young, youth_; being rather less vocal than the feeble sound of _i_, or of
the vowel _y_, and serving merely to modify that of a succeeding vowel,
with which it is quickly united. _Y_, as a vowel, has the same sounds as
_i_:--
1. The open, long, full, or primal _y_; as in _cry, crying, thyme, cycle_.
2. The close, curt, short, or stopped _y_; as in _system, symptom, cynic_.
3. The feeble or faint _y_, accentless; (like _open e feeble_;) as in
_cymar, cycloidal, mercy_.
The vowels _i_ and _y_ have, in general, exactly the same sound under
similar circumstances, and, in forming derivatives, we often change one for
the other: as in _city, cities; tie, tying; easy, easily_.
_Y_, before a vowel heard in the same syllable, is reckoned a _consonant_;
we have, therefore, no diphthongs or triphthongs _commencing_ with this
letter.
XXVI. OF THE LETTER Z.
The consonant _Z_, the last letter of our alphabet, has usually a soft or
buzzing sound, the same as that of _s flat_; as in _Zeno, zenith, breeze,
dizzy_. Before _u primal_ or _i feeble, z_, as well as _s flat_, sometimes
takes the sound of _zh_, which, in the enumeration of consonantal sounds,
is reckoned a distinct element; as in _azure, seizure, glazier; osier,
measure, pleasure_.
END OF THE FIRST APPENDIX.
APPENDIX II.
TO PART SECOND, OR ETYMOLOGY.
OF THE DERIVATION OF WORDS.
Derivation, as a topic to be treated by the grammarian, is a species of
Etymology, which explains the various methods by which those derivative
words which are not formed by mere grammatical inflections, are deduced
from their primitives. Most of those words which are regarded as primitives
in English, may be traced to ulterior sources, and many of them are found
to be compounds or derivatives in the other languages from which they have
come to us. To show the composition, origin, and literal sense of these, is
also a part, and a highly useful part, of this general inquiry, or theme of
instruction.
This species of information, though insignificant in those whose studies
reach to nothing better,--to nothing valuable and available in life,--is
nevertheless essential to education and to science; because it is essential
to a right understanding of the import and just application of such words.
All reliable etymology, all authentic derivation of words, has ever been
highly valued by the wise. The learned James Harris has a remark as
follows: "How useful to ETHIC SCIENCE, and indeed to KNOWLEDGE in general,
a GRAMMATICAL DISQUISITION into the _Etymology_ and _Meaning_ of WORDS was
esteemed by the chief and ablest Philosophers, may be seen by consulting
_Plato_ in his _Cratylus; Xenophon's Memorabilia_, IV, 5, 6; _Arrian.
Epict._ I, 17; II, 10; _Marc. Anton_. III, 11;" &c.--See _Harris's Hermes_,
p. 407.
A knowledge of the _Saxon, Latin, Greek_, and _French_ languages, will
throw much light on this subject, the derivation of our modern English; nor
is it a weak argument in favour of studying these, that our acquaintance
with them, whether deep or slight, tends to a better understanding of what
is borrowed, and what is vernacular, in our own tongue. But etymological
analysis may extensively teach the origin of English words, their
composition, and the import of their parts, without demanding of the
student the power of reading foreign or ancient languages, or of
discoursing at all on General Grammar. And, since many of the users of this
work may be but readers of our current English, to whom an unknown letter
or a foreign word is a particularly uncouth and repulsive thing, we shall
here forbear the use of Saxon characters, and, in our explanations, not go
beyond the precincts of our own language, except to show the origin and
primitive import of some of our definitive and connecting particles, and to
explain the prefixes and terminations which are frequently employed to form
English derivatives.
The rude and cursory languages of barbarous nations, to whom literature is
unknown, are among those transitory things which, by the hand of time, are
irrecoverably buried in oblivion. The fabric of the English language is
undoubtedly of _Saxon_ origin; but what was the particular form of the
language spoken by the _Saxons_, when about the year 450 they entered
Britain, cannot now be accurately known. It was probably a dialect of the
_Gothic_ or _Teutonic_. This _Anglo-Saxon_ dialect, being the nucleus,
received large accessions from other tongues of the north, from the _Norman
French_, and from the more polished languages of _Rome_ and _Greece_, to
form the modern _English_. The speech of our rude and warlike ancestors
thus gradually improved, as Christianity, civilization, and knowledge,
advanced the arts of life in Britain; and, as early as the tenth century,
it became a language capable of expressing all the sentiments of a
civilized people. From the time of _Alfred_, its progress may be traced by
means of writings which remain; but it can scarcely be called _English_, as
I have shown in the Introduction to this work, till about the thirteenth
century. And for two or three centuries later, it was so different from the
modern English, as to be scarcely intelligible at all to the mere English
reader; but, gradually improving by means upon which we need not here
dilate, it at length became what we now find it,--a language copious,
strong, refined, impressive, and capable, if properly used, of a great
degree of beauty and harmony.
SECTION I.--DERIVATION OF THE ARTICLES.
1. For the derivation of our article THE, which he calls "_an adjective_,"
Dr. Webster was satisfied with giving this hint: "Sax. _the_; Dutch,
_de_."--_Amer. Dict._ According to Horne Tooke, this definite article of
ours, is the Saxon _verb_ "THE," imperative, from THEAN, to _take_; and is
nearly equivalent in meaning to _that_ or _those_, because our _that_ is
"the past participle of THEAN," and "means _taken_."--_Diversions of
Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 49. But this is not very satisfactory. Examining
ancient works, we find the word, or something resembling it, or akin to it,
written in various forms, as _se, see, ye, te, de, the, thá_, and others
that cannot be shown by our modern letters; and, tracing it as one article,
or one and the same word, through what we suppose to be the oldest of these
forms, in stead of accounting the forms as signs of different roots, we
should sooner regard it as originating in the imperative of SEON, _to see_.
2. AN, our indefinite article, is the Saxon _oen, ane, an_, ONE; and, by
dropping _n_ before a consonant, becomes _a_. Gawin Douglas, an ancient
English writer, wrote _ane_, even before a consonant; as, "_Ane_
book,"--"_Ane_ lang spere,"--"_Ane_ volume."
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--The words of Tooke, concerning the derivation of _That_ and _The_,
as nearly as they can be given in our letters, are these: "THAT (in the
Anglo-Saxon Thæt, i.e. Thead, Theat) means _taken, assumed_; being merely
the past participle of the Anglo-Saxon verb Thean, Thegan, Thion, Thihan,
Thicgan, Thigian; sumere, assumere, accipere; to THE, to _get_, to _take_,
to _assume_.
'Ill mote he THE That caused me
To make myselfe a frere.'--_Sir T. More's Workes, pag._ 4.
THE (our _article_, as it is called) is the imperative of the same verb
Thean: which may very well supply the place of the correspondent
Anglo-Saxon article Se, which is the imperative of Seon, videre: for it
answers the same purpose in discourse, to say.... _see_ man, or _take_
man."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 49.
OBS. 2.--Now, between _Thæt_ and _Theat_, there is a considerable
difference of form, for _æ_ and _ea_ are not the same diphthong; and, in
the identifying of so many infinitives, as forming but one verb, there is
room for error. Nor is it half so probable that these are truly one root,
as that our article _The_ is the same, in its origin, as the old
Anglo-Saxon _Se_. Dr. Bosworth, in his Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, gives no
such word as _Thean_ or _Thegan_, no such participle as _Thead_ or _Theat_,
which derivative is perhaps imaginary; but he has inserted together
"Thicgan, thicgean, thigan, _to receive, or take_;" and separately, "Theon,
_to thrive, or flourish_,"--"Thihan, _to thrive_,"--and "Thion, _to
flourish_;" as well as the preterit "Theat, _howled_," from "Theotan, _to
howl_." And is it not plain, that the old verb "THE," as used by More, is
from Theon, _to thrive_, rather than from Thicgan, _to take_? "Ill mote he
THE"--"Ill might he _thrive_," not, "Ill might he _take_."
OBS. 3.--Professor Hart says, "The word _the_ was originally _thæt_, or
_that_. In course of time [,] it became abbreviated, and the short form
acquired, in usage, a shade of meaning different from the original long
one. _That_ is demonstrative with emphasis; _the_ is demonstrative without
emphasis."--_Hart's E. Grammar_, p. 32. This derivation of _The_ is quite
improbable; because the shortening of a monosyllable of five letters by
striking out the third and the fifth, is no usual mode of abbreviation.
Bosworth's Dictionary explains THE as "An indeclinable article, often used
for all the cases of Se, seo, thæt, especially in adverbial expressions and
in corrupt Anglo-Saxon, as in the _Chronicle_ after the year 1138."
OBS. 4--Dr. Latham, in a section which is evidently neither accurate nor
self-consistent, teaches us--"that there exist in the present English two
powers of the word spelled _t-h-e_, or of the so-called definite article;"
then, out of sixteen Anglo-Saxon equivalents, he selects two for the roots
of this double-powered _the_; saying, "Hence the _the_ that has originated
out of the Anglo-Saxon _thy_ is one word; whilst the _the_ that has
originated out of the Anglo-Saxon _the_, [is] another. The latter is the
common article: the former the _the_ in expressions like _all the more, all
the better--more by all that, better by all that_, and the Latin phrases
_eo majus, eo melius_."--_Latham's Hand-Book_, p. 158. This double
derivation is liable to many objections. The Hand-Book afterwards says,
"That the, in expressions like _all the more, all the better_, &c., is _no
article_, has already been shown."--P. 196. But in fact, though _the_
before comparatives or superlatives be no article, Dr. Latham's etymologies
prove no such thing; neither does he anywhere tell us what it is. His
examples, too, with their interpretations, are all of them fictitious,
ambiguous, and otherwise bad. It is uncertain whether he meant his phrases
for counterparts to each other or not. If _the_ means "_by that_," or
_thereby_, it is an _adverb_; and so is its equivalent "_eo_" denominated
by the Latin grammarians. See OBS. 10, under Rule I.
SECTION II.--DERIVATION OF NOUNS.
In _English_, Nouns are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from verbs, or
from participles.
I. Nouns are derived from _Nouns_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ship, dom, ric, wick, or, ate, hood_, or _head_: as,
_fellow, fellowship; king, kingdom; bishop, bishopric; bailiff_, or _baily,
bailiwick; senate, senator; tetrarch, tetrarchate; child, childhood; God,
Godhead_. These generally denote dominion, office, or character.
2. By the adding of _ian_: as, _music, musician; physic, physician;
theology, theologian; grammar, grammarian; college, collegian_. These
generally denote profession.
3. By the adding of _r, ry_, or _ery_: as, _grocer, grocery; cutler,
cutlery; slave, slavery; scene, scenery; fool, foolery_. These sometimes
denote state or habit; sometimes, an artificer's wares or shop.
4. By the adding of _age_ or _ade_: as, _patron, patronage; porter,
porterage; band, bandage; lemon, lemonade; baluster, balustrade; wharf,
wharfage; vassal, vassalage_.
5. By the adding of _kin, let, ling, ock, el, erel_, or _et_: as, _lamb,
lambkin; ring, ringlet; cross, crosslet; duck, duckling; hill, hillock;
run, runnel; cock, cockerel; pistol, pistolet; eagle, eaglet; circle,
circlet_. All these denote little things, and are called diminutives.
6. By the addition of _ist_: as, _psalm, psalmist; botany, botanist; dial,
dialist; journal, journalist._ These denote persons devoted to, or skilled
in, the subject expressed by the primitive.
7. By the prefixing of an adjective, or an other noun, so as to form a
compound word: as, _foreman, broadsword, statesman, tradesman; bedside,
hillside, seaside; bear-berry, bear-fly, bear-garden; bear's-ear,
bear's-foot, goat's-beard_.
8. By the adoption of a negative prefix to reverse the meaning: as, _order,
disorder; pleasure, displeasure; consistency, inconsistency; capacity,
incapacity; observance, nonobservance; resistance, nonresistance; truth,
untruth; constraint, unconstraint_.
