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and colonial press , which was of the greatest convenience and service to authors , publishers , and all connected with that great department of literature . Mr . Mitchell was a native of Norwich * hut acquired his admirable . business talents and knowledge in Manchester , and came to London , about the year 1836 , and formed at once his useful and successful establishment in Red lion-court . He was a mtin universally respected , and of a kind and liberal disposition , and has left a widow and two sons to deplore his premature death . He was fifty-two years of age , and died from the effects of asthma , in a fit of which he broke a blood-vessel .
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AFRICAN PHILOLOGY . The Library of His Excellency Sir George Grey , K . C . B . — Philology : Africa . — Vol . I ., Tart 1 ( Within the Limits of British influence ) . —Vol . I ., Part 2 . ( North of the Tropic of Capricorn ) , Australia and Polynesia . — -Vol . II ., Part 1 , Australia . —Volt II ., Part 2 ., Papuan Languages , Sfc . -r-Vol . II ., Part 3 . ( not yet printed ) . —Vol . II ., Part 4 ., New Zealand , and the Islands . —Compiled by Sir George Grey , and W . H . I . Bleek . Cape Town ( Trubnerfy Co . London ) , 1858 . It was about the year 85 of the Christian era that Julius Agricola fbr the first time surveyed the entire line of the British coast , and persuaded the
rude inhabitants to adopt the dress and language of their conquerors ^ and it is from that period that we date , properly speaking , the introduction of Roman civilisation into this country . To accomplish thisy it may easily be imagined , he must - .-viously have made himself acquainted with the habits , language , and religion of those upon whom he was desirous of conferring so great a boon ; for we find immediately after this survey , that temples and porticos , baths and Mother public edifices , sprang up on all sides . Somewhat analagous to the labours of the Roman governor in Britam have been the labours of ' Sir George Grey in Africa . Before we can bririir the semi-barbarous tribes of
that- great continent to appreciate the advantages of order and civilisation , to adopt pur dress and manners , and the religion of the Gospel , we must make ourselves acquainted with their languages and . their habits of life and thought , or the labour of the missionary will be in vain ; and instead of finding himself surrounded with proselytes , he would probably meet with the fate which Sidney Smith pictured as that likely to befall Bishop Selwyn , when he rwas about to depart for New Zealand , and grace the banquet of some warlike chief , in the shape of the greatest delicacy at
table . The Roman , to whom we owe so much , had to go to the languages , to learn the manners and customs of the semi-barbarous Britons himself , to come ; in personal contact with those whose lasting benefit he had in view . Thanks to the . printing-press , the British gpvernor in Africa can cause the languages of the savage tribes , over ¦ which , he would spread the blessings of civilisation , to come to him ; can learn their national peculiarities in the quiet of his study , and bring the various tribes themselves into communication with
himself by the simple operations of a typesetter , located in the capital of the province which he rules in the Queen ' s name . It 13 by no means easy to form a classification of the languages of Pagan Africa . A large portion , of them possess an affinity to the Kafir languages . Xet this proves nothing , It is but one characteristic ; and what would bo said of a naturalist who would class animals or plants only according to a single characteristic , regardless of all others r Mr .
Blcek divides the languages and dialects of South Africa—of which he enumerates no lesa than 427- ~ into two great divisions : the Suffix-Prouominajl Languages , and the Prefix ^ Pronominal Languages . In the former he includes the Hottentot and Bushman , consisting of 46 dialects , and in the latter the KJafir , with 233 dialects ; the Setshuana , with 140 dialects ; the Togeza , with 2 dialects ; the Xngami dialect ; and the Otyhoi'oros , with 5 dialects . The Hottentot and Bushman he terms
" the Sex-denoting family , and the whole of the others , the " Bantu family . " " All these languages of Africa which as yet permit of a classification evidently belong to the higher formation of languages : that is . they are possessed of true pronouns , borrowed originally from tho derivative particles of the nouns . As m Kafliv in the sentence Abantu bumi abamnyctma 'halnnuile ( Men mine blnok they arc good ) , llovolm in bum \ , \ i \ nbamnyama , and in iulungilo , is , in each instanco , n true pronoun , derived from the derivative particle of the noun a / mntu ( men , or people ) . " Strictly speaking , a pronoun la a word which
solely represents the noun , or nouns , in the place of which . it" fstands , without adding or possessing any meaning of its own . Therefore , what is commonly ' called a pronoun of the first or second person is not a real pronoun ; for there is always implied in it the idea of a person or persons either speaking or spoken to . In stricthess , it ought to be called a personal noun , or personal particle , instead of a pronoun . " The languages of what we term this higher under the head of
formation are comprised . Pronominal languages . Their main distinctive feature is a concord of the forms of the pronouns , and of every part of speech in the formation of which pronouns are employed ( for example , adjectives and verbs , ) with the nouns to which they respectively refer , and the thereby caused distribution of the nouns into classes or genders . This concord is evidently produced through the original identity of each pronoun with the respective derivative particle of the nouns which can-be represented by . it . .
