THE FORMATION OF WORDS
_The Blending of the Elements._
The haphazard and nondescript way in which all modern civilized
languages grow produces some curious philological phenomena. We have
spoken of many of the doublets, especially the French-Latin ones, the
Old English-Scandinavian ones, and two Persian examples. Again, from the
Persian word for turban, _dulband_, have come both _turban_ and _tulip_,
the flower named for its shape. _Deck_ and _thatch_ are the same
Teutonic root coming through O. E. and Dutch respectively. The Persian
_shah_, ruler, has come recently in this form, and in earlier days in
the verb _check_. The Greek _pandoura_, through Italian and French,
gives _mandolin_; through Italian, with Negro modifications, _banjo_.
Fighting against this tendency is a simplification, by which different
foreign words assume the same form in English. Thus five distinct Latin
words have entered English with the one form _bay_, and mean (1) the
color of a horse (Lat. _badius_); (2) a kind of laurel (Lat. _baca_, a
berry); (3) an inlet of the sea (Lat. _baia_); (4) a form of window
(Lat. _badere_); (5) a bark of a dog (Lat. _baubari_). _Gin_, a drink,
is from Lat. _juniperus_, whence also _juniper_; in cotton _gin_, it is
from Lat. _ingenium_. The differing meanings of _curry_, _yet_, _hue_,
_lay_, _dam_, _main_, _swallow_, and many others, come from different
word-roots.
Words from classical sources are selected for various reasons. Some are
to render scientific nomenclature more specific; some, to soften tabooed
subjects (compare _viscera_, _guts_; _perspire_, _sweat_; _abdomen_,
_belly_). Others survive through the surge and thunder of their
word-music: the lines
The multitudinous seas incarnadine,
Making the green one red
indicate the superiority in mere verbal tone of the classic over the
native idiom. There is less excuse for the attempt to substitute
classical _vertigo_ for _dizziness_, _coryza_ for _cold_, or _urticaria_
for _hives_. This appears at its worst in the Bostonian reply, to “Have
you eaten enough?” “Gastronomic satiety admonishes me that I have
arrived at a state of deglutition consistent with dietetic satiety.” In
American, this would be, “I have eaten enough.”
The place of native words in the language is a secure one. One-fourth of
the whole task of expression in English is shouldered by nine native
words:
and
be
have
it
of
the
to
will
you
These nine with thirty-four other native words form half of the words
actually used in English speech:
about
all
as
at
but
can
come
day
dear
for
get
go
hear
her
if
in
me
much
not
on
one
say
she
so
that
these
they
this
though
time
we
with
write
your
Furthermore, in pairs of synonyms, one native, one classical in origin,
the greater directness in the native words is striking. Compare _fire_,
_conflagration_; _bloody_, _sanguinary_; _stiff_, _rigid_; _fat_,
_corpulent_; _sweat_, _perspire_. On one occasion Samuel Johnson, the
great Latinist, lapsed into native English: “It has not wit enough to
keep it sweet.” After a moment’s reflection, he weakened this with the
classical gloss, “It has not vitality enough to preserve it from
putrefaction.” There are imported words, however, which enter into the
very warp and woof of the language: for instance, _easy_, _large_,
_sure_, _bet_, _boot_, _quiet_, _brace_, _peace_, _city_, _soldier_,
_hour_, _move_, _turn_, _table_, _place_, _very_, _save_, _single_,
_clear_, _plain_. In some cases the foreign word has supplanted the
native in general use; compare _beautiful_, _fair_; _prosperity_,
_speed_; _valley_, _dale_; _divide_, _cleave_; _forest_, _wold_; _fort_,
_fastness_; _tremble_, _quake_; _joyous_, _blithe_; _mercury_,
_quicksilver_; _mirror_, _looking-glass_.
A class at Columbia was recently asked to select the 50 words of most
basic importance in the expression of human life. From two lists
prepared 78 words were finally selected; of these, 39 were French, and
35 Anglo-Saxon. A public-speaking club selected the 21 most beautiful
words in English: of these 3 were Anglo-Saxon, 1 Scandinavian, 3 Latin,
and 14 French.
