Excerpt from General Principles of the Structure of Language, Vol. 1 of 2 The science of language contains two parts which are distinct from each other, the science of etymology and the science of grammar. The science of etymology investigates the general principles of the production and successive changes of the elements of which language consists, the laws of their expressiveness whereby they were connected in their original form with the elements of thought, and the laws of their subsequent alterations in utterance and in meaning. The science of grammar investigates the general principles of the structure of language, the causes which have determined the various modes of breaking expression into parts, and of putting the parts together in discourse, that prevail amongst the various races of mankind. As a contribution to the former branch of the science of language, the author of this work hopes to publish, when he has revised it, a classification which he has made of Indo-European roots according to the general principles of expressiveness whereby they seem to have conveyed their fundamental meanings. And in the present publication he considers the influences which determine varieties of utterance among the various races. But with the exception of the latter, lie is concerned here only with the second part of the science of language; and he would first briefly explain his method. In studying the structure of language in the spirit of inductive science, with a view to ascertain the causes which determine it, the mind must move with continual alternation from fact to theory, and from theory to fact. "Neque enim in plano via sita est sed ascendendo et descendendo." And as language springs from thought, embodying it in expression, we have in our own consciousness the cause and the production; and consequently the materials of theory are always within our reach in the laws of thought and expression. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.