Note 48 — Chapter VI
Reading edition
"History (says Prescott) furnishes few examples of more absolute authority than such a revolution in the language of an empire at the bidding of a master." The pronunciation of Quichua requires a harsh, explosive utterance. Gibbon says the sound of it to him resembled Welsh or Irish; that of Aymará, English. The letters b, d, f, g, and o are wanting in the ancient tongue of Quito; p was afterward changed to b, t to d, v to f, c to g, and u to o: thus Chim-pu-razu is now Chimborazo. A few words bear a striking analogy to corresponding Sanscrit words; as Ynti, the Inca for sun, and Indra, the Hindoo god of the heavens.