diff options
Diffstat (limited to '20900-8.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | 20900-8.txt | 8529 |
1 files changed, 8529 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/20900-8.txt b/20900-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8c8f028 --- /dev/null +++ b/20900-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8529 @@ +Project Gutenberg's English Past and Present, by Richard Chenevix Trench + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: English Past and Present + +Author: Richard Chenevix Trench + +Editor: A. Smythe Palmer + +Release Date: March 25, 2007 [EBook #20900] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT *** + + + + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Amy Cunningham, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + +{TRANSCRIBER'S NOTES + +All square brackets [] are from the original text. Braces {} ("curly +brackets") are supplied by the transcriber. Characters that could not be +displayed directly in Latin-1 are transcribed as follows: + + {-e} e with macron above + {)e} e with breve above + {+} obelus (dagger) symbol + +In addition, a short passage on page 222 uses unusual phonetic symbols, +which are transcribed with Latin-1 characters where possible and with +letters in {braces} otherwise. The html version contains images of the +original book's symbols. + +In the original book, the odd-numbered pages have unique headers, +marked here as sidenotes. + +Obvious printing errors involving punctuation (such as missing single +quotes), as well as alphabetization errors in the index, have been +corrected without notes. Other corrections of printing errors, as well +as notes regarding spelling variations, are listed at the end of this +file.} + + + + * * * * * + + + +ENGLISH +PAST AND PRESENT + + +BY + +RICHARD CHENEVIX TRENCH, D.D. + + +_Edited with Emendations_ + +BY + +A. SMYTHE PALMER, D.D. + + +_Author of 'The Folk and their Word-lore,' 'Folk-Etymology,' +'Babylonian Influence on the Bible,' etc._ + + +{Illustration: Printer's Mark} + + +LONDON + +GEORGE ROUTLEDGE & SONS, LIMITED + +NEW YORK: E. P. DUTTON & CO. + +1905 + + + + +EDITOR'S PREFACE + + +In editing the present volume I have thought it well to follow the same +rule which I laid down for myself in editing _The Study of Words_, and +have made no alteration in the text of Dr. Trench's work (the fifth +edition). Any corrections or additions that seemed to be demanded owing +to the progress of lexicographical knowledge have been reserved for the +foot-notes, and these can always be distinguished from those in the +original by the square brackets [thus] within which they are placed. + +On the whole more corrections have been required in _English Past and +Present_ than in _The Study of Words_ owing to the sweeping statements +which involve universal negatives--statements, e.g. that certain words +either first came into use, or ceased to be employed, at a specific +date. Nothing short of the combined researches of an army of +co-operative workers, such as the _New English Dictionary_ commanded, +could warrant the correctness of assertions of this kind, which imply an +exhaustive acquaintance with a subject so immense as the entire range of +English literature. + +Even the mistakes of a learned man are instructive to those who essay to +follow in his steps, and it is not without use to point them out instead +of ignoring or expunging them. Thus, when the Archbishop falls into the +error (venial when he wrote) of assuming an etymological connexion +between certain words which have a specious air of kinship--such as +'care' and 'cura,' 'bloom' and 'blossom,' 'ghastly' and 'ghostly,' +'brat' and 'brood,' 'slow' and 'slough'--he makes just the mistakes +which we would be tempted to make ourselves had not Professor Skeat and +Dr. Murray and the great German School of philologists taught us to know +better. Our plan, therefore, has been to leave such errors in the text +and point out the better way in the notes. In other words, we have +treated the Archbishop's work as a classic, and the occasional +emendations in the notes serve to mark the progress of half a century of +etymological investigation. It is hardly necessary to point out that the +chronological landmarks occurring here and there need an obvious +equation of time to make them correct for the present year of grace, +e.g. 'lately,' when it occurs, must be understood to mean at least fifty +years ago, and a similar addition must be made to other time-points when +they present themselves. + + A. SMYTHE PALMER. + + + + +PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION + + +A series of four lectures which I delivered last spring to the pupils of +the King's College School, London, supplied the foundation to this +present volume. These lectures, which I was obliged to prepare in haste, +on a brief invitation, and under the pressure of other engagements, +being subsequently enlarged and recast, were delivered in the autumn +somewhat more nearly in their present shape to the pupils of the +Training School, Winchester; with only those alterations, omissions and +additions, which the difference in my hearers suggested as necessary or +desirable. I have found it convenient to keep the lectures, as regards +the persons presumed to be addressed, in that earlier form which I had +sketched out at the first; and, inasmuch as it helps much to keep +lectures vivid and real that one should have some well defined audience, +if not actually before one, yet before the mind's eye, to suppose myself +throughout addressing my first hearers. I have supposed myself, that is, +addressing a body of young Englishmen, all with a fair amount of +classical knowledge (in my explanations I have sometimes had others with +less than theirs in my eye), not wholly unacquainted with modern +languages; but not yet with any special designation as to their future +work; having only as yet marked out to them the duty in general of +living lives worthy of those who have England for their native country, +and English for their native tongue. To lead such through a more +intimate knowledge of this into a greater love of that, has been a +principal aim which I have set before myself throughout. + +In a few places I have been obliged again to go over ground which I had +before gone over in a little book, _On the Study of Words_; but I +believe that I have never merely repeated myself, nor given to the +readers of my former work and now of this any right to complain that I +am compelling them to travel a second time by the same paths. At least +it has been my endeavour, whenever I have found myself at points where +the two books come necessarily into contact, that what was treated with +any fulness before, should be here touched on more lightly; and only +what there was slightly handled, should here be entered on at large. + + + + +CONTENTS + + + LECTURE I PAGE + ENGLISH A COMPOSITE LANGUAGE 1 + + LECTURE II + GAINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 40 + + LECTURE III + DIMINUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE 113 + + LECTURE IV + CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS 176 + + LECTURE V + CHANGES IN THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH WORDS 212 + + INDEX 257 + + + + +ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT + + + + +I + +ENGLISH A COMPOSITE LANGUAGE + + +"A very slight acquaintance with the history of our own language will +teach us that the speech of Chaucer's age is not the speech of +Skelton's, that there is a great difference between the language under +Elizabeth and that under Charles the First, between that under Charles +the First and Charles the Second, between that under Charles the Second +and Queen Anne; that considerable changes had taken place between the +beginning and the middle of the last century, and that Johnson and +Fielding did not write altogether as we do now. For in the course of a +nation's progress new ideas are evermore mounting above the horizon, +while others are lost sight of and sink below it: others again change +their form and aspect: others which seemed united, split into parts. And +as it is with ideas, so it is with their symbols, words. New ones are +perpetually coined to meet the demand of an advanced understanding, of +new feelings that have sprung out of the decay of old ones, of ideas +that have shot forth from the summit of the tree of our knowledge; old +words meanwhile fall into disuse and become obsolete; others have their +meaning narrowed and defined; synonyms diverge from each other and their +property is