COMPARISONS.
The Chillulah, Wheelcutta, and Kailta were spoken on Redwood Creek, but before the extinction of these people, their languages were merged into that of the Hoopahs by whom they were subjugated. The language of the Chimalquays of New River has also been absorbed by the Hoopah. Of the Chimalquays Powers hyperbolically remarks "their language was like the mountain city of California, beautiful in its simplicity, but frail."[IV'-11]
THE POMO FAMILY AND ITS DIALECTS.
At Humboldt Bay a language called Patawat is mentioned, and in Round Valley the Yuka. The numerals in the latter tongue are—pongwe, one;opeh, two;malmeh, three; andomehet, four. In Potter Valley is the Tahtoo language which Mr Powers thinks may belong to the Pomo or the Yuka.[IV'-12]In the Eel River and Russian River valleys as far as the mouth of Russian River and in Potter Valley, the different tribes known by the names of Ukiahs or Yokias, Sanèls, Gallinomeros, Masallamagoons, Gualalas, and Matoles, speak various dialects of the Pomo language, which obtains in Potter Valley and the dialects of which become more and more estranged according to the distance from the aboriginal centre. The Pomo men are good linguists; they readily acquire all the different dialects of their language, which in places differ to such an extent, that unless they are previously learned they cannot be understood. Pomo women are not allowed to learn any dialect but their own.
The following comparative table of numerals will illustrate the relationship of these tribes, among which I include the Kulanapo spoken near Clear Lake, and of which Mr Gibbs has also noticed an affinity to the Russian River and Eel River languages; also, the language spoken by the natives of the Yonios Ranchería in Marin County.[IV'-13]
GALLINOMERO GRAMMAR.
On the Gallinomero dialect I make a few grammatical remarks. In conversation the Gallinomeros are rather slovenly and make use of frequent contractions and abbreviations like the English can't and shan't, which makes it difficult for a stranger to understand them. Another difficulty for the student is the convertibility of a number of letters, such astintoch,shintoch,iintoah, etc. Nouns have neither number, case, nor gender; the first being only occasionally indicated by a separate word—cha ataboónya, one man;aco ataboónja, two men. The genitive is formed by placing the words in juxtaposition—atópte meätega, the chief's brother; the governed word being always prepositive. None of the remaining cases are distinguished; for example—chadúna bidácha, I see the river;bidácha hoalye, I go to the river, or, into the river;bidácha huodúna, I come out of the river;didácha toholeéna, I go away from the river; the accusative may be recognized as being placed immediately after the verb, but there are many exceptions to this rule. Sometimes the accusative is also marked by the endinggaorgen—chechoanoótugen, I strike the boy; but this is seldom used. Verbs are always regular. There are present, imperfect, and future tenses, and three forms of the imperative, all distinctly marked by tense endings.
In some instances these endings are changed for thesake of euphony, certain letters being elided. The endings may really be called auxiliary verbs, attached to the principal verb. Thus the imperfect reads, literally, 'would be I go do,' the endingteena, being nothing but the wordtseena, with thesomitted. In like manner the future is formed, as intudáwa, to want, which is changed intocúwa.
There is nothing to denote number in the verb, as can be seen in the
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO BE.
Of the imperative, the following may serve as an example:hoáleluh, let me go;hoalin, go thou;hoálegun, let him go. The verbchadúna, to see, may signify either I see, or seeing, or to see, or it may be construed as a substantive—sight; or as an adjective in agglutination, aschadunatoboónya, a watchful man.Chanhódinis an auxiliary verb and is always prepositive. The pronouns are,ah,ahto, orahmet, I;ama, thou; andwemo,waymo,hamo, orámata, he. The first person of the pronoun is always omitted, except with the verb to be, and the second and third persons frequently. Pronominal adjectives are quite irregular, asowkey, fromah;maykey, fromama;wébakey, fromwemo; and they are also used irregularly with nouns. Thus inmedde, father;ahmen, orowkáhmen, oráhmedde, being equivalent to I father, my father. Here, also, euphony steps in and makes words sometimes wholly unrecognizable, asahtótána, equivalent toméhand, and still more different, asmamówky, this is for me. Your father ismáykemay; his father,wébamen. Thus it will be seen thatmeddeis changed, or abbreviated, intomen, andmay. Sometimes the personal pronoun is agglutinated to the verb, and sometimes it is not;—chechoánomdo(chechoána meto), I strike you;meto tudáwa, I love you. As in many other Pacific States languages, we have here a reverentialsyllable, which in this language is always prefixed, whereas in others, for instance the Aztec, it is an affix. Speaking of persons related, or of things belonging, to the chief, the reverentialmeorjin, is always prefixed;—owkeybaì, my wife;maykeybaì, your wife;atópte meëtchen, the chief's wife;shinna, head;metoshin, your head;webashin, his head;atópte jinshinna, the chief's head. All adjectives are really substantives, and are used for both purposes. Thus,ootu, boy, also signifies little, or young. Adjectives are generally placed after nouns—majey codey, good day; but there are also many exceptions to this rule. Comparatives are expressed by the particlepala, more;—paleyabáta waymo ahmet, he is greater than I,palabecomingpaléya, in composition. This is only used by the more intelligent class. A Gallinomero of the lower order would say,bata waymo ahmet, great he I. The principal characteristics of the language are euphony and brevity, to which all things else are subservient, but nevertheless, as I have shown already, agglutination is carried to the farthest extent.[IV'-14]
TRANS-PACIFIC COMPARISONS.
