CHAPTER III. EUROPEAN LANGUAGES. THE European Languages may be classed in the four families of Pelasgic, Gothic, Celtic, and Sclavonic; the former belonging to Southern Europe, the three latter to Central and Northern. The Pelasgic family, includes the languages of ancient and modern Greece and Rome; with those derived from them: while the chief tongues of the Gothic family, are the English and German :-and these two families, the Pelasgic and Gothic, are much the most important, of all modern languages, to the civilized world. Except the Greek and Latin, they are languages which were formed during the middle ages of history; that period which produced the nations of modern Europe, partly from the wreck of the Roman Empire. There is no doubt that all the European languages are of Asiatic origin; and the comparison of them with the more ancient languages, has been a problem of deep interest to the philologist. Thus, the Greek, may be traced to the Phoenician, and Egyptian; the Latin, to the Phoenician and Greek;-while the Italian, Spanish, and French, are immediately derived from the Latin; of course with an intermixture of Gothic words. The languages of Central and Northern Europe probably came from the central and northern parts of Asia; but doubtless from various sources, so intermingled, that their exact origin cannot now be ascertained. Most of the European languages are highly syntactic; changing the forms of words, to express variations of number, person, relation, intensity, time and mode, in nouns, adjectives and verbs. Our own language is, perhaps, the least variable, in these respects, among them all. We proceed to speak briefly of the European languages, in the order of Classification above proposed. § 1. The Pelasgic family of languages, includes the Greek; the Romaic or Modern Greek; the Latin, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, and French languages; with the subordinate dialects. The Pelasgians were the oldest inhabitants of Greece: and received their name from Pelasgus, one of their leaders. With them, the Greek and Latin languages both originated; and from these, all the others, of this family, have been derived. The Greek language, is emphatically that of ancient poetry and philosophy. It is remarkable for its copiousness and strength; and for the ease with which its words may be united, to form compounds. Though derived immediately from the Egyptian and Phoenician, it is said to have much affinity to the Sanscrit, both in individual words, and grammatical forms. Its earliest alphabet, that introduced by Cadmus, as already mentioned, (p. 41), was the old Phoenician, containing only 15 letters; to which Y was soon after added. Four more letters, z, 0, 4, and x are said to have been invented by Palamedes, during the Trojan war; and the remaining four, H, I, ▾ and were added by Simonides, about the time of the Persian war, or 490 B. C. The alphabet, thus completed, was first adopted by the Ionians; hence sometimes called the Ionic alphabet. The Ionians first introduced the mode of writing from left to right, about 450 B. C.: previously to which, the Semitic, or inverse order prevailed; or else the method called boustrophedon, alternately from right to left, and left to right. The shape of the letters having been changed, from the original uncial characters, the following is the Greek Alphabet, with the name and sound of each letter, and its numerical power: The letter h is expressed by the aspirate (), as in huv, of us; aytaconrw, be hallowed; is, as; pvca, deliver. To complete the series of numerals, the Greeks used (s), a character called episemon for 6; (4 or ), koppa, for 90; and () sanpi, for 900. The following is the Lord's prayer in Greek, as given by St. Matthew. (Ch. vi. 9—13.) ΠΑΤΗΡ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν τοῖς οὐρανοῖς ἁγιασθήτω το όνομα σου. Ελθέτω ἡ βασιλεία σου. Γενη θήτω το θέλημα σου, ὡς εν ουρανώ, και επί της γης. Τον αρτον ἡμῶν τον επιουσιον δος ἡμῖν σημερον. Και αφες ἡμῖν τα οφειλήματα ἡμῶν, ὡς καὶ ἡμεῖς αφιεμεν τοις οφειλεταις ἡμῶν. Και μη εισενέγκης ἡμᾶς εἰς πειρασμόν, αλλα ῥῦσαι ἡμᾶς απο τοῦ πονηροῦ. Οτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασίλεια, και ἡ δύναμις, και ἡ δόξα, εις τους αιώνας. Αμην. The signification of some of the words in this specimen of the Greek language, is as follows: xarnp, father: uv, of us, (from μes, we): o, (the definite article used as a relative): v, in : τοις ουρανοις, the heavens, (from ὁ ουρανος, the heaven): ἁγιασθήτω, let it be hallowed, (from άycos, holy; and ayaw, I make holy): to ovoμa, the name, (to being the neuter gender of the article): cov, of thee, (from ov, thou). EXOT, let it come, (from Epxouaι, I come): Bastheta, the kingdom, ( being the feminine form of the article). Γενηθήτω, let it be done, (from γινομαι, I become): το θέλημα, the wills, as: xa, and, or also: л, upon: τns yns, the earth, (ɛ requiring the genitive or possessive case of y, the earth). Tov aprov, the bread, (the objective or accusative case of & aptos, the bread): EЯovo, daily, or suitable, (agreeing with aprov): dos, give, (from διδωμι, I give): ήμιν, to us, (the dative case of ήμεις) : σημερον, today. We have no room here, interesting though it may be, to pursue the subject farther. Of the dialects of the Greek language, the Doric, spoken in the Peloponnesus, is the oldest, and most harsh; the Eolic, spoken in Greece north of the Isthmus, and in Æolis of Asia Minor, resembles the Doric, but is smoother, and more like the Latin language; while the Ionic, spoken chiefly in Ionia, and the neighboring islands, is more soft and flowing; and the Attic, confined to Athens, and its neighborhood, was the latest, and most refined of them all. The Modern Greek, sometimes called the Romaic, may be regarded as a dialect of the ancient Greek, in which the terminations are abbreviated and simplified. The Latin language, was that of ancient Rome; and received its name from the Latins, who inhabited that region, before Rome was founded. It was not matured till after the Laws of the Twelve Tables, or 451 B. C. It