parted between them; nay, whole classes of words will now +and then be thrown overboard, as new feelings or perceptions of analogy +gain ground. A history of the language in which all these vicissitudes +should be pointed out, in which the introduction of every new word +should be noted, so far as it is possible--and much may be done in this +way by laborious and diligent and judicious research--in which such +words as have become obsolete should be followed down to their final +extinction, in which all the most remarkable words should be traced +through their successive phases of meaning, and in which moreover the +causes and occasions of these changes should be explained, such a work +would not only abound in entertainment, but would throw more light on +the development of the human mind than all the brainspun systems of +metaphysics that ever were written". + + * * * * * + +These words, which thus far are not my own, but the words of a greatly +honoured friend and teacher, who, though we behold him now no more, +still teaches, and will teach, by the wisdom of his writings, and the +nobleness of his life (they are words of Archdeacon Hare), I have put in +the forefront of my lectures; seeing that they anticipate in the way of +masterly sketch all which I shall attempt to accomplish, and indeed draw +out the lines of much more, to which I shall not venture so much as to +put my hand. They are the more welcome to me, because they encourage me +to believe that if, in choosing the English language, its past and its +present, as the subject of that brief course of lectures which I am to +deliver in this place, I have chosen a subject which in many ways +transcends my powers, and lies beyond the range of my knowledge, it is +yet one in itself of deepest interest, and of fully recognized value. +Nor can I refrain from hoping that even with my imperfect handling, it +is an argument which will find an answer and an echo in the hearts of +all who hear me; which would have found this at any time; which will do +so especially at the present. For these are times which naturally rouse +into liveliest activity all our latent affections for the land of our +birth. It is one of the compensations, indeed the greatest of all, for +the wastefulness, the woe, the cruel losses of war{1}, that it causes +and indeed compels a people to know itself a people; leading each one to +esteem and prize most that which he has in common with his fellow +countrymen, and not now any longer those things which separate and +divide him from them. + +{Sidenote: _Love of our own Tongue_} + +And the love of our own language, what is it in fact, but the love of +our country expressing itself in one particular direction? If the great +acts of that nation to which we belong are precious to us, if we feel +ourselves made greater by their greatness, summoned to a nobler life by +the nobleness of Englishmen who have already lived and died, and have +bequeathed to us a name which must not by us be made less, what exploits +of theirs can well be nobler, what can more clearly point out their +native land and ours as having fulfilled a glorious past, as being +destined for a glorious future, than that they should have acquired for +themselves and for those who come after them a clear, a strong, an +harmonious, a noble language? For all this bears witness to corresponding +merits in those that speak it, to clearness of mental vision, to +strength, to harmony, to nobleness in them that have gradually formed +and shaped it to be the utterance of their inmost life and being. + +To know of this language, the stages which it has gone through, the +sources from which its riches have been derived, the gains which it is +now making, the perils which have threatened or are threatening it, the +losses which it has sustained, the capacities which may be yet latent in +it, waiting to be evoked, the points in which it transcends other +tongues, in which it comes short of them, all this may well be the +object of worthy ambition to every one of us. So may we hope to be +ourselves guardians of its purity, and not corrupters of it; to +introduce, it may be, others into an intelligent knowledge of that, with +which we shall have ourselves more than a merely superficial +acquaintance; to bequeath it to those who come after us not worse than +we received it ourselves. "Spartam nactus es; hanc exorna",--this +should be our motto in respect at once of our country, and of our +country's tongue. + +{Sidenote: _Duty to our own Tongue_} + +Nor shall we, I trust, any of us feel this subject to be alien or remote +from the purposes which have brought us to study within these walls. It +is true that we are mainly occupied here in studying other tongues than +our own. The time we bestow upon it is small as compared with that +bestowed on those others. And yet one of our main purposes in learning +them is that we may better understand this. Nor ought any other to +dispute with it the first and foremost place in our reverence, our +gratitude, and our love. It has been well and worthily said by an +illustrious German scholar: "The care of the national language I +consider as at all times a sacred trust and a most important privilege +of the higher orders of society. Every man of education should make it +the object of his unceasing concern, to preserve his language pure and +entire, to speak it, so far as is in his power, in all its beauty and +perfection.... A nation whose language becomes rude and barbarous, must +be on the brink of barbarism in regard to everything else. A nation +which allows her language to go to ruin, is parting with the last half +of her intellectual independence, and testifies her willingness to cease +to exist"{2}. + +But this knowledge, like all other knowledge which is worth attaining, +is only to be attained at the price of labour and pains. The language +which at this day we speak is the result of processes which have been +going forward for hundreds and for thousands of years. Nay more, it is +not too much to affirm that processes modifying the English which at the +present day we write and speak have been at work from the first day that +man, being gifted with discourse of reason, projected his thought from +out himself, and embodied and contemplated it in his word. Which things +being so, if we would understand this language as it now is, we must +know something of it as it has been; we must be able to measure, however +roughly, the forces, which have been at work upon it, moulding and +shaping it into the forms which it now wears. + +At the same time various prudential considerations must determine for us +how far up we will endeavour to trace the course of its history. There +are those who may seek to trace our language to the forests of Germany +and Scandinavia, to investigate its relation to all the kindred tongues +that were there spoken; again, to follow it up, till it and they are +seen descending from an elder stock; nor once to pause, till they have +assigned to it its place not merely in respect of that small group of +languages which are immediately round it, but in respect of all the +tongues and languages of the earth. I can imagine few studies of a more +surpassing interest than this. Others, however, must be content with +seeking such insight into their native language as may be within the +reach of all who, unable to make this the subject of especial research, +possessing neither that vast compass of knowledge, nor that immense +apparatus of books, not being at liberty to dedicate to it that +devotion almost of a life which, followed out to the full, it would +require, have yet an intelligent interest in their mother tongue, and +desire to learn as much of its growth and history and construction as +may be reasonably deemed within their reach. To such as these I shall +suppose myself to be speaking. It would be a piece of great presumption +in me to undertake to speak to any other, or to assume any other ground +than this for myself. + +{Sidenote: _The Past explains the Present_} + +I know there are some, who, when they are invited to enter at all upon +the past history of the language, are inclined to make answer--"To what +end such studies to us? Why cannot we leave them to a few antiquaries +and grammarians? Sufficient to us to know the laws of our present +English, to obtain an accurate acquaintance with the language as we now +find it, without concerning ourselves with the phases through which it +has previously past". This may sound plausible enough; and I can quite +understand a real lover of his native tongue, who has not bestowed