Introduction to the Science of Language Volume 1

by A.H. Sayce

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1890 edition. Excerpt: ...the various titles with which "His Highly well-born," " His most serene," or "His Transparency" require to be addressed, the second person singular has to be represented sometimes by a masculine Er ("he"), sometimes by a feminine Sie (" she "), sometimes by a plural Sie (" they "). The latter reminds us of the Hebrew "pluralis majestatis," and recalls our own employment of the plural you for the singular thou. Our usage in this respect was probably influenced by the French use of vous, and it is perhaps to the same influence that we may ascribe the Basque use of Zute, "you," instead of Zur "thou," which seems of comparatively late introduction. Two Basque dialects, indeed, the Souletin and the east Low Navarese, have even developed a ceremonial conjugation, every person of which, except the second plural, assumes a special form when a superior is addressed. Besides the ceremonial conjugation there is also a feminine one, employed whenever a woman is spoken to. It must be remembered that the Basque verb is an amalgamation of the verbal root with the personal pronouns. The rapid changes undergone by languages in a natural state can only be appreciated by those who have had experience of a tribe of wandering savages, or who have 1 Pott: Humboldt's " Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachhaues," i. p. 39;. observed the alterations children would make in the language they learn if left to themselves. According to Waldeck, a dictionary compiled by Jesuit missionaries in Central America became useless within ten years; and Messerschmidt states that the inhabitants of Ostiak villages, only a mile or two apart, are unintelligible to one another.1...

124 pages, Paperback

First published September 12, 2013

About the author

The Rev. Archibald Henry Sayce (A.H. Sayce) (25 September 1846 – 4 February 1933), was a pioneer British Assyriologist and linguist, who held a chair as Professor of Assyriology at the University of Oxford from 1891 to 1919.

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