Indian Languages Database
Record Details
An essay on the antiquities of Great Britain and Ireland... especially an attempt to shew an affinity betwixt the languages, &c. of the ancient Britains, and the Americans of the isthmus of Darien. In answer to an objection against revealed religion.
Edinburgh: [s.n.], 1738
Physical Description: 16 pts. [i.e. 15 pts.] ; 21 cm. (8vo): [2] p.; pt. 1: [2], 16 p.; pt. 2: 8 p.; pt. 3: 24 p.; pt. 4: 32 p.; pt.5: 32 p.; pt. 6: 32 p.; pt. 7: 8 p.; pt. 8: 8 p.; pt. 9: 8 p.; pt. 10: 8 p.; pt. 11: 8 p.; pt. 12: 8 p.; pt. 13: 8 p.; pt. 14: 8 p.; pt. 15: 30, 33-48 p.
Call number: D Scott 312
Accession number: 35567
Notes: This collection of letters and reports by Malcolm (a minister at Duddington) and other individuals as well as corporate bodies contains, along with English-Irish vocabularies and remarks on the ancient Celtic languages of the British isles, material on the purported affinities of Amerindian languages with Scottish, Irish, and Welsh, with some references to Eurasian languages.
Includes Lionel Wafer's brief vocabulary of the Cuna language of the Darien isthmus, from his New voyage and description of the Isthmus of America (first publ. 1699), followed by “Some observations on the words in Wafer’s specimen” (letter “To A.M. of D.E.“, part 12, p. 5-8). Part 13, “To the H.S.A.M. of -----”, continues the analysis and gives a table comparing Wafer's vocabulary, transliterated "as a North Briton, or other European would [write] the same sound", with British terms of similar pronunciation and meaning (part 13, p. 8). Wafer's vocabulary is also analyzed in a letter, signed “C.”, "To the H.G.V.E" (appearing twice in nearly identical form in parts 7 and 9, p. 3-8). Contains brief references to other Amerindian languages passim.
To access digital facsimile copy of book, click here.
Languages: Cuna
Genre: Vocabulary
Region: Caribbean Islands / North America / Spanish America
