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Linguistique de Paris through its Secretary, who expects to attend the June meeting of the Société.

An important suggestion was made by Professor J. L. Gerig, that the Secretary draw the attention of graduate students to the Society, in the hope of securing their membership early in their career.

The following scientific addresses were then made:

Professor HERMANN COLLITZ (Johns Hopkins University), The Scope and Aims of Linguistic Science.

Professor PAUL HAUPT (Johns Hopkins University), The Influence of Caucasian Idioms on Indo-European Languages.

Professor FRANZ BOAS (Columbia University), The Problem of Kinship among American Indian Languages.

Professor HENRY ALFRED TODD (Columbia University), The Complete Phonetic Elimination of Certain Monosyllabic Words in the Sentence Structure of Old French.

Abstracts are printed after these minutes of the meeting. At the conclusion of the addresses, that of Professor Collitz was discussed by Messrs. Marcus, Haupt, Bolling, Miss Hahn, Messrs. Remy and Sapir, besides its author. Concerning Professor Todd's paper, Messrs. Sapir, Flom, Bolling, Prokosch, L. Bloomfield, Goddard, and Marcus spoke, in addition to the author.

Professor Maurice Bloomfield and Professor Carl D. Buck, both of whom had accepted invitations to speak, found themselves unable at the last moment to be present.

On motion properly moved and seconded, the newly elected Treasurer was authorized to open an account in the name of the Linguistic Society of America, in the Centennial National Bank, Philadelphia, Pa.

The newly elected President, Professor Collitz, now took the chair. On motion properly made and seconded, a vote of thanks was extended to the Organizing Committee (L. Bloomfield, G. M. Bolling, E. H. Sturtevant) and to the Chairman of the Organization Meeting, for the efforts which they had put forth in the arrangements for and the conduct of the meeting.

Adjournment followed, at 5.00 P.M.

(signed) TRUMAN MICHELSON, Temporary Secretary.

ABSTRACTS OF THE ADDRESSES

DELIVERED ON DECEMBER 28, 1924

Professor HERMANN COLLITZ (Johns Hopkins University), The Scope and Aims of Linguistic Science:

In order to ascertain whether and to what extent linguistics is entitled to the name of a science, we must remember that in Modern English the term 'science' may be understood in two different ways, viz.: (1) in a broad sense, as the equivalent of the German word Wissenschaft, i.e., scholarly knowledge; (2) in a more modern and more technical sense, so as to be applied exclusively to branches of learning concerned with permanent and invariable relations, such as mathematics, chemistry, physics. These and similar sciences, it is claimed, are able to make predictions for the future. If interpreted in this way, the term would not be applicable even to the evolutionary branches of natural science, such as geology and biology. Whether or not we approve of limiting the scope of 'science' in this manner, we certainly cannot close our eyes to the fundamental difference as to aims and method between abstract science and the study of natural phenomena from the viewpoint of evolution or progress.

A similar distinction is clearly traceable in the domain of linguistics: I. As branches of linguistics concerned with permanent conditions, we may claim, above all, general phonetics and general grammar. Phonetics nowadays has assumed such proportions as almost to constitute a science by itself. However wide its scope, its limits are clearly defined in that it concerns itself with human speech merely from the point of view of articulation. In general or 'philosophical' grammar, on the contrary, stress is laid principally on the relation between grammatical forms and mental categories. For a while, and owing chiefly to the attraction emanating from historical grammar and comparative philology, philosophical grammar had to be satisfied with a back seat in linguistics. There is no reason, however, why the two should stand in each other's way, and in recent years conditions have been rapidly. See, e.g., W. Whewell's History of the Inductive Sciences (1837) and his Philosophy of the Inductive Sciences (1840).

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improving. The science of linguistics is, moreover, concerned with uniformities and permanent or steadily recurring conditions in human speech generally. We may count here, e.g., topics like the relation between language and dialects, the causes of phonetic change, the nature of phonetic laws, the mutual relation between appellatives and proper names, the various systems of counting (e.g., decimal and duodecimal systems), etc.

II. The same material which general linguistics is using for its theories, appears subordinated in historical (or evolutionary) linguistics to the point of view of gradual development and progress. As a result of linguistic evolution, languages all over the globe are found divided up into large 'families' (like Indo-European, Semitic, etc.). The comparative study of each one of these families or of one of their branches (such as Teutonic or Romance languages) has gained such proportions as almost to require lifelong study by itself. Dead languages are in every instance no less important than living ones. From single languages the study proceeds to that of dialects, of single authors, of special grammatical topics. The further the specialization is carried on, the more urgent the need for co-operation with students of philology, literature, history, archaeology, etc.

Each of these two subdivisions of linguistics being almost boundless, we ought to be the more grateful for the occasional attempts to survey the whole field in the brief compass of one or two volumes. I have in mind here the well known lectures of Max Müller and of W. D. Whitney; the manual by G. von der Gabelentz, entitled Die Sprachwissenschaft (1891); and the more recent works by Leonard Bloomfield, An Introduction to the Study of Language (New York, 1914), and O. Jespersen, Language: its Nature, Development and Origin (New York, 1922).

