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.

hill ;

given by Mr. Eliot, the negative form of elementary words is matt a ; the local inflection ett ; the adjective great, missi ; black, moot ; white, wompi.

HUDSON RIVER INDUNS.

*

" The Indian languages also contain generic

syllables

or

shape of inflections to nouns and verbs ; in the

particles in the

Algonquin, abo, a liquid jegun, or simply gun, an instrument ; jewun, a current ; wunzh, a plant ; ong or onk, a place, &c. " By these concentrations, descriptive words become replete ;

with meanings

;

but it requires a very nice collocation and ad

justment of syllables to attain the requisite degree of euphony, for the adoption of such compounds by foreign ears. Generally,

words of three syllables recommend themselves to the English ear for quantity, in geographical names adopted from an Indian language,

as heard in

and Toronto.

Oswego, Chicago, Ohio, Monadnock, In the terms suggested in the following lists of

words, intended to be introduced into our geographical nomen clature, the principles of elision and concentration referred to,