9. By the use of the prefix _counter_, signifying _against_ or _opposite_:
as, _attraction, counter-attraction; bond, counter-bond; current,
counter-current; movement, counter-movement_.
10. By the addition of _ess, ix, or ine_, or the changing of masculines to
feminines so terminating: as, _heir, heiress; prophet, prophetess; abbot,
abbess; governor, governess; testator, testatrix; hero, heroine_.
II. Nouns are derived from _Adjectives_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ness, ity, ship, dom_, or _hood_: as, _good, goodness;
real, reality; hard, hardship; wise, wisdom; free, freedom; false,
falsehood_.
2. By the changing of _t_ into _ce_ or _cy_: as, _radiant, radiance;
consequent, consequence; flagrant, flagrancy; current, currency;
discrepant, discrepance_, or _discrepancy_.
3. By the changing of some of the letters, and the adding of _t_ or _th_:
as, _long, length; broad, breadth; wide, width; high, height_. The nouns
included under these three heads, generally denote abstract qualities, and
are called abstract nouns.
4. By the adding of _ard_: as, _drunk, drunkard; dull, dullard_. These
denote ill character.
5. By the adding of _ist_: as, _sensual, sensualist; separate, separatist;
royal, royalist; fatal, fatalist_. These denote persons devoted, addicted,
or attached, to something.
6. By the adding of _a_, the Latin ending of neuter plurals, to certain
proper adjectives in _an_: as, _Miltonian, Miltoniana; Johnsonian,
Johnsoniana_. These literally mean, _Miltonian things, sayings_, or
_anecdotes_, &c.; and are words somewhat fashionable with the journalists,
and are sometimes used for titles of books that refer to table-talk.
III. Nouns are derived from _Verbs_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ment, ance, ence, ure_, or _age_: as, _punish,
punishment; abate, abatement; repent, repentance; condole, condolence;
forfeit, forfeiture; stow, stowage; equip, equipage; truck, truckage_.
2. By a change of the termination of the verb, into _se, ce, sion, tion,
ation_, or _ition_: as, _expand, expanse, expansion; pretend, pretence,
pretension; invent, invention; create, creation; omit, omission; provide,
provision; reform, reformation; oppose, opposition_. These denote either
the act of doing, or the thing done.
3. By the adding of _er_ or _or_: as, _hunt, hunter; write, writer;
collect, collector; assert, assertor; instruct, instructer_, or
_instructor_. These generally denote the doer. To denote the person to whom
something is done, we sometimes form a derivative ending in _ee_: as,
_promisee, mortgagee, appellee, consignee_.
4. Nouns and Verbs are sometimes alike in orthography, but different in
pronunciation: as, a _house_, to _house_; a _use_, to _use_; a _reb'el_, to
_rebel'_; a _rec'ord_, to _record'_; a _cem'ent_, to _cement'_. Of such
pairs, it may often be difficult to say which word is the primitive.
5. In many instances, nouns and verbs are wholly alike as to form and
sound, and are distinguished by their sense and construction only: as,
_love_, to _love; fear_, to _fear; sleep_, to _sleep_;--to _revise_, a
_revise_; to _rebuke_, a _rebuke_. In these, we have but the same word used
differently.
IV. Nouns are often derived from _Participles_ in _ing_; as, a _meeting_,
the _understanding, murmurings, disputings, sayings_, and _doings_: and,
occasionally, one is formed from such a word and an adverb or a perfect
participle joined with it; as, "The _turning-away_,"--"His
_goings-forth_,"--"Your _having-boasted_ of it."
SECTION III.--DERIVATION OF ADJECTIVES.
In _English_, Adjectives are derived from nouns, from adjectives, from
verbs, or from participles.
I. Adjectives are derived from _Nouns_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ous, ious, eous, y, ey, ic, al, ical_ or _ine_:
(sometimes with an omission or change of some of the final letters:) as,
_danger, dangerous; glory, glorious; right, righteous; rock, rocky; clay,
clayey; poet, poetic_, or _poetical; nation, national; method, methodical;
vertex, vertical; clergy, clerical; adamant, adamantine_. Adjectives thus
formed, generally apply the properties of their primitives, to the nouns to
which they relate.
2. By the adding of _ful_: as, _fear, fearful; cheer, cheerful; grace,
graceful; shame, shameful; power, powerful_. These come almost entirely
from personal qualities or feelings, and denote abundance.
3. By the adding of _some_: as, _burden, burdensome; game, gamesome; toil,
toilsome_. These denote plenty, but do not exaggerate.
4. By the adding of _en_: as, _oak, oaken; silk, silken; wheat, wheaten;
oat, oaten; hemp, hempen_. Here the derivative denotes the matter of which
something is made.
5. By the adding of _ly_ or _ish_: as, _friend, friendly; gentleman,
gentlemanly; child, childish; prude, prudish_. These denote resemblance.
The termination _ly_ signifies _like_.
6. By the adding of _able_ or _ible_: as, _fashion, fashionable; access,
accessible_. But these terminations are generally, and more properly, added
to verbs. See Obs. 17th, 18th, &c., on the Rules for Spelling.
7. By the adding of _less_: as, _house, houseless; death, deathless; sleep,
sleepless; bottom, bottomless_. These denote privation or exemption--the
absence of what is named by the primitive.
8. By the adding of _ed_: as, _saint, sainted; bigot, bigoted; mast,
masted; wit, witted_. These have a resemblance to participles, and some of
them are rarely used, except when joined with some other word to form a
compound adjective: as, _three-sided, bare-footed, long-eared,
hundred-handed, flat-nosed, hard-hearted, marble-hearted, chicken-hearted_.
9. Adjectives coming from proper names, take various terminations: as,
_America, American; England, English; Dane, Danish; Portugal, Portuguese;
Plato, Platonic_.
10. Nouns are often converted into adjectives, without change of
termination: as, _paper_ currency; a _gold_ chain; _silver_ knee-buckles.
II. Adjectives are derived from _Adjectives_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ish_ or _some_: as, _white, whitish; green, greenish;
lone, lonesome; glad, gladsome_. These denote quality with some diminution.
2. By the prefixing of _dis, in_, or _un_: as, _honest, dishonest;
consistent, inconsistent; wise, unwise_. These express a negation of the
quality denoted by their primitives.
3. By the adding of _y_ or _ly_: as, _swarth, swarthy; good, goodly_. Of
these there are but few; for almost all the derivatives of the latter form
are adverbs.
III. Adjectives are derived from _Verbs_ in several different ways:--
1. By the adding of _able_ or _ible_: (sometimes with a change of some of
the final letters:) as, _perish, perishable; vary, variable; convert,
convertible; divide, divisible_, or _dividable_. These, according to their
analogy, have usually a passive import, and denote susceptibility of
receiving action. 2. By the adding of _ive_ or _ory_: (sometimes with a
change of some of the final letters:) as, _elect, elective; interrogate,
interrogative, interrogatory; defend, defensive; defame, defamatory;
explain, explanatory_.
3. Words ending in _ate_, are mostly verbs; but some of them may be
employed as adjectives, in the same form, especially in poetry; as,
_reprobate, complicate_.
IV. Adjectives are derived from _Participles_, not by suffixes, but in
these ways:--
1. By the prefixing of _un_, meaning _not_; as, _unyielding, unregarded,
unreserved, unendowed, unendeared, unendorsed, unencountered, unencumbered,
undisheartened, undishonoured_. Of this sort there are very many.
2. By a combining of the participle with some word which does not belong to
the verb; as, _way-faring, hollow-sounding, long-drawn, deep-laid,
dear-purchased, down-trodden_. These, too, are numerous.
3. Participles often become adjectives without change of form. Such
adjectives are distinguished from participles by their construction alone:
as, "A _lasting_ ornament;"--"The _starving_ chymist;"--"Words of _learned_
length;"--"With _counterfeited_ glee."
SECTION IV.--DERIVATION OF THE PRONOUNS.
I. The _English_ Pronouns are all of _Saxon_ origin; but, in them, our
language differs very strikingly from that of the Anglo-Saxons. The
following table compares the simple personal forms:--
Eng. I, My or Me; We, Our or Us.
Mine, Ours,
Sax. Ic, Min, Me or We, Ure or Us.
Mec; User,
Eng. Thou, Thy or Thee; Ye, Your You.
Thine, or Yours,
Sax. Thu, Thin, The or Ge Eower, Eow or
Thec; Eowie.
Eng. He, His Him; They, Their or Them.
Theirs,
Sax. He, His or Him or Hi or Hira or Heom or
Hys, Hine; Hig, Heora, Hi.
Eng. She, Her or Her; They, Their or Them.
Hers, Theirs,
Sax. Heo, Hire or Hi; Hi or Hira or Heom or
Hyre, Hig, Heora, Hi.
Eng. It, Its, It; They, Their or Them.
Theirs,
Sax. Hit, His or Hit; Hi or Hira or Heom or
Hys, Hig, Heora, Hi.
Here, as in the personal pronouns of other languages, the plurals and
oblique cases do not all appear to be regular derivatives from the
nominative singular. Many of these pronouns, perhaps all, as well as a vast
number of other words of frequent use in our language, and in that from
which it chiefly comes, were very variously written by the Middle English,
Old English, Semi-Saxon, and Anglo-Saxon authors. He who traces the history
of our language, will meet with them under all the following forms, (or
such as these would be with Saxon characters for the Saxon forms,) and
perhaps in more:--
1. I, J, Y, y, i, ay, ic, che, ich, Ic;--MY, mi, min, MINE, myne, myn;--ME,
mee, me, meh, mec, mech;--WE, wee, ve;--OUR or OURS, oure, ure, wer, urin,
uren, urne, user, usse, usser, usses, ussum;--Us, ous, vs, uss, usic,
usich, usig, usih, uz, huz.
2. THOU, thoue, thow, thowe, thu, tou, to, tu;--THY or THINE, thi, thyne,
thyn, thin;--THEE, the, theh, thec;--YE, yee, yhe, ze, zee, ge, ghe;--YOUR
or YOURS, youre, zour, hure, goure, yer, yower, yowyer, yorn, yourn, youre,
eower;--You, youe, yow, gou, zou, ou, iu, iuh, eow, iow, geow, eowih,
eowic, iowih.
3. HE, hee, hie, se;--His, hise, is, hys, ys, hyse, hus;--HIM, hine, hiene,
hion, hen, hyne, hym, im;--THEY, thay, thei, the, tha, thai, thii, yai, hi,
hie, heo, hig, hyg, hy;--THEIR or THEIRS, ther, theyr, theyrs, thair,
thare, theora, hare, here, her, hir, hire, hira, hiora, hiera, heora,
hyra;--THEM, thym, theym, thaym, thaim, thame, tham, em, hem, heom, hiom,
eom, hom, him, hi, hig.
4. SHE, shee, sche, scho, sho, shoe, scæ, seo, heo, hio, hiu, hoo,
hue;--HER, (possessive,) hur, hir, hire, hyr, hyre, hyra, hera;--HER,
(objective,) hire, hyre, hur, hir, hi. The plural forms of this feminine
pronoun are like those of the masculine _He_; but the "_Well-Wishers to
Knowledge_," in their small Grammar, (erroneously, as I suppose,) make
_hira_ masculine only, and _heora_ feminine only. See their _Principles of
Grammar_, p. 38.
5. IT, yt, itt, hit, hyt, hytt. The possessive _Its_ is a modern
derivative; _His_ or _Hys_ was formerly used in lieu of it. The plural
forms of this neuter pronoun, _It_, are like those of _He_ and _She_.
According to Horne Tooke, who declares _hoet_ to have been one of its
ancient forms, "this pronoun was merely the past participle of the verb
HAITAN, _hætan_, nominare," _to name_, and literally signifies "_the
said_;" (_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, p. 46; _W. Allen's Gram._, p.
