be a curious question whether it is permissible to speak of an
_incorrect_ _ortho_graphy, that is of a _wrong_ _right_-spelling.
The question which would be thus started is one of not unfrequent
recurrence, and it is very worthy of observation how often, so
soon as we take note of etymologies, this _contradictio in
adjecto_ is found to occur. I will here adduce a few examples
from the Greek, the Latin, the German, and from our own tongue.
Thus the Greeks having no convenient word to express a rider,
apart from a rider _on a horse_, did not scruple to speak of the
_horse_man (ἱππεύς) upon an _elephant_. They often allowed
themselves in a like inaccuracy, where certainly there was no
necessity; as in using ἀνδριάς of the statue of a _woman_; where
it would have been quite as easy to have used εἱκών or ἄγαλμα. So
too their ‘table’ (τράπεζα = τετράπεζα) involved probably the
_four_ feet which commonly support one; yet they did not shrink
from speaking of a _three_-footed table (τρίπους τράπεζα), in
other words, a “_three_-footed _four_-footed”; much as though we
should speak of a “_three_-footed _quadru_ped”. Homer writes of a
‘hecatomb’ not of a _hundred_, but of twelve, oxen; and elsewhere
of Hebe he says, in words not reproducible in English, νέκταρ
ἐωνοχόει. ‘Tetrarchs’ were often rulers of quite other than
_fourth_ parts of a land. Ἀκρατος had so come to stand for wine,
without any thought more of its signifying originally the
_unmingled_, that St. John speaks of ἄκρατος κεκερασμένος (Rev.
xiv. 10), or the unmingled mingled. Boxes in which precious
ointments were contained were so commonly of alabaster, that the
name came to be applied to them whether they were so or not; and
Theocritus celebrates “_golden_ alabasters”. Cicero having to
mention a water-clock is obliged to call it a _water_ _sun_dial
(solarium ex aquâ). Columella speaks of a “_vintage_ of honey”
(vindemia mellis), and Horace invites his friend to im_pede_, not
his _foot_, but his head, with myrtle (_caput_ im_ped_ire myrto).
Thus too a German writer who desired to tell of the golden shoes
with which the folly of Caligula adorned his horse could scarcely
avoid speaking of _golden_ hoof-_irons_. The same inner
contradiction is involved in such language as our own, a “_false_
_ver_dict”, a “_steel_ _cuirass_” (‘coriacea’ from corium,
leather), “antics new” (Harrington’s _Ariosto_), an “_erroneous_
_etymo_logy”, a “_corn_ _chandler_”; that is, a “_corn_
_candle_-maker”, “_rather_ _late_”, ‘rather’ being the
comparative of ‘rathe’, early, and thus “rather late” being
indeed “more early late”; and in others.
{276} [‘Siren’ is now generally understood to have meant originally a
songstress, from the root _svar_, to sing or sound, seen in
_syrinx_, a flute, _su(r)-sur-us_, etc. See J. E. Harrison, _Myths
of the Odyssey_, p. 175.]
{277} [‘Chymist’ seems to be the oldest form of the word in English; see
N.E.D.]
{278} χημία, the name of Egypt; see Plutarch, _De Is. et Os._ c. 33.
{279} We have a notable evidence how deeply rooted this error was, how
long this confusion endured, of the way in which it was shared by
the learned as well as the unlearned, in Milton’s _Apology for
Smectymnuus_, sect. 7, which everywhere presumes the identity of
the ‘satyr’ and the ‘satirist’. It was Isaac Casaubon who first
effectually dissipated it even for the learned world. The results
of his investigations were made popular for the unlearned reader
by Dryden, in the very instructive _Discourse on Satirical
Poetry_, prefixed to his translations of Juvenal; but the
confusion still survives, and ‘satyrs’ and ‘satires’, the Greek
‘satyric’ drama, the Latin ‘satirical’ poetry, are still assumed
by most to have something to do with one another.
{280} [‘Dirige’ was the first word of the antiphon at matins in the
Office for the Dead, taken from Psalm v, 9 (Vulg.), in which occur
the words “_dirige_ in conspectu tuo vitam meam”. See Skeat,
_Piers Plowman_, ii, 52. Hence also Scotch _dregy_, a dirge.]
{281} [Incorrect: the ‘mid-wife’ is etymologically she that is _with_
(old English _mid_) a woman to help her in her hour of need, like
German _bei-frau_, Spanish _co-madre_, Icelandic _naer-kona_,
“near-woman”, Latin _ob-stetrix_, “by-stander”, all words for the
lying-in nurse. Compare German _mit-bruder_, a comrade.]
