Historical Outlin Es of English Accidence - Forgotten Books

HISTORICAL OUTLINES

OF

E N G L I S H A C C I D E N C E .

75"

ENGL I SH A CC IDEN CE,

COMPRISING

CHAP TERS ON THE HIS TORY AND DEVELOPMEN T OF

LANGUAGE, AND ON WORD-FORMA TIOM

BY THE

REV. RICHARD MORRIS, LL.D.

norm s or RAMPOLE’S pmcxz or couscmucn,

” “m g sronv op canzsxs AND

n orms,” “AYENBITE or mwv'

r,” “

ow nucu sn HOMILIES , ETC . n'

rc.

MEMBER OF COUNCIL OF THE PHILOLOG ICAL SOC IETY,LECTURER ON ENGL ISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE IN KING’

S COLLEGE SCHOOL .

F0URTH EDI TION .

i n firm

M A C M I L L A N A N D C O .

[ H e Right of Translation and Rmoductz'

on i: raw-wai l

LONDO N 2

Av) 503 g ' A N D I

BREAD STREE’

I HILL.

P REFA C E.

MANY writers on the structure and history of English,in spite of the plain evidence to the contrary, have

regarded our language as one that has sprung up, com

paratively speaking, within a very recent period. Some

have dared to carry it as far back as Chaucer’

s time,

because he has usual ly been spoken of as “the we l l of

English undefiled. Others again, not so bold,have

deemed it quite sufficient to date the rise of the English

language from the time of the greatest of El izabethan

writers. By not regarding the earl ier stages of our lan

guage as Englz‘

sfz,al l the necessary helps to a rational

treatment of its grammatical forms and idioms have

been cast aside . The Saturday Review has, very rightly ,

raised its voice rather loudly against the absurdity of

such a view,and has properly insisted upon the right

of al l periods to be designated as Englzlrfz,— the very

oldest term for our language, and one that is identified

with its earliest history and with the very best writers

of al l its periods, from Alfred the Great down to the

w an -f )“me

p “ ,

CONTRACT IONS .

Abs. and Achith. Absal om and Achitophel .

A l lit. Al l iterative Poems (ed. Morris).Areop. Mil ton’s Areopagitica (ed. Arber).Ayenbite Ayenbite of Inwyt (ed. Morris).

B. and F. Beaumont and Fletcher.

Boeth. Boethius.

C . Tales Canterbury Tales.

Compl . of L. Lyfe Complaint of a Lover’s Lyfe (attributed to

Chaucer).

Confess. Amant. Confessio Amautis (Gower).

Coriol. Coriolanus.

Cosmog. Cosmography (Earle).

Cymb . Cymbel ine.

Dan. Danish.

E. E. Poems Early English Poems (ed. Furnival l).

E. E. Spec. Specimens of Early Engl ish (ed. Morris).

F. Q. Faerie Queene.

Gen. and Ex. Story of Genesis and Exodus (ed. Mom s).

Ger. German.

Gest. Rom. Gesta Romanorum (Early Engl ish Version).

Goth . Gothic.

Gr. Greek.

xii CON TRA CTIONS.

Icel . a: Icelandic.

Lat. Latin.

La5. La5amon’s Brut (ed. Madden).

Med. Lat. Mediaeval Latin.

Me l . Anatomy of Melancholy (Burton).

Mid. H. G. Middl e High German.

0 . E. Old Engl ish.

0 . E. Horn. Old Engl ish Homil ies (ed. Morris).

0 . F. O ld French.

0 . H . Ger. O ld High German.

0 . N . Old Norse.

Orm. Ormulum (ed. White).0. Sax. O ld Saxon.

Paradise Lost.

Pricke of Conscience (ed. Morris).Pastime of Pleasure (Hawes).Pilgrimage of the Lyf of Manhode (ed. A ldis

Provincial English.

Robt. of G1. Robert of Gloucester.

Sansk. Sanskrit.

Shep. Cal . Shepherd’s Calendar.

Spec. E. E. Specimens of Early Engl ish (ed. Mom s)Swed. Swedish.

Tr. and Cr. Troilus and Cressida.

Trist. Lay of SirTristram (ed. Scott).

C O N T E N T S .

CHAPTER I.

Ff.MILIES OF LANGUAGES

CHAPTER 1 1 .

GR IMM’S LAW

CHAFTER III.

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

CHAFTER IV.

OLD ENGLISH DIALECTS

CHAPTER V.

PERIODS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

CHAPTER VI .

PHONOLOGY

xiv

ORTHOGRAPHY

ACCENT

ETYMOLOGY

SUBSTANTIVES

ADJECTIVES

PRONOUNS

VERBS

ADVERBS

PREPOSITIONS

GONTEN TS .

CHAPTER VII.

CHAPTER VIII.

CHAPTER IX.

CHAPTER X.

CHAPTER XI.

CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XIII.

CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XV .

CONJUNCTIONS

rn'

rm qncrrons

CON TEN TS .

CHAPTER XVI .

CHAPTER XVII .

CHAPTER XVIII.

DERIVATION AND WORD FORMATION

APPENDIX I .

APPENDIX

APPENDIX I II.

IN DEX

APPENDICES.

XV

ERRATA.

Page 95, 79, col . 7, forma: read mi x.

Page 1 2 8, footnote 1,de le from We to agrond, and add, anm t

O .E. aa ent ou-

efu, oft-emu even With, against, &c.C

Page 1 7 1 , footnote 1 . The theory of Ruebumlaut, or a return to

an original sound which has undergone umlaut, though adopted bymost German philologists, cannot be defended. Mr. Sweet has, in

the Academy , very clearly explained the apparent vowel-change in

such weak verbs as told, sold, &c.

The Gothic saljan , to sel l , represents the primitive form of the

verb in which umlaut has not taken place, as it has in O.Eng.

sel lan selzan). In the infinitive mood and present tense the

suffix z'

dropped out after urn/ant had taken place ; but in the pre

terite sala’e sal ide), sold, the z'

dropped outwithout causing umlaut,so that the root-vowe l was thus preserved.

Page 1 76, l ine 1 2 , jar g 2 83read 2 8 2 .

Page 2 2 8 , l ine 8, an-l mngred is not found in the oldest Engl ish,

but is met with in subsequent periods.

Page 2 2 9, l ine 1 1 , formany read navy .

2 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAP.

5. Comparative Grammar has shown us that languages may beclassified in two ways : ( 1 )According to the pecul iarities of their

grammatical structure, or the mode of denoting the re lation ofwords

to one another (2 )according to historical relationship.

6. The first mode of classification is cal led a morpfiologz’

eal one.

It divides languages into, ( 1 )Monosyl labic or Isolating ; (2 )Agglutinative (3)Inflectional or Polysyllabic.

These terms also represent three periods in the growth of languages- that is to say , that language, as an organism,

may pass through three

stages. ( 1)The monosyl labic period, in which roots are used as

words, without any change of form .

In this stage there are no prefixes or suffixes, and no formal ly dis

tinguished parts of speech.

The Chinese is the best example of a language in the isolating or

monosy l labic stage .

Every word in Chinese ismonosyl labic and the same word, with

out any change of form , may be used as a noun, a verb, an adjective,

an adverb, or a particl e . Thus ta , according to its position in a

sentence , may mean great, greatness, to grow,very much, very.

We cannot in Chinese (as in Latin)derive fromfen-um

,iron, 3

new substantive ferrarz'

m,a man who works in iron

,a blacksmith

ferm ria,an iron m ine , and again ferrarzan

'

us, a man who works in

an iron mine ; al l this is possible only in an inflected language.

”

-MAX MULLER.

(2 )The agglutinative period. In this stage two unal tered roots

are joined toge ther to form words in these compounds one

root becomes subordinate to the other, and so loses its inde

pendence .

1 Cf. man lzez'

r-loom, war-lune, which are agglu

tinative compounds. The Finnish,Hungarian, Turkish, the Tamul ,

&c. , are agglutinative languages.

The Basque and American languages are agglutinative , with th is

difference, that the roots which are joined together have been

abbreviated, as in the Basque z’

l/mn, twil ight,

”from bil l , dead

egrm, day . In the Mexican language their compound terms are

equivalent to phrases and sentences,“the place

where people weep because the water is red from al t, water

red tlaeatl , man and elzorea, weep.

It has been proposed to cal l these languages poly/sy nt/zetz’

e or

incorporating I t is remarkable that most of these languages show

that the people who speak them are deficient in the power of ah

straction.

( in. Hungarian var—m— amtot— ta—tob wait—and—wil l- have—you)you m il have been waited for

4 EN GLI SH A CCIDEN C‘

E. [cum

9 . The Teutonic dialects may be arranged in three groups or

subdivisions .

( 1 )The LowGerman (2 )the Scandinavian 3)the High German.

The Engl ish language is a Low German dialect, and is closelyal l ied to the dialects stil l spoken on the northern shores and lowlands

of Germany . This relationship is easily accounted for by the emi

gration of the An les, Saxon, and other Low German tribes from

the lowlands of ermany situate between the Rhine and Bal tic

coasts.

I. To the Low German division belong the fol lowing languages

( 1 )Goth ic , the oldest and most primitive of the Teutonic

dialects, ofwhich any remains are known, was spoken

by the Eastern and Western Goths, who occupiedthe province of Dacia, whence they made mcursions

into Asia, Galatia, and Cappadocia.

The oldest record of this dial ect i s found 1n the translation of the

Bible byy BishopU lphiias ((born 31 8, died the greaterpart of

which has ens ed, though we stil l possess considerable portions of

the Cospe s and St. Paul’

s Epistles, some pieces of the O ld Testament, and a smal l portion of a Commentary.

(2 )Frisian . (a)0147Friszan as preserved in documents of

the twel fth and thirteenth centuries (b)Modern Fri .

nan, stil l spoken in Friesland, along the coasts and

islands of the North Sea between the Weser and the

Elbe, and m Holstein and Sleswick.

The Frisian 1 8 more closely al lied to Engl ish than the rest of the

Low German languages.

(3)Dutch . Old D ate/1 (as seen in documents from the

thirteenth to the sixteenth century) (5)Modern Date/e.spoken in Hol land and Be lgium.

(4)Fl em ish . (a)Old Fl emzr/z, the language of the Court

of Flanders and Brabant in the sixteenth century

(5)O ld Saxon , or the Saxon of the Continent, spoken between the Rhine and Elbe, which had its origin in thedistricts of Munster, Essen, and Cleves.

There is a specimen of this dialect in a poetical version of the

Gospel s (of the ninth century), entitled the Helfand (O .E. fl eilaml )the Healer or Saviour.

L ] FAM ILIES OF LAN GUAGES. 5

The O ld Saxon is very closel y related to Engl ish, and retains

many Teutonic inflexions that have disappeared in other Low

G erman dial ects.

(6)Engl ish . (a)O ld Engl ish ; (5)Modern Engl ish ; (e)Provincial Engl ish (d)Lowland Scotch.

II. To the Scandinav ian division be long the fol lowing tongues- ( l )Ice landic ; (2 )Norwegian ; (3)Swedish (4)Danish.

The Icelandic is the purest and oldest of the Scandmavian dialects.

The O ld Icelandic, from the el eventh to the thirteenth cen tury , is

o ften cal led O ld Norse, a term that properly appl ies only to Old

N orwegian.

Iceland was colonized by the Northmen, who establ ished a Re

publ ic there, and were converted to Christianity A. D . 1 000.

III. To the H igh Germ an division be longs Modern German,the l iterary dialect of Germany, properly the speech of the south

east of Germany , Bavaria, Austria,and some adjacent districts.

It is divided into three stages

(a)Old High German,comprising a number of dialects (the

Thuringian, Francoman, Swabian, A lsacian, Swiss,and Bavarian), spoken in Upper or South Germanyfrom the beginn ing of the eighth to the middle of the

eleventh century.

(5)Middle High German, Spoken in Upper Germany from

the beginning of the twelfth to the end of the fifteenth

century .

(e)Modern H igh German,from the end of the fifteenth cen

tury to the present time .

Luther ennob led the dialect he used in h is beautiful translation of

the Bible, and made the H igh German the l iterary language of al l

G erman-speaking people. The Low German dialects of the Conti

nent are yflzlding to its influence , and, in course of time, wil l be

wholly displaced by it.

1 0. If we compare Engl ish and d ern German we find them veryclearly disting uished from each other by reg ularphonetic changes

thus a d in Engl ish corresponds to a t in German, as dance and

tanz day and tag deep and tief ; drink and trink. A t in Engl ish

agrees with an s or s in German, as is shown by foot and jars ;

1 See Grimm'

s Law, p. 1 3.

6 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cnan

tin and zinn to and an two and a nd water and warser. A

German d is equival ent to our tli , as die and tlze dein and tlzine

5ad and oat/z, &c.

Not only Engl ish, but al l the remaining members of the Low

Germ an family , as wel l as the Scandinavian dial ects, are thus dis

l inguished from High German.

1 1 . The Scandinavian dialects differ from the other members of

th e Teutonic family in the foll owing particulars

( 1 )The definite article fol lows its substantive, and coalesces with

.

In 0. Norse ina - il le ; in= il la itt= ill ud : hence bani -nn, the

cock gi igf -ln, the gift at -it

, the foot.

In Swedish and Danis en (mas. fem .)and et (neut.) the.

Swed.—Konung-en, the king bord-d , the table .

Dan .—Kong

-en, bjert-et, the heart.

(2 )The reflex pronoun rik (O . rig(Swed. and Dam),1 Lat. re,

self; coal esces with verbs, and forms a reflexive sufli x as O .N . at

fal la fal l down, and rib sel f, produce the reflexive (ormiddl e)verb atfal lask.

Se is stil l furtherworn down to st, and when added to the verb

mist s it passive, as O . N . at ka l la, to call at ko l last, to be

In English we have borrowed at least two of these reflexive verbs ;namely, ore-re, from the Icel . bro-a, to prepare , make ready, direct

one’s course, and ba-sk dab-1 k)from Icel . oaka , to warm , which

is identical with Eng. bake.

1 2 . Comparative Philology has also proved to us that the

Teutonic dialects form a subdivision of a great family of related

languages, to which the term Indo-European has been appl ied.

When we recol lect that the Indo-European family comprehends

nearly al l the languages ofEurope, and al l those Indian dialects that

From the fol lowing table it wil l be seen that szk is accusanve

Swedish . Danish. Dutch . German. Latin.

FAMILIES OF LAN GUAGES.

have sprung from the old Hindu language (Sanskrit), the term is byno means an inappropriate one . I t has been pmposed, however,by eminent ph ilologists, that the term Aryan should be used in its

place. The word Aryan 1 s a Sanskritword, meaninghonourable, noble.

I t was the name by which the old H indus and Persians, who at a

ve ry early period had attained a high degree of cul ture and Civil ]m tion, used to cal l themselves in contradistinction to the uncivrl ized

races or non-Aryans of India whom they conquered.

V estiges of the old name are found 1n Iran, Armenia, Herat, &c.

There are two great divisions of the Indo-European family : A .

European ; B. As1atic.

A . EUROPEAN Drvrsrort.I. The T euton ic Language s , of which we have already

spoken.

II. The Ke l tic Language s .

(a) Cymric Class. Welsh ; (2 )Cornish (diedout about the middl e of sixteenth century)3)Bas-Breton .

(b)Gadlzel ie Clarr.— (1 )Erse or Irish ; (2 )Gael ic,

spoken in the H ighla nds of Scotland ; (3)Manx (the dialect spoken in the Isle of

Man).

III. The Ital ic or Romanic Language s .

(a)Old Ital ian dial ects, as the O scan (of SouthItaly), the Umbrian (ofN .E. Ital y), Sabine .

(d)The Romance dialects, which have sprung from

the Latin . ( 1 )Ital ian ; (2 )French , (3)Provencal (4) Spanish , (5) Portuguese (6)Rhaeto-Romanic (or Roumansch), spoken inSouthern Sw1 tzerland ; (7) Wal lachian,Spoken in the northern provinces of Tun

key (Wal lachia and Moldav1 a).

TheWall achian is divided by the Danube into two dialects, the

Northern and the Southern . I t owes its origin chiefly to the Roman

co lonies sent into Dacia by Trajan.

IV. The H e l l enic Language s .

( 1 )Ancient Greek (comprising the Attic, Ion1c,Doric, and IEol ic dialects).

(2 )Modern Greek (comprising several dialects).

8 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE. (CRAP.

The Albanian dialect is a representative of the language spoken

by the Il lyrians, who probably occupied the Greek peninsula before

the Hel lenic tribes.

A l l that can be positively stated about it is that it belongs to the

Indo-European fam ily, and is closel y related to Greek.

The A lbanians inhabit part of the ancient Epirus and I l lyrium .

They cal l themselves Sk1petars or mountaineers, and the Turks call

them Arnautr Aroanites).

V. The Sclavon ic Languages.

(a)South-east Sclavonic.

( 1 )O ld Bulgarian (or Old Church Slavic)of theeleventh century.

(2 )Russian (a)Russian Proper ; (6)Little Russianor Ruthenian.

(3)Il lyric, comprising, (1 )Servian ; (2 )Kroatian(3)Slovenian (of Carinthia and Styria).

(6)Western Branch.

(4)Pol ish .

(5)Bohemian.

(6)Slovakian .

(7)Upper and Lower Sorbian (Lusatian dial ects).

(8)Polabian (on the Elbe).

VI. The L ett ic Language s .

( 1 )O ld Prussian (the original language of N .E.

Prussia).

(2 )Lettish or Livonian (spoken in Kurland and

Livonia).

(3)Lithuanian (spoken in Eastern Prussia).

The Turkish, Hungarian, Basque, Lappish, Finnish, and

Esthonian do not be long to the Indo-European family .

B . Asrarrc DrvrsroN.

VII. The Indian Languages.

( 1 )Sanskrit (dead).

(2 )Prakrit (Indian dial ects, preserved in Sanskrit

dramas).

m ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [can

We must not suppose that they formed one strongly-constituted

state, but were probably divided into distinct tribes, united solely bythe general bond of race, by simi larity of manners, re l igion, and

language.

The language of the primitive Indo-Europeans had its locai

varieties or dialects, which were distinguished by certain euphonic

differences ; and these differences, after the Indo-European tribes leftthen ancient abode and separated, would become more marked, and

other changes would take place, so that these dialects would assume

the aspect of languages at first sight whol ly unconnected.

By the aid of Comparative Philology we find that it is possible

to classify and arrange the p/wm tz’

c dgfl'

erm ces of the various IndoEuropean languages, and to reduce them to certain rul es, so that we

are enabled to determine what sound in one language corresponds to

that of another}

Phi lological research has found that the primitive tribe which

spoke the mother-tongue of the Indo-European family was not

nomadic alone, but had settled habitations, even towns and fortified

places, and addicted itself in part to the rearing of cattle , in part to

the cul tivation of the earth . It possessed ourchiefdomestic animals— the horse , the ox, the sheep, the goat, and the swine, besides the

dog ; the bear and the wolf were foes that ravaged its flocks ; themouse and fly were already its domestic pests.

The region it inhabited was a varied one, not bordering uponthe ocean. The season whose name has been most persistent is thewinter. Barley, and perhaps also wheat, was raised for food, and

converted into meal . Mead was prepared from honey, as a cheeringand inebriating drink . The use of certa in metal s was known ;whether iron was one of these admits of question. The art ofweavmg was practised wool and hemp, and possibly flax, being thematerials employed. Of other branches of domestic industry l ittle

that is definite can be said ; but those already mentioned imply a

variety of others, as co-ordinate or auxil iary to them . The weapons

of ofl’

ence and defence were those which are usual among primitive

peoples— the sword, spear, bow,

and shie ld. Boats were manufactured

,and moved by oars. Of extended and e laborate pol itical

organization no traces are discoverabl e ; the people was doubtless a

aongeries ofpetty tribes, under chiefs and leaders rather than kings,

The primitive Aryan must have embraced nearly the whole of the re°

ou

situated be tween the Hmdu-Kush (Be lurtagh), the Oxus, and the Caspian ea

and perhaps extended a

good way into Sogdiana, towards the sources of the

Oxus a nd the Taxartes. ictet .)Rask first discovered, and Grimm afterward: worked out, the law which

{re i ns the permutat ion of consonants ; hence it is always known as Grimm

’

s

w

r] FAM ILIES OF LAN GUACBS. 1 1

andwith institutions of a. patriarchal cast, amongwhich the reduction

to servitude of prisoners taken in war appears not to have been

wanting.

The structure and relations of the family are more clearly seen

names of its members, even to the second and third degrees of con

sanguinity and aflinity, were already fixed, and were significant of

affectionate regard and trustful interdependence . That woman was

looked down upon as a being in capacity and dignity inferior to

man we find no indication whatever.“The art of numeration was l earned, at least up to a hundred ;

there is no general Indo-European word for‘thousand.

’Some of

the stars were noticed and named. The moon was the chiefmeasurer

of time .

The religionwas polytheistic, a worshipof the personified powers

of nature . I ts rites, whatever they were, were practised without

the aid of a priesthood.

”— Wm TNEY.

1 4. Next to the Indo-European the most important fam ily of

languages is the S em it ic , sometimes cal led the Sy ro-Arabz

'

an family ,of which the chief divisions are as fol lows

(a)The Nari/tern orAramate, comprehending, ( t)the Syriac(ancient and modern); (2 ) the A ssy rian and BabyIonian .

The Central or Canaanz'

tz'

e, including, ( I)fl ebrew, Pizani

cz'

an, Samaritan, and Cart/zagm z’

an or Punic.

The Soutbern orAraéz'

e, comprehending, ( 1 )Arabic and

Maltese (2 )[ rhmy arz'

tz’

e (once spoken in the S .W. of

the peninsula of Arabia), and the Am/zaric and other

Abyssinian dial ects ; 3) the Et/ u'

opze or Gee’

z (theancient language of Abyssinia).

It has not yet been shown that the Semitic languages, al though in

flectional , are historical ly connected with the Indo-European famil y .

It has not been decided whe ther the Hamitz'

e fam ily , containing,

(1 ) the ancientEgyptian andCoptic (2 )Gal la 3)Berber; (4)Hot

tentot, &c. , have any historical connection with the Semm'

e .

I5. The other languages of the world fal l into various groups.

A .— The A laty an or Scy th ian , comprehending, ( l )Hun

garian ; (2 )Turkish ; 3) Finnish and Lappish ; (4)the Samoyed dialects 5)Mongol ian dialects (6)Tu n

gusian dialects (as Manchu).

l 7. ENGLISH AC6 1 0 5 1”CE. (CRAP. l .

B .— I . The Dravidian or Tamul ic (including Tamul , Telg u ,

Il l alaoar, Canaries). II. The lang uages of N .E.

Asia (including the dialects of the Corea , the Kun’

lcs,Xamc/zatka, III . 7 apanese, and dialect of LooCl ioo. IV. Malay

-Pob/nesian or O ceanic languages

(comprehending the dialects of Malacca, 7 am , Su

matra, Melanesia, V. The Caucasian dialects

(Georgian ,

C .— SoutlzAfrican dialects.

A ,B, and C are agglutinative in their structure , but nave no his

torical connection with each other.

D .— I . Cl u

’

nere. II. The language of Farther India (theSiamese, Burmese, Annamese

, Cambodian, &c. II I .

These are monosyl labic or isolating in structure .

E.—I . Basque. II. The aboriginal languages of South

America— al l polvsvnthetic in ctmcture.

CHAPTER II .

GRIMM’

S LAW.

1 6 . 1 . IF the same roots or the same words exist in Sanskrit,Greek, Latin, Ke ltic, Slavonic, Lithuan ian, Gothic,

1and O ld High

German , then, wherever the Sanskrit orGreek has an aspirate theGothic has the correspondingflat mute.

II. If in Sanskrit, Greek, &c. , we find aflat mute, then we finda corresponding ska)? mute in Low German, and a correspondingaspirate in High German.

III. If the six first-named languages show a s/zarp mute , theGothic shows the corresponding aspirate, and Old High German thecorresponding flat mute.

TABLE or COMPARATIVE SOUNDS.

Sanskrit . Greek. Latin.

l ‘h (h)

dh (db) f (d. b)

Gotluc is here taken as the best representative of the Low German and Sean

dinavian dialects, and O ld High German of the other division of the Teutoniclanguage s. Not always regular.

2 4 ENGLISH’

A CCIDEN CE. [CHAR

1 7. No satisfactory explanation has yet been given of this permuta

tion of consonants throughout the Indo European family of languages,neverthe less we have no reason to be l ieve it of a nature essential ly

different from the other mutations of sound 1 of equal ly arbitraryappearance , though of less compl ication and less range, which the

history of language everywhere exhibits.

”— WH ITNEY.

The changes of sounds just noticed have arisen from what Max

Mul ler terms dialectic growt/z. Even in the history of our own lan

guage we find traces of sim ilar changes, as oat, in wine -vat, is theo ld Southern Engl ish form for the Northernfi t

, a vessel .

In the dialects of the South of England, we may stil l hear dirshthrust} drash t]:ras/z.

The aspirate dental orhas become s in the third person singular

of verbs, as l i e lat/eta lie loves. But this was once a dial ectical

pecul iarity.

1 8. There are other changes that must not be confoundedwith the

permutations coming underGrimm’

s Law : the chief are those that

arise from an endeavour to make the work of speaking easier to the

speaker, to put a more facile in the stead of a more difficult sound

or comb ination of sounds, and to get rid of what is unnecessary inthe words we use.

Al l articulate sounds are produced by effort, by expenditure of

muscular energy, in the lungs, throat, and mouth. This effort, l ike

every other Wt h man makes, he has an instinctive disposi tion to

seek re l ief from,to avoid we may cal l it laziness, orwe may cal l it

economy— it is in fact e ither the one or the other— according to the

circumstances of each separate case ; it is laziness when it gives upmore than it gains economy when it gains more than it abandons .

—WH ITNEY.

These wearing down processes are often cal led euphonic changes.

Max Mii l ler terms them the resul ts of phonetic decay.

Thus, as he remarks, nearly al l the changes that have taken placein our own language within the last e ight centuries come under th isclass of changes.

(I)Soften ing of guttural s at end of words, as sil ly from sé lzg,godly from godtzc godl ike, barl ey from oar-l ie

A l l le tter-change must be based upon physiological grounds.

3 The se at of euphony is in the vocal not in the acoustic organs.

3 bar O .E. om r: barley , cp. Lat jar ; -ley ==O .E.-l ic (as in garl ick, hem

lock) plant.

ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. (can . u .

as O .E. god-rib has become

cubboard Lat.

When two dental s come together, the first is sometimes changed

into a sibilant, as mot-te moste most, and wit-te wi ste wist

(cp. Lat. best from O .E. bot -an, to command ; missus for mittusfrom mitto esarn edturn from edo).

Sometimes s becomes st, as O .E. wltiles w/i il st, noise ltoist,

c.

When two consonants come together, the first is made l ike thesecond or the second similar to the first,

las wept weeped, beinbd

and kernpt kembed combed ; so we have clotpol l and clodpol l

(cp. Lat. scriptus serib-tus). To a similarprinciple must be ascribed

the loss of the guttura l sound of It or gb before t thus snag/dmint/l), rug/it nilzt/z) cp. It. otto forocto.

is pronounced

d

x

3; other words the only combination of mutes are -fl at +1 514 and 354 7?

ca

CHAPTER I II .

HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE

1 9. WE must bear in mind, ( I)that Engl ish is a member of the

Indo—European fam ily (2 )that it belongs to the Teutonic group

(3)that it is essential ly a Low German dialect , (4) that 1 t was

brought into Britain by wandering tribes from the Continent ; 5)that we cannot use the terms Engl ish orEngland in connection with

the country before the middle of the fifth century .

2 0. According to the statements of Bede , the Teutonic invaders

first came over in A . D . 449, and for about 1 00 years the invasion

may be said to have been going on. In the course of time the

original Ke l tic population were displaced by the invading tribes,

who became a great national ity, and cal led themse lves [Engl isc or

Engl ish. The land they had won they cal led [Engla- land (the land

of the Angles)or England.

Bede makes the Teutonic invaders to consist of three tribes

A ngles, Saxons, and Jutes. The Saxons, he tel ls us, came from

w hat was known in his time as the district of the Old Saxons, the

country between the Elbe and the Eider.

The Angles came from the Duchy of Sleswick, and there is stil l a

district in the southern part of the duchy, between the She and the

arm of the Baltic,cal led the Flensborg Fiorde, which bears the

name Angel u.

Bede places the Jutes to the north of the Angl es, that is, probablythe upperpart of Sleswick or South Jutland.

There were no doubt a considerabl e proportion of Frisians from

Greater and Lesser Friesland. Bede mentions the Frisians(Ft esones) among the natives from whom the Angles were de

scended.

The settl ements are said to have taken place in the fol lowingorder

I. Jutes, underHengest and Horsa, who settled in KENT andthe Isle ofWight anda part of Hampshire in A. D. 449or 450.

ts EN GLI SH A CC[ DE[VCE. [CBAP.

II. The first division of the Saxons, under El la (E l le)andCissa, s ettled in Sussnx, in 477.

I II . The second body of Saxons, under Cerdic and Cynric, in

Wassnx, in 495.

IV. The third body of Saxons in Essex, in 530 .

V. First division of the Angles, in the kingdom of EAST

ANGLIA (Norfolk , Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, and partsof Lincolnslnre and Northamptonshire).

VI . The second division of the Angles, under Ida, in the

kingdom of Beornicia (situated between the Tweed andthe Firth ofForth), in 547.

Two other kingdoms were subsequently establ ished by the Angles— 1 )eira (between Tweedand Humber), andMercia

,

lcomprehending

the Midland counties.

Teutonic tribes were known in Britain, though they made no

se ttlements before the com ing of the Angles. In the fourth centurythey made attacks upon the eastern and south-eastern coast of this

island, from the Wash to the Isle ofWight, which, on that account,was cal led L i ttas Saxon i cum,

”or the Saxon shore or Saxon

frontier ; and an officer known as the Count of the Saxon Shore

(Comes L ittorrs Saxonici per Britannias) was appointed for its

defence. These Teutonic invaders were known to the Romans and

Ce lts by the name of Saxons and this term was afte rwards appl ied

by them to the Teutonic settl ers of the fifth century, who, however,neve r appear to have cal led themse lves Saxons, but always Ai nghscorEngl ish.

2 1 . The language that was brought into the island by the Low

German settlers was an inflected speech, l ike its congener. modern

German . It was , moreover, an unmi xed language, al l its words

be ing English, without any admixture of fore ign e lements.

The O ldEngl ish borrowed but very few words from the original

inhabitants. In the oldest Engl ish written language, from the ninth

to the end of the e leventh century, we find scarcely any traces of

Kel tic words.

In our old writers , from the thirteenth century downwards, and in

the modern provincial dial ects, we find more frequent traces of wordsof Ke ltic origin, and a few still exist in modern Engl ish.

2 2 . The Engl ish were converted to Christianity about A. D. 596,and during the four fol lowing centuries many Latin words were

M ercia —march or frontier. In Southern andWest Mercia the people wereof Saxon origin the others m ine of an Anghan stock.

fIISTOIt’Y OF THE EN GLISH LAN GUA GE . 2 9

introduced by Roman ecclesias tics, and by Engl ish writers who

translated Latin works into the ir own language .

Th is is cal led the Latin of the Second period. W hat is usuallyde signated the Latin of the First period consists of words that havehad no influence upon the language itse l f, but are only to be foundin names ofplaces, as castra, a camp, in Don

-caster, Chester, &c.

2 3. Towards the end of the eighth century the Northmen ofScandinavia (i . e. of Denmark, Norway , and Sweden), who were

th en w ithout distinction cal led Danes, ravaged the eastern coast ofEngland, Scotland, the Hebrides, and Ire land.

In the ninth century they gained a permanent footing in England,and subdued the kingdoms of N orthumbria, East Anglia, and

M ercia.

In the e leventh centurv Danish sovere igns were establ ished on theEngl ish throne fornearlythirty years.

Chronologically the facts are as fol lows

In 787 three ships of Northmen appeared and made an attack

upon the coast ofDorsetshire .

In 832 the Danes ravaged Sheppey in Kent.In 833 thirty -five ships came to Charmouth in Dorsetshire, and

Egbert was defeated by the Danes.

In 835 the We lsh and Danes were defeate d by Egbert at Hen

gestesdun.

In 855 the Danes wintered in She pey.

In 866 they wintered in East Ang ta.

In 868 they got into Mercia as far as Nottingham,and in 870

they invadedEast Angl ia.

In 87 1 the eastern part ofWessex was invaded by the Danes.

In 874 the Danes entered Lincolnshire.

In 876 they made se ttlements in Northumbria.

In 878 A lfred concluded a treaty with Guthorm or Guthrum,

th e Danish chief, and formall y ceded to the invaders al l Northum

b erland and East Angl ia, most part of Essex, and the north-east

part of Mercia.

In 99 1 the Norwegians invaded the east coast of England andplun

dered Ipswich they were defeated at the battle ofMal don. Before

1 000 the Danes had se ttled in Cumberland.

‘

In 1 0 13 Svein, King of Denmark, conquered England and

between the years 1 0 13 a nd 1 042 a Danish dynasty ruled over

England.

t For an admirable account of the Danish invasions see Dr. Ereemau’

s 0L}Eng/wk H istory f or C/u

'

ldren, pp. 9 1— 2 39 .

EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cmm

2 4. The Danish and Engl ish are al l ied tongues, and consequentlythere is an identity of roots, so that it is by no means an easy matter

to detect the Danish words that have found theirway into Engl ish.

In the l iterature of the tenth and e leventh centuries we find butfew traces of Danish, and what l ittle there is occurs in the scantyl iterature of Northern Engl ish , and not in the dominant Engl ish of theSouth . We know, too, that in the north and east of England the

OldEngl ish inflections were much unsettled by Danish influence , andthat in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries nearly al l the olderinflections of nouns, adjectives, and verbs had disappeared, whilein the south of England the old forms were kept up to a muchlaterperiod, and many of them have not yet died out.

There are numerous traces of Scandinavian words 1 )in the localnomenclature of England (2 )in O ld Engl ish l iterature of the northof England (3)in the north of England provincial dial ects .

In modern Engl ish they are not so numerous. I t may be sufh

cient for the present to say that there are a few common words ofundoubted Danish origin, as are, til l , until , fro, froward, il l , bound(for a place), bask, bark, &c.

2 5. The next great event that affected the Engl ish languagewas the Norman invasion in 1 066, by which French became the

language of the Court, of the nobil ity, of the clergy, of l iterature,and of al l who wished for or sought advancement in Church or

State .

1

An old writer tel ls us that gentlemen’s children were taught

French from their cradl e ; and in the grammar-school s boys were

taught to construe their Latin into French. Even uplandish men

(or rustics)tried to speak French in order to be thought somethingof, so low did the Engl ish and the ir language fal l into disrepute .

In the universities Latin or French was ordered to be used.

French was employed in the courts of law, and the proceedings of

Parl iament were recorded in French.

To the Normans we owe most of the terms pertaining to (r)feudal ism npd

war, (2 ; th e church, (3)the law, and (4)the chase .

0

.

(r)Aid, arms,armour, assaul t, banner, baron, battle , buckler, captain,

chivalry , chal len e , duke , fealty , fie f, gal lant, hauberk, homage ,lénce , mail , mar soldier, tal lage, truncheon, tournament, vassal,c.

(a)Altar, Bible , baptism, ceremony , devotion, friar, homily , idolatry , inter

dict, iety . penance , pray er, preach, re lic, re l ig ion, sermon, scandal ,sacri cc, sa int, tonsure .

(3)Ass ize , attorney , case , cause , chance l lor, court, dower, damages,estate, fee , fe lony , fine , judge , jury , mulct, parl iament, pla intifl

'

,

plea, plead. statute , sue , tax ,ward.

(4)Bay , brace , chase , couple , copse , course , covert, falcon, forest, leash,leveret, mews, quarry, reynard, rabbi t, tierce t, venison.

HI STORY OF THE EN GLISH LAN GUAGE.

The great mass of the people, however, clung to their mother

tongue, and from time to time there arose men who thought it a

meritorious work to write in Engl ish, for the benefit of the unl ered

and lewed,”who knew nothing of French.

I t must be recol lected that the Norman invaders did not carry on

an exterminating war against the natives as the Saxons did against

the Kel tic inhabitants, nor were they superior in numbers to the

Engl ish ; and therefore, as might be expected, there came a time

when the two races— the eon uen'

ng and the conquered— coalesced

and became one people, and e language of the majority prevailed.

While this was taking place French became famil iar to the Engl ishpeople, and very many words found theirway first in the spoken and

then in the written language. But after this coalescence of the two

races Norman-French became of less and less importance, and at

last ceased to be spoken .

In 1 349 boys ceased to learn the ir Latin through the medium of

French, and in 1 36 2 (the 36th year of Edward III.)it was directedby Act of Parl iament that al l pleadings in the law courts should

henceforth be conducted in Engl ish, because, as is stated in the

preamble to the Act, French was become much unknown in the

realm.

Norman-French had suffered too by being transported to Engl ish

soil , and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries had become a

mere provincial dial ect, in fact a corrupt sort ofFrench which woul d

no longerpass current as the French of Paris.

These changes were brought about by political circumstances,

such as the loss of Normandy in King John s reign, and the Frenchwars of Edward III. which produced a strong anti-Gall ican

feeling in the minds of both Anglo-Normans and English .

2 6. We have seen that Norman-French is sprung from the

Latin language brought into Gaul by the Romans. I t has, how

ever, preserved (1 )some few Keltic words borrowed from the old

Gauls ; 1 (2 )many Teutonic terms introduced by the Franks, who inthe fifth century conquered the country, and imposed their name

upon the country and language 3)a few Scandinavian words

brought into the language by the Northmen who settl ed in Nor

mandy in the tenth century .

But the Norman-French was essential ly a Latin tongue, and it

added to Engl ish another Latin e lement, which is usually cal led the

2 7. From the revival of learning in the beginning of the sixteenth

cen tury up to the present time we have introduced a large number

A8 nas al , worl d, &c. Marsh ], smart-ha ], gm

'

le , &c.

32 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE . (CRAP.

of words from Latin. These have been cal led the M in of the

2 8. Greek words have also found the irway into the language, buthave been borrowed more sparingly than Latin.

The Latin e lement, then, comes to us either indirectly ordirectly .

T hat introduced by the Norman-French comes indirectly , and has

in very many instances undergone great change in spe l ling. Latin

words of the fourth period are borrowed direct from the Latin, and

h

l

ave not suffered much al teration. A few examples wil l make this

c ear

Latin introduced by Latin borroweddirectlyNorman-French. from the Latin.

balm balsamcaitifl

'

captive

coy iet

feat Idi

ot

Compare, too, ancestor and antecessor sampler and exemplarbenison and benediction clzaIice and calyx conceit and conception

constraint and construction defeat and defect forge and fabric ,

mal ison and mal ea’

iction may or and major nouri sfiment and nutri

ment ; poor and pauper orison (prayer)and oration ; proctor and

Loy al and lg al ; privy and private ;

Aggricz9and ag rcwate coat /t and col locate and con

struct esteem and estimate ; paint and depict purr/grand provide

I

A few words from the Greek have suffered similar change, a;

fi ensy , blame (cp. blasplteme), fantom (cp. fantasia),story (cp. an tafy ).

2 9. Our language has natural ized miscel laneous words from

various sources besides those already mentioned.

( 1 )Hebrew —Abbot, amen, cabal , cherub, jubilee, pharisaical ,Sabbath, seraph, Shibboleth:

(2 )Arabia —Admiral , alchemy, al kal i, al cohol , alcove, .

al emb ic,

almanac, amulet, arrack, arsenal , artichoke, assassm, atlas,

34 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cam

30. Taking the actual number of words from a good English

dictionary, the sum total will be over Words of classical

origin are calcul ated to be about twice as numerous as ure English

words hence some writers, who have only considered)

the consti

tuent arts of our vocabulary , have come to the conclusion that

Engl ish is not only a mixed or composite language, but also a

Romance language. They have, however, overlooked the fact

that t

ile grammar is not mixed or borrowed, but is al together

En l isWe must recollect that in ordinary conversation ourvocabulary is

l imited, and that we do not employ more than from three to five

thousand words, while our best writers make use of about twice

that number.Now it is possible to carry on conversation, and write numerous

sentences, Wi thout employing any borrowed terms ; but if we en

deavour to speak orwrite without making use of the native element

(grammaror vocabulary), we shal l find that such a thinglis impos

sible. In our talk, in the works of ourgreatest writers, t e Engl ish

element greatly preponderates.

31 . It will be interesting as well as useful to be able to distinguish

the Engl ish orLow German elements from the Romance terms.

Pure English are

I. 1 . Demonstrative adjectives (a, the, this); pronouns

(personal , relative, demonstrative, &c.) numerals.

2 . Al l auxiliary and defective verbs.

3. Prepositions and conjunctions.4. Nouns forming theirplural by change of vowel .

5. Verbs forming theirpast tense by change of vowe l .

6. Adjectives formingtheirdegreesof comparison irregularly .

II. 1 . Grammatical inflections, as

(a)Plural sufi xes -s and -en)and ending of possessive

(6)Verbal inflections ofpresent and past tenses, of activeand passive participles.

(e)Sufi xes denoting degrees of comparison.

1 . Numerous sufi xes

(a)Of Nouns, as -nood, mp, -dom,-tfi -t), mess, nag;

ding,-kin, -ock.

(6)Of Adjectives, as zfnl , -ly ,-en,

-isn, -some, -word.

(c)OfVerbs, as -m .

2 . Numerousdprefixes, as a, al , be, for, fie], on, over, out,

an

Most monosyl labic words.

