Language
The bases for definite knowledge of the Seri tongue are the five vocabularies described on other pages (13, 95, 97, 102, and 107).
The earliest of these vocabularies, comprising eleven terms, was collected in Hermosillo in 1850 by Señor Lavandera, presumably from the tribal outlaw Kolusio, and transmitted to Señor Ramirez for discussion. This pioneer vocabulary is superseded by those of later date.
The second Seri word-collection was made by Commissioner Bartlett at Hermosillo in 1852; it was obtained from Kolusio, and comprises some two hundred words.
The third vocabulary was obtained at Hermosillo during or about 1860, doubtless from Kolusio, by Señor Tenochio; it comprises about one hundred terms; it was discussed and published by Señor Pimentel, and served as a basis for the first scientific classification of the tribe and their collinguals.
The fourth Seri vocabulary was that obtained by M Pinart at Hermosillo in 1879, almost certainly from Kolusio; it comprises over six hundred words, with a few short phrases.
The latest word-collection is the Bureau (or McGee) vocabulary, obtained on the Seri frontier in 1894 through Mashém, subchief of the tribe; it comprises some three hundred vocables with a few short phrases, accompanied by explanatory notes.
The several collections are entirely independent: Lavandera’s record was made in Spanish, at the request of Ramirez; Bartlett was not aware of the earlier record, and wrote in English; Tenochio knew nothing of Bartlett’s work, was probably not aware of Lavandera’s, and wrote in Spanish; Pinart, though French in blood and mother-tongue, was fully conversant with Spanish, in which his record was made, and apparently knew nothing of the earlier vocabularies; while the Bureau recorder had not seen any of the earlier records and had shadowy knowledge of the existence of two of them only at the time of making his own.
Naturally the several vocabularies overlap to a considerable extent, and thus afford means of verification. Those of Bartlett, Tenochio, and Pinart, all obtained from the same informant, are notably consistent, despite the diversity in language on the part of the recorders; and their correspondence with the Bureau vocabulary is hardly less close (except for the comparative absence of terms for alien concepts in the latter record) than their agreement among each other. Accordingly, the linguistic collections, although far less full than would be desirable, are fairly satisfactory so far as vocables are concerned; but unhappily the few short phrases in the Pinart and Bureau collections are quite too meager to elucidate the grammatic structure of the language.
The aggregate number of vocables in the several records is some seven hundred. Of these over 97 per cent are apparently distinctive, presenting no resemblance whatever to any other known tongue. The remaining eighteen or twenty terms reveal resemblances to Aryan, Piman, Cochimi, or other alien languages; but of these the majority express Caucasian concepts, familiar enough to the outlaw informant, Kolusio, though generally unfamiliar to Mashém and to other actual inhabitants of Seriland.