As will be seen by the following comparative table, the Pomo language, or rather one of its dialects, the Kulanapo, shows some affinity to the Malay family of languages. Of one hundred and seventy words which I have compared, I find fifteen per cent. showing Malay similarities, and more could perhaps have been found if the several vocabularies had been made upon some one system. As it is, I have been obliged to use a Malay, a Tonga, and other Polynesian vocabularies, taken by different persons, at different times. Without attempting to establish any relationship between the Polynesians and Californians, I present these similarities merely as a fact; these analogies I find existing nowhere else in California, and between them and no other Trans-Pacific peoples.[IV'-15]
The similarities existing between the Japanese and Chinese, and the Californian languages, appearing from a careful comparison of the same one hundred and seventy words, are insufficient to establish any relationship; the few resemblances may be regarded as purely accidental. Of these words I insert the following, which are all between which I have been able to discover any likeness:
The Choweshak and Batemdakaiee are mentioned as being spoken at the head of Eel River, and the Chocuyem in Marin County, near the Mission of San Rafael. On Russian River, there yet remain to bementioned the Olamentke, and the Chwachamaju. All these may be properly classed as dialects nearly related to the Pomo family, and some of them may even be the same dialects under different names.[IV'-16]
Of the Chocuyem I give the following Lord's Prayer:
Api maco su lilecoe, ma nénas mi aués omai mácono mi taucuchs oyópa mi tauco chaquenit opú neyatto chaquenit opu liletto. Tu maco muye genum ji naya macono sucuji sulia mácono masócte, chague mat opu ma suli mayaco. Macoi yangia ume omutto, ulémi mácono omu incapo. Nette esa Jesus.[IV'-17]
In Round Valley, northern California, there is the before-mentioned Yuka language, which is connected with the Wapo, or Ashochemie, spoken near Calistoga, and in the mountains leading thence to the Geysers.[IV'-18]
On Yuba and Feather rivers are the Meidoos and Neeshenams of whose language Powers says that "the Meidoo shades away so gradually into the Neeshenam that it is extremely difficult to draw a line anywhere. But it must be drawn somewhere, because a vocabulary taken down on Feather River will lose three fourths of its words before it reaches the Cosumnes. Even a vocabulary taken on Bear River will lose half or more of its words in going to the Cosumnes, which denotes, as isthe fact, that the Neeshenam language varies greatly within itself. Indeed, it is probably less homogeneous and more thronged with dialects than any other tongue in California. Let an Indian go even from Georgetown to American Flat, or from Bear River to Auburn, and, with the exception of the numerals he will not at first understand above one word in four, or five, or six. But, with this small stock in common, and the same laws of grammar to guide them, they pick up each others dialects with amazing rapidity. It is these wide variations which have caused some pioneers to believe that there is one tongue spoken on the plains around Sacramento, and another in the mountains; whereas they are as nearly identical as the mountain dialects are. So long as the numerals remain the same, I count it one language; and so long as this is the case, the Indians generally learn each others dialects; but when the numerals change utterly, they often find it easier to speak the English together than to acquire another tongue. As to the southern boundary of the Neeshenam there is no doubt, for at the Cosumnes the language changes abruptly and totally."
LANGUAGES OF THE SACRAMENTO VALLEY.