much +thought upon the subject, arguing in this manner. And yet indeed such +argument proceeds altogether on a mistake. One sufficient reason why we +should occupy ourselves with the past of our language is, because the +present is only intelligible in the light of the past, often of a very +remote past indeed. There are anomalies out of number now existing in +our language, which the pure logic of grammar is quite incapable of +explaining; which nothing but a knowledge of its historic evolutions, +and of the disturbing forces which have made themselves felt therein, +will ever enable us to understand. Even as, again, unless we possess +some knowledge of the past, it is impossible that we can ourselves +advance a single step in the unfolding of the latent capabilities of the +language, without the danger of committing some barbarous violation of +its very primary laws. + + * * * * * + +The plan which I have laid down for myself, and to which I shall adhere, +in this lecture and in those which will succeed it, is as follows. In +this my first lecture I will ask you to consider the language as now it +is, to decompose with me some specimens of it, to prove by these means, +of what elements it is compact, and what functions in it these elements +or component parts severally fulfil; nor shall I leave this subject +without asking you to admire the happy marriage in our tongue of the +languages of the north and south, an advantage which it alone among all +the languages of Europe enjoys. Having thus presented to ourselves the +body which we wish to submit to scrutiny, and having become acquainted, +however slightly, with its composition, I shall invite you to go back +with me, and trace some of the leading changes to which in time past it +has been submitted, and through which it has arrived at what it now is; +and these changes I shall contemplate under four aspects, dedicating a +lecture to each;--changes which have resulted from the birth of new, or +the reception of foreign, words;--changes consequent on the rejection or +extinction of words or powers once possessed by the language;--changes +through the altered meaning of words;--and lastly, as not unworthy of +our attention, but often growing out of very deep roots, changes in the +orthography of words. + +{Sidenote: _Alterations unobserved_} + +I shall everywhere seek to bring the subject down to our present time, +and not merely call your attention to the changes which have been, but +to those also which are now being, effected. I shall not account the +fact that some are going on, so to speak, before our own eyes, a +sufficient ground to excuse me from noticing them, but rather an +additional reason for doing this. For indeed changes which are actually +proceeding in our own time, and which we are ourselves helping to bring +about, are the very ones which we are most likely to fail in observing. +There is so much to hide the nature of them, and indeed their very +existence, that, except it may be by a very few, they will often pass +wholly unobserved. Loud and sudden revolutions attract and compel +notice; but silent and gradual, although with issues far vaster in +store, run their course, and it is only when their cycle is completed or +nearly so, that men perceive what mighty transforming forces have been +at work unnoticed in the very midst of themselves. + +Thus, to apply what I have just affirmed to this matter of language--how +few aged persons, let them retain the fullest possession of their +faculties, are conscious of any difference between the spoken language +of their early youth, and that of their old age; that words and ways of +using words are obsolete now, which were usual then; that many words are +current now, which had no existence at that time. And yet it is certain +that so it must be. A man may fairly be supposed to remember clearly and +well for sixty years back; and it needs less than five of these sixties +to bring us to the period of Spenser, and not more than eight to set us +in the time of Chaucer and Wiclif. How great a change, what vast +modifications in our language, within eight memories. No one, +contemplating this whole term, will deny the immensity of the change. +For all this, we may be tolerably sure that, had it been possible to +interrogate a series of eight persons, such as together had filled up +this time, intelligent men, but men whose attention had not been +especially roused to this subject, each in his turn would have denied +that there had been any change worth speaking of, perhaps any change at +all, during his lifetime. And yet, having regard to the multitude of +words which have fallen into disuse during these four or five hundred +years, we are sure that there must have been some lives in this chain +which saw those words in use at their commencement, and out of use +before their close. And so too, of the multitude of words which have +sprung up in this period, some, nay, a vast number, must have come into +being within the limits of each of these lives. It cannot then be +superfluous to direct attention to that which is actually going forward +in our language. It is indeed that, which of all is most likely to be +unobserved by us. + + * * * * * + +With these preliminary remarks I proceed at once to the special subject +of my lecture of to-day. And first, starting from the recognized fact +that the English is not a simple but a composite language, made up of +several elements, as are the people who speak it, I would suggest to you +the profit and instruction which we might derive from seeking to +resolve it into its component parts--from taking, that is, any passage +of an English author, distributing the words of which it is made up +according to the languages from which they are drawn; estimating the +relative numbers and proportions, which these languages have severally +lent us; as well as the character of the words which they have thrown +into the common stock of our tongue. + +{Sidenote: _Proportions in English_} + +Thus, suppose the English language to be divided into a hundred parts; +of these, to make a rough distribution, sixty would be Saxon; thirty +would be Latin (including of course the Latin which has come to us +through the French); five would be Greek. We should thus have assigned +ninety-five parts, leaving the other five, perhaps too large a residue, +to be divided among all the other languages from which we have adopted +isolated words{3}. And yet these are not few; from our wide extended +colonial empire we come in contact with half the world; we have picked +up words in every quarter, and, the English language possessing a +singular power of incorporating foreign elements into itself, have not +scrupled to make many of these our own{4}. + +{Sidenote: _Oriental Words_} + +Thus we have a certain number of Hebrew words, mostly, if not entirely, +belonging to religious matters, as 'amen', 'cabala', 'cherub', 'ephod', +'gehenna', 'hallelujah', 'hosanna', 'jubilee', 'leviathan', 'manna', +'Messiah', 'sabbath', 'Satan', 'seraph', 'shibboleth', 'talmud'. The +Arabic words in our language are more numerous; we have several +arithmetical and astronomical terms, as 'algebra', 'almanack', +'azimuth', 'cypher'{5}, 'nadir', 'talisman', 'zenith', 'zero'; and +chemical, for the Arabs were the chemists, no less than the astronomers +and arithmeticians of the middle ages; as 'alcohol', 'alembic', +'alkali', 'elixir'. Add to these the names of animals, plants, fruits, +or articles of merchandize first introduced by them to the notice of +Western Europe; as 'amber', 'artichoke', 'barragan', 'camphor', +'coffee', 'cotton', 'crimson', 'gazelle', 'giraffe', 'jar', 'jasmin', +'lake' (lacca), 'lemon', 'lime', 'lute', 'mattress', 'mummy', 'saffron', +'sherbet', 'shrub', 'sofa', 'sugar', 'syrup', 'tamarind'; and some +further terms, 'admiral', 'amulet', 'arsenal', 'assassin', 'barbican', +'caliph', 'caffre', 'carat', 'divan', 'dragoman'{6}, 'emir', 'fakir', +'firman', 'harem', 'hazard', 'houri', 'magazine', 'mamaluke', +'minaret', 'monsoon', 'mosque', 'nabob', 'razzia', 'sahara', 'simoom', +'sirocco', 'sultan', 'tarif', 'vizier'; and I believe we shall have +nearly completed the list. We have moreover a few Persian words, as +'azure', 'bazaar', 'bezoar', 'caravan', 'caravanserai', 'chess', +'dervish', 'lilac', 'orange', 'saraband', 'taffeta', 'tambour', +'turban'; this last appearing in strange forms at its first introduction +into the language, thus 'tolibant' (Puttenham), 'tulipant' (Herbert's +_Travels_), 'turribant' (Spenser), 'turbat', 'turbant', and at length +'turban'. We have also a few Turkish, such as 'chouse', 'janisary', +'odalisque', 'sash', 'tulip'{7}. Of 'civet'{8} and 'scimitar'{9} I +believe it can only be asserted that they are Eastern. The following are +Hindostanee, 'avatar', 'bungalow', 'calico', 'chintz', 'cowrie', 'lac', +'muslin', 'punch', 'rupee', 'toddy'. 