First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology / to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution 1879-1880, Government Printing Office 1881 - Unknown

“The progress made by various students, and the studies made by the author, alike require that a new edition be prepared to meet the more advanced wants and to embody the results of wider studies. Under these circumstances the present edition is published. It does not purport to be a philosophic treatment of the subject of language; it is not a comparative grammar of Indian tongues; it is simply a series of explanations of certain characteristics almost universally found by students of Indian languages—the explanations being of such a character as experience has shown would best meet the wants of persons practically at work in the field on languages with which they are unfamiliar. The book is a body of directions for collectors.

“It is believed that the system of schedules, followed seriatim, will lead the student in a proper way to the collection of linguistic materials; that the explanations given will assist him in overcoming the difficulties which he is sure to encounter; and that the materials when collected will constitute valuable contributions to philology. It has been the effort of the author to connect the study of language with the study of other branches of anthropology, for a language is best understood when the habits, customs, institutions, philosophy—the subject-matter of thought embodied in the language—are best known. The student of language should be a student of the people who speak the language; and to this end the book has been prepared, with many hints and suggestions relating to other branches of anthropology.”

The title of this publication is as follows:

Pp. i-xii, 1-228, and 8 ruled leaves. 4^o.

The following is the

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter I.—On the Alphabet.
		Page.
Vowels		4
Diphthongs		5
Consonants		6
Mutes		6
Nasals		7
Spirants		8
Sibilants		9
W, Y, R, L, and H		9
Interrupted sounds		11
Synthetic sounds		12
Complex combinations		13
Alphabet		14
Chapter II.—Hints and Explanations.
§ 1.	—Persons	18
§ 2.	—Parts of the body	18
§ 3.	—Dress and ornaments	18
§ 4.	—Dwellings	20
§ 5.	—Implements and utensils	23
§ 6.	—Food	24
§ 7.	—Colors	25
§ 8.	—Numerals	25
§ 9.	—Measures	26
§ 10.	—Division of time	27
§ 11.	—Standards of value	27
§ 12.	—Animals	28
§ 13.	—Plants, &c.	29
§ 14.	—Geographic terms	29
§ 15.	—Geographic names	30
§ 16.	—The firmament, meteorologic and other physical phenomenaand objects	30
§ 17.	—Kinship	30
§ 18.	—Social organization	38
§ 19.	—Government	40
§ 20.	—Religion	41
§ 21.	—Mortuary customs	42
§ 22.	—Medicine	43
§ 23.	—Amusements	44
§ 24.	—New words	45
	Remarks on nouns	46
§ 25.	—Accidents of nouns—demonstrative and adjectivepronouns	46
§ 26.	—Personal and article pronouns—transitiveverbs	47
§ 27.	—Possession	49
§ 28.	—Intransitive verbs—adjectives, adverbs,prepositions, and nouns used as verbs	49
§ 29.	—Voice, mode, and tense	51
§ 30.	—Additional investigations suggested	55
§ 31.	—On the best method of studying materialscollected	59
§ 32.	—The rank of Indian languages	69

Chapter III.—Schedules.
Schedule 1.	—Persons			77
2.	—Parts of the body			78
3.	—Dress and ornaments			82
4.	—Dwellings			84
5.	—Implements and utensils			88
	Wooden ware			90
	Stone implements			91
	Shell, horn, bone, &c.			92
	Basket ware			93
	Pottery			94
6.	—Food			95
7.	—Colors			96
8.	—Numerals—Cardinal numbers			97
	Ordinal numbers			98
	Numeral adverbs, &c.			100
	Multiplicatives			101
	Distributives			102
9.	—Measures			103
10.	—Division of time			105
11.	—Standards of value			107
12.	—Animals—Mammals			109
	Parts of body, &c., ofmammals			113
	Birds			115
	Parts of body, &c., of birds			121
	Fish			122
	Parts of the body, &c., offish			123
	Reptiles			124
	Insects			125
13.	—Plants			127
14.	—Geographic terms			129
15.	—Geographic names			131
16.	—The firmament, meteorologic and otherphysical phenomena and objects			132
17.	—Kinship.—Relatives.—	Lineal descendants of self, male speaking		134
		Lineal ascendants of self, male speaking		135
		First collateral line, male speaking		136
		Second collateral line, male speaking		137
		Third collateral line, male speaking		139
		Fourth collateral line (male branch), malespeaking		146
		Fourth collateral line (female branch), malespeaking		147
		Lineal descendants of self, femalespeaking		148
		Lineal ascendants of self, female speaking		149
		First collateral line, female speaking		150
		Second collateral line, female speaking		151
		Third collateral line, female speaking		153
		Fourth collateral line (male branch), femalespeaking		160
		Fourth collateral line (female branch), femalespeaking		161
	Affinities throughrelatives—		Descendants of self, male speaking	162
			First collateral line, male speaking	163
			Second collateral line, male speaking	164
			Third collateral line, male speaking	166
	Affinities through the marriage ofself, male speaking			171
	Affinities throughrelatives—		Descendants of self, female speaking	172
			First collateral line, female speaking	173
			Second collateral line, female speaking	174
			Third collateral line, female speaking	176
	Affinities through the marriage ofself, female speaking			181
	Ordinal names of children			182
18.	—Social organization			183
19.	—Government			185
20.	—Religion			186
21.	—Mortuary customs			187
22.	—Medicine			189
23.	—Amusements			191
24.	—New words			192
25.	—Number and gender ofnouns—Demonstrative and adjective pronouns			196
26.	—Personal and articlepronouns—Transitive verbs			200
27.	—Possession			206
28.	—Intransitive verbs, adjectives, adverbs,prepositions, and nouns used as verbs			210
29.	—Voice, mode and tense			221
30.	—Additional investigations suggested			228

Experience had demonstrated the propriety of some changes in the alphabet and a considerable enlargement of the scheme as given in the first edition of the work, and in the second Major Powell has made many modifications. The schedule of relationship was so large that graphic representation was considered necessary, and charts were prepared which it was thought both the student and the Indian could follow it with comparative ease. Experience has shown that the idea was well founded.