Along the banks of the Sacramento, two distinct linguistic systems are said to prevail. But to what extent all the languages mentioned in that vicinity are related, or can be classified, it is difficult to say; for not only is there great confusion in names, but what is more essential, vocabularies of most of them are wanting. On the eastern bank of the Sacramento and extending along Feather River, the Cosumnes, and other tributaries of the Sacramento, the following languages are mentioned: Ochecamne, Serouskumne, Chupumne, Omochumne, Siecumne, Walagumne, Cosumne, Sololumne, Turealumne, Saywamine, Newichumne, Matchemne, Sagayayumne, Muthelemne, Sopotatumne, and Talatiu. In all these dialects the word for water iskik, but in the dialects spoken on the west bank it ismómi. On the western bank are mentioned the dialects of the Pujuni, Puzlumne, Secumne, Tsamak, Yasumne, Nemshaw, Kisky, Yalesumne,Huk, and others.[IV'-19]Undoubtedly all these Sacramento Valley dialects are more or less related, but of them we have no positive knowledge except that the Secumne and Tsamak are closely related, while the Puzlumne and Talatiu also show many words in common, but cannot be said to affiliate.[IV'-20]In the mountains south of the Yuba, and also on some parts of the Sacramento the Cushna language obtains. On the latter river Wilkes mentions the Kinkla, of which he says that in comparison with the language of the northern nations it may be called soft, "as much so as that of the Polynesians." Repetitions of syllables appear to be frequent aswai-wai, andhau-hau-hau.[IV'-21]In Napa Valley six dialects were spoken, the Myacoma, Calayomane, Caymus, Napa, Uluka, and Suscol.[IV'-22]In Solano County the Guiluco language was spoken, of which the following Lord's Prayer may serve as a specimen:
Allá igamé mutryocusé mi zahuá om mi yahuatail cha usqui etra shou mur tzecali ziam pac onjinta mul zhaiíge nasoyate chelegua mul znatzoitze tzecali zicmatan zchiitiilaa chalehua mesqui pihuatzite yteima omahuá. Emqui Jesus.[IV'-23]
Near the straits of Karquines, and also in the San Joaquin and Tulare valleys, the Tulare tongue prevailed. In this language, if we may believe M. Duflot de Mofras, the lettersb,d,f,g, andrdo not exist, therbeing changed intol, asmaria,malia. Many guttural sounds likekh,tsh,lm,tp,tsp,th, etc., are found, yet softer thanthe gutturals of the north. Notwithstanding the above statement M. de Mofras gives as a specimen of the Tulare language the following Lord's Prayer, in which therfrequently occurs:
Appa macquen erinigmo tasunimac emracat, jinnin eccey macquen iunisínmac macquen quitti éné soteyma erinigmo: sumimac macquen hamjamú jinnan guara ayei: sunun macquen quit ti enesunumac ayacma: aquectsem unisimtac nininti equetmini: juriná macquen equetmini em men.
SPECIMENS OF SOUTHERN LANGUAGES.
Of the languages spoken at the mission of Santa Inez the following Lord's Prayer is given by M. de Mofras; and this is very likely in the true Tulare language in place of the one above.
Dios caquicoco upalequen alapa, quiaenicho opte: paquininigug quique eccuet upalacs huatahuc itimisshup caneche alapa. Ulamuhu ilahulalisahue. Picsiyug equepe ginsucutaniyug uquiyagmagin, canechequique quisagin sucutanagun utiyagmayiyug peux hoyug quie utic lex ulechop santequiyug ilautechop. Amen Jesus.[IV'-24]
The Tulare language is probably the same which was known under the name of Kahweyah in central California and may have some connection with the Cahuillo in the southern part of the state.[IV'-25]
Languages in the interior, of which but little more than the name and the region where they were spoken is known, are, on the Tuolumne River the Hawhaw and another which has no particular name; on the Merced River the Coconoon with a dialect extending to King River and to Tulare Lake.[IV'-26]Mr Powers makes of the tribes inhabiting Kern and Tulare valleys the Yocut nation,yocutsignifying an aggregation of people, whilemyee, ornono, means man. "It is a singular fact," observes this writer, "that in several of the northern languageskiyadenotes dog, while in the Yocut,kiyais coyote."
From Mr Powers I have also the following vocabularies, which have never before been published.
Information regarding the languages spoken where the city of San Francisco now stands, and throughout the adjacent country, is meagre, and of a very indefinite character. On the shores of San Francisco Bay, there are the languages spoken by the Matalans, Salses, and Quirotes, which are dialects of one mother language.[IV'-27]This language has by some been called the Olhone, and although other dialects are mentioned as belonging to it, it is generally stated that but one general language was spoken by all of them.[IV'-28]Southward, near Monterey, there are more positive data. Here we find as the principal languages, the two spoken by the Runsiens and Eslenes; besides which, the Ismuracan and Aspianaque are mentioned.[IV'-29]
DIALECTS OF THE RUNSIEN AND ESLENE.