'Tea', or 'tcha', as it was spelt +at first, of course is Chinese, so too are 'junk' and 'satin'{10}. + +The New World has given us a certain number of words, Indian and +other--'cacique' ('cassique', in Ralegh's _Guiana_), 'canoo', +'chocolate', 'cocoa'{11}, 'condor', 'hamoc' ('hamaca' in Ralegh), +'jalap', 'lama', 'maize' (Haytian), 'pampas', 'pemmican', 'potato' +('batata' in our earlier voyagers), 'raccoon', 'sachem', 'squaw', +'tobacco', 'tomahawk', 'tomata' (Mexican), 'wigwam'. If 'hurricane' is a +word which Europe originally obtained from the Caribbean islanders{12}, +it should of course be included in this list{13}. A certain number of +words also we have received, one by one, from various languages, which +sometimes have not bestowed on us more than this single one. Thus +'hussar' is Hungarian; 'caloyer', Romaic; 'mammoth', of some Siberian +language;{14} 'tattoo', Polynesian; 'steppe', Tartarian; 'sago', +'bamboo', 'rattan', 'ourang outang', are all, I believe, Malay words; +'assegai'{15} 'zebra', 'chimpanzee', 'fetisch', belong to different +African dialects; the last, however, having reached Europe through the +channel of the Portuguese{16}. + +{Sidenote: _Italian Words_} + +{Sidenote: _Spanish, Dutch and Celtic Words_} + +To come nearer home--we have a certain number of Italian words, as +'balcony', 'baldachin', 'balustrade', 'bandit', 'bravo', 'bust' (it was +'busto' as first used in English, and therefore from the Italian, not +from the French), 'cameo', 'canto', 'caricature', 'carnival', 'cartoon', +'charlatan', 'concert', 'conversazione', 'cupola', 'ditto', 'doge', +'domino'{17}, 'felucca', 'fresco', 'gazette', 'generalissimo', 'gondola', +'gonfalon', 'grotto', ('grotta' is the earliest form in which we have it +in English), 'gusto', 'harlequin'{18}, 'imbroglio', 'inamorato', +'influenza', 'lava', 'malaria', 'manifesto', 'masquerade' ('mascarata' +in Hacket), 'motto', 'nuncio', 'opera', 'oratorio', 'pantaloon', +'parapet', 'pedantry', 'pianoforte', 'piazza', 'portico', 'proviso', +'regatta', 'ruffian', 'scaramouch', 'sequin', 'seraglio', 'sirocco', +'sonnet', 'stanza', 'stiletto', 'stucco', 'studio', 'terra-cotta', +'umbrella', 'virtuoso', 'vista', 'volcano', 'zany'. 'Becco', and +'cornuto', 'fantastico', 'magnifico', 'impress' (the armorial device +upon shields, and appearing constantly in its Italian form 'impresa'), +'saltimbanco' (=mountebank), all once common enough, are now obsolete. +Sylvester uses often 'farfalla' for butterfly, but, as far as I know, +this use is peculiar to him. If these are at all the whole number of our +Italian words, and I cannot call to mind any other, the Spanish in the +language are nearly as numerous; nor indeed would it be wonderful if +they were more so; our points of contact with Spain, friendly and +hostile, have been much more real than with Italy. Thus we have from the +Spanish 'albino', 'alligator' (el lagarto), 'alcove'{19}, 'armada', +'armadillo', 'barricade', 'bastinado', 'bravado', 'caiman', 'cambist', +'camisado', 'carbonado', 'cargo', 'cigar', 'cochineal', 'Creole', +'desperado', 'don', 'duenna', 'eldorado', 'embargo', 'flotilla', 'gala', +'grandee', 'grenade', 'guerilla', 'hooker'{20}, 'infanta', 'jennet', +'junto', 'merino', 'mosquito', 'mulatto', 'negro', 'olio', 'ombre', +'palaver', 'parade', 'parasol', 'parroquet', 'peccadillo', 'picaroon', +'platina', 'poncho', 'punctilio', (for a long time spelt 'puntillo', in +English books), 'quinine', 'reformado', 'savannah', 'serenade', +'sherry', 'stampede', 'stoccado', 'strappado', 'tornado', 'vanilla', +'verandah'. 'Buffalo' also is Spanish; 'buff' or 'buffle' being the +proper English word; 'caprice' too we probably obtained rather from +Spain than Italy, as we find it written 'capricho' by those who used it +first. Other Spanish words, once familiar, are now extinct. 'Punctilio' +lives on, but not 'punto', which occurs in Bacon. 'Privado', signifying +a prince's favourite, one admitted to his _privacy_ (no uncommon word in +Jeremy Taylor and Fuller), has quite disappeared; so too has 'quirpo' +(cuerpo), the name given to a jacket fitting close to the _body_; +'quellio' (cuello), a ruff or _neck_-collar; and 'matachin', the title +of a sword-dance; these are all frequent in our early dramatists; and +'flota' was the constant name of the treasure-fleet from the Indies. +'Intermess' is employed by Evelyn, and is the Spanish 'entremes', though +not recognized as such in our dictionaries. 'Mandarin' and 'marmalade' +are our only Portuguese words I can call to mind. A good many of our +sea-terms are Dutch, as 'sloop', 'schooner', 'yacht', 'boom', 'skipper', +'tafferel', 'to smuggle'; 'to wear', in the sense of veer, as when we +say '_to wear_ a ship'; 'skates', too, and 'stiver', are Dutch. Celtic +_things_ are for the most part designated among us by Celtic words; such +as 'bard', 'kilt', 'clan', 'pibroch', 'plaid', 'reel'. Nor only such as +these, which are all of them comparatively of modern introduction, but a +considerable number, how large a number is yet a very unsettled +question, of words which at a much earlier date found admission into our +tongue, are derived from this quarter. + +Now, of course, I have no right to presume that any among us are +equipped with that knowledge of other tongues, which shall enable us to +detect of ourselves and at once the nationality of all or most of the +words which we may meet--some of them greatly disguised, and having +undergone manifold transformations in the process of their adoption +among us; but only that we have such helps at command in the shape of +dictionaries and the like, and so much diligence in their use, as will +enable us to discover the quarter from which the words we may encounter +have reached us; and I will confidently say that few studies of the +kind will be more fruitful, will suggest more various matter of +reflection, will more lead you into the secrets of the English tongue, +than an analysis of a certain number of passages drawn from different +authors, such as I have just now proposed. For this analysis you will +take some passage of English verse or prose--say the first ten lines of +_Paradise Lost_--or the Lord's Prayer--or the 23rd Psalm; you will +distribute the whole body of words contained in that passage, of course +not omitting the smallest, according to their nationalities--writing, it +may be, A over every Anglo-Saxon word, L over every Latin, and so on +with the others, if any other should occur in the portion which you have +submitted to this examination. When this is done, you will count up the +_number_ of those which each language contributes; again, you will note +the _character_ of the words derived from each quarter. + +{Sidenote: _Two Shapes of Words_} + +Yet here, before I pass further, I would observe in respect of those +which come from the Latin, that it will be desirable further to mark +whether they are directly from it, and such might be marked L¹, or only +mediately from it, and to us directly from the French, which would be +L², or L at second hand--our English word being only in the second +generation descended from the Latin, not the child, but the child's +child. There is a rule that holds pretty constantly good, by which you +may determine this point. It is this,--that if a word be directly from +the Latin, it will not have undergone any alteration or modification in +its form and shape, save only in the termination--'innocentia' will +have become 'innocency', 'natio' will have become 'nation', +'firmamentum' 'firmament', but nothing more. On the other hand, if it +comes _through_ the French, it will generally be considerably altered in +its passage. It will have undergone a process of lubrication; its +sharply defined Latin outline will in good part have departed from it; +thus 'crown' is from 'corona', but though 'couronne', and itself a +dissyllable, 'coroune', in our earlier English; 'treasure' is from +'thesaurus', but through 'trésor'; 'emperor' is the Latin 'imperator', +but it was first 'empereur'. It will often happen that the substantive +has past through this process, having reached us through the +intervention of the French; while we have only felt at a later period +our want of the adjective also, which we have proceeded to borrow direct +from the Latin. Thus, 'people' is indeed 'populus', but it was 