LECTURE 3D.docx

LECTURE 3D.docx

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LECTURE3D

LECTURE3D.

MondayNov.22

Mr.Smith

OFTHEORIGINANDPROGRESSOFLANGUAGE1

Itseemsprobablethatthosewordswhichdenotecertainsubstanceswhichexist,andwhichwecallsubstantives,wouldbeamongstthefirstcontrivedbypersonswhowereinventingalanguage.TwoSavageswhomettogetherandtookuptheirdwellinginthesameplacewouldverysoonendeavourtogetsignstodenotethoseobjectswhichmostfrequentlyoccurredandwithwhichtheyweremostconcerned.Thecavetheylodgedin,thetreefromwhencetheygottheirfood,orthefountainfromwhencetheydrank,wouldallsoonbedistinguishedbyparticularnames,|astheywouldhavefrequentoccasiontomaketheirthoughtsabouttheseknowntoaoneanother,andwouldbymutualconsentagreeoncertainsignswherebythismightbeaccomplished.

Afterwardswhentheymetwithothertrees,caves,andfountainsconcerningwhichtheywouldhaveoccasiontoconverse,theywouldbnaturallygivethesamenametothemastheyhadbeforegiventootherobjectsofthesamekind.Theassociationofideasbetwixtthecaves,trees,etc.andthewordstheyhaddenotedthembywouldnaturallysuggestthatthosethingswhichwereofthesamesortmightbedenoted|cbythesamewords.Thusitmightperhapsbethatthosewordswhichorigin[in]allysignifyedsingulardobjectscametobeSpecialnamestocertainclassesofthings.[AsourSavagesmadefartheradvancestheywouldhaveoccasionnotonlyfornamestotheseverallsubstancesnearthembutalsoforwordstoexpresstherelationsbetwixtthoseseverallobjects.]e

Thesenameshoweverastheobjectsmultipliedwouldnotbesufficienttodistinguishthemaccuratelyfromoneanother:

theywouldthereforebenecessitatedtohaverecoursetotheirpeculiarrelationsorqualities.Thesearecommonlyexpressedbyprepositionsoradjectives.|ThisiswhatchieflydifficultsMrRousseay2towit,toexplainhowgenerallnameswere1stformed,astheyrequireabstractthoughtandwhatiscalledgenerallization,beforetheycanbeformdaccordingtohiswayofthinking:

Whichhethinksme[a]natfirsthardlycapableof.f|Thustheymightexpressacertaintreebysayingthetreeabovethecave.Butthoseexpressedbyprepositionswouldnotgoanygreatlength:

theywouldthencallinthat[the]oftheadjectives,andthustheymightsay,theGreentree,todenoteonethatwasGreenfromonethatwasnot.Theinventionofadjectiveswouldhaverequiredamuchgreaterdegreeofexertionthanthatofsubstantives,forthesefollowingreasons.Thequalitydenotedbyanadjectiveisneverseenintheabstract,butisalwaysconcretedwithsomesubstanceorother,andthewordsignifyingsuchaqualitymustbeformed|fromitbyagooddealofabstractgreflection;besidesthisqualityhisnotseeninanygenerallsetofthings,thoitisagenerallquality,butmustbeatfirstformedfromsomesingularobject.Forthisreasonwemayimaginethoseadjectiveswouldbeformedbeforeanyofthesubstantivesdenotingtheabstract[i]qualitiesofthosebodiestowhichtheadjectivesareapplied.ThusGreenwouldbeformedbeforeGreeness,asthequalitythoabstractinitselfisseldomiconsideredbutwhenconcretedwithsomesubstancesrealyexistingandperceivedinsomesingularonebeforeus,whereasthequalityabstractedfromanybodyisneverseen|butisonlyformedbyabstractionandgeneralizationfromthosebodieswheretheyarefound.Itisalsonecessarybeforesuchadjectivesbeformedthatthosewhoformthemhaveseenotherthingsofthesamekindwhichhavethemnot.ThusthewordGreenifitwasoriginallyformedfromthecolourofatreewouldnothavebeenformediftherewerenotreesofadifferentcolour.Butwhentherewereothertreesfoundofanothercolour,theymightcallsuchatree,agreentree;andfromthenceothertrees,andafterwardsotherthingsofthatcolourmightget|appellation.Fromthencetoo,thequalityofgreenesswouldatlengthbeformedbyfartherabstraction.

Whenthereissomuchabstractionrequiredtoformthoseadjectivesthatdenotecolours,whicharethemostsimpleofall,itisplaintherewouldbejmuchgreaterinformingmorecomplexandgeneralones.

Butwhateverdifficultytheremightbeintheformationofadjectives,theremustbestillmoreinformingprepositions.Forthatwhichissignifiedbythemisnotfoundinanyoneparticularsetofthingsbutiscommontoallthoseinacertainrelation.Thusabovedenotestherelation|ofsuperiority,belowthatofinferiority,withregardtoanythinginthatrelation.Itisnotconcretedwithanyotherthingbutisofitselforiginallyabstract.