Many modern words are blended of two or more languages. Classic prefixes
are suffixes with native roots are found in _co-worker_, _pro-German_,
_re-birth_, _ante-room_, _superman_, _breakage_, _laughable_,
_righteous_, _wreckage_. Native prefixes and suffixes are blended with
classic roots to form _unruly_, _besiege_, _bashful_, _misplace_,
_outcry_, _overcharge_, _outline_, _by-product_, _finest_, _forceful_,
_napkin_, _beautiful_, _painting_, _statecraft_, _uncivil_, _overturn_,
_understudy_, _relentless_. Hybrids formed of native and classic roots
are found in _window-pane_, _table-cloth_, _faint-hearted_,
_simple-minded_, _Saturday_, _birthplace_, _candlestick_, _staircase_,
_grandstand_, _cocktail_, _fireplace_, _outrage_.
One remarkable word has recently been unearthed, a hybrid made of
elements from five different languages. The word is _remacadamizing_,
which may be analyzed into _re_ (Latin), _mac_ (Celtic), _adam_
(Hebrew), _ize_ (Greek) and _ing_ (native English.) It is a good
vigorous word too, despite its mottled ancestry.
_Word Creation._
One of the forms of words known to all languages staggers under the
Greek term onomatopoetic, recently rechristened echoic—a word expressing
a sound in Nature. The _hiss_ of steam, the _clang_ of a bell, the
_crash_ of falling timbers,—these words are echoic. Words like _papa_,
_mama_, _baby_, probably of this type, are found in practically all
languages. _Bomb_, _murmur_, _cuckoo_, go back through French to Latin,
and to an antiquity hard to determine. Among echoic words originating
independently in English are: _buzz_, _fizz_, _purr_, _quack_, _hiss_,
_boom_, _gibber_, _jabber_, _giggle_, _titter_, _whirr_, _ding-dong_,
_hee-haw_, _hoot_, _chatter_. The theory that this is responsible for
all words has long been abandoned; yet there is a uniform overtone in a
group of words like _bosh_, _slosh_, _squash_, _plush_, _hush_, _mush_,
_flush_, _blush_; a related quality in _crash_, _splash_, _smash_,
_hash_, _trash_, _clash_, _dash_, _rash_. Certain verbal sounds get
associated with certain emotions; and out of the casual word creations,
commencing as slang, come such words as the following list of recent
additions to the first volume of the Oxford dictionary, all from the
_b’s_: _bamboozle_, _bang_, _bilk_, _blab_, _blabber_, _blare_, _blear_,
_blight_, _blob_, _blizzard_, _blot_, _blotch_, _blubber_, _bluff_,
_blunder_, _blunt_, _blur_, _blurt_, _bluster_, _bogus_, _boom_, _bore_,
_bosh_, _bother_, _brash_, _brunt_, _bub_, _bump_, _bum_, _bunch_,
_bungle_, _burr_, _bustle_, _buzz_. Nonsense verse contributes here; but
artificial word additions, such as Gelett Burgess’ _fuddy_ for untidy,
_bimped_ for jilted, _snosh_ for vain talk, _cofle_ for “to try to find
out a person’s name without asking,” may have a harder time horning into
the language. The verb _to horn in_, a fine figurative phrase from the
cattle country, is still ranked as slang; but it is beginning to receive
academic approval.
Sometimes such word-formations are meant humorously, sometimes
seriously. Thus from chimpanzee came _humanzee_, to describe one
especial animal. _Travelogue_, from travel and dialogue, has more
serious intention. Light recent creations are _swellegant_,
_yellocution_, _versiflage_, _alcoholiday_, _flumonia_. The origin of
these is obvious; but many accepted words in the language have roots as
yet undiscovered, and may have come similarly. _Dog_ came in before the
Conquest, without known ancestry; the Teutonic name appears in _hound_,
while the Latin _canis_ furnishes _canine_. _Girl_, _boy_, _lad_,
_lass_, _big_, _bad_, _pig_, _cut_, entered before Chaucer; _bet_,
_jump_, _dodge_, before 1600; _pun_, in the 17th century; _fun_, _bore_,
_slang_, _fudge_, in the 18th; _rollicking_, _loaf_ (verb) in the 19th;
the modern _stunt_ and _hooch_ are similar.