But although they are called distinct languages, Taylor affirms that the Eslenes, Sakhones, Chalones, Katlendarukas, Poytoquis, Mutsunes, Thamiens, and many others, spoke different dialects of the Runsien language, and that over a stretch of country one hundred and seventy miles in length, the natives were all able to converse with greater or less facility with each other, and that although "their dialects were infinitesimal and puzzling, their vocal communications were intelligible enough when brought together at the different missions." La Pérouse's Achastliens and Ecclemachs are probably nothing more than other names for some of the above-mentioned dialects.[IV'-30]
Not only do all these before-mentioned languages show a relationship one with another, but there are faint resemblances detected between them and the Olhone language of San Francisco Bay. Furthermore, between the latter and the language spoken at La Soledad Mission, as well as that of the Olamentkes of Russian River, which I have already classed with the Pomo family, there are faint traces of relationship.[IV'-31]
A further confirmation of this relationship is found in the statement of the first missionary Fathers, who traveled overland from Monterey to San Francisco, and who, although at that time totally unacquainted with these languages, recognized resemblances in certain words.[IV'-32]The dialect spoken at the Mission of Santa Clara has been preserved to us only in the shape of the Lord's Prayer which follows:
Appa macréne mé saura saraahtiga elecpuhmen imragat, sacan macréne mensaraah assueiy nouman ourun macari pireca numa ban saraathtiga poluma macréne souhaii naltis anat macréne neéna, ia annanit macréne nieena, ia annanit macréne macrec équetr maccari noumabaú mare annan, nou maroté, jassemper macréne in eckoué tamouniri innam tattahné icatrarca oniet macréne equets naccaritkoun oun och á Jésus.[IV'-33]
MUTSUN GRAMMAR.
Of the Mutsun dialect I give the following grammatical notes. Words of this language do not contain the lettersb,d,k,f,v,x, and the rollingr.
DECLENSION OF THE WORD APPA, FATHER.
CONJUGATION OF THE VERB ARÁ, TO GIVE.
The language abounds in adverbs, of which I give the following.
Adjectives are declined the same as substantives when they are declined alone; but they differ in their declension from substantives when they are declined in connection with them, because then they do not change their terminations, but remain the same in all the cases. The rules of syntax are intricate and very difficult.
Father Comelias speaks of a language at the Mission of Santa Cruz, with numerous dialects, in fact so many, that the language changed nearly every two leagues, and being at times so divergent, that it was with difficulty neighboring people could understand one another.[IV'-34]In the vicinity of the Mission San Antonio de Padua, there is a language which has been variously named, Tatché, Telamé, and Sextapay. It appears to be a distinct language, and Taylor affirms that the people speaking it could not understand those of La Soledad Mission, thirty miles north.[IV'-35]In this language the lettersb,d,r, do not appear;naexpresses the article the, and also this. There are many different ways of expressing the plural of nouns. Some add the syllableil,el,l, orli, others insertti, ort, while others again addleg,aten,ten, orteno, as may be seen in the following examples.[IV'-36]
TATCHE GRAMMAR.
Cases do not appear to exist, the relations of the nouns being expressed by particles. Adjectives do not vary to show gender or degree. Personal pronouns are usually copulative and included in the verb, whether subjective or objective. Of the use of the possessive pronoun the following examples will give the clearest idea: Brother,citolo; my brother,cítol; thy brother,eatsmitol; brothers,citolanélo; my brothers,citolanél; thy brothers,eatsmitolanel; mother,epjo; thy mother,petsmipeg; house,chviconou; my house,chvíconov; thy house,zimchvicono; blood,akata; my blood,ekata; thy blood,cimekata; father,ecco; my father,tili; thy father,cimic; our father,tatilli; work,tácâto; my work,tácât; thy work,cimtácât; our work,zatúcât; your work,zugtácât; mine,zeé; thine,eatsmeamée; this,na; that,pea.
Verbs have also a plural form.Ca*lom, to teach;ca*ólilom, to teach much, or, to teach many.
The following are prepositions: by,zo; inneapea; tozui,zuiyo,zo; from,zeapea; on,zui; within,zineapav. A few examples of adverbs are—here,zopav; there,neapé; to-day,taha; to-morrow,tixjáy; yesterday,notcieyo.
LORD'S PRAYER.