57;) but Dr. Alexander Murray, exhibiting it in an other form, not adapted
to this opinion, makes it the neuter of a declinable adjective, or pronoun,
inflected from the masculine, thus: "He, heo hita, _this_"--_Hist. of
Lang._, Vol. i, p. 315.
II. The relatives and interrogatives are derived from the same source, the
Anglo-Saxon tongue, and have passed through similar changes, or varieties
in orthography; but, the common relative pronoun of the Anglo-Saxons being
like their article _the_,--or, with the three genders, _se, seo,
thæt_,--and not like our _who, which_, and _what_, it is probable that the
interrogative use of these words was the primitive one. They have been
found in all the following forms:--
1. WHO, ho, hue, wha, hwa, hua, wua, qua, quha;--WHOSE, who's, whos, whois,
whoise, wheas, quhois, quhais, quhase, hwæs;--WHOM, whome, quham, quhum,
quhome, hwom, hwam, hwæm, hwæne, hwone.
2. WHICH, whiche, whyche, whilch, wych, quilch, quilk, quhilk, hwilc,
hwylc, hwelc, whilk, huilic, hvilc. For the Anglo-Saxon forms, Dr.
Bosworth's Dictionary gives "_hwilc, hwylc_, and _hwelc_;" but Professor
Fowler's E. Grammar makes them "_huilic_ and _hvilc_."--See p. 240.
_Whilk_, or _quhilk_, is a Scottish form.
3. WHAT, hwat, hwet, quhat, hwæt. This pronoun, whether relative or
interrogative, is regarded by Bosworth and others as a neuter derivative
from the masculine or femine [sic--KTH] _hwa_, who. It may have been thence
derived, but, in modern English, it is not always of the neuter gender. See
the last note on page 312.
4. THAT, Anglo-Saxon Thæt. Tooke's notion of the derivation of this word is
noticed above in the section on Articles. There is no certainty of its
truth; and our lexicographers make no allusion to it. W. Allen reaffirms
it. See his _Gram._, p. 54.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--In the Well-Wishers' Grammar, (p. 39,) as also in L. Murray's and
some others, the pronoun _Which_ is very strangely and erroneously
represented as being always "of the _neuter_ gender." (See what is said of
this word in the Introduction, Chap. ix, ¶ 32.) Whereas it is the relative
most generally applied to _brute animals_, and, in our common version of
the Bible, its application to _persons_ is peculiarly frequent. Fowler
says, "In its origin it is a Compound."--_E. Gram._, p. 240. Taking its
first Anglo-Saxon form to be "_Huilic_," he thinks it traceable to "_hwa_,
who," or its ablative "_hwi_," and "_lie_, like."--_Ib._ If this is right,
the neuter sense is not its primitive import, or any part of it.
OBS. 2.--From its various uses, the word _That_ is called sometimes a
pronoun, sometimes an adjective, and sometimes a conjunction; but, in
respect to derivation, it is, doubtless, one and the same. As a relative
pronoun, it is of either number, and has no plural form different from the
singular; as, "Blessed is the _man that_ heareth me."--_Prov._, viii, 34.
"Blessed are _they that_ mourn."--_Matt._, v, 4. As an adjective, it is
said by Tooke to have been formerly "applied indifferently to plural nouns
and to singular; as, 'Into _that_ holy orders.'--_Dr. Martin_. 'At _that_
dayes.'--_Id. 'That_ euyll aungels the denilles.'--_Sir Tho. More_. 'This
pleasure undoubtedly farre excelleth all _that_ pleasures that in this life
maie be obteined.'--_Id_."--_Diversions of Purley_, Vol. ii, pp. 47 and 48.
The introduction of the plural form _those_, must have rendered this usage
bad English.
SECTION V.--DERIVATION OF VERBS.
In English, Verbs are derived from nouns, from adjectives, or from verbs.
I. Verbs are derived from _Nouns_ in the following different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ize, ise, en_, or _ate_: as, _author, authorize;
critic, criticise; length, lengthen; origin, originate_. The termination
_ize_ is of Greek origin, and _ise_ is most probably of French: the former
is generally preferable in forming English derivatives; but both are
sometimes to be used, and they should be applied according to Rule 13th for
Spelling.
2. Some few verbs are derived from nouns by the changing of a sharp or hard
consonant to a flat or soft one, or by the adding of a mute _e_, to soften
a hard sound: as, _advice, advise; price, prize; bath, bathe; cloth,
clothe; breath, breathe; wreath, wreathe; sheath, sheathe; grass, graze_.
II. Verbs are derived from _Adjectives_ in the following different ways:--
1. By the adding of _ize_ or _en_: as _legal, legalize; immortal,
immortalize; civil, civilize; human, humanize; familiar, familiarize;
particular, particularize; deaf, deafen; stiff, stiffen; rough, roughen;
deep, deepen; weak, weaken_.
2. Many adjectives become verbs by being merely used and inflected as
verbs: as, _warm_, to _warm_, he _warms; dry_, to _dry_, he _dries; dull_,
to _dull_, he _dulls; slack_, to _slack_, he _slacks; forward_, to
_forward_, he _forwards_.
III. Verbs are derived from _Verbs_ in the following modes, or ways:--
1. By the prefixing of _dis_ or _un_ to reverse the meaning: as, _please,
displease; qualify, disqualify; organize, disorganize; fasten, unfasten;
muzzle, unmuzzle; nerve, unnerve_.
2. By the prefixing of _a, be, for, fore, mis, over, out, under, up_, or
_with_: as, _rise, arise; sprinkle, besprinkle; bid, forbid; see, foresee;
take, mistake; look, overlook; run, outrun; go, undergo; hold, uphold;
draw, withdraw_.
SECTION VI.--DERIVATION OF PARTICIPLES.
All _English_ Participles are derived from _English_ verbs, in the manner
explained in Chapter 7th, under the general head of Etymology; and when
foreign participles are introduced into our language, they are not
participles with us, but belong to some other class of words, or part of
speech.
SECTION VII.--DERIVATION OF ADVERBS.
1. In _English_, many Adverbs are derived from adjectives by the addition
of _ly_: which is an abbreviation for _like_, and which, though the
addition of it to a noun forms an adjective, is the most distinctive as
well as the most common termination of our adverbs: as, _candid, candidly;
sordid, sordidly; presumptuous, presumptuously_. Most adverbs of manner are
thus formed.
2. Many adverbs are compounds formed from two or more English words; as,
_herein, thereby, to-day, always, already, elsewhere, sometimes,
wherewithal_. The formation and the meaning of these are, in general,
sufficiently obvious.
3. About seventy adverbs are formed by means of the prefix, or inseparable
preposition, _a_; as, _Abreast, abroach, abroad, across, afar, afield, ago,
agog, aland, along, amiss, atilt_.
4. _Needs_, as an adverb, is a contraction of _need is; prithee_, or
_pr'ythee_, of _I pray thee; alone_, of _all one; only_, of _one-like;
anon_, of the Saxon _an on_; i.e., _in one_ [instant]; _never_, of _ne
ever_; i.e., _not_ ever. Prof. Gibbs, in Fowler's Grammar, makes _needs_
"the Genitive case of the noun _need_."--P. 311.
5. _Very_ is from the French _veray_, or _vrai_, true; and this, probably,
from the Latin _verus. Rather_ appears to be the regular comparative of the
ancient _rath_, soon, quickly, willingly; which comes from the _Anglo-Saxon
"Rathe_, or _Hrathe_, of one's own accord."--_Bosworth_. But the parent
language had also "_Hrathre_, to a mind."--_Id._ That is, to _one's_ mind,
or, perhaps, _more willingly_.
OBSERVATIONS.
OBS. 1.--Many of our most common adverbs are of Anglo-Saxon derivation,
being plainly traceable to certain very old forms, of the same import,
which the etymologist regards but as the same words differently spelled:
as, _All_, eall, eal, or æll; _Almost_, ealmæst, or ælmæst; _Also_, ealswa,
or ælswa; _Else_, elles; _Elsewhere_, elleshwær; _Enough_, genog, or genoh;
_Even_, euen, efen, or æfen; _Ever_, euer, æfer, or æfre; _Downward_,
duneweard; _Forward_, forweard, or foreweard; _Homeward_, hamweard;
_Homewards_, hamweardes; _How_, hu; _Little_, lytel; _Less_, læs; _Least_,
læst; _No_, na; _Not_, noht, or nocht; _Out_, ut, or ute; _So_, swa;
_Still_, stille, or stylle; _Then_, thenne; _There_, ther, thar, thær;
_Thither_, thider, or thyder; _Thus_, thuss, or thus; _Together_, togædere,
or togædre; _Too_, tó; _When_, hwenne, or hwænne; _Where_, hwær; _Whither_,
hwider, hwyder, or hwyther; _Yea_, ia, gea, or gee; _Yes_, gese, gise, or
gyse.
OBS. 2.--According to Horne Tooke, "_Still_ and _Else_ are the imperatives
_Stell_ and _Ales_ of their respective verbs _Stellan_, to put, and
_Alesan_, to dismiss."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 111. He afterwards repeats
the doctrine thus: "_Still_ is only the imperative _Stell_ or _Steall_, of
_Stellan_ or _Steallian_, ponere."--_Ib._, p. 146. "This word _Else_,
formerly written _alles, alys, alyse, elles, ellus, ellis, ells, els_, and
now _else_; is, as I have said, no other than _Ales_ or _Alys_, the
imperative of _Alesan_ or _Alysan_, dimittere."--_Ib._, p. 148. These
ulterior and remote etymologies are perhaps too conjectural.
SECTION VIII.--DERIVATION OF CONJUNCTIONS.
The _English_ Conjunctions are mostly of Anglo-Saxon origin. The best
etymological vocabularies of our language give us, for the most part, the
same words in Anglo-Saxon characters; but Horne Tooke, in his _Diversions
of Purley_, (a learned and curious work which the advanced student may
peruse with advantage,) traces, or professes to trace, these and many other
English particles, to _Saxon verbs_ or _participles_. The following
derivations, so far as they partake of such speculations, are offered
principally on his authority:--
1. ALTHOUGH, signifying _admit, allow_, is from _all_ and _though_; the
latter being supposed the imperative of Thafian or Thafigan, _to allow, to
concede, to yield_.
2. AN, an obsolete or antiquated conjunction, signifying _if_, or _grant_,
is the imperative of the Anglo-Saxon verb Anan or Unan, _to grant, to
give_.
3. AND, [Saxon, And,] _add_, is said by Tooke to come from "An-ad, the
imperative of Ananad, _Dare congeriem_."--_D. of P._, Vol. i, p. 111. That
is, "_To give the heap_." The truth of this, if unapparent, I must leave
so.
4. AS, according to Dr. Johnson, is from the Teutonic _als_; but Tooke says
that _als_ itself is a contraction for _all_ and the original particle _es_
or _as_, meaning _it, that_, or _which_.
5. BECAUSE, from _be_ and _cause_, means _by cause_; the _be_ being written
for _by_.
6. BOTH, _the two_, is from the pronominal adjective _both_; which,
according to Dr. Alexander Murray, is a contraction of the Visigothic
_Bagoth_, signifying _doubled_. The Anglo-Saxons wrote for it _butu, butwu,
buta_, and _batwa_; i. e., _ba_, both, _twa_, two.
7. BUT,--(in Saxon, _bute, butan, buton_, or _butun_--) meaning _except,
yet, now, only, else than, that not_, or _on the contrary_,--is referred by
Tooke and some others, to two roots,--each of them but a conjectural etymon
for it. "BUT, implying _addition_," say they, "is from Bot, the imperative
of Botan, _to boot, to add_; BUT, denoting _exception_, is from Be-utan,
the imperative of Beon-utan, _to be out_."--See _D. of P._, Vol. i, pp. 111
and 155.
8. EITHER, _one of the two_, like the pronominal adjective EITHER, is from
the Anglo-Saxon Æther, or Egther, a word of the same uses, and the same
import.
