True Superiority of true superiority of a language is shown not in one but in several particulars. Its tones, the phonetic ele ments which make up its alphabet, must be clear, positive, and harmoni ous; its grammatical structure must present the leading elements of time proposition in their simplicity, unencumbered by superfluous detail, and permit the secondary elements to be grouped around them in subordinate positions with a correct sense of linguistic perspective.
A language which has these characteristics will correspond most pre cisely in its expressions with the logical processes of thought, and will thus favor clear and progressive thinking and prompt comprehension. It will therefore act on the national mind as a stimulus and an incentive to intellectual pursuits.
Progress of Language.—Language being a faculty natural to man, it is, like all his faculties, capable of constant improvement, and has steadily advanced along with his other powers. The leading principle of its growth and improvement is strictly ethnological. It is found in the cross ing of bloods on a large scale by the repeated intermixture of nations speaking different tongues. Those forms of speech often looked upon with contempt, the jargons, dialects, and mixed languages, are in reality the strong and healthy shoots put forth from an ancient stock, proving its vigor; and in the end these scions will be green and vigorous when the ancient tree is withering in a dry rot. As an eminent linguist has elo quently said, " The seemingly aimless and confused intenninglings of primitive tribes sowed the seed for the flowers of speech and song which flourished in centuries long posterior" (Wilhelm von Humboldt).
Admixtures.-----If it be asked in what manner the admixtures of lan
guages lead to their improvement, the reply is, That they are thus obliged to drop all unnecessary accessory elements in a proposition; that the rela tions of ideas must be expressed by conventional and not significant syl lables, thus defining the distinction between the material and the merely formal parts of a sentence; and that the limitations of thought imposed by the genius of a language are violently broken down, and the mental powers are allowed full sway. Furthermore, the vocabulary is enriched by new words, and with these words come new ideas.
As examples to illustrate opposite conditions of language in these respects we may mention the Chinese and the English. The former has remained without crossings and without important intermixture for four thousand years; the latter is an extremely composite product of recent growth. The Chinese were a civilized and literary people when the ances tors of the English were wild savages; but the Chinese, uninfluenced by external influence and tied down to the limits of a singularly inexpressive language, sank into a state of mental torpidity, until now they have been left far behind by all the more mobile nations of the Western World.
Undoubtedly, up to a certain point a tongue can be cultivated within its own limits by enriching its vocabulary, separating and classifying its grammatical elements, fixing the meaning of current compounds, and by forming new ones according to the genius of its structure; but this will only carry it a limited distance, where it will lag and become inert unless vivified by an admixture of foreign elements both in words and forms.