HISTORY OF THE EN GLISH LAN GUAGE. 35

V. The names of the el ements and their changes, of the seasons,the heavenly bodies, the divisions of time, the features of naturalscenery, the organs of the body, the modes of bodily actions and

posture , the commonest animals, the words used in earl iest chil dhood, the ordinary terms of traffic, the constituent words in

proverbs, the designation of kindred, the simpler emotions of themind, terms of pleasantry , satire, contempt, indignation, invective,and anger, are for the most part unborrowed.

1

I. Heaven, sky, welkin, sun,

moon, star, thunder, l ightning,fire, weather, wind, storm,

b last, cold, frost, heat,warmth,cloud

,dew,

hail , snow,ice,

rime , rain, hoarfrost, sleet,time , tide , year, month, day,night, l ight, darkness, twi

l ight, dawn, morning, even

ing, noon, afternoon, winter,spring, summer, harvest.

II World, earth, land, hil l ,dale, ground, bottom,

height,water, sea, stream , flood, ebb,burn, wel l , spring, wave,waterfall , island.

II I. Mould, sand, loam, clay,stone , gold, silver, lead, cop

per, tin, iron, quicksilver.

IV . Field, heath, wood, thicket,

grove, tree, alder, ash, beech,b irch, elm,

fir, oak, l ime, wil

l ow, yew, apple, pear, plum,

b erry, crop, corn, wheat, rye,0am, barley, acorn, sloe, bramb le, nut, flax, grass, weed,l eek, wort, moss, reed, ivy,clover, flax, bean, daisy, fox

glove, honeysuckle, bloom,

Of Romance Origin.

Firmament, meteor, planet,comet, a n, atmosphere, sea

son, autumn, hour, minute .

Mountain, vall ey, river, rivul et,torrent, cascade, fountain, nu

dulation.

Brass,mercury, namesofpreciousstones.

Forest, poplar, pine, fruit,cherry, apricot, juice, grape,

grain, onion, carrot, cabbage,pea, flower, pansy, violet,l ily, tul ip, trunk , branch, &c.

b lossom, root, stem, stalk, leaf, twig, sprig, spray, rod, bow,

sprout, rind, bark, haulm, hay, straw, ear, cluster, seed, chaff.

Rogers in Edinl nrgnReview,April 1 859.

D 2

36 EN GLISH ACCIDENCE.

Of E”gm Origin .

V. Hare, roe, hart, deer, fox,wolf, boar, marten, cat, rat,mouse, dog, hound, bitch, ape ,ass, horse , mare, nag, cow,

ox, bul l , calf, neat, sheep,buck, ram, swine, sow, far

row, goat, mole.

VI . Bird, fowl , hawk, raven,

rook, crow, stork, bittern,

crane, glede , swan, owl , lapwing, starl ing, lark, nightin

galle, throstle, swal low, dove,ch, sparrow, snipe, wren,

goose, duck, hen, gander,drake .

VII . Fish, whale, shark, eel ,herring, lobster, otter, cockle.

VIII . Worm, adder, snake, bee,wasp, fly, midge, hornet, gnat,drone, humble -bee , beetle,chafer, spider, grasshopper,louse, flea, moth, butterfly,ant, maggot, frog, toad, tad

pole.

IX. Man, woman, body, flesh,bone, soul , ghost, mind, blood,

gore, sweat, l imb, head, brain,skul l , eye, brow, ear, mouth,l ip, nose, chin, cheek, forehead, tongue , tooth, neck,throat, shoulder, arm, el bow,

hand, foot, fist, finger, toe,thumb, nail , wrist, ankle,hough, sole, shank, shin, l eg,knee, hip, thigh, side, rib

,

back, womb, bel ly, nave l ,breast, bosom, barm, la

l iver, maw, sinew, skin, fe 1,hair, lock, beard, whiskers.

[CHAP .

Animal, beast, squirrel , l ion,tiger, mule, elephant, &c.

Eagle, falcon, heron, ostrich,vulture, mavis, cock, pigeon.

Salmon,trout.

sturgeon, lamprey ,

Serpent, l izard, al l igator.

Corpse , Spirit, perspiration ,

countenance, stature, figure ,

palate, stomach, moustache ,

palm, vein, artery, intestines,nerves.

X . Horn, neb, snout, beak, tail,mane, udder, claw, hoof,comb, fleece, wool, feather,bristl e, down, wing, muscle .

XI . House, yard, hal l , church,room, wal l, wainscot, beam,

gable, floor, roof, staple, door,

gate, stair, threshold, window,

shel f, hearth, fireside, stove,oven, stool , bench, bed, stal l ,bin

, crib, loft, kitchen, tub,can, mug, loom, cup, vat,ewer, kettle, trough, ton, dish,board, spoon, knife

, cloth,knocker, bel l , handl e, watch ,cl

l

ock, looking-

glass, hardware,ti e.

XII. Plough, share,furrow,rake,

barrow, sickl e, scythe, sheaf,barn,flail, waggon, wain, cart,wheel , spoke, nave, yoke.

XIII. Weeds, cloth, shirt, skirt,smock, sack, sl eeve, coat, bel t,

girdle, band, clasp, hose ,breeches, drawers, shoe, glove,hood, hat, stockings, ring, pin ,

needle, weapon, sword, hil t,b lade, sheath, axe, spear, dart,shaft, arrow, bow, shield,helm,

saddle, bridle, stirrup, hal ter.

X IV. Meat, food, fodder, meal ,dough,bread, loaf,crumb, cake,milk, honey, tallow, flesh,ham ,

drink, wine, beer, ale,

brandy .

XV. Shi keel , boat, Wherry,hulk, cet, float, raft, stern,stem, board, deck, helm, rud

der,oar, sail, mast.

HISTORY OF THE EN GLISH LANGUAGE. 37

Of Romance Origin .

Coulter.

Garment, lace, buckle, pocket,trousers, dress, robe, costume,

pal l , boot, cap, bonnet, veil ,button, target, gauntlet, mail ,harness, arms.

Victual s, provender, flour, lard,

grease, butter, cheese, beef,veal , pork, mutton, roast,boil ed, broiled, fry, bacon,toast, sausage,pie,soup, spirits.

Vessel , gal ley , prow.

Palace,templ e,chapel , tabernacle,tent,chamber, cabinet, parlour,closet, chimney, ceil ing, front,battl ement, pinnacle, tower,lattice, table, chair, stable,

et, cel lar, furniture, uten

sils, goblet, chal ice, cauldron,fork, nap

-kin), plate, carpet,tapestry, mirror, curtain, cut

l ery.

XVI . Father, mother, sister,brother,son,daughter,husband,wife, bride, godfather, stepmother.

XVII. Trade,business,chapman,

booksell er, fishmonger, &c. ;

pedlar, hosier, shoemaker, &c.

outfitter,weaver;baker,cooper,cartwright, fiddler, thatcher,seamstress, smith, goldsmith,

mil ler, cook, skinner, glover,fisherman, sawyer, groom,

workman, player, wright.

XVIII. King, queen, earl, l ord,lady, knight, alderman, sheriff,beadle, steward.

XIX. Kingdom, shire , folk, hun

dred, riding, wardmote, hust

ings.

XX. White, yellow, red, black,blue, brown, grey, green.

xxx. Fiddle, harp, drum.

38 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

Of Romance Origin.

Family, grand -father), uncle ,aunt, ancestor, spouse, con

sort, parent, tutor, pupil ,cousin, relation,papa,mamma,niece, nephew,

spouse.

Traflick, commerce, industry,mechanic, merchant, prin

cipal , partner, clerk, appren

tice, potter, draper, actor,laundress, chandler, mariner,barber, vintner, mason, cutler,

poul terer, painter, plumber,

plasterer, carpenter, mercer,hostler, banker, servant, journey(man) labourer.

Title, dignity, duke, marquis,Viscount, baron

,baronet,

count, squire, master (mister),chancel lor, secretary, treasurer,council lor, chamberlain, peer,ambassador, captain, major,colonel , l ieutenant, genera l ,ensign, com et, sergeant, of

fi cer, herald, mayor, bail iff,engineer, professor, &c.

Court, state, administration, constitution, ople, suite, treaty ,union, ca i ,net minister, successor, heir, sovereign, re

nunciation, abdication, do

minion, reign, government,council , royal, loyal , emperor,audience, state, parl iament.commons, chambers, signor,

party , deputy , member, peace,war, inhabitant, subject, navy ,army, treasurer.

Colour, purple, scarlet, vermi.l ion, violet, orange, sable, &c.

Lyre, bass, flute, lute, organ,

pipe, viol in, &c.

HI STORY OF THE EN GLISH LAN GUAGE . 39

XXII. A l l words relating to art, except singing and drawing,are of Romance origin.

XXIII. Fam il iar actions, feelings, qual ities, are for the most

part unborrowed.

Tal k, answer, behave, bluster, Converse, respond, reply , impel,

gather grasp grapple, hear, prevent, direct ascend tra

hark, l isten, hinder, walk, verse, &c.

l imp, run, l eap, &c. &c.

XXIV. The names ofspecial action, qual ities, &c. are mostly pure

Engl ish general terms are Latin, as

W armth, flurry, mildness, heat, Impression, sensation, emotion,wrath, &c. disposition, temper, passion,&c.

Even, smooth, crooked, high, Equal , l evel , curved, prominent,brittl e, narrow, &c. fragile, &c.

32 . The Romance el ement has provided us with a large numberof synonymous terms bywhich our language is greatly enriched, as

benediction blessingcommence begin

branch boughflour mealmember l imb

win

wish

buymilddread

bloom

friendlyhearty

33. Sometimes we find Engl ish and Romance elements oom

pounded. These are termed Hybrids.

I. PureEngl islzwordswit/i Romance sufi xes

A nce . B indt -ance, further-once, forbear-ance.

A ge . Bond-age, cart-age, pound

-age, stow-age, tonn

-age.

M ent . Forbode-mcnt, endear-ment, atone-meat,wonder-ment.

Ry . Midwife-77 , knave-ry , &c.

I ty . Odd-ity.

4o ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [cram 1 1 1 .

git

}Stream-let, smick-ci .0

E8 8 . Godd-ess, shepherd-ass, huntr-ess, songstr

Abl e . Eat-able, laugh-able, read-able, unmistake-able.

Ous . Burden-ans, raven-ans, woudt -ous.

N ess . Immense-news, factious-ness, savage-m s, with numerous

others formed from adjectives in ficl , as merci-fulness, use

-ful -nars, &c.

D om . Duke-dam, martyr-dam.

H ood. False-hood.

Rick. Bishop-rich.

Sh ip. Apprentice-ship, sureti-shijo.

Kin . Nap-kin .

L e ss . Use-l ess, grace-less, harm-less, andmany others.

Ful l . Use-ful , grate-f il l , bountiful , merciful, and numerousothers.

Som e . Quarrel-some, cumber-some, venture-some, humour-some .

Ish . Sott-ish, fool -ish, fever-ish, brut-i sh, slav-ish.

L y . R01md-ly , rude-ly , savage

-ly , and innumerable others.

III. Engl ish wordswith Romanceprefixes

En, Em . En-dear, en-thral , em-bolden.

Dis. D is-bel ief, dis-burden.

Re Re-kindl e, re light, re-take, rc-seat.

IV. Romance words with Engl ishprefixes

B e . Be-siege, he-cause, be-powder.

U nder. Under-value, under-act, under-price.

U n . Un-stable, un-fortunate, and very many others.

Over. Over-turn, over-value, over-rate, over-curious.

For. For-pass, for-prise, for-fend.After. After-piece, after-pains.Out . Out-prize, out

-faced.

Upa (ff -train.

4a EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cum

5)The third plural present indicative and the second person

plural imperative often have-s instead of -th .

N . hia onfbas S. hi onfoath, they receive .

(6)The occasional omission of ge before the passive participl e.

N . bledsed S. gehletsod, blessed.

(7)Occasional use of active participle in -and instead of -end.

(8)The use of aren for sy ndon or sy nd are (in al l persons ofthe plural).

In nounswe find much irregularity as comparedwith the Southerndialect.

(9)Plurals end in a, u, 0, or e, instead of -an .1

N . heorta S. heortan, hearts.

N . witg-u S . witegan, prophets.

N . ego S. eagan, eyes.

N . name S. naman,names.

(1 0)-es is sometimes found instead of -e as the genitive suflix offeminine nouns.

( 1 1 )the and thio are sometimes found for se (masc.)and sea (fem .)the .

( 1 2 )The plural article tha sometimes occurs for the demonstrative

pronoun hi they .

We see that 1 0, 1 1 , 1 2 , are real ly changes towards modern

35. After the Norman Conquest dialects become much more

marked, and in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we are abl e

to distinguish three great varieties of Engl ish.

( 1 )The Northern dial ect, which was spoken in Northumberland,Du

aham, and Yorkshire, and m the Lowlands of Scot

lan

(2 )The Midland dialect, spoken in the whole of the Midlandshires, in the East Angl ian counties, and in the counties

to the west of the Pennine chain ; that is, in Cumberland,Westmoreland

,Lancashire, Shropshire.

In the Southern dialect words be longing to th is declension had 13 in theobl ique cases of the singular, but this is dropped in the N orthern dialect.

xv. ] OLD EN GLISH DIALECTS. 43

(3)The Southern dialect, spoken in al l the counties south of the

Thames ; in Somersetshire, Gloucestershire, and in parts

of Herefordshire andWorcestershire.

I t is not difii cul t to distinguish these dialects from one another on

account of theirgrammatical differences.

The most convenient test is the inflection of the verb in thepresent

plural indicative.

(4)The Southern dial ect emplo 3wk, theMidland -m , as the in

flection for al l forms of t e plural present indicative .

The Northern dialect uses neither of these forms, but substitutes

e: for or -m .

l

The Northern dialect has its imperative plural in -e.r the

Southern and Midland dialects, in -etlz.

EXAMPLES.

P lural Pres. Up-steghar (up

-go) hill es and feldes down-gar

(down-

go).Thir (these)kinges ride: forth thair rade (road).3And gret fischa etc: the smal e

The mar thou drinker of the se

The mare and mar(e)threste: ye.

5

Now we wyn and now we tyn

Imp. Oppene: (open)your yates (gates)wide.7

Gal : (go) he said, and spit: (inquire) wel le gern

(earnestly).Cums (come)again and tel: (tell)me.

8

P l ural We habbet/i (have)the maystry .

’

Childern leuetli Freynsch and construct]: and lurnet/i

(in)Englysch .

1 0

Imp. Lustet/i (l isteneth) latetlz (l et)me speke.

n

Adrawet/i Soure (your)suerdes (swords).1”

P l ural Pres. Loverd we ar-m (are)bothe thine .

1”

Loverd we sholm the wel fede.“

And thei that fal len on the erthe, dym anon.

Imp. Dotfi awei 50ure 5atus (gates)and bel iz rerid out 5cceverlastende Satis .

1"1 We do not find often in the first person. Often all inflections are dropped

in the plural , as m modern English.

Specirnm of Early Eng l ish, p. 9x.

p. 1 54.6 l b. p. 1 78 .

9 1 h. p. 342 .

1 ° Ih. p. 339.

‘3 l b. p. 47.‘4 l b. p. 48.

44 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAP.

36. The Midland dialect, being widely diffused, had various localforms. The most marked of these are : ( 1 )the Eastern Midland,spoken in L incolnshire, Norfolk, andSuffolk ; (2 )theWestMidland,a

pprl

éen in Cumberland, Westmoreland, Lancashire, Cheshire, ShrOp

s

The East Midland conjugated its verb in the present singularindicative l ike the Southern dial ect

I st pers hop-e I hepe.

2 nd hope d thou hopest.

3rd hop-el l: he hopes.

The West Midland, l ike the Northern, conjugated its verb as

follows

1 st pers hope .

l

zud hop-er.

3rd hop-er.

37. There are many other points in which these dialects differedfrom one another.

The Southern was fond, as it stil l is, of using 7/ where the

other dialects hadj; as w fa foe winger finger.

In the old Kentish of the fourteenth century we find

2 for 5 as singe to sing ; sede said.

(IL) It preferred the palatal of: to the guttural k in many words,”

as

Northem rike kingdom.

sek sack.

I t often had 6 anduwhere the Northern dialecthada and i,

as

Izul Northern

putMn

Won (oon)

In its grammar the Southern was stil l more distinctly marked.

(a)It preserved a large number of nouns with plurals in n, as

rterren stars, germ eggs, kun kine, &c. The

Northern dialect had onl y about four of these plural s,namely, eglten(= eyes), [ wre n, oxen, andrefioon(= shoes).

The Northern dialect has 3 occasional ly in the first person.

’

This softemn serves to explain many of the double forms in modernEnghsh,

as

“d

ire

;and d: pouch andpoke, ch m/xand kink, nook and note/i , babe and

k c.

N J OLD ENGLISH DIALECTS. 45

(6)I t kept up the genitive of feminine nouns in e,1 while the

Northern dialect employed only the mascul ine suffix .r,

as in modern English.

(e)Genitive plural s in -ene are very common, but do not

occur at all in the Northern dialect.

(d)Adjectives and demonstrative ronouns retained many of

the older inflections, and t e definite article was in

flected. Many pronominal forms were employed in

the South that never existed in the North, as ha (a)he ; i: them ; ir= her.

Where the older language had infinitives ending in -ah and

J an, the Southern dialect had -en or -e and -ie.3 The

Northern dial ect had scarcely a trace of this inflection.

Active participles ended in J ude (ymle) in the North in-amle

Passive participles retained the old prefix ge (softeneddown to i or 5) in the North it was neverused.

It had many ver al inflections that were unknown to the

Northern dialect, as -rt (present and past tenses),(plural past indicative), -e (second person plural pastindicative of strong verbs).

The Northern dialect had many plural forms of nouns

that were whol ly unknown to the Northern dialect, as— Brether brethren

,childer children, hy cows

(kine), head hands.

That was used as a demonstrative as at present, without

reference to gender. In the Southern dialect that was

often the neuter of the definite article.

Same (as the same, this same)was used instead of the

Southern thil he, modern thueh, thick, or thuehy .

77zir, ther (the plural of the Scandinavian article), thethese, was often used.

(5)Thepronominal forms were very different. Thus instead

0 the Southern heo (hi, hit) she , this dialect used

reo, echo, the older form of our rhe. It rejected the

old plural pronouns of the third person, and substi

S oulefode soul’

s food senate nea’e sin’s need.

2 a stlene f et apostles’

feet : Gywene w i l l Jews’

wil l .3 om

'

e lu are), to love hatie hatiau)to hate tel lers, tel le to te ll .4

S

smgznd singi ng.

he y irohen broken sfare

46 ENGLISH ACCIBEN CE [CHAR

tuted the plural article , as thai , thair, thaim (tham)instead of hi (hen, hii), heare (here), heom (hem);yhourer, thairr, quite common then as now, were nu

known in the South.

6. At towas used as a sign of the infinitive mood ; ral and

sula’ rehal and rehula'

.

7. The Northern dialect had numerous Scandinavian forms,

as

hethen,hence Southern he nne

thethen, thence themze

whethen, whence whenner

mm

mimte

38. The East Midland dial ect had one pecul iarity that has not

been found in the otherdial ects, namely, the coalescence of pronouns

with verbs, and even with pronouns, as

ealder eal de er cal led them

l etter dea’e er ut them

her he es e them

get ge it she it

me: me e: one (Fr. on) them.

The West Midland dialect had its pecul iarities, as ho she ; hit .

its rhy n shuln (plural).

39 . Wemust bear in mind that the Midlanddialectwas the speechthat was most widel spread, and, as we might expect, woul d be theone that would gra ually take the lead in becoming the standard

Ian age. There were, as we have seen, many varieties of theMi nd dialect, but by far the most important of these was theEast Midland. As early as the beginning of the thirteenth

from from

to

t un town

lerre l ess

5 2 415 plough

f ast fist

sterre star

here barleyIey flame

ag ree worse

swich such

a’

o.

CHAPTER V.

PERIODS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

40. ALL living languages, in being handed down from onegeneration to another, undergo changes andmodifications . These go on so

dual ly as to be almost im erceptible, and it is onl by lookingack to past periods that we come sensibl e that the guage has

changed. A language that possesses a literature is enabled to register

the changes that are taking place. Now the Engl ish language

possesses a most c0pious l iterature, which oes as far back as

the end of the eighth century, so that it is possi le to mark outwith

some distinctness different periods in the growth or history of our

language.

I. The Engl ish y the First Period.

(A.D. 450— 1

(a)The grammar of this period is sy nthetic or inflectional , whilethat ofmodern English is analy tical .

1

(6)The vocabulary contains no foreign elements.

(c)The chief grammatical differences between the oldest Engl ishand the Engl ish of the present day are these

(1)Grammatical Gender.—As in Latin and Greek, gender is

marked by the termination of the nominative, and alsoby othercase endings. Substantives and adjectives havethree genders

—mascul ine,feminine, and neuter.

(2 )Declensions of Substantives. -There were various deelen

sions, and at least five cases (nominative, accusative ,genitive, dative, and ablative or instrumental). distinguished by various endings.

3)The Definite Article was inflected, and was also used bothas a demonstrative and a relative pronoun.

(4)P mnouns had a dual number.

Cp. O.E. drinean with to drink.

so ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [cram

This change affected the obl ique cases of nouns and adjectives as

wel l as the nommative, so that the termination

an became en1

ra, ru became re.

od, ode

ii . C orh is often softened to ch, andg to y or to.

To make these changes clearer, we give

( 1 )A portion of IElfric’s homily, De I nitio Creature , in the

Engl ish of the first period (2 )the same in the Engl ish ofthe beginning of the twelfth century ; and (3and 4)thesame a few years later.

2

An anginn is ealra binga, last is God E lmightig.

An anginn is ealra thingeu, be t is God A lmightig.

An angin is alrce singe , be t is God almihti5.

t t t t t

One beginning is there of all things, that isGodA lmighty .

He is ordfruma and ende : he is ordfruma forBi be hewees mfre .

2 . He is ordfruma and sende r he is ordfrume for‘

ban behe wees aefre .

He is ordfruma andende he is ordfrume forbi Ue he waes

4. [He is] hordfruma and aende : he is ord for he wes eft e .

5. He is beginning and end : he is beginning, for-that that

he was ever.

1 . He is ende butan mlcere geendunge, fqr Gan be he b ifiaefre unge

-endod.

2 . He is aendm abuten aelcere geaendunge, for ban be hebyu aefre unge

-andod.

He is ende buton a lcre endunge, for ban he he hit?aefreun5e -endod.

He is aende buton aelcere 5iendun5eHe is end without any ending, for

-that that he is ever

unended.

He is eal ra cyninga cyning, and calra hlaforda hl aford.

He is calra kingene kinge, and ealra hlaforde hlaford.

I n sometimes disappears.9 Examples 3and 4were probably wri tten in diaerent parts of England beb re

u se .

52 EN GLI SH ACCIDEN CE. (cm .

2 . The definite article becomes pe, pea, be, (pat), instead of

se,seo, beet.

1

It frequently drops the older inflections, especial ly in the

feminine.

We find pe often used as a plural instead of pa or

3 Nominative plural of nouns end in-eh (ore)instead of a or

u, thus conforming to plurals of the n declension.

4. Plural s in -es sometimes take the place of those in-e h -an),

the genitive plural ends in-ene or -e, and occasional ly

in -es.

5. The dative plural (originally -um)becomes e and en .

6 . Some confusion is seen in the gender of nouns.

7. Adjectives show a tendency to dropcertain case-endings

1 )The genitive singular mascul ine of the indefin itedeclension.

(2 )The genitive and dative feminine of the indefinitedeclension.

3)The plural -en of the definite declension frequentl ybecomes e.

8 . The dual forms are stil l in use, but l ess frequentlyemployed.

The dative him, hem, are used insteadof the accusative.

9 . New pronominal forms come into use, as ha=he, she,they ; =her ; is=them ; me=0nc.

1 0. The n in min, thin, are often dropped before consonants,but retained in the plural and oblique

1 1 . The infinitive of verbs fre

lquently drops the final n , as

smel le=smel len, to sme herie=herien, topraise. To

is sometimes used before infinitives.

1 2 . The gerundial or dative infinitive ends often in -en or -e

instead of -enne -anne).

1 3. The n of the passive participle is often dropped, as icumeicumen=come .

1 4. The present participle ends in-inde, and is frequently used

instead of the gerundial infinitive, as to swiminde : to

swzmene a to swim.

1 5. Shal l andwil l began to be used as tense auxil iaries of the

Traces of re and :i are found in the Kentishdialect of the thirteenth century .

V. ] PERI ODS OF THE EN GLISH LAN GUAGE . 53

The above remarks apply chiefly to the Southern dialect. In the

otherdialects of this period (East andWest Midland)we find even

a greater simplification of the mar. Thus to take the Ormulum

East Midland)we find the fo owing important changes

(a)The defini te article is used as at present, and that is em

ployed as a. demonstrative irrespective of gender.

(6)Gender of substantives is almost the same as in modern

(c)-es is used as the ordinary sign of the plural .

(d)-es, singul ar and plural , has become the ordinary suffix of

the genitive case.

(e)Adjectives, as in Chaucer’s time , have a final e for the older

inflections, but e is chiefly used, ( 1 )as a sign of the plural ,

(2 )to distinguish the definite form of the adjective.

(f)The forms thaw, theirs, come into use.

(g)Passive participles drop the prefix i (ge), as c amen for icumen .

(h)The plural of the present indicative ends in -eh instead of«ah.

In an Engl ish work written before 1 2 50, containing many formsbe longing to the West Midland dial ect, we find

(a)Articles and nouns andadjectives as in the Ormulum.

(h)The pronoun tha i instead of hi or heo they ; I for Ic or

Ich.

(c)Passive participles frequently omit the prefix i.

(d)Active participles end in -ande instead of -inde.

(e)Verbs are conjugated in the indicative present as fol lowsSingular. Plural .

( 1 ) luv-e ( 1 )luv-en(2 ) luv-es 2 )luv-en(3)luv-as (3) luv-en

(f )Strong and weak verbs are conjugated after the followingmanner in the past tense

P lural .

( 1 )makede makedenWeak. (2 )makedes makeden

(3)makede makeden

( 1 )schop sch0p-en

schop schop-en

sch0p schop-en

54 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE. [C l-LAP.

Here we see two important changes : ( 1)-es for -est in second

person of weak verbs and (2 )the dropping of e in strong verbs.

From 1 1 50 to 1 2 50 the influence of Norman-French begins toexhibit itself in the vocabulary of the Engl ish language .

III. The Engl ish of the Third Period.

(A. D. 1 2 50

42 . (1 )The article stil l preserves some of the older inflections, as( 1 ) the genitive singular feminine ; (2 ) the accusative

masculine 3)the plural ho (the nominative be ing usedwith all cases of nouns).

(2 )Nouns exhibit much confusion in gender—words that were

once mascul ine or feminine becoming neuter.

3)Plurals in -en and -es often used indiscriminately.

(4)The genitive -erbecomes more general , and begins to takethe place of the older -en and -e (in old mascul imand neuternouns); and (2 )of -e in feminine nouns.

5)The dative singular of pronouns shows a tendency to dropoff ; mi-self and chi-self often used instead of me-selfand the-self .

1

(6)Dual forms of the personal pronouns dropped out of use

shortly before 1 300.

7)A final e used, ( 1 )for the sign of plural of adjectives ; and

(2 )fordistinguishing between the definite and indefinitedecl ensions.

(8)The gerundial infinitive terminates in -e u and -e.

(9)The ordinary infinitive takes to before it.

( 1 0)Some few strong verbs become weak. Present participlesin -inge begin to appear about 1 300.

French words become now more common, especial ly towards theend of this period.

In ten pages of Robert of Gloucester, Marsh has calcul ated that

fourper cent. of the vocabulary is Norman-French.

IV. The Engl ish of the Fourth Period.

(A.D . 1 350

43. In this period the Midland dial ect has become the prevailingone. Northern and Southern words still retain their own peou

8 We sometimes find unis-elf as well as mcseV in h umor»

v. ] PERI ODS OF THE EN GLISH LANGUAGE. 55

fol lowing are the chief points to be noted

1 . The plural article, tho the, those, is stil l often used.

2 . The -erin plural and genitive ease of substantives ismostl ya separate sy l lable:

3. The pronouns are

I for the older [ e (l eh sometimes occurs).

sche for the olderheo.

hzm, them, whom, used as datives and accusatives.

our“, y ourer, heres, in common use for oure, y oure,

thei (they)in general use instead of hi (heo).

hem them.

4. The plural s of verbs in the present and past indicative

end -eh or -e.

The imperative plural ends in-eth.

-e.rt often used as the inflection of the second person

singularpreterite of strong andweak verbs.

The infinitive mood ends in -m or -e but the inflection isoften lost towards the end of the fourteenth century .

The present participle ends usual ly in-mg (inge).

The passive participle of strong verbs ends in -m or -e.

The termination -e is an important one.

1 . It represents an older vowel ending, as m m-e h am-a,

sun-e rim -u ; or the termination -cm ,-eh , as withute

2 . It represents various inflections, and is used

(a)As.

a mark of the plural or definite'

adjective(adJectival e), as smal e fowles the grete see.

(b)As a mark of adverbs, as“fi t softly. (Adverbial e.)

(e)As a mark of the infinitive mood, past tense ofweak verbs and imperative mood. (Verbal e.)

Him t houghté'that his herté woldt brehé. (Chaucer.)

Towards the end of this period the use of the final e becomesirregular and uncertain, and the Northern forms of the pronouns,their, theirs, them, come into use in the otherdialects.

56 ENGLISH ACCIDEN C'

E [CHAR v.

(A.D. 1 460 to present time.)

44. There are real ly two subdivisions of this period

(1 ) 1 460 to 1 52 0.

(2 ) 1 52 0 to present time.

From 1 460 to 1 52 0 there is a general dearth of great l iteraryworks, but there were two events in this period that greatly affected:he language, especial ly its vocabul ary

( 1 )The introduction of printing into England by Caxton.

(2 )The difl’

usion of classical literature.

For some pecul iarities of El izabethan Engl ish see Abbott’

s

Shakespearian Grammar.”

vr.] PHON OLOGY. 59

remains even when the modif g vowe l has been lost as Eng.feet, compared

kvith Goth /vans, Old-Sax. 15

1

th, shows that the original form must have beenti .

When i is fol lowed by a it becomes e, as O .E. he lp-an , to he lp, from the root

h i l), help ; and 14 fol lowed by 4 becomes o‘

thus from the root hug (Old-Eng.

b egan), to bend is formed boga , a bow.

48. D iphthongs arise when, instead of pronounci ng one vowel

immediately after anotherwith two efforts of the voice, we produce

a sound during the change from one position to the other that

woul d be required for each vowel. If we change the a into the i

position and pronounce a vowel , we hear ai as in aisle. If wechange the a into the n position and pronounce a vowel , we hear an

as in how. Here too we find many variations, and the less perfect

diphthongs, such as oi, &c.

l

49. Consonants fal l under the category of noises.

(a)Some are produced by the‘

bpening or closing of the organs of

speech, in which the breath is stopped and cannot be prolonged.

These are cal led mates or cheths, as G, K, D, T, &c.If the breath is stopped and the veil is withdrawn that separates

the nose from the pharynx, we obtain the nasals N, NG, M.

(6)If the breath be not wholl y stopped, but the articulatingorgans are so modified as to al low the sound to be prolonged, then

we get continuous consonants, cal led breaths or sfi rants, as H, TH,

F s &c.I hnd r

, which belong to this class, are call ed tril ls, and are pro

duced by a vibration of certain portions of the mouth (tongue or

uvula).

(e)The consonants may be classified according to the organs bywhich they are produced, as gutturals (k, g, ch), palatah

'

(ch, j),l ingual : (sh, 2 h), dentals (t, d, th , dh), labials (p, b, f, v).

(d)Those sounds produced by a greater effort of the vocal organs

are cal led sharp, as p, j; t, &c if produced by a less effort, theyare call edflat, as 6, v, d.

(e)The fol lowing table contains the consonants in the English

alphabet, arranged according to a physmlogical plan

v1 .] PHON OLOGY. 6 1

50. From this table of consonants we have omitted (t)e, because ,when used before a consonant or a, o, u, it has the sound of h, and

when used before e, i, y , it has the sound of s (in rice) (2 )the softsound ofg (ingem), because this is represented byj 3)9, becausethis is equivalen to h e (4)x, because it is equivalent to hs orgs. h

51 . On the Numher of Elementary Sounds in the spohen Engl ishAlphahet.

In addition to the twengf-four consonants al ready enumerated wehave fourteen single vowel s diphthongs, making altogether

a in gnat. o in note.

a inf air, ware.a infirme .

CHAPTER VII .

ORTHOGRAPHY.

52 . ORTHOEPY deals with the proper pronunciation of words ;Orthography with the proper representation of the words of the

spoken language . The one deal swith words as they are pronounced,the otherwi th words as they are written.

A perfect al habet must be based upon phonetic principl es, and

( 1 )every simp e sound must be represente by a distinct symbol

(2 )no sound must be represented by more than one sign.

(a)The spoken alphabet contains forty-three sounds, but the

alphabet has onl y twenty-six letters or symbol s to represent

them : therefore in the first point necessary to a perfect system of

orthography the Engl ish alphabet is found wanting.

The alphabet, as we have seen, is redundant, containing three

superfluous l etters, c, y, or, so that it contains only twenty

-three

l etters wherewith to represent forty-three sounds. So that it is both

imperfect and redundant. Again, the five vowels, a, e, i, o, u , have

to represent no l ess than thirteen sounds (seeThe same combinations of letters, too have distinct sounds, as

ough in bough, borough, cough, chough, hough, hiccough, though ,trough, through , Sc. sough ea in beat, bear, &c

(h)In regard to the second point, that no sound should be rept e

ted by more than one sign, we again find that the Engl ish alpha

bet fails. The letter 6 (in note)may be represented by oa (boat),oe (toe), eo (yeoman), ou (soul), ow (sow), ew (sew), au (hautboy),eau (beau), owe (owe), oo (floor), oh (oh The alphabet is there

wel l as im erfi ct.

Many l etters are silent, as mpsalm,calf ; could, gnat, know, &c.

(c)The Engl ish alphabet is supplemented by a number of doub lel etters cal led digraphs (oa, 00, &c. which are as inconsistently em

as the simpl e characters themselves.

(d)Other expedients for remedying the defects of the alphab etare

CRAP. vrt . ] ORTHOGRAPH Y. 63

(1 )The use of a final e to denote a long vowel , as bite, note, &c.But even with regard to this e the orthograp

hy is not consistent it

will not al low a word to end in v, al thoug the preceding vowel is

(2 )The doubl ing of consonants to indicate a short vowel , as

fi l l hotter,&c.

It must be recol lected that the l etters a, e, i, o, u, were original lydevised and intended to represent the vowe l sounds heard in far,pry ,figure, ole, rule, respectively . In other languages that employthem they still have this value .

During the written period of . our language the pronunciation of

the vowels has undergone great and extensive changes at different

periods, while the spell ing has not kept pace with these changes,so that there has arisen a great dislocation of our orthographical

system, a divorcement of our written from our 5 oken alphabet.

The introduction of foreign elements into the agl ish languageduring its written period has broug

ht into use different, and often

discordant, systems of orthography (cp. ch in church , chivalry ,Chri stian, &c. In addition to this there are pecul iarities of theorthographical usages of the Old

-Engl ish dial ects.

53. The foll owing letter-changes are worth recol lecting

LABIALS—B, P, F, V, W.

B . This letter has crept into man words, as O .E. slumer-ian,slumber thum-a thumb l im imb.

Cp. humble from humil is, number from numerare.

B has changed to

( 1 )p in gossip, from O .E. godsib purse from 0.Fr. borse (cp.

r, disburse) apricot, Fr. abricot.

(2 )To v in have from O .E.habban, heave from O.E. hebban .

(3)To m in summerset Fr. soubresaut.

P . P is represented by

( 1 )b in lobster O .E. loppestre; dribble from dmp, drop O.E.

(2 )v in hnave O .E. onapa.

I t is often inserted between m and t, as empty O .E. emtzg (cp.

3 Whitney .2 We sometims find in O.E. apricot

-h apricot.

64 ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [CHAR

F. Anf frequently becomes v, as vat, vetches, vixen fat, fetches,fixen .

(loverd), hafoc, hafizth (haflh),wifman (wimman).Cp. 0.Fr.jolif, O.E.jol if jol ly.

The O .E. efeta, angft, has become ( 1 )evet ; (2 )not (3)newt (then belongs to the indefinite art icl e).

V in some Romance words represents ph, as vial phial , O .E.

visnomy phy siofinomy .

It has been c anged to ( 1 )w in periwinkle Fr. pervenche,Lat.perivinca (2 )to m in malmsgr O.E. malvesie, from O .Fr.

W . This letterhas disappeared in

ooze O .E. was.

l ispfour

soul O .E. saw], sawul .

lark Scotch laveroch, O .E. laweree.

ought O .E. a-wiht (auht, oht).tree O .E. treow.

knee O .E. cneow .

W has crept into whole and its derivatives=O .E. hal (hol)whoop, O.E. hoop (Fr. houpcr).

1 1 W has become rah, aswho O .E. hv/a .

&c. &c.

The so has disappeared in certain combinations (tw, thw, s'zo),

tusk O .E. twire (tuse).thong O .E. thwang (thwong).sister O .E. m ister (m uster).such 0 .E. swilc (winch).

DENTALS— D, T, TH.

D . I) has sometimes become

( 1 )t, as clot

O .E. abbad (abbod).E. edi sc.

66 ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [cram

Th has sometimes become

( 1 )d, as murder O .E. my rthra.

coul d O .E. euthe (couthe,

(2 )t, as theft O .E. thevflh.

nostril 0 .E. nas-thyrlu (nosthirles).

(3)s, as love-s love-th.

7 7: has disappeared

Norfolk O .E. North-fi le, &c.

SIBILANTS—S, 2 , SH .

8 is closely al lied to r, and even in the oldest English we have

traces of the interchange in

Cp. .E. iseru

We often write c foran older s, as

mice O .E. my s.

pence O .E. pens, pans.

once O .E. ones (ans).hence hennes (hens).

Sc has in many cases been softened down to sh (O.E.

shall 0 .E. sceal (seal).shame O .E. scamu.

It is often preserved before a, o, r.

For se and spwe frequently find by metathesis cs andps, as

hoax O .E. huse

So for ash we find axe O.E. axien ascian.

In 0 .E. we find elapsed clasped, Izpsed l isped.

68 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [0HAP.

GUTTURALS— K, G, CH, H.

K . 1 )c (h)has become ch.

In Old-English before the Conquest cwas always hard, but underorman-French influence c (before c, i, ea, co)has been changed to

ch as O .E. cclc, case, ein, cild have become chi”, cheese, chin, childceorl , ceaf have bA final c has sometimes to ch, as 0 .E. die to dieh

hwilc to which . Sometimes as disa peared, as O .E. 1 c

[ ch I ; anl ic onlich only tag/m l?

In a few instances c has become first ch and thenj, as

a°

ar achar (on the turn), from O.E. cerran, to turn.

ledge O .E. hnowlech,

(2 )In some Romance words c has become

a)ch, as cherry Fr. cm lsc, Lat. cerasus.chives Fr. cive.

coach Fr. carosse, Lat. carocium.

(b)sh, as shingle O . Fr. cenglc, Lat. cingulum.

(c)g, as flagon Fr.flafon.

sugar Fr. sucre.

3) C (fol lowed by t)has sometimes become gh, as

G . In al l words of Engl ish origin initial g is always hard,before e

, i, y , asgave, give, go, get, &c.

G has been softened ( 1)to i, y , c, a, asS

enough.

al ike .

rc handiwork.

fair.

hail .

twain.

vrt.] ORTHOGRAPH Y. 7 1

LIQUIDS— L, M, N , R.

L . In some Romance words I has been weakened to u, as

hauberk (0 .Fr. halberc, hal bert).auburn (Lat. alburnum).

In 0 .E. we find assaut, maugre, paumc, caudron, soudier, &c.

L has disappeared in the fol lowing Engl ish words

each O.E. celc (el ch).which 0 .E. hwy lc (while, whilch).such

as

England O .E. Englc-lond (Engel and).

L has become

( 1 )r, in lavender Lat. lavendula.

sinoper Lat. sinoplumcolonel (pron. hurnel) coronel (Spanish).

In D.E. we find brember and brcmel bramble.

(2 )n, in postern 0.Fr. posterle, posterne Lat.posterula.

L has intruded into the fol lowing words

(O.E. cuihe, coude).

tnanciple 0.Fr. mancipe Lat. mancipium.

participl e Lat. particzpium.

princi le Lat. principzum.

syllab e Lat. .9/11d .

M . M has been lost in some of the oldéstEngl ish words, as

five O .E fif (Goth . fimf ).soft O .E. sofl e Germ. sanfl samfl .

M is sometimes weakened to n, as

ant (O .E. temete), emmet.count 0 .Fr. cumtc Lat. comes.

renowned O .E. renowmed ; Fr. rcnomml .noun Fr. nom Lat. nomcn.

count 0 .Fr. conter Lat. computare.

ransom 0.Fr. raancon Lat. redemfi‘io O .E. ramson.

M is sometimes changed to b, as marblestone O.E. marmanstan .

72 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE [CHAR

1 N . In the oldest Engl ish we find the loss of n beforej?th, s,and the vowel lengthened in consequence, as

goose (gens) cp. Germ. gans.

tooth cp. Goth. tunthus ; Germ. zahn.

other (anther), cp. Goth anthar Germ . andcr.

Cp. us with Germ. uns, and could (coud)with can .

It has disappeared from many adverbs and prepositions, as

beside O .E. biridan.

within O .E. withinnan.

It has also been lost in otherwords, as

el l

eve

gameO.E. my len (miln).

eleven m.

agnail O .E. ang-nagl .

yesterday O .E. gcstran-dag.

fortnight O .E. feowcrtenc-niht (fourteniht).