9. EKE, _also_, (now nearly obsolete,) is from "Eac, the imperative of
Eacan, _to add_."
10. EVEN, whether a noun, an adjective, an adverb, or a conjunction,
appears to come from the same source, the Anglo-Saxon word Efen or Æfen.
11. EXCEPT, which, when used as a conjunction, means _unless_, is the
imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson) an ancient perfect participle, of
the verb _to except_.
12. FOR, _because_, is from the Saxon preposition _For_; which, to express
this meaning, our ancestors combined with something else, reducing to one
word some such phrase as, _For that, For this, For this that_; as, "Fortha,
Fortham, Forthan, Forthamthe, Forthan the."--See _Bosworth's Dict._
13. IF, _give, grant, allow_, is from "Gif, the imperative of the
Anglo-Saxon Gifan, _to give_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 111.
14. LEST, _that not, dismissed_, is from "Lesed, the perfect participle of
Lesan, _to dismiss_."
15. NEITHER, _not either_, is a union and contraction of _ne either_: our
old writers frequently used _ne_ for _not_; the Anglo-Saxons likewise
repeated it, using _ne--ne_, in lieu of our corresponsives _neither--nor_;
and our modern lexicographers still note the word, in some of these senses.
16. NOR, _not other, not else_, is supposed to be a union and contraction
of _ne or_.
17. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is an English compound of obvious
formation.
18. OR, an alternative conjunction, seems to be a word of no great
antiquity. It is supposed to be a contraction of _other_, which Johnson and
his followers give, in Saxon characters, either as its source, or as its
equivalent.
19. PROVIDED, the perfect participle of the verb _provide_, becomes
occasionally a disjunctive conjunction, by being used alone or with the
particle _that_, to introduce a condition, a saving clause, a proviso.
20. SAVE, anciently used with some frequency as a conjunction, in the sense
of _but_, or except is from the imperative of the English verb _save_, and
is still occasionally turned to such a use by the poets.
21. SEEING, sometimes made a copulative conjunction, is the imperfect
participle of the verb _see_. Used at the head of a clause, and without
reference to an agent, it assumes a conjunctive nature.
22. SINCE is conjectured by Tooke to be "the participle of Seon, _to see_,"
and to mean "_seeing, seeing that, seen that_, or _seen as_."--_Diversions
of P._, Vol. i, pp. 111 and 220. But Johnson and others say, it has been
formed "by contraction from _sithence_, or _sith thence_, from _sithe_,
Sax."--_Joh. Dict._
23. THAN, which introduces the latter term of a comparison, is from the
Gothic _than_, or the Anglo-Saxon _thanne_, which was used for the same
purpose. 24. THAT, when called a conjunction, is said by Tooke to be
etymologically the same as the adjective or pronoun THAT, the derivation of
which is twice spoken of above; but, in Todd's Johnson's Dictionary, as
abridged by Chalmers, THAT, the _conjunction_, is referred to "_thatei_,
Gothic;" THAT, the _pronoun_, to "_that, thata_, Gothic; _thæt_, Saxon;
_dat_, Dutch."
25. THEN, used as a conjunction, is doubtless the same word as the
Anglo-Saxon _Thenne_, taken as an illative, or word of inference.
26. "THOUGH, _allow_, is [from] the imperative Thaf, or Thafig, of the verb
Thafian or Thafigan, _to allow_."--_Tooke's Diversions_, Vol. i, pp. 111
and 150.
27. "UNLESS, _except, dismiss_, is [from] Onles, the imperative of Onlesan,
_to dismiss_."--_Ib._
28. WHETHER, a corresponsive conjunction, which introduces the first term
of an alternative, is from the Anglo-Saxon _hwæther_, which was used for
the same purpose.
29. YET, _nevertheless_, is from "Get, the imperative of Getan, _to
get_."--_Tooke_.
SECTION IX.--DERIVATION OF PREPOSITIONS.
The following are the principal _English_ Prepositions, explained in the
order of the list:--
1. ABOARD, meaning _on board of_, is from the prefix or preposition _a_ and
the noun _board_, which here means "_the deck_ of a ship" or vessel.
_Abord_, in French, is _approach, arrival_, or a _landing_.
2. ABOUT, [Sax. Abútan, or Abúton,] meaning _around, at circuit_, or
_doing_, is from the prefix _a_, meaning _at_, and the noun _bout_, meaning
a _turn_, a _circuit_, or a _trial_. In French, _bout_ means end; and
_about, end_, or _but-end_.
3. ABOVE, [Sax. Abufan, Abufon, A-be-ufan.] meaning _over_, or, literally,
_at-by-over_, or _at-by-top_, is from the Saxon or Old English _a, be_, and
_ufa_, or _ufan_, said to mean "_high, upwards_, or _the top_."
4. ACROSS, _at cross, athwart, traverse_, is from the prefix _a_ and the
word _cross_.
5. AFTER, [Sax. Æfter, or Æftan,] meaning _behind, subsequent to_, is, in
form, the comparative of _aft_, a word common to seamen, and it may have
been thence derived.
6. AGAINST, _opposite to_, is probably from the Anglo-Saxon, Ongean, or
Ongegen, each of which forms means _again_ or _against_. As prefixes, _on_
and _a_ are often equivalent.
7. ALONG, [i.e., _at-long_,] meaning _lengthwise of, near to_, is formed
from _a_ and _long_.
8. AMID, [i. e., _at mid_ or _middle_,] is from _a_ and _mid_; and AMIDST
[, i.e., _at midst_,] is from _a_ and _midst_, contracted from _middest_,
the superlative of _mid_.
9. AMONG, _mixed with_, is probably an abbreviation of _amongst_; and
AMONGST, according to Tooke, is from _a_ and _mongst_, or the older
"Ge-meneged," Saxon for "_mixed, mingled_."
10. AROUND, _about, encircling_, is from _a_ and _round_, a circle, or
circuit.
11. AT, _gone to_, is supposed by some to come from the Latin _ad_; but Dr.
Murray says, "We have in Teutonic AT for AGT, touching or touched, joined,
_at_."--_Hist. of Lang._, i, 349.
12. ATHWART, _across_, is from _a_ and _thwart_, cross; and this from the
Saxon Thweor.
13. BATING, a preposition for _except_, is the imperfect participle of
_bate_, to abate.
14. BEFORE, [i.e., _by-fore_,] in front of, is from the prefix _be_ and the
adjective _fore_.
15. BEHIND, [i.e., _by-hind_,] in rear of, is from the prefix _be_ and the
adjective _hind_.
16. BELOW, [i.e., _by-low_,] meaning _under_, or _beneath_, is from _be_
and the adjective _low_.
17. BENEATH [, Sax. or Old Eng. Beneoth,] is from _be_ and _neath_, or Sax.
Neothe, _low_.
18. BESIDE [, i.e., _by-side_,] is probably from _be_ and the noun or
adjective _side_.
19. BESIDES [, i.e., _by-sides_,] is probably from _be_ and the plural noun
_sides_.
20. BETWEEN, [Sax. Betweonan, or Betwynan,] literally, _by-twain_, seems to
have been formed from _be_, by, and _twain_, two--or the Saxon Twegen,
which also means _two, twain_.
21. BETWIXT, meaning _between_, [Sax. Betweox, Betwux, Betwyx, Betwyxt,
&c.,] is from _be_, by, and _twyx_, originally a "Gothic" word signifying
"_two_, or _twain_."--See _Tooke_, Vol. i, p. 329.
22. BEYOND, _past_, [Sax. Begeond,] is from the prefix _be_, by, and
_yond_, [Sax. Geond,] _past, far_.
23. BY [, Sax. Be, Bi, or Big,] is affirmed by Tooke to be "the imperative
Byth, of the Anglo-Saxon verb Beon, _to be_."--_Diversions of P._, Vol. i,
p. 326. This seems to be rather questionable.
24. CONCERNING, the preposition, is from the first participle of the verb
_concern_.
25. DOWN, the preposition, is from the Anglo-Saxon Dune, down.
26. DURING, prep. of time, is from the first participle of an old verb
_dure_, to last, formerly in use; as, "While the world may
_dure_."--_Chaucer's Knight's Tale_.
27. ERE, _before_, prep. of time, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ær, a word of
like sort.
28. EXCEPT, _bating_, is from the imperative, or (according to Dr. Johnson)
the ancient perfect participle of the verb _to except_; and EXCEPTING, when
a preposition, is from the first participle of the same verb.
29. FOR, _because of_, is the Anglo-Saxon preposition For, a word of like
import, and supposed by Tooke to have come from a Gothic noun signifying
_cause_, or _sake_.
30. FROM, in Saxon, _Fram_, is probably derived from the old adjective
Frum, _original_.
31. IN, or the Saxon In, is the same as the Latin _in_: the Greek is
[Greek: en]; and the French, _en_.
32. INTO, like the Saxon Into, noting entrance, is a compound of _in_ and
_to_.
33. MID and MIDST, as English prepositions, are poetical forms used for
_Amid_ and _Amidst_.
34. NOTWITHSTANDING, _not hindering_, is from the adverb _not_, and the
participle _withstanding_, which, by itself, means _hindering_, or
_preventing_. 35. OF is from the Saxon Of, or Af; which is supposed by
Tooke to come from a noun signifying _offspring_.
36. OFF, opposed to _on_, Dr. Johnson derives from the "Dutch _af_."
37. ON, a word very often used in Anglo-Saxon, is traced by some
etymologists to the Gothic _ana_, the German _an_, the Dutch _aan_; but no
such derivation fixes its meaning.
38. OUT, [Sax. Ut, Ute, or Utan,] when made a preposition, is probably from
the adverb or adjective _Out_, or the earlier _Ut_; and OUT-OF, [Sax.
Ut-of,] opposed to _Into_, is but the adverb _Out_ and the preposition
_Of_--usually written separately, but better joined, in some instances.
39. OVER, _above_, is from the Anglo-Saxon Ofer, _over_; and this,
probably, from Ufa, _above, high_, or from the comparative, Ufera,
_higher_.
40. OVERTHWART, meaning _across_, is a compound of _over_ and _thwart_,
cross.
41. PAST, _beyond, gone by_, is a contraction from the perfect participle
_passed_.
42. PENDING, _during_ or _hanging_, has a participial form, but is either
an adjective or a preposition: we do not use _pend_ alone as a verb, though
we have it in _depend_.
43. RESPECTING, _concerning_, is from the first participle of the verb
_respect_.
44. ROUND, a preposition for _about_ or _around_, is from the noun or
adjective _round_.
45. SINCE is most probably a contraction of the old word _Sithence_; but is
conjectured by Tooke to have been formed from the phrase, "_Seen as_."
46. THROUGH [, Sax. Thurh, or Thurch,] seems related to _Thorough_, Sax.
Thuruh; and this again to Thuru, or Duru, a _Door_.
47. THROUGHOUT, _quite through_, is an obvious compond of _through_ and
_out_.
48. TILL, [Sax. Til or Tille,] _to, until_, is from the Saxon Til or Till,
_an end, a station_.
49. TO, whether a preposition or an adverb, is from the Anglo-Saxon
particle To.
50. TOUCHING, _with regard to_, is from the first participle of the verb
_touch_.
51. TOWARD or TOWARDS, written by the Anglo-Saxons _Toweard_ or
_Toweardes_, is a compound of _To_ and _Ward_ or _Weard_, a guard, a
look-out; "Used in composition to express _situation_ or
_direction_."--_Bosworth_.
52. UNDER, [Gothic, Undar; Dutch, Onder,] _beneath, below_, is a common
Anglo-Saxon word, and very frequent prefix, affirmed by Tooke to be
"nothing but _on-neder_," a Dutch compound = _on lower_.--See _Diversions
of Purley_, Vol. i, p. 331.
53. UNDERNEATH is a compound of _under_ and _neath_, low; whence _nether_,
lower.
