Personal Narrative Of Travels To The Equinoctial Regions Of America During The Years 1799-1804 - Volume 1 - By Alexander Von Humboldt And Aime Bonpland.
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There hardly exists in
the American languages a triple mode of aggregation, of which we
cannot find a similar and analogous example in some other language
that is supposed to develop itself only by inflexion.) an increase
which we have already mentioned several times under the name of
agglutination or incorporation. Many things, which appear to us at
present inflexions of a radical, have perhaps been in their origin
affixes, of which there have barely remained one or two consonants.
In languages, as in everything in nature that is organized, nothing
is entirely isolated or unlike. The farther we penetrate into their
internal structure, the more do contrasts and decided characters
vanish. It may be said that they are like clouds, the outlines of
which do not appear well defined, except when viewed at a distance.
But though we may not admit one simple and absolute principle in
the classification of languages, yet it cannot be decided, that in
their present state some manifest a greater tendency to inflexion,
others to external aggregation. It is well known, that the
languages of the Indian, Pelasgic, and German branch, belong to the
first division; the American idioms, the Coptic or ancient
Egyptian, and to a certain degree, the Semitic languages and the
Biscayan, to the second. The little we have made known of the idiom
of the Chaymas of Caripe, sufficiently proves that constant
tendency towards the incorporation or aggregation of certain forms,
which it is easy to separate; though from a somewhat refined
sentiment of euphony some letters have been dropped and others have
been added.
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