Another source of increase to the speech is the doublets, already
mentioned. Other examples are _of_, _off_; _through_, _thorough_;
_porridge_, _pottage_; _shade_, _shed_, _shadow_; _strap_, _strop_;
_courtesy_, _curtsey_; _fantasy_, _fancy_; _corpse_, _corps_; _posy_,
_poesy_.
The most prolific source has been the combination of two or more
elements into one word. Almost back to the forgotten beginnings of our
speech go such words as _barn_ (O. E. _bere-aern_, barley-place); _lord_
(_hlaf-weard_, bread-keeper); _gossip_ (_god-sibbe_, good kinsman);
_hussy_ (_house-wife_); _gospel_ (_god-spell_, good narrative); _world_
(_wer-eld_, man age); _sheriff_ (_scir-gerefa_, shire reeve); _daisy_
(_daeges-eage_, day’s eye). The Elizabethan age was rich in compounds,
such as _freshman_, _huntsman_, _bookseller_, _keyhole_, _bookworm_,
_potluck_, and _horseplay_. Shakespeare offered _honey-heave_,
_pity-pleading_, _wind-changing_, _carry-tale_, and others, which have
not found permanent lodgings in the language. Others which have endured
are _rawboned_, _crestfallen_, _untutored_, _high-born_, _red-hot_,
_blood-stained_, _mouth-filling_, _heart-ache_, _hairbreadth_, _break
neck_, _even-handed_, _moss-grown_. Among those which did not survive
are _hotspur_, _aleknight_, _maltworm_, _hangby_, _crackhemp_,
_findfault_ (but compare _fault-finder_), _makepiece_, _tearsheet_,
_ticklebrain_, _tosspot_, _wantwit_. A great stock of terms of contempt
have survived, such as _killjoy_, _scarecrow_, _pickpocket_,
_daredevil_, _spitfire_, _hangdog_, _lickspittle_, _makeshift_,
_skinflint_, _slipshod_, _turncoat_, _telltale_. Modern equivalents are
_speak-easy_, _bootlegger_, and juvenile _tattletale_ and _copycat_.
_Smut-hound_, _dope-fiend_, and other modern mixtures have not yet
acquired lasting dignity.
The English settlers in America used this method in naming many natural
objects: compare _bullfrog_, _canvas-back_, _lightning-bug_, _mud-hen_,
_cat-bird_, _razor-back_, _garter-snake_, _groundhog_, _live-oak_,
_turkey-gobbler_, _pokeweed_, _copperhead_, _eelgrass_, _reedbird_,
_eggplant_, _peanut_, _bluegrass_, _Junebug_. Recent American blends
include _pussyfoot_, _skyscraper_, _bell-hop_, _hayseed_,
_shin-plaster_, _bucket-shop_, _lounge-lizard_, _rum-hound_, and many
other _-lizard_ and _-hound_ blends.
Prefixes and suffixes are taken from all speeches. Native prefixes
include _mis-_, _un-_, _after-_, _be-_, _for-_, _man-_; suffixes,
_-ness_, _-less_, _-ly_, _-ish_, _-er_, _-y_, _-head_, _-hood_. With
these may be used the Latin _pro-_, _post-_, _inter-_, _ante-_, _pre-_,
_co-_, _sub-_, _super-_, _-ation_, _-ative_; French _dis-_, _en-_,
_-age_, _-al_, _-ment_, _-able_, _-ous_, _-ose_, _-ese_, _-gy_, _-ate_,
_-ard_, _-esque_, _-ade_, many of these borrowed by the French; Greek
_a-_ (without), _hyper-_, _nec-_, _pseudo-_, _arche-_, _-ize_, _-ist_,
_-ism_, _-ite_, _-itis_; Scandinavian _-ling_, and others listed;
Flemish _-kin_. Hundreds of compounds made from these have failed to
survive; this is especially true of those made with native prefixes and
suffixes. _Wanton_ is the only word preserving the prefix _wan-_, once
common in such combinations as _wanthrift_, extravagance; _wanhap_,
misfortune; _wanlust_, languor; _wanwit_, folly; _wantrust_, lack of
confidence; _wantruth_, falsehood; _wanchance_, ill-luck. _Blameful_,
_crimeful_, _dareful_, _deathful_, _ruthful_, all from Shakespeare, are
only a few of the _-ful_ compounds that have died; _aidless_,
_bragless_, _heirless_, _effectless_, also from Shakespeare, are four
out of many more that have gone. _Gainsay_ alone lives out of
_gainscope_, _gainstand_, _gainstrive_, etc.; _laughing-stock_ is the
one relict of _gazing-stock_, _jesting-stock_, _mocking-stock_, etc.