Za tili,(Our father,)mo(thou)quixco(art)neapea(in)limaatnil.(heaven.)An zucueteyem(Hallowed)na(the)etsmatz:(thy name:)antsiejtsitia(come)na(the)ejtmilina.(thy kingdom.)An citaha(Be done)natsmalog(thy will)zui(on)lac*(earth)quicha(as)neapae(in)lima.(heaven.)Maitiltac(Give us)taha(to-day)zizalamaget(our food)zizucanatel ziczia.(our daily.)Za manimtiltac(Forgive us)na(the)zanayl,(Debts,)quicha(as)na(the)kac(we)apaninitílico(forgive them)na(the)zananaol. Zi(our debt.)quetza()commanatatelnec(Let not)za(us)alimeta(fall)zo(into)na(the)ziuxnia.(temptation.)Za no(Us)quissili(from)jom zig(evil)zumtaylitee.(defend.)Amen.[IV'-37]()
SAN MIGUEL AND SANTA CRUZ VOCABULARY.
Another distinct language is found at and near the Mission of San Miguel, but of it nothing but a short vocabulary taken by Mr Hale is known. The language spoken at San Gabriel and at San Fernando Rey, called Kizh, and the Netela used at San Juan Capistrano, I shall not describe here, but include them with the Shoshone family, to which they are related. The Chemehuevi and Cahuillo I also place among the Shoshone dialects, while the Diegeño and Comeya will be included in the Yuma family. It therefore only remains for me to speak of the languages of the islands near the coast of California. Of these, the principal, or mother language, was spoken on the island of Santa Cruz. The different tribes inhabiting the various islands all spoke dialects of one language, which was somewhat guttural. I insert a short vocabulary of the Santa Cruz Island language with that of the Mission of San Miguel.
Aztec-Sonora Connections with the Shoshone Family—The Utah, Comanche, Moqui, Kizh, Netela, Kechi, Cahuillo, and Chemehuevi—Eastern and Western Shoshone, or Wihinasht—The Bannack and Digger, or Shoshokee—The Utah and its Dialects—The Goshute, Washoe, Paiulee, Piute, Sampitche, and Mono—Popular Belief as to the Aztec Element in the North—Grimm's Law—Shoshone, Comanche, and Moqui Comparative Table—Netela Stanza—Kizh Grammar—The Lord's Prayer in two Dialects of the Kizh—Chemehuevi and Cahuillo Grammar—Comparative Vocabulary.
In this chapter I include all the languages of the Shoshone family, the Wihinasht or western Shoshone of Idaho and Oregon, the Utah with its many dialects, the Comanche or Yetan of Texas and New Mexico, the Moqui of Arizona, the Kizh, Netela, and Kechi of the San Fernando Mission, and their dialects, and the Cahuillo and Chemehuevi of south-eastern California. The six last mentioned do not properly belong to the Shoshone family, but on account of certain faint traces of Aztec, found alike in them and in all Shoshone idioms, I cannot do better than to speak of them in this connection. As regards this Aztec element, I do not mean to say that these languages are related to the Aztec language, in the same sense that other languages are spoken of as being related to each other, for this might lead those who are searching for the former habitation or fatherlandof the Aztecs, to suppose that it has been found. This element consists simply in a number of words, identical or reasonably approximate to the like Aztec words, and in the similarity, perhaps, of a few grammatical rules. How this Aztec word-material crept into the languages of the Shoshones, whether by intercommunication, or Aztec colonization, we do not know. Nor do I wish to be understood as attempting to sustain the popular theory of an Aztec migration from the north; on the contrary, the evidence of language is all on the other side. Whether or not the Great Basin, or any part of the Northwest, was once occupied by the ancient Mexicans, it is certain that the Aztec language, as a base, is found nowhere north of central Mexico, so that these incidental or accidental word-analogies if they prove anything, indicate only a scattering from some primeval centre, other than the place where they are found, and tend to show that the language whose words are thus thinly sprinkled over so broad an area, could not have been the aboriginal stock language of the country.
SHOSHONE AND UTAH DIALECTS.
The Shoshone and the Utah are the principal languages of the great interior basin; and these may be regarded as sisters of a common mother language, the Shoshone preponderating. Each has many dialects. The Shoshone language may be divided into eastern, or Shoshone proper, and western Shoshone, or Wihinasht. Of the former the Bannack, and the Digger, or Shoshokee, are the chief variations. The Utah dialects, more numerous, are the Goshute, Washoe, Paiulee, Piute, Sampitche, Mono, and a few others, which latter vary so little from some one of the others, that it is unnecessary to trace them as separate dialects. The Comanche dialects I shall not attempt to classify.[V'-1]No grammar hasever been written of any of these languages. In all of them words are generally accented on the first syllable, except when a possessive pronoun is prefixed. Words of more than four syllables, generally have a secondary accent on the fifth, as inté-ith-tis-chi-hó-no, valley.[V'-2]A few words in these languages are found almost identical with like words of the Tinneh family, which have probably found their way into them by intercommunication.Of these the following are the principal ones, so far as designated by existing vocabularies:
SHOSHONE AND TINNEH SIMILARITIES.
