three hundred and thirty words, of which the Chinese language is said to be composed, and concludes with requesting us to believe, very inconsistently with his premises, as it appears to me, that the Chinese is altogether a peculiar language, and has nothing in common with any other. To prove that this is very far from being the case, I shall now proceed to point out the numerous analogies I have remarked between the Chinese and many other languages both of Asia and Europe. IV. List of Chinese words, from the names of the 214 keys, or elementary characters, as given in the Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, with their analogies in other languages. Chinese Words. 1. Ye-one, alone, the chief, the same....... 4. Pei, to arrive at ..... In. (Greek), the Fem. of ios, alone. Yek (Persic), one, once. 8. Too, the summit, or top of } To (Persic), cream, the fat of broth. any thing.... 9 Jin, a man, mankind Jan (Sanskrit), man individually, or collectively. All Nouns Ethnical terminating in ian. 10. Jin, the ancient character for } Jihan (Persic), the world. man .......... 14. Mee, to cover, the roof of a May, or Mo (Persic), the hair of the house....... head. Sayah (Persic), a shade or shadow. Siyah (Persic), black. Skia (Greek), shadow. Ta (Persic), multiplicity. Nau (Persic), new, fresh. 40. Miou, a covering, a roof......... Moy (Persic), the hair of the head. 45. Che, a bud 46. Shan, a hill, or mountain 51. Kan, a shield Chah (Persic), used in forming dimi nutives, as Ghun-Chah, a rose bud. Shain (Hebrew), a sharp cliff. 48. Kung, work, an artificer......... Kayn (Persic), forming, framing. 65. Chee, the branches of a tree... Chah (Persic), a bud. fix to de note the 3d person future. Chinese Words. 72. Ge, ancient Chinese 147. Kien, to see... Analogies. ... Shuway (Arabic), a small matter. Kuon, Greek. Pai (Persic), the foot. Se, Latin. {Sayah (Persic), a shade, or shadow Ken (English), to see. 161. Shin, a portion of time equal Sheni (Hebrew), two. to two hours v. List of Chinese words, from the Glossary at the end of the first volume of Du Halde, 4 tomes 4to, à la Haye, 1736. Chinese Words. Mou, mother Mou-Sing, the planet Jupiter Analogies. Mou-Tsae, Shepherd and governor of the people, is very like Moses, if we did not know that the etymology of that word is Egyptian. Pou-sa, Du Halde says, the god of Porcelaine; but the word, from the way in which it is used, is evidently a general name of deity. If Pousa's name and attributes had been known in England, he would have been frequently invoked at sales of old china, and have had the honour of numbering among the most devoted of his votaries no less distinguished a person than Horace Walpole. Tai-ki, great soul. Tchang, eternal. Tchang-koue, middle kingdom. Chum-cue, central kingdom. Jones, vol. iii. p. 139. Chung-quo, middle kingdom. Art. China, Sup. Ency. Brit. NOTE.-Not the least difficulty connected with Chinese philology is the indefinite orthography, of which the above is a specimen. The Chinese disguise European words so much by their manner of writing them, that they are scarcely to be recognised, and European authors have not been much behindhand in returning the compliment. The language of the Celestial Empire in some instances appears to differ from other languages, in the same degree as that of gods and men differed in Homer's time, when the former called that river Xanthus, which the latter denominated Scamander; and ascribed to Myrinna, the tomb known to mortals as that of Bateia. Tien, heaven, the god of heaven. Yemen, tribunal of justice......... { ..... Taio (Egyptian), honour. See final I in Persic-letter Ye. } Quære, Gehen and Gehenna, Greek. VI. From the Index to De Guignes, Voyages à Pekin, &c., 3 tomes, Paris, 1808. Chinese Words. Chang-ty, the Supreme Being Analogies. Ju-kiao, a name of Fo, or Budha. Š } heaven, Tien-tan. Analogies. earth, Ty-tan..................... Ty, appears to be cognate with the Doric Da, the earth. It is impossible, it appears to me, to peruse the preceding lists of words with attention, without being convinced that the language of the Chinese, so far from having nothing in common with any other, presents at every step numerous points of resemblance; and I am fully persuaded that, with the progress of accurate philological knowledge, we shall no more expect to find any language standing apart, and insulated from all other languages, than we think of looking for "men whose heads do grow beneath their shoulders." VII. I shall now proceed to offer some further illustrations of the Chinese spoken language; and a glance at their grammar, will convince us, if I am not very much mistaken, that, if they have borrowed nothing from other nations, they have imparted a great deal; and that, whatever degree of antiquity we may be disposed to allow to the Chinese annals, in the state in which they are presented to us, their language and grammatical arrangements have irresistible claims to be regarded as among the very oldest of which the art of writing has preserved any record. We are informed by Du Halde that there are two spoken languages in China: one confined to the common people, which varies so much in different parts of the empire, that the inhabitants of one province can scarcely understand those of another; and the other, which is denominated the Mandarin language, that of the court, the church, and the schools, the use of which appears to be somewhat analogous to that of Latin in Europe, or of Sanskrit among the dialects of the Indian continent. The number of spoken words is said not to exceed three hundred and thirty; the meaning of which, however, is varied almost indefinitely by accentuation; and as the Greek language is said to be derived from about three hundred roots, or primitive words, perhaps this apparent coincidence was the circumstance which induced Webb to write an essay to prove that the Greek language was derived from the Chinese. I strongly suspect that in both instances there is much, perhaps an equal degree of, exaggeration, and an equally narrow foundation of fact. VIII. The following abstract of Chinese grammar is chiefly borrowed from the work of the younger De Guignes, who resided several years in the country, and was well acquainted with their language and literature. In compositions of an elevated style the Chinese decline no noun and conjugate no verb; and in fact the same word, according to circumstances, is a noun, a verb, or an adverb, all the varieties of meaning being indicated by its position. The Chinese word, therefore, agrees with the Sanskrit Dhato or root, which, standing alone, has neither case, gender, nor number. IX. The Nominative is represented by a simple word, for example, Fong, the wind, a word which appears to be cognate with the Latin ventus, and still more so with the French vent, as pronounced. Sometimes the Chinese, especially those of the northern provinces, add the words Teou, Tse, and Eul; but this usage is regarded as inelegant. The nominative is placed near to, and precedes the verb. x. The Genitive is distinguished by the particles Ty and Tchy; but they are merely understood, and not expressed when the sense is clear without them. When written, it is in the following way, Gin ti hao, which, translating the words in the order in which they stand, means of man the kindness. And here it is impossible not to be struck, not with the similarity, but the perfect identity, in the mode of forming the genitive case, between Chinese nouns and such Greek and Latin ones as increase in that case. Among the Chinese keys, or elements, we have seen (No. 9.) Jin, signifying man, mankind. Du Halde writes the word Gin, and according to him Gin ti signifies of man. In Latin we find the word Gens, a people, the genitive case of which is Gen E |