'peuple' +first, while 'popular' is a direct transfer of a Latin vocable into our +English glossary. So too 'enemy' is 'inimicus', but it was first +softened in the French, and had its Latin physiognomy to a great degree +obliterated, while 'inimical' is Latin throughout; 'parish' is +'paroisse', but 'parochial' is 'parochialis'; 'chapter' is 'chapitre', +but 'capitular' is 'capitularis'. + +{Sidenote: _Doublets_} + +Sometimes you will find in English what I may call the double adoption +of a Latin word; which now makes part of our vocabulary in two shapes; +'doppelgängers' the Germans would call such words{21}. There is first +the elder word, which the French has given us; but which, before it +gave, it had fashioned and moulded, cutting it short, it may be, by a +syllable or more, for the French devours letters and syllables; and +there is the later word which we borrowed immediately from the Latin. I +will mention a few examples; 'secure' and 'sure', both from 'securus', +but one directly, the other through the French; 'fidelity' and 'fealty', +both from 'fidelitas', but one directly, the other at second-hand; +'species' and 'spice', both from 'species', spices being properly only +_kinds_ of aromatic drugs; 'blaspheme' and 'blame', both from +'blasphemare'{22}, but 'blame' immediately from 'blâmer'. Add to these +'granary' and 'garner'; 'captain' (capitaneus) and 'chieftain'; +'tradition' and 'treason'; 'abyss' and 'abysm'; 'regal' and 'royal'; +'legal' and 'loyal'; 'cadence' and 'chance'; 'balsam' and 'balm'; +'hospital' and 'hotel'; 'digit' and 'doit'{23}; 'pagan' and 'paynim'; +'captive' and 'caitiff'; 'persecute' and 'pursue'; 'superficies' and +'surface'; 'faction' and 'fashion'; 'particle' and 'parcel'; +'redemption' and 'ransom'; 'probe' and 'prove'; 'abbreviate' and +'abridge'; 'dormitory' and 'dortoir' or 'dorter' (this last now +obsolete, but not uncommon in Jeremy Taylor); 'desiderate' and 'desire'; +'fact' and 'feat'; 'major' and 'mayor'; 'radius' and 'ray'; 'pauper' +and 'poor'; 'potion' and 'poison'; 'ration' and 'reason'; 'oration' and +'orison'{24}. I have, in the instancing of these named always the Latin +form before the French; but the reverse I suppose in every instance is +the order in which the words were adopted by us; we had 'pursue' before +'persecute', 'spice' before 'species', 'royalty' before 'regality', and +so with the others{25}. + +The explanation of this greater change which the earlier form of the +word has undergone, is not far to seek. Words which have been introduced +into a language at an early period, when as yet writing is rare, and +books are few or none, when therefore orthography is unfixed, or being +purely phonetic, cannot properly be said to exist at all, such words for +a long while live orally on the lips of men, before they are set down in +writing; and out of this fact it is that we shall for the most part find +them reshaped and remoulded by the people who have adopted them, +entirely assimilated to _their_ language in form and termination, so as +in a little while to be almost or quite indistinguishable from natives. +On the other hand a most effectual check to this process, a process +sometimes barbarizing and defacing, however it may be the only one which +will make the newly brought in entirely homogeneous with the old and +already existing, is imposed by the existence of a much written language +and a full formed literature. The foreign word, being once adopted into +these, can no longer undergo a thorough transformation. For the most +part the utmost which use and familiarity can do with it now, is to +cause the gradual dropping of the foreign termination. Yet this too is +not unimportant; it often goes far to making a home for a word, and +hindering it from wearing the appearance of a foreigner and +stranger{26}. + +{Sidenote: _Analysis of English_} + +But to return from this digression--I said just now that you would learn +very much from observing and calculating the proportions in which the +words of one descent and those of another occur in any passage which you +analyse. Thus examine the Lord's Prayer. It consists of exactly seventy +words. You will find that only the following six claim the rights of +Latin citizenship--'trespasses', 'trespass', 'temptation', 'deliver', +'power', 'glory'. Nor would it be very difficult to substitute for any +one of these a Saxon word. Thus for 'trespasses' might be substituted +'sins'; for 'deliver' 'free'; for 'power' 'might'; for 'glory' +'brightness'; which would only leave 'temptation', about which there +could be the slightest difficulty, and 'trials', though we now ascribe +to the word a somewhat different sense, would in fact exactly correspond +to it. This is but a small percentage, six words in seventy, or less +than ten in the hundred; and we often light upon a still smaller +proportion. Thus take the first three verses of the 23rd Psalm:--"The +Lord is my Shepherd; therefore can I lack nothing; He shall feed me in a +green _pasture_, and lead me forth beside the waters of _comfort_; He +shall _convert_ my soul, and bring me forth in the paths of righteousness +for his Name's sake". Here are forty-five words, and only the three in +italics are Latin; and for every one of these too it would be easy to +substitute a word of Saxon origin; little more, that is, than the +proportion of seven in the hundred; while, still stronger than this, in +five verses out of Genesis, containing one hundred and thirty words, +there are only five not Saxon, less, that is, than four in the hundred. + +Shall we therefore conclude that these are the proportions in which the +Anglo-Saxon and Latin elements of the language stand to one another? If +they are so, then my former proposal to express their relations by sixty +and thirty was greatly at fault; and seventy and twenty, or even eighty +and ten, would fall short of adequately representing the real +predominance of the Saxon over the Latin element of the language. But it +is not so; the Anglo-Saxon words by no means outnumber the Latin in the +degree which the analysis of those passages would seem to imply. It is +not that there are so many more Anglo-Saxon words, but that the words +which there are, being words of more primary necessity, do therefore so +much more frequently recur. The proportions which the analysis of the +_dictionary_ that is, of the language _at rest_, would furnish, are very +different from these which I have just instanced, and which the analysis +of _sentences_, or of the language _in motion_, gives. Thus if we +examine the total vocabulary of the English Bible, not more than sixty +per cent. of the words are native; such are the results which the +Concordance gives; but in the actual translation the native words are +from ninety in some passages to ninety-six in others per cent{27}. + +{Sidenote: _Anglo-Saxon the Base of English_} + +The notice of this fact will lead us to some very important conclusions +as to the _character_ of the words which the Saxon and the Latin +severally furnish; and principally to this:--that while the English +language is thus compact in the main of these two elements, we must not +for all this regard these two as making, one and the other, exactly the +same _kind_ of contributions to it. On the contrary their contributions +are of very different character. The Anglo-Saxon is not so much, as I +have just called it, one element of the English language, as the +foundation of it, the basis. All its joints, its whole _articulation_, +its sinews and its ligaments, the great body of articles, pronouns, +conjunctions, prepositions, numerals, auxiliary verbs, all smaller words +which serve to knit together and bind the larger into sentences, these, +not to speak of the grammatical structure of the language, are +exclusively Saxon. The Latin may contribute its tale of bricks, yea, of +goodly and polished hewn stones, to the spiritual building; but the +mortar, with all that holds and binds the different parts of it +together, and constitutes them into a house, is Saxon throughout. I +remember Selden in his _Table Talk_ using another comparison; but to the +same effect: "If you look upon the language spoken in the Saxon time, +and the language spoken now, you will find the difference to be just as +if a man had a cloak which he wore plain in Queen Elizabeth's days, and +since, here has put in a piece of red, and there a piece of blue, and +here a piece of green, and there a piece of orange-tawny. We borrow +words from the French, Italian, Latin, as every pedantic man pleases". + +{Sidenote: _Composite Languages_} + +I