TABLE II. NUMERALS.-1. The Onondago dialect of the Iroquois, from Zeisberger. 2. The Lenapé, or Delaware, from Zeisberger. (Transactions, Hist. and Lit. of Am. Phil. Soc. ut sup. p. 374.) 3. The Floridian, being the Cherokee, Chickesaw and Choctaw, and Creek or Muskohgee, from Adair's Hist. p. 78. We know so little of the Floridian languages, that nothing can be said of them, at present, with any certainty. The variation in the numerals, however, must not hastily lead us to suppose, that there are no etymological affinities between the Cherokee and the other languages here mentioned. Adair says, that Tahre, the Cherokee word for two, signifies in Muskohgee, a stone. So, Ishka, five, signifies in the latter a mother. Adair confesses, that he had not much skill in the Muskohgee dialect. It is very observable, that the numerals of the Minsi and Unami tribes of the Lenapé, vary nearly as much as those of the Chickesaws and Muskohgees. The specimen of the Lenapé above exhibited, is of the Unami, which is considered as the pure or mother tongue. The following are the numerals of the Minsi dialect:-1. Gutti; 2. Nischa; 3. Nacha; 4. Newa; 5. Nalan; 6. Guttasch; 7. Nischoash; 8. Chaasch; 9. Nolewi; 10. Wimbat. GRAMMATICAL FORMS. 1. Example of the Separable and Inseparable Personal Pronouns in Iroquois and Lenapé, compared with the Hebrew. The Insepa rable Pronouns in the Iroquois, it will be seen, are divided into Inseparable Active, which are used with Active Verbs and Substantives, and Inseparable Passive, which are used with Passive Verbs. SINGULAR. II. Example of a Noun in the Lenapé, or Delaware, with the In Delaware, the pronoun is sometimes prefixed, and sometimes suffixed. In Hebrew, it is uniformly suffixed. According to Adair, my father is, in Chickesaw, Angge; in Cherokee, Aketohta: your father, Chickesaw, Chinge; Cherokee, Chatokta. My mother, Chickesaw, Saske; Cherokee, Akachee : your mother, Chickesaw, Chishke; Cherokee, Chacheeah. Ooch is the abstract word. "Wetoochwink," the father, is commonly used, because there are few occasions of using this word in the abstract sense. 30 P III. Example of the Verb To Love, in the Lenapé or Delaware, and Iroquois, compared with the Hebrew. Under the general name of Iroquois, I have given the Onondago verb from Zeisberger, and the Mohawk, which I wrote down in Albany, in the year 1817, from the mouth of Mr. Eleazar Williams, a son of one of the chiefs of the Oneida nation, who is now a candidate for Holy Orders, and a lay reader and catechist among the Oneidas. Mr. Williams has received a very good education; is acquainted with Greek and Latin ; and speaks French fluently. He assured me, that the Mohawk was the pure, or mother tongue, which was understood by all the five nations; but that each had a dialect of its own. An evidence of the correctness of this statement, was afforded me by an interview which I had with several chiefs of the Onondago tribe, who were at Albany transacting some business with the governor. On that occasion I read the general confession in our liturgy; after which Mr. Williams translated it for them, and then proceeded to read in the Mohawk, the prayer for all conditions of men. In looking over it, as he read, I perceived that the vowels had the full Italian sounds, excepting a, pronounced like aw; that the nasal sounds an, on, &c. were exactly like the French ; and that the guttural sounds were like those of the Oriental languages. I observed likewise, that the accent was chiefly on the ultimate and penultimate. I ventured, therefore, to read a portion of the prayers and hymns, and succeeded so well that they understood me, and expressed their surprise and pleasure. This is a proof, not only of the ease with which a correct pronunciation might be acquired, but also of the fact, that the Onondagoes understand the Mohawk, though they have a dialect which differs from it considerably, as will appear from the verb here exhibited from Zeisberger. |