54. UNTIL is a compound from _on_ or _un_, and till, or _til_, the end.
55. UNTO, now somewhat antiquated, is formed, not very analogically, from
_un_ and _to_.
56. UP is from the Anglo-Saxon adjective, "Up or Upp, _high, lofty_."
57. UPON, which appears literally to mean _high on_, is from two words _up_
and _on_.
58. WITH comes to us from the Anglo-Saxon With, a word of like sort and
import; which Tooke says is an imperative verb, sometimes from "Withan, _to
join_," and sometimes from "Wyrthan, _to be_."--See his _Diversions_, Vol.
i, p. 262.
59. WITHIN [, i.e., _by-in_,] is from _with_ and _in_: Sax. Withinnan,
Binnan, or Binnon.
60. WITHOUT [, i.e., _by-out_,] is from _with_ and _out_: Sax. Withútan,
-úten, -úton; Bútan, Búton, Bútun.
OBSERVATION.
In regard to some of our minor or simpler prepositions, as of sundry other
particles, to go beyond the forms and constructions which present or former
usage has at some period given them as particles, and to ascertain their
actual origin in something ulterior, if such they had, is no very easy
matter; nor can there be either satisfaction or profit in studying what one
suspects to be mere guesswork. "How do you account for IN, OUT, ON, OFF,
and AT?" says the friend of Tooke, in an etymological dialogue at Purley.
The substance of his answer is, "The explanation and etymology of these
words require a degree of knowledge in all the _antient_ northern
languages, and a skill in the application of that knowledge, which I am
very far from assuming; and though I am almost persuaded by some of my own
conjectures concerning them, I am not willing, by an apparently forced and
far-fetched derivation, to justify your imputation of etymological
legerdemain."--_Diversions_, Vol. i, p. 370.
SECTION X.--DERIVATION OF INTERJECTIONS.
Those significant and constructive words which are occasionally used as
Interjections, (such as _Good! Strange! Indeed_!,) do not require an
explanation here; and those mere sounds which are in no wise expressive of
thought, scarcely admit of definition or derivation. The Interjection HEY
is probably a corruption of the adjective _High_;--ALAS is from the French
_Hélas_:--ALACK is probably a corruption of _Alas_;--WELAWAY or WELLAWAY,
(which is now corrupted into WELLADAY,) is said by some to be from the
Anglo-Saxon _Wá-lá-wá_, i.e., _Wo-lo-wo_;--"FIE," says Tooke, "is the
imperative of the Gothic and Anglo-Saxon verb _Fian_, to hate;"--_Heyday_
is probably from _high day_;--AVAUNT, perhaps from the French _avant_,
before;--LO, from _look_;--BEGONE, from _be_ and _gone_;--WELCOME, from
_well_ and _come_;--FAREWELL, from _fare_ and _well_.
SECTION XI--EXPLANATION OF THE PREFIXES.
In the formation of English words, certain particles are often employed as
prefixes; which, as they generally have some peculiar import, may be
separately explained. A few of them are of Anglo-Saxon origin, or
character; and the greater part of these are still employed as separate
words in our language. The rest are Latin, Greek, or French prepositions.
The _roots_ to which they are prefixed, are not always proper English
words. Those which are such, are called SEPARABLE RADICALS; those which are
not such, INSEPARABLE RADICALS.
CLASS I--THE ENGLISH OR ANGLO-SAXON PREFIXES.
1. A, as an English prefix, signifies _on, in, at_, or _to_: as in
_a-board, a-shore, a-foot, a-bed, a-soak, a-tilt, a-slant, a-far, a-field_;
which are equal to the phrases, _on board, on shore, on foot, in bed, in
soak, at tilt, at slant, to a distance, to the fields_. The French _à_, to,
is probably the same particle. This prefix is sometimes redundant, adding
little or nothing to the meaning; as in _awake, arise, amend_.
2. BE, as a prefix, signifies _upon, over, by, to, at_, or _for_: as in
_be-spatter, be-cloud, be-times, be-tide, be-howl, be-speak_. It is
sometimes redundant, or merely intensive; as in _be-gird, be-deck,
be-loved, be-dazzle, be-moisten, be-praise, be-quote_.
3. COUNTER, an English prefix, allied to the French _Contre_, and the Latin
_Contra_, means _against_, or _opposite_; as in _counter-poise,
counter-evidence, counter-natural_.
4. FOR, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _For_, seems generally
to signify _from_: it is found in the irregular verbs _for-bear, for-bid,
for-get, for-give, for-sake, for-swear_; and in _for-bathe, for-do,
for-pass, for-pine, for-say, for-think, for-waste_, which last are now
disused, the _for_ in several being merely intensive.
5. FORE, prefixed to a verb, signifies _before_; as in _fore-know,
fore-tell_: prefixed to a noun, it is usually an adjective, and signifies
anterior; as in _fore-side, fore-part_.
6. HALF, signifying _one of two equal parts_, is much used in composition;
and, often, merely to denote imperfection: as, _half-sighted_, seeing
imperfectly.
7. MIS signifies _wrong_ or _ill_; as in _mis-cite, mis-print, mis-spell,
mis-chance, mis-hap_.
8. OVER denotes superiority or excess; as in _over-power, over-strain,
over-large_.
9. OUT, prefixed to a verb, generally denotes excess; as in _out-do,
out-leap, out-poise_: prefixed to a noun, it is an adjective, and signifies
_exterior_; as in _out-side, out-parish_.
10. SELF generally signifies one's own person, or belonging to one's own
person; but, in _self-same_, it means _very_. We have many words beginning
with _Self_, but most of them seem to be compounds rather than derivatives;
as, _self-love, self-abasement, self-abuse, self-affairs, self-willed,
self-accusing_.
11. UN denotes negation or contrariety; as in _un-kind, un-load, un-truth,
un-coif_.
12. UNDER denotes inferiority; as in _under-value, under-clerk,
under-growth_.
13. UP denotes motion upwards; as in _up-lift_: sometimes subversion; as in
_up-set_.
14. WITH, as a prefix, unlike the common preposition _With_, signifies
_against, from_, or _back_; as in _with-stand, with-hold, with-draw,
with-stander, with-holdment, with-drawal_.
CLASS II.--THE LATIN PREFIXES.
The primitives or radicals to which these are prefixed, are not many of
them employed separately in English. The final letter of the prefix _Ad,
Con, Ex, In, Ob_, or _Sub_, is often changed before certain consonants; not
capriciously, but with uniformity, to adapt or assimilate it to the sound
which follows.
1. A, AB, or ABS, means From, or Away: as, _a-vert_, to turn from, or away;
_ab-duce_, to lead from; _ab-duction_, a carrying-away; _ab-stract_, to
draw from, or away.
2. AD,--forming _ac, af, al, an, ap, as, at_,--means To, or At: as,
_ad-vert_, to turn to; _ac-cord_, to yield to; _af-flux_, a flowing-to;
_al-ly_, to bind to; _an-nex_, to link to; _ap-ply_, to put to; _as-sume_,
to take to; _at-test_, to witness to; _ad-mire_, to wonder at.
3. ANTE means Fore, or Before: as, _ante-past_, a fore-taste;
_ante-cedent_, foregoing, or going before; _ante-mundane_, before the
world; _ante-date_, to date before.
4. CIRCUM means Round, Around, or About: as _circum-volve_, to roll round;
_circum-scribe_, to write round; _circum-vent_, to come round;
_circum-spect_, looking about one's self.
5. CON,--which forms _com, co, col, cor_,--means Together: as, _con-tract_,
to draw together; _compel_, to drive together; _co-erce_, to force
together; _col-lect_, to gather together; _cor-rade_, to rub or scrape
together; _con-junction_, a joining-together.
6. CONTRA, or CONTRO, means Against, or Counter: as, _contra-dict_, to
speak against; _contra-vene_, to come against; _contra-mure_, countermure;
_contro-vert_, to turn against.
7. DE means Of, From, or Down: as, _de-note_, to be a sign of; _de-tract_,
to draw from; _de-pend_, to hang down; _de-press_, to press down;
_de-crease_, to grow down, to grow less.
8. DIS, or DI, means Away, or Apart: as, _dis-pel_, to drive away;
_dis-sect_, to cut apart; _di-vert_, to turn away.
9. E, or Ex,--making also _ec, ef_,--means Out: as, _e-ject_, to cast out;
_e-lect_, to choose out; _ex-clude_, to shut out; _ex-cite_, to summon out;
_ec-stacy_, a raising out; _ef-face_, to blot out.
10. EXTRA means Beyond, or Out of: as, _extra-vagant_, syllabled
_ex-trav'a-gant_, roving be-yond; _extra-vasate, ex-trav'a-sate_, to flow
out of the vessels; _extra-territorial_, being out of the territory.
11. IN,--which makes also _il, im, ir_,--means In, Into, or Upon: as,
_in-spire_, to breathe in; _il-lude_, to draw in by deceit; _im-mure_, to
wall in; _ir-ruption_, a rushing in; _in-spect_, to look into; _in-scribe_,
to write upon; _in-sult_, to jump upon. These syllables, prefixed, to
English nouns or adjectives, generally reverse their meaning; as in
_in-justice, il-legality, im-partiality, ir-religion, ir-rational,
in-secure, in-sane_.
12. INTER means Between, or In between: as, _inter-sperse_, to scatter in
between; _inter-jection_, something thrown in between; _inter-jacent_,
lying between; _inter-communication_, communication between.
13. INTRO means In, Inwards, or Within: as, _intro-duce_, to lead in;
_intro-vert_, to turn inwards; _intro-spect_, to look within;
_intro-mission_, a sending-in.
14. OB,--which makes also _oc, of, op_,--means Against: as, _ob-trude_, to
thrust against; _oc-cur_, to run against; _of-fer_, to bring against;
_op-pose_, to place against; _ob-ject_, to cast against.
15. PER means Through or By: as, _per-vade_, to go through; _per-chance_,
by chance; _per-cent_, by the hundred; _per-plex_, to tangle through, or to
entangle thoroughly.
16. POST means After: as, _post-pone_, to place after; _post-date_, to date
after.
17. PRÆ, or PRE, means Before: as, _pre-sume_, to take before;
_pre-position_, a placing-before, or thing placed before; _præ-cognita_,
things known before.
18. PRO means For, Forth, or Forwards: as, _pro-vide_, to take care for;
_pro-duce_, to bring forth; _pro-trude_, to thrust forwards; _pro-ceed_, to
go forward; _pro-noun_, for a noun.
19. PRETER means By, Past, or Beyond: as, _preter-it_, bygone, or gone by;
_preter-imperfect_, past imperfect; _preter-natural_, beyond what is
natural; _preter-mit_, to put by, to omit.
20. RE means Again or Back: as, _re-view_, to view again; _re-pel_, to
drive back.
21. RETRO means Backwards, Backward, or Back: as, _retro-active_, acting
backwards; _retro-grade_, going backward; _retro-cede_, to cede back again.
22. SE means Aside or Apart: as, _se-duce_, to lead aside; _se-cede_, to go
apart.
23. SEMI means Half: as, _semi-colon_, half a colon; _semi-circle_, half a
circle.
24. SUB,--which makes _suf, sug, sup, sur_, and _sus_,--means Under, and
sometimes Up: as, _sub-scribe_, to write under; _suf-fossion_, an
undermining; _sug-gest_, to convey under; _sup-ply_, to put under;
_sur-reption_, a creeping-under; _sus-tain_, to hold up; _sub-ject_, cast
under.
25. SUBTER means Beneath: as, _subter-fluous_, flowing beneath.
26. SUPER means Over or Above: as, _super-fluous_, flowing over;
_super-natant_, swimming above; _super-lative_, carried over, or carrying
over; _super-vise_, to overlook, to oversee.
27. TRANS,--whence TRAN and TRA,--means Beyond, Over, To another state or
place: as, _trans-gress_, to pass beyond or over; _trans-cend_, to climb
over; _trans-mit_ to send to an other place; _trans-form_, to change to an
other shape; _tra-montane_, from beyond the mountains; i.e.,
_Trans-Alpine_, as opposed to _Cis-Alpine_.
