Notes and queries on anthropology / edited for the Council of the Anthropological Institute by John George Garson, M.D. and Charles Hercules Read, F.S.A.

Date:
1892
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Notes and queries on anthropology / edited for the Council of the Anthropological Institute by John George Garson, M.D. and Charles Hercules Read, F.S.A. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by University of Bristol Library. The original may be consulted at University of Bristol Library.

    197/272 (page 183)
    No. XLIIL—LANGUAGE. The only really satisfactory method of treating a language for anthropological purposes is to have a complete grammar and dictionary drawn up. As to the compilation ot sucli, m savage languages, two suggestions are worth making. ±irst, that the dictionary should be printed with the grammar prefixed, otherwise neither will be properly available ; second, that specimens of native compositions, such as folk-lore tales, poems, traditions, prayers, &c., should be taken down verbatim, and published with an accurate translation, with the grammar and dictionary. Where it is impossible to deal with the language in this thorough way, the fullest vocabulary possible should be drawn up, and sentences carefully taken down and translated word for word. The practice of judging of the affinities of a language by means of a short vocabulary ot isolated words, without a guide to the grammatical structure, is to be condemned as loose and misleading. The missionary alphabet of Professor Max Miiller and the phonetic alphabets of Mr. A. J. Ellis and Mr. Melville Bell may be used ; the former is here inserted (p. 171) for the use of travellers. (See 'Outline Dictionary for the use of Missionaries, Ex- plorers, &c.' Triibner and Co., Ludgate Hill.) Whatever alphabet is used, the one essential point is to use each character for one sound, and one only, defining the pronun- ciation of each by examples from well-known languages. For special sounds not represented in the alphabet, combined or modified letters may be used. ]. What sounds are used in the language ? and which differ from those of European languages? and what sounds are they unable to pronounce 1 2. What expressive interjections are in common use ? and how are they like or unlike our own 1 3. Does the meaning of words and sentences depend much or little on tone, accent, or emphasis ? 5. Can a sentence, such as an interrogative or affirmative, be roughly written with musical notes to show rise and fall of tone ? 6. Are there