Five only of the _-worthy_ adjectives (_blameworthy_, etc.) remain. Most
of the _-th_ nouns are gone: while keeping _warmth_, _health_, _growth_,
_wealth_, and _height_ (often pronounced _heighth_ still) we have
surrendered _lowth_, _greenth_, _coolth_, _illth_, _spilth_, etc. More
of the classic prefixes and suffixes have taken root; there are five
hundred words listed in the Oxford dictionary beginning with the Greek
_anti-_. Only two _tele-_ words were in Samuel Johnson’s dictionary;
there are 130 in the present Oxford one. The Century Dictionary
supplement contains 168 words beginning with _auto-_. The process is a
living one: thus _book-fiend_, _dope-fiend_, _chess-fiend_,
_bomb-proof_, _fool-proof_, _near-beer_, _near-great_, _near-champion_,
are all recent inventions.
The shortening process gave, long ago, such words as _van_ (from
vanguard), _van_ (caravan), _patter_ (pater noster), _canter_
(Canterbury gallop), _wig_ (periwig), _cheat_ (escheat), _wag_
(waghalter), _spend_ (dispend), _rum_ (rumbullion), _cab_ (cabriolet),
_still_ (distillery); the dandified speech of Queen Anne’s day gave
_mob_ (mobile vulgus), _blues_ (blue devils), etc. From other sources
came recently _chum_ (chamber fellow), _photo_ (photograph), _cycle_ and
_bike_ (bicycle), _gas_ (gasoline), _pants_ (pantaloons), and countless
others.
_Folk-Etymology._
The World War saw folk etymology at work among us, in fascinating ways.
Thus _Mouquet Farm_ was promptly re-christened _Moo Cow Farm_. The
conversion of the warship _Bellerophon_ into _Bully Ruffian_ has long
afforded amusement; similar naval perversions are _Ariadne_ into _Harry
Annie_, _Hecate_ into _He Cat_. Mistaken folk analogies are responsible
for the conversion of the singular _pease_ (compare _peascod_) into a
_pea_, and for _edit_, _rove_, _hawk_ (verb), _beg_, _asset_, _vamp_,
_burgle_, _launder_ (verb), _jell_, _henpeck_, and _sunburn_ (both
verbs).
Often it is an attempt to convert unfamiliar words into familiar, by
altering the original spelling. Thus Milton’s _sovran_, by the influence
of _reign_, became _sovereign_; _cold-slaw_ came, not from _cold_, but
from Dutch _kool_, cabbage. _Blunderbuss_, also of Dutch origin, came
from _donderbuss_; _isinglass_, influenced by English _glass_, goes back
to Dutch _huysenblas_, sturgeon-bladder. _Country-dance_ was once
_contre-dance_ (from _contre_, opposite). _Pick-ax_ came, not from _ax_,
but from Fr. _piquois_. Barberry began as Lat. _berberis_, not kin to
_berry_; _gilly-flower_ from Fr. _girofle_, ultimately to Gr.
_karuophullon_, nutleaf. Three words have been pulled toward the flower
_rose_: _primrose_ (Fr. _primerole_, Lat. _primula de ver_, first flower
of spring); _tuberose_ (Lat. _tuberosa_, tuberous); _rosemary_, (Lat.
_ros marinus_, sea-dew). Similarly _mushroom_ has nothing to do with
_room_, but comes from O. Fr. _mouscheron_, from _mousse_, moss.
Animal names show the same trait. _Mongoose_ is from native _mangus_,
not kin to goose; _muskrat_ is from Algonquin _muskwessu_. _Titmouse_
has no more relation to _mouse_, but its second syllable derives from M.
E. _mose_, O. E. _mase_, a name for several kinds of birds. _Cray-fish_
and _crawfish_ came into English as _crevice_ from the same word in O.
