It is a great while since I received your last letter (which was dated the th of June 1824
Since I last wrote to you, I have removed to this city (
Salem
, my
former residence.
I beg to make my acknowledgements to you for the valuable present of your Berlin Academy’s Transactions, and the copies of
Memoir
r Everett
In return for your favours, I am now able to send you the long-wished for "Grammar of the Language of the Lenni-Lenápé
or Delaware Indians
r
DuPonceau
stock or family of languages, from a work
composed many years ago by an honest & intelligent missionary, who formed
the grammar merely for practical use & not to support any theories or
speculations in philology. So that whatever results we shall be obliged to come
to, they will be results which rest upon well established facts; and, I may add,
they are facts which are in accordance with those stated an hundred & fifty
years ago in Massachusetts Indian
Language
During the last three years some other publications have appeared respecting the Indians & their Languages; & some others are in preparation; of which the following are the principal:
1. y. 1826Cass
The Michigan Territory, which borders on Lake
Michigan. The author has been a negotiator & agent of the Government for
many years with the Indian Tribes, & is well acquainted with their habits of
life &.c and the parts of his review relating to
this subject are deserving of much attention. But as to their languages & general philology, he assumes to know
much more than he has a right to do; & he has indulged himself in unjust
animadversions upon the late r Heckewelderr DuPonceau
2. "c
Castigator (which has an allusion, in its
first syllable, to the name of Cass
skee, to give the whole name an Indian costume. There has been no
reply to this "Examination"; but the author of it has been threatened with a
reply, though I confess I could not perceive that it was unsound in any
part.
3. mo
4. mo
Annual Report of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions 27, 1836, S. 135.
5. mo
In these three last books, the Missionaries have adopted my system of orthography.
6.
7. Cherokee & English languages, is about to be published in the
Cherokee nationcharacters made by a native Cherokee. I should inform you, that this
native (whose name is Guess
single sounds, which we white people had prepared for
him, syllabic alphabet; which is quite contrary to our notions of a useful
alphabetic system. He has, by his own analysis, reduced all the syllables of their language to about eighty three, & his alphabet accordingly consists
of 83 arbitrary characters, instead of 16 or 18 Roman letters. He has, however,
taken the Roman letters as the basis & has only added to them some little
marks, or has distorted their shapes in order to suit his purpose. This is much
to be regretted as respects the facility of communication between these Indians
& the white people; & the plan seems to us to be very unphilosophical.
But, strange as it may appear, the fact is, that either by force of national
pride (for which we cannot blame them) or by reason of the greater convenience
of this syllabic alphabet, the use of the new characters has spread among them
in the most inconceivable manner, & they learn with great rapidity, both the
old young. So strong is their partiality for this national
alphabet, that our missionaries have been obliged to yield to the impulse, &
consent to print their books in future in the new character instead of the Roman
letters. As soon as the newspaper is begun, I shall not fail to transmit See p. 212.
You will perceive by the above list of publications, that we are not idle; & I hope every succeeding year will be more fertile. I shall not omit to inform you of our progress from time to time.
I have been long hoping to see your great work on the American Languages; but I know how laborious an undertaking it must be, & therefore I wait with all the patience I can command.
I hope you will receive this letter & the accompanying books in safety, &
that I shall have the pleasure of a letter from you, informing me of what has
been done in Germany on the subject of the American languages. I hope above all
things, for the benefit of learning, that the weakness of your eyes has entirely
left you, and that you are now able to pursue your favourite studies, by night
as