American Languages, and Why We Should Study Them

In an 1885 address to a historical society, a professor of ethnology and archaeology champions a neglected field: the languages of America’s original peoples. Though no longer spoken in daily life, these tongues survive in the myriad place names that pepper the continent. From the hundreds of Native-derived names in Connecticut and Pennsylvania to the familiar names of towns and rivers, they form a hidden map of the nation’s past. Preserving their precise meanings is presented as both a scholarly and cultural duty.

He argues that the native lexicon offers an inexhaustible supply of fresh, resonant names for new towns, ships, and inventions—far richer than the repetitive classical choices that dominate today’s maps. Studying these extinct languages, he says, opens a window onto the worldviews, social structures, and deep connections of the peoples who once inhabited the land, enriching both ethnology and philosophy. The appeal is framed as a moral responsibility to honor a shared human heritage.