III. To a third subdivision of linguistics and again one of vast dimensions-we may apply the name of 'practical' or 'applied' linguistics. The study of languages together with the history of grammatical studies may justly lay claim to a leading position among the practical branches of linguistics. Yet there are other important topics belonging to the same category, e.g., grammatical nomenclature (a subject closely

2 I would refer in this connection to an able study written by an American scholar, namely: Grammar and Thinking, a Study of the Working Conceptions in Syntax, by Albert D. Sheffield (New York, 1912).

As to the method and the general aspect of historical studies, a reference must suffice here to the first two chapters of E. Bernheim's Lehrbuch der historischen Methode (5th and 6th edition, Leipzig, 1908).

connected with general grammar); the relation between speech and writing or printing; the many attempts, made at various times, to devise simplified or artificial languages; efforts toward simplifying the current spelling; etc.

A matter worthy of our particular attention is the study of ancient and modern languages in our public schools and colleges. It is not saying too much that as a vehicle of general culture the study of languages stands unrivalled among the various branches of instruction. Linguistics, to be sure, cannot in this respect boast of any exclusive merits, for the reason that it is impossible to study any particular language without perusing at the same time specimens of the literature written in that language. The study of Greek, e.g., means the study of the Greek language and of Greek authors. Obviously it is the combination rather of these two subjects than the nature of either one of them singly which renders them valuable for educational purposes. This Society, in any case, has every reason to join hands with the educators endeavoring to secure for the study of languages the place due to it in the interest both of mental and of moral culture-in the curriculum of our schools.

Professor PAUL HAUPT (Johns Hopkins University), The Influence of Caucasian Idioms on Indo-European Languages:

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The ancient Iberians in Georgia, north of Armenia, may be connected with the Iberians of the Pyrenean Peninsula and the pre-Celtic inhabitants of Hibernia, Ireland, just as the Albani of the southwestern shore of the Caspian may be identical, not only with the Albani of Alba Longa (the mother of Rome) and the modern Albanians (south of Montenegro), but also with Albion (the ancient name of the British Isles) and Albania Scotland. This Caucasian name cannot be combined with Latin albus; the designation Albion is not derived from the chalk-cliffs of Dover, and the old name of the Tiber, Albula, cannot mean White River. In the southern dialect of Albania this name appears as Arberia, and in the northern as Arbenia. The Greeks call the Albanians Arbanites, and the Turkish name is Arnauts. Armenia and Auvergne (Arvenia) seem to represent the same name. We have r also in French argoulet, which denotes a member of a corps of mounted archers instituted by Louis XII c. 1500; they were similar to the estradiots (<aтpariwτns) in the service of the Venetian Republic and other European countries in the 15th and 16th centuries, who were recruited in Dalmatia and Albania, etc., and wore a semi-Oriental dress.

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For the g in argoulet, cf. Ital. saggio = savio (< Latin sapere) ‘sage, wise,' and our sage Ital. salvia, German Salbei (ZDMG 69.564). The southern Albanians (in Epirus) call themselves Tosk, which is identical with Tusci (< Tursci) 'Etruscans,' Greek Tuponvoi < Tpwtoa (Hittite Taruisa) > Towta > Tpoia "Troy.' The Roman patricians, who were Etruscans, were called Trojugenae.

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Nine years ago I quoted Hugo Grotius' remarks (1644) on Chaldeans, Lydians, Etruscans, and M. v. Niebuhr's suggestions (1857) with regard to Etruscan and Basque. There is a connection between Basque, Etruscan, Lydian, Sumerian (Braun adds Pelasgian, Carian, Raetian, Ligurian), and the Caucasian idioms, and we find traces of Caucasian influence in the Indo-European languages. The dialects of the Ossetes in the Caucasus, which are Iranian, sound almost like Georgian, just as the Spanish spoken in Chile sounds Araucanian. Certain peculiarities of Armenian and Albanian must be attributed to Caucasian influence. Both languages have also been affected by Turkish. In modern Armenian, the order of the words is neither Indo-European nor Caucasian, but Tataric, and Tataric belongs to the Turkish branch of the Altaic stock. The loss of gender in Armenian long before 400 a.d. is due to Caucasian influence. In Haiq, the native name of the Armenians, the final consonant represents a non-Indo-European plural suffix as in Basque zaldi 'horse,' zaldia 'the horse,' zaldiak 'the horses.' Similarly we have Armen. Gamirq 'Cappadocians' < Gamir Heb. Gomer, Ass. Gimir, which is identical with Crimean, Cimmerian, Cimbrian, Cambrian (cf. Cimmerian Bosporus and Cimbric Chersonese; also Odys. 11.44). The g for k is due to partial assimilation. Cymru is the native name of Wales, north of Cornwall whence the Tartessians obtained their tin. In various parts of Cornwall, there are remains of ancient dwellings and blast furnaces with tools of ancient smelters and blocks of tin in the rude molds of earth in which the metal was cast. These ancient blocks of tin are called Jews' tin, and the ruins Jews' houses. Tartessian adventurers may have sailed from the Straits of Gibraltar to the Black Sea and the North Sea in the fourth pre-Christian millenary. Both the Odyssey and the Babylonian Gilgames epic are based on yarns of Tartessian sailors, but Homer veris falsa remiscet (Hor. Epist. 2.3.151). The early culture in southwestern Spain (Plato's Atlantis) may antedate the dawn of civilization in Babylonia and Egypt. The dynastic Egyptians may have been Caucasians, while the predynastic Egyptians were Semites.

We have a suffix article not only in Basque and Sumerian, but also

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