The origin of all the other kinds of pronouns can occa sion no difficulty ; the possessives are merely the personal pronouns in an adjective form ; the other pronouns, as well as the article, are merely definitive adjectives, marking a particular position or relation, in the same way as adjectives in general denote a quality considered as belonging to an object.
Of the variations of these different classes of words; of verbs by means of words, tenses, and voices ; of nouns by means of cases, numbers, and genders ; this is not the place to treat ; these belong to GRAMMAR, and are particularly detailed under that article.
The real nature and force, as well as the immediate de rivation of the other parts of speech, adverbs. prepositions, and conjunctions. have been perspicuous,y detailed by some late etymological writers; and we may regard it as now universally admitted. that they are in reality only nouns, ad jectives, or verbs, in some ablar\ viated or mutilated form, employed for convenience or dispatch, and easily resolved, by skilful investigation, into their primitive forms. The investigation of this point, forms by far the most valuable and interesting part of Horne Tooke's disquisitions; for his analysis of abstract nouns and adjectives, although cer tainly ingenious, yet are often unsatisfactory, and many of his derivations altogether chimerical and unfounded. Horne Tooke, indeed, was not the first who struck into that path, similar views having previously been entertained, though probably unknown to him, by the Dutch etymolo gists, Schultens, Hemsterhuis, and Linnep ; but his wri tings are most generally known, and he is regarded as the founder of the system. The system itself appears now to be so clearly established, that, in tracing the formation of language, it is unnecessary to go into fuller investigation of the origin of adverbs, prepositions, and conjunctions, than just to observe, that the adverb is an adjective, with a noun united in an abridged and compendious form ; the preposition either a noun, or an adjective, with a noun un derstood ; and the conjunction may generally be resolved into the form of a mutilated verb.
The foregoing detail exhibits what appears to us a fair and just deduction, from the nature of man, and the cir cumstances in which lie is placed, of the origin and gradual formation of language. It is admitted, that it is what, from the very nature of the subject it must he, in a great measure, theoretical or conjectural. It is evident, that we possess no documents from which we might learn the ac tual rise and advances of this interesting art. Wherever
men have been found in society, there always a language of some kind, more or less perfect, yet always a formed language, has been found to prevail; the earliest rudiments, therefore, or the first efforts at regular speech, are buried in entire oblivion. If all the languages in the world were originally derived from one form of speech, communicated from our first parents, it is easy to see, that however great and numerous variations might take place in it, yet the art itself would never be lost, the mode of communicating thought in articulate signs could never be forgotten. Even if we were to suppose, that language arose untaught in many separate communities, yet still, as the absolute neces sity of such a mode of communication must have been pow erfully felt even at the very commencement of society, the progress of speech to a certain point would unquestionably be most rapid, and a language, in a great measure complete ly formed, would very soon be in use. Upon either suppo sition, then, it ceases to be matter of wonder, that no where has a community been found, who had not advanced beyond the first rudiments of speech, or among whom all the es sentials of language were not actually in use.
But though, from these circumstances, it is evident we can have no direct documents in which the earliest stages of language are actually exhibited, yet particular facts oc cur in many existing tongues, which serve to throw some light upon their origin and primitive organization; and these, so far as they can be traced, tend to give validity to the conjectures now theoretically thrown out, as to the mode in which the various classes of words originated. It is true, as observed by a late writer, that in the more per fect and polished languages, such as the Greek and Latin, and we may perhaps acid the Sanscrit and some other s. the surface, so to speak, is so highly varnished, and the joints so closely fitted, that it becomes difficult to get sight of the original materials, or discover the size and shape of the pieces thus nicely adjusted ; hut in languages less refined, such as the Hebrew, the Celtic, and the Gothic, the struc ture lies more open to inspection. According l) it was in these less polished langu iges. that etymologists first suc ceeded in discovering the roots ; but by degrees, aided by the light, thus tnrown upon the origin of words, men of i acuteness and penetration have been able n the best ad justed languages,. even in the Greek, perhaps the most complete with which we are acquainted, to advance far in unfolding their original form and constitution.