent of each other, speak the same language, and have a similar appearance. The inhabitants of the plains are of good stature, but those who dwell in the valleys of the Andes, usually surpass the ordinary height of man. The features of both are regular, and none of them have ever attempted to improve nature by disfiguring their faces, to render themselves more beautiful or more formidable. Their complexion, like the other American natives, is reddish brown or copper-coloured, but of a clearer hue than the other Americans; and readily changes to white. A tribe which dwells in the district of Baroa, is of a clear white and red like Europeans, without any tinge of copper colour. As this tribe differs in no other respect from the rest of the Chilese, this difference in complexion may be owing to some peculiar influence of the climate which they inhabit, or to their greater civilization. Some persons have been disposed to attribute this difference in colour to an intermixture with a number of Spanish prisoners taken during the unfortunate war of the sixteenth century: But the Spanish prisoners were equally distributed among the other tribes, none of whom are white; and besides, the first Spaniards who came to Chili were all from the southern provinces of Spain, where ruddy complexions are extremely rare.
From the harmony, richness, and regularity of the Chilese language, we are led to conclude that the natives must in former times have possessed a much greater degree of civilization than now, or that they are the remains of a great and illustrious nation, which has been ruined by some of these physical or moral revolutions which have occasioned such astonishing changes in the world. The Chilese language is so exceedingly copious, both in radical words, and in the use of compounds, that a complete dictionary of it would fill a large volume. Every verb, either derivatively or conjunctively, becomes the root of numerous other verbs and nouns, both adjectives and substantives, which in their turn produce others of a secondary, nature which may be modified in a hundred different manners. From every word in the language, a verb may be formed by adding a final n. Even from the most simple particles, verbs may be thus formed, by which at the same time great precision and great strength are given to conversation. Yet the language contains no irregular verb or noun, every thing being regulated by the most wonderful precision and simplicity, so that the theory of the language is remarkably easy, and may be learnt in a very short time. It abounds also in harmonious and sonorous syllables, which give it much sweetness and variety; yet is injured by the frequent recurrence of the sound of u. The Chilese language differs essentially from every other American language, both in words and construction, with the exception of eighteen or twenty words of Peruvian origin, which is not to be wondered at, considering the contiguity of the two countries. The most singular circumstance in this language is, that it contains a considerable number of words apparently of Greek and Latin derivation, and having similar significations in both languages; yet I am inclined to believe that this circumstance is merely accidental[54].
[Footnote 54: Perhaps these words may have been adopted into the Chilese language from the Spaniards, who speak a kind of dialect of Latin. The remainder of this section is an abridgement of an Essay on the Chilese language, appended to the second volume of Molina.--E.]
The original language of Chili, generally called the Araucanian, is denominated by the natives Chili-dugu, or the Chili speech or language. The alphabet is the same as the Latin, except the want of x, which indeed is only a compound letter. The s likewise only occurs in about twenty of their words, and never at the termination; and the z is still more rare. Besides the ordinary letters, the Chilese has the mute e, and a peculiar u like the Greek and French; the former being designated by the acute, and the latter by the grave accent, to distinguish them from the ordinary e and u. This latter u is often changed to i. It has likewise a nasal g and a th; which latter is often changed to ch, as chegua for thegua, a dog. There are no gutturals or aspirates. All the words end either in one of the six vowels, or in b,d,f,g,l,m,n,r, or v; so that there are fifteen distinct terminations. The accent is usually on the penult vowel, sometimes on the last, but never on the antipenult. The radical words, mostly monosyllables or dissyllables, are estimated at 1973. As far as we have been able to discover, these radicals have no analogy with any other known idiom, though the language contains a number of Greek and Latin words very little varied, as in the following table. It is proper to mention, that the orthography of the Chilese words is given according to the Italian pronunciation.
CHILESE. GREEK. SIGNIFICATION Aldun Aldein to increase. Ale Ele splendour. Amun Mouen to go. Cai Kai and. Ga Ga in truth. Lampaicon Lampein to shine. Mulan Mullen to pulverise. Pele Pelos mud. Reuma Reuma a stream. Tupan Tupein to whip.
CHILESE. LATIN. Aren Ardere to burn. Cupa. Cupere to desire. Dapein Dapinare to feast. Ejun Ejulare to weep. Lev Levis active, swift. Lumalmen Lumen light. Lui Lux brightness. Man Manus the right. Putun Potare to drink. Valin Valere to be worth. Valen Valere to be able. Une Unus one.