" The derivative particle of a noun ,. with which the form of its pronoun is originally identical , may . either precede or follow the other part of the noun . The pronouns agree , therefore , cither with the beginnings ( prefixes ) or with the endings ( suffixes ) of their respective nouns . Accordingly , the Pronominal languages ar 6 divided into two classes , and may be distinguished as Prefix-Pronominal and Suffix-Pronominal languages . " Within these two divisions Mr ! Bleek includes all the languages of Southern-. Africa , as .-we have seen ; and we think if we add that the Hottentot family may also be distinguished as monosyllabic tongues , and the Bantu or Kafir as polysyllabic , we have enumerated the distinguishing characteristics of each .
In 1857 Mr . Bleek published a " Vocabulary of the Hottentots and Bushmen , " ¦ prepared for the use of Sir George Grey—an elaborate quarto volume of some 260 pages . A very valuable portion of the work is the introduction itself by the compiler of Sir George Grey ' s Catalogue , -which consists-of twelve pages ; and the vocabularies of the dialects of the tribes of the vicinity . of Colesberg and Burgusdorp , incorporated in the general . alphabet ,- are also furnished' from his own personal contact with natives . The other sources were the scattered vocabularies of the dialects of . the Cape and Eastern Hottentots , of the Korana . and the
Bushmen , . 'accompanied by the corresponding words of the Nariia dialect , in the latter of which the library of Sir George Grey possesses seventeen printed books and seven manuscripts . This very interesting publication furnishes us with 400 English words and upwards , with corresponding Hottentot terms , and is accompanied by a ' copious alphabetical index , Sir George Grey also caused a-, grammar and vocabulary of the Nania dialect to be printed , in which ' there is a Hottentot-English vocabulary ot upwards of 2 , 042 words ; it likewise contains a collection of 124 phrases in the Namaqua
Hottentot dialect , with English translation , besides tho grammar , &c , mentioned on the title page . The compiler is Henry Tindall , a AVesloyan missionary , ' and the work is indispensable to all who would study this most primitive , language . As in all of the most ancient languages , the words of the Hottentot tongue are chiefly monosyllables , ending , with two exceptions , always in a vow-ol , oi' a nasal sound . Piphthong . s abound , and several rough gutturals , and compound clicks and gutturals are also mot with . Jn tho Bushman dialect the phonetic peculiarities of the Hottentot language are carried to excess , and almost every
word is pronounced with a nasal twang , which leaves that of the Yankee far behind . " We believe , with Mr . Bleek , that a more intimnte acquaintance with this language would load to some very ciiriovw and interesting results to both philological and ethnological science . The Saabs , or Bushmen , aro Hottentots of the most unfavoured parts of tho Cape . They aro miserable troglodytes , living in cuvoh , destituto oi flocks and . herds , and HubsiHlhur upon what the
chase produces . The Bushman is the most undersized specimen of humanity , a mere starveling in bulk , with a woak and fragile frame . IIi » small bright' oyo , projecting cheekbones , and copper * coloured skin , give him an' unearthly appearance , which is much enhanced , b y the hiiir of Iiih head , which grows iki tu ( ln , showing interspneert of ncalp between tho twisted knotn , which imperfectly clothe hie singularly-shaped Hk . nU—with a long diameter fbro and aft , ' and considerable development in the occipital portion . Tho Namaquus aro a kindred
but superior race , capable of holding their own and encroaching upon the area of Ovakeriro and other Hottentot tribes by which they are surrounded . The southern extremity of Africa is preeminently Hottentot , and , more or less , Kafir also . The latter present themselves to us under two types , brown and black—the brown on the tablelands , and the black along the water-courses . They are fierce and relentless , cruel and sanguinary . Dr . Livingstone visited the son of a chieftain , named Moyara . A number of stakes-were planted in the ground , and fifty-four human skulls were suspended from ' their points . These were Matabele
who unable to approach Sebituane on 'the island of Loyela , had returned sick and fa . inishin < r . Moyara ' s father took advantage of their .. reduced condition , and af ter-putting them to death . mounted their heads in the fashion of his tribe . " When looking at the skulls , " adds the doctor , "I remarked to Moyara that many of them wore mere boys . He -assented -readily and pointed them out as such . I asked why his father ha < l killed boys . 'To show his fierceness , ' was the answer . ' Is it fierceness to kill boys ? ' ' Yes , they had no
business here . ' I was informed that few strangers ever returned from a visit to this quarter . " The language , of the Ivafirs , like that of'all . members of the Bantu family , consists mostly of polysyllables . the words ending chiefly with a vowel or a nasal sound . . ' Diphthongs , properly speaking , -rarely occur . The great characteristics , therefore , of the Hottentot and Bushmen languages , which consist mainly of monosyllables abounding in diphthongs , are reversed in all the Bantu family , which gives , as-it were , a natural and easy division of the whole of the languages of Southern Africa .
