James Curtis Hepburn

“ Brown believed that the comparison of Japanese with the Aryan languages, instead of showing meagre results, would prove a rich field of philological research, especially the comparison of Japanese and Greek. With the Burmese language Japanese has very strong affinities, not only in its vocabulary but in its grammatical structure. ”

“ He did not agree with the objection made to this paper that the only true way to study the affinities of language was to begin with the grammatical construction. It was a much readier and surer way to begin with the comparison of vocables. ”

“ The climate of the Japan Islands generally is much influenced by their position, being on the edge of, and even within, the great ocean current called Kuro-shiwo, which flows from the equatorial regions in a northerly and easterly direction. ”

“ Aston gives them, h or f for the Sanskrit p, ph and b, and k for the Sanskrit h. The Sanskrit ti is naturally softened to tci or chi, the sibilant being intercalated for ease or euphony, as it is also, not unfrequently, in the Western languages. In philological inquiries similarity of sound is not alone a proof of radical identity ”

“ The ice seldom exceeds one inch or an inch and a half in thickness. Fogs are rarely noticed, so also is hail. Thunder storms are neither frequent nor severe. Earthquake shocks are frequent, averaging more than one a month ”

“ He would also feel obliged if Mr. Aston would inform them whether the word “riyo”, a yen, pronounced in Tokei “ro” and frequently “do,” and which was written in Japanese by the same characters as the word “riyo”, meaning “both”, had any connection with the root “do” and “du” meaning “two” which occurs in so many languages. Or was the Tokei word “do” simply short for dollar?
Mr. Aston. Japanese numerals have no connection with European.
Mr. Hall contrasted Mr. Aston’s admission that he could find no connection between the Japanese and Aryan numerals, with Mr. ”