believe this to be the law which holds good in respect of all +composite languages. However composite they may be, yet they are only so +in regard of their words. There may be a medley in respect of these, +some coming from one quarter, some from another; but there is never a +mixture of grammatical forms and inflections. One or other language +entirely predominates here, and everything has to conform and +subordinate itself to the laws of this ruling and ascendant language. +The Anglo-Saxon is the ruling language in our present English. Thus +while it has thought good to drop its genders, even so the French +substantives which come among us, must also leave theirs behind them; as +in like manner the French verbs must renounce their own conjugations, +and adapt themselves to ours{28}. I believe that a remarkable parallel +to this might be found in the language of Persia, since the conquest of +that country by the Arabs. The ancient Persian religion fell with the +government, but the language remained totally unaffected by the +revolution, in its grammatical structure and character. Arabic vocables, +the only exotic words in Persian, are found in numbers varying with the +object and quality, style and taste of the writers, but pages of pure +idiomatic Persian may be written without employing a single word from +the Arabic. + +At the same time the secondary or superinduced language, even while it +is quite unable to force any of its forms on the language which receives +its words, may yet compel that to renounce a portion of its own forms, +by the impossibility which is practically found to exist of making them +fit the new comers; and thus it may exert although not a positive, yet a +negative, influence on the grammar of the other tongue. It has been so, +as is generally admitted, in the instance of our own. "When the English +language was inundated by a vast influx of French words, few, if any, +French forms were received into its grammar; but the Saxon forms soon +dropped away, because they did not suit the new roots; and the genius of +the language, from having to deal with the newly imported words in a +rude state, was induced to neglect the inflections of the native ones. +This for instance led to the introduction of the _s_ as the universal +termination of all plural nouns, which agreed with the usage of the +French language, and was not alien from that of the Saxon, but was +merely an extension of the termination of the ancient masculine to other +classes of nouns"{29}. + +{Sidenote: _The Anglo-Saxon Element_} + +If you wish to convince yourselves by actual experience, of the fact +which I just now asserted, namely, that the radical constitution of the +language is Saxon, I would say, Try to compose a sentence, let it be +only of ten or a dozen words, and the subject entirely of your choice, +employing therein only words which are of a Latin derivation. I venture +to say you will find it impossible, or next to impossible to do it; +whichever way you turn, some obstacle will meet you in the face. And +while it is thus with the Latin, whole pages might be written, I do not +say in philosophy or theology or upon any abstruser subject, but on +familiar matters of common everyday life, in which every word should be +of Saxon extraction, not one of Latin; and these, pages in which, with +the exercise of a little patience and ingenuity, all appearance of +awkwardness and constraint should be avoided, so that it should never +occur to the reader, unless otherwise informed, that the writer had +submitted himself to this restraint and limitation in the words which he +employed, and was only drawing them from one section of the English +language. Sir Thomas Browne has given several long paragraphs so +constructed. Take for instance the following, which is only a little +fragment of one of them: "The first and foremost step to all good works +is the dread and fear of the Lord of heaven and earth, which through +the Holy Ghost enlighteneth the blindness of our sinful hearts to tread +the ways of wisdom, and lead our feet into the land of blessing"{30}. +This is not stiffer than the ordinary English of his time. I would +suggest to you at your leisure to make these two experiments; you will +find it, I think, exactly as I have here affirmed. + +While thus I bring before you the fact that it would be quite possible +to write English, forgoing altogether the use of the Latin portion of +the language, I would not have you therefore to conclude that this +portion of the language is of little value, or that we could draw from +the resources of our Teutonic tongue efficient substitutes for all the +words which it has contributed to our glossary. I am persuaded that we +could not; and, if we could, that it would not be desirable. I mention +this, because there is sometimes a regret expressed that we have not +kept our language more free from the admixture of Latin, a suggestion +made that we should even now endeavour to keep under the Latin element +of it, and as little as possible avail ourselves of it. I remember Lord +Brougham urging upon the students at Glasgow as a help to writing good +English, that they should do their best to rid their diction of +long-tailed words in 'osity' and 'ation'{31}. He plainly intended to +indicate by this phrase all learned Latin words, or words derived from +the Latin. This exhortation is by no means superfluous; for doubtless +there were writers of a former age, Samuel Johnson in the last century, +Henry More and Sir Thomas Browne in the century preceding, who gave +undue preponderance to the learned, or Latin, portion in our language; +and very much of its charm, of its homely strength and beauty, of its +most popular and truest idioms, would have perished from it, had they +succeeded in persuading others to write as they had written. + +{Sidenote: _Anglo-Saxon Aboriginal_} + +But for all this we could _almost_ as ill spare this side of the +language as the other. It represents and supplies needs not less real +than the other does. Philosophy and science and the arts of a high +civilization find their utterance in the Latin words of our language, +or, if not in the Latin, in the Greek, which for present purposes may be +grouped with them. How they should have found utterance in the speech of +rude tribes, which, never having cultivated the things, must needs have +been without the words which should express those things. Granting too +that, _coeteris paribus_, when a Latin and a Saxon word offer themselves +to our choice, we shall generally do best to employ the Saxon, to speak +of 'happiness' rather than 'felicity', 'almighty' rather than +'omnipotent', a 'forerunner' rather than a 'precursor', still these +latter must be regarded as much denizens in the language as the former, +no alien interlopers, but possessing the rights of citizenship as fully +as the most Saxon word of them all. One part of the language is not to +be favoured at the expense of the other; the Saxon at the cost of the +Latin, as little as the Latin at the cost of the Saxon. "Both are +indispensable; and speaking generally without stopping to distinguish as +to subject, both are _equally_ indispensable. Pathos, in situations +which are homely, or at all connected with domestic affections, +naturally moves by Saxon words. Lyrical emotion of every kind, which (to +merit the name of _lyrical_) must be in the state of flux and reflux, +or, generally, of agitation, also requires the Saxon element of our +language. And why? Because the Saxon is the aboriginal element; the +basis and not the superstructure: consequently it comprehends all the +ideas which are natural to the heart of man and to the elementary +situations of life. And although the Latin often furnishes us with +duplicates of these ideas, yet the Saxon, or monosyllabic part, has the +advantage of precedency in our use and knowledge; for it is the language +of the nursery whether for rich or poor, in which great philological +academy no toleration is given to words in 'osity' or 'ation'. There is +therefore a great advantage, as regards the consecration to our +feelings, settled by usage and custom upon the Saxon strands in the +mixed yarn of our native tongue. And universally, this may be +remarked--that wherever the passion of a poem is of that sort which +_uses_, _presumes_, or _postulates_ the ideas, without seeking to extend +them, Saxon will be the 'cocoon' (to speak by the language applied to +silk-worms), which the poem spins for itself. But on the other hand, +where the motion of the feeling is _by_ and _through_ the ideas, where +(as in religious