The American Nations Part 19

_Tureigua hobin_, Heaven-like of Yellow Copper.

_Siarei-huibo_, Star-bright Highness.

_Duyh-zinequen_, Wealthy in Streams.

_75th Event._ In 1480 Guarionex succeeds Guaramatex as the greatest king of Hayti.

_76th Event._ In 1486 the Cubans send a colony to Florida, in search of a river and spring restoring to youth; they visit the _Pola_ islands, now Martyrs or Florida keys, the _Colas_ nation of South Florida, and settle the town of Abaiba near the cape of Florida.-Herrera.(82)

This proves a previous trade and knowledge of Florida. The _Colas_ are perhaps descendants of the ancient Cara-_Cols_ of Hayti: they dwelt in Florida till 1760, when they removed to Cuba.

_77th Event._ In 1490 and previous to it, war in Cuba between the kingdom of Cuba or Colba, and Cavilla king of the _Cami_ nation, in the country of Bafan, whose capital was Fava.-_Columbus' Narrative._

Columbus heard of this war in 1492. The _Cami_ are the same as the Cama-yegua, the foreign people of Cuba.(83)

CHAPTER VII.

THE HAYTIAN OR TAINO LANGUAGE _restored, with fragments of the dialects of Cuba, Jamaica, Lucayas, Boriquen, Eyeri, Cairi, Araguas. Grammar, roots, and comparative Vocabularies._

At an early period I endeavored to collect all the scattered fragments of this language, in order to elucidate and support the historical traditions. This labour concluded in 1828, has given very important results, which shall now be explained. At the time of the Spanish discovery and conquest, many Spaniards spoke that language; many slaves were sent to Spain; but philology was not then attended to. Therefore we have no dictionary nor grammar of this language. Meantime the very nation has disappeared, destroyed by Spanish cruelty.

However, nearly all the early travellers and writers on the West Indies have preserved by chance, some words of it. Columbus himself mentions some of them in his original journal. Roman and Dangleria explain many of the quoted words. Others are scattered in Acosta, Gomara, Oviedo, Garcia, Diaz, Las-Casas &c.; which had never been all collected even by Vater nor Edwards. Gili alone undertook to give a long list of Haytian words; but three-fourths of them are geographical or historical names unexplained and unavailable.

I have used, compared and brought together all these loose materials, and thus succeeded in restoring about 234 words of this language, a list ample enough for all historical purposes. This contains besides 50 words of the Eyeri and eastern dialects, with 38 of the Cuban or western dialects, useful to show the variations of dialects. We know that from Bahama to Cuba, Boriquen to Jamaica, a same language was spoken in various slight dialects, but understood by all: Columbus himself says so.

But this language, which had also partly spread in Florida, and in South America, has the appearance of being a mixt speech. This appears from the many synonyms, the deviations of dialects, and the double forms, or relative position of words. In the small eastern islands the _Eyeris_ or _Cabres_ had been destroyed by the Caribs, who preserved the women, and these preserved their own language, mixt with some Carib words and taught it to their daughters; so as to produce a double language, that of the women being quite peculiar. This singular fact well authenticated, will enable us to presume a similar conquest and custom, wherever we shall meet in America, with a peculiar female idiom.

The many nations or tribes mentioned in the traditions, which had gradually amalgamated; and the settlement in Cuba and Hayti of the Mayas, will account for this mixture of synonyms. But the existence also of many h.o.m.onyms, leads us to a former more simple speech, probably monosyllabic and quite regular as the oriental idioms, to which it is most akin.

From the primitive languages of North Africa and South Europe, it had received this regular position of ideas; but by the mixture with the Maya and Mexican nations using the inverse form, it borrowed that new form. The same happened in Europe to the Celtic and Oriental tribes, who received in Greece and Italy the inverse form of speech from the Scythian, Illyrian and Gothic tribes.

The comparative examination of the Haytian and dialects, was pursued by me, _upon all the languages of the earth_, as I was determined that one American nation at least, should be traced philologically to its real origin. Thus I found many thousand a.n.a.logies of it, out of which I have used about 1500 in the annals, notes and vocabularies. A single American language does then contain more comparative a.n.a.logies in about 200 words than all those collected by Vater and Malte, out of 400 American languages; and this fact upsets all the illusions, theories and false views, based thereon by them, Humboldt and others.

But this comprehensive labour teaches other facts, by far more important and available. 1. That American languages have a.n.a.logies with all the languages of the earth, 2. That they have similar a.n.a.logies with each other, 3. That it is only the superior number of a.n.a.logies that may indicate a filial or parental connection out of America, 4. And that also similar greatest number of a.n.a.logies, indicate the parental relations of American languages and nations between themselves, 5. Lastly that unless a language and nation is compared _with all the others_, we can never ascertain accurately, nor trace its real parentage philologically.

This consequence is obvious, although it will not please the lazy or timid philologists and historians. It shall be further pursued and elucidated hereafter; but now let us apply these rules to the Haytian.

I could give 400 comparisons. Let us select a few.

1. _Ainu of Choka_ islands between j.a.pan and _Kamchatka_, 22 comparable words 4 alike in Haytian-Boat, house, no, drink-Mutual affinity only 21 per cent. No parentage.

2. _Singala_ of Ceylon, 50 comparable words, 16 a.n.a.logies, with Haytian-Mutual affinity 32 per cent. Very distant parentage.