Fr.; the first syllable is kin to _crab_, the second has no original
connection with _fish_. Often popular misreading adds an unnecessary
second element to the word. The O. E. _bran_ and Norse _hreinn_,
reindeer, by analogy to the _rein_ of a harness became reindeer, or
literally deer-deer. The _grey_ in _greyhound_ is the name for a dog; by
analogy to the color, we have the present form, which is literally
dog-dog. _Cot_, from Hindustani _knat_, bedstead, is joined often into
_cot-bed_, literally bed-bed. _Cellar_ in _saltcellar_ meant
salt-receptacle (Lat. _salarius_, salt-receptacle; the modern word is
literally salt-salt-receptacle). _Turtle_, in _turtle-dove_, meant dove;
our compound is literally dove-dove. O. E. _samblind_, half-blind (from
Lat. _semi-_, half) gave rise to _sand-blind_, and in Shakespeare to the
facetious _stoneblind_ and _high-gravel-blind_. _Corporal_ gets its
spelling from a popular error; properly from Lat. _caporalis_, from
_caput_, head, it was connected with _corps_, from Lat. _corpus_, and so
grew to its present form.
At times it has been the mistaken zeal of scholars that has led the word
astray. Thus _island_ (M. E. _iland_, water-land) was spelled island in
the attempt to connect it with _isle_, from Lat. _insula_, island;
_rhyme_ (E. _rime_) was spelled to connect it with _rhythm_. The ending
_-gue_, proper in French terms like _vague_, _vogue_, _catalogue_, was
applied erroneously to _tongue_ and _rogue_ (M. E. _tonge_ and 16th
Cent. _roge_); although it has not survived in _dogue_ and _kingue_. The
initial _wh-_ in _who_ and _whom_ is responsible for _whole_ (O. E.
_hal_) and _whore_ (M. E. _hore_). Thus _donkey_ is modelled from the
color _dun_ after _monkey_, _parsnip_ after _turnip_, etc.
_Some Figures of Syntax._
At times modern word usage comes from the effect of some highly
imaginative process, poetic in its origin. Thus the meaning of a word is
often shifted subtly. The Lat. _horridus_ means rough, bristly, shaggy;
_hispidus_ was almost a synonym. The English _horrid_ and _hideous_ have
shifted to mean that which has the psychological effect of making a
person rough and bristly, causing what is called goose-flesh, or making
the hair stand on end. _Superb_, from Lat. _superbus_, proud (compare
Tarquinius _Superbus_) means that worthy of pride. The adjectives in
_sweet expression_ and _grim determination_ have shifted from the active
subject to the effect on the passive object. A _deep_ thinker, a _solid_
reasoner, a _fluent_ speaker have brought the result of the activity
back as a modifier of the activity; meaning literally one who thinks
deep things, one who reasons solid things, one who speaks flowing
speech.
Man thought first in concrete things: when it became necessary to coin
words for vaguer abstractions, he used some familiar concrete term. Thus
most words expressing divisions of time have roots expressing physical
facts at the bottom: _minute_ (Lat. _minutus_, small); _second_ (Med.
Lat. _secunda minuta_, second minute, or a smaller subdivision); _week_
(underlying meaning probably _change_); _month_ (moon); _year_
(underlying meaning probably _spring_); _season_ (Lat. _satio_, sowing);
_period_ (Gr. _periodos_, a circle). The same thing is true of psychical
terms in general. _Intellect_ is from Lat. _inter-legere_, to choose
between; _perceive_ and _comprehend_ mean literally to seize, to grasp.
The process is more obvious in using _mental grasp_ and the slang _to
catch on_. _Ruminate_ refers to the cud-chewing of cows; _brood_, to
meditate, goes back to _sit_ on eggs; _cogitate_ means originally to mix
together; _ponder_, Lat. _pondere_, to weight; _deliberate_ (Lat.
_libra_, scales); _reflect_ (Lat. _reflectere_, to bend back);
_calculate_ (Lat. _calculus_, pebble, from _calx_, lime); _investigate_
(Lat. _vestigium_, foot-print) illustrate this further.
Moral conceptions illustrate the same process. _Right_ and _wrong_ meant
in their origins straight and crooked (compare _right_ angle, _right_
away, and the verb _wring_, to twist). The colloquial _straight_ and
_crooked_ hark back to the earlier idea, with new moral application. The
fundamental meaning of _good_ is suitable; that of _evil_, excessive.
