At the commencement of Lecture II., I informed you that Etymology
treats, 3dly, of derivation. This branch of Etymology, important as it
is, cannot be very extensively treated in an elementary work on grammar.
In the course of the preceding lectures, it has been frequently
agitated; and now I shall offer a few more remarks, which will doubtless
be useful in illustrating some of the various methods in which one word
is derived from another. Before you proceed, however, please to turn
back and read again what is advanced on this subject on page 27, and in
the PHILOSOPHICAL NOTES.
1. Nouns are derived from verbs.
2. Verbs are derived from nouns, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs.
3. Adjectives are derived from nouns.
4. Nouns are derived from adjectives.
5. Adverbs are derived from adjectives.
1. Nouns are derived from verbs; as, from "to love," comes "lover;" from
"to visit, visiter;" from "to survive, surviver," &c.
In the following instances, and in many others, it is difficult to
determine whether the verb was deduced from the noun, or the noun from
the verb, _viz_. "Love, to love; hate, to hate; fear, to fear; sleep, to
sleep; walk, to walk; ride, to ride; act, to act," &c.
2. Verbs are derived from nouns, adjectives, and sometimes from adverbs;
as, from the noun _salt_, comes "to salt;" from the adjective _warm_,
"to warm;" and from the adverb _forward_, "to forward." Sometimes they
are formed by lengthening the vowel, or softening the consonant; as,
from "grass, to graze;" sometimes by adding _en_; as, from "length, to
lengthen;" especially to adjectives; as, from "short, to shorten;
bright, to brighten."
3. Adjectives are derived from nouns in the following manner: adjectives
denoting plenty are derived from nouns by adding _y_; as, from "Health,
healthy; wealth, wealthy; might, mighty," &c.
Adjectives denoting the matter out of which any thing is made, are
derived from nouns by adding _en_; as, from "Oak, oaken; wood, wooden;
wool, woollen," &c.
Adjectives denoting abundance are derived from nouns by adding _ful_;
as, from "Joy, joyful; sin, sinful; fruit, fruitful," &c.
Adjectives denoting plenty, but with some kind of diminution, are
derived from nouns by adding _some_; as, from "Light, lightsome;
trouble, troublesome; toil, toilsome," &c.
Adjectives denoting want are derived from nouns by adding _less_; as,
from "Worth, worthless;" from "care, careless; joy, joyless," &c.
Adjectives denoting likeness are derived from nouns by adding _ly_; as,
from "Man, manly; earth, earthly; court, courtly," &c.
Some adjectives are derived from other adjectives, or from nouns by
adding _ish_ to them; which termination when added to adjectives,
imports diminution, or lessening the quality; as, "White, whitish;" i.e.
somewhat white. When added to nouns, it signifies similitude or tendency
to a character; as, "Child, childish; thief, thievish."
Some adjectives are formed from nouns or verbs by adding the termination
_able_; and those adjectives signify capacity; as, "Answer, answerable;
to change, changeable."
4. Nouns are derived from adjectives, sometimes by adding the
termination _ness_; as, "White, whiteness; swift, swiftness;" sometimes
by adding _th_ or _t_, and making a small change in some of the letters;
as, "Long, length; high, height."
5. Adverbs of quality are derived from adjectives, by adding _ly_, or
changing _le_ into _ly_; and denote the same quality as the adjectives
from which they are derived; as, from "base," comes "basely;" from
"slow, slowly;" from "able, ably."
There are so many other ways of deriving words from one another, that it
would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to enumerate them. The
primitive words of every language are very few; the derivatives form
much the greater number. A few more instances only can be given here.
Some nouns are derived from other nouns, by adding the terminations
_hood_ or _head, ship, ery, wick, rick, dom, ian, ment_, and _age_.
Nouns ending in _hood_ or _head_, are such as signify character or
qualities; as, "Manhood, knighthood, falsehood," &c.
Nouns ending in _ship_, are those that signify office, employment,
state, or condition; as, "Lordship, stewardship, partnership," &c. Some
nouns in _ship_ are derived from adjectives; as, "Hard, hardship," &c.
Nouns which end in _ery_, signify action or habit; as, "Slavery,
foolery, prudery," &c. Some nouns of this sort come from adjectives; as,
"Brave, bravery," &c.
Nouns ending in _wick, rick_, and _dom_, denote dominion, jurisdiction,
or condition; as, "Bailiwick, bishopric, kingdom, dukedom, freedom," &c.
Nouns which end in _ian_, are those that signify profession; as,
"Physician, musician," &c. Those that end in _ment_ and _age_, come
generally from the French, and commonly signify the act or habit; as,
"Commandment," "usage."
Some nouns ending in _ard_, are derived from verbs or adjectives, and
denote character or habit; as, "Drunk, drunkard; dote, dotard."
Some nouns have the form of diminutives; but these are not many. They
are formed by adding the terminations _kin, ling, ing, ock, el_, and the
like; as, "Lamb, lambkin; goose, gosling; duck, duckling; hill, hillock;
cock, cockerel," &c.