It has dropped from the beginning of a few words, as

apron 0 .Fr. naperon.

N has intruded in a few words, as

newt an ewt.

nag Dan. bg; O.-Sax. ehu (cp. Lat. cgua).

In Old-Engl ish we find noumpere umpire Lat. impar);nauch ouche (Fr. oche), nounce uncia): Shakespeare has

It has sometimes crept into the body of a word, as

nightingale O .E. nihtegal e.messenger O.E. messager (0 .Fr. messagier).

popinjay O-E portray (O-Fro parka).

At end of words we find an inorganic n, as bittern

CHAPTER VIII.

ACCENT.

54. Accent is the stress of the voice upon a sy l lable of a word.

oyl labic accent is an etymolo cal one, and in oldest Engl ish it was

upon the root and not upon e inflectional syl lables.

By the Norman Conquest a different system of accentuation was

introduced, which towards the end of the twelfth century began to

show itself in the written langu

Thervocabulary of the Fren language is derived, to a gre

tent, from Latin words deprived of their terminal inflexions. The

French adjectives mortal and fatal are formed from the Latin

mortal is’andfatal is, by dropping the inflected syl lable the Frenchnouns nation and condition, from the Latin

”accusatives nationem, con

ditionem,by rejecting the cm final . In most cases the last syl lable

retained in the French derivatives was prosodical ly long in the Latin

original ; and either because itwasalso accentedorbecause the slight

accent which is perceivabl e in the French articulation re resents

temaploral length, the stress of the voice was laid on the fi syl labl e

of these words. When we borrowed such words from th e French ,we took them with their native accentuation ; and as accent is much

stronger in English than in French, thefinal syl lable 1 was doubtl essmmforcibly enunciated in the former than in the latter language .

RSH.

French accentuation even afl'

ected words of pure Engl ish origin,and we find in Robert of Gloucester wisl lchc (wisely)for m is

’liche

begy nny ng’, endy ng

’, &c. ; and Chaucer rhymes gladnes

’sc with

tres’se, &c.Spenser

’s accentuation exhibits the influence of French accent.

Thus he rhymes blowerwith shallower, things with tidings, &c.

A straunger in thy home and ignoraunt'

,

Of Phaedria'

, thine ownefcl lou/ servaunt'

.

E Q. 1 1 . 6. 9.

i The’sy l lables that were accented in O .E.

'

words of Fr. origin are : -acc,

a ge, onil -ai l le), -ain ,O

-ance, m e,-ant, am t, 90

°

C,-ey , -e,

-eis, eel , -er, m ,

a re,-ice

,-ise, -ie, i t; in, isl e, -i te, -iou, -cion, o tion, -sion, wan t, -ou,

-our,-or,

-ous,-te, o tude, -ure.

can . v1n .] ACCEN YZ 75

A work of rich entayle and curious mould,Woven with antickes andwild

And in his lap a masse of coyne he told,And turned upsidowne , to foede his eye

And covetous desire with his huge tareasmy’.

E Q.n. 7. 4.

Hath now made thral l to your commandé’

ment.E Q. ii. to. 59.

Shakespeare andMil ton retain manywords accented upon the finalsyl lable which are now accented according to the Teutonic method,as asp/ct, convérse, acct”, &c.

As early as Chaucer’s time an attem t was made to bring the

words of French ori'

n under the Teutonic accentuation, and in the

Canterbury Tales we findmor’tal

,tem

't, mb

’stanoe andmany

wordsw ere pronounced according to the ngl ish orFrench accentuation, asm y»: andprison

'

, tem’

pest and tempest .

In the Elizabethan period we find a

great tendency to throw the

accent back to the earlier syl lables 0 Romance words, though

they retained a secondary accent at or near the end of the word, asna

”ti

’on, sta

”ti

’on .

In many words a strong syllable has received the accent in preference to a weak one, as Fr. ae'cepta

’ble, Lat. adceptd

’bzl ir

,has

become not ad’cept

’aole but ace¢t

”aole.

I. Many French words stil l keep their own accent, especial ly

(I)Nouns, in -aa'z,

-ier (oer), -ee, or-oon,

-ine -in), ascaeoade’, ew ode’, &c. cavalier

'

, c/zandel ier'

, &c. gazetteer“,

pioneer”, &c. (in conformity with these we sa fiarpoonea

’, moun

legatee’, pay ed, &c. bal loon’, cartoon c. ; cfiagn

'

n’

, viol in'

,

&c. routine’

, marine’, &c.

Also the fol lowing words— cadet , om na

'

te’, gazettt ,control

'

, gazel le’,amateur}

, fatigue',antique

’, pol ice

', &c.

(2 )Adjectives (a)from Lat. adj. in w , as august’

, benign; robust’

,

&c. (6)in o n,as morose’, verbose

’, &c. (c)argue, as burlesque

’

,

grotesque“, &c.

3)Some verbs, as— éaptize’,eajole

’, earess

’, carouse

'

, diastise’,escape

’

, esteem’

, &c. &c.

II. Many Latin and Greek words of comparatively recent introduction kee their original form and accent, as

—auro’ra,ooro

'na,

colofrw , a, fiW /t'

asir, &c.

76 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

IIL Some few Ital ian words keep their ful l form and originalaccent, as mulat

'to, sona

’

ta , taba/ co, wka’no.

Shortened forms lose their original accent, as ban’dit

, mar’mot,

&c.

55. In many words mostly of Latin a change of accentmakes up for the want of inflectional en and serves to distin

guish (a)a noun from a verb, (6) e from a verb, (c)anadjective from a noun

(a)aug'

ment to augment'.

ta imout to torment’.&c. &c.

(6)do'rent to absent .

fi e’

yuent to fi eguent’.

&c.

I t occurs in some few words of Teutonic origin, as o'

oery‘low and

to overflow, o'

wrt/zrow and to overt/irow’, &c.

56. The accent distinguishes between the meanings ofwords, as

to conjure and to conjure’

.

in'eense and to int end .

Au’gust and augmt’.

min'

ute andminute’.su

'

pine and supine .

57. Influence of Accent .Accent plays an important part in the changes that words

undergo.

Unaccented syl lables are much weaker than accented ones, andwefind unaccented syl lables dropping off

(a)A t the beginning ofwords (Api aresis).

(5)At the end ofwords (Apooope).

(e)The accent causes two syl lables to blend into one (Sy ncope).

EXAMPLES.

Lat. Woopus.O.K. gb refa.

0.Fr. escuier (Lat. soutarius).

vruz] ACCEN T. 77

s y 0 .Fr. W .

sgory O.Fr. estoire (Lat. bis-torus).

stranger 0 .Fr. cstranger (Lat. extraneus).

A few double forms are sometimes found, as— squire and esquire,strange and estrange, state and estate, spy and espy , spital andnos

pital , sport and disport, sample and example, &c.

O .E. nama.

(c) brain

O.E. lieafod.

Lat. corona .

Fr. com rade.

In compounds we find the same principle at work, and their

origin is obscured

daisyelbow

gossipharbour protection

(hauberk)

woman

c'

ages cage (day’s eye

0 .E. eln-boga (arm-bending)

O .E. god-stab (God-related).

O .E. izere-berga (fierberwe),for an army.

O .E. fieals-oerga (protection for the neck).0 .E. Ala/ 2 fnesse (loaf-mass).O .E. man-Mr (near-dwel lerO .E. nose-tnyrel (nose-hol e).O .E. ort-geara

'

(herb-garden).O .E. scire-grréfa (shire-reeve)O .E. t/iresc-wold (thresh-wood, i . e. wood

beaten ortrodden by the foot door-sill).O .E. wifinan wife-man).

78 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAR vm .

leman leof -rnan (hefm an, dear-man, sweet

eart).constable Lat. comes stabul i.curfew 0.Fr. encore-fen.

kerchief 0.Fr. encore-cine}:

In proper names we have numerous instances

(a)Names of places

Canterbury O.E. Cant-wara-burfi town of the menofKent).

O .E. q or-wic (Everwich, Everwik).O .E. PVindles-qfi

'

a (VVyndelsore).O .E. Sunnan-dag.

O.E. Tfiunres-dag.

Names ofpersonsBapBen

Gib

Hal

Tafl'

Wat

Bess, Bet

Meg, Madge

Maude

Dol

Cp. cab

bus

consols

chum

tramway Outram way.

Baptist.

Benjamin.

Gilbert.HT lighilus.Walter.

El izabeth.

Margaret.

Magdalen.

Dorothy.

cabriolet.

omnibus.consol idated annuities.

chamberfellow, &c.

CHAPTER IX.

ETYMOLOGY.

58 . Etymology treats of the structure and history ofwords ; its

chief divisions are inflat ion and derivation.

Words denote the attributes or relations of things, and are of

two kinds : ( 1 )those significant of qual ity ; (a)ofmaterial things, asswed ,

brag/it, (6)of acts, as quick, slow, &c. ; (2 ) those indicativeof position (relating to time, space, &c. as nere

,t/iere, tnen, I , lie.

The first are cal l ed notional words, the second relational words.

A root or radical is that art of a word which cannot be reduced

to a simpler ormore origin form. Roots are classified into

(a)predicatiae, corresponding to

(o)demonstrative, corresponding to relational words.

Inflexions are shortened forms, for the most part, ofM onstrous/e,sometimes of predicatiae roots. Hence al l mflexions were once

a

59. THE PARTS OF SPEECH, OR LANGUAGE, are

1 . Noun (Substantive, Adjective).I. Infiexional . 2 . Verb.

4. Adverb.

II. Indeclinable 5. Preposition.

words, orparticles. 6. Conjunction.

7. Interjection.

60. N ouns 1 include

( 1 )Abstract substantives, l ike virtue, which denote the qual ities

of things simply, significative onl y ofmental conceptions.

(2 )Concrete substantives, in which a single attribute stands

synecdochicall y formany.

’

Fr. nom , Lat. nomen, fromgnosco that by which anything is known.

a Cp. w/zea t, which original ly signified white.

80 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [CHAR

3)Adjectives, i.e. attributes used as descriptive epithets ; beingsometimes simple, as black, wbite, &c. sometimes compound words,as sorrawfi el , godl ike, friemfly .

In Greek and Latin all adjectives have distinctive terminations,which were original ly separate words. Most of these terminationshave apossessive signification ; others denote similarity, &c analo ous

to ourdike, :fiel , J ess and in al l cases they do not so much be ongto the attribute as to the subject. The termination puts the word incondition to be joined to some substantive.

6 1 . TheVerb was original ly nothing more than a noun combinedwith the obl ique case of a personal pronoun ; so that in cm

m of me, &c.

62 . Pronouns are attributes of a pecul iarkind, not permanentlyattached to certain objects or classes of objects ; norare they l imitedin their appl ication. Only one thingmayl

be called the sun ; onlycertain objects are M ite ; but there is not ing which may not be Iandy ou and it, al ternately, as the point from which it is viewed .

In this universal ity of theirapplication asdependentupon relativesituation merely, and in the consequent capacit of each of them to

designate any object which has its own sp c name besides, andso, in a manner, to stand for and represent that other name, l iesthe essential character of the Pronoun. The Hindutitle, sarvam dman, name foreverything,

’universal designation,

’is therefore moredirectly and fundamental ly characteristic than the one we give them,

pronoun, standing fora name.’ —WHITNEY.

63. Adverbs are derivative forms ofnouns, adjectives, or ronouns.

Thus, our adverbial sumz -ly was ori

ginal ly

-l ice the a lative or

dative case of an adjective ending in ic=l ike, the adverbial en-ment of Romance words is the Latin ablative mente, with mind

(Fr. bonnement kindly bond mente, with kind

Many relational adverbs are formed from demonstrative pronouns,as Iteorc

,bi-t/zer, vibe-n, &c.

64. Prepositions were once adverbial prefixes to the verb, servingto point out more clearly the direction of the verbal action : bydegrees they detached themselves from the verb and came to beloto the noun, furthering the disappearance of its case-endings, an

assuming their office . The oldest przpositions can be traced to

pronominal roots ; others are from ver‘

b roots .—WHITNEY.

CHAPTER X.

SUBSTANTIVES.

I. GENDER.

66. GENDER is a grammatical distinction, and ap lies to wordsonly. Sex is a natural distinction, and appl ies to iiving objects.

By personification we attri bute sex to inanimate things, as The

Sun in bis glory, the Moon in her wane .

”

The distinctions of genderare sometimes marked by different terminations, as genitor, genitn

'

x dominus, domino . This is cal led

67. Loss of Grammatical Gender in Engl ish — The oldestEngl ish, l ike Greek and Latin, and modern German, possessed

grammatical gender.

-a, a kinsman.

235, a nephew.

zoiduwa, a widower.

munec, a monk.

god, a god.

So fi eo—dom (freedom)was mascul ine ; gretung (greeting), feminineand cy cen, chicken, neuter.

Grammatical genderwent gradual ly out of use after the Norman

Conquest, owing to the fol lowing causes

( I)The confusion between mascul ine and feminine sufi xes.

(2 )Loss of suffixes marking gender.

(3)Loss of case inflections in the mascul ine and feminine forms

of demonstratives.

68. Traces of grammatical genderwere preserved much longer in

some dialects than in others. The Northern dialects were the first

mag-e, a kinswoman.

nefe, niece.

widuwe, a widow.

municen, a nun.

gyden, a goddess.

webb-estre, a webster.

CHAP. x. ] GENDER. 83

to discard the older distinctions, which, however, survived in the

Southern dial ect of Kent as late at l east as

69. The names of males belong to the mascul ine gender.

The names of femal es to the feminine gender.

The names of things of neither sex are neuter.

Words l ike cltild,parent, of which, without a qualifying term,

'the

genger is eithermascul ine or feminine, are said to be of the common

gen er.

70. There are three ways of distinguishing the mascul ine and

feminine inEngl ish

(a)By employing a difi'

erent word for the male and female.

(b)By the use of suffixes.

(c)By composition.

7 1 . Before the Conquest our language possessed many words

answering to our man.

”

The term man corresponded general ly to the German memoli ,

person, and was not confined original ly to the mascul ine gender;hence it occurs frequently in compounds with a :

qual ifying term, as

Edam/imam”woman ; leaf -man, sweetheart ; soarpned-man,

8 man,e.

Other common words for man were guma, as in bold-

gum :

bride-groom (Ger. brautzgam) the bri de’s man ; 4 gum

-m un

beorn carl ,5our c/eurl ; wer

6 (man and husband).

72 . I . Different words for th e mascul ine and fem in ine .

FATHER. MOTHER.

BROTHER. SISTER.

Fatker (O .E. f eeder)is cognate with Lat. pa-ter, Gr. arc-rim one who feeds

or supports. Cp. M oo, f ee-d, f ez-t, &c.

Therthe schok the sonne dym becomIn t/rare tyde .

—SHOREHAM.

Here the inflection of the demonstrative shows that ty de is feminine .

Be thise virtue the guode overcomth al le his vyendes the me dyeve l , Mewordle , and thet vless.

”—Avaxsr'ra. Dy evel is masculine wordle feminineand vles neuter.

2 Wif wife, rs cognate with the Lat. sex-or, and original ly signified one

carried3 Wepned-man a man armed with a weapon.

4 Spenser has herd-groans herdsman. Gum is cognate with Lat. Iromo.

5 S euser uses earl for an old man, a churl . In 0.E. we have the com

poun carl nean andem u male, man. Q ). Scotch carl in , an old woman.

6 Wer cognate wrth Lat. air.

84 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [CHAP.

blil o-{

Ira(O.E. mbdor, moder), Lat. ma-ter, contains

'

a root ma , to produce,m g 0

Bro-ti er (0.E. brat/tor), Lat . f rater, original i signified one who bears or

supports,’from the verb bear, co tewith Latinfe

vro.

S is-ter (0 .E. m eostar, suster is cognate with Lat. soror sos-tor), and hadperhaps original ly the same signification as mo-tker.

The termination in al l these words denotes the agent. In the primitiveAryan speech there was no distinct sufi x used as a sign of gender.

PAPA. MAMMA.

These words are of Latin origin. Papa father:Cp. pope. Mamma mothercp. mamma l .

SON. DAUGHTERstuns

?one brought forth, born (cp. ba irn), from the root su, to

dagglk

-ter cognate with Gr. Own-mp milker, milkmaid, from root

to

UNCLE. AUNT.

Uncle is from O .Fr. uncle , oncle, from Lat. avunculus.

A unt from O .Fr. ante, Lat. amita. The O .E. word for uncle was (I)earn(em), Ger. olnn (oheim), (a)f eeder

-a . A unt in the oldest English was modrige.

BOY. GIRL.

Boy is not found in the oldes t English ; it is of f uent occurrence in O .E.

writers of the fourteenth century, .

by whom it is app ied to men occupy ing a

low position, to mental servants :rt rs there fore often used as a term of contempt.The term is probably of Teutonic or: and is cognate with O .Du. boeve, PlattDeutsch bow, Swed. be] , Ger. bube, .H.Ger.M .

{be O .E. word for boy was cnapa (knave), Ger. knabe, whence

a o

Gil -I is a diminutive of a root gir, cognate with Platt-Deutsch gar, a little

In O .E. writers of the fourteenth century g irl was of the common genderthus Chaucerhas

‘

y ongegirles young persons and the O .E. expression knave

girle occurs in the sense of bent.Wenek is a shortened form of the O .E. went /id , which in the Ormulum

"is

ap lied to Isaac, and was original ly a word of the common gender.n a metrical version of the Old and N ew Testaments of the fourteenth century .

in the Vernon MS.,we find mayden andgram boy and girl

Ine reche whether hit beo may den othergram.

BACHELOR. MAID.

The derivation of backe lor, which comes to us from the French, is uncertainIt probably contains a Cel tic root, as seen inWe lsh buckgen , a boy (from back,l ittle) whence 0 .Fr. bache lor, a servant, a

$rentice in arms, a knight-bache lor.

M a id O .E. me get/t, ma d ; ma iden (Ci)

. me gd-en , of neuter gender) is a

derivative.1

The literal meaning of ma id is one grown up, an adult. I t is often appl ied to

males as we l l as females.

1 We have the same root in Goth. mag-us a bo mag-4 th , a young lO .E. mag-a , a son (cp. Sc. mac), all connec

’

tedwitr

h the Sansk. root was:tobecome great, to grow.

86 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CI-(AP.

N iece is the Fr. n iece from the Lat. nef tis , a grand-daughter.

The O .E. nef -a (nephew), nef -e (niece). are cognate with nepos and neptis,and with neffie'w and n iece .

The O .E. forms could not, suggested,'

ven rise to Itemn iece , but both would assume a common form, new , whic is found in O . writersafter the Conquest.

LORD. LADY.

rd)is a compoundcontaining the sufi x aweard0 E. boat-ward, boat-keeper. It is general ly

is a (contracted)feminine of Lord.

LAss.

In O .E. ladde is generally used in the sense of a man of an inferior station, a

menial servant. It is eneral ly considered as being connectedwith O .E. lead,

lede (cp. Goth . jugga u l lrs, a youngman,jngga young), from leodan, Goth.l iudan , to grow up.

L ass does not occur in O .E. writers before the fourteenth century , and onlyin Northern writers . It is probably a contraction of ladders.

In the fol lowing pairs one is a compound

MAN . WOMAN.

See remarks on MAN, p. 83, 571 .

BRIDEGROOM. BRIDE.

See remarks on GROOM, p. 83, 5)7r.Notice too that the mascul ine is formed from the feminine .

These terms are mostly applied to newly-married persons Andis the brideand bride m coming home 7 —SHAIcEsr>EARE.

In 0 . (fourteenth century)bry d (brad) bgemetazthgfizx

ftder

zub

riowmes

ygxgnce n(bird), and isemployed in the sense ofma idenmen andmaidens.

HUSBAND. WIFE.

.

H usband is not the band,bond

, or support of the house , as some have inge

zro

t

usl triled to make out, but signified original ly the master of tire Irons

-e,

a amrzas.

Hus house bond O.E. bonda , a participial form of the verb b a n , to

inhabit, cultivate so that bonda 2 husbandman, the possessor aswe ll as the cultivator of the soil attached to his house. Bond-men came to si Ify (r)teas

-ants ,

(a)Mark , slaves ; hence the com ounds bond-slave, b «age, which have

nothin to do with the verb bind, or t e noun bond.

0

Wz e was often used in olderwriters in the sense ofwoman hence It occurs in

some compounds with this meaning, asfi sh -w ife, [rouse-w ife, finery housewife

goody g'

ood-wife .

1 In laterwriters bier di e became lafdie, lavdi, lady .

9 Cp. Icel . be’

ndt, a us andman, from bna , to cultivate , dwe l l Dan. bonde,peasant, countryman.

x. ] GENDER. 87

SIRE. MADAM.

Sir is from 0.Fr. sires, Fr. sire, Lat. senior.

M adam Fr. madame my ladySpenser frequently uses dame in the sense of lady .

.S‘

zre and dam are stil l applied to the father andmother of animals.

Grandsire and beldam are sometimes found forgrandfather and grandmother.

Names of Animal s.

BOAR. Sow.

Boar (O .E. bar), originally only one ofmany namesfor the mal e swine . Eofor(cp. Dan. w er—sun

’

n)and bear]: died out very early ; the latter still survives in

barrow -f ig .

The general term of this specieswas Swine (O .E. swin , Cp. swinstede pigstysuner, sounder a herd of swin

e).

p i (O .Du. ism,big)is not ound in the Oldest English in later writers it is

mos y applied to y oung swme .

Gris (grave,'

cc), fromO .N . gn’

shis used by our olderwriters fora young pig.

.E. f ear]: a l ittle pig.

BULL. Cow.

Bul l (O .E. be l le)is not found in the oldest English . I t probably comes fromthe Icelandic bol t .

Bu l lock O .E. bul luca)is properly a l ittle bul l , a bull-calf.Cow .E. cu.

x

The Fr. be nf al so signifies ba l l . The general term of the ies was 0:

(O .E. oxa). There were other,special designations, as steer (0

te rms applied to the ma les of other specres ; cp. Ger. stier, a bul l ; O .

stero, ram. See note on

Hei er O .E. healt-f ont, [reafre [fiecforde], ofwhich the first sy l lable signifihigh,great. Cp. beak-dear roe-buck.

BUCK . DOE.

Buck O .E. bncca doe 0 .E. da , dama . In 0.E. leaf er signifieshe-goat,cognate with Lat. caper ; f ab , rd roe caprea .

GK id (tiognate with Lat . Iradns) O .N . an O .E. word forkidwas ticcen,

er. zrc -lein.

HART.

Hart, 0 .E. Iteorut, beert horned ; cp. cert/us . H ind cerva.

Gr. 969: Lat.fora)was once a general term for an animal

(wild), hence Shakespeare talks of rats andmice, and such smal l deer.

’

STAG. H IND .

S tag Icel . steg‘fir, which was applied to the males of many species. In the

En lish provincial alcots stag or steg a gander or a cock.

ailey has stagg-ard, a hart in its fourth y ear.

RAM (O .E. ramm).WETHER (O .E. wa lker).

EWE (O 'E ”w“: cow).

88 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAR

HOUND. BITCH.

Hound O .E. band , cognate wi th Lat. canis.

Dog does not occur in the oldest English. It is found in the cognate dialects,08

”O .Dan. do Icel. doggr. Tibe occurs sometimes in O .E. for aBite/l .E. bier-e .

STALLION . MARE.

the O .E. hengest and steda (steed).of the neuter ender.

e of an o mascul ine , wear/z.

COLT.

F0AL FI LLY.

Foa l , O.E. fola , Ger.fal len, Lat.pul lers.Fizzy Scotch fi l let , Welsh

COCK. HEN .

H en had a corresponding masculine, Alana , in O .E. cp. Ger. balm and kenne.

GANDER. GOOSE.

Gander (O.E.m dvra)and Goose (O .E. gons gans)are re latedwords.

The d and r in gander are mere ly euphonlcflfa is the

’

mascul ine suffix and theroot l sgan r

.gans, a goose cp. Ice l . gas, goose ; gas

-i , gander also Ger. gans,Gr. xqv, Latin anser Itanser).

DRAKE. DUCK.

Duck O .E. date diver (connectedwith the verb to duck, O .Dan. da iken,O .H .G. tdckan, to dive , plunge)has no etg

mological connection with D rake.

The word drake can onl be explained y a reference to the cognate formsO .Norse andf ik

-a , O .H . er. ant-rich , ant-red o, which suggests an 0.Englishend-rie‘ e (which, however, does not occur in O .E. literature).

.

In O .E. a nd end duck (cp. O .H .Ger. ant i ,“Ger. ente, Lat. anas)

lung, Cp Lat. rex .

So that d-rabe is a contraction of end-rake duck-king, king Of the ducks.‘ 1

RUFri REEVE.

Reeve seems a true feminine Of Rufl’

.

73.

- II. The Gender marked by difference Of term ination.

The feminine is usual ly formed from the mascul ine.

A . Obsolete modes of forming the feminine

1 The suffixmick b found in some “f the German dialects : in ta iiberl-ricb, amale dove enterrclz, a drake ; game-rich, a gander.

90 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

sufi x are to

kempster jet trix . baxter firstm'

x .

webster textrix. sa lsterdryster siccatrix. brawdster painters

-la.

sewster sum . hunter anxra trzx .

\Ve have now only one feminine word with this sufiix, viz. epin

ster: but [tri cksterwas used very late as a feminine. Hucbstera 'and

man-backster are new mascul ines formed from the feminine.When the sufiix e ta : was felt no longer to mark the gender, some

new feminines were formed by the addi tion Of the Romance French-ess to the Engl ish -ster, as songstr-ess and seamstr-ess,

’

which hybrid forms are, etymological ly speakThe suffix -sternow oftenmarks the agent withmore or less a sense of contempt

and depreciation, as funster, trickster, gamester.

In El izabethan writers we find dragster, backster (swordsman),teamster, seedster (sower), tbrowster, rbymester, wbzpster, &c.

B . Romance sufi xes.

To replace the Obsolete Engl ish modes of forming the feminine,several sufi xes are used to mark the gender.

(I)Lat. -Or and -ix

M.

3 The Northern dialects of the twe lfth and thirteenth centuries se ldom employthis suffix, and i t is often found, as in Robert of Brunne , in masculine nouns

(marking the agent).In the Ormulum we findbuccesterr lmcks ter,which isprobably mascul ine.

InWickl ifi'

e we find sl that this suffixwas going out of use tomark genderin the double forms that e employs, asdwe l l-stem and dwel ler-em , sleesterrandsleeresse, dannstere and dannseresse.

9 Howell uses hucksteress and spinstress as feminines . Ben Jonson uses

seamso

ter and songster to express the feminine while Shakespeare uses spinstersometimesas spinner.

92 ENGLISH A CCIDENCE. [cul ts

(4)Duchess is from 0.Fr. di sea se, dncbesse marcbioness, from

74. II I . Gender is some times denoted by composition .

In the oldest English we find traces of a qual ify ing word compoundedwith a

general term, as man-eild man-child boy; carl-catt, tom-cat ; carlfngol , aamale bird wif-man woman ; ewen ngv female bird. In later times we

find onans-ohrld boy .

( I)By using the words mal e and femal e

M

mal e-servant

(2 )By usingman, woman , ormaid.

“a t o

man-servant maid-servant.men-singers women-singers.

Sometimes we find sew ant-man, servant-ma id, wasber-woman, mibbman,

m i lk-maid.

(3)By the use of he and she , mostly in the names of animals.

F.

she-goat.

she-bear.

In Shakespeare’s tirne be and sbe were used as nouns and not

only did people talk of M s and sbe’s for males and females, but

even of thefairest be and thejb irest sbe whence be and sbe are also

compounded with substantives, especial ly to convey a contem tuons

or ridiculous sense, as Howl, you be monks and you sbemonks.

DRANT’

s Sermons.Cp. he-devil

He and sbe were not thus used in the oldest Engl ish ; it is an idiom commonto the Scandinavian and the Engl ish, which in awkwardness surpasses any thingto be met with in any other speech .

”—MARSH. We find this idiom as early as

e fourteenth century , the earl iest expressions being Ire-beas t

(4)Dog and bitcb, as dogfox, bitcb-fox, &c.

5)Back and doe, as bu b-rabbit, doe-rabbit, &c.

(6)Boar and sow, as boar sow-pig.

(7)Ewc in ewe-lamb (Gen. rod.

(8)Colt andfil ly , as coltfoal , fil ly foal .

1 “The be bathe two pynnes [and the sbe bathe none."—LAum cn

ANa n, Baby : Book, p. a3r.

94 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE . [can

78. The reduction of -es to -s causes the suffix to come into directcontact with the last l etter of the substantive to which it is added,and by which it is affected.

(a)If the substantive ends in a flat mute, a l iquid, or a vowe l ,

s is pronounced flat, as tubs, lads, stags, bil ls, bens, featbers, trees,

(6)If the substantive ends in a sharp mute,s takes the sharp

sound, as traps,pits, stacks.

(c)The ful l er form -e.s is re tained when the substantive ends in a

sibilant orpal atal sound, such as ss, sb, x, cb as glasses, wisbes, foxes,cba rcbes, ages,judges.

(d)Words of pure Engl ish origin ending in y‘

;preceding long vowe l (except 00)retain the older spell ing,

“but only

sound the s, as lea] ; leaves tbigf, tbieves wife, zen'

ws sbelf; sbelves

In roof ; boo] ; rec m , strife, the is re tained and s oul added. We sometimes find elf s, :he s, instead of clvcsfi'belvcs.

y

(e) In Romance words f remains unchanged, and the plural is

formed by s, as M fi ,cbiejfs,

(f )Words ending in f ; -

rf,'

form the plural by the addition of s,and thef is left unchanged, as clifi; cl i s dwarf; dwarf s.

(g)Words terminating in a single y keep the old orthography,andy is changed into i, asfly ,fl ies city ,

cities.

In Old English the singular ended in -ie, as fl ie, citie .

Y remains unchanged if it is diphthongal or preceded by another

vowel , ands only is added, as boy , has play ,play s wal let, val ley s.

We sometimes find oa l lies, monies, m bies, patties, &c. A lba l i has for its

plural a lba lzes.

(b)Words in -o (not those in -io), mostly of foreign origin, form

the plural in-os (sounded as s), as ecbocs, beroes, potatoes.

Words in -io add s, as fol ios, seragl ios.

A few of later origin in co and -oo add s,

x. ] N UMBER. 95

(z) Particles used as substantives take -s or -e.s for theirplural , asups and downs ; ay es and noes (or ay e

’s and no

’

s) the 0’s and Macs

pros and cons et—ceteras.

(j)In compounds the plural is formed by s, as blacbézra's, pay

When the adjective (after the French method) is the last part ofthe compound, the sign of the plural is added to the substantive, as

(Worm s-general , courts-martial . So in prepositional compounds,as sons-iaJ aw, fatbers-ia -law, Iookers

-on, men-of'war.

(b)When 1 9411 is compounded with a noun, s is added to the last

element, as bandfnls, cup/ids but not if the terms are kept dis

tinct, 3s two band/il ls of marbles we have our bands ful l of

wor

In Old English such forms as band/i d, sbipficl were mostly t e

garded as adjective compounds, and did not take the plural sign.

P lural formed by vowe l -change

foot, O .E. flit plural feet ,

tooth , O .E. tétb plural teeth ,mouse , 0 .E. mas ; plural m ice

,

louse , O .E. Ids l ice ,

goose , O .E. gfls geese ,man , O .E. man men ,

Al l these words once had a plural ending. The vowe l of the plural suffix,though lost, has left its influence in the change of the root-vowe l, which, hilo

gsgifisal ly speaking, is no inflection ; cp. 0 .Sax. foti feet, boci O .E. cc

00

See remarks on Vowe l-change, p. 58, 47.

80 . Plural s in - en (O.E.-an).

(I)There were a larger number of these words in the oldestEngl ish which formed the plural in

-an, only one IS now in commonuse, oxen O .E. ox-an .

Sboon, O .E. soon , and bosen , O .E. bosan , are more or less obsolete.

Spenser frequentl uses ey en O .E. eagan, Provincial Engl ish een andfoenO .E. f an , f on, oes.

(2 )Some words that now form their plural in n original ly endedin a vowel , and have therefore conformed to plurals in n .

Kine .— The e is no part of the plural , as we find in O .E. bin

and ben . Cow original ly made its plural by vowel-change, O .E. ca,

a cow, plural cy . Cp. 0 .E. mus (mouse), mis (mice).

96 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

In O .E. we find by , by e, fi ne, stil l preserved in the North of

England.

Child-r-e-n .— In the oldest Engl ish cbild (eild)formed its plural

bygtrengthening the hu e by means of the letter r, and adding n

, as

cs -r-n.

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries we find eild-r-a converted

into (I)cbild-r-e and (2 )cbild-r-e-n .

In the fourteenth century we findin the Northerndialects cbilder

children, where the -re has become -er (cp. O.E. al ra (I)cl rc,(2 )al ler, (3)alder).In 0 .E. of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we find cal vren

,

lambren, andaren (eggs).

)0.%ea lf (calf)had for its plural—( r)coa l/ire : (a)ca l -o-r-e 3)calveren(4Of

E. limb, pl . (r?lamb-cw ; (a)lamb-me : (

3)Iambr-e-n (4)lambs.

O-Eo refl ect).p (x)err -w; (z)err-e ; (3 err -cm

Brethren .— In the oldest Engl ish the plural of

brotbrn (brotbra). In the thirteenth century this became (r)brotbr-e,2 )brotbr-e-n (brotberen), 3)brdbr-e, (4)brdbr-e-n, 5) h otberes

In the Northern dialects in the fourteenth century we find bra/i re

becoming bretber.

The e in bretbren seems to have arisen from the dative singular (bretberIn the thi rteenth and fourteenth centuries, we find that the oldest ngl ish

debts-u became dobtren, btren debtren, and deSter.

S isterand snotber once he n to the same declension.

Tam I O .E. h em -n is by Sackvil le Induction

The wrathful Winter,'

machin on a

With blustering blasts al l ygar'd t e treen.

”

8 1 . Some words, original ] neuterandflexionless in the plural , havethe same form for the s

'

ar and the plural .

I . Deer O .E. dew , pl . deor.

2 . Sheep O .E. scalp, pl . seed

3. Swine O .E. n, pl . sw n.

4. N eat O .E. nedt (used col lectively to include steer,

This class once included the fol lowing words—jb lb, y ear, y obe,

bead, score, pound, bair, borse, &c.

These be myo

mother‘, bretber, and sisters.

”—Bp. PILKING’

I‘

ON (died 1

9 S istren occursin the Fardell of Facion3 In O .E. goat is treated as a plural a l eparted the fiokkis of scbeep

from the flokltis ofgoot.”—Care navs , p. 8. soworm All kinderof heastes,

fowle‘, and worms.

—Farrlel l q aa bn.

4 Tame and well-ordered bon e, but wild and unfortunate children.

”

Ascwus.

98 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cam

P lural .

minutia'

.

Greek (2 )

Romance 3) monsieur

the

Hebrew (4) cberub

Some of these have the English plural ,texes, criterions, automatons, pbenomenons, memorandums, spectrum ,

focuses, funguses, simi les, beans, scrap/ls , cberubs, as well as their

original plurals, appendices, cal ices, vortices, criteria, automata , pbenomena , memoranda, spectra, fbci , fungi, simil ia , beaux, serapbim,

cberubim (and serapbin, cberubinl).

85. Some have two plurals with di fferent meanings, as

indexes (of a book) indices (signs in algebra).

geniuses (men of genius) genn (s irits, supernatural beings).parts (abil ities) parts ivisions).

86. Many substantives are used only in the plural , as

(r)Substantives denoting things that consist of more than one

part, and consequently always express plural ity, as

(a)Parts of the body ln ts, lungs, veins, kidney s, wbi sbers, ebitterl ings, intestines, bowels.

(b)Clothing breecbes, slops, trowsers, drawers, mittens, garters.

(c)Tools, instruments , implements, &c. : sbears,snuj

'

ers, tongs, scal es, &c. (Shakespeare uses bal lance as a

A peyre of bal launce.” —DRANT.

(2 )Names of things considered in the mass or aggregate, asasbes, embers, cinders, lees, molasses .

87. Many foreign words are used only in the plural , as aborigines,faces, l iterati,prolegomena, &c.

Cbe subims and“rd /tints occur in Elizabethan English.

x. ] N UMBER. 99

88. The Engl ish plural sign sometimes replaces the original plural ,

pleiad s, byads, rb inoceroses.

Of a similar kind are

abstergents abstergentia).anal ects analecta).arms arma)annals annal es), &c.

89. The plurals of some substantives differ in meaning from the

singulars, as antic, antics ; beef, beeves cbap, cbaps draugbt,draugbts cbecber, cbecbers forfeit, forfi its record, records ; scale,scales spectacle, spectacl es grain , grains ground, grounds water,waters copper, coppers iron

,trons compass, compasses return,

returns ; &c. &c.

So too verbal substantives, as cutting and cuttings sweeping and

90 . Many asi/ectives used as substantives form the ir plural

regularly, as good, goods captive, captives; lunatic, lunatzcs

cp. commons, eatables, betters, superiors odds, extras.

To th is class, with Engl ish plural substituted for foreign adjectiveplural , belong acoustics, a naly tics, etbzcs, optics,pol itics.

9 1 . Some plural forms are sometimes treated as singulars, as

amends,1 bel lows,

2ga l lows,

3 means,4news,

5odds,

5pains, sessions

,

sbarnbles, smal l-pox,

3 tidings,9 wages.

Most of these are com aratively late plurals, and the singular was

once used where we emp oy the plural .

9 2 . A lms,eave s, rich e s , though treated as plurals, are singular

in form.

A lms Gr. n ew es t”, O .E. a lrnesse, alrnesse, a lrnes. In 0 .E.

w e find pl . elmessen, a lrnesses.

1 0

3 Amends from Fr. amende . Robert of Brunne has tbc amends was.

2 O .E.

“a gret belygb ;

“a peyre whin y—P i lgrimage, pp. xxx, 1 1 6 .

3 O .E. pl . ga lgun .

4 M eans (Fr. moy en Lat. medium).5 N ews (Fr. nouve l l

’

es, Lat. nova).6 Odds in i t is odds it is most probable .

7 P a in . There is some confusion with the double origin of the word—(r)fromO .E. pin, pain, torment ; (a)from Lat .peena .

In the singularpa in suffering ; in the plural sufferings , trouble.

8 -P ox -poe-s as in cb icbesrpocb,pack-mark.

9 Tidings . O .E. tidende . The plural is rare in O .E.

1 ° Cp. he asked an a lrns . (Acts iii . Al l a common ricbes.”—]0HN

FLETCHER, Wi t w ithoutMoney .

too EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cru x

find 1. ricbesses. A lms and ricbes are etymologically no more

plu than are largess and noblesse.

Eaves O .E. yfes, efese margin, edge.We sometimes find esen-droppers eaves-droppers esen a

93. Summons isa singularform (=O .Fr. semonse ; O .E. somons),and is usual ly treated as such, making the pl . summonses.

94. Propernames form the plural regularly.

(a)A few originally adjectives take no plural sign, as B atob,Engl isb, Scotcb.

(b)Many geographical names are frequently plural in form, as

Atbens, Tbebes, tbcN etberlands, Indies, Azores, A lps.

(c) In names of persons, when a descriptive term is added, onl ythe last adds s for the plural , as master bakers, brotlrer sq uires, the

We, however, may say the .Miss Browns or the M isses Brown .

Where two titles are united the last now usual ly takes the plural ,as major-

generals a few old ex ressions sometimes occur in whichboth words, fol lowing the Frene idiom, take the plural , as bnrgbtsternplars, lords-l ieutenants, lordsy

’

ustices.

III. CASE.

95. In some languages nouns (substantives and adjectives) takedifferent forms (cases)in different relations in a sentence.

The moveable or variable terminations of a noun are cal led its

At Athens, the term case, orptosis, had a philosophical meaning at Rome,casus was mere ly a l iteral translation the original meaningx

fi ffa l l was lost, andthe word dwindleddown to a mere technical term. In the p hieal languageof the Stoics,ptosis, which the Romans translated by casns. real y meant

‘

fal lthat is to say , the mcl ination or re lation of one idea to

.

another, the fall ing orresting of one word on another. Lou and angry discussions were carried on as

to whether the name of ptosis , or f l , was applicable to the nominative : andevery true Stoic would have scouted the expression of casus rectus, because thesubject, or the nominative, as they argued, did not fal l or rest on anything else ,but stood erect, the otherwords of a sentence leaning or depending on it. Allthis is lost to us when we speak of cases.

”- MaxMULLBR.

96. The oldest Engl ish had six cases Nominative, Vocative,Accusative, Genitive, Dative, Instrumental .In the Aryan languages the mse-endin are attenuated words—of all of

which the origin is very obscure.gs

l oz ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE [CHAR

the feminine unti l the thirteenth century , and then for the most partonly in the Northern dial ect (cp. Lady -day with Lord

’s day ).

La te in the fourteenth century we find traces of the old plural

Probably before the thirteenth century -es began to take is placelot-order louerd, and alre kingm king.

"-0 .E . Hons , Second Series .

99. The sufiix -e s was a distinct syllable in Old English, as

Ful worthy was he in his Iorde'

s werre .—Ctuwcnn.

Traces of this form we have in El izabethan writers“Then looking upward to the heaven’

s beams,With reigni te: stars thick powder

’

d everywhere.Sacxe Ln

’

s Indus-tb e .