{282} “I have seen him
Caper upright, like a wild _Môrisco_,
Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells”.
Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI_ Act iii, Sc. 1.
{283} In the reprinting of old books it is often very difficult to
determine how far the old shape in which words present themselves
should be retained, how far they should be conformed to present
usage. It is comparatively easy to lay down as a rule that in
books intended for popular use, wherever the form of the word is
not affected by the modernizing of the spelling, as where this
modernizing consists merely in the dropping of superfluous
letters, there it shall take place; as who would wish our Bibles
to be now printed letter for letter after the edition of 1611, or
Shakespeare with the orthography of the first folio; but wherever
more than the spelling, the actual shape, outline, and character
of the word has been affected by the changes which it has
undergone, that in all such cases the earlier form shall be held
fast. The rule is a judicious one; but when it is attempted to
carry it out, it is not always easy to draw the line, and to
determine what affects the form and essence of a word, and what
does not. About some words there can be no doubt; and therefore
when a modern editor of Fuller’s _Church History_ complacently
announces that he has allowed himself in such changes as ‘dirige’
into ‘dirge’, ‘barreter’ into ‘barrister’, ‘synonymas’ into
‘synonymous’, ‘extempory’ into ‘extemporary’, ‘scited’ into
‘situated’, ‘vancurrier’ into ‘avant-courier’; he at the same time
informs us that for all purposes of the study of the English
language (and few writers are for this more important than
Fuller), he has made his edition utterly worthless. Or again, when
modern editors of Shakespeare print, and that without giving any
intimation of the fact,
“Like quills upon the fretful _porcupine_”,
he having written, and in his first folio and quarto the words
standing,
“Like quills upon the fretful _porpentine_”,
this being the earlier, and in Shakespeare’s time the more common
form of the word [e.g. “the _purpentines_ nature” (Puttenham,
_Eng. Poesie_, 1589, p. 118, ed. Arber)], they must be considered
as taking a very unwarrantable liberty with his text; and no less,
when they substitute ‘Kenilworth’ for ‘Killingworth’, which he
wrote, and which was his, Marlowe’s, and generally the earlier
form of the name.
{284} [Compare Latin _amita_, yielding old French _ante_, our ‘aunt’.]
{285} “The Carthaginians shall restore and deliver back all the
_renegates_ [perfugas] and fugitives that have fled to their side
from us”.--p. 751.
{286} [See further in _The Folk and their Word-Lore_, p. 80.]
{287} Halbertsma quoted by Bosworth, _Origin of the English and Germanic
Languages_, p. 39.
INDEX OF WORDS
PAGE
Abenteuer 240
Abnormal 72
Abominable 245
Academy 70
Accommodate 107
Acre 193
Adamant 230
Admiralty 107
Advocate 82
Æon 72
Æsthetic 72
Afeard 126
Affluent 104
Afraid 127
Afterthink 120
Alcimus 237
Alcove 16
Amphibious 107
Analogie 56
Ant 253
Antecedents 210
Anthem 245
Antipodes 68
Apotheosis 67
-ard 141
Armbrust 240
Arride 58
Ascertain 186
Ask 126
Astarte 237
Attercop 123
Aurantium 241
Aurichalcum 237
Avunculize 91
Axe 126
Baffle 181
Baker, bakester 157
Banter 106
Barrier 70
Battalion 61
Bawn 123
Benefice, benefit 97
Bitesheep 144
Black art 243
Blackguard 189
Blasphemous 128
Bless 231
Bombast 199
Book 21
Boor 202
Bozra 237
Brangle 177
Bran-new 231
Brat 205
Brazen 164
Breaden 163
Bruin 89
Buffalo 16
Butter 237
Buxom 139
Chagrin 95
Chance-medley 243
Chanticleer 89
Chemist, chemistry 248
Chicken 158
Chouse 91
Chymist, chymistry 248
Clawback 144
Comissatio 237
Commérage 204
Confluent 104
Congregational 79
Contrary 128
Corpse 191
Country dance 242
Court card 239
Coxcomb 229
Cozen 231
Crawfish 252
Creansur 45
Criterion 67
Crone, crony 93
Crucible 245
Crusade 62
Cuirass 246
Currant 239
Cynarctomachy 91
Dahlia 88
Dame 192
Dandylion 243
Dearworth 120
Dedal 86