3. _Guanch_ of the Canary island nearest to Hayti in the east, 32 comparable words, 14 akin. Mutual affinity 42 per cent. Distant connection.

4. _Mandara._ Handsome black nation in the centre of Africa, 12 words comparable, 6 akin,-one, water, man, king, mother, river-Mutual a.n.a.logies 50 per cent. Nearer connection than with the Guanch, or separation less remote.

5. _Pelagic_, or ancestors of the Greeks and Italians. Comparable words in all the ancient and modern dialects nearly 200, whereof about 160 offer more or less a.n.a.logies!-Mutual affinity 80 per cent! Complete and near connection.

_Therefore the Haytians are of Pelagic origin!_ No other group of languages offer anything like as many. The nearest after, are the Atlantic L. Lybian, Egyptian, Bask, Sanscrit, Persian &c. who are all connected with the Pelagic nations. The a.n.a.logies with the Tartars, Chinese, Polynesians &c., are all less in amount.

In America the Haytian affinities are of course the greatest with the _Aruac_ nations of South America; who are their brothers, and extend to the Taos of Tuc.u.man and the Tinguis or true Patagons of Pigafetta. Yet they may have been divided long ago, or ever since their American settlement: since out of two selected for comparisons, after the vocabularies, the _Araguas_ had only 70 per cent of a.n.a.logy, and the _Cairi_ only 56 per cent. The nearest affinities after these, were with the _Apalachis_, _Nachez_, _Cadoz_, _Huastecas_, _Mexican_, _Tarasca_, _Maya_, _Chontal_ &c. of N. America, and the _Darien_, _Betoy_, _Peruvian_, _Chili_, _Mbaya &c._ of South America.

Those with the nations of N. America of Asiatic origin, and the nations of South America of African origin, such as the Linapis and Guaranis, were much reduced. See the compared vocabularies.

The Haytian shall now become therefore one of the touchstones of other American languages, to verify their eastern or Atlantic origin, and above all the connection with the American Pelagians.

Let us now consider the forms and peculiarities of this interesting language, and first its phonology.

It appears to have all the sounds of the Italic languages; but it lacks the Greek TH, PS, the Cairi had _TH_. It has been written by Spaniards, and their simple orthography applies well to it; but leaves a doubt whether it had the Celtic and French u (unless it be y) Hebrew and English SH, lacking in Spanish. Their CH is as in English, and the French TCH.-It had the gutural X of the Greeks and Spanish, written X and J. Also the Spanish LL, GN or n, and TZ.

It had few P being changed to B; few F often changed to V; few L changing to Y; few S changed to Z; few D changed to T.-It had no nasal sounds as in Italian, AN becoming _Ana_ &c. Many dipthongs AO, OEI, IA, AI, UA, AU, EI &c. as in Italian, each vowel sounded. This made the language soft, pleasing and musical as in Italian and Polynesian. Dangleria says the accent was always on the last syllable, as in French.

On the grammar of it, nothing has been written; what Vater has said is quite loose and inaccurate. We have not even the _Lord's Prayer_ in it, so as to serve as a model. Our only guides are a few translated phrases of Roman and Dangleria; but they enable us to perceive the main features of it.

One of the chief was the great use of articles, as in Italian; but with a peculiar one GUA, put commonly before, but sometimes after the nouns. It was a demonstrative article, meaning _such_, or _this_, _that_, _these_, _those_; but never changing and common as our _The_: while this indicative _The_ was declinable or changing as in the Italic languages, and extremely various, although always prefixed, expressed by I, HI, HIN, NI, N', ZI, LI &c. A third kind of article was O, which when added, appears to have been comparative, and to mean _Akin_, _Like_, _Similar_, or our English AS. The relative article _Of_ was A prefixed.

Examples of Articles.

_Gua-yava_ This pear.

_Gua-ma_ This great, or lord.

_Gua-tiaos_ Those brothers.

_Ma-za-gua_ Great plain such.

_Bala-gua_ Sea such, the ocean.

_I-Guana_ The guana or lizard.

_Ni-taino_ The good or n.o.ble.

_Mi-taino_ My n.o.ble lord.

_Li-ani_ The wife. Eyeri dialect.

_Hin-Guaili_ The such-sons, the children.

_Ziba o_ Stone like, stony.

_A-na_ Of bloom, a flower.

_A-boria_ Of labor, a va.s.sal.

_A-maca_ Of wood, a bed.

_A-ma_ Of great, water.

_A-reiti_ Of rite, song.

These articles formed probably the declinations of nouns, as we do not perceive a different desinense. This form was more like the Celtic, Oscan, and Greek, than the Latin.

The feminine was formed nearly as in Italian, O changing to A.-_Taino_, _Taina_, Lord, Lady-_Hito_, _Hita_, Man, Woman; but there must have been irregularities difficult to trace: as some words masculine end in I, S, N, U, L. Perhaps some were neutral.

Some words are formed by duplication, implying an amplitude, as in the Oriental language.-_Bi_ life, _Bibi_ mother and wife in dialects. _Ba_ habitation, _Baba_, _Vava_ Father. _Ma_ great, _Mama_ mother. _Xau_ cake, _Xauxau_ bread or large cake.

The plurals are chiefly in I as in Italian, or in S as in Spanish; but there are some irregular plurals. _Taino_, _Taini_, Lord, Lords. _Hito_, _hitos_ man, men.

EL son. ILI sons. _Zemi_ angel, _Zemes_ angels.