Ofasp}: sting herse lf did stoutly kill . —Srnusun, F. Q. i. 5, 5°

To show his tee th as white as M bone”

Sm m rm n’

s Lou’s Labour's Lost, v. a.

too. The sign of the possessive is now - 8 for both numbers ; andit is subject to the same euphonic modificat ions as the sign of the

plural (seeThe loss of the final vowel is indicated by the apostrophe as

M s, &c.l

When a word in the in

s, x, sons, Socrates

’

In ry this frequently happens with respect to words of morethan

131?syl labl e, especial ly if the fol lowing word begins with a

sibilant, as

The Cy clops’hammer youngPan s

’

face yourbigbness’ love ; for

justice sake ; forpraise sake ; the Pbaznix’throne apartridge

’

(Shakespeare); princess’favourite (Congreve); the Prior ofw il

l

}?question (W. Scott).

In 0 .E,fifteenth centumnif the noun ended in a sibilant orwas fol lowed by a

word with a sih t, the possessive sign wa dropt, as agoose egg, therw er a e .

1 0 1 . In compounds the sufiix is attached to the last element, as— the ”min-law’

s home ; the fiein-ato lara’s wi l l ; the Queen q

’

England’

s reign Henry tbe First’s reign .

1 C)was at first probably usedmdistinguish the genitive fromO

thePlnral sufi x.

I ts use ma have been established from a fal se the of the origin 0 the genitivecase , whic was ,

thorou hly be lieved in from Ben onson’s to Addison

’

s timethat swas a contraction 0 this ; henccsuch expressionsas the jrinee bis house ,

”

for theM use's house .

”

CASE . 1 03

Sometimes we find s added to the principal substantive instead of to the attributive or appositional word, as It is Otnel lo

’

s pleasure , our noble and val iant

general—SHAKS. For the Queen

’

s sake , his sister.

”— BYRON. In O .E.

this was the ordinary construction, as late as the sixteenth century . Stephen

concluded a marriage atween Eustace h is sone and Constaunce the ky nges Si ster

of Praunce the king of France'

s Sister].— FABYAN.

THE CASE ABSOLUTE.

1 02 . In the oldestEngl ish the dative was the absolute case, just asthe ablative is in Latin . About the middle of the fourteenth centurythe nominative began to replace it. Mil ton has a few instances ofthis construction (in imitation of the Latin idiom), as me overthrown,

” “us dispossessed,

” “lzim destroyed.

”

Schal no flesch upon folde by fonden onlyue,Out-taken y aw ast (eight —A l l it. P oem , p. 47, l. 357.

Thei han stolen him as slefi iszge. —Wi cxi. i rrn, Matt. xxviii. at .

Hym an gyt spreeendnnz, big eomon fram than; hmh-gesm nungum.

”

M ark V. 350

Thinm d ura belat enre, bide thine fe der."

iv. r3.

CHAPTER XI .

ADJECTIVES.

1 03. IN modern Engl ish the adjective has lost the inflexions ofnumber, gender, or case belonging to the older stages of the language .

1 04. In Chaucer’s time, and even later, we find (a)an infiexional

e to mark the plural number ; (6)an inflexional e for the definiteadjective— that is, when preceded by a demonstrative pronoun or a

possessive pronoun, as

Whan Z eplhirus eek with his sweet!breethe

Enspired ath in every hol te andhee theThe tendré croppes, and the y ang? sonneHath in the Ram his Ital}? cours ironne,And sma l l fowles maken me lodic.

"Cnnvcua

’

s P rat. to C. Ta les .

This e in the oblique cases of the definite form, in the oldest Engl ish , becamean , ofwhich, perhaps, we have a trace in the phrase

“in the olden time .

We often replace an infiexional e or n by the word one. Cp.

“And the children ham lovie togidere and bevly the velaSrede of the grea ten .

”

- Asenbtte, p. 739.

”The vissere hath more bl isse vor to nime ane gratae visse thane ane Iittlene .

”

p. 2 38.

These imey ne olde these two old ones).—P ilgn°

fnage , p. xxx.

I sigh toward the tour an old oon 1 that come and neihede me .- Ib. p. 2 3.

I sigh an old oon that was clumben auby up on thy bed.

”—Ib. 2 05.

1 05. Chaucer has instances of the Norman-French plural s in

such phrases as eosins germains, in otherplaces del itables.

In O .E. the adjective of Romance origin frequently took a plural termination-es,

-s)when placed after its substantive? as

Watm sprinajba les.—Early Efag . P oems, p. 43.

Vertues cardina ls.— Castele o/ L ooe, p. 37 .

CIranouns reguleres,"‘

eauses resonables,” ‘

jartiesma a'

debna les.

”

MAUNDEVILLE.

I The writer of the P i lgrimage only uses the oon when the adjective is accu3 Stow has key res ma les male heirs

1 06 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [0m m

(3)Adjectives ending in a silent orunaccentede add «or and -st, instead of -er

anr

zgk-e

t

st, to the positive , as pol ite , f ol iter, pol itest noble , nobler,s

1 1 0. When the adjective has more than two syl labl es, the com

parison is expressed by more and most, as— elognent, more eloquent,

This mode of comparison is probably due to Norman-French influence , and itmakes its appearance at the end of the thirteenth century , as mestgenty l

”

(Rosanr or GLoucns'

ran), and becomes of frequent occurrence in Chaucer andWickliffe, as m t mighty , most clearIn poet we find even monosy

l labic adjectives compared (for the sake ofeuphony) y more andmost, as v Ingratitude more strong than trai tors

’arms

(Sunxnsm aa). Upon a lowly asse more white than snow (Snausea).Older writers on

tgrammar make the mode of comparison depend on the

ending, not the leng of the adjective if the adjectival ending is -1ng ,-ist, -ed

,

-en,-azn ,

-a l , -ent, -ive, -ous, the comparison i s made by more and most . Thebest writers, however, are not guided by this rule.

Ascham writes inventis/est ; Bacon, honourablest, and ancienter Ful l er,em inentest, eloquent” learnedst, solemnest,famonsest virtuous-est, with thecomparative and an rlative adverbs, w ise l ier, easi l ier, hardl iert Sidney even

uses ref in ing“! leridge , saf e l iest.”—MARSH.

1 1 1 . Doub le Comparisons are not uncommon both in old and

modern English, as more battere, mostfairest (Maundevill e) moostclennest (Piers Plowman); more hinder, more corrupt ” (Shakespeare);most straitest (Acts of Apostles, xxvi.

1 1 2 . The r of the com

tparative stands foramore original 8 , as seen

in the al lied languages 0 the Aryan speech.

Sanskrit. Greek. Latin. Gothic. O .E. Eng.

pe‘

i for. lmdh -ish-tha. pe

’

y-io

'

ror. m -ist-s. mast. most.

was originall y formed from the comparative by

1 1 3. In numerals and pronominal words, &c. we find a rel ic of anold Lat. dl -teru-s ; Gr. g-n pa

o s ; Sansk. dntar -s Gr. xb-rspo

-s Sansk. ha -tard. BySanskrit grammarians the origin of -ther,to be fOimd in the Sanskrit root tar (cp. Lat. trans, Eng. through),to cross over, go beyond.

A CT] VES. 1 07

1 1 4. An old superlative ending common to many of the Aryan

es is -ma, as—E .for-ma,fm -ma Lat.pri -ma -s Gr. aparo(s) Sansk . pm -tko—ma .

M a is found in composition with ta , as in the numerals—Lat. septimus Gr.

gfl-do-pogc) Sansk. sapIn Latin, -ti-mu-s (as in septimus)isadded to the old comp. is, whence -istimu-s,

and (by assimilation).

II. IRREGULAR COMPARISONS.

1 1 5. OLD,ELDER, ELDES’I‘ (O .E. eald, old ; yum ,

eldra y ldest,

Elder and e lde st are archaic, and can only be usedwith reference

to l iving things.1 As Man cannot be used after elder, it is evident

that its full comparative force is lost.

O lder and oldest are the ordinary comparatives now in use .

.

The vowe l change in elder, &c. is explained by the fact that there was ori

ginally an i before r and st, which aftected the preceding a orea, hence 0 .E. ealdand cldra , strung and strmgra , &c.

1 1 6. Goon, BETTER, BEST (O .E. god ; betera, betra betest, betst).

The comparative and superlative are from a root bet (orbat), good,found in O .E. bet-l it , goodly, excel lent bet-arr, to make good,amend.

B e st bet-st, il lustrates the law that a dental is assimilated to

a fol lowing sibil ant.In 0 .E. we find a comparative adverb, 64 (the sign of infiexion

being lost).

1 1 7. BadEvil worse , worstI l l

W or-se , wor-st , are tbrmed from a root, wear, which is cognate

with Latin stir-as.

The -se is an older form of -reThe Dan . va'rre (O.N . oom

“) its way into English writers of the Na th

of England. Goweruses it in the fol lowing l ines

Of thillre werre (war)In whichs none wot who bath the w ere (worse).

Spenseruses it with referenee to the etymology of the wordwork!The world is much m e than it waswoont.

”

Chaucer sometimes uses badder forwors e.

t This distinction is recent cp. the fol lowing fromEarl/ sM z'

cro-cosmografkicHis very atyre is that which is the eld st out of fashion.

”(Ed. Amalia,

1 08 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [cum

1 1 8. MUCH,MORE, MOST (O .E. mit e], mam , mast).

M uch is from O .E. mieel , through the forms miehel , mac/tel .

Al ore is formed from the rootmag (ormah so thatmore mahre

and most malt -st.

In O .E. mice!great mare, more greater:mast, ”test, most greatest .A contractedform ofmare (properly adverbial), ma , mo, is used by O .E.wri ters.

I t is found also in Shakespeare under the form moeAlixanderGil l makesmo the comparative of many ; more the comparative of

mac

Many O .E. many ,Goth. manq s, contains the root mang, a

nasal ized form of mag (mah).

1 1 9. LITTLE, LEss, LEAST (O .E. Iy tel ; lasso (hes) lasest, last).

l east [es-st [a s-est.

Lesser is a double comparative, as the lesser l ight (Eng. Biéle).Shakespeare has l ittlest (Hamlet, iii.

In O .E. we findI t l ittle , which has nothing todowith the root of l ess, whichis cognate with Got lasiooza (infirmior), the comp. of la ir/«r(infirmus); cp. lazy .

\Ve also find in O .E. m in andm is O .N . minni, Goth. w inniza less, Lat.m in-or Goth. min: Lat. minus.

1 2 0. NEAR, NEARER, NEAREST (0.E. neah, nth njra, near,nearra nedhst, nihst. Later forms of the thirteenth and fourt eenth

centuries were—mg )!nerre (ner) next

By the OldEnglish forms we see that n igh , neon, next, are theirproper representatives. Shakespeare uses near? as a comparati ve adverb .

N ea-r neah-r next u gh -st or neah -st. (The guttural of course was

imil 1 pared 1 ah (wt, he a) m we” (her-re)was once s ary com - ae g a

hedhfi-gt, hehst (heghest, hext).3

m ,

1 2 1 . N ear, fornegh 0rn igh, first came into use in the phrase‘

jb rand near,

’in which near 1 5 an adverb, and represents the oldest

Engl ish neorran near (adv. analogous tofeorran afizr.

1 This root is found in Sansk . mal t anagh), to grow, become great also

in O .E. me g-en m in.

9 The nere to the Church the ferther from God.

”—s woon'

s P roverbs, C.

The near in blood the nearer bloody .

”—Macbeth, ii . 3.

3 When bal e is hehst boote is nex t.”—a woon’s P roverbs, E. iii. back.

Hawes (Past. o/ P l . p. 60)uses the oldf emMy n yude to herwas so ententyfe

That I folowed her into a temple fm ,

Replete with joy , as bright as any sta te."

ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [cHAP.

1 2 4. The sufiix -most (0 .E. mest), then, in such words as utmost

is a doubl e superlative ending, and not the wordmost. The analogies

of the language clearly show that most was never sufiixed to express

the superlative .

further-m-ost furthest

In O .E. we findfarther-mo re and backer-mo re.

hindmost, hinderrnost O .E. hindn-ma, hinde-rna.

Chaucer uses hindered : cp. O .E. innerest, overest, upper-est, utterest.

hither-m-ost is not found in the oldest Engl ish .

in-m-ost, inner-m-ost O .E. inne m-est, inne-ma .

lower-m-ost, (nether-m-ost

mid-m-ost O .E. nude-ma, mede-mest.

out-m-ost, outer-m-ost

ut-m-ost, utter-m-ostO.E. ate-ma, ute-mest.

up-m -ost, upper

-m-ost, over-m-ost O .E. yfi -fnest, nfeumeste.

1 2 5. Over upper (cpt a-b-oz/e)in O.E. writers

Pare thy brede and kerve in two,The over crust tho nether fro.

”

Babe of Cartasy e , p. 300.

With tho ove-m-ast [uppermost] lofe hit [the saltce l lar] shal le be set.

l b. p. 32 9 .

1 2 6 . In 0.E. we find superlatives of south, east, west, as

Comp. endmost (O .E. endemest), topmost, headmost.

III. NUMERALS.

1

1 2 7. NUMBERSmay be consideredundertheirdivisions— Cardinal,Ordinal , and Indefinite Numerals.

I The origin of the numerals is involved in much obscurity .

One seems to have been another form of thepronoun a , he , that.In Gr. eir év-c)we have a form cognate wi th some, same cp. Lat.

sin -i lk ,sem i, singul i.

Two. In Lat. this assumes the form bi , vi (prefixes) bis Gr. at: (adverb).Three that what goes beyond, from the root tri (tar), to go be 0nd.

Four. The ongrnal form is said to signify and three, i.e . 1 and t ree . Sansk.

cha tar, Lat .(aerator; cha =qna and ; tar tnor three .

Others exp ain cha =ha one .

r1 z ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [CHAPS

T en. 0 .E. ti n, ten Goth. tal l mn Gr. Britta ; Lat. dawn

Sansk. Jas/ian.

The Gothic shows thatamor ten {g as or tjgm .

El even . 0 .E. m et-[ if (mdzeof); Goth. din -hf , Gr. swam ;

Lat. andm'

m Sansk. & c -das/za.

El even end m one lav-en 157 : ton.

Twe lve . O .E. Goth . twa-Ig'

f ; is a compound of two

two [if ten.

The suffix J r? is another form of tr} ten, which we find in O .E. tuna-try,Goth. twat-tiff“ a x 1 0 twenty . So that J gf corres nds to Gr. «Berta

La t. d a ta . (In Lat. I and d are some times interchanged le , as 1m m and

dacryma .) In such words as laugh, enough, gt , originally a guttural ,becomef lIn Lithuanian we find w in ce-l ib : xx duty -Zita 1 2 .

In the Fr. om , douse the Lat. J ed»: has undergone a grea ter change than

1 2 is represented in Hindustani by 6m }: anddar/ta 1 6, by“J ail .1 2 9 . The numbers from thirteen to nineteen are formed by adding

J am (0 .E.-ty ne) ten, to the first nine numerals.

1 30 . The numerals from twenty to ninety are formed by sumxing (O .E. tzg) ten, to the first nine numerals.

1 31 . Hundred. In the oldest Eng l ish we find hmd hundred.

In the Northumbrian dialect firmdrad,kundratb occurs. Hand

original ly signified ten Lat. centum, Gr. é-narov, Sansk. Mata);it is nothing else but a s ortened form of tegen, J am -J , Goth. tai

lzun, taz’

fizm -d, ten. The syl lable v at -ra:tlzr is also a suffix

used in Icelandic, with the same force as 4 12g}In the oldestEngl ish [mud was added to the numerals from

seq/anti; 70 ; Goth . sz'

érm-tl lumd ; Gr. éfldoufi-novra Lat setIt is probable that the original form was not hand-u gfi ntz

’

g , but0 . Sax. (b u t :z

'

bunta decade seventh).Hundred could also e expressed by [mud-tent“(Imndo tcoxtig): cp. Goth .

tafi un-tfl mfi d.

1 32 . Thousand 0 .E. tfidrend; Got h. tfifirmdja Slavonictw ang}: Lithuanian tzIk-rtantz

'

in which perhaps we have a combination of ten and hundred. The Sanskrit ratios-ms,

going together.

1 Some suppose that [ mud-red hand-arr (like cent-aria)with sufi x d . InO .E. of the fourteenth century we find Inmderand handra il . InO.N . hmdm t/chundred : cp.“tru th ; containing 80 ; tin t/tr, containing zoo.

1 1 4. EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

Second (Lat. rotunda: fol lowing)has replaced the O .E. otber

(a comparative form).In 0 .E. oth r (= on-ther one of two)might signify the first orthe second of

two. It is sometimes joined with the neuter of the article, as Ma t otlrer, which 'in the fourteenth centu was represented by tbc totker thet other); the first '

was some times expresse by tire ton (tbe toon), tire

Th ird O .E. tbrz'

dta, tbn'

dde ; -de is an adjectivesuffix t/za cp. Lat. ter-tz

'

a -r.

Fourth O.E. fear-Ma.

Fifth O .E. fif ta.

Sixth O .E. sir-ta .

S eventh , N inth , Tenth 0 .E. :wjbt/ia, nigbtba , teat/ta.

In thirteenth and fourteenth centuries these were

.reuetlze, net/ie, and tdbe (in the Southern dialects).revende, neg/mute

,tende (in the Northern dial ects).

:event/ze, m’

nt/ze, tent/ze (in the Midland dialects).

The Midland f rms are formed from the Northern ones, and made the ir

ap earance in the ourteenth century and the latter are of Scandinavian origin .I

n the Northumbrian Gospe ls we find sea/ unda .

Eighth stands for ezlg/zt-t/z O .E. ea/zt-o-t/za .

In O .E. (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries)we find ag/ztende.

El eventh”I O .E. endlefla, wilef’

ta (el leuende, endleflbe in the

thirteenth and fourteenth centuries).

Twe l fth O .E. twetfla (noel/tbe, twetfl, in the thirteenth and

fourteenth centuries).

Th irteenth O .E. tbretfiabtfia

th irteenth and fourteenth centuries

So up to nineteen, the oldest Engl ish forms end in -ot/ze (wi thoutn)as : fourteen, fl owerteot/za fifteen, fifteotba sixteen, sixteotba

seventeen, reofonteotlza eighteen, ea/ztateotba nineteen,mgonteot/za .

The corresponding forms in use in the thirteenth and fourteenthcenturies were : fourteen, fourtetbe, fourtende, fonrtentbe fifteen,

firfl et/ze,fifi ende,fifi entbe sixteen, sixtetbe, sextende, .rzlxtent/ze,&c.

Twentie th O .E. twentug-ot/ta

Cp. O.N . 7 sio'

undt 9 nz'

undi , ro trundi, 1 threttandz’

, 1 sfi m tandr, &c.

for origin of n see remar s on Seventh.

x1 . AD7ECT] VES. 1 1 5

IV. INDEFINITE ARTICLE.

1 37. The indefinite article, aswe have seen, is a new development

after the Conquest of the numeral one (dn).Before a word begiml ing with a consonant the n is dropped.

O ne the negative ne give us none , 0.E. ndn .

N one is only used predicatively or absolutively ;1 when used wi th

a fol lowing substantive the n is dropped, whence no.

Before comparatives no is in the instrumental case , as no better, &c. Cp.“tlze better,

”&c.

V. INDEFIN ITE NUMERALS.

1 38 . A l l O .E. eat], eat (see note on the ol d genitive plural ,al ter, a lder,

1 39. M any O .E. mamg, maneg.

2

In the thirteenth century we find for the first time the indefinite

articl e used after it, as : on mom’

are wisen (La5amon), mony enne

t/ nng many a ware, many a til ing. Hawes has many afold.

1 40 . Feta ,jeola, fele, Ger. wel (many), were once in common use

as late as the eighteenth century.

1 41 . Few O .E. fid'wa,no.

In O .E. we findfa,fl), andfone as wel l asfawe, few.

I By absolutely is meant without a fol lowing substantive .

2 Many is also a noun, as in a great many .

“A many of our bodies.”—Hen . V. v . 3.

O thou fond many .

”— 2 Hen . I V. i. 3.

The rank-scentedmany .

In enemy'

s loo -Sonnets, 93.

A menny e of us were cal led together.—LAT 1MER

’

S Ser mons .

Than a gre t many of old sparowes geder to-geder.”—L. ANDREwa.

And him fy ligdon mycele ma nzkeo and there followed him (a)great many(or -Ma tt. iv. 2 5.

CHAPTER XII.

PRONOUNS.

1 42 . ON the nature of the Pronoun see p. 80, 562 .

1 43. The classes of Pronouns are (1 )Personal Pronouns, (2 )Demonstrative Pronouns, (3) Interrogative Pronouns, (4)RelativePronouns, (5)Indefinite Pronouns.

1 . P ersonal Pronouns.

( 1 ) SUBSTANTIVE Pnonouns.

1 44. The personal pronouns have no distinction ofgender. Thereare twopersons : the person who speaks, cal led thefirst person the

person spoken to, the second person.

(a)l iylexion of tbc Prononn cf tbcFirst Person.1

0. English.

Smo. Nam. I 1 c (fen

me M W

PLUM L Nam. we we

dyer are

Dat. us a:

Acc. us mic m

1 45. In I the guttural has disappeared : it is radical and exists in the al liedlan ges, as Sansk. all -am ; Gr. h al Lat. egv ,

‘ Goth . ii .

y noticing the oblique cases we see there are two stems, an(ic)andma, of

the first person.

In 0.E. we find the pronoun lutinated to a verb, as Iclzabbe I clr 1(I have): 1 chil le = 1 cb + wil le ( wil l &c.

In the provincial dialects of the South of ngland it stil l exists ; cp. cl u'

l lin Shakespeare

'

s K ing Lear.

Those marked thus are laterforms.

1 1 8 ENGLISH A CCIDEIVCE [CHAR

1 51 . .(b)Tbe Pronoun of tbe Second Person.

Old English.

SINGULAR. Nom. than

fl at. thee

Ace. thee'

PLURAL. Nam. ye, you ge

Gen.

Acc. you

1 52 . Thou : Goth . t/m; Gr. ab, 7 6 Lat. tn ; Sansk. tva-m.

The stem is te a, which is weakened to as andyn.

1 53. The use of the plural for the singularwas establ ished as earlyas the beginning of the fourteenth century .

Tkon, as in Shakespeare'

s time, wash )the pronoun ofaffection towards friends,(”god-humoured superiorit to servants, and (3)contempt oranger to strangers.

d, however, al ready fal en somewhat into disuse ; and, being regarded as

archaic, was natural ly adopted (4)in the higher poetic sty le and in the languageof solemn pray er.

1 54. Thee Go th. tba -s Gr. «of ; Lat. tibi Sansk .

tnbny am. See remarks on me (dat.

The e Goth. ti me ; Ger. dicn Gr. 7 6, ad ; Lat. se

Sansk . todm. See remarks on me (ace.

1 55. Y e :Goth . ju-t Gr. basi s Lat. w s Sansk. y nsmé, y tly am .

The Sanskrit y rs-rm? ta sma tim e and Ice. The dual

git original ly signifiedMore two y ou two.

The confusion between y e and y ou did not exist in Old Engl ish . Ye was

alway s used as a nom and y ou as a dat . or acc. In the Engl ish B ible the distincnon is very careful ly observed, but in the dramatists of the El izabe than periodthere is a very loose use of the two forms. Not only is y ou used as nominative ,but y e is used as an accusative .

2

Vainpomp and glory of the world, I hate y e

— Snaxssrnann.

And as one consent with y e in all .”

You (dat. ) Goth. is'wi-s O . Sax. in Gr. Lat. w -bis

Sansk. y u-sma-b/ty am and was.

You (acc.) Goth. isms O . Sax. in Gr. buds ; Lat. nos ; Sansk .

y usmdn (was).

1 That is, sma he , that, this, &c.

3 I am incl ined to look upon the origin of y e for y ou in the rapid and care less

pronunciation of the latterword, so that , after al l , the y e in the above extracts

should be written y‘

you) y e or y ou may be changed into ee cp. look ee

x1 1 .] PERSONAL PRON O(INS . 1 1 9

In English y ou has been developed out of the O .E. cow, which

representsy a tn, the stem of the second personal pronoun the

case suffix having whol ly disappeared.

(c)Demonstrative Pronoun of tbc fl ird Person .

1 56. H e , Sh e , I t . This pronoun is sometimes, but incorrectly,cal led a personal pronoun : it has distinction of gender, l ike other

demonstrative pronouns in O .E. , which the personal pronouns have

not. 1

Old Engl ish .

MASCULtNE. Nom. he be.

bis.

nine.

It ine, him .

“FEMIN INE. lzeo, lzi,

*zi

,

* no,*

bi , lseo.

NEUTER. N am.

PLURAL.

ii i, beo, ltii,

’ba,

*bai,

*bei .

*

Gen . lzira, neora, nere, Iter, bar, hair.

Dat. Them lzem, neom,Izem

,

’ 12 am,

"bam,

‘ba lm.

“

Acc. Them bi, beo, Item,

“barn,

*ho.

“

1 57. The Old Engl ish pronouns were formed from only one stem,

Ii i , but the modern Engl ish contains the stems bi, so, and t/za .

H e . For be we sometimes find in O ld Engl ish ba, a (not confined always to one number orgender=be, sbe, it, way).I t occurs in Shakespeare, as

’a must needs (2 Hen . VI . iv. 2 )

q uot/z’a and is also common in other old writers, as has a

eaten bull -beefe”(S. Rowlands) see how a frownes

”

H i-m (dat.)contains a real dative sufi x m, which is also foundin the dative of adjectives and demonstrative pronouns .

2

1 The demonstrative character of this onoun is seen in such expressions as ,What 1 5 lie at the gate 2

”

(Shakespeare He of the bottomless pit”(Mil ton ,

A reopagi tica I u’

zof Denemarch (Robert of Gloucester); tlsa i of Lorne ,Ma i of the te l

”

(Barbour);“tbey in France (Shakespeare); them of

Greece (N orth’

s P luta rch). Those marked thus are later forms.

H im was also the dative of zt, andwe often find it appl ied to inanimatethi ngs m the laterperiods of the language .

1 2 0 ENGLI SH ACCIDEN CE. [CH/tr.

H i-m This was originally a dative form, which in the

twel fth century (in LaZ amon and 0m .)began to replace the accu

sative.

Hi-ne.— The old accusative was sometimes shortened to kin and

in, and stil l exists in the South of England under the form en, as

Up I sprun drow’d [threw] down my candl e, and douted [p

ut

out] m and ada’t a blunk [spark] 0

’fire to teen en again.

’

1 58. She , in the twel fth century, in the Northern dial ects, replacedthe old form lzeo. The earl iest instance of its use is found in the

A .-Sax. Chronicle. 1 After al l , it is only the substitution of one de

monstrative for another, for sh e is the feminine of the definite

article, which in O .E. was sea or do from the latter of these

probably comes site.In the Lancashire dial ect the old feminine is stil l preserved under

the form ko, pronounced something l ike Ire in ker.

H er (dat.)contains a true dative (fem.)suffix, -r or -re.

H er (acc.)was original ly dative, and, as in the case of Aim,has

replaced an accusative ; the old acc. was fit,km.

1 59. I -t has lost an initial guttural .’ The t is an old neuter sufiix

(op. t/za -t,"wen-t) cognate with d in Latin— il lu-d

,

quid . I t is often a kind of indeterminate pronoun in O .E. it was

a man there was aman it am Mere are.

It (dat. )has replaced the true form h im .

For the hi story of the word h is see Aay'

eeiz'

ve Pronouns.

1 60. Th ey .— Ia the thirteenth century this form came into use in

the North of England, and replaced kz‘

or beo the earl iest forms

of it are be55, Mei , Ma .

The Southern dial ect kept up the old form bi or beo nearly to the

end of the fourteenth century.

TM is the nom . plural of the definite article, O .E. Ma, probablymodified by Scandinavian influence.

3

1 I!9 (St hen). Da r efter sore ferde oferso . In the thirteenth century .

the mary cm of sh is found in Northernwriters seize (sea)isaMidlandmodification of it.

We find this It disappearing as earl as the twe lfth century (as in 0m .)3 The O . Norse forms bear a greatZr resemblance to ikey , the ir, and“an

than the O .E. ones.

0. Norse {l ei -r, M ara, tker'

m .

O .E. the , Mara , than .

a}?Midland and Southern dial ects changed O .E. Ma toMo. not. to the i or

1 2 2 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE . [CHAR

(I)my self; (thou)My self, &c.

Singul ar rst person, my self; 2 d person, My selj; y ourselfy oursel ves.

Singular (3d person) masc. fiimself ; fem. berself ; neut. itself.P lural

r64. Se lfx was original ly an adjective same , as in that selve moment”

(Cx-raven :A gob et of the self A piece of the same .

”—Boke if Curtasy e, l . 776.

That se lf mould (SHAKESPEARE, R 12 11 . 1 1 . i. a). C sel s ame .

In the oldest Engl ish se lf was declined as a definite or mde ite ad'

ective as

I o self and 1 c re l/a I and d with the ronouns to w ich it wasadded as non l o selfa gen. m in se l es, dat. me si acc. met si lfne .

1 65. In O .E. sometimes the dative of the personal pronoun was

prefixed to the nominative of self; as— ( I) I e me srlf ; (2 )Mu Mesilf ; (3) [re lzirn silf : (I)we us srlfe (2 )ge eo

'w sil/e (3)ni [rim

1 66. In the thirteenth century a new form came in, by the sub

stitution of the genitive for the dative of the prefixed pronoun in the

first and second persons, as— mi self; Mi self; forme selj; Me self ; our

self, y our self, for us self, y ou self:No doubt self began to be regarded as a noun. Co . one

’s self:

Speak of thy fai r self; Edith .—J FLETCHER.

My woeful self —BEN Jonson .

Thy cry ing self. — SHAKESPEARE.

For at yourdore my self doM dwe l l .”—Havwoon, The Four P .

’s.

My self ha th been the whip.—CHAUCER.

Hence self makes its plural , selves, l ike nouns ending in

-j; -fécp. To ourgross selves

’

(Shakespeare)— a formation altogether of

recent origin. To prove their selfes”occurs in Berner

’s Froissart. 2

1 67. Such phrases as Casar’s self (North), Tarquin

’

s self (Shakespeare), are not, philological ly speaking, so correct as Attica self(North), &c. Comp.

And knaw kyndly what God esAndwhat man self es that es les.

HAMPOLE’S P ri cke of Consc. p. 4.

1 Sel f, Goth . si loa , Ger. selbe , probab contains the reflexive si (Lat. se), and

lf = 16,l ife , soul (as in Ger. IeM, body The Sansk. dtman, soul , rs used as

a reflexive .

2 l n O .E. the plural was marked by e or -en when this disappeared it left the

plurals oursel y ourself; Memself ; but as we and y ou were often used in the

singular num r, a new plural came into use , so we now say y ourse lf (sing ),y ourselves

Cp. We have saved onese lf that trouble .—FIELD ING .

You, my Prince , y ourself a soldier, wil l reward him.- LORD Bu ms.

x1 1 .] PERSONAL PRON OUNS . 1 2 3

ot its self) the old dative

are provincial isms. Withown , his andMeirmay be used.

1 69. In 0 E one was sometimes used for self:

And the body with flesshe and bane,Es harder than the saul by it ane .

”

HAMPOLE, P ricke of Consc. , p. 85

Whan they come by them one two

When they two came by themselves.

Marie d'

A rtlzur, p. 1 4

3)Anjnc'

rrvn Pnononns.

1 70. The adjective pronouns, or, as they are sometimes cal led, th e

possessive pronouns, were originally formed from the genitive case

of the personal pronouns, and were decl ined l ike adjectives.In modernEngl ish, the possessive adjective pronouns are identical

in form with the old genitives of the personal pronouns, and are

Traces of the older adjectival forms are found in the fourteenth

century.

1 7 1 . M ine ,my , thine , thy , O .E. min , Min. The e in mine and

Mine onl y marks the length of the preceding vowe l , and is no

infiexional syl labl e.

-n is a true genitive suffix as far as Engl ish is concerned, but is of

adjectival origin.

1

In the twelfth century the n dropped off before a consonant, but

was retained (a)in the oblique cases, (i)in the plural (with final e),(e)when the pronoun fol lowed the substantive, (a

'

)before a word commencing with a vowel .

The fourth or euphonic use of mine and Mine is exceedinglycommon in poetry, as

Give every man Mine car, but few My voice.

”—SEAKEe AEE.

Of the third usage we have instances as late as Shakespeare’s

time, as brothermine, uncle mine.

1 72 . H is , 9. true genitive of the root Ii i .In 0.E. we often find a plural lzise.

H e -r, O .E. Ii i-re, contains a genitive suffix, -r (re).

1 Goth . meina , Meina ; Gr. Gaol}, o'

oi'

t (recto Lat. mei, tui ; Sansk. enamel ,l ava . The Gothic forms correspond to Sans mad-ly e , b ad-bra , the n inmeina , Meina representing d m maddy a, &c.

1 2 4 ENGLISH A CCIDENCE. [cram

I ts , 0 .E. his. This form is not much older than the end of the

sixteenth centu I t is not found in the Bible, or in Spenser, rarel yin Shakespeare and Bacon, more frequently in Mil ton, common inDry den, who seems to have been ignorant of the fact that h is was

once the genitive of it, as wel l as of he.

Gen.

A°

nd the earth brought forth grass, and herb y ielding seed afterh is kind.

I. 1 2 .

I t shal l bruise thy head, and thou shal t bruise his heel. Gen. iii. r5.

And that same eye‘whose bend doth awe the world.

Did lose his lustre. Ce sar, i. a.

1 73. Along with the use of hi swe find, in the fourteenth century,in the West Midland dialect, an uninflected genitive hit.

Forthy the clerk dede see hit is demed evermoreForhit dede5 of dethe duren there se t.

"2 —A l ist. Poems, B. l . 1 02 1 .

This curious form is found in ourEl izabethan dramatists

I t knighthood shal l fight al l it friends.—S ilent Woman , 1 1 . 3.

The innocent milk , in it most innocentmouth .

”

The bed arrow fed the cuckoo so lonThat it

'

s it head bit of by i t young.

’—L ear, i. 4.

That which groweth of it own accord.

”3—Levit. xxv. 5.

1 74. For its own we have a curious form that occurs ftc uently in

older writers, namely the own,’

as A certe ine se e which

groweth there of the own accorde .

”—Fardel l of Faeion , 1 555.

It occurs in Hooker, but is al tered in the inodern reprints to

its own . The earl iest instance of this usage is found in Rampole’s

Pricke of Conscience,”p. 85 (A. D. 1 340)

For the saule , als the boke hers wytnes,May be pyned with fire bodilAls it may be with the awen gody .

1 75. Ou-r, you-r, O .E. u-re (us-er), eo'm-er

Al l these forms contain a genitive pl. suffix (adjectival), -r -te).See note on Alder, p. 1 05.

The i-rhas also a genitive pl. suffix,-r, andhas replaced the older

hi -re (heo-re, he-re, he-r). See Table, p. 1 2 1 .

1 Mr. Abbott notices that it is common in Florio’

s Montaigne.9 Therefore the dark Dead Sea it is deemed evermore ,

For i ts deeds of death endure (last)there y et."

3 The modern reprint of the edition of 1 6 1 1 has al tered it to its.4 A later form.

1 2 6 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. (can .

PLurutL.

N om . Ma, tha ie ,’ tho,“the .

’

Gen . tha -ra , the -rd, thare ,

‘ there.

Da t. thaa n , the -m, than ,

“thon,’ thenA ce . thd, tha ie,

’ the ,’

The inflexions began to drop off about the middle of the twel fthcentury .

The, before a comparative, is the old instrumental thi, as the more

eo magis, &c.

(2 )That . In the O .E. Northern dialects that was used irrespec

tive of gender, as Matt engel l Matt al lterr (Om . and in the

fourteenth century we find it as a demonstrative, as now, taking the

place of the olderMilh (Milhe). See next page. Then it took for

itself the fol lowing plurals : (a)tho (or Ma), the old plural of the

definite article (h)thos (thas), the old plurals of this.

1

In the Southern and some of the M idland dial ects, we find thee , these, thi se,

(3)Those O .E. Mas, the old plural ofMes

The history of the word tha t should be hom e we l l in mind It was original ly neuter

, (cp. z-t, wha -t) ( 2 ) I t became an indeclinable demonstrative,answering m meaning to zl le, i l la , i l lud 3) It took the pl . ( 1 )of the ; (a)ofthis.

(4)This (=hie, ha t , hoe) O .E. Mes theos (f. this

as formerly decl ined l ike an adjective . Here again the neuter has

replaced the mascul ine and feminine forms, which, however, in the

south of England were to be found as late as 1 357.

In Wicklifl'

e we have thisi sfader the father of this man.

The O .E. the: is (as seen b the O Sax thése)contracted, and it contains theroot the (orMa , as in the)an a lengthened form of se (the), Sansk. sy a . Thi sse (sy a)had the force of Lat. -c

, q ue, as m h i-c, quzs-q ue .

These O .E. thds, thes,*these

,

*thise,

*this.

”

I The e is no sign of inflexion, but marks the length of the vowe l a .

Koch supposes those to be a lengthened form of the old pl tho. He seems tohave overlooked the N orthumbrian use of thar (which in the Midland dialectswould be represented by Mos). Koch

’

s statement is Es kann nicht di efortbildung von Ags. thfis sern. Cp. the fol lowmg passage from Hampole

'

s

Al le Mas men that the worldmast dauntes,Mast bisil y the world here hauntes ;And thar that the world serves and loves,Serves the devil, as the book proves.

”

xrr. ] DEM ONSTRA TI VE PRON OUNS. 1 2 7

This refers to the more immediate object, that to the remoter

object.What conscience dictates tobe done,Orwarns me not to do,

Th i s teach me more than he l l to shunTha t more than heaven pursue .

”-I’orn.

1 79. We have three demonstratives containing the adjective J ie,l ike, w ith the instrumental case of the particles so, the, and i (Goth.

( 1 ) Such : 0 .E swi le l swi, the inst. of swa so, and -lo

[ it l ike .

Such then signifies so-l ihe (cp. Ger. soleh so-h

'

eh) such l ihe is a

pleonastic expression.

In the N orthern dialects we find styh, sti, sith, of Scandinavianorigin, whence Scotch sic.

In O .E. suehe ten , &c. ten times as much (or as many), &c.

The l engthe is suche tea as the deepnesse .

”—P ilgn'

mage, p. 2 35.

(2 )Th ilk the l ike,that, that same O .E. thy

-l ie , thy-lo

(thelh,*thulh

,

*thike') Provincial Engl ish thuth

,thuchy (theeh,

thzeh, thiehy , theehy ). Thi the instrumental case of the, and [h

hha. I t corresponds exactly to Lat. ta -l is, Sansk . ta-drzsha,Gr.

rnh inos.

I am thi lhe that thou shouldest secche .—P i lgrimage, p. 5.

She hadde founded thi ike hons.

”— 1 6. p. 7 .

Thy s-Iie (whence thy l l ie) this l ike, is sometimes found in O .E.

(3)HR same of that ilh.

’

Th is ith worthe knight.—CHAUCER.

1 1h O .E. y le i ory the instrumental case of the stem ihe , that, and -lh -lo l ike .

1 80 . Sam e Gothic sama, O .N . sawr,Lat. simihs, Gr. firms,

Sansk . sama . In the oldest English same is an adverb together,and not a demonstrative .

A s the wordmakes its appearance for the first time in the Northerndialects, it is no doubt due to Scandinavian influence .

3

I t is joined to the demonstratives thé, this, that, y ou, y ond, self:

f In O .E. of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries there are various forms ofthis compound, as swule, suleh, m ulch, sw ich, m uch

, soeh.

2

Tha t tlh , O .E. that y lea , was original ly neuter. I”. same must be distmguxshed from O .E. fIh , rlha , each, each one .

3 is found in O.E.

1 2 8 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAR

1 8 1 . Yon, y ond, yonder. Goth.jaias jainathat. In the oldest Engl ish y ond geoua

’

is onlya preposition

through, over, bey ond, or an adverb y ond he root ge is a

pronominal stern that occurs in y ea, O .E. gm y e-s, &c.1

Yond makes its a pearance as a demonstrative for the first timein the Ormulum

”twe lfth century).

It is seldom used substantively, as in the following passages from

Old Engl ish writers

I am the kyn e of this londe Oryens am kal ledAnd the 3 ur is my queue , Betryce she hette .

’

Chevelere Assign , l . 2 32 .

Ys Sone'

th page 1”—R. or Bantam , SM . of E. Eng" n

The 30nd ii that semly .

”or Paramet

p 9.

1 82 . So. O .E. m a.

Fol ly (I sa that both makes friends and keeps them so.”—BP. Karm ar

'

s

Translation 0 m suvs’P ra ise of Fol ly .

If there were such a way there is none so.

”—Gownn, u. 33.

In O.E. so (inst.)is used before comparatives l ike the (O .E. thi) swa longthe worse

”the longer the worse

“swo leng saw more .

—0 .E. Hom . Second

Series, pp. 85,‘37

III . Interrogative Pronouns.

The Interrogative Pronouns are who, which , what,wh eth er, with the compounds whoever, whatever, wh e th er

soever, whichsoever.

1 83. W ho . O .E. hwa, hwa,“ho“(masc. and fem. hwa t, hwat,

“wat (neut.) Goth. hva-s hrza Sansk. has (m. hh (f.ha-t (neut.) Gr. xo-s, was Lat. quis, qua ,

It 1 8 only used of persons, and is masculine and feminine.

W hose. O.E. hwas, whos,“hos,“was,“was,“gen. sing. Origin

al ly of al l genders, now l imited to persons, though in oetry it

occasional ly occurs with reference to neuter substantives. ft)

: is also

used absolutely, as t ose is the crime ?”

W hom (dat. sing. O .E. hwam,

“wham,

“original ly

of al l genders.

The accusative hwoue (hwane)was replaced in the twelfth and

thirteenth centuries by whom, but instances of the olderhwane are to

be found under the forms hwaa , wan, wane.

