Language.—Before coming to actual language, remark may be made on the natural communication of all races carried on by pantomimic signs without spoken words. This is the “gesture language” to which we are accustomed among the deaf-and-dumb, and which sometimes also comes into practical use between tribes ignorant of one another’s languages, as on the American prairies. It is so far the same in principle everywhere, that the explorer visiting a new tribe, having to make frequent use of signs to supplement his interpreter, or to eke out his own scanty knowledge of the native language, soon adapts himself to the particular signs in vogue. He will observe that, as to most common signs, such as asking for food or drink, or beckoning or warning off a stranger, he understands and is understood quite naturally. Signs which are puzzling at first sight will prove on examination to be intelligible. Some are imitative gestures cut short to save trouble, or they may have a meaning which was once evident, like the American Indian sign for dog, made by trailing two forked fingers, which does not show its meaning now, but did so in past times, when one of the principal occupations of the dog was to trail a pair of tent-poles attached to his back. Besides its practical use, the gesture-language has much scientific interest from the perfect way in which it exposes the working of the human mind, expressing itself by a series of steps which are all intelligible. It will be particularly observed that it has a strict syntax; for instance, that the quality or adjective must always follow the subject or substantive it is applied to. Thus, “the white box” may be expressed by imitating the shape and opening of a box, and then touching a piece of linen or paper to show its colour; but if the signs be put in the contrary order, as in the English words, the native will be perplexed. It is worth while, in countries where gesture-language is regularly used, to note down the usual signs and their exact order.
In recording a vocabulary of a language not yet reduced to form in a grammar and dictionary, the traveller may seek for equivalents of the principal classes of words in his own grammar: verbs, substantives, adjectives, pronouns, prepositions, etc. But the structure of the language he is examining will probably differ from any he is familiar with, the words actually used not coming precisely into these classes. The best method is for the traveller to learn a simple sentence, such as “the men are coming,” and to ascertain what changes will convert them into “the men are going,” “the women are coming.” He thus arrives at the real elements of the language and the method of combining them. Having arrived at this point, he will be able to collect and classify current ideas, such as the following:—
Actions—as stand, walk, sleep, eat, see, make, etc.
Natural Objects and Elements—as sun, moon, star, mountain, river, fire, water, etc.
Man and other Animals—as man, woman, boy, girl, deer, buck, doe, eagle, eagles, etc.
Parts of Body—as head, arm, leg, skin, bone, blood, etc.
Trees and Plants.
Numerals (noticing how far they extend, and whether referring to fingers).
Instruments and Appliances—as spear, bow, hatchet, needle, pot, boat, cord, house, roof, &c.