or meditative poetry--Young's, for instance, or +Cowper's), the pathos creeps and kindles underneath the very tissues of +the thinking, there the Latin will predominate; and so much so that, +whilst the flesh, the blood, and the muscle, will be often almost +exclusively Latin, the articulations only, or hinges of connection, will +be the Anglo-Saxon". + +These words which I have just quoted are De Quincey's--whom I must needs +esteem the greatest living master of our English tongue. And on the same +matter Sir Francis Palgrave has expressed himself thus: "Upon the +languages of Teutonic origin the Latin has exercised great influence, +but most energetically on our own. The very early admixture of the +_Langue d'Oil_, the never interrupted employment of the French as the +language of education, and the nomenclature created by the scientific +and literary cultivation of advancing and civilized society, have +Romanized our speech; the warp may be Anglo-Saxon, but the woof is Roman +as well as the embroidery, and these foreign materials have so entered +into the texture, that were they plucked out, the web would be torn to +rags, unravelled and destroyed"{32}. + +{Sidenote: _The English Bible_} + +I do not know where we could find a happier example of the preservation +of the golden mean in this matter than in our Authorized Version of the +Bible. One of the chief among the minor and secondary blessings which +that Version has conferred on the nation or nations drawing spiritual +life from it,--a blessing not small in itself, but only small by +comparison with the infinitely higher blessings whereof it is the +vehicle to them,--is the happy wisdom, the instinctive tact, with which +its authors have steered between any futile mischievous attempt to +ignore the full rights of the Latin part of the language on the one +side, and on the other any burdening of their Version with such a +multitude of learned Latin terms as should cause it to forfeit its +homely character, and shut up large portions of it from the understanding +of plain and unlearned men. There is a remarkable confession to this +effect, to the wisdom, in fact, which guided them from above, to the +providence that overruled their work, an honourable acknowledgement of +the immense superiority in this respect of our English Version over the +Romish, made by one now, unhappily, familiar with the latter, as once he +was with our own. Among those who have recently abandoned the communion +of the English Church one has exprest himself in deeply touching tones +of lamentation over all, which in renouncing our translation, he feels +himself to have forgone and lost. These are his words: "Who will not say +that the uncommon beauty and marvellous English of the Protestant Bible +is not one of the great strongholds of heresy in this country? It lives +on the ear, like a music that can never be forgotten, like the sound of +church bells, which the convert hardly knows how he can forgo. Its +felicities often seem to be almost things rather than mere words. It is +part of the national mind, and the anchor of national seriousness.... +The memory of the dead passes into it. The potent traditions of +childhood are stereotyped in its verses. The power of all the griefs and +trials of a man is hidden beneath its words. It is the representative +of his best moments, and all that there has been about him of soft and +gentle and pure and penitent and good speaks to him for ever out of his +English Bible.... It is his sacred thing, which doubt has never dimmed, +and controversy never soiled. In the length and breadth of the land +there is not a Protestant with one spark of religiousness about him, +whose spiritual biography is not in his Saxon Bible"{33}. + +{Sidenote: _The Rhemish Bible_} + +Such are his touching words; and certainly one has only to compare this +version of ours with the Rhemish, and the transcendent excellence of our +own reveals itself at once. I am not extolling now its superior +scholarship; its greater freedom from by-ends; as little would I urge +the fact that one translation is from the original Greek, the other from +the Latin Vulgate, and thus the translation of a translation, often +reproducing the mistakes of that translation; but, putting aside all +considerations such as these, I speak only here of the superiority of +the diction in which the meaning, be it correct or incorrect, is +conveyed to English readers. Thus I open the Rhemish version at +Galatians v. 19, where the long list of the "works of the flesh", and of +the "fruit of the Spirit", is given. But what could a mere English +reader make of words such as these--'impudicity', 'ebrieties', +'comessations', 'longanimity', all which occur in that passage? while +our Version for 'ebrieties' has 'drunkenness', for 'comessations' has +'revellings', and so also for 'longanimity' 'longsuffering'. Or set over +against one another such phrases as these,--in the Rhemish, "the +exemplars of the celestials" (Heb. ix. 23), but in ours, "the patterns +of things in the heavens". Or suppose if, instead of the words _we_ read +at Heb. xiii. 16, namely "To do good and to communicate forget not; for +with such sacrifices God is well pleased", we read as follows, which are +the words of the Rhemish, "Beneficence and communication do not forget; +for with such hosts God is promerited"!--Who does not feel that if our +Version had been composed in such Latin-English as this, had abounded in +words like 'odible', 'suasible', 'exinanite', 'contristate', +'postulations', 'coinquinations', 'agnition', 'zealatour', all, with +many more of the same mint, in the Rhemish Version, our loss would have +been great and enduring, one which would have searched into the whole +religious life of our people, and been felt in the very depths of the +national mind{34}? + +There was indeed something still deeper than love of sound and genuine +English at work in our Translators, whether they were conscious of it or +not, which hindered them from presenting the Scriptures to their +fellow-countrymen dressed out in such a semi-Latin garb as this. The +Reformation, which they were in this translation so mightily +strengthening and confirming, was just a throwing off, on the part of +the Teutonic nations, of that everlasting pupilage in which Rome would +have held them; an assertion at length that they were come to full age, +and that not through her, but directly through Christ, they would +address themselves unto God. The use of the Latin language as the +language of worship, as the language in which the Scriptures might alone +be read, had been the great badge of servitude, even as the Latin habits +of thought and feeling which it promoted had been the great helps to the +continuance of this servitude, through long ages. It lay deep then in +the very nature of their cause that the Reformers should develop the +Saxon, or essentially national, element in the language; while it was +just as natural that the Roman Catholic translators, if they must +translate the Scriptures into English at all, should yet translate them +into such English as should bear the nearest possible resemblance to the +Latin Vulgate, which Rome with a very deep wisdom of this world would +gladly have seen as the only one in the hands of the faithful. + +{Sidenote: _Future of the English Language_} + +Let me again, however, recur to the fact that what our Reformers did in +this matter, they did without exaggeration; even as they had shown the +same wise moderation in still higher matters. They gave to the Latin +side of the language its rights, though they would not suffer it to +encroach upon and usurp those of the Teutonic part of the language. It +would be difficult not to believe, even if many outward signs said not +the same, that great things are in store for the one language of Europe +which thus serves as connecting link between the North and the South, +between the languages spoken by the Teutonic nations of the North and by +the Romance nations of the South; which holds on to and partakes of +both; which is as a middle term between them{35}. There are who venture +to hope that the English Church, being in like manner double-fronted, +looking on the one side toward Rome, being herself truly Catholic, +looking on the other towards the Protestant communions, being herself +also protesting and reforming, may yet in the providence of God have an +important part to play for the reconciling of a divided Christendom. And +if this ever should be so, if, notwithstanding our sins and unworthiness, +so blessed a task should be in store for her, it will