1 We have the same root perhaps in O .E. aneut, aneuce ,’ O.H. Ger. entrant

Mid. H . Ger. jest-amt beyond. Geoure Ger. jeuer, occurs in King Alfred'

s

translation of S t. Grego s P astora l .3 Those marked thus are later forms .

1 3° ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [cm-1 9 .

1 87. Wh ich , O .E. hwil c, hul ic, whilc,“whale

,

“whulch,

“wuch,

“a compound of hwi, the instrumental case of hwa, who,

and tic Iihe. Cp. Lat. oua-l i-s. It is used as a singular or

plural , and of any gender.1

In 0 .E. it has the force sometimes of (a)quis, as fi nale i t rainmédor Who is my mother? (5)quantus

Whiche a sin e violent."—Gownn, iii. 2 44.

A lla: much serwe and deol therwes l —Castel of Love, p. 5.

IV . Re lative Pronouns .

1 88. The relative pronouns are who , which , that, as .

In 0 .E. who. which, what, were not relative, but interrogative

pronouns which, whose, whom, occur as interrogatives as early as

the end of the twelfth century , but who not unti l the fourteenth cen

tury,’andwas not in common use before the sixteenth century. That

and what originally referred onl y to neuter antecedents.

The relatives in the oldest En lish were

(1 )se(

seo that n.) also the def. article. ( 2 ) the, indecl inable .

3 the in combination wi th se, seo, tha t as se the, sea the , tha tte . (4)m 4, so. (5)tha t tha t, whatever. (6)swy lc swy le : such such .

1 89. W ho as a relative is not recognizedby Ben Jonson, who says

one relative whic It is now used in both numbers, and relates

to mascul ine or feminine antecedents (rational).

1 90. Who is very rare ly employ ed by Hawes frequentlyhy Berners not nu

common in Shakespeare use only once or twice by Sackvi lle .

And other sortQ C I C

Who, fearin to be y ie lded, fledStole home y silence of the secre t mghtThe third unhappy and enraged sortOfdesp

'

rate hearts, who, stam’

d in punces’blood,

From traitorous furour coul d not be wi thdrawn .

"—SAcxvrt.Ln.

1 9 1 . Who he is used l ike Ger. wer, quisquis whoso :3

1 Those marked thus are later forms.9 That is to say , used free ly , l ike Latin gui . Cp. the fol lowingWho of Sou dredende the Lord, herende the vors of his servaunt. Who sid

in dercnesses.

” Wichl ifi ite Version I saiah l . 1 0 .

3This construction is common in Shakespeare, where we shoulduse whoever0 now who wil l beholdThe royal captain of this rum

’

d band?Let him cry , Praise and glory on his head.

Henry V. W . Prol .

Whom he did foreknow, he didpredestinate .

"—Rorn. viii . 2 9.

Who seems most sure, hirn soonest whirls she (For-tune)down .

Sacxvrcur’s Henry S taf orrt.

RELA T1 VB PR01V0UNS.

IVho is trewe of his tonge,Q i

He is a god by the Gospe l .P iers P l . (ed. Wright), p. 2 0 .

And who wy l le not, thay she l le be slone .—Towm.nv, My : p. 7

A hwam mai he luue trewe l iche hwa ne luues his brother Thennethe ne luues he is man unwreastest .

"(Ah whom may he love truly

love th not his brother then whoso loveth not thee is a most wicked man.)0.E . Horn. First Seri es , p. 2 74.

The demonstrative may be omitted, as

Who steals my purse steals trash.—0thel lo, iii. 3. 1 57.

1 92 . The O .E. whan, wan is sometimes found in the fourteenth century as an

objective case (representing O .E. hwane and hwam

Selut Dunstan com hom a5enLadde his abbey al in pees fram whan he was so longe .

E Eng . P oerns , p. 37 .

This(e)were ure faderes of wan we beth suththe ycome.—Ros sa '

r or

GLOUCESTER.

1 93. InGowerwe find the demonstrative the joined to whose andwhom, so that

the whose whose the whom whom

The whos power as now is fal le .

”—Cory'

essro Amant. u. 1 87 .

The whom no pité might ateste .

”—I h. m . 2 03.

Yourmistress from thehwhorn I see

There’

s no di sjunction .—Winter’s Ta le , iv. 4.

To Venus whos prest tha t I am.—Conj2’ss. Amant. u. 6 1 .

And dame Musyke commaunded curteyslyLa Bel l Pucel l wy th me than to daunce

Whorne that I toke wy th al l my plesaunce .

Hawss, Pastime

1 94. Shakespeare uses who of animal s and of inanimate objects regarded as

persons, asA lion who glared.

—9’ul . Casar, i.The winds

Who take the ruflian bil lows by the tops.-a H en . I V. iii . 1 .

And as the turtle that has lost hermateWhom griping sorrow doth so sore attai nt.

Sacxvxcns'

s Henry S taj ord.

1 95. W h ich now relates only to neuter antecedents, but this is

comparatively a modern restriction. Cp. OurFatherwhich art in

heaven.

Then Warwick disannuls great John ofGaunt,Which did subdue the greatest part of Spain.

"-3Hen . VI . iii . 3.

Adrian which pope was.

"—Gownn, i. 2 9.She which shal l be thy norice .

— 1 6. i. 1 95.

Compounds ofwhich with the, tha t, as, &c. are now archaic

Twas a fool ish uest,The which to gain and keep he sacri ced all ra w—Em u.

K 2

132 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE . [cru e l

The better part of valour is discretion, in the which betterpart I have savedmy hfe .

"—rHen. I V. v. 4.

The chainWhich God he knHe did arrest me .

The civil power which is the ve fountain and head from thewhich both theseestates (Church andCommonweal tgdo flow, and by the which it is brought to

pass that there is a Church in any place .

” —Br. MORTON .

His food, formost, was wild fruits of the tree ,Unless sometimes some crumbs fel l to his share ,Which in his wal let long, God wot, kept he ,As on the which ful l damt

’

ly woul d he fare .

”

Sacxvrt ur’s Induction.

The which was cleped Clemene .

”—Gowan, n. 34.

Among the which!there was one .

”—Ih. u . 375.

The Latin worde wh che tha t is referredUnto a thynge whyc is substancyal l ,Fora nowne substantive is we l averred.

”

Hawzs, P . d P . p. 2 4 ; see p. 1 4.

Theis y atis (gates)which that y e heholde .— Sl t 1 i. 384.

Man, the whith tha t wit and reason can.

”—Gowna, i. 34.

Thing which tha t is to lové due .—Ih. n . 1 8.

Thing which as may nought been acheved.

”— Ih. n. 380 .

This abbot which tha t was an holy man.

"CHAUCBR

'

S P rioress’

Ta le, 1. 630 .

The sond and ek the smale stonesWhiche as sche ekes out for the nones .

Gownn, Specimens of E . Eng . , p. 373.

1 97. That, original ly only the neuter singular relative, now agreeswith singular and plural antecedents of all genders.

1

That came in during the twelfth century to supply the place of

the indecl inahle relative th e , and in the fourteenth century it is the

ordinary relative. In the sixteenth century, which often suppl ies its

place ; in the seventeenth century, who replaces it. About Addi

son’s time, that had again come into fashion, and had almost driven

which and who out of use .

1 That introduces always an adjective clause , while who and which are not

always so used as

( 1 )I met a&m

an who told me he had been cal led I met a man and he toldme, c.

( 2 ) It’

s no use asking John, who knows nothing of it It’

so

no use

John, (since, seeing tha t,for &c.)he knows nothing of i t.

In 1)the second clause is cc-ordinate in sense with the preceding ; in (a)it isadver ial .

Tha t is tnec'p’r

Oper restrictive expliwtive, limiting or defining relative .

”

BAIN's Eng l ish arnrnar, p. 2 3.

EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE . [cwm

No ill luck stirring but what l ights upon my shoulder.

”

Merchant of Venice, i i . 1 .

The entertainerprovides wha t fare he pleases.

”—F1 3 1 .Dmc .

2 0 2 . Such expressions as the fol lowing are archaic, as

He it was, whose guileStirred upwith en and revenge deceivedThe mother of maximd, what time his prideHad east him out from heaven.

—M

At wha t time Joas reigned as y et in Juda.

”—H01 .m smm.

Forwha t tyme he to me k,Out of hy s mouth me thozfie brakA flam e of fyre .

”—R. or BRUNNE, Sjecimens, p. 1 1 9.

2 03. I t is a vulgarism to use what with an antecedent noun or

pronoun, as

A vagrant is a man what wanders.

”

Yet we find some instances of this in olderwriters, as

I fear nothing wha t can be said against me .

”—H en VI II . v. 1 .

To have his pomp and al l what state compounds .

Timon q thens, iv. 3.

Either the matter wha t other men wrote, or els the maner how other menWl 'Ote .

"—ASCHAM'

S Scholemaster, p. 1 42 .

Ofi'

er them peace oraught wha t is beside .

Ed. 1 . in Old P lay s, vol . 1 1 . p. 37 .

Wha t man tha t it smiteThurghout his armur it wol kerve and byte.

”

Cnauczx’

s Sguy er’s Ta le, 1 . 1 047 1 .

That wha t we have we prize not to the worth .—M uch Ado, it 1 .

Tha t what is extremely proper in one company , may be highly improper inmother.

—Cnas'

rznrm n.

What that a king himse lfé bitGem , Confess. Amant. i. 4.

But what that God forwot mot acedes be .

”—C 1uwcnR.

What schulde I tel leAnd of moche other thing what that then was ?

R. or BRUNNx’s Handly nge Synne, Prol.

2 05. So what as what that

Here I do bequeathe to theeIn ful l ssesswn, half that Kendal hath,Andw t as Bradford holds ofme in chief.

x1 1 . ] REL-A TI VE PRON 0UNS . 1 35

2 06. As O.E. cal l -swa,alswa

,also,“exist ,“asc

,

*als cp. 0 .E.

hwa-swa and hose whoso)possesses a relative force on account of

its being a compound of so,1 and is usual ly employed as such when

preceded by the demonstratives such, same, so much .

2

All such reading as was never read.—P09£.

Unto bad causes swear

Such creatures as men doubt . —7 ulzus Ca sa r, n . 1 .

For al l such authors as be fullest of goodmatter be likewise alway es most

proper in words.

"—ASC1 1 AM ’

s Scholenraster, p. 1 36 .

Some such sores as greve me to touch them my se lf.”

Ed. 1 . in Old P lay s, vol . 1 1 . p. 2 0 .

Such one as is already furnishedwith plentie of learning.—1 6. p. 1 1 3.

These are such as with curst curt es barke at every man but their owoe

fi'iends.”—Gossou, School of Ahuse, p. 1 8.

For tho sche thoghté to beginneSuch thing as semeth impossible .

Gowns , Specimens of E . Eng. p. 373.

Of sich as loves servauntes ben.—Romaunt of the Rose , 1 . 1 45.

In thi lhe places as they habiten.—1 6. 660.

After so, as occurs sometimes

So many examples as fil led xv. bockes.—ASCHAM , p. 1 57 .

In Shakespeare it is found after this, that

Tha t gentl eness as I was wont to have .

”—7 ul ius Casar, i . 2 .

Under these hard conditions as this time is like to lay upon me.— 1 6 .

But in O .E. writers we sometimes find as such as

DrauStes as me draweth in poudre =characters such as ch e draws in powder

(dust).—E . Eng . P oems, p. 7 7 .

Taly s shal l thou fynde therynneMerve ly s some as Y fonde wry tyn.

"—R. or a mm, p. 5

For I nch as the oldest English has swy lc sywlc such

su

He sece m lcne blaford swy lcne he wille .

” —/Eths. V. i. 1 let him

seek such a lord as he may choose.

At the end of the twelfth century we find as forma le

Withth al l sw il le rime a l ls her iss se tt.”—orm. D. 1 0 1 .

Cp. the following, where a l re as if the older sw i le

He wes so kene, he wes swa strangSwile hit woore an cotand.

”- La3. A. p. 58 .

3 We find so . so= foras . so

So the sea is moved, so the people are changed.- Dn. Donna

’

s Sermons.

Those marked thus (‘l are later forms .

136 EN GLISH ACCIBEN CE. [CHAR

He wes swa kene, and so strong,A b e he were an catande —La3. B. p. 58.

(A earlier text, early thirteenth century ; B later thirteenth.)

Sometimes so is found alterm ic

And sw i lche othre [sennen] so the apostle her nemde.”—0.E. Hom i lies,

Second Series.

Swy lcra yrmtha swa thu unc aer scrife Of such miseries as thou previously assigned to us (two)—Exeter Booh, 373.

x

2 08. W ho-so, what- so, who- so- ever, which -so-ever are

re latives (indefini te), l ike the Latin qui squis, guicungue.

The latterparts of the compounds, used adjectively, are sometimesseparated by an intervening noun, as

We can create, and in wha t place sac’

er

Thrive under evil.’—MILTON, i. 2 60.

Upon wha t side as ever it fall e.”—Gownn, Con/i ss. Awant. i. 2 64.

2 09. PVhat is used sometimes forwhatever

And, speak men wha t they can to him, he’

ll answerWi th some rhyme rotten sentence.

”

HENRY PORTER in Lama’

s Dram P oets, p. 432 , Bohn'

s Series.

t a t thou here y ef no credence .

Gownk’

s Confess. Amant. 1 . so.

In 0.E. we find who tha t ever, wha t tha t ever, who-as-ever, wha t-as-ever,

wha ta l c-ever.

Yn wha t cuntre of the worlde so ever tha t he be gone.—Gest. Rom . i.

Who that ever cometh thedirhe shal le fare well ."—Ih.

2 1 0. Who-ever, whatever, which-ever are relative and interrogative .

They do not occur in the o ldest English, and are comparativelylate forms.

V . Indefinite Pronouns .

l 2 1 I . The indefinite pronouns do not specify any particular object.Some are used substantively, others adjectively. Most of themmaybe used in both ways. The indefinites are (in addition to the indefinite relatives)who, what, some, none, no, ought, naught, enough,

3 In.

the Sax. Chron. A.D. 1 1 37, there is a siitiilardisplacementH 1 wenden tha t he sculde ben a lm ic a lse the com was they thought

that he should be a l l such as the uncle was.

1 38 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [cum

2 1 4. Som e (O .E. sum, som al'

is l e is used both ad'

ec

tive ly and substantively.

19“one 724 J

( 1 )It has the force of the indefinites a, any , a certain, as

And if sorn Smithfield ruman take 1 1 son:strange going ; seen new mowinwith theirmouth wrmchyng O

M th the oulder: som brave proverb, some fresnew othe , so»: new di sgui sed garment whatsoever it cost, gotten must it—ASCHAM, Scholemaster, p. 44.

And y et he could roundlie rap out so many uglie othes as sons goodman ffourscore y eare old hath never heard named before .

—1 6. p. 48.o

Some holy clFly to the court ofEnglan —Macbe th, iii. 6.

The fireplace was an old one . buil t by some Dutch merchant long ago.

Dxcxnus.

Surn holi childe .—L 17e of Bechet, p. 1 04.

Therwas sum prest.”

Luke i. 5.

Sun: Song man suede him.

”—Ih. , Marh xiv. 51 .

Bot len me suns fetel (vessel)that to.

”—S fecimens of E. Eng ., p. 1 56 .

The33 wisstenn thatt him wa s sunun unncuth sihh the shawedd.

"—0m .

Sun: dema wa s on sumere ceastre .

”—Luhe xviii . 2 .

We find it sometimes with the genitive plural in O .E., as

Tha com his feonda sum.

"—Matt. xiii. 2 5.

(2 )It expresses an indefinite part or quantity, as

It is some mercy whenmen kill with speed.

”—Wnssm’s Duchess of Ma lfy .

The annoyance of the dust, or else some meatYou ate at dinner, cannot brook with you.

”

Mxnnns'

ron’

sArden ofFevershaen.

And therefore wol I make you disportAs I seyde erst, and do you son: comfort.

m cnn, P rol . l . 770.

3)Wi thplural substantives, as some years ago

Some certain of the nobl est-mindedRomans .

”—?ul. Ca sar, i . 3.

And sonte I see .

That twofold balls and treble sceptres bear.—Macbeth, iv. L e

There he son: serving men that do but il l service to their young masters.

”

t scnau ,Scholemaster, p. 48 .

I write not to hurte any , but to profit som .

”—1 6.

(4)With numerals, in the sense of ahout

Surrounded by some fifty or sixty fathoms of ircn cable.

”—D1c1tlml .

x1 1 . ] INDEFINI TE PRON OUNS . 1 39

What a prodigy was'

t

That from some two y ards high, a slendermanShould break his neck .

”

J .WEBSTER, The Wh ite Devi l .

Some hal f hour to seven.

BRN Jonson, Every M an in his Humour.

A prosperous youth he was, aged some four and ten.

”—GREEN, p. 66 .

Some dozen Romans of us.

” —Cy mb. i. 7 .

Some day or two.—Rich . iii . 1 .

Tha wasrou hi sume ten y ear on tham gewinn.—Bon'

ru . xviii. 1 .

5)With the genitive f l , O .E. code eahta sum he went one of eight.We find in modern Scotch a remnant of this idiom in the phrase

“a team »;

dance ,”a dance in which two persons are engaged.

Bot it (boat)sa litel l wes, that itMychte our the watter bot thresum fiy t (carry).—BARBOUR

’

S Brus, p. 63.

(6)In apposi tion instead of the fiarti tive genitive, as

sefthou hevest bred antale

Thou del hit sum about."—BaRsoun’s Brus, p. 98.

Hit nis nost ri3t the tapres tende , bote hi were her some (i .e. except some

of them were here).—Sjecemens of E . Eng . p. 41 .

Summe heo fieisen to Irelonde .—La3amon, iii. 1 67 .

Sume tha boocras.—Matt. ix. 3.

Ge magon gehyran sume his theawas .- 1Elfric, Dom. i. in mense Septem .

Ac sume ge ne gelyfath.—?ohn vi . 64.

Instead of this contraction the partitive genitivewas used as early as the twelfthcentury .

Sum of the sede feci an uppe the stane and sum among theornen .

”—0 . Eng.

Hana , First Series , p. 1 33.

Summe oh'

ure l ittle floce .

”—orm . l . 6574.

Lo here a tal e of30W sum .

R. or BRUNNE, Handly nge Sy nne , p. 309.

Summe of hem camen fro fer.—W1cx1 .m n

’s I nt. viii. 3.

The ky ogo and somme of hys defendede hem faste .

”—Ros '

r. 01? GLOUCESTER, l . 1 2 90 .

2 1 5. Some some al ius al ius ; alter .

Some thought Dunkirk, some that Yf res was his object .”—Macaux.av.

The work some praise ,And some the architect. —MILTON, P . L . i. 731 .

For books are as meats and viands are, some ofgood, some of evill substance.

—Areopagi tica , ed. Arher, p. 43.

Some say he is with the Emperor ofRussia,Other some, he is in Rome .

”- Comedy of Errors,

1 40 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [0mm

In O .E. we find the singular as well as the plural,xas

Sum man hath an 1 00 wynes, sume mo, sum less.—Mauunavu.u t, p. 2 2 .

(a)S ingular

Som man desireth for to have richesse ,And som man wolde out of his prisoun fayu.

CuaucnR'

s Knight“Ta le .

He mot ben deed, the ling as schal a page

Sone in his bed, som in e deepe see,Som in the large fel de, as men may se .

—1 6.

Sum was king and sum kumeling (foreigner).Gen . and Ex . I. 834.

Anum he sealde fifpund, sumum twa, sumum an .—M

’

att. xxv. 1 5.

So mme the bed from the body he smote .Somme the arms, somme the scholders.

”

LONELICH’

S St. Graa l , p. 1 2 8 .

Thus may men so that at thoo day es summe were richere then summe andt edier to give elmesse .

”—CAPGRAVE, p. 1 0 .

Of summe sevene and sevene, of summe two and two.—1 6. p. 1 6.

He by levede ys folc somme aslawe and some ywounded.

”—ROBBRT or

GLOUCESTER, l . 4855.

Byron (“Don Juan uses somds

Howsoe’er it shock some

’

s se lf love .

Hey wood uses somes

But of al l some: none is displeasedTo be welcome .

”

2 1 6. Some is al so used indefinitely with other, another

Who hath not worshipped some idol or another. THACKERAY'SH ist. of H . Esmond.

By some device or other.

SHAKESPEARE'S Comedy of Errors, 1 . 1 .

By some accident or other.—Hosnss .

She pulleth up some be the rotea kny f sche schere th.

GOWER, Specimens of Early Eng . , p. 373.

2 1 7. COMPOUNDS OF SOME.— Somebody , something, some-one,

somewhat, othersome, some-who.

3 Abbott’s Shahespearian Grammar, p. 6.

1 42 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE . [em p

Robert of Brunne has sum oun (Handly nge Synne, p. 2 94)some one ; Robert of Gloucester has somewanne somewhomsomething.

Somdel somedeal , is very common for somewhat.

O ther some

Other some [houses are made] with reede .

”—Haxw vr , p. 504.

Though some be ly es,Yet other some be true .

”—Dor>sunr’s Old P lay s, 1 1 . p. 74.

2 1 8. A l l and some

mphrase is exceedin

ecommon in O .E. and is e uivalent to a l l and one

one a a l l , each and a l l . t has also the force of who y altogether ; hence it issup ed that some same, 0 .E. samen, together. Cp. éan dark sam.

”

Stop yournoses, readers , al l and some .—Dnvnarx, Abs. and A chith.

This other swore al le and some .

” -S)ea'

mens J E . Eng . p. 1 06.

TheIn a

penser'

s phrase

R . or Batman'

s Handlynge Sy nne, l . 1 69.

For everi creature go schalBy that brugge , sum or a l .

Old Eng . M iscel l . p. 2 2 5.

trnesis we have a l l together and sum .

Why le they were a l le together and sum .

P lay of the Sacramen t, l . 402 .

N either fals witnesse thou noon hereOn nomannysmatere, a l ne ither somme .

”—Ba6y’s Bohe, p. 49.

(I have)notherwitte enough whole and some.

”

Damon and Py thias, Old P lay s, p. 2 32 .

2 1 9. One (O .E. an, on,

“oon")l is the numeral one with extended

appl ications. It is used substantively and adjectively. When used

substantively, it has a plural ones and a genitive one’s, and may be

compounded with self:

One can only attribute the chameleon character in which one seems to“g

the want ofp

enetration of one’s neighbours .

”—Evening Standard, Sat. Oct . 1 ,1

Once more I am reminded that one ought to do a thing oneself if one wants itto be done properly .

”—I h. p. 1 , col . 3.

It is a pretty saying of a wicked one .

”

TOURN l un’

s The Revenger’s Tragedy .

Go, take it up, and carry it in.

"Ha a huge one we never kil l

'

d so large a

swine ; so fierce , too, I never met with y et."—BnAUMONr AND Fna'

rcnan, The

P rejhetess.

1 Those marked thus are later forms.

x1 1 . ] INDEFIN I TE PRON OUNS . 1 43

To y eelde one': heart unto oommiseration is an efi

'

ecte of facil itie, tendernesse,andmeeknesse .

”—MONTA 1GNE'

S Florio, p. 2 .

We l l , wel l , such counterfe it jewe lsMake true ones oft suspected.

”—WBBSTER'S Wh ite Devi l .

2 2 0 . Sometimes one some one

Ph

But here cometh one I wil l withdraw my se lf aside .

"—L1 Lv’

s Sapho. andao .

I hear one’s pace ,'tis surely Carracas .

R. TAYLOR’S The Hog ha th lost h is P earl .

For taking one’

s part that is out ofpower.

”- K ing L ear, i. 3.

The earliest use of a genitive of o ne in its present acceptation is found in theMorte d

’

A rthur, p. 1 0 .

Lady thy sleve thou shal t Of shere ,I wolle it take for the love of theeSo did I nevy r no lady es ere,But one x that most hath lovrde me .

The plural of one occurs as early as Chaucer'

s time, as we thre ben aloones .

” 2

2 2 1 . Chaucer, too, uses one as a substantive with an adjective where it seems tobe a substrtutron forwzght, orAn son, as

I was a lusty oon .

”— C1 1Avcnn, l . 6 1 87 .

In the thirteenth century we find thing, properly neuter, used in a similarmanner

So that this tuo l ithere thinge were at one rede .

"3

Early Eng . P oems , p. 50.

One is used for thing in Cheoelere Assigne , p. 1 5

But what broode on is this on my breste ,‘l ‘l0 i “

Andwhat longe on is this that I shall up lyfte .

But this one is sometimes used instead of repeating the noun, as

Who embrace instead of the true [religion] a fal se one,

”where Hooker,

Book v. ch . ii . 2 , omits the indefini te one.

So M ilton, A rea) . p. 45 It 1 s a blank vertue . not a pure .

This usage does not explain the em loyment of one when it is preceded by a

demonstrative , as the , th is, &c., as t mighty one. Here the older writers em

ployed the definite adjecti ve with a final (mflexronal)e, as the gode . The loss ofthis ending no doubt led to the mtroduction of one to supply its place . See p. 1 04.

2 2 2 . The indefinite one , as in one say s, is sometimes, butwrongly,derived from the Fr. on

, Lat. homo. It is merely the use of thenumeral one for the olderman, men , orme.

One ones the sleeve of one . Perhaps the e marks here the gen. fem.

9 In the oldest Eng . one could have a plural , as each one anra gehwy leeach of ones.

3 L ithere thinges wicked ones. This phrase is appl ied to Quendride(Kenelm

’

s sister), and Askebert (Kenelm’

s guardian).

1 44. EN GLISH’

ACCIDEN CE. [cru n

l

athe

wo .3

He is man of such

Launcelot than ful l l le stoode,As man that was m e ll ] ofmyght. —1 6. p. 1 1 8.

And one that bryghtest was ofble."—1 6. p. 1 42 .

2 2 3. Sometimes he occurs where we use one

As he that ay was head and fi'

e.

"—Morte d'Arthur, p. 2 3.

Goweruses he , she, instead of the old relative after as, as

As he tha t was ofwisdom slink -Specimens of E . Eng . p. 361 .

As sche which dede hir hole intent."—1 6. p. 374.

he diedAs ane that had been studied in his deatb,To throw away the dearest thing he own

'

d.

”—Macbeth , 1 . 4.

As one who would say , come fol lowBeljhegor in Lan e

’

s Dram. Poets, Bohn’s Sena , p. 532 .

2 2 4. Man .

For yourname,Of andmurderess, they proceed from you,As i f a man one] should it against the windThe filth re turns in ’

s one’

s face. —Wansrnn’

As though a man would say ,"&c.—D1um‘

r's Sermons.

Vor the more that a men can, the more wurthe he is.”—Rosr. or GLOUC.

,Vor, bote a man conne Frenss, me telth of him lute .

—1 6.

$0, man rm wolde siquis] him wul arise, delicacy is to despise.

”

Gowns, 1 11 . 40.

Ofl'

thys batail le were to te l leA man tha t it we le undyrs todeHow knyhtes undyr sade ls felle .

”—Morte d’Arthur, p. 89.

This use of one has become archaic, having been replaced by the partitive

geni tive .

1 The formmen for the singular, from which me comes b fal ling away of n .rs

to be explainedby the fact that in the twe lfth century , a -an became -en but

men is often treated as a plural form in O .E.

2

1a

'

I:lhlisduse of one afteras deserves some notice, as rt has neverbeen thoroughly

e e

his idiom answers to the Latin guile/k gn i, and, therefore, one is the substitute for a relative . In the twe lfth and thrrteenthcentunes y e find a rela tive

instead of one in later times he and man were substrtutedfor i t.“BI

S

-k com himsel f alast ase the thet was of al le men verrest.”—Ancmn Rewle,

p. 3 0

A se the thet : as he that = as one that.The sunne nis boten a schadewe ase theo thet loseth here hht.

”—O.E. Hem.

First Series, 1 85.

A ss t/wo t t=as she that = as one that

1 46 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE . [canP.

And save his good broadsword he weapon had none .

’- W . Scor'

r.

Forpok (poke , bag)no sek no havd he nan .

Specimens of E . Eng . p. 1 55.

In 0.E. (fourteenth century)non (none)and no are used much in the same wayas an and a ; none before a vowe l, &c.

It toucheth to non other se .

Maunonvxt t a, Specimens if E . Eng . p. 2 03.

Sche doth non harm to no man.—1 6.

And for to fall it hath none impediment.”—Hawas, P . of P . p. 44.

2 30. N O , though equival ent to not one, is Often united to a

plural substantive ; thus we find in 0 .E

None monekes.

”—Syecimens of E. Eng . p. 80 . Non houses.—MAUNDE

p. 63. Le . Nomonhs ,

’

no houses.

None is sometimes fol lowed by other

Thou shalt have none other gods before me .

”—Deut. v. 7 .

In 0.B. it is always non other, not no other, which would havesounded as strangely as a other.

2 31 . N O one not one one) is tautological , but it evidentlyreplaces the O .E. no man, no wight.

1

Sometimes not one is used in its place.

2 32 . N othing, pl . Noth ings .

The other sorts of devils are cal led in Scripture andwhich St.Paul cal leth nothings : for an idol, saith he , is nothing .

”—Honnas, v. p. 2 1 1 1 .

2 33. Augh t , naugh t

Aught, ought (O .E. awiht, aht). Awiht contains the prefix d (asin O .E. d-ge

-huy lc aghuy le , each ; a -re ever ; dhwather,éther, outher, ag

-hwa ther, agther either d-n one

any), the original signification of which is ever, ay e (cp.

Goth . aiw,Gr. def ; Goth. ai-r, O .E. a -r, ere), and wiht (Goth.

waihts), wight, whit, creature, thing, something.

For ought I know, the rest are dead, my lord.

”

Wansraa’s A[ pins and Virginia .

Amongst so many th ousand authors you shal l scarse find one by reading ofwhom you shal l be any whi t be tter.

” Me l . p. 7 .

Cp. To luite ac to muche wiht. —Castel of L ove, 1 . 638.

Thereof he ete a lytel le wight. —Morte d’

A rthur, p. 36 .

Syrv ayne, knowistow any wight f”—1 6. p. 5.

i Sche was vany ssht riht as hir l isteThat no wy ht bot hit -self itwiste .

’ -Gownn, in SM . of E . Eng. p. 37 1 .

xu . ] JNDEFIN I TE PRON OUNS . 1 47

34. N augh t (0 .E. ndwiht,1naht)and not (0 .E. naght, not)are

negative forms of ought, so that not a whit is pleonastic ; in a

whit the a must not be considered as the articl e a whit owhit

owiht or ought.

Naugh ts is used by Green (p. 1 57)for nothingsWe cour. try sluts ofmerry FressingfieldCome to buy needless noughts to make us fine .

2 35. Enough (O.E. gendh, enow, anow. Cp.

Goth. ga-nohs, Ger.

Sometimes we fin enow used as a plural , corres onding to O .E.

inohe, inowe, in which the plural is marked by the nal

Have I not cares enow andpangs e now ?—BYRON .

Servile le tters anow . 3—Areopagitica, p. 40 .

2 36. Any (0 .E. anzg ul lus)is an adjective formed from the

numeral (in, one . In O .E. we find a ni,a i

, ei, for any , and LaSamon has genitives, a ies and a ims.

Ay two had disches twelve .—S ir Gaw . Specimens, p. 2 2 4.

We find a distinction in O .E. made between the singular eny , any ,

and the plural onie, ouy e.

And sif that eni him wraththed adoun he was anon.

Roar. orGLOUC.

2 37. Compounds are any one, any body , any thing, O .E. any wight,any man, eny persona

Unnethe eni mon miste [h]is bowe bende .—ROBT . OFGLOUC

A ny original ly had a negative na nig : nul lus, of which a trace exists in thetwe lfth century .

“Niss nan i thing there is not anything—Orin . i. 6 1 , l . 1 8

39 .

‘Nani man

not any man —1 6.

p. 2 1 6 . We use none instead And as had rather have

any do it than myse y et sure ly myse lf rather than none at al l .”—Asa M

’

s

S cholq naster, p. 1 57 .

2 38. Each [O .E. a-lo d-

ge-lic ; from d (see remarks on ought),

and l ie l ike ; laterforms are elc, elch, euch, uch, y ch, ech, ilh].I t is properly singular, but has acquired a distributive sense . It

is used substantively and adjectively .

I As an adverb no whit is found as we l l as na ught not.

I am no whit sorry .

”—DODsz.nv‘

s Old P lay s, 1 1 . 84.

Ectorne l iked no wightThe wordis that he herd there .

”—Morte d’Arthur.

9 Those marked thus are later forms.

3 Mrl'ton (A reopagzt"p. 2 8, ed. Arber)writes anough, adv.

L 2

1 5° ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE [CHAR

I t is sometimes, but wrongly, found with a plural verb, as

Thersites'

O

body is as good as Ajax’

,

When nei ther are ahve .

”—Cymb. iv. a.

2 44. Other (0.E. J-ther, Goth. an-thar one of two, second

and other. See remarks on numeral s, p.

This word original ly belonged to the indefinite declension, makingits plural othre, leaving other as the plural when the final e fel laway, as

Whan other are gladThan is he sad.

”—Sk n1:ron, i . 79.

Some other give me thanks.

”—Cornecly of Em , iv. 3.

Some other do not utterlie dispraise learning, but they mic,”&c.

Ascru m’s Scholemaster, p. 54.

Awe i sche bad al le othre go.

GOWER, in Séecienens of E. Eng . p. 374.

Cp. Other some .

"—Acts xvu . 1 8.

A new plural was afterwards formed by the ordinary plural

suffix s.

O ther’s (O .E. othres, otheres)is a true genitive.

Let ech of us hold up his hond to other,And ech ofus bycome otheres brother.

’

m cnn, Specimens ofE. Eng. p. 353,

And ey therdranke of otheres bloode .

”—Gest. Rom . p. 1 9.

f

2 45. Another is a later form ;1rum other was once used instead

0 it.

2 46. One another, each oth er, are sometimes cal led reciprocal

pronouns ; but they are not com ounds : in such phrases as love

each other,” “love one another,

’the construction is, each love the

other, one love another each and one being subjects, and other and

another objects, of their respective predicates.

In 0.E. we find each to other to each other.

We sometimes find ay ther other e ither other, in this sense , as

Uche payre by payre to plese ay ther other.

”—A ll it. Poems, p. 46.

Her ey ther had kil led other.

”—P iers P lowman, Pas. v. 1. 1 65.

Other 'wha t wha t el se occurs in Dodsley’

s Old P lay s, 1 1 . 67,

What strokes he bare away , orO ther-what was his gaines, I wot not .

”

And (he)speketh of t m t.”—Am m K imle, p. 96.

2 47. El se (O .E. el les, the genitive of the demonstrative root, ele,

el , as in Lat. al ias

1 A nother is used in the Ormulum .

2 In the oldest English we find a comparative elm .

x1 1 .) INDEFINI TE PRON O (INS . 1 51

We find it in O .E. after ought, nought, as in modern English.

I t has acquired an adverbial sense al iter. Cp. O .E. owiht el lesaught of other aught else .

A ponderI-maad, out

'

h er of chalk, outher ofglas,Or sorn wha t el les .

"— CHAUCER, I. 1 3078.

BischOpes and bachel ers, hote maistres and doctours,L iggen in London in lenten

P iers P lowman , P1 01. 1 . 9 1 .

So, what fordrede and el l is, they were both ensuryd.

”

Ta le of Bery n , l. 1 1 2 2 .

In the oldest Engl ish we had el les hwa t aught else.

1

Sometimes we find not else nought e lse .

In Moses'

hard law we hadNot e l se but darkness.

Al l was not el se but night. — Doosr.nv’

s Old P lay s, p. 39 .

2 4 Sundry (O .E. aris, sundrie, sandryseparate)is now used in

For sundry weighty reasons.—Macbeth, iii . 1 , iv. 3.

It occurs, however, sometimes as a singular in olderwriters in the

sense of separate.

Alc hefde sindri moder.—La3. i . 1 1 4.

Thorwas in hel le a sundri sted.—Gen . and Ex . 1 984, p. 57.

So in ShakespeareThe sundry contemplation

Ofmy travels is a most humorous sadness.

"A s You L ihe I t, iv. 1 .

2 49. S everal is used for sundry

To every severa l man. Ce sar, iii . 2 .

Two severa l times.— 1 5. v. 5.

Truth lies open to al l , i t 3 no man'

s severa l . —BEN JONSON.By some severa ls .

—Winter's Ta le, i. 2 .

2 50. Divers (O .E. diverse, 0 .Fr. divers), and difl'

erent (Fr.dife‘rent), and O .E. sere , ser (O .Fr. sevre, separated ; scorc

'

e, sepa

ration), are sometimes employed for s undry .

2 51 . C ertain (from Lat. certas)is singular and plural , and is usedsubstantively and adjectively.

3 el swha t in Chaucer.

1 52 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR XI I.

A certain man planted a vineyard.—Marh xu. 1 .

1 6

“There came from the rul er of the synagogue

’

s house certa in which said.

"v . 35.

To hunt the boarwith certa in of his fri ends .— Venns andAdonis.

Cp. its use as a substantive in the following passages

A certay n of varlettes and boy es—BERNBR’S Froissa rt.

A certa in of grain.

”—Farde l l of Facion .

Beseeching him to lene him a certeyn

Ofgold, and he wold quyt it him ageyn .—CHA UCER, 1 . 1 2 952 .

hit I wol le have another certay ne .—Gesta Rorn . p. 2 3.

1 54 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cram

In some langua es verbs undergo a change of form forvoice , mood, and tense ;the root be ing mogified by certain suflixes before the person-endings are added.

Thus in Lafin the root reg is modifiedby the sufiix s ,‘ to express time or tense

so the root reg becomes by this addition a stern to which the persosuffixed whence rex i, the perfect of rep erc.

Voice .— There are two voices— (a)the active, in which the subject

of the verb is re resented as acting, as I love John (b)the

passive, in which the subject of the verb is represented as affected bythe action, as I am loved by John.

”

The passive voice has wn out of reflexive verbs but our language has never

deve lo d, by change 0 the verb, a reflexive form, so that the passive voice inEnglis is expressed by the passive participle combined wi th auxi liary verbs.The Scandinavian dialects have a special form forreflexive verbs. See p. 6.

2 59. There are five moods the indicative makes a simple

assertion, states or asks about a fact ; (2 )the subjunctive expresses apossibil ity : it is sometimes call ed the conditional or conjunctivemood ; 3)the imperative denotes that an action is commanded,desired, or entreated ; (4)the infinitive states the action without thel imitations pecul iar to voice, tense, &c. and is merely an abstract

substantive 5)part iciples are adjectives.

2 60. The tenses are three— (a)present, (6)past, (c)ficture.

An action may be stated with reference to time, present, past, and

future, as (a)indefinite, (b) continuous and imperfect, (c)perfect,(d)perfect and continuous.

h

Hence we may arrange the tense: according to the fol lowingse eme

Impenvnc'

r PERFECTTENS“

Conrmvous.

PERFECT ‘

Conrmuovs .

Present I have praised 1 have been

prai sing.

Past 2 I praised. I.

was prais I had praised. I had beenmg. praising.

Future I shal l praise . I shal l be I shal l have I shal l have

praised. been praising.

I This s.

was ori'

nal ly a part of the root as, to be .

3 Sometimes cal ed imperf ect.

xm .) S TRONG VERBS . 1 55

2 6 1 . For I praise, I praised, we sometimes use I dopraise, I did

prai se, which are by some cal led emphatic present and past tenses.

I am going topraise is cal led intentional present.1 was going to praise past.I shal l be going topraise future.

In Engl ish we have only change of form for thepresent andpastthe other tenses are expressed by the use ofauxil iary verbs.

2 62 . There are two numbers , singularandplural three persons ,first, second, and third.

2 63. Conjugation .— Verbs are classified according to the mode

of expressing the past indefinite tense, into (a)strong verbs, (b)weakverbs.

S trong V erbs .— The past tense of strong verbs is expressed by a

change of vowel only nothing is added to the root.

W eak Verbs .— The past tense indefinite of weak verbs is ex

pressed by adding to the verbal root the sy l lable d or its euphonic

substitute t. The e before d unites the suffix to the root.

The distinction between strong andweak verbs must be clearly borne in mind.

(1 )S trong verbs have vowe l change only ; theirpast tense is not formed byadding -d or -t.

(2 )The passive participles of strong verbs do not end in -d or -t, as do those

ofweak verbs.

Al l partici les of strong verbs once ended in -en -n):1 but in very3)mgnyp. pa

Ii-ticiples this suffix has dro

gt 03. The h

istory of a word is

some times necessary to be known efore its conjugation can be

decided.

Weah verbs sometimes have a change of vowe l,and the addition of -d or -t

, as

bough-t but this change is no resul t of reduplicauon.

STRONG VERBS.

2 64. A l l strong verbs in the Aryan languages original ly formed

theirperfect tense by redupl ication, that is by the repetition of'

the

root : thus from the root bhug bend was original ly formed ( 1)bhug

-bhug ; (2 )bhu-bhug (by shortening the first root); then~by

adding the personal ending (3) bhu-bhbga, which is the Sanskrit

verb I bowed orbent, and this is found in Gr. r é-tpev'

ya, Lat. fhgiGoth . baug, O .E. bedh, Engl ish bowed.

In the Latin, Gothic, and O .E. forms, the vowe l change shows

that the initial letter of the root has gone, and the first consonant is

l The assive articiple in -n is only an adjective l ike wooden . Cp. Lat. plenasoriginal cm 1)na , whence (2 )an (3)en.