CLASS III.--THE GREEK PREFIXES.
1. A and AN, in Greek derivatives, denote privation: as, _a-nomalous_,
wanting rules; _an-ony-mous_, wanting name; _an-archy_, want of government;
_a-cephalous_, headless.
2. AMPHI means Two, Both, or Double: as, _amphi-bious_, living in two
elements; _amphi-brach_, both [sides] short; _amphi-theatre_, a double
theatre.
3. ANTI means Against: as, _anti-slavery_, against slavery; _anti-acid_,
against acidity; _anti-febrile_, against fever; _anti-thesis_, a
placing-against.
4. APO, APH,--From: as, _apo-strophe_, a turning-from; _aph-aeresis_, a
taking from.
5. DIA,--Through: as, _dia-gonal_, through the corners; _dia-meter_,
measure through.
6. EPI, EPH,--Upon: as, _epi-demic_, upon the people; _eph-emera_, upon a
day.
7. HEMI means Half: as, _hemi-sphere_, half a sphere; _hemi-stich_, half a
verse.
8. HYPER means Over: as, _hyper-critical_, over-critical; _hyper-meter_,
over measure. 9. HYPO means Under: as, _hypo-stasis_, substance, or that
which stands under; _hypo-thesis_, supposition, or a placing-under;
_hypo-phyllous_, under the leaf.
10. META means Beyond, Over, To an other state or place: as,
_meta-morphose_, to change to an other shape; _meta-physics_, mental
science, as beyond or over physics.
11. PARA means Against: as, _para-dox_, something contrary to common
opinion.
12. PERI means Around: as, _peri-phery_, the circumference, or measure
round.
13. SYN,--whence _Sym, Syl_,--means Together: as, _syn-tax_, a
putting-together; _sym-pathy_, a suffering-together; _syl-lable_, what we
take together; _syn-thesis_ a placing-together.
CLASS IV.--THE FRENCH PREFIXES.
1. A is a preposition of very frequent use in French, and generally means
_To_. I have suggested above that it is probably the same as the
Anglo-Saxon prefix _a_. It is found in a few English compounds or
derivatives that are of French, and not of Saxon origin: as, _a-dieu_, to
God; i.e., I commend you to God; _a-larm_, from _alarme_, i e., _à l'arme_,
to arms.
2. DE means Of or From: as in _de-mure_, of manners; _de-liver_, to ease
from or of.
3. DEMI means Half: as, _demi-man_, half a man; _demi-god_, half a god;
_demi-devil_, half a devil; _demi-deify_, to half deify; _demi-sized_, half
sized; _demi-quaver_, half a quaver. 4. EN,--which sometimes becomes
em,--means In, Into, or Upon: as, _en-chain_, to hold in chains;
_em-brace_, to clasp in the arms; _en-tomb_, to put into a tomb; _em-boss_,
to stud upon. Many words are yet wavering between the French and the Latin
orthography of this prefix: as, _embody_, or _imbody; ensurance_, or
_insurance; ensnare_, or _insnare; enquire_, or _inquire_.
5. SUR, as a French prefix, means Upon, Over, or After: as, _sur-name_, a
name upon a name; _sur-vey_, to look over; _sur-mount_, to mount over or
upon; _sur-render_, to deliver over to others; _sur-feit_, to overdo in
eating; _sur-vive_, to live after, to over-live, to outlive.
END OF THE SECOND APPENDIX
APPENDIX III TO PART THIRD, OR SYNTAX.
OF THE QUALITIES OF STYLE.
Style, as a topic connected with syntax, is the particular manner in which
a person expresses his conceptions by means of language. It is different
from mere words, different from mere grammar, in any limited sense, and is
not to be regulated altogether by rules of construction. It always has some
relation to the author's peculiar manner of thinking; involves, to some
extent, and shows his literary, if not his moral, character; is, in
general, that sort of expression which his thoughts most readily assume;
and, sometimes, partakes not only of what is characteristic of the man, of
his profession, sect, clan, or province, but even of national peculiarity,
or some marked feature of the age. The words which an author employs, may
be proper in themselves, and so constructed as to violate no rule of
syntax, and yet his style may have great faults.
In reviews and critical essays, the general characters of style are usually
designated by such epithets as these;--concise, diffuse,--neat,
negligent,--terse, bungling,--nervous, weak,--forcible, feeble,--vehement,
languid,--simple, affected,--easy, stiff,--pure, barbarous,--perspicuous,
obscure,--elegant, uncouth,--florid, plain,--flowery, artless,--fluent,
dry,--piquant, dull,--stately, flippant,--majestic, mean,--pompous,
modest,--ancient, modern. A considerable diversity of style, may be found
in compositions all equally excellent in their kind. And, indeed, different
subjects, as well as the different endowments by which genius is
distinguished, require this diversity. But, in forming his style, the
learner should remember, that a negligent, feeble, affected, stiff,
uncouth, barbarous, or obscure style is always faulty; and that
perspicuity, ease, simplicity, strength, neatness, and purity, are
qualities always to be aimed at.
In order to acquire a good style, the frequent practice of composing and
writing something, is indispensably necessary. Without exercise and
diligent attention, rules or precepts for the attainment of this object,
will be of no avail. When the learner has acquired such a knowledge of
grammar, as to be in some degree qualified for the undertaking, he should
devote a stated portion of his time to composition. This exercise will
bring the powers of his mind into requisition, in a way that is well
calculated to strengthen them. And if he has opportunity for reading, he
may, by a diligent perusal of the best authors, acquire both language and
taste as well as sentiment;--and these three are the essential
qualifications of a good writer.
In regard to the qualities which constitute a good style, we can here offer
nothing more than a few brief hints. With respect to words and phrases,
particular attention should be paid to three things--_purity, propriety_,
and _precision_; and, with respect to sentences, to three
others,--_perspicuity, unity_, and _strength_. Under each of these six
heads, we shall arrange, in the form of short precepts, a few of the most
important directions for the forming of a good style.
SECTION I.--OF PURITY.
Purity of style consists in the use of such words and phrases only, as
belong to the language which we write or speak. Its opposites are the
faults aimed at in the following precepts.
PRECEPT I.--Avoid the unnecessary use of foreign words or idioms: such as
the French words _fraicheur, hauteur, delicatesse, politesse,
noblesse_;--the expression, "He _repented himself_;"--or, "It _serves_ to
an excellent purpose."
PRECEPT II.--Avoid obsolete or antiquated words, except there be some
special reason for their use: that is, such words as _acception,
addressful, administrate, affamish, affrontiveness, belikely, blusterous,
clergical, cruciate, rutilate, timidous_.
PRECEPT III.--Avoid strange or unauthorized words: such as, _flutteration,
inspectator, judgematical, incumberment, connexity, electerized,
martyrized, reunition, marvelize, limpitude, affectated, adorement,
absquatulate_. Of this sort is O. B. Peirce's "_assimilarity_," used on
page 19th of his _English Grammar_; and still worse is Jocelyn's
"_irradicable_," for _uneradicable_, used on page 5th of his _Prize Essay
on Education_.
PRECEPT IV.--Avoid bombast, or affectation of fine writing. It is
ridiculous, however serious the subject. The following is an example:
"Personifications, however rich the depictions, and unconstrained their
latitude; analogies, however imposing the objects of parallel, and the
media of comparison; can never expose the consequences of sin to the extent
of fact, or the range of demonstration."--_Anonymous_.
SECTION II.--OF PROPRIETY.
Propriety of language consists in the selection and right construction of
such words as the best usage has appropriated to those ideas which we
intend to express by them. Impropriety embraces all those forms of error,
which, for the purpose of illustration, exercise, and special criticism,
have been so methodically and so copiously posted up under the various
heads, rules, and notes, of this extensive Grammar. A few suggestions,
however, are here to be set down in the form of precepts.
PRECEPT I.--Avoid low and provincial expressions: such as, "Now, _says I_,
boys;"--"_Thinks I to myself;"--"To get into a scrape_;"--"Stay here
_while_ I come back;"--"_By jinkers;"--"By the living jingoes_."
PRECEPT II.--In writing prose, avoid words and phrases that are merely
poetical: such as, _morn, eve, plaint, corse, weal, drear, amid, oft,
steepy;--"what time_ the winds arise."
PRECEPT III.--Avoid technical terms: except where they are necessary in
treating of a particular art or science. In technology, they are proper.
PRECEPT IV.--Avoid the recurrence of a word in different senses, or such a
repetition of words as denotes paucity of language: as, "His own _reason_
might have suggested better _reasons_."--"Gregory _favoured_ the
undertaking, for no other reason than this; that the manager, in
countenance, _favoured_ his friend."--"I _want_ to go and see what he
_wants_."
PRECEPT V.--Supply words that are wanting: thus, instead of saying, "This
action increased his former services," say, "This action increased _the
merit of_ his former services."--"How many [_kinds of_] substantives are
there? Two; proper and common."--See _E. Devis's Gram._, p. 14. "These
changes should not be left to be settled by chance or by caprice, but
[_should be determined_] by the judicious application of the principles of
Orthography."--See _Fowlers E. Gram._, 1850, p. 170.
PRECEPT VI.--Avoid equivocal or ambiguous expressions: as, "His _memory_
shall be lost on the earth."--"I long since learned to like nothing but
what you _do_."
PRECEPT VII.--Avoid unintelligible, inconsistent, or inappropriate
expressions: such as, "I have observed that the superiority among these
coffee-house politicians proceeds from _an opinion_ of gallantry and
fashion."--"These words do not convey even an _opaque_ idea of the author's
meaning."
PRECEPT VIII.--Observe the natural order of things or events, and do not
_put the cart before the horse_: as, "The scribes _taught and studied_ the
Law of Moses."--"They can neither _return to nor leave_ their houses."--"He
tumbled, _head over heels_, into the water."--"'Pat, how did you carry that
quarter of beef?' 'Why, I thrust _it through a stick_, and threw _my
shoulder over it_.'"
SECTION III.--OF PRECISION.
Precision consists in avoiding all superfluous words, and adapting the
expression exactly to the thought, so as to say, with no deficiency or
surplus of terms, whatever is intended by the author. Its opposites are
noticed in the following precepts.
PRECEPT I.--Avoid a useless tautology, either of expression or of
sentiment; as, "When will you return _again_?"--"We returned _back_ home
_again_."--"On entering _into_ the room, I saw _and discovered_ he had
fallen _down_ on the floor and could not _rise_ up."--"They have a _mutual_
dislike to each other."--"Whenever I go, he _always_ meets me
there."--"Where is he _at? In_ there."--"His faithfulness _and fidelity_
should be rewarded."
PRECEPT II.--Repeat words as often as an exact exhibition of your meaning
requires them; for repetition may be elegant, if it be not useless. The
following example does not appear faulty: "Moral _precepts_ are _precepts_
the reasons of which we see; positive _precepts_ are _precepts_ the reasons
of which we do not see."--_Butler's Analogy_, p. 165.
PRECEPT III.--Observe the exact meaning of words accounted synonymous, and
employ those which are the most suitable; as, "A diligent scholar may
_acquire_ knowledge, _gain_ celebrity, _obtain_ rewards, _win_ prizes, and
_get_ high honour, though he _earn_ no money." These six verbs have nearly
the same meaning, and yet no two of them can here be correctly
interchanged.
PRECEPT IV.--Observe the proper form of each word, and do not confound such
as resemble each other. "Professor J. W. Gibbs, of Yale College," in
treating of the "Peculiarities of the Cockney Dialect," says, "The Londoner
sometimes confounds two different forms; as _contagious_ for _contiguous;
eminent_ for _imminent; humorous_ for _humorsome; ingeniously_ for
_ingenuously; luxurious_ for _luxuriant; scrupulosity_ for _scruple;
successfully_ for _successively_."--See _Fowler's E. Gram._, p. 87; and
Pref., p. vi.