_Moral_ and _ethical_ both go back to words meaning custom, or manners.
_True_, in its original meaning, is related to the oak tree. _Integrity_
means untouched (Lat. _in_, not, and _tangere_, to touch). _Holy_ comes
from O. E. _halig_, from _hal_, whole. _Wicked_ was M. E. _wikke_,
feeble, connected with _weak_. _Virtue_, from Lat. _vir_, man, meant
manly physical strength. _Character_ is from the similar Greek word
meaning a tool for stamping or marking.
As physical facts alter, words are put to queer uses. Thus a university
course ends with a _commencement_; a steamer _sails_; an airplane
_lands_ on the sea; a ship is _manned_ with women. We have weekly
_journals_ (literally, weekly dailies, from Lat. _diurnalis_, daily).
_Black_-berries are red when they are green. A _manuscript_ (literally,
hand-written) may be typewritten. Words come to the place where they
mean the same as their negatives: as _passive_ and _impassive_, _ravel_
and _unravel_, _valuable_ and _invaluable_.
Language, Emerson said, is fossil poetry. Words, says Santayana, are the
tombs of ideas. These mental pictures, traced back to their origins, may
be of astonishing vividness. _Seminary_ meant originally seed-plot;
_stimulate_ is literally to goad on—though even _goad_ has now lost its
physical vigor. _Sop_, used now of a drunkard, meant in O. E. bread,
then used for dipping into liquids. _Cloak_ meant originally bell (Late
Lat. _cloca_, bell, and huntsman’s cloak through similarity of shape).
_Daisy_ meant literally eye of day; _aster_, a star (Gr. _aster_, star;
whence _astronomy_). _Tansy_ comes from Gr. _athanasia_, deathlessness,
immortality, a thought once applied to the plant; _pansy_ derives from
Fr. _pensee_, thought or remembrance. _Geranium_ meant originally
crane’s bill, from the shape of the seed; _tulip_ goes back to the
Persian word seen more clearly in _turban_, shape again determining the
application to the flower. Sentimental associations in English appear
clearly in _lady-slipper_, _bleeding-heart_, _maiden-hair_,
_heartsease_. Some of these derivations are humorous in intent; as an
artist’s _easel_ (Ger. _Esel_, a donkey, because the easel bears
burdens); _cab_ from _cabriolet_, a little she-goat.
_Figures of Nearness._
Many words grow from other words connected, closely or loosely, with the
idea they represent. Thus, by a process of de-personization, we speak of
a hunter as a _nimrod_, a teacher as a _mentor_, a wise man as a
_Nestor_, a legislator as a _solon_, after definite individuals.
_Tongue_ acquires the wider meaning of language, as in “the English
tongue.” _Language_ itself is from Lat. _lingua_, tongue. _Copper_ and
_nickel_ stand for small coins of those metals; _bloodshed_ for
destruction of life; _reds_, anarchists; the _bench_, the judges; the
_pulpit_, the clergy; _cockcrow_, dawn. We say _the kettle boils_ when
we mean the water boils; we use _youth_ for young people, _salt_ and
_deep_ for ocean, and an author’s name for his works, as “I read
_Shakespeare_.”
At times the shift is more disguised. Thus _front_ is a long way from
Lat. _frons_, the forehead. _Book_ comes from O. E. _boc_, the
beech-tree, the name of the material out of which books were first made.
Similarly _code_ is from Lat. _codex_, earlier _caudex_, tree-trunk;
_Bible_ from Gr. _biblion_, diminutive of _biblos_, inner bark of the
papyrus; _library_ from Lat. _liber_, book, originally bark of the tree.
In a different way _volume_ comes from Lat. _volumen_, roll, the form in
which Roman records were kept. In the case of _deer_, the class name O.
E. _deor_, wild beast, has come to apply to a special kind of beasts.
The same is true of hound, originally the word for all dogs. In the case
of _rabbit_, _bird_, and _pig_ the word originally meaning the young of
a species stands today for the whole species. This is being repeated
today in the word _chicken_. There is no limit to the eccentricity of
word creation.