We have not space to follow Sir George Grey and Mr . Bleek through the other volumes -before us * and of . which we have given the general contents , above ; but we would remark , that in the second part of the second volume , which treats ot Australia and Polynesia , Sir George Grey states his . conviction , that , however difleroiit in vocabulary the Papuan languages are from tho other Polynesian dialects , the grammatical structure of the Polynesian and Papuan-languages - . is evidently founded on the same basis . He adds : —* It is not improbable that the Papuan languages , lbrni the courieetinir link between the Polynesian family
of languages and the African division of 1 . reiix-Pr . dnohu . nul languages . " These Papuan lunjriiiijies are spoken by the inhabitants of the Loyalty Islands and the New Hebrides . Of the former , Lifu , with a population' of some . 1 . 3 , 000 si mis , and Nengone , or Mare , with some 7 , 000 , are tl io juincipal , and the inhabitants speak a diilerenl dialect , but not a different language . The other islands which form this-group are tjea , I ) oka , . and Dodoni , the last uninhabited , but covered with cocoa-nut and bread-friiit trees , which appear to be the common property of the other four islands . The inhabitants of the New Hebrides number about 40 . 0 'JO , in the
eight islands altogether , and they bdonir to thu Papuan or Negrito race , havo curly or woolly hair , and are of the middle size . They cultivate . the soily and live chiefly oft , fruits and vegetables , fifli , fowls , pigs , and insects ; but they are tiannilmis , and constantly engaged in war . The inmitution of U > o Tapuis in force in all the islands . There w | an order of priesthood , and they have idols , which they regard aa sacred . They are naturally musical , aim sing well , and in parts ? and , as musical instruments , they make use of a long pipe or flute , and u drum . We have taken the above from one of . Sit' George
Grey ' s notes ; and similar notes , full of information , abound throughout tho catalogue . -Now ''"'[ ''^ Feojiseun Archipelago has been coded to Grout Britain , the portion of { Sir George Uivy ' * labours , which relutea to these Polynesian iwhuwlM , < U « rivcrf much additional interest from that circiunnttintv . Those islands are admirably adapted lor 1 I »¦ growth of cotton , embrace un extent ot 2 i > , ui > u pquaro miles , and arc inhabited by 200 , 000 souls . Ah cotton requires but little nkill for iI .- * <; . ! ! i , lnfinnl to ti'
its introduction would be no less -m- o nativcfi than to ourselves , by opening u market 101 our manuliicturcd goods , and providing un ^ l "'!" lent in thu raw material by way <>» ' puyniotti . >> congratulate the Governor of thu C ' npcoii im > P " ( Auction of u mont important aid to iho Htmiy « tho twin sciencort of philology un « l Hhnoh ^ y , a » « look ibrwiml to the uoinplution <> f tlio ml ah'ijw . itself na a great and permanent Hop to Y ' ,: ! , civilisation of the boi-barourf rnuou , wliuuu Itirmauwn ,
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236 THE IiEADEB . E ^ To . 465 , February 19 , 1859 .
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 19, 1859, page 236, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2282/page/12/
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