Dehort 137
Demagogue 55
Denominationalism 79
Depot 69
Diamond 230
Dirge 250
Dissimilation 103
Divest 229
Donat 86
Dorter 20
Dosones 90
Doughty 146
Drachm 193
Dragoman 12
Dub 146
Duke 191
Dumps 147
Dutch 177
Eame 118
Earsport 119
Eaves 159
Educational 79
Effervescence 55
Einseitig 75
Eliakim 237
Ell 251
Emet 253
Emotional 79
Encyclopedia 67
Enfantillage 55
Equivocation 196
Erutar 149
Escobarder 88
-ess 153
Europe 224
Eyebite 120
Fairy 191
Farfalla 15
Fatherland 75
Flitter-mouse 118
Flota 17
Folklore 75
Foolhappy 137
Foolhardy 137
Foolhasty 137
Foollarge 137
Foretalk 120
Fougue 66
Fraischeur 66
Frances 95
Francis 95
Frimm 118
Frivolité 55
Frontispiece 245
Furlong 193
Gainly 136
Gallon 193
Galvanism 88
Garble 199
Geir 118
Gentian 86
Girdle 21
Girfalcon 118
Girl 192
Glassen 163
Gordian 86
Gossip 203
Great 226
Grimsire 119
Grocer 229
Grogram 229
Halfgod 120
Hallow 82
Handbook 75
Hangdog 145
Hector 89
Heft 118
Hermetic 86
Hery 118
Hierosolyma 236
Hipocras 86
Hippodame 64
His 131
Hooker 16
Hoppester 155
Hotspur 119
Hoyden 192
Huck 157
Huckster, huckstress 157
Hurricane 14
Iceberg 73
Icefield 74
Idea 197
Imp 205
Influence 181
International 78
Island 234
Isle 234
Isolated 107
Isothermal 102
Its 130
Jaw 230
Jeopardy 82
Kenilworth 253
Kindly 184
Kirtle 21
Knave 207
Knitster 155
Knot 87
Lambiner 88
Lass 154
Lazar 86
Leer 118
Leghorn 240
Libel 191
Lifeguard 74
Lissome 140
London 227
Lunch, luncheon 129
Malingerer 119
Mammet, mammetry 87
Mandragora 243
Mansarde 89
Matachin 17
Matamoros 143
Mausoleum 86
Meat 191
Meddle, meddlesome 206
Middler 121
Mid-wife 250
Milken 163
Mischievous 128
Miscreant 179
Mithridate 86
Mixen 123
Morris dance 251
Mystery, mystère 237
Myth 72
Nap 147
Necromancy 243
Negus 87
Nemorivagus 77
Neophyte 107
Nesh 118
Niggot 85
Nimm 118
Noonscape 129
Noonshun 129
Normal 72
Nostril 251
Nugget 85
Nuncheon 128
Oblige 69
Obsequies 241
Oculissimus 90
Orange 241
Orichalcum 237
Ornamentation 72
Orrery 87
Orthography 245
Pagan 202
Painful, painfulness 186
Pandar, pandarism 89
Panorama 107
Pasquinade 87
Patch 87
Pate 146
Pease 159
Peck 193
Pester 84
Philauty 105
Photography 72
Physician 101
Pigmy 229
Pinchpenny 144
Pleurisy 244
Plunder 73, 106
Poet 101
Polite 200
Polytheism 107
Porcupine 253
Porpoise 63
Postremissimus 91
Potecary 64
Prævaricator 196
Pragmatical 206
Préliber 56
Preposterous 195
Prestige 68
Prevaricate 196
Privado 16
Prose, proser 206
Punctilio 16
Punto 16
Pyramid 235
Quellio 17
Quinsey 63
Quirpo 16
Quirry 64
Rakehell 145
Rame 241
Rathe, rathest 138
Realmrape 119
Recover 233
Redingote 63
Refuse 241
Regoldar 149
Religion 183
Renegade 254
Renown 103
Resent 233
Reynard 89
Rhyme 245
Riches 159
Rickets 243
Righteousness 137
Rodomontade 89
Rome 227
Rootfast 119
Rosen 162
Ruly 136
Runagate 254
Sag 118
Sardanapalisme 88
Sash 63
Satellites 61
Satire, satirical 250
Satyr, satyric 249, 250
Scent 232
Schimmer 118
Scrip 232
Seamster, seamstress 155, 156
Selfish, selfishness 105
Sentiment 107
Sepoy 240
Serene 135
Shrewd, shrewdness 209
Silhouette 88
Silvern 163
Silvicultrix 77
Siren 247
Skinker 117
Skip 147
Slick 132
Smellfeast 143
Smug 146
Solidarity 70
Songster, songstress 155, 156
Sorcerer 101
Spencer 88
Sperr 118
Spheterize 72
Spinner, spinster 156
Starconner 120
Starvation 80
Starve 192
Stereotype 72
Stonen 163
Suckstone 120
Sudden 220
Suicide 105
Suicism, suist 105
Sündflut 238
Sunstead 120
Swindler 74
Sycophant 208
Tabinet 88
Tapster 157
Tarre 118
Tartar 237
Tartary 238
Tea 227
Theriac 187
Thou 171
Thrasonical 89
Tind 118
Tinnen 163
Tinsel 180
Tinsel-slippered 180
Tontine 88
Topsy-turvy 215
Tosspot 144
Tram 88
Treacle 187
Trigger 73
Trounce 147
Turban 13
Umstroke 120
Uncouth 124
Vancurrier 64
Vicinage 63
Villain 201, 208
Volcano 86
Voltaic 88
Voyage 191
Wanhope 117
Waterfright 120
Watershed 103
Weed 192
Welk 118
Welkin 158
Welsh rabbit 240
Whole 234
Windflower 120
Wiseacre 240
Witch 101
Witticism 106
Witwanton 119
Woburn 220
Woodbine 229
Worship 185
Wörterbuch 111
Yard 193
Youngster 156
Zoology 107
Zoophyte 107
THE END.