Fire: Comanche,ku-ona; Shoshone,kuna; Chepewyan,counn,kon,kone; Utah,coon. Bow: Comanche,eth; Shoshone,atschö; Wihinasht,ati; Chepewyan,atheike. Cold: Comanche,etscho; Shoshone,ötschoin; Wihinasht,izíts; Chepewyan,edzah. Eye: Comanche,nachich; Chepewyan,nackhay.[V'-3]
In the Wihinasht, words occur sometimes in which an unusual number of vowels are combined—paöaíu, great; long words are also not infrequent, likepimatiyimwaiákin, salt.[V'-4]A short comparative vocabulary to show the connection between these languages, is given further on.
AZTEC TRACES NORTH OF MEXICO.
Let us now consider the often discussed but ill understood question of the Aztec language in the north. Torquemada and Vetancvrt narrate the expedition of Juan de Oñate, who invaded New Mexico during the last years of the sixteenth century. Father Roque de Figueredo, who accompanied the expedition, says that while searching for a lost mule, at the Rio del Tizon, the Mexican muleteers met certain natives who addressed them in their own language, and who, on being asked whence they came, answered that they came from the north, where that language was spoken. Clavigero, who repeats the above, also asserts, that during the expedition made by the Spaniards, in 1606, to New Mexico, when north of the Rio del Tizon, they saw some large houses, and near them certain natives who spoke the Mexican language. Then we have the statement of Father Gerónimo de Zárate, that while searching for the Laguna de Copala, he was informed, among other things, that the country in its vicinity was densely peopled by men who spoke a language similar to that of his Aztec servants. Zárate was at this time at the Rio del Tizon, and the natives, who are close observers in such matters, assured the Spaniards that theydetected in the speech of the servant certain words common to both his own and the language of the people of the Laguna de Copala. And again, in the region toward the east, Acosta says that "of late they have discovered a new land, which they call New Mexico, where they say is much people that speake the Mexican tongue."
Vater, in his Mithridates, intimates that the Mexican language spread far northward, through the roamings of wild tribes, particularly the Chichimecs; but when we remember that the term Chichimec was applied by the early Spaniards to all the immense unknown nomadic hordes north and west, this mention carries with it but little weight. Mr Anderson, who accompanied Captain Cook to the north-west coast, in 1778, fancied he detected a resemblance between the Aztec and the language of the Nootkas. "From the few Mexican words," he says, "I have been able to procure, there is the most obvious agreement, in the very frequent terminations of the vowels inl,tl, orz, throughout the language." And remarks the editor, "may we not, in confirmation of Mr. Anderson's remark, observe, that Opulszthl, the Nootka name of the Sun; and Vitziputzli, the name of the Mexican Divinity, have no very distant affinity in sound." Now the absurdity of all idle speculations is apparent when we encounter such far-fetched comparisons as this. In the first place, there is no affinity in the sounds of the two words, and in the next place there is no such Aztec god—Huitzilopochtli probably being the god meant. Neither has this last word any resemblance to the sun; it is composed of the two words,huitzilin, an abbreviation of the Mexicanhuitzitzilin, which signifies 'humming-bird,' andopochtli, that is to say 'left.' Vater also draws analogies between the Aztec and the Nootka, and Ugalenze, which on close comparison do not hold good.
Regarding the affinity of the Aztec language with those of the Pueblos, Moquis, Apaches, Yumas, and others of New Mexico and Arizona, Ruxton venturesthe assertion, "all these speak dialects of the same language.... They likewise all understand each other's tongue. What relation this language bears to the Mexican is unknown; but my impression is, that it will be found to assimilate greatly, if not to be identical,"—in all of which assertions Mr Ruxton is greatly in error.
All this, as evidence, does not amount to much; it only indicates the origin of a popular belief which placed a Mexican language in various parts of the north, while at the same time it shows upon how slender a thread hangs this belief, and how the vaguest traditionary rumors come, by repetition, to be accredited as fixed facts.
Buschmann asks himself the question whether the Aztec words, in any considerable number, are not found in any other languages of the great Mexican empire—in the Zapotec, Miztec, Tarasco, Otomí, or Huastec—and the answer is no; he has discovered a few accidental word-similarities, such as may be found between the Aztec and other American languages, or between any two languages of the world, but nothing which, by any possibility, could denote relationship.