PRECEPT V.--Think clearly, and avoid absurd or incompatible expressions.
Example of error: "To pursue _those_ remarks, would, _probably_, be of no
further _service_ to the learner than _that of burdening his memory_ with a
catalogue of dry and _uninteresting_ peculiarities; _which may gratify
curiosity_, without affording information adequate to the trouble of the
perusal."--_Wright's Gram._, p. 122.
PRECEPT VI.--Avoid words that are useless; and, especially, a
multiplication of them into sentences, members, or clauses, that may well
be spared. Example: "If one could _really_ be a spectator of what is
passing in the world _around us_ without taking part in the events, _or
sharing in the passions and actual performance on the stage; if we could
set ourselves down, as it were, in a private box of the world's great
theatre, and quietly look on at the piece that is playing, no more moved
than is absolutely implied by sympathy with our fellow-creatures, what a
curious, what an amusing_, what an interesting spectacle would life
present."--G. P. R. JAMES: "_The Forger_," commencement of Chap. xxxi. This
sentence contains _eighty-seven_ words, "of which _sixty-one_ are entirely
unnecessary to the expression of the author's idea, if idea it can be
called."--_Holden's Review_.
OBSERVATION.
Verbosity, as well as tautology, is not so directly opposite to precision,
as to conciseness, or brevity. From the manner in which lawyers usually
multiply terms in order to express their facts _precisely_, it would seem
that, with them, precision consists rather in the use of _many_ words than
of _few_. But the ordinary style of legal instruments no popular writer can
imitate without becoming ridiculous. A terse or concise style is very apt
to be elliptical: and, in some particular instances, must be so; but, at
the same time, the full expression, perhaps, may have more _precision_,
though it be less agreeable. For example: "A word of one syllable, is
called a monosyllable; a word of two syllables, _is called_ a dissyllable:
a word of three syllables, _is called_ a trisyllable: a word of four or
more syllables, _is called_ a polysyllable."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, p.
19. Better, perhaps, thus: "A word of one syllable is called a
_monosyllable_; a word of two syllables, a _dissyllable_; a word of three
syllables, a _trissyllable_; and a word of four or more syllables, a
_polysyllable_."--_Brown's Institutes_, p. 17.
SECTION IV.--OF PERSPICUITY.
Perspicuity consists in freedom from obscurity or ambiguity. It is a
quality so essential to every kind of writing, that for the want of it no
merit of other name can compensate. "Without this, the richest ornaments of
style, only glimmer through the dark, and puzzle in stead of pleasing the
reader."--_Dr. Blair_. Perspicuity, being the most important property of
language, and an exemption from the most embarrassing defects, seems even
to rise to a degree of positive beauty. We are naturally pleased with a
style that frees us from all suspense in regard to the meaning; that
carries us through the subject without embarrassment or confusion; and that
always flows like a limpid stream, through which we can "see to the very
bottom." Many of the errors which have heretofore been pointed out to the
reader, are offences against perspicuity. Only three or four hints will
here be added.
PRECEPT I.--Place adjectives, relative pronouns, participles, adverbs, and
explanatory phrases near enough to the words to which they relate, and in a
position which will make their reference clear. The following sentences are
deficient in perspicuity: "Reverence is the veneration paid to superior
sanctity, _intermixed_ with a certain degree of awe."--_Unknown_. "The
Romans understood liberty, _at least_, as well as we."--See _Murray's
Gram._, p. 307. "Taste was never _made to cater_ for vanity."--_J. Q.
Adams's Rhet._, Vol. i, p. 119.
PRECEPT II.--In prose, avoid a poetic collocation of words. For example:
"Guard your weak side from being known. If it be attacked, the best way is,
to join in the attack."--KAMES: _Art of Thinking_, p. 75. This maxim of
prudence might be expressed more poetically, but with some loss of
perspicuity, thus: "Your weak side guard from being known. Attacked in
this, the assailants join."
PRECEPT III.--Avoid faulty ellipses, and repeat all words necessary to
preserve the sense. The following sentences require the words which are
inserted in crotchets: "Restlessness of mind disqualifies us, both for the
enjoyment of peace, and [_for_] the performance of our duty."--_Murray's
Key_, 8vo, p. 166. "Double Comparatives and [_Double_] Superlatives should
be avoided."--_Fowler's E. Gram._, 1850, p. 489.
PRECEPT IV.--Avoid the pedantic and sense-dimming style of charlatans and
new theorists, which often demands either a translation or a tedious study,
to make it at all intelligible to the ordinary reader. For example: "RULE
XL Part 3. An intransitive or receptive _asserter_ in the unlimited mode,
depending on a word in the possessive case, may have, after it, a word in
the subjective case, denoting the same thing: And, when it acts the part of
an assertive name, depending on a relative, it may have after it a word in
the subjective case. EXAMPLES:--John's being my _friend_, saved me from
inconvenience. Seth Hamilton was unhappy in being a _slave_ to party
prejudice."--_O. B. Peirce's Gram._, 1839, p. 201. The meaning of this
_third part of a Rule_ of syntax, is, in proper English, as follows: "A
participle not transitive, with the possessive case before it, may have
after it a nominative denoting the same thing; and also, when a preposition
governs the participle, a nominative may follow, in agreement with one
which precedes." In doctrine, the former clause of the sentence is
erroneous: it serves only to propagate false syntax by rule. See the former
example, and a note of mine, referring to it, on page 531 of this work.
SECTION V.--OF UNITY.
Unity consists in avoiding needless pauses, and keeping one object
predominant throughout a sentence or paragraph. Every sentence, whether its
parts be few or many, requires strict unity. The chief faults, opposite to
this quality of style, are suggested in the following precepts. PRECEPT
I.--Avoid brokenness, hitching, or the unnecessary separation of parts that
naturally come together. Examples: "I was, soon after my arrival, taken out
of my Indian habit."--_Addison, Tattler_, No. 249. Better: "Soon after my
arrival, _I_ was taken out of my Indian habit."--_Churchill's Gram._, p.
326. "Who can, either in opposition, or in the ministry, act alone?"--_Ib._
Better: "Who can act alone, either in opposition, or in the
ministry?"--_Ib._ "I, like others, have, in my youth, trifled with my
health, and old age now prematurely assails me."--_Ib._, p. 327. Better:
"Like others, I have trifled with my health, and old age now prematurely
assails me."
PRECEPT II.--Treat different topics in separate paragraphs, and distinct
sentiments in separate sentences. Error: "The two volumes are, indeed,
intimately _connected, and constitute_ one uniform system of English
Grammar."--_Murray's Preface_, p. iv. Better thus: "The two volumes are,
indeed, intimately connected. _They_ constitute one uniform system of
English _grammar_."
PRECEPT III.--In the progress of a sentence, do not desert the principal
subjects in favour of adjuncts, or change the scene unnecessarily. Example:
"After we came to anchor, they put me on shore, where I was welcomed by all
my friends, who received me with the greatest kindness, which was not then
expected." Better: "The vessel having come to anchor, I was put on shore;
where I was unexpectedly welcomed by all my friends, and received with the
greatest kindness."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 107.
PRECEPT IV.--Do not introduce parentheses, except when a lively remark may
be thrown in without diverting the mind too long from the principal
subject. Example: "But (saith he) since I take upon me to teach the whole
world, (it is strange, it should be so natural for this man to write
untruths, since I direct my _Theses_ only to the Christian world; but if it
may render me odious, such _Peccadillo's_ pass with him, it seems, but for
_Piæ Fraudes_:) I intended never to write of those things, concerning which
we do not differ from others."--_R. Barclay's Works_, Vol. iii. p. 279. The
parts of this sentence are so put together, that, as a whole, it is
scarcely intelligible.
SECTION VI.--OF STRENGTH.
Strength consists in giving to the several words and members of a sentence,
such an arrangement as shall bring out the sense to the best advantage, and
present every idea in its due importance. Perhaps it is essential to this
quality of style, that there be animation, spirit, and _vigour of thought_,
in all that is uttered. A few hints concerning the Strength of sentences,
will here be given in the form of precepts.
PRECEPT I.--Avoid verbosity; a concise style is the most favourable to
strength. Examples: "No human happiness is so pure as not to contain _any_
alloy."--_Murray's Key_, 8vo, p. 270. Better: "No human happiness is
_unalloyed_." "He was so much skilled in the exercise of the oar, that few
could equal him."--_Ib._, p. 271. Better: "He was so _skillful at_ the oar,
that few could _match_ him." Or thus: "At the oar, he was _rarely
equalled_." "The reason why they [the pronouns] are considered separately
is, because there is something particular in their inflections."--
_Priestley's Gram._, p. 81. Better: "The pronouns are considered
separately, because there is something peculiar in their inflections."
PRECEPT II.--Place the most important words in the situation in which they
will make the strongest impression. Inversion of terms sometimes increases
the strength and vivacity of an expression: as, "All these things will I
give thee, if thou wilt fall down and worship me."--_Matt._, iv, 9.
"Righteous art thou, O Lord, and upright are thy judgements."--_Psalms_,
cxix, 137. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his
saints."--_Ps._, cxvi, 15.
PRECEPT III.--Have regard also to the relative position of clauses, or
members; for a weaker assertion should not follow a stronger; and, when the
sentence consists of two members, the longer should be the concluding one.
Example: "We flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken our
passions, when they have forsaken us." Better: "When our passions have
forsaken us, we flatter ourselves with the belief that we have forsaken
them."--See _Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.
PRECEPT IV.--When things are to be compared or contrasted, their
resemblance or opposition will be rendered more striking, if a pretty near
resemblance in the language and construction of the two members, be
preserved. Example: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own
approbation; the fool, when he recommends himself to the applause of those
about him." Better: "The wise man is happy, when he gains his own
approbation; the fool, when he gains the applause of others."--See
_Murray's Gram._, p. 324.
PRECEPT V.--Remember that it is, in general, ungraceful to end a sentence
with an adverb, a preposition, or any inconsiderable word or phrase, which
may either be omitted or be introduced earlier. "For instance, it is a
great deal better to say, 'Avarice is a crime of which wise men are often
guilty,' than to say, 'Avarice is a crime which wise men are often guilty
of.'"--_Blair's Rhet._, p. 117; _Murray's Gram._, p. 323.
END OF THE THIRD APPENDIX.
APPENDIX IV.
TO PART FOURTH, OR PROSODY.
OF POETIC DICTION.
Poetry, as defined by Dr. Blair, "is the language of passion, or of
enlivened imagination, formed, most commonly, into regular
numbers."--_Rhet._, p. 377. The style of poetry differs, in many respects,
from that which is commonly adopted in prose. Poetic diction abounds in
bold figures of speech, and unusual collocations of words. A great part of
the figures, which have been treated of in one of the chapters of Prosody,
are purely poetical. The primary aim of a poet, is, to please and to move;
and, therefore, it is to the imagination, and the passions, that he speaks.
He may also, and he should, have it in his view, to instruct and to reform;
but it is indirectly, and by pleasing and moving, that such a writer
accomplishes this end. The exterior and most obvious distinction of poetry,
is versification: yet there are some forms of verse so loose and familiar,
as to be hardly distinguishable from prose; and there is also a species of
prose, so measured in its cadences, and so much raised in its tone, as to
approach very nearly to poetic numbers.
This double approximation of some poetry to prose, and of some prose to
poetry, not only makes it a matter of acknowledged difficulty to
distinguish, by satisfactory definitions, the two species of composition,
but, in many instances, embarrasses with like difficulty the attempt to
show, by statements and examples, what usages or licenses, found in English
works, are proper to be regarded as peculiarities of poetic diction. It is
purposed here, to enumerate sundry deviations from the common style of
prose; and perhaps all of them, or nearly all, may be justly considered as
pertaining only to poetry.
POETICAL PECULIARITIES.
