Note 302 — PART IV. LINGUISTIC.
Reading edition
He speaks of the Othomi in these terms:—“Une langue aux allures toutes spéciales, fondamentalement distincte de toutes les langues qui se parlent aujourd’ hui sur le continent américain.” Mission Scientifique au Mexique. Pt. i. Anthropologie, p. 32 (Paris, 1884). This is the precise opinion, strongly expressed, that it is my object to controvert. Many other writers have maintained it. Thus Count Piccolomini in the Prolegomena to his version of Neve’s Othomi Grammar says: “La loro lingua che con nessuna altra del mondo conosciuto ha la menoma analogia, è semplice. * * * La formazione del loro verbi, nomi ed altri derivati ha molta semplecitá,” etc. Grammatica della Lingua Otomi, p. 3 (Roma, 1841). This writer also offers an illustration of how imperfectly Duponceau’s theory of polysynthesis has been understood. Not only does Piccolomini deny it for the Otomi, but he denies that it is anything more than merely running several words together with some phonetic syncopation. See the Annotationi at the close of his Othomi Grammar.