C. S. (Constantine Samuel) Rafinesque

The Synglosson contains vocabulary lists documenting everything from “bread” and “bed” to “heaven” and “spirits.” Represented languages with Rafinesque’s notes include Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, Polynesian, Dutch, Gipsy, Celtic, Sumatran, “Corean”, Australian, Indian, Burmese, Old English, Malayan, and a list of Greek words derived from Hebrew and “akin to Oriental languages”. Rafinesque, a traveler, botanist, and linguist, wrote about his experiences and catalogued flora and fauna along with languages in his printed works, including his A Life of Travels and Researches in North America and South Europe...from 1802 to 1835 with sketches of his scientific and historical researches &c. (1836).

This manuscript is available on the digital library project I Remain.