Indian Languages Database
Record Details
A collection of letters, in which the imperfection of learning, even among Christians, and a remedy for it, are hinted... The affinity betwixt the languages of the Americans of the Terra Firma, and those of the ancient Britains, is proved. The scripture-account of things is confirm’d. An objection against revealed religion... is removed.
Edinburgh: s.n., 1739
Physical Description: 16 pts. [i.e. 15 pts.] ; 21 cm. (8vo) : [2] p.; pt. 1: 8 p.; pt. 2: 16 p.; pt.3: 24 p.; pt. 4: 32 p.; pt. 5: 32 p.; pt. 6: 30, 33-48 p.; pt. 7: 32 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.; p. 14: 8 p.; pt. 15: 8 p.
Call number: D Scott 312n
Accession number: 63-280
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 8, p. 5-8). Part 9, “To the H.S.A.M. of -----”, continues the comparative 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 9, p. 8). Further discussion of Wafer’s vocabulary is found in a letter, signed “C.”, “To the H.G.V.E” (appearing twice in nearly identical form in parts 11 and 13, p. 3-8). Contains brief references to other Amerindian languages passim.
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Languages: Cuna language
Genre: Vocabulary
Region: Caribbean Islands / North America / Spanish America
