d
by diverse processes.

DIFFERENTIATION OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH.

It is next in order to consider to what degree the parts of speech are
differentiated in Indian languages, as compared with English.

Indian nouns are extremely connotive, that is, the name does more than
simply denote the thing to which it belongs; in denoting the object it
also assigns to it some quality or characteristic. Every object has many
qualities and characteristics, and by describing but a part of these
the true office of the noun is but imperfectly performed. A strictly
denotive name expresses no one quality or character, but embraces all
qualities and characters.

In _Ute_ the name for bear is _he seizes_, or _the hugger_. In this
case the verb is used for the noun, and in so doing the Indian names the
bear by predicating one of his characteristics. Thus noun and verb are
undifferentiated. In _Seneca_ the north is _the sun never goes there_,
and this sentence may be used as adjective or noun; in such cases noun,
adjective, verb, and adverb are found as one vocable or word, and the
four parts of speech are undifferentiated. In the _Pavaent_ language a
school-house is called _po-kunt-in-in-yi-kaen_. The first part of the
word, _po-kunt_, signifies _sorcery is practiced_, and is the name
given by the Indians to any writing, from the fact that when they
first learned of writing they supposed it to be a method of practicing
sorcery; _in-in-yi_ is the verb signifying _to count_, and the meaning
of the word has been extended so as to signify _to read_; _kaen_
signifies wigwam, and is derived from the verb _kueri_, _to stay_. Thus
the name of the school-house literally signifies _a staying place where
sorcery is counted_, or where papers are read. The _Pavaent_ in naming a
school-house describes the purpose for which it is used. These examples
illustrate the general characteristics of Indian nouns; they are
excessively connotive; a simply denotive name is rarely found. In
general their name-words predicate some attribute of the object named,
and thus noun, adjective, and predicant are undifferentiated.

In many Indian languages there is no separate word for _eye_, _hand_,
_arm_, or other parts and organs of the body, but the word is found with
an incorporated or attached pronoun signifying _my_ hand, _my_ eye;
_your_ hand, _your_ eye; _his_ hand, _his_ eye, etc., as the case
may be. If the Indian, in naming these parts, refers to his own body,