New High-German period of German, 212.
Nibelungen-lied, old German epic, 212.
Nomadic languages, so called, 363.
Normans, adoption of French language by, 169; their introduction of it into England, 169, 189.
Norwegian language, 212.
Nouns, substantive and adjective, their development from roots, 270-75; question whether nouns or verbs are original, 423-6.
Numbers, in conjugation, 267; in declension, 273; in Semitic languages, 303, 304; in Polynesian languages, 339.
Numerals as proofs of Indo-European unity. 194; examples, 196.
Numeration in Indo-European and other languages, 419; reason of its usual decimal basis, 419.
O, the letter, derivation of, 464.
Obsolete and obsolescent words, 98-9.
of, 111, 114, 120.
off, 111, 114.
Old Bactrian language, 222.
Old High-German period of German, 211.
Old Norse language—see Icelandic.
Old Prussian language, 191, 215.
Old Saxon language, 211.
Old Slavonic language, 214.
-ology, 140.
Onomatopœia, the main effective principle in the origination of language, 425-6, 428-34.
Onomatopoetic theory of origin of language, 426.
or, 115.
Organism of language, what is meant by, 35, 46.
Origin of language, approximation to it by historical research, 397-8; doctrine of divine origin, in what sense alone true, 399-403; due to an external inducement, the desire of communication, 403-5; language not originated by thought, but by men for the uses of thought, 405-21; characteristic mental action of men, leading to it, 414-18, 438-40; beginnings of language, of what kind, 421-6; exemplified in beginnings of Indo-European language, 250-61; various theories to account for their production, 426-7; onomatopœia, or imitation of natural sounds, the main efficient principle, 427-34, 437.
Orochon, Tungusic tribes, 312.
Oscan language, 165, 220.
Osmanli Turkish, 314.
Ossetic language, 192, 224.
Ossianic poems, 217.
Ostiaks, language of, 309.
Otomi language, 348 note.
Ottoman Turkish. 314.
ought, owed, owned, 111.
P, the letter, derivation of, 465.
pagan, 131.
page, 387.
Palatal series of articulations, 91.
Pali language, 225.
Papuans, language of, 339.
parchment, 130.
Parsis, and their language, 222-3.
Passives, origin of, in Indo-European language, 268.
Past time, Indo-European verbal forms indicating, 267-8.
Pazend language, 223.
Pegu, language of 336.
Pehlevi language, 223.
Permian language, 309.
Permutation of consonants in Germanic languages, 97-8.
Persian or Iranian branch of Indo-European languages, 192, 198, 222-4.
Person, verbal endings or, their origin, 75, 266-7, 303, 319; their loss in English, 75-7; they distinguish gender in Semitic, 303; double form of person in Polynesian languages, 339.
Peru, its culture, 347; its mode of writing, 450.
Peshito, Syriac Bible-version, 298.
Petra, inscriptions of, 299.
petroleum, 146.
Phenician language, 294-5, 297; alphabet of, 461-2; its diffusion, 462-3.
Phonetic change, 27-31, 42-3, 51, 69-98; how brought about, 28, 42, 69; most rife in compound forms, 70; aids the constructive processes of language, 73-4; its destructive action, 74-87; conversion of sounds into one another, 87-94; this dependent on the mode of physical production of sounds, 87-91; its causes only partially explainable, 95-7; permutation of consonants, peculiar phonetic change in Germanic languages, 97-8.
Phonetic principle in writing, its development in Egyptian writing, 454; its introduction into Chinese, 456; phonetic cuneiform, 460; steps of