From another class of evidence we approach a little nearer the truth. Andres Perez de Ribas, missionary to Sinaloa writing about 1640, says, that while studying the language of his people, he noticed many Mexican words particularly radicals, and also words which appeared to have been originally Mexican, but which had been so altered that only one or two syllables in them could be recognized as Aztec.
Father Ortega, in 1732, wrote a vocabulary of the Cora language, in which he says, the people had incorporated in their language many words of the Mexican and some few of the Spanish languages, and this at a period so early that at the time of his writing they were regarded as belonging to the original language.
Hervas, whose work appeared in 1787, says that the Tarahumara language is full of Mexican words. Vater,writing early in the nineteenth century, affirms that the Cora is remarkable for its relation to the Mexican, and that the Tarahumara, which is a more polished language than its neighbors, contains some words similar to the Aztec. In his Mithridates, Vater notices a relationship between the Cora and the Aztec, furthermore asserting that the conjugations of the two are so alike as plainly to prove the connection.
Wilhelm von Humboldt left us a short manuscript grammar of the Cora and Tarahumara, in which he remarks that for languages which are related, the Cora and the Mexican have great differences in their sound-systems, and although these two languages certainly appear to be related, yet he is unwilling to assert that either is derived from the other. "There are more ways than one," says the great philologist Wilhelm von Humboldt, "by which languages are connected. The impression left upon me by the Cora, is that it is a mixture of two different languages: one the Mexican, and the other some older and richer language, but rougher. In the grammar of the Cora there are found very many forms which strikingly call to mind the Mexican, yet at the same time there are many forms wholly different, made by rules directly opposite, among which are the pronouns." He further remarks two other important differences between the Cora and the Mexican which are the absence of the reduplication of syllables and of the reverential forms.
Such was the attitude of the subject when Mr Buschmann took it up. From the prevailing impression of an Aztec origin in the north, but more particularly from certain remarks of Alexander von Humboldt concerning the probable passing of the ancient Mexicans through the regions of the north, he set himself to work to find this line of migration, and the exact relations of their language in various parts. Commencing at the Valley of Mexico he made a careful analysis of every western language north of that place of which he could obtain any material. The result of Mr Buschmann'sresearches was the discovery of Aztec traces in certain parts, but nowhere did he find the Aztec language as a base.
AZTEC TRACES IN NORTHERN MEXICO.
More particularly were these Aztec words and word-analogies perceptible in four certain languages of north-western Mexico; in the Cora, spoken in the Nayarit district of Jalisco, commencing about fifteen leagues from the coast at the mouth of the Rio Tololotlan, and extending between the parallels 21°30' and 20° back irregularly into the interior about twenty leagues; in the Tepehuana of northern Sinaloa, northern Durango, and southern Chihuahua, or as laid down on the map of Orozco y Berra, commencing near the twenty-third parallel about twenty leagues from the eastern shore of the Gulf of California, and extending over a horse-shoe shaped territory to about the twenty-seventh parallel; in the Tarahumara spoken immediately north of the Tepehuana in the states of Chihuahua and Sonora, in the centre of the Sierra Madre; and lastly in the Cahita spoken by the people inhabiting the eastern shore of the Gulf of California, between latitude 26° and 28° north, and extending back from the coast irregularly about forty leagues, being almost directly west of the Tarahumara, though not exactly contiguous. The name Cahita is applied by the missionaries only to the language, and not to the people speaking it. In the license prefixed to theManual para administrar à los Indios del idioma Cahita los santos sacramentos compuesto por un Sacerdote de la Compañia de Jesus, printed in Mexico in 1740, it is called the common language of the missions of the province of Sinaloa, spoken by the Yaquis and the Mayos, the latter extending far into southern Sonora. In a vocabulary of the Cahita given by Ternaux-Compans, in theNouvelles Annales, there are likewise found many Aztec words. Neither of these languages are related to the others, yet in all of them is a sprinkling of Aztec word-material. The Aztec substantive endingtlandtli, in the Cora are found changed inti,te, andt; in the Tepehuana intode,re, andsci; in the Tarahumara intoki,ke,ca, andla; and in the Cahita, intori. In all four of the languages substantive endings are dropped, first, in composition when the substantive is united with the possessive pronoun; secondly, before an affix; thirdly, in the Cora alone, before the ending of the plural; and before affixes in the formation of words. They are not dropped in verbs derived from substantives; and when two substantives are combined to form a word the Aztec terminal is dropped in the first, and also in the combination of a substantive and verb.
