CLASS IV.-DETACHED FAMILIES.

H. DIALECTS OF THE ISLANDS OF EASTERN ASIA, AND OF COREA.

JAPANESE.

(For a SPECIMEN of this Version, see Plate X.)

THE Japanese empire consists of five large and many small islands, lying between lat. 30° and 50° N., and long. 128° and 151° E. The Japanese have been the predominant race in this extensive empire from time immemorial, and it is now impossible to ascertain from what region they originally emigrated, for in physical conformation, religion, and language, they differ from all the neighbouring nations. In the absence of correct statistical accounts, it has been conjectured that the population of this empire, exclusive of its dependencies, amounts at least to 50,000,000. The primitive religion of the Japanese is called Sin-siu, literally, "doctrine of spirits:" it consists in the adoration of numerous spirits or divinities supposed to preside over all things visible and invisible, and among the foremost in the ranks of these false gods are included the progenitors of the present line of emperors. This ancient form of belief has, however, in a great measure been superseded by Buddhism, which is now the prevailing religion in Japan. There are also many followers of Confucius, who, as in China, devote their sole attention to the affairs of this life, without reference to a future state of existence.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE.-Japanese is a polysyllabic language, and altogether different in structure and idiom from the Chinese. The very organs of articulation are dissimilar in the two nations; and such Chinese words as have passed into the Japanese vocabulary are greatly altered in pronunciation. Words of Chinese origin are however very common in Japanese, having been introduced by Chinese colonies, but more particularly by the influence of Chinese literature, upon which all the learning of Japan is based. Yet there are points in which the Japanese coincides with the monosyllabic and Tartarian classes of languages: it has, for instance, no terminational distinctions of gender, and the cases of substantives are denoted by suffixes; the verbs have regular inflections to denote the difference of tense, but they are invariable with respect to number and person.' In many of its most simple and radical words, Japanese also claims affinity with the idioms of Eastern Asia; and several such elemental terms have been pointed out by Klaproth as common to the Japanese, Mongolian, and Finnish languages. The Chinese characters were formerly used in writing Japanese, but not being found adapted to express the sounds of this language, three different syllabaries were invented by the Japanese, and are now in general use; they consist chiefly of modified and contracted Chinese characters.2

VERSION OF THE SCRIPTURES IN THIS LANGUAGE.-The rigid exclusion of foreigners from Japan, and the suspicious and vigilant spirit of the government, have rendered the translation of the Scriptures into Japanese a matter of almost insuperable difficulty. Dr. Medhurst, agent of the London Missionary Society in China, applied to the study of the Japanese language, and made copies of the dictionaries and other works that were accessible to him, in the hope of qualifying himself for this

1 Prichard's Researches, vol. iv. p. 494.

2 Calcutta Christian Observer for 1838, No. I.

arduous undertaking; but the honour of translating the first portion of Scripture into the language of this extensive empire was reserved for Dr. Gutzlaff. About the year 1835, three shipwrecked Japanese mariners arrived at Macao on their voyage homewards, and during the few months that they remained in that city, Dr. Gutzlaff availed himself of their aid in translating the Gospel of St. John into their language. This translation was printed at Singapore about the year 1839, but it does not appear that opportunities have as yet been afforded for its circulation.

L O O C H O O A N.

(For a SPECIMEN of this Version, see Plate X.)

THE Loochoo, or Lewchew Islands, are thirty-six in number, and lie about 400 or 500 miles eastward of China, nearly midway between Japan and Formosa. The principal island, called Great Loochoo, from which the entire group derives its name, is fifty miles long, and from twelve to fifteen broad, but most of the other islands are of very inferior dimensions. The inhabitants are of the same race as the Japanese, and speak a dialect of that language. They are now subject to China; their religion is that of Fo or Buddha, and their government is a despotic monarchy.

