Show fear of dead Is blamed in indians 9 babel of lan languages bages washington dead men tell no tales but they helped create the babel of over languages spoken by american indians this theory is advanced by dr john P li arrington smithsonian institution ution ethnologist and authority on Aile ricas ancle fit tongues widespread among indian tribes he explains was terror of the dead to so intense that even a dead persons name was not whispered aloud since indians commonly bore per bonal nami gamt such as blue reindeer or strong dow bow relatives and friends after a death would find and it advisable to invent new words or at least change slightly the words of the dead indians name this doubtless accounts in parts part dr harrington says for there being over indian languages many as different as english and russian another reason w why h y ancient america had many languages in contrast to modern americas few Is that indian groups kept encountering new animals plants and new experiences and so a group would invent words to meet the situation dr harrington believes that the tha varied indian t tongues possibly developed from one proto language brought from siberia into alaska by early jm immigrants migrants |