1 56 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cra m

the . initial of the reduplicated syllable . Thus, Latin, fi gi fi t

fug-i=fi t ugo i . 1

T us,h we see, the perfect offaczowasprobably formed:(1 )fafac-z,-t

°

, (side . (4)/x ilangu bages belou ri

g.to the Teutonic group, we have even

cl earer exam les of re 1 1 icatiou, as wel l as of the loss of it.The verb 1d (past definite of hold, 0.E. heald-an)was original ly

heald ; but Gothic preserves the ful ler form, hai-hald ; O .H.Ger.

hial t (i .e. heihalt); Ger. hielt.3

In ourverb held the first h i s the redupl icated letter. The vowel

e is the resul t of the union of the vowel of the redupl icated syllablewi th that of the root.

2 65. The several stages would be (1 )ha-ha ld, ( 2 )ha-hild, (3)ha ild, (4)he ld.3

Cp. Goth. ha itan to a ll . perfi haihait.O .E. hdtan heht, htt.Goth. rtdan to rede (advise) rairbth.

O .E. raedan

0 0E0 o o o e 9 km bolt ; I’

07

la“45k f l)

O .E. ldcan leblc.

O .E. ou-drcedan to dread .

2 66. In Old English we have two verbs that preserve the redu

pl icated syl lable and the initial root letter

( 1 )Did, the past tense of do, 0 .E. dide, O . Sax. del da. It

belongs, therefore, to the class of strong verbs.We have a co te root in

'

0 , aud Lat do ,‘ Sausk. dha . The Sans .“m“ perf.

(2 )HightAn ancient fabric rais

’

d t'inform the sight,

There stood of yore , and Barbican i t hight. —Dnvnrm .

That wretchedwi htThe Duke ofGloucester, that chardhight.

SACKVi LLn, Duhe d Buchingharn .

Johan hight that con, andAlayn’

ht that other.

”

uaucan,

Behight promised. So l ittle was this form understoodm the sixteenth cen

tury thatwe actual ly find behighteth promiseth, used by Sackvil le, as if froma present behight : cp. ought and snast, original ly past tenses which haveacquireda present meaning.

H ight was cal led is the past indefinite of the O .E. hetan,

hate,hate, to cal l, corresponding to Goth. haihait. See 5 2 65.

l'

I bbut my steps, fled.1“The change of vowel m the perfect

'

1s due to the coalescence of the vowel ofthe i eduplieated sy llable with the root vowel .s Forb i = 8, see § 47, p. 58.

1 58 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAR

Imp, p.p. loupen to weep, past w¢ to sleep, past sle?past bat (Scotch). Cp.

Some to the ground were lope». from above.

"—Sunnxv, zEn .

She brouhte the greyn from hevene to erthe and seew it. The erthe thes iswas sa ve was never ered.

’—P i lp'image, p. 43.

Forwhile they befi hient ogether as thorns. —Nahm 1 1 . I o.

And sighing sore, her hands she wrung andf old.

”

Sacxtmsnz

’s Induction.

(2 )Let (past), though strong in form, is weak as regards its pronunciation ; it is weak in the p.p. : beat is weak in pret. , but strongIn p.p.

(3)Hew , sow, mow, have now weak past tenses, but strongpassive participles, as wel l as weak ones.

In the Bible we have p.p. hem e and hand .

The provincial dialects have strong forms, as hew hewed, sew

sowed, mew mowed, snew snowed.

(4)Hung (past) O.E. heng ; it has also a weakand a weak p.p. hanged. In 0.E. we find hangian,d weak verb, making its past tense hangode.

5)Some passive participles have sprun from the past tense , as

hung hangen h e d holden fell jgl len (Shakespeare, Lear,iv.

Others have contracted forms ofp.p. , as sown sowen, &c.

2 68. The second division of strong verbs includes those that

have vowel change in the past tense and in the passive participle.

These verbs were of course originally reduplicate. but the evidence is not so

clear as in the first class of verbs. Cp. set did sit Goth. sa t, with Samk.

W ei -a (pl . std-isms), Lat. red-i ; hound .E. 6 Goth . band, Sansk. Ju

Here the fast tense contains the origina l vowel , while the vowe l a of the

present tense has been weakenedto i ; so such verbs as give, hel stand formoreanciept roots, as gay ; ha l), wh1ch 1n the preterite preserve t e original root

vowe

Sometimes the root of the present is stren ened by an

gum-g . go, sta-n-d, bran-g , thi-n-h . Cp. Lat. rem -do, tn-n-do, &c.

2 69. DIVISION II. Class I .

’

0 .E.

Pans. Paar. sing . Paar.fl . P.r.

he lpe beslp hulpon holpen

dolven’ dul ica dolfen

1 This is seen by the Sansk. root handh compared with perfect hahandha.

3 Fonnsmarked thus are obsolete.

[ 60 EN GLISH ACCIBEN CE. [CHAR

I waked : herewith to the house-top I clamh.

"—Sunnar,E n . I I .

The y olden ghost his mercy doth require .

”—Svnnzv’s Ecclesiastes.

Many founden it (greyn)and throsshen it. —P i lgn’

nsage, p. 43.

Which hath dung me down to the infernal bottom of desolation.—Nasx'

s

L en ten S tuj :

(a)We have many verbs with mixed strong and weak formsthe past tense ma be weak and the p.p. strong, as, past, clornb, and

p.p. cl imbed ; or e past may be stro and the p.p. weak, as, past,delved, p.p. dob/en. Glande occurs in ourteenth century Engl ish.

Swol l en has almost given way to swel led.

H elped has replaced the old ast, hob) holpen as a p.p. isarchaic, helped being now the regufls form.

2

3)Sometimes a strongparticiple isused simply as an adjective, asdrunken , mol ten—“a drunken man,” “molten lead ;

”in M icah

i . 4, molten is used as p.p. so in El izabethan writers, sunken ,

And the metal le be the hete of the fire ma l t.”—Cu cnava, p. 9.

My heart is mol t to see his grief so great.”

Sacxvxnm’s Induc

“YB gold is tried in the oven, wherein it is molten.

”—Com naus.

(4)The verbs swim , begin , run , drink, shrink, sink, ring,sing, Spring, have fortheirproperpast tenses swam, began, ran, &c. ,

preserving the original a ; but In olderwriters (sixteenth and seven

teenth centuries)and in colloquial English we find forms with 1 1 ,

which have come from the passive participles.

3

Sometimes we actual l find the past tense doing duty for the

passive participle ; thus hakespeare has swam swufn (As You

Like I t, iv. I), drank drunk.

5)Many of those forms that originally had a in the past now have

u, as spun , s lunk, stunk, stung, flung, swung, wrung, clung,and strung (a modern form). Scheflang from me

”(Heywood

’s

P roverhs, C . Slang ( 1 Sam. xvii.

1 Holp is apreterite in Shakes are . See K in yohn, i. I R ich. 1 1 . v. 5.

2 Hol He hath holpen is people Israe —Eng. Bible ;“he hay his

brother —Caponava, p. 30 ; he lp forho lpen is found in Shakespeare, Tempest,1 . a.

3 Some arians have ascribed these past tenses to the ret. pl . but this ishardl pro able, forwe do not find these forms in use in the irteenth and fourteen centuries, i .e . m um for swans in past sing. ; what we do me et with is a

change of a into 0, as swans, began, song (soong ). Ben Jonson has to fl ing. past.flung.fl one . p.a fl our. &c.

1 62 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHILL

2 7 1 . DIVISION II. Class III .

0.E.

Pu n. Paar

wove woven

( 2 )eat

ongitex ongeten

seten

tread treden

cwz th cweden

wa s wesen

saw seo seah

(scobs) Paar .pl . sfiwon

( I)Quoth , original ly perfect, is now used as a present tense ; the

root of the present is seen in begueathe. The present of was is lost ;we have parts of the verb in wast, were, wert.

( 2 )Mete (measure), wreak,’we igh , fret, knead, once strong,

have become weak. Cp.

We shal l not al l unwroken die this day .—Suanzv, E n . 1 1 .

3)In O .E. (thirteenth and fourteenth centuries)we findgaf and

gej; ct and a t, yuath and quad.

(4)B id bade, arises out of the passive participle ; beden

bidden occurs in the fifteenth century ; so seten for sat.

Boden bidden, invited. It happed bym that was boden , in

lokyng on the wal le to espye this ymage,”&c. (Caxton

’

s Golden

Legend, fol . cclxix. col . This verb properly belongs to Class VI .

(Div .

Heywood uses the phrase a geven horse (Proverbs, B.

(5)Wal ter Scott has eat ate.

(6)Gat is used by Shakespeare forgot (past).

(7)The ending of the passive participle has sometimes fall en

away, as in b id bidden sat, the past indef., is used instead of the

old participle seten .

I Ongi te perceive , understand.

9 Spenser has a strong p.p. wrohen Shep. Ca l .3 Cp. 0 .E. beode, bead, boden, to bi order.

XML ] STRON G VERBS. 1 63

Double forms of the p.p. are eaten and eat;1 bidden and bid gotten

andgot;3 trodden and trod,

°4 woven andwove l ien 6 O .E. i-ley ce .

2 72 . DIVISION II. Class I V.

hladen

tacen

waxen’

( I)Fare , wade , ach e , gnaw , wash , step, laugh ,7y e ll , wax,

a

bake ,9 have at present weak past tenses and passive participles.

Cp. Sapience this bred turnede and book it."—P ilgn

'

nzage, p. 44.

Gnew gnawed occurs in M im ur/ or Mag istrates, vol . 1 1 . p. 74.

Gnew and fretted his conscience .—TYNDAI.L

’S Rrpl do 9

'

onas, Parker Soc.

p. 456. Shakespeare has begnawn, Tam . of Shrew, 1 1 1 . a.

He fl ay a lion.

”—Carcnavz.

Both fl ay n and hedid”

beheaded).—Ib. Chron. p. 6 1 .

Z oroaster low as no child did but he.”—Ib. p. 2 6 .

There he wesh me, there he bathedme .

”

p. 8.

And in hers owen blood hanm shen hem.—1 6.

She he] up hire axe to me .

”—Ib. p. 1 1 1 .

She sa id herhede 0 —La Tour Landry .

Shakes are, K ing yob s, i. 1 . Mil ton, Paradise L ost, v u. 304.

3 En B1ble . 4 Shakespeare , K . R ichard 1 1 . Ii. 2 .

5 M'

ton, P ar. Lost, ix. 8 9.6 Eng. Bible and Shakespeare , now archaic.

7 Scotch has leugh lau ed (past). ,

8 Spenserhaswoxe, past, worm , p.p.baked, .p. In Levi ticus i1 . 4. My sp1rit is waxen weak and

feeble .—Ps. lxxvi i . ovsnnana.

IN ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

(a)Strong forms have been replaced by weak ones in the past

tense of shape , grave , shave , lade , &c. Strong participles of theseare occasional ly met with, as shapen (P s. H. graven (p.p. in

Byron, ChildeHarold, i as an adjective, in Engl ish Bible, Ex. xx.

4 ; p.p. Ps. xcvii. 7) loaden : laden (M1 l ton, P Lost, 1v. 1 4 ; Bacon,Essa s). The heavier the ship is loaden

, the slower it goes”

(Bp.

JPil laington, p. Cp.

Andmasts unshave for haste .

”Sunnxv, E n . iv.

Wi th such weapons they shops them to defend.— 1 b. ( En . 1 1 .

(b)We have al so doubl e forms, a strong and a weak one, in the

past tense, as woke and waked hove and h eaved.

(c)‘vVe sometimes in Shakespeare find forms of the past tense

employed for the p. participl e, as aros e (Comedy of Errors v. I)arisen

,shook (E ng iv. 2 , Othel lo, 1 1 . I ; Mil ton, vi. 2 1 9)

shahen ; forsook (Othel lo, iv. 2 ) for took (Twelfth N ight,iv. 2

°

, f ul ius? Ce sar, ii. I) taken ; m istook (y ulms Ce sar, i. 2 ;Mil ton, Arcades) mistahen ; shaked, too, occurs forshake n(P s. cix.

2 5 Trailas and Cressida, i . 3; Henry V. 1 1 . I Tempest, 1 1 . I).

3)Stood, p.p. is properly a past tense the old p.p. standen .

Cp. the p.p. understanden and understand.

Have I understand thy mind p. 457 .

(4) Sware occurs in Mark vi. 2 3, Titus Andromcus iv. 1 ; but

the a is not original , but probably has come in through false analogywith spake, bare, &c.

2 73. D IVISION II.

Pass PRES PBRF. sing . Paar.pl . P P.scan scinon

drfif drifonserife gescraf gescrifon gescrifen

I 66 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE. [CHAR

London); drown driven (Antony

(9)Sh ined shone (Each. xl iii. Shinde occurs in the fourteenth

century .

( 1 0)W reathen , as adjective, occurs in Timon of Athens, iii. 2 ,that sorrow-wreathen root wreathen cables

”(Surrey, {En

I t occurs in The N ewfounde World as a p.p out of which maybe wrong or writ/sen water Ahiden occurs in the Engl ish Bible .

He had hid”

ahiden endured (Sidney’s Arcadia).

2 74. DIVISION II. Class I V.

0 .E.

PAST. Pans. Pnnr. sing. Pann fl .

cleofe clufon

choose ceose curon coren

freose frefis fruron froren

losen’ forleose forlefis forluron forloren

sfioe sede sucon socen

flesh flugon flogen

( 1 )Many verbs belonging to this class have become weak, as

creep,lcl eave , seethe , lose , ch ew , rue , brew , dive , shove , sl ip,

lot , fleet, reek, smoke , bow , suck, lock. Cp.

She shof me with hire kny f."- P ilg°rimage, p. 1 32 .

Shown on thilke spere.”—Ih. p. 1 30.

The: rook never noon suich milk.—1 h. p. 2 05.

(2 )Creep, cl eave , bereave , fiee , lose , shoot , shorten the longvowel of the present in the weak form of their past tenses.

(3)Clave and cloven occur in the Engl ish Bible (Genesis xx. 3,

Ps. lxxviii. 1 5, Acts ii. 3) cleft, p.p. , in M icah i. 4 (cp. , too, a“clefl

palate,”but a

“clown foot chase in Surrey

’s poems ;

3 shotten

Cp. Scotch era) (Gentle Shepherd, v . x).3 Shelton for love, Surrey for lord thou chase.

”—P . 92 (Bell’

s edi tion).

x1 1 1 . ] STRON G VERBS . 1 67

occurs in shotten herring (1 Henry I V.) a herring that has'

deposited its roe ; forlorn (Mil ton, Paradise Lost, ii. 6— 1 5) forMil ton hasfi ore, Spenserfi orne fi ozen froze fi ozen

occurs in Shakespeare, 2 Henry I V. i. 1 . Sodden occurs in Engl ish

Bible ; cp

Twice sod simfl icity P—Love's Labour

’

s Lost, iv . 2 .

Sodden water.—S. Rowu mns.

Beer he protests is sodded and refined.

”- 1 6.

Wi th met orsod.—1 6.

(4)C l eave , O .E. cl i/ian, to cl ing to, adhere to. This is properlya weak verb, and its past tense is cleaved yet claw is sometimesfound (Ruth i. I4 ; Acts xvii .

5)Fl ee has a weak past tense and p.p.,fled.

2 75. Some verbs that have now a strong past tense, orp.p. , were

once weak, as

(2 )stick

betid’

5)hide

(6)spit

(7)Show

S tack stack is used by Surrey

much he refused and stack to his intent. —Virgi l , 1 1 . (ed. Bel l), p 1 70

t With gas tly lockes as one in manner lorne .

” —SACItVILI.E, Inductio n, st. 78.

For-lore

gcp. f rom): Thou hadst not spent thy travail thus, nor al l thy pain

for lore .

" URREY (ed. Bel l ), p. 80 .

2 Betid and spa t are only apparently weak ; in O.E. we find he-tid-de, spat“.

1 68 ENGLISH A CCIDENCE . [en/tr.

“(EAK VERBS.

2 76. The verbs of the strong conjugation we have seen form the

past tense by a change of the rootvowel ; weak verbs by means

of a suffix -d or -t.

This suflix is a mutilated form of the auxil iary ve

In 0.E. the perfect of do was di-dc, in O .Sax. deda. In 0 .E.

the sumx of the perfect of weak verbs was -de ,° in Goth. and O.

Sax.-da. In the plural (Gothic)it has a longer form— dednm thus

from Goth. nasian, O .E. nerian, to save, was formed. Goth.

nasi-da, I saved ; nasi-dednm, we saved. 0 .E. nere-de, I saved ;nere-don, We saved.

2 77. The suffix -de was original ly united to the root bymeans of a

vowel e or as O.E. ner-e-de saved Inf-o-de loved.

In Gothic and OldHigh German there were three conjugations ofweak verbs,

according to the vowel at was between the root and suflix of the perfect

( I)The first conjug. had i, as Goth. nas-i-da , 0 .H .Ger. ner-ita, O .E.

ner-e-de preserved.

The second conjug. hadA, as Goth . SM , 0 .H.Ger. se lf -04a , 0 .E

sea l/o de anomted.

(3)The third conjug. had a i Goth , t 0.H .Ger. Goth . hah-a i-da , 0.H .Gerhay -ta, wanting in O .E.

2 78. The oldest Engl ish had two conjugations of weak verbs

I)With vowel e between root and sufiix.

(2 ) o

2 79. Modem Engl ish has in real ity only one class with vowel e

between root and suffix.

In thank-ed , ast indef. , thank root ; e connecting vowel ; and -d con.

tracted form of id.

In thanh-e-d, p.p. than]: root ; e connecting vowe l d participle sufiix

cognate with Gothic Lat. -tn(s) to-s), Gr. Sansk.

( 1 )This e, however, is only preserved when the suffix d is to b e

united to a root ending in a dental , as wett-e-d, head-e-d, wafl -e-d.

f

!G15

. Gr. pass. first aorist é-rép-O-nv, where the tense sufi x is the on 0 .E. de)0 7 » "out.2 Represents a more original nasi

-dtda .

3 Thu: e or 0 is represented in Sanskrit by the suffix -ay a, which appears inGothic hab-a i-da 0 .E. hegide ha-d.

4 This termination is evxdeutly an old demonstrative, like -en ( 2 na)of strongverbs ; hence the passive partmple denotes possession, having properties of, asshoulder

’d, having shoulders.

I 72 EN GLISII A CCIDENCE. [CHAL

Paar.

mademacode

The loss of h occurs as early as the thirteenth century .

(3)Have , had, had ; O .E. habbe, hefde, hafad.

In later periods we have, in the past tense, hafde, hedde, hoddein p.p. ihaved

, ihafd, y had.

(4)Say , said, said ; O .E. secge, sagde (sade), sa'

gd (sad).Lay , laid, laid ; O .E. lecge, legede (lede), leged, led.

In say , lay O .E. sq e, lq e), y is a softening of cg.

5)Bring, brough t , brough t ; O.E. bri ngs, brohte, broht.

In the oldest Engl ish we also find bring, brang, brungen, fromwh ich we see that the root is brang brag.

(6)Buy , bought , bought ; 0 .E. by ege, bohte, boht.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuri es, to buy bum so yrepresentsg, which appears again in the past tense.

(7)Think, though t, though t O .E. thence, thbhte, thdht.

The root of this verb is thah cp. Goth. taghja, I think tho-n

hza) cp. ga-n-

ge, sta-n -d, &c.

(8)M eth inks,1 methough t, m ethough t ; 0 .E. thy ncth, thahte,

gethuht.

(9)W ork, Wrought , wrough t ; O .E. my ree, worhte, worht.

The i in O .E. wy rhe has been changed under the influence of the

w to ( 1 )u, (2 )0 cp. O .E. m ere/zen and worchen, to work.

W rough t is archaic, but in poetical composition is common

worked is quite a modern form.

W ent was original ly the past tense ofwend, O .E. wendan, to turn,

go it replaced O .E. eo-de, 5ede, y ode.

VERBAL IN 17 1 s 011 5.

2 82 . The el ements in the verb are ( I)the root ; (2 )mood suffixes

(3)tense sufiixes ; (4) the person-endings (the mood and tense

suffixes come before the person-endings) 5) connecting vowel

between root and sufi xes.

8 Cp. German denken to think ; danhen to seem.

1 74 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE . mm .

The Gothicbarf -a , O E. ber-e , stand formore primitive form , bair-a-rn , berks-an

but the rn havrng drsa peared in the oldest forms of these languages, the connedln

gvowe l repres ents c person-e ndin

g.

n Chaucer thi s e was a dlStinCt sy lable , as“I dw el l nought that ey ther thou

shalt the ,”&c. In modern Engl ish it has whol ly disappeared ; In the plural the

connecting vowe l and sufi xes are lost .In

.

in Lazamon)we find i y e y a ay a) the connecting vowe l inthe Infini ti ve , as lov-i-en , lov-z-e , &c. and in the present indie . as [ ch loud -e, &c.

l t rs sul l heard in Infinitives in the South of En land, as to m i lky , to ma rry , &c .

Many strong verbs lost this suffix z and don led the final consonant, as O .E.

(r)srtte, (a)si t-est, (3)sit-e th ( I)sit, ( 2 )sittest, )sitteth.

The Si lent e in some few verbs l ike [lav-e , Isn-e, w'

eh adds nothing now to thelength of the preceding vowe l , was once sounded.

2 84. (2 )PRESENT SUBJUNCTIVE.

This mood originzlz

lyhad a tense sumx which came be tween the connecting

vowe l and the perso ending.1

Goth.

Singular. x ba im -u,

2 barr-a -r-s,

3 ba ir-a -i,

P lural. 1 ba ir-a -z-rna ,

Singular. x soky’

a -u,

&c.

2 85. (3) PAST INDICATIVE.

Strong verbs in O .E. lost their connecting vowe l, as

Goth O .E.

Singular. 1 na i-ha Id heald held.

2 ha i-ha ls-t heold-e he ldest.

3 ha i-ha ld heold he ld

P lural . 1 harp /tan n in heold-ou he ld.

2 86 . Weak verbs added the sy l lable -de -te) to the root ; in O.E. the con

necting vowe l was lost in some verbs (see §v§ 2 77

Singular.

1 The 0 .E. e a + i .3 This -des Ii

i-a

ft be for -ded-t .

°

1n the Teutonic languageswhen a dental 13 added

to anotherden the first becomes s, as wzt-te W1st, mot-te moste must.

xxxx. ] VERBAL INFLEXI ONS. r75

2 87 . In the fourteenth century we find the second person-en 4 of stronverbs sometimes changed to a t, as Monw e and thou avert (in teklifi

'

ewe finIzoIpcdzlrt). The old plural a m -ou, became e x, and theso we have la id—m d kelde, &c. In modern Englishal l disappea red.

2 88. (4)PAST SUBJUNCTIVE.

In strong verbs the connecting vowel was a y a, as

Goth.

Singular. x M frs-u

3 bi n-i M r-e

In some weak verbs it is lost

In Gothic pl . we see, ( 1 )wk root, ( 2 )z’

connecting vowel , (3)dad tense sufiir,

(4)ja mood sumz, (5)14 um m i (ma)personal sumz.

The IMPBRAT IVB is.pmperly no mood, but is merely the root a

personal pronoun in the vm uve .

In 0.E. the imperative plural ended in d ie, as gm th gd-M), go y e bar-e“ber-a tb), beary e .

PERSONAL ENDINGS.

2 89. ( I)The suffix of the first person was originally m, as in a -m.

In 0 .E. we have, gala-m, I do beam, I be ; geseam, I see .

In the Northern dialect of theo ldestperiodwe find usweakened to n in perfectas I : giherdam, I heard.

(2 )The suffix of the second person was original ly a

ta two). In O .E. we sometimes find .rforat, as Mon lie/as thou

hast, which is the regular inflexion of the Northern dialects in the

fourteenth century but the ordinary person-ending is st.

This termination is subject to certain orthographieal modifications

(4)Aftera final e -st is added, as low -st.

(6)Y (not diphthongal)is changed to i before st, as m’

est.

(c) In verbs of one sy llable with a short vowe l, the final consmant is doubled,as ha ul , fi ttest.

(d Aftera sibilant, palatal (r, ck), est is added, as bless-est, teach—est, &c.

r76 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CI-LAP.

In the strong rfects i nO .E. the pronoun .n'

tea)becomes e’

(O .Sax.-z

'

Goth.-t). We have replaced this by art. (See

In weak verbs the ending is-st but we often find .r in O .E. as

Mu braid“, Mu scald“, &c.

The subjunctive mood has lost the personal sufi x -.rt.

3)The suflix of the third person is-th ta tl ml , fie). This

as early as the eleventh century was softened to s . We have twoforms s in common use, th archaic and stil l used in poetry .

The verbal sufi'

ix l is subject to the same euphonic changes as the plural s ofsubstantives.

The plural suffixes (r) -ma (2 )44 -31, 3)«tn-ti are in O .E.

reduced to one for al l three persons . (See 5Spenser and Shakespeare have a few examples of the plural

-m ,9

as“they mart/kn (Spenser, i. 4, Cp.

And then the whole quire hold their hips and laugh ,And wa rm in theirmirth.

—M i¢£mmmer N ight .rDream, 1 1 . r.

For either they [women] be ful l of jealousy ,Ormasterfull , or lawn novel ty .

”

Buxron’

s Ana tomy q/ M el . p. 604.

It was archaic in Spenser’s time, and is seldom used by Hawes or

Sackvil le .

In 0.E. when the pronoun fol lowed the verb the infiexion was dropped, as ga

ge, y e go.

INFINITIVE Moon.

2 90 . ( I)The infinitive is simpéyan abstract noun. In O .E. the

sign of the infinitive was the su it -eu, corresponding to Sanskri tnouns in and , as gam

-ana-m, fromgam,’ to go.

(2 )In Sanskri t the dative and locative Sm” of these abstract nouns (asga mcu-dy a , dat. gam ut , loe. , were used as

'

tives. In Greek we have this sufiixin -eva¢, wo t,

-ew (Ashore -630m , brad-va c, ruin -cw).In Gothic the infinitive (a nd) lost its case sign and the suffix a , and therefore

alwa 5 ends in « m in Frisian and Old Norse it is shortened to on ; in Dutchand rman it is -en.

(3) In the twelfth and following centuries the an was represented

by an or e, as brake-n and brake

“to break.

I It.

is omitted in the Northern dialects of the thirteenth and fourteenth

centuries2 In former times, till about the reign ofHenry the Eighth, they (the persons

of the plural)were wont to be formedby adding but now, whatsoeverthe cause,it hath quite grown out of

.

use .

”—BBN Jonson .

3 In ( am-4M the m rs merely a neuter suffix.

1 78 ENGLISH ACCIDENC'

E. [cum

(r).

It is said that the infinitive in -en has become -ing in such phrases as ,

seei ng rs bel ieving"x to see is to be l ieve .

.

We know, however, a)that thesuffix -en disappeared in the sixteenth and followmg centuries, and (b) t it rare lyin 0 .E. writers became -i or -ing.

2

It is quite evident that though, m sense, seeing and bel ieving are equival ent to

infinitives, they are not so in form, but mere ly represent old English substantives

Cp. The'

m'

a bookse l ler his price for his book has this advanta

SELDEN’

S T le a lk. Quoting of authors is most formatter of fact.”

b.

Such a hrase as it is hard to [rea l an old sore may be converted into“it is

hard an old sore but tracing phrases of this kind only as farback as theSixteenth century , we find that a preposi tion has disappeared after the verbal

substantive , as it is y ll hea ly ng of an olde sore (Hm oon’

s P roverbs), and“it is evil l waking of a sleeping hog

(2 )It is asserted that the O .E. infinitive in -enne actual ly exists under the form-in in such expre ssions as fitf or lea ding,

” fond of learning,”&c.

{nthese cases we have mere ly the verbal nouns governed by a preposition doingdu for the old dative infinitive, and altogether replacing it.

e have seen, too, that the old infini tive in -in as to w itinge, &c. died outabout the end of the fourteenth or the beginning 0 the fifteenth century .

(3 These forms in -ing are no doubt very perplexing, and we find even Max

Mufier thrown off his guard by them. He says, The vulgar ordialectic expression

‘be is a gaing

’is farmore correct than

‘be i s going .

”If so,

“he was-agai &c. must be more correct than

“he was going ; ” but on turning to

simi ar expressions in 0 .E. wri ters we find“lie irg

'

angende and “lre wa s an

gende”used to translate Latin present and imperfect tenses ; but never e is

an gangung ,

”he is a going. 3 Compare

The thy ef is eamy nde .

”-ASenbite, p. 2 64.

That Israel isshe folc was walk nde.

0.E. Hone , Second Series, p. 51 .

1 Mr. Abbott quotes Returning were as tedious as (to)go o’

er.

”—P raa. i i. 4.This form is also used as object.

If al l fear’d a’rawni that waves ashore ,

Gold wouldgrow rie and a the merchants poor.

TOURNEUR, The Revenger’s9 In the Romance of Partenay , written about the beginning of the sixteenth

century , or the latter part of the fifteenth, we find instances of infinitives in -ingfor -en after an auxiliary verb (which we neverget in modern Eng

l ish), but wecan draw no conclusions from the exceptional usage of so late a wor

Our lorde will receyve h m of hy s graceAnd off al l hys syn y enyng hym partibn —(l . r

And [they ] shal lEnl esing lesen] the Rewme and also the land —(l . 56 2 5)

We also find in this work passive participles of strong v

instead of -en, as takin taken . In El izabe than writers we findladen laden , and be lding beltalden. Shakespearemoul ten mou l ting l3 In the dramatists of amuch laterperiodwe find i t, as

Your father is a going, good oldman.—Srm tr.nv

’s Em inent.

The a in these expressions was used before verbal substantives beginn'

a consonant, and is a shortened form of an which was used before vowe sie

s

dmfir

elly a di

sa

ggcncal form of on. (Cp. Now 03, now an .

”—a r’

r’

s P oem ,

e pt 1 l

x1 1 1 . ] INFIN I TI VE AND VERBAL N 0UNS I 79

2 92 . In O .E. writers after the Conquest we find the verbal noun with on , an ,

m ,x a , employ ed (1 )after verbs of motion, as

“he wente on lm ntzng ,

”he fel l

on sleeping , &c.

( 2 )After the verbs is was, to form resent and imperfect tenses, with fiasew e

signification, as tbe e/inrebe was in ldy nge or BRUNNE’S Chron i cles,

i . as this was a doyng"(Morte d

’

Artkar, lib. u . c. he rodein nnntz

’

n e (Gest. Rom .) Ben Jonson retains these expressions, and states

that they ve the force of gerunds.

Cp. I saw great peeces of ordinance maW .

”-Convar

’

s Crudities .

Women are angels, wooing in wooing). —Tr. and Cr. i. 2 .

(3)The verbal substantive with a couldbe used after the verb be where no time

was indicated, as“he is long a rz

'

si he is lon in ris ing .

”

In O .E. we could substitute an a tract noun wit a difi'

erent.

suffix, as h!wente forth an huntetlt

”3 he went forth on hunting (ora hunting).

About the beginning of the eighteenth century we find the a frequently onntted,and it is now only al lowed a col loquial ism.

(4)Afterverbs of motion the verbal subst. is not only preceded by on,an, a ,

but by to3and of:

If two fal l to smi l ing, one tears the other’s —Sa t nnn’

s Table Ta lk.

A dog had been at market to bu a shoulder .ofmutton ; coming home he mettwo dogs by the way that quarre l ’

d with him he laid down his shoulder of

mutton, and fe l l tojignting (= a fig l it ing)wi th one of them m the meantimethe other dog fe ll to ea tin (an ea ting)his mutton be seeing that, left the dogl

hewas fi hting with, and fe upon him that was eating ; then the other dog fe to

ea t 4 an ea ting) when be perceived there was no remedy but which of themsoever he fought withal, his mutton was in danger ; he thought he would have as

much of it as he could, and, therefore , gave over fighting, and fe ll

himse lfi”—Ib.

(aWe usual ly abridge sentences containin the verbal substantive , so that it

loo like a

iemnd, as For the repea l in 0 my banzslzed brotlzer,

”5 can now

be expressed y For repea lzng my banis d brotlzer.

”

Cp. 1? f

eyn cf losing of a fi nger upon pain of losing a finger.—CAP

GRAVE’S i ron . p. 1 95.

3 The infinitive sometimes replaces it in Shakespeare , as

Eleven hours I spent towri te it o’

er.

"—R iolz. 1 1 1 . ii i 6.

Here , towrite is equivalent to in writing .

"2 See Marsh

’

s L ectures on tlxe Eng l ish Langu e (ed. Smith), pp. 46 2 , 47 2 .

In al l the instances quoted by Marsh, the subject 0 the sentence preceding theverbal noun re ents an inanimate object.3 O ld and ew Test. in Vernon MS.

4 Nash (P eter P enniless)has“fa l l a retay l ing . In GammerCarton

’

sNeedle

we have Hod e fe ll 0 w earing .

”

5 Quoted by r. Ab tt from 9941 . Ce sar, iii . 1 , who says that the expressions

common in O .E. began to be regarded as col loquial in Shakespeare’s time . Cpl

Touchstone’s words in As You ike I t, ii. 4

I remember the kissin ty’

herbattes,and the wooing o a peas-cod instead of her.

"

N 2

1 80 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE. [CHAR

PRESENT (on ACTIVE)PARTICI PLE.

2 93. The presentparticiple is formed by the suffix- ing, which has

2?)d the O .E.

-ende (end); -inde, -ande (and), 1 as O .E. gd-nd,

-nd going, doing ; eomende, wepinde, rydande, &c.

The audix - ing arises out of - inde , and took lace first in the

Southern dialect during the twelfth century, thoughthe older form

did not die out until after t340.

La5amon has goinde ne ridinge.

The Northern dialects careful ly distinguished (as did the LowlandScotch dial ect up to a very late period) the participle in -and fromthe noun in -ing (0 .E.

-ang)Than es our birthe here by ny ngOf the dede that es our y ng ;

Foray the mare that we wax aldeThe mare our lifmay be ded talde .

Tharforwhy lles we er here lyf and

1 11: day erWe thos dy ba nd.—Haurox.a, P . of C. p. 58.

Ben Jonson’

s Sad Sh y/nerd contains some passages written in imitation of theNorthern dialect, and in it he makes use of the partici le in and . Twa trel land

brooks (act ii. a), a stinkand broclt,”“f leasand t gs,

”“while I sat wky rl

and of my brazen spindl e, barkand pansh tykes,”&c.— 1 b.

Chaucer rare l uses the'

ciple in and he has several instances of NormanFrench particip es, as su ant, consentant, &c.Spenserhas g l itter tm cband, but hi s use of them is archaic.

For Passive Participles, see p. 1 55, 2 63, p. 1 68, 2 79.

ANOMALOUS VERBS.

2 94. B e .-The conjugation of this verb contains three distinct

roots— ( l )as, (2 )be (bu), (3)was.

Present Indicative

Subjunctive Sing. be

Past Indicative Sing. was was P l. were

Subjunctive Sing. were were were Pl. were

Passive Part.been

1 The -nd is the real participial sufi x, and e is the connecting vowe l .In 0 E. of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries -inde is found only in the

South, and -end in the Midland, and -and in the Northumbrian dial ects (and mdialects influenced by the Northumbrian). In the oldest periods of the languagee nde isW. Saxon, a nd Northumbrian.

1 82 ENGLISH ACCIDEM E . (can .

Ar os-t; t the second personal pronoun.

Is .— The root as is here weakened to is, and the sumx t]: or t is

dropped (cp. Goth. is-t).

Are ase, represents the old northern Engl ish aron,

1 am, er.

It is of Scandinavian origin. Cp. O .N . em, am ; ert, thou art ;er, he is ; eromu, we are ; en db , ye are ; en s, they are.

The O .E. s-ind Sansk. san ti asssanti); sindon is a double pluralsunden occurs as late as u se ; sindeu is in the Ormul um .

The root be was conjugated in the present tense , singular and

plural, indicative, as late as Milton’s time,

I be. We be, 0 E ben.

Thou beest. Ye be ,O .E. (He beth OI

' beg.) me, be) n

The first person is found in the English Bible . Compare

If thou baest Stephann, touch me."Tempest, n. a.

If thou beest lief —Mirrors, Paradix L ost, i. 84.

The third person bet):and be: were in use in the fourteenth century the latterwith a future signification.

The pl . is very common, as

We be twe lve bre thren.

”—Gen xl ii. 32 .

There bemore marve ls y et.”—Bvl tou, CI u

'

lde Harold.

As fresh as bin the flowers in May .

”- Pm r.n.

B tn be with n as plural suffix.

I ];the present subjunctive , only the root be is employed, and al l the infiexions

at . 0st .

2 96. W as .— The O .E. wesan, to be, is cognate with Goth. wisan

O .N . elem , to be, abide ; Sansk. was, to dwell .

It is a strong verb, the old past tense be ing m s the suffix of the first personal

pronoun is gone , as in the preterites of all strong verbs.

W as-t .—We have seen that al l strong verbs in the oldestEnglish

had the sufi x e for the second person singular. In the Gothic was-t

we have an oldersufi x, t (sufiix ofsecondperson, as in ar-t), al togetherlost in O .E.

But wast is not found in the oldest English ; it is quite a late

form,not older than the fourteenth century.

2 The 0 .E. form was

w ere (that is, were),3 from which we have formed, after the analo

of sl ml l and wil l , wer-t,‘which is sometimes, but wrongly, used or

A r-on is not found in the oldEnglish West-Saxon dial ect.9 It occurs in Wickl ifl

'

e (Mark xiv.

3 Lite l thou were tempted, or l ite l thou were stired.—P ikn

°

nsage, p. 33.

4 The O Norse oar-t.

x1 1 1 . ] AN OMALOUS VERBS . 1 83

the subjunctive were (second person singular), as thou wef t grim

(K'

z‘

ng faint, n .

W ere 0 .E. wer-e-n that is, ware -n .

2 97. In 0.E. we have negative forms, as 1 1am, I am not ; nai l ,thou art not m

'

s,he is not

'

; new , were not, &c.

2 98. Can .

Present Indicative Sing. $1 1 cabst can P l .I

Subjunctive

Past Indicative could couldst could Pl .

Subjunctive

Present Indicative

Present Subjunctive

Past Indicative

PastS ubjunctive

cunnan

Many verbs in Teutonic and other languages, having lost their resent tense

express the meaning of the lost tense by means of the preterite , as t. bdi, carpi:m erm

'

m'

, Gr. 0360 .

Can is one of these , be in equivalent to m i . I t was original ly the preteriteof a verb cognatewi th Go “mum , to bring forth, ,so that can original ly wasequival ent to gem“.Can (first and third persons). —No personal suffixes, as in the past

tense of al l verbs original ly strong.

Can-st stands for can-t.

The plural inflexions (cp. O .E. cannon, a mnen)have disappeared.

Could.—The O .E. forms cout/ze, caude, show that a non-radical

I has crept in, probably from false analogy with skul l and

1 84 ExVGLISH ACGIDENCE. [CHAR

O .E. Caua'e Goth. u m-i lza u m-da),has the tense suffix a

’of

weak verbs.

kuwe

have the old past participle of the verb in m -coutk (O .E. zen-curb un

own

In Chaucerwe find infinitive conne , to be able , as I shal not conne answere

Shakespeare has , to can thanks .

” He shulde can us no thank.

”—Bannxn’

s

Con lea rn, study (as can a lesson), makes past tense and passive participle

Gunn ing knowing, is real ly a present participle of can (con).

2 99 . Dare .

1 2 3Preseii t Indicative Sing. dare darest dares P l .

Sing. dare dare dare Pl.

Past Indica tive Sing. durst durst durst Pl .

Subjunctive Sing durst durst durst Pl . durst

Passive Part .

dared

Present Indica tive

P l . (durren, durre)

Present Subjunctive Sing. 1

Past Indicative Sing. r

Subjunctive

Infinitive dauran

Dare .— The root is Jars (cp. Gr. oappe

‘

iv, Oapae‘

iy).

The third person dare (O .E. dar)is strictly correct. Cp.

A bard to sing ofdeeds he d are not imitate .

”

WALTER Scor'

r, Waverley .

In the Pilgrimage of the Lyf of Man we find p.p. dorre :

Whi art thou swich and swich that thou Jars!passe the lawe whenscometh it thee and how hast thou dorre be so harde .

”—P . 78.

3 Forms in parentheses are later ones.

(durste)

(dursten)durste)(dursten)

(durste)

(dursten, durste)

(dore)

x1 1 1 .] AN OMALOUS VERBS . 1 87

302 . W il l .

1 2 3 1

Present Indicative Sing. will wilt will Pl .

Subjunctive

Past Indicative Sing. would wouldst would P l . would

Subjunctive

Pres. Indie. wol le , wole , wolwoltwull e, wole, wol

woll eth, wolen, wilen

Pres. Subj. Sing. 1 will:

Past Indic. Sing. r wolde wolde

Pl . 1

Past Subj wolde

( t)In O.E. won’t we have a trace of the O .E. wol (wale).

(2 ) In O .E. we find infinitive walen, as“he shall wales:

(VVicklifl'

e, Apes. xi. p.p. wold

Andén the same maneroure Lord Crist hath wolde and sufi'

red.

CHAUCBR, M el ibens, p. 1 59 (Wright).

(3)Negative'

forms occur in O.E. , as nil /e will not nolde

woul d not wil ly nil ly wil l ye, nil ] ye, wil l he, nil l he, Wi l l

you, nil l you (Taming qf tile Shrew, ii. I).

To wil l ornil l .”—Em Jonson, Catil ine.

Cp. 0 .E. Forwolny , nn lni , hi sul fie ,”&c.—Early Eng . Poems, p. r2 .

Wolny walen bi , will they nnlni nolen ki , nil l they .

(4) In 0 .E. we find two weak verbs, will ian and wil nian, todesire ; the former of these exists in wil l to desire .

AndVenus in hermessage Hermes spedTo blody Mars towil l him not to rise .

”I nduction.

