Ridpath's Universal history - an account of the origin, primitive condition and ethnic development of the great races of mankind, and of the principal events in the evolution and progress of the (14784275265)

Identifier: ridpathsuniversa05ridp (find matches)
Title: Ridpath's Universal history : an account of the origin, primitive condition and ethnic development of the great races of mankind, and of the principal events in the evolution and progress of the civilized life among men and nations, from recent and authentic sources with a preliminary inquiry on the time, place and manner of the beginning
Year: 1897 (1890s)
Authors: Ridpath, John Clark, 1840-1900
Subjects: World history
Publisher: Cincinnati : Jones
Contributing Library: University of Pittsburgh Library System
Digitizing Sponsor: Lyrasis Members and Sloan Foundation



Text Appearing Before Image:
■ SLAVIC SCULPTURES AND INSCRIPTION.Drawn by Puyplat, from a photograph. pleteness and in musical vocability maybe used as a standard to de- Language maytermine, not indeed exact- ^^.^i.;^™ priority among ly, but relatively, the era at races. which a given language was heard on the tongfues of men. Now the rouofh- 114 GREAT RACES OE MANKIND. ness, jaggedness, and consonantal stiif-ness and guttural quality of the vSlavicand Lithuanian languages, even as com-pared Avith German, much more as com-pared with vScandinavian, are so strikingqualities as to have led many to supposethe Slavic tongues to have been derivedfrom another radix totally different Middle Higli German, New HighGerman—we should find an ascend-ing scale of recencv, and note infalliblytliat it corresponds with an ascend-ing scale of roughness and gutturalquality. Now, by carrying on thissame ascent, we come into the Lithua-nian and vSlavic languages, and by a rea- %H t> 1 rnk Jk
Text Appearing After Image:
POST-SLEDGE AND COURIER—Drawn by De la Charlerie. from the Teutonic languages. If weshould begin in the extreme West withthe Icelandic Norse, the oldest andiTLOst isolated of all the Teutonic lan-guages, and trace our way backwardthrough Norwegian and Danish intoIngavonian, or Low German, thenceinto High German—Old High Ircrman, soning the force of which may not wellbe broken, Ave see that the latter areyoungest of all the Teutonic arrivals,though some, indeed, have supposedthem as ancient as the first of Europeantongues. It is not here, however, that Ave pro-pose to discuss the languages of the great THE SLA VS.~LITHUANIANS. 115 and widely dispersed peoples includedunder the general name of Letto-Slavic.Positive histor- We pause merely to noteSi^et^ivai that, in addition to the tes-of the Slavs. timony of language, thereis positive historical proof as to thecomparatively late arrival in Europe ofthe races so-called. In general, we maysay that the Slavic tongues are boundedon the