A. Monosyllabic Lnngnarfen These are rpfernble, geo.
graphically and philologically, ti> three grand divisions, viz.: 1. Languages of China: 2. Lnngnages of tlie Trans- gangetic peninsula or of the ludo-Cliinese ; 3. Languages of Thibet and the Himalayas.
B. Sliemitic Lamuanen, comprising: 1. Samarltnn. orig- in dly identical with Hebi ew ; 2. Ancient Syriac and Cluil- dee, "which, however, have their representative iu modem
Syriac; 3. Pehlvi, the ancient tongue of Media, a com- pound probably of Chaldee and Syriac with Zend; 4. Va- rious Arabic dialects; Hiniyaritic, the parent of Bkhkili ; 5. Ghciz, or Elhio|)ic, now superseded hy its modern dia- lects, Tigrt' and Ainharic.
C. IiHki-KuriijH-an, wiih diffoient branches: 1. Medo- Persiau, including the Persian, Pushtoo, Beloochee, Kur- dish, Ossilinian, and Armenian; 2. Sanscrit, subdivided into (a) languages of Sanscriiic origin, as Hiiiduwee, Bengalee, Assamese, Uriya, Nepalese, Palpa, Kuinaon and Gurishal, Cashinerian, Dogura or Junihoo, Punjabee, Moultau or Ooch, Sindhee, Cntchee and Gujerattee, Kuu- kuna, and Mahratta; (l>) languages of India of non-Sau- scritic origin, as Tanuil, Telinga, Canarese, Cingalese, and Maldivian ; (c) rude and unwritten languages of non- Sanscritic origin, as Goudee or Goandee; 3. Indo-Euro- pean languages of Europe, subdivided into the difterent families, as Celtic, Teutonic, Graeco-Latiu, Traco-lllyriau, and Slavoidc.
D. Ugro-Tartarian. — To this class belong all the lan- guages of Europe and Asia which are not either Shemitic or ludo-Enropean, including the Finnisli and Sanioiede languages in the North ; the Geori;ian and other lan- guages of the Caucasus region ; the Turkish, Mongolian, and^Tungusian families of Central Asia; llie Japanese, Loochooan, and Corean in Western Asia; and the Euska- rian, oi- Basque, in Western Europe.
B. Poliiiu'xiiiii Lancjuageii, including two varieties, the Polynesian and Negritian.
P. African Lnnijuage.% with four varieties: Coptic, Ber- ber, Isigro-Haniiiic, and Nilo-Hamitic languages, with their v.irious dialects.
G. American Langruujes, with numerous groups or fami- lies.
A different classification is adopted b}' A. H. Savce, in his Introduction to the Science of Lanffuaf/es (Loud. 1880), ii, 33 sq., following the results of Friedrich Miil- , ler, in his Gruiulriss der Sprdchwissenschaft (Vienna, I 187(5). The following passage from Sayce's work {loc. cit. p. 32) will be of interest: "Tlie test of linguistic kinship is agreement in structure, grammar, and roots. Judged by this test, the languages at present spoken in the world probably fall, as Prof. Friedrich Rliiller ob- serves, into 'about one hundred different families,' be- I tween which science can discover no connection or re- lationship. When we consider how many languages I have perished since man first appeared on the globe, we I may gain some itiea of the numberless essays and types of speech which have gone to form the language-world of the present day. Language is the reflection of so- ciety, and the primitive languages of the earth were as infinitely numerous as the communities that produced them. . . . So far as tlie available data allow, the exist- ing languages of the world may be classified as follows" (referring to the seventy-six heads adopted), " though it must be remembered that in many cases our informa- tion is scanty and doubtful, and languages here grouped under a single head may hereafter turn out to be dis- tinct and unrelated." See Tongues, Confusion of.
IV. History of Modem Efforts. — At the beginning of the present century there existed a number of ver- sions, which formed a stock for the newly established Bible societies to commence upon. There were trans- lations into nearly all the languages of Europe, into a few spoken in the adjacent parts of Asia and Africa, and into four only of countries lying beyond. Some of these old versions were not adopted; others were print- ed for use until something better coidd be provided— for it is better to give a starving man stale bread than keep him waiting while you are baking; and others, again, have been employed without material change up to the present time. In some countries a single version has been accepted, as in England; elsewhere, as in France and (iermany, use has been made of more than one; and in cases where important sections of the people have refused one version, it has been the practice of most Bible societies to permit them to purchase a ver- sion they would receive; provided, always, that it was substantially faithful and revealed clearly the way of salvati<in.
New translations have been made since 1804 in about two hundred and tteenty-six languages. To state how many have been due to the labors of any particular body of missionaries would not be easy, inasmuch as,
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in many cases, various missions have been engaged. Tlie same difficulty applies, in a measure, to liie work ot' tlie Bible societies, two or more liaving often pub- lished in tlie same language. Still the loUdwing may be talicn as an approximate statement, thoii;^h the cor- rectness of the ligures is not guaranteed :
The British and Foieign Bible Society has
X published or assisted to publish new ver- sions in 187 languages.
The American Bil)Ie Society 41 "
The National Bihle Society in Scotland 5 "
The Bible Translation Society 14 "
The Society for I'roinotiug Christian
Knowledge IT "
The Triniiaiiau Bible Society 3 "
The Netherlands Bii)le Society 11 "
The Bible societies of Germany (viz. tlie Prussian Bible Society, 4; the Wiirteni- l)erir Bible Society, 4; and the Bremen Bible Society, 1)..". 9 "