Wemaysayagreentree,oranythingelseisgreen,butaboveisconnectedwiththerelationthattwothingsbeartooneanother.Ithappenstoothatthoseprepositionswhichnecessarilymostfrequentlyoccurarethosethataremostabstractedandmetaphysicall.ThereisnoneofwhichsuchfrequentuseismadeasoftheprepositionOf;whichatthesametimeisthemostabstractofthewholenumberof|themall.Itdenotesknoparticularrelationbetwixtthethingsitconnectsbutbarelysignifiesthatthereisarelation.AndifweweretoaskanordinarymanwhathemeantbythewordOfhemightbeallowedatleastaweaktoconsiderofit.Wemayseethegenerallsignificationofitfromthevariousandconteraryrelationsitisusedtoexpressasbetwixtthewholeanditslparts.Thuswemaysaythesonofthefatheroftheson;thefirtreeoftheforestortheforestofthefirtrees:

Otherprepositionscannotbeusedsogenerally,whenwesaythetreeabovethecaveandthecaveabovethetree,|butthiscannotbesaidwithregardtothesamething.

Whensuchisthedifficultyofformingtheseprepositions,whicharesoveryrequisite,itwasnaturallforthecontriversoflanguage,whomwearenottosupposeveryabstractphilosophers,wouldcontrivesomemethodtomanswerthesepurposesbyamoreeasymethod.Thatwhichwasmostnaturallandobviousandthatwhichwefindwasthecaseinalltheprimitiveandsimplelanguages,istoexpressnbyvariousmodificationsofthesamewordwhatwouldotherwiserequireapreposition.Thisthey|havedonebyvaryingtheterminationofthesubstantive;thedifferentprepositionswhoseplacewasthussuppliedgaveoccasiontothedifferencasesandaccordingasfewerormoreofthemwerethussuppliedthecaseswouldbemoreorlessinnumberindifferentlanguages,insome5,6orinothersten.

TheagreablenessofthesamesoundrepeatedorloveofRythmeomadethemsuittheiradjectivestotheterminationsofthesuitablesubstantivesandhenceitcametopassthatalltheadjectivesweredeclinedinthesamemannerasthesubstantives,thothesignificationisnowayaltered;as,Malusp,Mali,Malorum,Malis|etc.,allsignifyevilandarevariedonlytomakethemsuitthesubstantivs,asEquus,Equi,Equorum,Equisetc.

Asallanimallsareofsomesexandotherthingsofnoneanditwasrequisitetohaveadistinctioninthisrespect,andthequalityintheabstractbeingnoteasilycomprehended,theyrectifiedthisbymakinganothersortofachangeinthenounofonesex:

henceEquus,Equa:

andasthoseofanotherqualityhadnosextheyformedhereanothersortwhichdenotedthoseofneitheroftheothertwoqualities.Forthesamereasonastheysuitedtheadjectivestothedeclensionofcasessoalso|theywouldtothatofgender,andhenceEquusbonus,Equabona,pratumbonum.

Asmoreobjectsthanoneofthesamesortoccurreditwasnecessarytodistinguishbetwixtthesingularpersonandthosecaseswherethereweremorethantogether;andasabstractnumbersarealsoofdifficultcomprehensiontheyherelikewiseinventedanothervariationtodenotenumber,hencethesingular,duallandpluralnumber.{TheoriginallanguageshavealltheduallastheHebrewandSclavonic.}Tothisdelensionorvarietyalsotheyaccomodatedtheiradjectivesforthesamereasonthatwebeforementi|oned.HencecameEquus,Equi,andνηρ,νερε,νερες,andtothesetheadjectives,bonus,boni,andγαθος,γαθωγαθοι.

Hencewemayseehowcomplexttheirdeclensionsmusthavebecome.Thesubstantivenounsdeclinedthro5casesin3numberswillhave15varieties,andtheadjectiveshavingbesides3genderswillhave45.

Besidesthesevariouspartstheywouldhaveoccasionforsomewordstodescribeorexpresscertainactions.Everythingwesayiseitheraffirmingordenyingsomethingandtodothissomeother|mastersortofwordwasnecessaryandthiswasthereasonoftheinventionofverbs,forwithoutnoonethingcouldbeexpressed.Henceprobablyverbsoftheimpersonallformwouldbethefirstinventedofany,astheywouldexpressawholesentimentorassertioninthisway.SoPluit,Ningitarecompleatassertions.ThesavageswesupposedtogethermightforinstanceusethewordvenittoexpressthecomingofsometerribleanimallasaLion,whichtheyexpressedcompleatlyinoneword.

Afterwardsotherbeastscomingtheywouldnaturallyusethesame|wordtogivethealarm.Sothiswordwouldcometosignifysometerriblebeast,thenanyfrightfullobjectandlastyanyapproachintheabstract.Forthesamereasonsastheyinventednumberandpersoninnounstheywouldintheverbsasqagreaterorlessnumbermightbecoming.Accordingtothetimedifferentvariationswouldalsobemade.{Theymightindeedhaveusedthesamewordfordifferenttenseshadtheyknownthepronouns,butthesewerenotinventedintheearlytimeswearetalkingof,astooabstract.Thedifferentwordsmadefordifferentthingsofthesameoriginisliketheformingoftheletters.Thefirstwriterwouldprobablyuseadifferentrcharacterforeachswordbutthiswould