Forwhat wot I the afterweal that fortune wil ls to me .

SURREY, Faztl tf n l Lat or

Which mass he wil led to be reared high."—Ib. , (Eneid.

r88 ENGL IS]!ACCIDENCE. [ca lm

303. Owe .

1 2 3Present Indicative Sing. owe owest oweth Pl .

Subjunctive

Past Indicative Sing. ought oughtest ought Pl .

Subjunctive

Present Participle. Perfect.

Goth.

Pres. Indie. Sing. 1 db aih

2

age owest’ aib-t

3 fiih

P lural 1 figon aigum

Pm Indie. Sing. 1 ante a3te‘ ovate“ aihta

Plural 1 ahton abren’ owsten’ aihtédum

agende

agen aihts 1

(r)Owe (O .E. ah, Goth. aih, I have)no longer exists in the senseof have, ossess. I t is the past of an infinitive elgan, to labour,work w ence owe original ly signified I haveworked, I have earned,hence (a)I possess, have, (b)I have it as a duty, I ought.

(2 )Owe as an ind¢endent verb

Cp. Hm t do it tha t it ice l if age f z what must I do that I may havee ternal l ife r—M arh x. 1 7.

Andal l thatt iss, and booth,He shop and ah.

”—0m . 6777 .

God ah owes)the littel l mede .—Ib.

By the treuthe ioh on to the .—Ronr. or q cssrxn, 652 4

He our/5k to him ro,coa talentes.”—WxCKa n, J Ia tt. xviii. 2 4.

fie ld that thou owist. —I b. xviii. 2 8.

You ought him a thousand pounds.”—Sirartasrm ne .

The knight, the which that castle might.”

Sm el l s , F. Queene, v1 . iii. 2 .

(3)As an auxiliary, it first appea rs in Labamon's Brut, he ah to don

has to do, he must do.

I owe for to be cristned.

”—Wtcxu rrx, Matt. iii. 1 4.

8 Those marked thus are later forms.

1 90 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE. [cum

Pres ent Participle . Past Participle .

wist

Present Sing

witan

Past Indic.

wiston

The original signification of O .E. wat, Goth. wit, is I haveseen (cp. Gr. om), hence 1 m , from the root wit or aid, to see .

(1 )Shakespeare has I wot, he wot, you wot, they wot.

(2 ),The old second person singularhas given way to wottest and

ro t orwots is sometimes found forwot.

(3‘

W ist , the true ast tense of wit, occurs frequently in the

Eng ish Bible ; but Sac vil le uses wotted, as

I , which wotted bestHis wretched drifts.

”-Dnhe J Bnehingham .

(4)Unwist unknown, undiscovered

Couldst thou hope , unwist, to leave my land7Sunm , {Ene id iv.

(5)W e tting O .E. witende (witing), occurs in the Wi nter’s Tale

(ed. Col l ier), iii. 2 . Cp. unwitting, unwittingly .

(6)To wit, a gerundial infinitive, is used as an adverb namely .

TO wart, a causative ofwit to learn, as

Then we in doubt to Phoebus'temple sent

Buripilus to weet th e prophesy .

”— Sunnav,

(7)Must and wist have an s, which is not found in the roots mot

andwit.

The past tenses are formed by adding to the

wit-te but,by a common law in the Teutonic dialects, the first t is

changed to s hence mos-te, wzs-te.

306. M ind, in the sense of to remember, as mind what you are about, has anon-radical d.

x1 1 1 . ] AN OMALOUS VERBS . 1 9 1

(meminisse)

muna (re cordari)munu

The O .E. (ge)-man is the past of an old form mina , cogito. In the Northerndialects of the fourteenth century , we find the O .N . man, mane, mun must,shal l , used as an auxihary verb .

307 . Own . I own I have done wrong I grant orconfess I have done wrong.

This verb seems to have arisen out of O .E. an , on, the first person Singular ofunnan, to grant, concede (cp. Ger. gi nnen)

Miche gode y e wold him an.— Tn

°

st. 1 . 66 .

Y take that me gode an .

”—Ib. iii . 7 .

Do, in How do you don the first verb we have the

.

ordinary do =f acere ; the second va le” ,

O .E. dugan, to avail , prevai l (Ger. taugen), Scotch dew .

O.E.

Present Indicative r deaha tingle

I3 de degh,’ dowes"

Pl . 1 dugon

Past Indicative , Sing. x doht'e, dowed” l

309 . T enses formed by Composition .

( I)Tenses are formed, not only by suffixes added to the verbal

root, but by using auxil iary verbs along with the participl es or in

finitive mood. This is cal led the analytical mode of expressing time .

The perfect tense is denoted by bar/e and is ; the future by size ]!andThe primary meaning of the wordnew is ‘

possession.

’ I t is easy to see howI nave my arms stretched out might pass into I law e stretched out my arms,

’

or how, in such phrases as he has put on his coat,’we have eaten ourbreak

fast,’

they liar/e finished theirwork,’a declaration of ossession of the object in

the condition denoted by the participle should come to e accepted as sufficientlyexpressing the completed act ofputting it into that condition the present possessive, in fact, impl ies the past action, and, if our use of have were limited to thecases in wh ich such an impl im tion was apparent, the expressions in which weused it, would be phrases only . When, however, we extend the implication of

225

:action to every variety of cases, as in I have discharged my servant,

’he

lost his breakfast,’we law e exposed their errors when there is no idea of

possession for it to grow out of ; orwith neuter verbs, You fume been in error,

’

h e ha s come from London,’

they have gone away where there is even no

object for the [gave to govern where condition and not action is expressed and‘

y ou are been,’he is come ,

’they are gone would be theoretical more cor

rect (as they are alone proper in German) en we have converte nave froman independent part of speech into a fairly formative e lement.

"—WH ITNEY.3 Those marked thus are later forms.

1 92 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cmun

(2 )In O .E. writers of the fourteenth andfifteenth centuries lawewasweakened to Ina, and in the sixteenth century we find it coalescingwith the passive participle .

The Jews wolden In: broken his bones.

L egends q oly Rood, p. 1 39, l . 2 37 .

Therefore ech man ha this in memory e .

Lvnoara, Armed. MS . fol . 376 .

I kc there to plesaunce .

”—Io. fol. 2 7 .

I knowlech to afe l id.

”—Wtcxu rra, AjoL/ or the Lol lards, p. r.I

I t shuld a fa l len on a bassenet or a helme .—Faoxssaa'

r, 1 . ch . ii 2 5.

Richardmight m ated hymself if he would afl ed awaie .

”if e of

Rickard 1 1 1 . in Hardyng, p. 547, reprmt of

(3)Do and did are used for forming emphatic tenses, as I doI did l ove.

”

his idiom did not make its appearance till about the thirteenth

century, and did not come into general use before the fifteenth

century .

Do (not causative)seems to have been used first as an auxil iarybefore imperatives, as

“Do gyf glory to thy Godde .—A 1 1it. Poems

, C. l. 2 04.

Lydgate. is the earl iest writer I know of that uses the modernconstruction of do and did as tense auxiliaries.IMO.E. do to make, cause, as

And if I do that lak,Dot/c strepe me, and put me in a sakAnd in the next ryver do me drenche .

Cruwczn, C . Ta les, ll . roo74-5.

I t was also usedas atpresent, to save the repetition of theprincipalverb, as

I love you more than y ou do me .

”

Sfl axnsrn an, K ing yohn, iv. 1 .

He slep no more than dot}: the nightingale .

-Cn.w caa, c. vn. l . 98 .

(4) In O .E. gan, can, was used as a tense auxiliary did.

But the details of this usage must be sought in the syntax ofauxiliary verbs.

1 Quowd by Marsh.3 i bid.

1 94 ENGLI SH ACCIDEN CE . [CHAR

Ich not to hwan thu bredst thi brodL ive: ne dea th“ne de th hit god.

”—0w l 6 DN igktingale , l . 1 634.

&Sp. O.E. wi l lee, will ingly rather, of a truth his tkonkes of his own accord,

The termination has disappeared in many of the olderwords , asday and mgkt, summer and w mter. Cp.

We shul be redy to stonde with you, lyfe and de the .

”—Gest. Rom . p. 37 .

The preposition of has taken the place of the genitive suffix, as

of necessity , of course, of oree, of purpose, of rig/it, of a trutk,of a day . We actual ly fin in the sixteenth century

“of a late day es,

”

as wel l as“(y

'

late day s.

”

Sometimes we have of (or in, at, a, on)with the old genitive, as

anigkts, of mornings, a mornings, on Sunday s, now-a-day s 0.E.

now-ou-day es, in-a -doors, &c.

There were some adverbs inO .E. singular, ending indative suffix, exi st

beedl inge), side l ing , sidelong ,

the genitive form, as a l lynges

J ingee under°

the form l ins,as

as a ny : in 0 .E. as Mus-grate thus-wise , aflegutes always

(a)DATIVE AND INSTRUMENTAL, ewr (O.E. efre), never (O .E.

ndjre), wkilom (O .E. kwi l -um), l imb-meal (O.E. l im-ma l-um), piecemeal .

ACCUSATWE, ay (O.E. d, Goth . niw), the M ile (0 .E. tkd

k e), m bi le (sumekwile), some dml (sumne dal), alway (O .E.

ealne weg), otkerwise (btkre arisen), O .E. tke morn l to-morn cp.

In such phrases as He went kome ,"

They wandered north and soutk,” I

saw biweste'day ,” They cry day and night unto him,

"Can ye dug/i t tel l ?

the wo 3 home, nortk, south, y esterday , &c. are adverbial accusatives.

(a)Many of the ol d accusatives now have agenitive form, as otker

way-s, alway s, lo

ngway s, strazgkt‘way s, anotkergates (cp. O .E. a lgates

always, tkusgates,&c. sidewa s. sometimes, otkerwkiles, somewkzl er,tke whil st. In the Ay enbite an in Piers P lowman we find tkerkuile,therliuy l , tkerkuy ls.

(b)In most Engl ish Grammars that I have seen a in a-year, a-day

yearly, daily, is treated as the indefinite article used distributively .

3 Thewas originally instrumenta l as O.E. t i}.

x1 v. ] AD VERBS . 1 95

A re ference to older writers at once shows that this treatment iswhol ly incorrect.

Thrywa on geare”

thrice a can—Exod. xxiii. 1 7 .

An halpenny on day”

a hal penny a day— P oke of Curtasy e, l . 6 1 6.

In some few words of French origin we have substituted a or on

forFr. en or a, es ecially in olderwriters around,

O.F. en rond. p. afine and infine, a stray , on stray , &c.

In O .E. we find in fora before words of French origin, as

Thet com a m e, the vines in Housing the corn in grass, the vine inflowering

—Aymar

a , p.

In a-feared, a-feard, an kungered, an kungry,a dread

, the prefix a is a corruption of the O .E. of; an intensitive

prefix, sometimes equival ent to for in forswear. In O .E. we find

a tkirst,on tkirst, and of tkirst.

A is also a weakened form of the preposition of or 0. A dozen

a beer (S. ROWLAND’S D iogenes), God a mercy ,”

mama-war.

”

Cp. Body 0 me,”

two a clock,”and two o clock .

”

In the compound 7 aek-an-apes, the a or 0 becomes on before avowel , just as we find in O .E. on before vowels and the letterk, and

a before consonants, as an ertke in earth , an kand in hand, &c.

II. PREPOSITIONAL : a-way1(O .E. on-wag), a-baek (O .E. on-beee),

a-gain (O .E. on-

gedn), a-day (on -dage), to-day (O .E. tb-dage), to-nzgkt(O .E. tb-n ikte), a nikt (on nikt), to-morn , to-morrow (O .E. tb-mergen),O .E. to-y ere (this year), to-eve (yesterday evening), to-wkiles mean

while, adown (O.E. d-dune).Cp. abed, afoot, asleep (on sleep), al ive (on l ife), akead, on bead,

ou—brood,a-broock

,askore, arow, aloft, apart, among, across,

a keigkt, an end, afront, a-door,besides (0 .E. besides, besiden), of

kin (akin), of kind (natural ly), ofpurpose, barons-e, by elianee,per/naps,

In O .E. we find asides, on side’

s kand : aside, apart ; by nor-the, b sent/ie, by

peeem l e, by m (by chance).

O ther but more recent adverbial forms of this nature are—by no

nu ns, by any ma ns, before/land, at at nzgkt, at times,at kngtk,

‘d l -gaze (agaze), by degrees, sop-stairs, indoors, infact, in deed.

The preposition is sometimes omitted,as“they went back

”

aback),“this stick was broke em s

-s”

across).

8 CE

. Innes a Court men (Earle’

s Com o ed. Arber, p.

9 T e a an has the same meamng as on : nt an m usedbefore cansonl nts.a before vowe ls. C anon, m nde .

I t occurs as an in “word, ”Thin holy blod thet thou ssedest ane the rod.

”—Ayenbite, p. x.

The robe of scarlet erthan the t the kuen his do an.—Ib. 1 67 .

3 Inga le

?Cat-mag . (ed. Arber)we find at tbe M , at bediiides (p. as), in

summe 33

1 96 ENGLISH A CCIDENCE. [en/tr.

I I. Adjectival Adverbs.

(I)In 0 .E. many adverbs are formed from adjectives by meansofthe suffix -e.

1 Thus an adjective in -l ic l ike was converted into anadverb by this means, as biterl ie (adjective), biterl iee (adverb), bitterly .

The loss of the adverbial e reduced the adverb to the same form as

the adjective : hence 0.E. faste, faste, becamefast; faire,fair, &c.l i e smot kim karde he smote him kard.Cp. to work hard, to sleep sound, to speakfair.

In Elizabethan writers we find the adverbial -ly often omitted, as

grievous sick,”

miserable poor.

”

(2 )Many adjective forms, especially those of irregularcomparison,as wel l , muck, l ittle, &c. , are used as adverbs.

3)GENITIVE FORMS, as el se (O.E. el les), backwards, forwards,upwards, eftsoons, uneatkes, unawares.

(4)ACCUSATIVE, ere (O .E. ar), enougk (O.E. genbk), backward,

(5)DATIVE, seldom : cp. 0 .E. on-ferrumgreatly l itlum and ly tlum paulatim.

’

Lere hem l itlum and ly tlum .

”—P iers P lowman , B. p. 2 86 .

In later times the infiexion dro ped, and we often find the pre

positional construction instead, as l ittle and l ittle. 8 Cp.

So did the waxen image (10)by m ale and m ale decrease .

Theylove the mull et greate ,

DRAW S Horace, Sat. 1 1 2

An y et domynoe her sma le and sma le .

”- Ib.

My rentes come to me tlzieke and tkieke .

”—Ib. i i . 3.

(6)INSTRUMENTAL, yore (O .E. gedra), y et (O.E. geta), soon (0.E.

(7)PREPOSITIONAL FORMS, amidst‘ (O .E. on-middum, amidde,

a sudden, at unawares (at unaware

of neere, in open openly), in

accompany the comparative and superla

at last, O .E. afi e ld-rte at the last ; al t:

O .E. atte beste, at the best at least, &c.

1 Probably the old dative ending.

Sometimes in 0 .E. we find -en for -um , as wkzlen, selden.

3 The genitive form is sometimesmet with, by l ittle: and l ittlest.

4 The t in such words as amidst, amongst, is merely euphonic ; cp. 0.E

lonist alon onest once).

s n low alsogticcurs iiiElizabe than l iterature ; cp. in briv, &c.

i ga ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [ciurn i

( 1 4)Out, about (O .E. at, ate, utan, b-utan, ymb

-utan), witbout

In O.E. we have ia

B.—Paonoumu . Anvmms.

Table of Adverbs connectedwit/i tbe Sta n he, the , who.

PRONOMINALST 8 31 8 .

l ANNBR. CAUSE.

where whither whence when haw why

thither thence

( i)Adverbs connected with the demonstrative the

There (0.E. tbdr, Mar), original ly lx ab‘

w ; re is probably a

shortened form of der (Sansk.

Thither (O .E. tbider) contains the locative sum: an” ; corre

sponding to O .N . Mat/Era, Sansk. ta-tra tnitbaw rd (0.E. Mailer

Then (0.E. tbanne, Monne, tbenne), accusative singular.

s It isthe same word as the conjunction th at .We find in 0.E. Ma, tlw then, thence ; nonth now then.

Th ence (0.E. Man-an, than-on, tbanon,“m ature ; later forms,tkanene, tbannene, tbenne-s, tben -s)has two mazes (x)as, original lyperhaps the locative of the demonstrative stem na (existing in

adjectives in -en, and in passive participles); and (2 )the genitive « e

-es, which came in about the thirteenth century.

It is of th e same origin9 Cp. Latin tu-m, tun-c, taunt , ta

the demonstrative stem ta, cognate Wi th English

zoo ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [exam

(4)From the reflexive stem 31

So (0.E. swd), an instrumental case of swa

Al so and as are compounds of so with the adjective all .

5)From the demonstrative stem ya, y ou, .y ond, y onder, beyond.

See Demonstrative Pronouns, 1 8x p. x2 8.

(6)From the relative stem y a

In Sansk. y a-s, yd, y a-t qui, quz , quod.

Y ea (O .E. gm, gia later forms, y bo, ya, y e Goth. ja)

Ye-s (O .E. ge-se later forms, 5is, y /l is).

The suffix s -se)in y es is the present sub'

unctive of the root as,to be O .E. si, Ger. sei l et it be . In 0 . there was a negativene-se ; O .E. nets not ne was was not.

7 0 4 (O .E. a tes, geta, a t)contains the same root.x The Latinja-nc contains

(7)From an interrogative stem y e

Yesterday (0.E. g strandag). This adverb is cognatewith Goth .

Lei-s-tra, Lat. Iteri (be s-ternu-s), Gr. xoe'

s, Sansk. fly-as fia-dyas).

The sumz -tra -ter)is comparative.

From the demonstrative sam

Sam , together, used by Spenser=0 .E. saman, samen cp. O .E.

sarn-od, sans-ad ; Goth. sam-at/i , together ; Gr. &pa Lat. simul .

(9)From Sun-dor

Asunder O .E. on sundron, on sundow n)and sun-def (O .E.

sundar, Goth. sun-dro, separately, apart).

(1 0)From the demonstrative na

(a)Now (0.E. nu —cp. Lat. nu-n-e, num, nam, ne, Gr. wily ;

(b)ne not, as in Chaucer ; (e)no (O .E. na) and (d)nay .

His hors was good, but he ne was nought gay .

”—Prol . l . 74.

In 0 .E. ne neither, nor. Spenseruses it

N e let him then admire,But y ield his sence to bee too blunt and baoe.

”- F. Q. n. Intr. 4.

t I!(O .E. i is by some philologists connected with Goth. iba

perhaps?

lestfi

fh‘ipa probably the dative case-

of iba doubt cpfit'

cel . e?on i

Ci). O.E. nutna, stout/la now then.

CHAPTER XV.

PREPOSI'

I‘

IONS.

31 4. PREPOSITIONS are so named because they were original lyrefixed to the verb

,in order to modify its meaning. Thev express

1 )the relations of space, (2 )other relations derived from.

those ofspace, and marked in some languages by casePrepos

'

tions are either simple or compound.

1 . Simpl e Prepositions.

In (O .E. in)is connected with on, an, a, from a demonstrativestem a no.

Before a dental n shows a tendency to disappe’

as tooth z tanth. So in our

dramatists and O .E. writers we find

At (O .E. at)al so contains the stem a (cp. Sanskritd-dhi, Lat. ad-dhi Gr.

O f (0.E. of; of ; ref ; Goth. a] ; from Lat. ab, Gr. dad, Sansk.

apa).

By , O .E. bi (cp. Sansk. a-bhi, ofwhich the sufi x -bhi Gr.-¢i,

Lat. -bi a nasal ized form of a-bhi is found in Gr. dropt, Lat. ambo ,0 .Sax. umbi, O .E. umbe, eri be, ymbe, mm , Ger. unz

For (0.E. for, Goth. flair, O .H. 157 , M ); e fore (O .E. an »

foran).From (O .E.fl un g/90m fi a

,fi o O .N .flat).The m is a superlative sufi x (cp. Sanskritpara-m , frompara, cognate with

En fore

In t.jmsame root is seen in for-th , f url-ther, jar. Cp. Sansk pm , Gr. 1 90,

On (0.Sax. an O .Fris. an, d O .N . d ; Goth. ana), up-ON.

Up (0 .E. up), formed from a stem ru t-pa. Cp. Sansk. upa near

Gr. dad, near, under Lat. s-ub Goth. iup 0.H.Ger. u]:

Out (O .E. ut) the older form is seen in utter, utmost.

2 04 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE . [cru x

W ith (O .E. with,wither, from, inst). We have amore original

form in O .E. , viz. mil , with ; th. mith, Sansk. w ithas, Gr.

from?from a demonstrative stem ma. Wither (or with)is a com

parative form, in which if: is replaced by w (cp. Goth . withra).

To (O .E. tb). I t is often used in the sense of for, as tofi end

for friend”

(Spenser), to wifé, &c.

Too (adv.)is another form of the same word.

I I . Compound Prepositions .

(r)Comparatives

After (0.E. af-ter), a comparative formed from of; see Comparison of Adjectives. We have the same root in art, eft, abafi , &c.

Over (0.E. ofer)is a comparative connectedwith up, and withthe compound above (0.E. a-b-ufan) cp. Sansk. upari, Gr.Lot. super ; 0 .E. ujera, higher.

Under (O .E. un-der, Goth. un-dar, Sansk. an-tar, Lat. in-ter)contains the root in (see p. with the comparative sufiix -ther

Through (O .E. thur-h, O .Sax. thur-ah, Goth. thair-h, Ger.

dur-eh from root tdr, to go beyond ; cp. Lat. tra-ns, Sansk. tiras,

Thorough is merely another form of through.

(a)Prepositions compoundedwith prepositions : into (0.E. intil l),upon, beneath, underneath, afar, before, behind, bgmnd, within, without, throughout [O .E.foreby , at-jbre, on-fi ran a/bre), tofore].

But O .E. butan be-utan)originally signified be out. In

provincial Engl ish it signifies without.

Above a (on) be w e (0 .E. bufan be-ufan). Sec upand over

, 531 2 , p. 1 97.

About d be out (0.E. dhaton d-be-utan).

Among, amongst (O.E. ge-rnang, on gemong ; later forms,

Unto in O.E. often until ; unt Goth. unde, to ; O.Fris. out,to ; O.Sax. unt, unte; 0.E. 6th until.

Until unt till .

2 06 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR xv .

O ther prepositions of this kind are , around,a-slant, a -shaun t,

be-low, be-twixt (O .E. bdweoh-s, be-tzoeon, from twi, two), betwee n(O .E. be-tweonum, bdvy nan), atzoeen, atnnlrt.

Ao- ent-is 0 .E. ou-q ir, on-emn, near, toward (later forms, ou

Jen-t, anent, anentes, anens, anence).

A thwart, over-thwart, thwart (O.E. thwar,on thweorh O .N .

Fast by (O .E. onfast, near) cp. hardby , forbi .

S ince (0.E. siththan later forms, siththe, sithe, sin, sen sit/len s,sithence, sinnes, sins

0.E. no but, not but only .

(5)Verbal prepositions

The fol lowing prepositions arise out of a. participial construction

notwithstanding, owing to, outtahen (now replaced by except), &c.

Ther is non, o uttaken hem ns —Wrcxr.1m , Marh 1m. 32 .

31 5. I II . Prepositions of Romance Origin .

aprms

means 4; by reason of, by virtue of; in accordance with , in

addition to, in case of, in comparison to, in compl iance with,

minus,previous to, relatively to, around, round, round about.

S ith is an adjective = O.E. sith, late : M a z b rth msh em rds .

The root is sinth cp. Goth . sui t/c, a way .

Many of these have arisen out of the old dative (absolute)construction.

CHAPTER XVI .

CONJUNCTIONS.

31 6. Comoncrrons join sentences and cc-ordinate terms. Ao

cording to meaning, they are divided into

Co-ordinate, joining independent prepositions (a)copulative, as

and, al so, &c. (b)disjunctive, as or, else, &c. (c)adversative, as

Sub-ordinate, joming a dependent clause to a principal sentence

(a)those used in joining substantive clauses to the principalas that, whether (b)those introducing an adverbial clause, marking

(3)condition— if, unless, exc¢t (4)purpose, end— that, so, lest.

31 7. According to theirorigin, conjunctionsmay be divided intopronominal , numeral

,adverbial , substantive, prepositional , verbal ,

compound.

( 1 )Pronom inal

And (0.Sax. endi, O .H.Ger. anti, from the stem ana).

An if (Goth. an, O .E. ono). I t is sometimes written one

and frequently joined to ifi

Ehe also (0 .E. cc), hence, how, so,al so, as

, just as, as faras, in so far as, whereas, lest, then, than,

1 thence,no sooner than,

though,a al though, therefore, that, y ea, nay , what and (O .E.

or, nor.3

(2 )Numeral —both,first, secondly , &c.

We oceasional ly find as in Scotch, or and nor instead of than .

0.E. hedh , Goth. ha re-h, from the demonstrative stem the .

3 Or and nor are contractions of other, nother either, neither.

2 08 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR XVI.

besides, onpurpose that, at times, if (see footnote on p.

(4)Adjective (Adverbia l) even,

al ihe, accordingly , cons-eh

W 1}, dirxtb’s fiw y s lastly : namely , M y W 1] , my ,

now, anon . . anon, lest, unl ess

(0.E. onla se), &c.

5)Prepositional

except, excqoting, save,

saving, &c.

7)Compounds , beingabbreviated forms of expression:not only ,

’

nath less, nevertheless, nathemore (Spenser), 0 .E. nathemo, 0.E. never

the later, that is, that is to say , may be, were it not, were it so, be it

so, be so, how be it, al beit, O .E. al &c.

So in O .E. eve-have warne , warn were it not, unless (cp. 0 .H .Ger. nur

nt’

wart were it not), equivalent to the O .E. né re tha t, were i t not. Cp.

qat'

n qm’

ne why not), 0 that.

sip-84m , after that..E. na lces tlue t an ac eac ; nathla s =O.E

les the for th,?

let : the.

zro EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR xvn .

(5)Protestation— indeed, tnfaith,perdy , gaa

'

,1 egad, ecod, ads, odd,

odd s bob, odd’s pettihins, ua

'

sfoot, ods bodhins, od zoohs, zoohs,adso,

’sdeath,

’slgfe, sounds,

’sbud

,

’sblood, lord, marry ,

i /dahin, jingv, 2 by l ingo, deuce, dyce, devil , gemminy(6)Cal ling and exclaim ing— hz

’

l loa, hol la, ho, so ho, hey ,hey ,

hem, harow (O .Fr. haro, a cry forhelp), help, hoa, bravo, wel l done,harh, looh, see, oy es, mum,

hzst, whist, tut, tush, silence, peace, away ,

(7)Doubt, consideration— why , hum,hem (Lat. hem), humph,

(8)Many interjections are what are cal led imitative words, or

onomatopa ias

Sounds produced (a) by inanimate objects—ding-dong,bim-bom, ting

-tang, tich-tach, thwach, whach, talang, bang, whiz,

thud, whop, slap, dash, splash, clanh,puj l

(b)By animate obje cts— bow-wow, mew,caw

, purr, croah,coeh-a-doodle-do, cuchoo, tu-whit, to-whoo, tu-whu, wehe-wehe, ha ha .

3

1 In gad, egad, od, the name of the Deity is rofane ly used. In the MiddleAges peo ls swore by

_parts of Chnst

’

s body , by is sides, face , fee t, bones hair

l’ sfac God'

s hair) blood, wounds (sounds,’od

's nouns God

'

s wounds),re ; also by the Virgxn h

‘Iary (b the mackins = by the maiden) by the massal so, by the prty andmercy of as

“by Coddes m ;

by God’s sancuti es (God

’

s sonties).3 y ingo,jinhcrs .S

'

t. Gi loh .

3 Used to imi tate the scan of a horse’s neigh, as 7ob xxxix. as. Luther use:

CHAPTER XVI I I.

DERIVATION AND wonn Fonua'

rron .

31 9. ROOTS, as we have seen, are either predicatiw or demon

strative,and constitute the primary el ements of words. See 58.

The root is the signifiestive part of a word, as bair-n

, 0 .E. ber-n,contains the root bar, to bear. Suffixes serve to modify the root

meaning, as the n in bair-n, which is identical with the en in the

passive participle of strong verbs : hence bairn one bor-n or

brought forth. Thus from the verb spin, by adding the suffix dd ,

l enoting the instrument or agent, we get spi-der,1 the spinner.

Suffixes were once independent words, which, by being added to

principal roots to modify their meaning, gradual ly lost their inde

pendence and became mere signs of relation, and were em loyed

asformative elements. Cp. the origin of the adverbial s -ly ,which original ly signified lihe.

To get at the root of a word we must remove al l the formative

elements, and such changes of vowel as have been produced by the

addition of relational syl labl es.

A theme or stem is that modification that the root assumes before

the terminations of declension and conjugation are added, as love-d ;loo luf)is the root love Info)is the theme or stem ; -d is the

sufi x of the past tense.

32 0. Themes are formed from roots

g)by the addition of a demonstrative root,

(2 )by a change of the root vowe l, (3) y combining other stems, (4)by redupl i

canon.

In Engl ish very many formative e lements have been lost, especially those of

demonstrative orig in . Gothic has retained more of these suffixes once commonto al l the Aryan langu es : thus from the rootguf : give, the formedpf -ua gig{

If -01, generous, beral gaf ta , marriage dowry ; pf te-l ic, belonging toa

3k g7f-an, to give gi v en-dc, giving, a giver. Here the root-vowel a i s

yr en to z.

English a radical n often disa pears before d th as tooth, 0.E. ted , in :

tonth ; cp. O.H. Ger. tand, Ger. rai n, Lat. dens.

P 2

2 1 2 ENGLISH A CCIDENCE . [ca lm

ve get a

SUFFIXES (OF TEUTONIC ORIGIN).

32 1 . I . Nouns (Substantives and Adjectives).

(A) VOWEL Sursrxns.

Many words have lost a vowel sufi x in Enghsh from the earliesttime. Cp. 0 .E. wulj; a wolf; with Lat. lug

s-s,l Sansk. oarh-a-s

0.E. hund, a hound, Goth. hund-s, Gr. n r,Lat. cani-s, Sansk.

shunas hunas) O.E. deor, Goth. diu-s, Gr. Mp, Lat. fera.

Modern Engl ish has thrown off, or reduced to silent letters, manyolder vowel endings, as

0.E. duru, dore, a door, Goth. daura, Sansk

O .E. cneow, the knee, Goth. hniu, Gr. 7 6W , Lat. genu.

2

The suflix -ow represents in some few substantives an older suffix,( l)u. 2 )wa

ydlow 0.E. geolu, Lat. gilzrus.swal low O.E. stool -ewe, O .H.Ger. swal -awa,sinew O.E. sinewe, seonu, O .H.Ger. senawa.

3 S s

ign of nominative .

0 Eng. and or band corresponds to Gothic bandi. Cp. Lat. nouns in o ia , asin d-ia , hunger, from root ed, eat Gr. 11011 1 1 in ca, as new-ao , poverty, fromnevi » ;Sansk. wel -y a, knowledge .

“al i mon y others it is lost, even in the oldest English, tbthftooth ; Goth. tunc.

2 14 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE . [cu/Ir.

In proper names, as Dawhin (David), Simkin (Simon), y enhins

(7 01m), Perhins (Peter).

3) l ug (patronymic).— O.E. Soil/l ing, the son of Shi/f ; El ising,the son ofEl isa (El isha). Cp. names of towns in - ing-ton.

(4) l ug (ending in substantives which original ly had an adjectivalmeaning). Athel ing, hing (O .E. ey n

-ingl ), lord-ing (lordl ing).

penny (O .E. pend ing, pen -ing), shil l :ng, herring, whi ting, gelding,

5) l ug (diminutive). Farthing, riding trithing), O .E.

These forms are properly fractional . Cp. O .N . thn'

thjungr , i , jjdrthungr, i .

(6)L ing l ing (diminutive).

(a)Darl ing, duchl ing, foundl ing, gosl ing, starl ing, sapl ing, seedl ing, suchl ing, y earl ing, y oungl ing.

(b)I t has a depreciative sense in groundl ing, h irel ing, world

(7)The diminutival -ing seems to have weakened to y (ie), inBil ly, Betty cp. Scotch lassie

,laddie.

(8) Ing (sufiix of verbal nouns O .E. nugs). —Being, clothing,

(9) I sh (O .E.-isc).— (I)Engl ish, I rish, Welsh, Scotch ; (2 )out

landish,heathenish

,womanish

,boohish

,hoggish 3)reddish, greeni sh,

L,R ‘(e l , er).

(a)Substantives in -le,-1, O .E.

-el -ol,-ul

,J), as angle O .E.

ang-el), apple, beadle, bramble, bridle, devil , bundle

, fiddle, ic-icle,hettle, nettle

,navel , runnel

,saddle

,sladdle

,shambles, sichl e, settl e

,

1 Cp. Sansk .jan-aha , a father, producer: from fan, to produce . Sansk. putraha , a l i ttle son fromputm a son .

2 In the province ofMecklenburgwe find re

fso used. yehanning J

hindting , laddy . But ie may be a softening o aich och .

3 J ug in O .E. (fourteenth century)represented (z) -ung, (a) e vade ,(3)-enne it now represents ( 1)-ung, (a)~ende , -inde.

4 These two sumacs represent an Aryan ar (al). They are not, as is usua l l yafi rmed m En lish Grammars, diminutive sufi xes, but denote the agent, instrument, &c. Cp. t. ee l-la sed-la), seat ; agi l rs, active . Gr. fln-Adv s threshold.

nopw-bho—s, bent. Lat. ca-ru-s, dear. Gr. vex-pé-s, corpse.

xvm . ] SUFFIXES . 2 1 5

staple, thistle, tile, throstle, whistle, fowl , hail , heel , nail , sail,tail ,

soul , wheel .

In the Scotch dialect e l has become rel , as bethe rel beadle gangre l , abeggar,

(b)Adjectives in -l e,

-1 (O .E.-el

,-ol), as l ittle O .E. ly tel ;

O .E. fic-ol brittle,evil

,il l

,idle

,michle, tichle (unsteady).

O E. drunk-chew , cost- l-ew , choh-l -ew , sic-l -ew .

(c)Substantives in r (O .E.-or,

-er,

-r), as hammer (O .E. hamor),wat-er (O .E. wa ter), tear (O .E. teag

-ar,tear

,ta r).

Adder,bee r

,beaver, bower, calver, chafer, finger, hunger, l iver, lair,

summer, silver, stair, timber, tear, thunder, wonder, water, winter.

(d)Adjectives in -r O .E.-or

,-er,

-r), bitter, fair, l ither, sl ipper-y

M .

‘

(1 )Blossom,bloo-m (O .E. blo-ma), besom (O .E. bes-ma), om

(O .E. gu-ma), helm of ship (0 .E. heal -ma), thumb (O .E. th -ma),

team (O .E. tea-ma).

(2 )A shortened form of this suffix 2 is found in arm,harm, beam,

bottom, bosom, doom,dream, fathom, gleam, halm,

helm , holm,home

,

palm, qualm, seam, stream,sl im, team, worm.

Adjectives : war-m (cp. Lat. for-mu-s,warming ; Gr. Oep

-pb-s ;

Sansk. ghar-ma-s, warm) O .E. ar-m

, poor.

(3)A suffix ma appears in superlatives with m, as for-m-ost, ut

m -ost, &c.

N .

Participles : brohen, beaten , haw-n

,

3&c.

Substantives : bai -rn ,beacon ,

burden,churn , chin

,corn , heaven ,

iron (0 .E. iren), hitchen ,maiden, main, morn, oven, rain, raven , thane,

Original ly man . Cp. O .E. na-ma Lat. no-men ; Sansk. nit-man Gr. 7m

nu (opinion).We find this sufiix in the participles of the present, perfect, and future tenses

in Greek and Sanskrit, as Gr. dul é-pevo-g,‘t eTvp

-

pé l 'og ; Sansk. da-sy a-mdnas

Gr. dw-a é -p evog.

9 m for ma (orm i), as dim , 0.H.Ger. ton-m, smoke, Lat. f at-mus, Sansk .

dhuouza ; ha lnz, Lat. cala-mu-s, Sansk. hula -ma -s.

3 Original ly na . We find this suffix in Sanskritpassive participles, as bhug-na-s,

bent ; bhag-na-s, broken in Gr. nouns ofHarticipial origm, as f i x-vow , chil d,

brought forth ; in Lat. adj. aspie -nuts, fu (t .e. fi lled).It i s no doubt of demonstrative origin this

, tha t, he re ; hence, l ike the at ofth e passive participles ofweak verbs, i t denotes possession.

as6 ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [CHAR

swine, when, thorn, yarn, weapon, wain vi t ae} O.E. w lm e,

Adjectives women, ashen, buchen, brazen, flaxas,glassen , gv ,

lden heathen,WM l inen, oaken, eaten, silken, Wheaten,wooden

, (z)brown, even,firin, gran, lean, heathen, stem ; (3)eastern,northern, southern , western.

These last contain sumz r n .

In chick-en, bi tten, the sufi x qen has a diminutival force .

N , ND .

’

(O . .E afen, O S. abant,el¢hant (O .E. Goth. ul bandns, Lat. el ephantus), errand ‘

O .E.-end ( .O E. fiond, eond), fi

-zerxd ‘se r

éeogoth, O . 11 .

/Ger. tiding (O.E.

present participles in the oldes t English endedm -nd -ende,-ande ; later, -inde, -end, -and,

-inge).

I . Addice, adze (O.E. adesa); axe (O . .E eax ; Goth. 419i);bl iss (from bl ithe . ep. 0.E. milse, from mild), eaves (O.E. e ese).

II. Axle (O.E. eaxle , Gr. aehsd) housel (O .E. hd-sel , M lGoth. hun-sl , a. sacrifice), onsel , onzel (O.E. bsle; O .H .Ger. ant-bald).

L

From the combination -ls, the s has dro t off in modernBurial (0 .E. byrgel s, a burying

-

place bridle (O .E.

t The original meaning is of or pertaining to the f ox ; the feminine sufi x (e)is lost. See remarks on vixen under GENDER.

f3 Originally a wn-ticipial snflix, cp. O.E. berende , Goth. bdrm-miss ; Lat.

firm s ; Gr. pe’

paw (¢épov'

ros

3 From root as, to be quis Fromf reon to love.

6 We findy oung th m the sixteenth-century writers, as if it were formed fi'

omy onn7 5mm a root oh, to blow.

3 I . In the all ied lan eswe find a sufi x -as (us, is)m abstract substantivesLat. tonnes, a body 5; ¢Aé7 -cc, a flame (burning); Sansk. nedhas, greatness0.E. ege-sa , fear, awe :Goth.

.

ag'

zls ; O .S. egzs , fnght.I I . This suflix in the Teutonic dialects 18 added (a)to al , el , whence 4 a!(set),

and by metathesis -e ls, as O.E. re de l s ; Ger. rdthsel ; (b)to the suffix tn (orne

w),whence (x)—assn (Gothic), and ( 2 by addition of n, nassa ,

’ O.E. nissO .H.Ger. nessi, nissi, niss, nass ; 3)est, (4)by addition of r, ester

zr8 EN GLIm ACCIDEN CE. (can .

Ther.

3

(x)This suffix, marking the agent, occurs in terms of relationshipcommon to all the Aryan languages

— brother, daughter, father.

(2 )It is found in other substantives, under the forms -ther,-der

,

-ter,-dle (marking the instrumw t)

bladder, fodder, fbster, ladder, murder,E. nadl ,

‘ Goth. né-thla ( no-thra), cp.

Gr. -'rps,-8po,

-8pa ;emu

, 4 M),-8M

,J i m; Lat. nouns in tru-m

,

&c. as ara-tru-m, fulgetra, l ightning).

(3)See comparatives in -ther, s 1 1 3, p. 1 06 .

Er (O .E. ere er a demonstrative y a Goth. ei-s ; O.H.Ger.

as baher, O .E. be cere.

(I)This sufi'

ix forms nouns from (a)strong verbs, as grinder, rider,y ea/her, singer (b)weak verbs, as leader, lover, lender (e)fromsubstantives, as mil ler, gardener, changer, treasurer.

few words have i inserted before er, probably under the

I I. Noun Sumacs from Predicative Roots .

32 2 . The fol lowing formations might real ly be treated under the

r. SUBSTANTIVES.

Craft (0.E. era/t), priest-craft, boohqerafl , leeeh-erafl , star-craft,

Cp. 0.E. std -erg ? letter-craft), grammar.

Kind (O .E. gm), mankind.

Cp. O .E. treow-cy n (tree-kind), wood.

The sufiix hin in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries became

less frequently used than in the earl ier eriods, and the word hin

was employed instead, as all es hinnes bo s”

books of every kind ;hence arose the fol lowing compounds z—adeshyns, noshy nnes, nahin,

Saga me hwa t bbe-hinna and hu fela syndon.—S ol . and Sat .

Qnathin wha tkin)man mai this be 7 —CursorM undi.

-tar, -ter, is the snfi st e y ed to form nom’

na

agentis : cp. Sansk . ,M tar ; norijp ; Langater ; O.E.f father, &c. fi-om the

root fa , to feed.

a £4 in Gothic -a,-e , m O .E.)denotes the agent. Haird-ci O .E..

herde Ger. hzrt-e . Cp. 0. hunta , hunt-er ; mebba, weaver.

xvm .) SUFFIXES . 2 1 9

Dom 1 (O .E. dbm, judgment, authority, dominion Ger.-thum),

thraldom,hal idom, wisdom, hingdom (O .E. hine-dom), duhedom.

Em (O .E. em O .N . rann,house), bar-n ,

from bere, barley.

