Nov.s] PROCEEDINGS. [1889.Nowit was plain thatif I wished to trace a possible connection
betweentwo languages so remote fromeachotherin time andplace
as the old non-Semitic idiomof Babylonia and the Mandarin dialect
of Chinese, it would not do to be satisfied withmeresimilaritiesof
sound,evenwhenthe inference of identity mightseem to be con
firmedby similarity of meaning. Scientificphilologyis not a hotch
potch of isolated resemblances. Thepropercourseappearedto be
to try to establish uniformitiesin the permutation of sounds between
the two languages.
I had chancedto begin with wordspresentingan initial y in
Chinese, so I proceeded to look for other instances of correspon
dence involvingthisletter. Theadvancedstageof phonetic decay
presentedby the Mandarin dialect,and the fact, familiarin philology,
of initial G wearing downin course of time to a Y sound, at once
suggested that the numerous cases of initial Y in the common
languageof modern Chinamight exemplify this change. If this
ideawere correct,andChinesewere reallycognatewithAccadian,
I expected to find thatthe substitution of an initial G for a Y in
Chinese words would yield formsrecognisably related to corres
pondingAccadian terms. Accordingly, I wrote the Chineseye,
"night,"with a g, and got the Accadian cfc, "night" (Assyrian
mftiu). It was an isolated fact, butit encouraged me to pursue
whatmight,afterall, turn out to be a will-o'-the-wisp. Theresult
was the following list :
Accadian. Chinese,
ge, GEA, "night." ye, "night."
gig (salmu), "shadow,""dark," ying," a shadow "; ytt, "dark."
" image," " likeness." yin, " shady," " a shade."
(eqlitu)," darkness."
GU (Sasti, qib&,apalu, etc.),"to yii, " to speak "; yen, "word."
speak."
gig (marsu, mursu), "sick," ying,"sickness."
" sickness."
gana(ginti),"garden." yuen,"garden."
(eqlu)," field."
gis, gi (edu), " one." yin," one."
ges (S3 gas), Sikaru,"newwine," yu, " new wine."
or "strong drink"of any kind.
gin {alaku), "to walk," "march." yin,"to journey," "moveon."