In the Cora, the endingtyahtahas the same meaning as the Aztec local endingtla, ortlan, which signifies the locality of a thing; as,acotn, a fir-tree; (Aztec,ocotl)ocotyahta, a fir-forest; (Aztec,ocotlan). Another striking similarity between these four languages and the Aztec consists in the use of a postfix in the formation of substantives of locality and names of places. Then come the numerals, in which are found similarities in all their formations. The Aztec verbca, to be, and even its irregular branch,catqui, is found disseminated throughout all these languages. In the Tarahumara dictionary of Steffel, and in the Cora dictionary of Ortega, Buschmann found the Aztec element even stronger than he had supposed, and he wondered how Gallatin, who had Tellechea's grammar, could have allowed these similarities to escape his observations.
AZTEC MATERIAL IN THE AZTEC-SONORA FAMILY.
Of these four languages Buschmann makes what he calls his Sonora family; which term is somewhat a misnomer as applied to languages not related, and spoken more without than within the province of Sonora. Their only bond of union is this Aztec element, which may have found its way into them at different times and under different circumstances. The most peculiar feature of it all, is the departure which is made by these Aztec-Sonora languages, as from an original centre, and their several appearance, each stamped alike with Aztec marks while at the same time sustaining its own individuality, in different parts of the great northern regions. It is as though a handful of Aztec words hadbeen thrown, at intervals, into the languages of each of these four peoples, and, after partial amalgamations of these foreign words with those of the aboriginal tongues, by some means the words so modified had found their way in greater or less quantities into the languages of other and remote tribes. It is at such times, when we obtain a glance from a distance at their shadowy history, that there arise in the mind visions of their illimitable unwritten past, and of the mighty turmoils and revolutions which must forever remain as they are, shrouded in the deepest mystery.
In these four Aztec-Sonora languages there are nearly two hundred Aztec words, and the words derived from them by the respective native idioms into which they were projected, swell the list to four times that number; and these, with other pure Aztec words in every stage of mutilation and transformation are found re-scattered throughout the before-mentioned Pueblo, Shoshone, and other languages of the north. But again, let me say, nowhere does the Aztec, or any of its affiliations appear as a base north of central Mexico.[V'-5]
Taking into consideration that some Aztec and Shoshone words are almost identical, and that the endings of others are almost exactly alike, it is not surprising if the acute ear of the natives detected phonetic resemblances. The connection between these languages may not be in one respect as positive as that between the languages which compose the great Aryan family on the Asiatic and European continents, but, on the other hand, it presents a somewhat analogous system, by means of which it becomes possible to establish a connection. I allude to Mr Grimm's discovery of what has been termed 'Lautverschiebung,' or 'Lautveränderung,' anglicé 'Sound-shunting.'[V'-6]
This phenomenon consists of the changing, or shunting, of certain vowels or consonants in the words of one language, into certain other vowels and consonants in the same words of another language; and this not accidentally, but in accordance with fixed rules. Sound-shunting, originally discovered by Mr Grimm in the Aryan tongues, has also been found by Mr Buschmann in the languages of his Sonora family, where it is more particularly prominent in the word-endings. In a subsequent place I shall have occasion to refer again to this point, and particularly when speaking of the North Mexican languages, the Tarahumara, Tepehuana, Cora, and Cahita, where it can be clearly shown by comparison with the Aztec, that such shunting, or changing, has taken place. In the languages at present under consideration, the Shoshone, Utah, and Comanche, we have this shunting system illustrated in the substantives and adjective endingsp,pa,pe,pi,be,wa,ph,pee,rp, andrpe; and more particularly in the Utah and Shoshonets,tse,tsi, all of which may be referred to the Aztec endingstl,tli, and others. In the last-mentioned case the endings have been preserved in a purer form, while in the formerthe shunting or changing law is observed. As illustrating the connection between the languages under consideration and those before mentioned of Sonora and through them with the Aztec, I append on the next page a short vocabulary in which the similarities can be easily observed.[V'-7]
THE MOQUI LANGUAGE.
The Moqui, as before observed, does not properly belong to the Shoshone family, but shows a connection with the Aztec. It is strange that two permanently located peoples, the Moquis and the Pueblos, both living in well-built towns not far apart, and both showing signs of a budding civilization, should speak languages totally different from each other; that one of these languages should show a connection with the Aztec and the other not; that neither is related to the tongue of the Shoshones, who nearly surround them; and, furthermore, that in six of the seven Moqui towns only, the Moqui language is spoken, while in the seventh, Harno, the Tegua, a language of one of the New Mexican Pueblos is spoken. The people of Harno can converse with the Moquis of the six other towns, but among themselves they never make use of the Moqui, always speaking the Tegua.[V'-8]