Cp. 0.E. sléfiern, a sl eeping place horsem , a stable.

Fare (way , course). Thoroughfare, chaf er, welfare.Ard (O .E. heard, hard, cp. meegen

-heard, m ight-hard, iren-heard,

iron-hard ; O .H .Ger.-hart O .Fr.

-ard); bast-ard, bay ard, braggart,buzzard. coward, dul lard, laggard, haggard, n iggard, sluggard, staggard, standard, sweetheart. But dastard O .E. dastrod, frightened.

Hood, h ead (0 .E. hdd, state , rank, person, character; laterforms-hed, hod O .Fris. he’d O .H.Ger. -heit).

( 1 )Manhood, childhood, brotherhood, godhead, maidenhead.

(2 )Hardihood, l ihel ihood; l ivel ihood, which original ly meant l ivel i

ness, but it now stands for the O .E. l if-lode l ijé-leading)sustenance .

L ock (O .E. ldc, gift, sport), wed-loch, knowledge (O .E. cnowlach,cnowlech cnawlac)L ock . d i ck (O .E.

-leac,-l ic)in the names of plants leeh (O .E. leac); bar

ley (O .E. berl ic bere plant) garl ich (spearplant) hem-loch, char-loch .

M eal (0 .E. ma l , time division), under-meal noontide, cp.piecemeal . See adverbs, 31 1 , p. 1 94.

Red (O .E.-riden mode, fashion); hat-red, hin-d-red (O .E.

hy n-red).

Rick (O .E. rice power, dominion); bi shopn'

ch, cp. O .E.

heveneriche, hinerich ( hine-riche hine royal).

Sh ip (O.E. scipe, seepe shape , manner, form); fi i endship,lordship, worship, hardship, land-ship, land-scape (cp. O.N . land

W righ t (0 .E. wyrhta, wrihte, a workman), wheel -wright, play

Tre e (wood), ax le-tree, O.E. dore-tre (door-post, bar of a door).

B eam (tree), horn-beam.

z. ADJEcrrvEs.

Fast (0.E. fast, fast, firm), steadfast, shamefaced O .E. shame

fast), rootfast, soothfast.

Fo ld (O .E. fi ald, fold), twofold, manifold.

F1 1 1 (0 .E. fut, ful l), hateful , wilful O .E. un'

l lerficl ).

1 Dom (ordoosm)is formed from the verb do, just as 06mg from Tloflfiu .

zzo EN GLISH ACCIDENCE.

L ess (O.E. lads ; Goth. laus), loose from ; it has no connection

with less, the comp. of l ittle ; fearless, joy less, guil tl ess.

Ly , l ike Goth.

'MKW)’go46’s maflb’s£00435Som e (O.E. sum ; O .N.

-samr ,° 0 .H.Ger. sam same, l ike),

Teen , ty = ten. See Numerals, 1 2 9, p. 1 1 2 .

W ard (0.E. weard , Goth.«mon ths, be coming, leading to : con

nected with weorthan, to be, Sansk. vrit, Lat. vert-ere, to turn),forward, toward, untoward.

W ise (0.E. wis, mode, way, manner) righteous (O.E. n’

ht-wis,rightwise) boisterous (O .E. bostwy s).

W orth (0 .E. weorth, worth), dear-worth (precious), stalworth.

I I I. Adverbial Sufi xes.

For the sufi xes -es,-s,

-um, &c. see Adverbs, 531 1 , pp. 1 93— 1 96.

Ly (O .E. l ice, the dative of l ie, l ike), only , utterly, wichedly ,

L ing, long E. J unga

M g

nasal ized forms of -l ice, -It2ce),darkl ing, headlong, sidel ing, See Adverbs, 3I 1 O .E.

nosel ing, bachl ing, &c.

M eal , piece-meal , flock-meal (used by Chapman), l imb meal

(Cymbel ine, ii. See p. 2 1 9.

W ard, wards, hitherward, backwards, downwards, &c.

W ise (manner, mode), othm ozlse, nowise, l ihewi se.

W ay -s . See Adverbs, p. 1 94.

IV . V erbal Sufi xe s .

The verbal suffixes, whichwe find in Gothi c andOldEngl ish, havenearly al l disappeared.

The oldest Teutonic verbal sufi xes were , as in Gothic, (r)ja (er , (a)b a),)a i, al l of which can be traced to a more primitive sufi x ay a from th e root

1 go).Thus the suffix b was used to form verbs fi'

om nominal themes, as from Gothi cfish -s , a fish, camefi shon O .E.fi sc-ia—n, to fish.

A few causative verbs in modern Engl ish are expressed by vow el

change, but the 511 6 1: that caused it has been lost. 1

I to gof are, andf er-inn, carry ,f erry .

2 2 2 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cum

I . Substantive Compounds .

( 1 )Substantive and Substantive .

(a)Descriptive, as gar-l ich, spear-plant,

church-y ard, head-man .

(b)Appositional , as bah-tree, beech-tree.

(c)Genitive, as kinsman, Tuesday , doomsday .

Loadsman andguard s-man had no s in the oldestEnglish.

(d)Accusative, as man -hil l”,blood-mo lding.

Compounds like h ard-l ieutenan t, earl-marsha l are of French origin.

In many compound terms the elements have become changed

obsolete, and are not easily recognized.

hang-nail

bere-m

brim-stone

brida l

grunsel

Lammas

auger

orchard

nose-thy rel

titmouse

1 sore, pain.

r

i

g?“a pen, stall :fone

a sore underthe nail

a dog chained upbarley

-house

bum -stone

bride-ale, i .e. bride

feast

God’s word 9

ground-sil

stal l -cow

ice-jagloaf-massmoul d-thrower

naveborer

nose -hole

herb garden

cl imbing-1 0 e

guardian o cattle,domestic offices, &c.

sage sty, stal l

troop-shield

thd toad, frog,andpol pool

li te l ittle, andmdse : hedge-Sparrow

werold (wer man

dd age).

3 Some say gospel good tidings .

cow, connectedwith O .E.fear, bul l, ox.

toad in the pool

xv1 1 1 . ] SUBSTAN TI VE COMP OUNDS. 2 2 3

(2 )Substantive and Adjective free-man, mid-day , mid-mght,mid-summer, blach-bird, alder-man .

Cp. neighbour O .E. nedh-bur one who dwel ls nearmid-riff O .E. mid-hrif:mid middl e hrzf =body, uterus.

3)Substantive and Numeral— twi -lzght, sen-n ight, fort-n ight.

(4)Substantive and Pronoun— self-wil l , self-esteem.

5) Substantive and Verb—gri nd-stone, whet-stone,

tail , rear-mouse, bahe-house, wash -house, wash-tub,

B istaj'

O .E. distaj; dy se-stajé, Prov. E. dise to supply the

staj'

with flax (disc flax, hence to supply flax).

A substantive is often qual ified by another substantive, to which

it is joined by a preposition, as man-of -war, wil l -o’-the-wisp, 7ach-a

lantern,1 brother-in-law

, &c.

II . Adjective Compounds .

1 . Substantive and Adjective, in which the substantive has the

force of an adverb, as blood-red red as blood, snow-white

whi te as snow, sea-sich sick through the sea, fire-proof proof

against fire, cone-shaped, eagle-eyed, coal -eyed, l ion-hearted.

2 . Adjective and Substantive , denoting possession, as barefoot.Cp. 0.E. clén-heart having a clean heart, o

‘

u-cage

one eye .

In the corresponding modern forms the substantive has taken the

participial suffix (perfect)of weak verbs, as bare-fl otad, bare-headed

one-Wed, three-cornered,fourfooted.

9

3. Participial combinations, in which the participle is the last

element.

(a)Substantive and present participle, in which the first elementis the object of the second, as earth-shahing, heart-reading.

(b)Adjective and presentdparticiple, in which the first el ement is

equivalent to an adverb, as eep-musing,fi esh-loohing, il l-loohing.

a o of . We sometimes findmama -war, troo-a-cloch, &c. : cp. He is

exceedingly censur'dby the Innes-a

-Courtmen.

”—EARLB’

SM icrouCosmographit ,41 .p9 Just as the sum: -en denotes possession in golden, &c., so does -ed in such

words as booted, shouldered, forms to which SpenserandotherElizabethanwritersare very partial.

2 2 4 EN GLISH A CCIDEN CE. [mum

( flap-fal len, brawn-fal len .)

(d)Adjective and perfect participl e, as doar-bougbt 1 ed,

flair/2d , new-made, wel l -bred, fi es/zb lown, mgr/lI

I I I . V erbal Compounds .

I Substantive and verb.— Back-bite, blood-let, brow-beat

,[wad

2 . Adjective and verb .—n -m¢rre, dumbfound, white-wash

3. Adverb and verb.— Cro::-ozm t£on, doj

'

do don doon), dout do-ont), dup do-up).

32 4. COMPOSITION WITH TEUTON IC PARTICLES.

(A) Inseparab l e Particl es.

I. A .

( 1 )A (O.E. d ; Goth. as ; 0 .H .Ger. -ar,-ar,

-4 Ger.-er),

added to verbs, original ly signifiedfrom, out, away , back. (a)Fromthe meaning offrom,

away , arises a privative, or opposite signifi

O .E. wmdan, to turn ; a-wmdan, turn away, subvert.

(b)I t does not always alter the root-meaning, but merely intensifiesit, as O .E. abidan, to abide.

(2 )A (O .E. o , Goth . az’

m ; O .H .Ger. 20: cp. Gr. dd), ever,

always. See aught (p. a’

tber (p.

(3)A on (O.E. an) aw ay , again, &c. See p. 2 0 1 .

(4)A (O .E. at, at) back, like Latin re ; O.E. at-wz'

te wt

wz'

tan reproach ; Eng. twit.

(5)A of : adown O .E. of-a'

dm.

(6)A O as a -lz’

ke (O .E. among (0.E. ge

abuy pay for, atone for corrupted into abide by Milton.

is th e usual view taken of the origin of alz'

kofl mt it would be mm.

correct to regard it as another form of O.E. cit-tic, tun-It‘

d al ike"

aafi EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [can

IV. Fore (O.E. fore) before.

VI. I orY (O .E. gr).

I dwiss (0.

$1 . M is (O.E. mis ; -Goth. missa ; O.N. flair), dek et, error,

French mew, fi'

om Lat. minus ; as

VIII . N ether (0.E. nit/la ), down, downward, b” .

Naber-stoeks (used by Shakespeare, as opposed to rem -stark , or

IX. Sand (O .E. saw), half.

“bard-blind sum-blind (Shakespeare) ep. 0.E. n ew (ball:

xve

X. To (Goth . dis O.N. (or ; O .H.Ger. zar, w ; Lat. dis

Gr.

in pieces it is sometimes infu sitive, I!b y”; ”0“{M ar it is often strengthened by the word a”

quite): And a certain woman ou t a plate of a mil lstone

u n Abimelech’s head, and al i to broke his skul l

” M rs ix.

[Mo-brake broke quite in'

pieces. See A l l , p. 2 2 7.

In O.E. my : wrong

Als Innoeentu that never dydwe .

”

rumour, P . o C. l . a

It is sometimes used for (on , u..

f 3 39'

Sixtene more nom’

e.”—Longucu“g“Grad!p 92

xvx1 1 .] TEUTON I C PARTI CLES . 2 2 7

To is sometimes the ordinary preposition, as in O .E. Ava-name, an

additional name to-ne5en, to approach. In adverbs it is found i n

mfg, to

-morrow, to-nzg/zt O .E. toy ear this year, to-w/zds a

w t.

X 1 . Un Goth . and ; Ger. ent), back. See (7)A , p. 2 2 5.

Un-bind, ten-do, ten-lock, con-wind.

XII . Un (O.E. an), not, as ten-true, m isc, ten-ready , zen-told,

nn-iw ik.

XIII. W an (O.E. wan cp. O.E. wana Goth. wam , wanting),denoting deficiency, wan

-ting in, is equivalent to nu exdis

Wan/rope, despair ; wan-trust, wanton wan-towen untrained,uneducated, wild, from O.E. teon [p.p. toga , W ar], to lead).

XIV.“With CO.E. wit/5, a shortened form of W ar, ba it.against), back, against.

(B)Separable . Particles.

II . A l l (0.E. a], edl), all -mighty, all -wise, &c.

In 0.E. at quite. It is added (1 )to participles, as al-brent

quite burnt, aI-lwl ed quite concealed, &c. (2 )to verbs, as al

breben, to break entirely. It al so comes before verlw M poundedwith the particle to.

Wickl iffe has many of these forms, as afltb-brenne to burn upentirel the article to probably becomingweakened

“

.

In l izabct an and later writers al l—to a d togethu'

, quite theoriginal meaning of to having been lost sight. of.

A l l to topple (Pericles, iii. 2 , 1 7) to ple al together ; all to

nongnt (Venus andAdonis, 993) al l -tom (Mi lton).

III . t (0 .Eoffl tfi).

Fan‘ke arning, fowl -going.

IV. Fro, from (0.E. 1 9am ; O.H. fl at),

8 In the Durham Gospels we find nnbinda, ando'

a :Lat-men ha s“tendon ; 0m . has unn-sf erren, unbar, open.

Q 2

2 2 8 EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [CHAR

V . In (O .E. in, inn).

In-eorne, iet-wit, ire-land, in

-seg/zt, in -born, ire-bred, in-st¢, in

In many verbs it has been replaced by 9. Romance form (en, em),as

VI. Of, 03 (O.E. of ; Goth. af ; 0 .H.Ger. aba), from, 06 .

of fset, 0-sonm, mfi spn

'

ng.

A -tl u'

rst O .E. q/l t/ty rst) an-bnngred O .E. qfiby ngraa’)cp.O.E. adrea’eh andof drea

’en ; aferen ando/ifaren . See (8)A,p. 2 2 5.

VII . On (O.E. on) upon, forward.

On-set, on-slaugbt, on

-wara'.

VIII. Out, U t (O .E. at).

Out-bud, out-pour, out-root, out-breath , out-break, out

-east, onl-side,

out-post, out-law, ut-ter, ref

-most.

It has sometimes the sense of bg'ond, over, as out-bred, out

-l o,

IX. Over (O .E. qfer), above, beyond, exceedingly, too much.

( 1 )With substantives

X. Thorough , throughl(O.E. tbnrb, th em /i Goth . tbairlz).

Tborougbfare, tboroug/z-bred, tbrongb-train.

XI . Under (0.E. under).

( 1 )With verbs. ( 1 ) Under-go, under-stand, under-take. (2u

(2 )With substantives.- Una

’

er-growtb, under-wood.

XII . Up (O .E. np).

( 1 )Wi th verbs.— Up-bear, rep-braid'

(O.E. obraia’e), zap-bold,

(2 )With substantives—Up land, ftp-start,apl-sbot,

(3)With adjectives.— Up-n:gfit, upw ard.

Through is connectedwith a root Mar co te with Sansk. for in to

beyond c . Lat. tra-ns .

m ( 7 go

2 30 ENGLISH A CCIDEJVCE. [ca n

Ancy , ency : see p. 2 4x.

Mony : see p. 2 35.

Ary , ory : see p. 2 32 .

Be , ey : see pp. 2 38, 2 42 .

I I . Consonant Endings .

Ve . Octa -ne (Lat. octaowo-s), ol ive (Lat. ol iw ), i a -fe (Lat. salou-s 0.Fr. sal ly , sauf ).The n is vocal ized in the fol lowing words z—am

'

duous (Lat.

The common sufi x -ous Lat. m os : see S .

Ive (Fr. if ; Lat. -itens a shortened form of Lat. dimes), 1 ableto, incl ined to.

In some few words f has

Ous , ose (Lat. -osu O .Fr. -os, m ; Fr.

~eux, m ,-ose),

full , l ike.

( 1 )Ous sometimes represents Lat.-us, as anxious, arboreous

,

arduous, omnivorous, superfluous, &c.

(2 ) It is also added to adjectival stems, as aspen-ous (O.E. asper),togetherwith many others ending in ferous,

Cognate with Sansk. J aclyn, the sufl'

ix of the future passive participle.

3 Out: is cognate with Sansk. vans , the sufi x of the perfect participle active-us (eras

-

é-us (4 m ), -ur ( -ur (mm ), -ar are other forms of the

same an x.

xv1 1 1 . ] SUFFIXE S'

OF ROMAN CE ORIGIN . z3r

3)It is also used in modern formations, as contradictions, fel i

Ese (Fr. o is, -oi t, -ais ,° It. -ese

‘

Lat. -ensis), of or belonging to.

Chinese, fi panese, Mal tese, P ortuguese burgess (Mid.Lat. bur

gensis 0.Fr. burgeis Fr. bourgeois I t. borghese O .E. bourgeis),courteous (Mid. Lat. curtis 0 .Fr. curteis, courtois ; It. cortese ;O .E. curteis), marquis (Mid.Lat. marchcnsi s It. marchese O .F.

marcis O .E. marcheis, markis), morass1(It. marese O .F. mareis

O.E. marey s).

E8 8 (Lat. -issa Gr. n ova ;’l It. -essa Sp.

-esa,-isa Fr.

-esse)the ordinary feminine sufiix of substantives, as countess, dueber

hostess, &c. : see GENDER. or SUBSTANTIVES.

( 1 )R, re, &c. (Lat. -ru -s). See p. 2 1 4.

Adjectives.— Clea-r (Lat. cla-ru-s O .Fr. cle-r), pu-re (Lat.

pu-ru-s 0 .Fr. pic-re), aper, ten-d-er (Lat. tcner Fr. tendre),

Substantives —Figure (O .F.figure), letter (0.Fr. letre).

(2 )R, er, re , &c. (Lat. -ri-s).

Adjectives—Eager (Lat. acer O .F. aigre O .E. egre), vinegar

(Fr. uin-aigre vinum acre), famil iar (Lat. famil iari s 0 .Fr.

Substantives— Air (Gr. chip ; Lat. aer ; 0 .Fr. air), ci nder (Lat.cinis -cris) 0 .Fr. ccndrc), cucumber (Lat. cucumis Fr. concombre

I t. cocomero O .E. cucumere), flower, flour (Lat. flos 0 .Fr. flor),gender (Lat. powder (Lat. pulvis r.

t.

auter),col lar (Lat. col lare Fr. col l ier), pil lar (Mid.Lat. pilare Sp. pil ar),scapular (Lat. scapulare Fr. scapulaire).

3)Our (Lat. -ar Fr. -cur), qual ity, state.

Ardour, colour, errour,jar/our, honour, labour, &c.

Devoir (0.Fr. devoir Lat. debe-re), leisure (O .Fr. loisir, leisi r

Marsh”

is not ofFr. origin, be ing another form of O .E. mer-se.

9 According to Bo p, -w oa n or .a -y a. Thus flaa ihwc a has arisenfrom a more original orm, pu ma-ya .

m EN GLISH ACCIDEN CE. [0mm

Lat. l icn 'e), l ivery (0.Fr. l ivi er , Lat. l iberare), power (0 .F. poer

It. potere Lat. posse), recovery (0 .E. recovere 0.Fr. recovrer Lat

It is sometimes added to a Teutonic stem, as behav-iour.

(4)Ary , ier, eer, er (Lat. a rias, -erins,

° Fr. -aire, -ier , It.-ario, -orio), relating to.

Adjectives. Contrary ,necessary , secondary , &c.

Substantives.— Adversary , commissary ,notary , secretary , yanuary ,

&c. brigadier, chandel ier, engineer, mountainer (mountaineer), har

pooner, &c.

Arbal ister (Lat. arcubal irtari us 0.Fr. arbal ertier), archer (Mid.

Lat. arcarias 0 .Fr. archier), bachel or (Mid.Lat. baccalareus 0 .Fr.

bachcl ier), banner (Mid. Lat. banderarius, bandercnsis, banderdus

Fr. banderet), butter (Lat. buticularius 0 .Fr. boutcil l ier), carpenter

(Lat. carpentarius 0 .Fr. carpentier), chancel lor (Lat. cancel larius0 .Fr. chancel ier, O .E. chaunceler), almoner (Mid.Lat. eleemosynarius ; 0 .Fr. almosnier; Fr. aumbnier), barber (Mid.Lat. barberius;Fr. bar-bier), butcher (Lat. buccerius Fr. boucher), cal endar (Fr.

conarius Fr. fauconier),farrier (La( t.ferrarius, Fr.ferreur), hostler(Lat. hospitil arius), mariner (Mid.Lat. marinarius , Fr. marinier),messenger (Mid.Lat. mersagarius ,

’ 0 .Fr. messagier , O .E. messagzr),qfi cer (Mid.Lat. ojiciarius, Fr. ojicicr notary (Lat. notarius),

Fr. pclmier), partner (Mid.Lat.

(Fr. pluvierlaurel (Fr. laumcr),poplar (Fr.

Lat. pn ltonarius , Fr. prisonnier), quarter(Lat. quartarius O .F. quarter), squire, esquire (Lat. scutarius

(Mid.Lat. sortarius), treasure

(Mid.Lat. thesaurarius ; 0.Fr. tresoricr), vicar (Lat. vicarius 0 .Fr.

vicaire), vintner (Mid.Lat. vinctarius), usher (Mid.Lat. cetarius

0.Fr. uissicr).

(5)Many words in-ory ,

-ary ,-ry , -er person or place

or thing adapted for some purpose, &c.) come from Latin sub

stantives in -ariumi

Electuary , granary , salary , sanctuary , armory , dowry , vivary ,

treasury , vestry cel lar, charter, danger, exemplar (sampler), hamper,la ,r.der manor, mortar,

2 34 ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [0mm

Modern formations are numerous, as acquittal , disposal , m l ,den ial , &c.

(6)Many adjectives in 4 11 are now treated as substantives , as

(c)In many words it has taken the place of Lat. an ,-is

to the adjectival suffix 42 , as angel ical , comical ,whimsical , &c.

(4)f

B -l e , a-bl e , i -b le (Lat. a-b-il i-s), able to, likely to,o

acc¢table, culpable, reasonable, feeble, foible (0.Fr.

floiblc, foible Lat. flebil i s), movable, stable.

( 1 )M , m e (Lat. mu-s,-a,

-m), that which. § cc p. 2 1 5.

Fir-m, fie-me, fa-me, fla-me, for-m

, rai sin (In t. racemus Sp.

racimo Fr. raisin).

(2 )M , m en , mon (Lat. -men, -mo), that which.

M has become n in leaven (Lat. leva-men 0.Fr. levain), noun(Lat. no-men O .Fr. noom, non), renown.

The fol lowing words contain the Greek suffix 1 mz—Apophthegm,

emblem, phantom, paradigm, phlegm, problem, scheme, theme.

(3) l am (Gr. w-pos ; Lat. -ismus ,

° Fr.-irme; a combination ofno

and condition, act, &c.

(Fr. lgoisme), latinism,

xv1 1 1 .] SUFFIXES OF ROMAN CE ORIGIN 2 35

(4)Mn 1 (Lat. -umnus, -minus,

Autu-mn, colu-mn, ter-m, da-m-age.

(5)Many (Lat. -mon-za,

-mon-ium ; Fr. -moin, -moine). See

M . p 2 34.

Acrimony , ceremony , matrimony , sanctimony , testimony , &c.

(6)Ment (Lat. -men-tu-m Fr. -ment), instrument, &c.

Experiment, firmament, garment, instrument, pavement, vest

ment, &c.

It is also added to Teutonic roots, as achnowledgment, fi lfil

N .

( 1 )N , ne (Lat. nu-s,-a

,-m), passive sufiix, like -ul (en) in

Engl ish . See p. 2 1 5.

(a)An , ain (Lat. a-nu-s,-a,

-m Fr. an, bin, aine), of or

belonging to.

Arti san, courtesan, german (O .E. germain), mean,”9

chaplain, fountain, parce

and rdian (0 .Fr. dian).05h“; forms of again

, are found

surgeon,pari shzbner, scrivener.

In modern Engl ish the suhin an is employed without reference toits original use in forming nouns and adjectives, as civil ian, grammarian, &c. censorian, diluvian, plebeian, &c.

An becomes m min humane, extramundane, transmontane, &c.

(3)En: in (Lat '4 , See An .

venom (0 .Fr. venin ; O.E. venym).

(4) In, ine (Lat. i-nu-s,-a,-m). See An .

Bas-in, caj in , cousin, citrine, gvbl in, matins, cummin, ravine, canteen (Fr. cantine), patten (Fr. patin), baboon (O .E. babuy n, babion

Fr. babou-in), cu shion (O .E. coschy n), lectern (O .E. lea/m Fr.

1 The suffix -urnnus is cognate with the Sansk. participial suffix -mana -rnoniais thx

ame sumz m combmation with -ia ; with the sufi x -tu-rn it becomesm u n m.

z36 ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [cmun

eglantine, famine, medicine, rapine with numerous adjectives, as

(5)our ions eons 003 0 in (Lat art-an] ; It. W ;Sp.

-on,-ona ; Fr. -on), act of; state of.

falcon, fi rm (0.E. faon ,

,pennon ,companion ,

macaroon ,

otherwords from the in hasfall en ofl

'

, as nucl titude, &c.

Lagoon (Lat. lacuna Fr

Many words in-oon are augmentative, as badaan, &c. some in

wn are diminutive, asflagon, habergevn, &c.Numerous abstract substantives, ”

(6)An, can , eign, ain (Lat. -an-eu-s,-a,

-m).

Mediterranean, campaign ,cham

gazgn,foreign (0. Fr. forain Lat.

foraneus), mountain, strange (sudden.

The Latin -oncus appears under the forms -incus, -oneu.g &c.

in sanguine, carn'

on (It. carogna, 0.Fr. caroigne).

(7)Em , urn (Lat. -er-na,-ur-nus). See An.

Cavern, cistern, tavern, diedurn, nocturn, diurn-al , nocturn al, &c.

c (see p.

(I)Ac, ic, cc (Lat. -ar, 41x, -ox), pertaining to, possessing.

this suflix are mostly found in adjectives in

The following substantives also contain sufi xes ax and ix muchaltered

pa

(2 )Ac (Lat. a-cu-s, -a,-m), having, pertaining to.

(3) 1 °“W 3,-a,

-m) occurs as a sufi x m (a)substantives,art, science ; (6)adjectives, of or belonging to.

2 42 ENGLISII ACCIDENCE. [cru x

Verbal.

l ee , Ize (Lat. -ire ; Fr. -iscr ,

' Gr. make, give, &c.

Ish (Lat. -ire Fr. -ir cp. Fr. participl es in-issant: -iss Lat.

inchoative sufi x oes-r), make, give.

-are ; Fr. -er), parl ey : cp. verbs in -fy ; Lat. fl are .

32 6. COMPOSITION OF ROMANCE ROOTS.

We have compounds of Romance origin (French, &c. ,

in English, the elements of which a n only be

explained by a reference to those languages, as

(2 )V Fr. very'

us vert-jus (cp. grey hound

ManyKomance words ha’

ve the adjective for the’

last element, as

(6)Carnivorous,paa'

jl'

c, &c. (cp. heart -rendbzg,peace-making;

The etymology of many words is disguised through the changesthey have undergone, as

(I)megrim (hemicranium, Gr. shun la pain afl'

echng'

one-half the skul l , from flat anpd'

nparlov).1

“Enn§grm us , vermis capitis A fi em cfl he head r-tin

.

Pram). Par-n). Pain in the (and rapacious h ob )i n m l toanse from the bi ting of a worm.

—Wancwoon.

ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE [CHA

Command, comprehend, col lect, col -l ingual , col locatc, col late, &c.Coeval , coheir, co-operate, &c.

Conceive, condemn, conduct, confirm, conjure, conqueror,

Cost (Lat. constare, 0 .Fr. co-ster), curry (0.F. canroy er).Couch Lat. col locare, 0 .Fr. colcher).Accoutre (0 .Fr. accoustrer, from Lat. ad custodem).Scourge Lat. cor-ngia , whence It. corregiare, to scourge.

Quash (0.Fr. esquachicr, to crush, from Lat. co-actus).

Co occurs as a prefix with some Teutonic roots, as co-worker, co

u

(7)Contra, contro , counter (Lat. contra, againstContra-dict, contro-vert, &c.

(8)De (Lat. de, Fr. dl ), down, from, awayDecl ine, descend, depart, &c.

I t isn egative and oppositive in destroy ,

I t is intensitive in declare, desolate, desiccate, &c.

(9)Dis, di (Lat. dis, di, 0.Fr. des, Fr. dis, dis, di, de), and

assimilation dif, asunder, apart, in two difference, negation

.Disarm, discern , dismember, di sturb, discord, distance, &c.

D escry , descant, despatch .

I t became de in defy , defer, delay , deluge, depart.Dis is joined to Teutonic roots, as di sown, di sl ihe, &c.

(1 0)Ex, e , es (Lat. ex, 0 .Fr. ex, es, e), by assimilation of, out of,

fromExalt, exempt, exhal e, expatriate, &c.Elect, evade, &c.

It has a privative sense in ex-ernperor, ex-may or, &c.

to frighten).0.Fr. i ssir, Lat. exire).

excerpt (0.Fr. es-cars),

2 45 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. [cu/w.

( 1 6)Oh (Lat. ob, before c, f 1 , become: by assimilation on, of,op), in front of, against .

VERBS : Oba, obl ige, obviate, occupy , xeur, qfer, oj'

end, oppose

(1 7)Per (Lat. yer, Fr.per, par, O.E. f ar), M b

( 1 8)Post (Int. port), after

( 1 9)Pro (Lat. p m, Fr. pre), before

(2 5)Prat t (Lat.m ,Fr. past

Prderite, preternatural , &c.

(2 1 )Pro (Lat. pro, 0.Fr.pro, par, pur, pour), forth, forward,before

(2 2 )Re, Red (Lat. re, red), back, again

Re is compoundedwith Teutonic roots, 0 M m u’

nd, reopen,&c.

(2 3)Retro (Lat. ram), backwards

(2 4)Se , sed (Lat. .te, Fr. rt), apart, a

Suede, occlude, seduce, sedition.

xv1 1 1 .] ROMANCE PARTICLES m

(2 5)Sub (Lat. and), under, up from below ; by assimilatione,j; g, m, p, r, r), sue , auf, sug, sum, sup, sur, sus

Sub sometimes enters into composition with Teutonic roots, as

(2 6)Subter (Lat. mbter), under

Subterficge, subterraneous, &c.

(2 7)d

Super (.Ia t. m , O.Fr. w e, .m 'e, cor, our), above,on

Surface superficies), surcoat, surfeit, .rurpl ice, surname,

The Ital . copra occurs in sovereign (It. row ano, Lat. supernus).

(2 8)Trans (Fr. tres, Lat. tram , tra), across

Transfigure, transform, translate, trann'

tioe, tranrmontane

tradition),

(2 9)U l tra (Lat. ul tra), beyond

To outrage 0.Fr. oul trager.

(30) uni (Lat. unus), one

(31 )Vice (Lat. vice, Fr. vie), instead of

Some few Adverbial particles are used as prefixes

(32 )Bis, b i (Lat. bi), twice bini , two by two.

Biscuit, bis ext‘il e, biennial , binocular, &C.

(a)Dem i (Fr. dcmi, Lat. dimidium)

Sem i (Lat. semi), half

APPENDIX I.

I . KELTIC ELEMENT IN MODERN ENGLISH.

1 . Kn '

rrc wm'ds a isting in the oldzstEngfi h r

Brock (badger), breaker, clout, cradle, crock, crook, gien, kiln,

2 . Keltic words stil l found in Engl ish

bog, botber, bribe, cam (crooked), crag,

4. Kel tic words introduced by Normau-French

3 These have no cognates in the otherTeutonic dialects.9 Used by Spenser.

ENGLISH ACCIDENCE. [am

II . LATIN ELEMENT IN THE OLDEST ENGLISH.

Of words borrowed from the Latin in the oldest period of the

( 1 )Some kept their full forms, as

(2 )Others dropped the Latin endings, as

Candel , apostol , cartel , &c.

(3)Some take an English sufi x, as

Draca (1 43t draco), my netere (Lat. monetarias).

A few acquired the Teutonic accent, as

B is-cop (Lat.Wcopus), munec (Lat. monacbuc).

Some simulated an English form, as

Mormon-stare (Lat. marmor), mere-great (Lat. margarita).

A few hybrids made theirappearance, as

ancra,

anthem

biscop, episcopur (Ga-loner“)

battor, butor, butyrum (Bob-wo w), butterGal cad,cal ic, calc, cal ix, chal icecamel,canon, canonicuc, canoncanon, canon, cannon

candel , condel, candela , candlecapitola,carited,

abbac, abbotalba, aubeancora, anchor

ancborda , m mantipfionia (M WVfl GXapostolu: (drrbaroltor)baptirta (Bafl wfl is‘)bal camum

2 54 ENGLISH ACCIDEIVCE.

mynet.

organ,

P3P“,

pinn (new).

Pm “;

M .Lat.mondare, to mint

[are

margari te

plaster

x.] SCAIVDINA VIAIV ELEMEN T. 2“Lat. puteus, spit

regula, rule

rel iquice, rel ics

ruta , rue

scbola school

sacerdos, riest

flu f f (0 mm). 880W

M .Lat. solarium, sollar

strata (via), streetsy nodus (d i van s), synodtabula

, table

templum, temple

tructa, trout

a rtur, turtletympanum (d uration), tambouruncia, ounce, inch

1 11 . SCANDINAVIAN ELEMENT IN ENGLISH.

Abroad, agar, aséew, aslant, atbwart,a tree), blunt, bore (tidal

muck, odd, puck (goblin), ransack, rump, ruck, root, scald (poet),scare, scold, skul l , scul l , scant, skil l , scrub, skulk, skid, sky, sba

'w

(wood), sly, screw, sleeve, sledge, sled, sleek, semuti , sbricb, slag/It,snug, sog, sow , sprout, aw, stag, stack, stifle, tarn (lake), trust,tnrwe, tnrum, nu-ru-ly (O. ro

,rest), ugly , uproar, wapentake,

2 56 EN GLISH ACCIDENCE. [u rn

IV. FRENCH WORDS IN ENGLISH OF TEUTONICORIGIN .

d

The French o

eranl

gfh ..anguage a

}gr

e

w a Romanic}dialect,

an its is ut a urred copy o grammar o Cicero.

But itssctio 15 q of Teutonic words, more or less Romaniaedto suit the pronunciation of the Roman inhabitants of Gaul . —MaxMinu s .

a-ghast (O.E.agaste),Goth. us-gai sjan, to make aghast, 0.Fr. agacerGoth. and-bants

, O. ,E. ambebt 0 .H .Ger. am

pant, Lat. ambactus, a servant, 0 .Fr. ambassadd er.

Ger. bakenbiicbse, Dutch hack-bus, 0 .Fr. bar

attack,

Fr. tire.

O .H.Ger. baldericli , girdle, bel t, O .F. baldre,

balcony, O .H .Ger. pal e/to, O.N. balkr, M.Lat. balco,

barrier, embarrass,belfry,

belfi edus, 0.Fr. berfrort, bdf ror, a watch

bivouac, O .H.Ger. bi-wacba, 0.Fr. birzouac, biouac.

bush (husk), O .N . buskr, O .H.Ger. busc, 0 .Fr. bois.

butt, Fr. bouter, O .H .Ger. bbzen.

brand, brandish, O .N . brandr, O .E. brand, sword, O .Fr. brant.

bruise, O .E. bryson, O .Fr. bn'

sier, bruisier.

carcanet, O H .Ger. querca, O .N . fiver/é, neck, 0.Fr.

Marc/rant, Fr. carcan.

chamberlain, O.H.Ger. kamarl ing, 0.Fr. clzambrelenc, cbam

champion, 0 .H .Ger. campio, O .E. cempa, 0 .Fr. campion ,

champion.

Goth . kiusan, O .E. ceosan, Ger. bicsen, Fr.

choi sir, to choose .

O .H.Ger. scrian, Ger. sc/zrr

'

en, 0 .Fr. escrier,crier.

Ger. tanz, O .N . dans, 0 .Fr. danse, dance.

APPENDIX II .

O U T L I N E S O F O .E. A C C IDEN CE.

DECLENSION OF SUBSTANTIVES, &c.

FIRST PERIOD OF THE LANGUAGE.

(A .) Vowe l Stems.1

1 . Mascuu mr.

dag, day birde, shepherd gust, guest sunu, son ; m cdu, wood.

a 87 3 1 1 . i u S‘

rrmN . dag hirde gz st sunu

G . dzges ga stes

D . greate

A.

I .

hirdas wadas

A. dagas hirdas

GOTHIC.

1 These are arranged according to the ir origina l stem-endings, in an,

-i , . g ;dcrg (orig. stern, dag

'

a), gust (orig. stem, gasti), sunu, &c.

VOWEL DECLENSIGN . 363

SECOND PERIOD.

I. VOWEL DECLENSION.

In the Second period of the language traces of the original vowelstems disappear, and substantives once be longing to this class are

decl ined according to gender. In the fol lowing table the case

sufl'

rxes are given for comparison with the older forms

Masc. N im'

r.

N .-es -e ,

-en -es) -e s

G.-e,

-en,-ene es) -e , en,

-ene -es) -e ,-en,

-ene -es)12

.-en,

-e -es) -en,-e -e s)

-es

( 1)Gen . sing. fem.— Some few feminine substantives form their

genitives (l ike masc. and neuters)m -es instead of -e.

(2 )Nom. plural fem.—The suflix -es begins to replace

-e,-en , as

dedes, mibtes, sinnes, &c.

3)N om. plural neuter.— Many neuters, originally having no

suffix in the plural , now take -es, as loudes, buses, wordes, work-

es,‘Izinges, though the original uninflected forms are frequently met with

i s late as the middle of the fourteenth century.

Deer, sli cep, borse, &c. , as in modern Engl ish, remain without

nflexion .

Many substantives original ly form ing the plural in -u,have -e or

en (and sometimes -es), as rte/zen , mc/ze (krngdoms), irewe, trewentrees), &c.

(4)Gen . plural .— The old sufiix -a is now represented by -e,

-en

and also by-ene (the gen. plural of n declension).

5)Dat. plural .-The old suffix -um has become -en and -e, and

woasional ly-es.

(6)P lurals formed by vowel elzange :— f?t (fa t), men, &c. bee

’wc)rs occasional ly found side by side with bakes.

2 64 ENGLISH ACCIDEN CE. (u p.

II. -N DECLENSION.

Masc. N imr .

(4 5 )

i

s

?

“

a

“

In the gen. plural-enen sometimes occurs for -ene.

III. -R DECLENSION.

(r)Brother, moder, dohter, suster, have no infiexion in the genitive

singular. Fader andfaderes (gen. sing.)are found in writers of this’

od.pen

(2 )T he nom. plurals are in -e,-en , or -es, as brethre, brothre,

sustre, dohtre, &c. ; brethren, brothren , dohtren, dehtren, sustren, &c. ;

faderes, brothres, dohtres, sostres, &c.

3)The gen. plural -ene -enne)sometimes disappears al together.

men” the names of his daughters (La5amon).

(4)The dat. plural ends in -en,

-e (and sometimes -es).In the Ormulum -es occurs as the genitive singular of substantives

of al l genders.

The nom.plural is ordinarily-es, and even deor (deer)makes plural

The gen . plural ends mostly in-es rarely in

-e, as“al ler hinge

hing”

king of al l kings.

THIRD PERIOD.

1 . FORMATION or THE PLURAL.

( 1 )-es -is, -

y s), w ithout distinction of gender.

(2 )Very many plurals in -en ,-n, are sti l l preserved, representing

(a)old plurals in -an of the n declension, (b)plurals originally end

in -a,-u :— (a)chirchen (churches)5 e5en, ezen (eyes); ben (bees);

2 06 ENGLISH A CCIDEN CE . [APE

(3)Some neuterplurals have no s, as seer, hear (hair), hors, how ,

(4)Afternumerfi the plural inflexion is often dropped.

5)Plural s with vowel change —fd , gees, ly s, my s, mees, men, &c.

2 . Casa ENDINGS.

( 1 )The gen. sing. cuds in -es (i s, g o), -s.

(2 )The gen. plural terminates in -es.

3)The oldgenitiveplural sufi x w e is stil l metwith, as childrene,clerhene, hy ngene (Piers Plowman).

1

A D J E C T I V ES

FIRST PERIOD .

1 . STRONG (or Iunnrrmrn)Dacm nsron.

GOTHIC.

Original form, bl indu.

DECLENSI ONS . 2 67

2 . WEAK (or Dar-1mm )Dacnrmsrou.

blinde

Mesa , Farm, and Naor.

GOTHIC.

SECOND PERIOD.

1 . STRONG DECLENSION.

Navr.

blind bl indbl indre (b l inde) bhndesblindre (blinde) blindeblinde bl ind

Pl . ofal l send. N .

G . blindere l inde)

R:bhnden linde)

2 . In the weah ordefinite declension -an becomes ( I)-en, (2 ) e.

A l l cases of the sing. are often denoted by the final e.

The plural ends in-en or -e.

In the Ormulum al l the older inflexions of both declensions arerepresented by e.

2 68 ENGLISH AC’

CIDENCE. [APP .

THIRD PERIOD.

In the Third riod the older adjectival inflexions are represented

by a final-e, an even this sometimes is dropped.

In Robert of Gloucester and the Ay enbite we sometimes find the accusativein -ne of the strong declension. In the Ay enbite we find dative plural in 4 a,

in indefinite like one , other.

The plural of adj (mostly of Romance origin)sometimes

terminates in -er, especial ly when the adjective followsmeterespri napal er. Robert of Gloucester has foure gedersones,

”

the godes kny5tes.

FOURTH PERIOD.

A final e marks (a) the plural , (b) the definite form, of the

adjective.

Plurals in s are common, as in the previous period.

PRONOUNS.

I . P ersonal P ronouns.

FIRST Pnnron.

Sncorm Parson.