Housatonick is a trinary, which appears to be composed of wassa, bright, atun, a channel or stream, and

from azkebic, rocks ;

ick

"

While it is e., Bright stream flowing through rocks." to of the local translate and perhaps impossible geographi many

i.

cal names which

are found in the valley of the Hudson, from

the fact that the language was a mixture of Algonquin, Man hattan, Wappenackie, Mahican, Minsi and Iroquois, their form ation was in accordance with the concrete principle, and in

many cases the root terms are easily detected. Connected with this branch of his subject, the author intro plan of a system of geographical names, founded on the aboriginal languages, which gives to the investigation a practical form, and, if adopted, would enrich our own language

duces a

as well as preserve the original.

u It is found that

He says

:

many aboriginal terms which are graphically

descriptive in the native dialects, fail in the necessary euphony

and shortness necessary to their popular adoption.

The princi

ples of the polysynthetic languages embrace the rule of concen trating, in their compounds, the full meaning of a word upon a

single syllable, and

sometimes a single

letter.

Thus in Alonquin, the particle be denotes water ; wa, inanimate motion ; ga, The sylla personal actidn ; ac, a tree ; bic, a rock or metal. ble tiy in Iroquois, constantly means water ; tar, a rock ; on, a In the Natick or Massachusetts dialect, as nee, a tree.