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
* * * * *
{TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE
Variation in the spelling of the names Jonson/Johnson, Spenser/Spencer,
and Ralegh/Raleigh is as in the original.
The following have been left as they appear in the original:
fetisch
There are who venture
substraction
tanquum consummata (probable error for “tamquam consumpta”)
divergencies
In ‘grogra_m_’ we are entirely to seek
The following obvious printing errors have been corrected:
LECTURE I
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
up words n every quarter in
el lagarto’ removed quote mark
‘trespasses’ might be substitued substituted
matter than in our authorized Authorized
Galations v. 19 Galatians
artificial, made-up, facititious factitious
such doublets is given by Pro f Prof.
LECTURE II
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
masterpieces of antient ancient
Ἡθος is a word at Ἠθος
at other times ‘vìrtue’. vírtue
‘hcáracter’ with Spenser; charácter
perfectly well recognised recognized
Shakesspeare than we find now Shakespeare
‘maumet’, meaning an idol{95} added comma after footnote marker
‘aretinisms’, from an, removed comma after “an”
whith hitherto they held which
Missouri and the Missisippi Mississippi
things lacking, would have mended added comma after “mended”
εἰδωλον εἴδωλον
“The word t must be it
we have in common with the French added period after “French”
Language Français_, p. 12. Langage
ἀνάθέμα ἀνάθεμα
‘fursehung’ and ‘vorsehung’ fürsehung
ἀμφιβια ἀμφίβια
πολυθεισμος πολυθεϊσμος
LECTURE III
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
so dose ‘flitter-mouse’ does
is an old preterite præterite
instrinsic value it may possess. intrinsic
which it belongs; being the same added “)” before semicolon
‘guideress’; ‘charmeress’ changed semicolon to comma
superlatives as ‘griveousest’ grievousest
‘dwarfling’, ‘sherperdling’ shepherdling
_contráry_ run”--_Shakespeare._ added period after quotes
their charms”.--_Spenser,_ changed comma to period
_bu h-sum_, i.e. ‘bow-some’, buch-sum
LECTURE IV
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
Shakespeare in _I Henry VI_ changed I to 1
words justI quoted have conveyed? I just
misapprehension in their persual perusal
as by sea, was a ‘voyage’, changed final comma to period
Langage Francais_, p. 347 Français
before they return back again. added double quotes after “again”
1589, p. 181 (ed. 181, ed.
_Preface to Bible_, 1611. added “)” before period
Secker, _Sermons_, iii, 85 (ed. 85, ed.
LECTURE V
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
of the arbitary in spelling arbitrary
‘vert’, ‘verre’ and ‘vers’, changed final comma to period
v corresponding in the Greek. changed “v” to υ
and a very horried one horrid
χ υμο χυμός
Croker’s edit. 1848, pp. 57 ‘5’ unclear in the original
the Provencal ‘adventura’. Provençal
oua ‘aunt’. our
INDEX
_ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_
Alcove 15 16
Book 20 21
Creansur 46 45
Flota 16 17
Galvanism 9 88
Girdle 20 21
Hooker 15 16
Icefield 73 74
Imp 215 205
Kirtle 20 21
Matachin 16 17
Milken 162 163
Postremissimus 90 91
Quellio 16 17
Rosen 161 162
Silvern 162 163
Stonen 162 163
Tapster 156 157
}