The following are among the chief peculiarities in which the poets indulge,
and are indulged:--
I. They not unfrequently omit the ARTICLES, for the sake of brevity or
metre; as,
"What dreadful pleasure! there to stand sublime,
Like _shipwreck'd mariner_ on _desert_ coast!"
--_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 12.
"_Sky lour'd_, and, muttering thunder, some sad drops
Wept at _completing_ of the mortal sin."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. ix, l. 1002.
II. They sometimes abbreviate common NOUNS, after a manner of their own:
as, _amaze_, for _amazement_; _acclaim_, for _acclamation_; _consult_, for
_consultation_; _corse_, for _corpse_; _eve_ or _even_, for _evening_;
_fount_, for _fountain_; _helm_, for _helmet_; _lament_, for _lamentation_;
_morn_, for _morning_; _plaint_, for _complaint_; _targe_, for _target_;
_weal_, for _wealth_.
III. By _enallage_, they use verbal forms substantively, or put verbs for
nouns; perhaps for brevity, as above: thus,
1. "Instant, without _disturb_, they took alarm."
--_P. Lost: Joh. Dict., w. Aware._
2. "The gracious Judge, without _revile_ reply'd."
--_P. Lost, B. x, l. 118._
3. "If they were known, as the _suspect_ is great."
--_Shakspeare._
4. "Mark, and perform it: seest thou? for the _fail_
Of any point in't shall be death."
--_Shakspeare._
IV. They employ several nouns that are not used in prose, or are used but
rarely; as, _benison, boon, emprise, fane, guerdon, guise, ire, ken, lore,
meed, sire, steed, welkin, yore_.
V. They introduce the noun _self_ after an other noun of the possessive
case; as,
1. "Affliction's semblance bends not o'er thy tomb,
Affliction's _self_ deplores thy youthful doom."--_Byron._
2. "Thoughtless of beauty, she was beauty's _self._"--_Thomson._
VI. They place before the verb nouns, or other words, that usually come
after it; and, after it, those that usually come before it: as,
1. "No jealousy _their dawn of love_ o'ercast,
Nor _blasted_ were _their wedded days_ with strife."
--_Beattie._
2. "No _hive_ hast _thou_ of hoarded sweets."
--_W. Allen's Gram._
3. "Thy chain _a wretched weight_ shall prove."
--_Langhorne._
4. "Follows the loosen'd aggravated _roar._"
--_Thomson._
5. "That _purple_ grows _the primrose pale._"
--_Langhorne._
VII. They more frequently place ADJECTIVES after their nouns, than do prose
writers; as,
1. "Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand,
Show'rs on her kings _barbaric_, pearl and gold."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. ii, l. 2.
2. "Come, nymph _demure_, with mantle _blue_."
--_W. Allen's Gram._, p. 189.
3. "This truth _sublime_ his simple sire had taught."
--_Beattie's Minstrel_, p. 14.
VIII. They ascribe qualities to things to which they do not literally
belong; as,
1. "The ploughman homeward plods his _weary way_."
--_Gray's Elegy_, l. 3.
2. "Or _drowsy tinklings_ lull the distant folds."
--_Ibidem_, l. 8.
3. "Imbitter'd more and more from _peevish day_ to day."
--_Thomson_.
4. "All thin and naked, to the _numb_ cold _night_."
--_Shakspeare_.
IX. They use concrete terms to express abstract qualities; (i. e.,
adjectives for nouns;) as,
1. "Earth's meanest son, all trembling, prostrate falls,
And on the _boundless_ of thy goodness calls."
--_Young_.
2. "Meanwhile, whate'er of _beautiful_ or _new_,
_Sublime_ or _dreadful_, in earth, sea, or sky,
By chance or search, was offer'd to his view,
He scann'd with curious and romantic eye."
--_Beattie_.
3. "Won from the void and formless _infinite_."
--_Milton_.
4. "To thy large heart give utterance due; thy heart
Contains of _good, wise, just_, the perfect shape."
--_Id., P. R._, B. iii, l. 10.
X. They often substitute quality for manner; (i. e., adjectives for
adverbs;) as,
1. ----"The stately-sailing swan
Gives out his snowy plumage to the gale,
And, arching _proud_ his neck, with oary feet,
Bears forward _fierce_, and guards his osier isle."
--_Thomson_.
2. "Thither _continual_ pilgrims crowded still."
--_Id., Cos. of Ind._, i, 8.
3. "Level at beauty, and at wit;
The fairest mark is _easiest_ hit."
--_Butler's Hudibras_.
XI. They form new compound epithets, oftener than do prose writers; as,
1. "In _world-rejoicing_ state, it moves sublime."
--_Thomson_.
2. "The _dewy-skirted_ clouds imbibe the sun."
--_Idem_.
3. "By brooks and groves in _hollow-whispering_ gales."
--_Idem_.
4. "The violet of _sky-woven_ vest."
--_Langhorne_.
5. "A league from Epidamnum had we sail'd,
Before the _always-wind-obeying_ deep
Gave any tragic instance of our harm."
--_Shakspeare_.
6. "'_Blue-eyed, strange-voiced, sharp-beaked, ill-omened_ fowl,
What art thou?' 'What I ought to be, an owl.'"
--_Day's Punctuation_, p. 139.
XII. They connect the comparative degree to the positive, before a verb;
as,
1. "_Near and more near_ the billows rise."
--_Merrick_.
2. "_Wide and wider_ spreads the vale."
--_Dyer's Grongar Hill_.
3. "_Wide and more wide_, the overflowings of the mind
Take every creature in, of every kind."
--_Pope_.
4. "_Thick and more thick_ the black blockade extends,
A hundred head of Aristotle's friends."
--_Id., Dunciad_.
XIII. They form many adjectives in _y_, which are not common in prose; as,
The _dimply_ flood,--_dusky_ veil,--a _gleamy_ ray,--_heapy_
harvests,--_moony_ shield,--_paly_ circlet,--_sheety_ lake,--_stilly_
lake,--_spiry_ temples,--_steely_ casque,--_steepy_ hill,--_towery_
height,--_vasty_ deep,--_writhy_ snake.
XIV. They employ adjectives of an abbreviated form: as, _dread_, for
_dreadful_; _drear_, for _dreary_; _ebon_, for _ebony_; _hoar_, for
_hoary_; _lone_, for _lonely_; _scant_, for _scanty_; _slope_, for
_sloping_: _submiss_, for _submissive_; _vermil_, for _vermilion_; _yon_,
for _yonder_.
XV. They employ several adjectives that are not used in prose, or are used
but seldom; as, _azure, blithe, boon, dank, darkling, darksome, doughty,
dun, fell, rife, rapt, rueful, sear, sylvan, twain, wan._
XVI. They employ the personal PRONOUNS, and introduce their nouns
afterwards; as,
1. "_It_ curl'd not Tweed alone, that _breeze_."
--_Sir W. Scott_.
2. "What may _it_ be, the heavy _sound_
That moans old Branksome's turrets round?"
--_Idem, Lay_, p. 21.
3. "Is it the lightning's quivering glance,
That on the thicket streams;
Or do _they_ flash on spear and lance,
The sun's retiring _beams_"
--_Idem, L. of L._, vi, 15.
XVII. They use the forms of the second person singular oftener than do
others; as,
1. "Yet I had rather, if I were to chuse,
_Thy_ service in some graver subject use,
Such as may make _thee_ search thy coffers round,
Before _thou clothe_ my fancy in fit sound."
--_Milton's Works_, p. 133.
2. "But _thou_, of temples old, or altars new,
_Standest_ alone--with nothing like to thee."
--_Byron, Pilg._, iv, 154.
3. "Thou seest not all; but piecemeal thou must break,
To separate contemplation, the great whole."
--_Id., ib._, iv, 157.
4. "Thou rightly deemst, fair youth, began the bard;
The form then sawst was Virtue ever fair."
--_Pollok, C. of T._, p. 16.
XVIII. They sometimes omit relatives that are nominatives; (see Obs. 22, at
p. 555;) as,
"For is there aught in sleep can charm the wise?"
--_Thomson_.
XIX. They omit the antecedent, or introduce it after the relative; as,
1. "_Who_ never fasts, no banquet e'er enjoys,
_Who_ never toils or watches, never sleeps."
--_Armstrong_.
2. "_Who_ dares think one thing and an other tell,
My soul detests _him_ as the gates of hell."
--_Pope's Homer_.
XX. They remove relatives, or other connectives, into the body of their
clauses; as,
1. "Parts the fine locks, her graceful head _that_ deck."
--_Darwin_.
2. "Not half so dreadful rises to the sight
Orion's dog, the year _when_ autumn weighs."
--_Pope, Iliad_, B. xxii, l. 37.
XXI. They make intransitive VERBS transitive, changing their class; as,
1. ----"A while he stands,
_Gazing_ the inverted landscape, half afraid
To _meditate_ the blue profound below."
--_Thomson_.
2. "Still in harmonious intercourse, they _liv'd_
The rural day, and _talk'd_ the flowing heart."
--_Idem_.
3. ----"I saw and heard, for we sometimes
Who _dwell_ this wild, constrain'd by want, come forth."
--_Milton, P. R._, B. i, l. 330.
XXII. They make transitive verbs intransitive, giving them no regimen; as,
1. "The soldiers should have _toss'd_ me on their pikes,
Before I would have _granted_ to that act."
--_Shakspeare_.
2. "This minstrel-god, well-pleased, amid the quire
Stood proud to _hymn_, and tune his youthful lyre."
--_Pope_.
XXIII. They give to the imperative mood the first and the third person; as,
1. "_Turn we_ a moment fancy's rapid flight."
--_Thomson_.
2. "_Be_ man's peculiar _work_ his sole delight."
--_Beattie_.
3. "And what is reason? Be _she_ thus _defin'd_:
Reason is upright stature in the soul."
--_Young_.
XXIV. They employ _can, could_, and _would_, as principal verbs transitive;
as,
1. "_What_ for ourselves we _can_, is always ours."
--_Anon_.
2. "Who does the best his circumstance allows,
Does well, acts nobly; angels _could_ no _more_."
--_Young_.
3. "What _would_ this man? Now upward will he soar,
And, little less than angel, would be more."
--_Pope_.
XXV. They place the infinitive before the word on which it depends; as,
1. "When first thy sire _to send_ on earth
Virtue, his darling child, _design'd_"
--_Gray_.
2. "As oft as I, _to kiss_ the flood, _decline_;
So oft his lips ascend, to close with mine."
--_Sandys_.
3. "Besides, Minerva, _to secure_ her care,
_Diffus'd_ around a veil of thicken'd air."
--_Pope_.
XXVI. They place the auxiliary verb after its principal, by hyperbaton; as,
1. "No longer _heed_ the sunbeam bright
That plays on Carron's breast he _can_"
--_Langhorne_.
2. "_Follow_ I _must_, I cannot go before."
--_Beauties of Shakspeare_, p. 147.
3. "The man who suffers, loudly may complain;
And _rage_ he _may_, but he shall rage in vain."
--_Pope_.
XXVII. Before verbs, they sometimes arbitrarily employ or omit prefixes:
_as, bide_, or _abide_; _dim_, or _bedim_; _gird_, or _begird_; _lure_, or
_allure_; _move_, or _emove_; _reave_, or _bereave_; _vails_, or _avails_;
_vanish_, or _evanish_; _wail_, or _bewail_; _weep_, or _beweep_; _wilder_,
or _bewilder_:--
1. "All knees to thee shall bow, of them that _bide_
In heav'n, or earth, or under earth in hell."
--_Milton, P. L._, B. iii, l. 321.
2. "Of a horse, _ware_ the heels; of a bull-dog, the jaws;
Of a bear, the embrace; of a lion, the paws."
--_Churchills Cram._, p. 215.
XXVIII. Some few verbs they abbreviate: as _list_, for _listen_; _ope_, for
_open_; _hark_, for _hearken_; _dark_, for _darken_; _threat_, for
_threaten_; _sharp_, for _sharpen_.