resembles the Greek, not only from its Pelasgian origin, but from the introduction of Greek words, by the later Greek colonists, and emigrants. The Latin became corrupted among the common people of Italy about the year 581, owing to the northern invasions; but in the Middle Ages, it was the common language of learned men throughout Europe; being the only one in which they could be understood beyond the limits of their own country; so little were the present languages known or cultivated. In England, the Latin was exclusively used in the Courts of Justice, until A. D. 1362; when Edward III., as a favor to his subjects, permitted them to be heard in their own tongue, much less refined, of course, than it now is. The Latin alphabet is the same as our own; which is borrowed from it, except that the Latin has no letter w. We think it clear, that the Continental pronunciation of the vowels, is more likely to be that of the ancient Romans, than the English pronunciation, which is peculiar to itself. We would therefore, in reading Latin, pronounce a as in far or fat: e as in vein or met: i as in pique or pin: o as in note or not: u as in tune or tun: y when a vowel like i ei and the Greek , like our long i, as in pine: au and the Greek av, like our ow in now: and ou, or the Greek ov, like our ou in tour, or oo in moon. The Latin language is remarkable, among others, for what seems to us an inversion of the natural order of words; as in pater noster, father our, instead of our father; but whether the former is not the real natural order, if such an one there be, we are not impartial judges to decide. It may perhaps be interesting here to give some specimens of the manner in which Latin words are varied; particularly in the declension of nouns and adjectives, and the conjugation of verbs. Dominus, signifies, the Lord, or a lord; domini, of a lord, or of the lord; domino, to the lord; dominum, the lord; domine, Oh lord!; and domino, from or by a lord or the lord: this language having no article. The six cases of Latin nouns, here given in order, are called the nominative; the genitive or possessive; the dative; the accusative or objective; the vocative; and the ablative. In the plural, we have domini, the lords, or Oh lords!; dominorum, of the lords; dominis, to, from, or by the lords; and dominos, the lords; this latter being the accusative case. Magnus dominus, signifies the great lord; magna terra, the great earth; magnum regnum, a or the great kingdom. Esse, is the verb to be; sum or ego sum, I am; es, or tu es, thou art; est or ille est, he is: sumus, we are; estis, ye or you are; sunt, they are. Eram, signifies I was; fui, I was or I have been; fueram, I had been; ero, I shall be; sim, I may be; essem, I might be; fuerim, I may have been; fuissem, I might have been; fuěro, I shall have been; es or esto, be thou; fuisse, to have been; futurus, about to be. Creare, to create, in like manner forms creo, I create ; creavi, I have created; creabo, I shall or will create; creëm, I may create; creari, to be created: and numerous other parts. The following is the Lord's Prayer in Latin; by the first two words of which it is often designated. Pater noster, qui es in coelis, sanctificetur nomen tuum: adveniat regnum tuum: fiat voluntas tua, sicut in cœlo et in terra: panem nostrum quotidianum da nobis hodie: et remitte nobis debita nostra, sicut et nos remittimus debitoribus nostris: et ne nos inducas in tentationem, sed libera nos à malo: quia tuum est regnum et potentia et gloria, in secula. Amen. may The signification of these words is as follows. Pater, father: noster, our: qui, who: es, art; (from the verb esse, to be): in, in: coelis, the heavens; (from coelum, heaven): sanctificetur, may it be hallowed; (from sanctifico, I make holy, and this from sanctus, holy): nomen, name: tuum, thy; (neuter gender of tuus, thy). Adveniat, it come; (from advenio, I approach): regnum, kingdom: fiat, let it be done; (from fio, I become; fit, it becomes, or it is done): voluntas, will; (a noun of the feminine gender): sicut, as: et, and or also. Panem, bread; (acc. case of panis): quotidianum, daily: da, give; (from do, I give): nobis, to us; (dative case of nos, we): hodie, this day. Remitte, remit; (from remitto, I send back): debita, debts; (from debitum, a debt): ne, not: inducas, mayst thou lead; (from induco, I lead): tentatio, temptation: sed, but: libera, liberate; (from libero, I liberate): à, from: malum, evil: quia, because: potentia, power: gloria, glory: in secula, for ages, or forever. The Italian language, is derived immediately from the Latin; differing from it in the introduction of a few Gothic words, but chiefly in abbreviating the terminations of words, and using short auxiliary words, to supply their place. The Italic or sloping characters, which we occasionally use, are evidently a slight modification of the Roman. This language was for ages a mere corruption of the Latin, and called by the learned, "the vulgar tongue." Sismondi dates its origin at about 1140; under Roger I. of Sicily. Spinello's History, commenced in 1247, was the first learned work in Italian prose; and the Divina Comedia of Dante, written about 1300, stamped the language with character and permanency. This work gave a predominance to the Tuscan dialect; though it is more guttural than the others. It is, however, spoken the most accurately at Rome; as implied by the proverb, "Lingua Toscana in bocca Romana:" or the Tuscan tongue in a Roman mouth, the beau ideal of Italian. This language abounds in vowels and liquids; is soft and smooth, and admirably suited for music, poetry, and improvisation. The Italians pronounce the vowels as we have mentioned for the Latin, except u, which they pronounce like our oo in moon. They pronounce c before e, and i, like our ch in charm; cc like t,ch; and ch, like k. They pronounce g before e and i, like our j; gg, like dj; gh, like g hard; and h, in Italian, is always silent. They use j, only as a vowel, instead of i or ii; and the letters k, w, x, and y, are not found in their language. They pronounce z like dz or tz, |