A mission, called the "Loochoo Naval Mission," having for its object the conversion of the Loochooans to Christianity, was commenced about the year 1843. Dr. Bettelheim, a medical missionary, was sent, in 1846, by this Society to Loochoo, where he and his family still remain. He has translated portions of the Scriptures into Loochooan; and from the similarity of this dialect to Japanese, it is hoped that his translations may be found useful in Japan itself. In addition to contributions from other sources, a grant of fifty pounds has been voted by the British and Foreign Bible Society towards defraying the expenses of printing Dr. Bettelheim's version of the Gospel of Luke and of the Acts. As the Japanese characters are used in writing Loochooan, and as the casting of type for these characters in England is far more expensive than cutting the blocks in China, it has been resolved to have the work printed at Hong Kong by a converted Japanese, under the immediate superintendence of friends of the Society. On the completion of the edition, it will be forwarded for distribution to the translator at Loochoo.1

ALEUTIAN, OR ALIOUT-LISEYEFF.

THE Aleutian Islands form a long circular chain, above 600 miles in length, traversing the North Pacific from Cape Alaska, in America, to the peninsula of Kamtschatka, in Asia, so as almost to unite the two continents. These islands are extremely numerous, and were partially discovered by Behring in 1741; the largest, which still bears his name, is 104 miles in length, but many of the other islands are mere rocks. They are much frequented by the Russian Fur Company, and are included in the government of Irkutsk. Most of the inhabitants are idolaters, though some of them have been baptized and instructed in the rites of the Greek church. They subsist chiefly on the produce of fishing and the chase; and, to judge from their habits and physical conformation, appear an intermediate race between the Mongolians and the North American Indians. Their language is very similar

1 Report of the Loochoo Naval Mission for 1849-50. (Palestine Place, Bethnal Green.)

to that of the Esquimaux, especially of the Namollos, an Esquimaux tribe residing on the shore of the north-eastern promontory of Asia. In point of number, the Aleutians have been variously estimated at from a few hundreds to six thousand.

The Gospel of St. Matthew has been translated for the benefit of these islanders by Priest Joan Veniuminoff, otherwise written John Benjaminoff, by whom the language was first reduced to writing. He had resided for fifteen years as missionary among this people: the dialect in which the translation is made is that spoken in the island of Oonalaskka; but there is no great difference between the idioms of the various islands of this group, any local peculiarity being readily explained by means of marginal notes. The first chapter of Luke, and the first two chapters of the Acts, have been translated by the same Russian priest into the dialect spoken in the island of Atkho. The only Aleutian translation which has hitherto been committed to the press is that of the Gospel of St. Matthew, which was printed at Moscow, in 1840, in parallel columns with the Russian version.

COREAN.

COREA is a peninsula of North-East Asia, separated from Mantchou Tartary by a lofty chain of mountains. Its area, inclusive of the islands near its shores, has been estimated at 80,000 square miles: its amount of population is uncertain, but does not probably exceed 2,000,000. The The govern ment is a despotic monarchy, and the country is tributary to China, and perhaps to Japan: the religious systems of Buddha and of Confucius have each their respective adherents.

The language, being destitute of inflections indicative of gender and number, and forming its cases by means of suffixes, is analogous in its main features to the Tartarian class. It is also strikingly similar to Japanese. Many Chinese words enter into its composition, for Corea has received its civilisation and its literature from China, and the Chinese language is sedulously cultivated by all ranks as the principal learned and literary medium, and the only avenue to political distinction. Composite words are of very frequent occurrence in Corean, the first syllable consisting of the native word, and the second of the Chinese synonym pronounced in the Corean manner. This arrangement renders the language extremely verbose, but its sound is by no means disagreeable to the ear of a foreigner, the pronunciation being clear, full, and sonorous. In writing, the Coreans use characters similar in theory to the Japanese syllabic system, but suited to the peculiar articulations of their own language. These characters are placed in vertical columns, as in Chinese and Japanese.

3

In 1832, the shores of Corea were visited by Dr. Gutzlaff, who distributed portions of the Chinese Scriptures among the inhabitants, and caused a copy of the entire Chinese version to be conveyed to the monarch. A translation of the Gospel of St. Matthew into Corean has been effected by a Baptist missionary, and the Psalms have been translated by Dr. Schmidt; but these translations are still in MS.. and their critical merits have not been ascertained. There is at present no possibility of introducing the light of Divine truth into Corea: foreigners are zealously excluded from the country, and Europeans are seldom permitted even to land on its shores.

1 Prichard's Researches, vol. iv. pp. 460, 462.

2 Ritter, Erdkunde, vol. iii. p. 586.

3 Chinese Repository, vol. i. p. 277.