not be a small +help and assistance thereunto, that the language in which her mediation +will be effected is one wherein both parties may claim their own, in +which neither will feel that it is receiving the adjudication of a +stranger, of one who must be an alien from its deeper thoughts and +habits, because an alien from its words, but a language in which both +must recognize very much of that which is deepest and most precious of +their own. + +{Sidenote: _Jacob Grimm on English_} + +Nor is this prerogative which I have just claimed for our English the +mere dream and fancy of patriotic vanity. The scholar who in our days is +most profoundly acquainted with the great group of the Gothic languages +in Europe, and a devoted lover, if ever there was such, of his native +German, I mean Jacob Grimm, has expressed himself very nearly to the +same effect, and given the palm over all to our English in words which +you will not grudge to hear quoted, and with which I shall bring this +lecture to a close. After ascribing to our language "a veritable power +of expression, such as perhaps never stood at the command of any other +language of men", he goes on to say, "Its highly spiritual genius, and +wonderfully happy development and condition, have been the result of a +surprisingly intimate union of the two noblest languages in modern +Europe, the Teutonic and the Romance--It is well known in what relation +these two stand to one another in the English tongue; the former +supplying in far larger proportion the material groundwork, the latter +the spiritual conceptions. In truth the English language, which by no +mere accident has produced and upborne the greatest and most predominant +poet of modern times, as distinguished from the ancient classical poetry +(I can, of course, only mean Shakespeare), may with all right be called +a world-language; and like the English people, appears destined +hereafter to prevail with a sway more extensive even than its present +over all the portions of the globe{36}. For in wealth, good sense, and +closeness of structure no other of the languages at this day spoken +deserves to be compared with it--not even our German, which is torn, +even as we are torn, and must first rid itself of many defects, before +it can enter boldly into the lists, as a competitor with the +English"{37}. + + +{FOOTNOTES} + +{1} These lectures were first delivered during the Russian War. [See De + Quincey to the same effect, _Works_, 1862, vol. iv. pp. vii, 286.] + +{2} F. Schlegel, _History of Literature, Lecture 10_. + +{3} [If dictionary words be counted as apart from the spoken language, + the proportion of the component elements of English is very + different. M. Müller quotes a calculation which makes the classical + element about 68 per cent, the Teutonic about 30, and miscellaneous + about 2 (_Science of Language_, 8th ed. i, 89). See Skeat, + _Principles of Eng. Etymology_, ii, 15 _seq._, and _infra_ p. 25.] + +{4} [What here follows should be compared with the fuller and more + accurate lists of words borrowed from foreign sources given by Prof. + Skeat in his larger _Etymolog. Dictionary_, 759 _seq._; and more + completely in his _Principles of Eng. Etymology_, 2nd ser. 294-440.] + +{5} Yet see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Mythologie_, p. 985. + +{6} The word hardly deserves to be called English, yet in Pope's time it + had made some progress toward naturalization. Of a real or pretended + polyglottist, who might thus have served as an universal + _interpreter_, he says: + + "Pity you was not _druggerman_ at Babel". + + 'Truckman', or more commonly 'truchman', familiar to all readers of + our early literature, is only another form of this, one which + probably has come to us through 'turcimanno', the Italian form of + the word. [See my _Folk and their Word-Lore_, p. 19]. + +{7} ['Tulip', at first spelt _tulipan_, is really the same word as + _turban_ (_tulipant_ just above), which the flower was thought to + resemble (Persian _dulband_).] + +{8} [Ultimately from the Arabic _zab{-a}d_ (N.E.D.).] + +{9} [Apparently to be traced to the Persian _shim-shír_ or _sham-shír_ + ("lion's-nail"), a crooked sword (Skeat).] + +{10} [Rather through the French from low Latin _satinus_ or _setinus_, a + fabric made of _seta_, silk. But Yule holds that it may be from + Zayton or Zaitun (in Fokien, China), an important emporium of + Western trade in the Middle Ages (_Hobson-Jobson_, 602).] + +{11} [Probably intended for _cacao_, which is Mexican. _Cocoa_, the nut, + is from Portuguese _coco_.] + +{12} See Washington Irving, _Life and Voyages of Columbus_, b. 8, c. 9. + +{13} [It is from the Haytian _Hurakan_, the storm-god (_The Folk and + their Word-Lore_, 90).] + +{14} [From old Russian _mammot_, whence modern Russian _mamant_.] + +{15} ['Assagai' is from the Arabic _az-_ (_al-_) _zagh{-a}yah_, 'the + _zag{-a}yah_', a Berber name for a lance (N.E.D.).] + +{16} [This puts the cart before the horse. 'Fetish' is really the + Portuguese word _feitiço_, artificial, made-up, factitious (Latin + _factitius_), applied to African amulets or idols.] + +{17} ['Domino' is Spanish rather than Italian (Skeat, _Principles_, ii, + 312).] + +{18} ['Harlequin' appears to be an older word in French than in Italian + (_ibid._).] + +{19} On the question whether this ought to have been included among the + Arabic, see Diez, _Wörterbuch d. Roman. Sprachen_, p. 10. + +{20} Not in our dictionaries; but a kind of coasting vessel well known + to seafaring men, the Spanish 'urca'; thus in Oldys' _Life of + Raleigh_: "Their galleons, galleasses, gallies, _urcas_, and zabras + were miserably shattered". + +{21} [A valuable list of such doublets is given by Prof. Skeat in his + large _Etymological Dictionary_, p. 772 _seq._] + +{22} This particular instance of double adoption, of 'dimorphism' as + Latham calls it, 'dittology' as Heyse, recurs in Italian, + 'bestemmiare' and 'biasimare'; and in Spanish, 'blasfemar' and + 'lastimar'. + +{23} ['Doit', a small coin (Dutch _duit_) has no relation to, 'digit'. + Was the author thinking of old French _doit_, a finger, from Latin + _digitus_?] + +{24} Somewhat different from this, yet itself also curious, is the + passing of an Anglo-Saxon word in two different forms into English, + and continuing in both; thus 'desk' and 'dish', both the + Anglo-Saxon 'disc' [a loan-word from Latin _discus_, Greek + _diskos_] the German 'tisch'; 'beech' and 'book', both the + Anglo-Saxon 'boc', our first books being _beechen_ tablets (see + Grimm, _Wörterbuch_, s. vv. 'Buch', 'Buche'); 'girdle' and + 'kirtle'; both of them corresponding to the German 'gürtel'; + already in Anglo-Saxon a double spelling, 'gyrdel', 'cyrtel', had + prepared for the double words; so too 'haunch' and 'hinge'; 'lady' + and 'lofty' [these last three instances are not doublets at all, + being quite unrelated; see Skeat, s. vv.]; 'shirt', and 'skirt'; + 'black' and 'bleak'; 'pond' and 'pound'; 'deck' and 'thatch'; + 'deal' and 'dole'; 'weald' and 'wood'{+}; 'dew' and 'thaw'{+}; + 'wayward' and 'awkward'{+}; 'dune' and 'down'; 'hood' and 'hat'{+}; + 'ghost' and 'gust'{+}; 'evil' and 'ill'{+}; 'mouth' and 'moth'{+}; + 'hedge' and 'hay'. + + [All these suggested doublets which I have obelized must be + dismissed as untenable.] + +{25} We have in the same way double adoptions from the Greek, one + direct, at least as regards the forms; one modified by its passage + through some other language; thus, 'adamant' and 'diamond'; + 'monastery' and 'minster'; 'scandal' and 'slander'; 'theriac' and + 'treacle'; 'asphodel' and 'daffodil'; 'presbyter' and 'priest'. + +{26} The French itself has also a double adoption, or as perhaps we + should more accurately call it there, a double formation, from the + Latin, and such as quite bears out what has been said above: one + going far back in the history of the language, the other belonging + to a later and more literary period; on which subject there are + some admirable remarks by Génin, _Récréations Philologiques_, vol. + i. pp. 162-66; and see Fuchs, _Die Roman. Sprachen_, p. 125. Thus + from 'separare' is derived 'sevrer', to separate the child from its + mother's breast, to wean, but also 'séparer', without this special + sense; from 'pastor', 'pâtre', a shepherd in the literal, and + 'pasteur' the same in a tropical, sense; from 'catena', 'chaîne' + and 'cadène'; from 'fragilis', 'frêle' and 'fragile'; from + 'pensare', 'peser' and 'penser'; from 'gehenna', 'gêne' and + 'géhenne'; from 'captivus', 'chétif' and 'captif'; from 'nativus', + 'naïf' and 'natif'; from 'designare', 'dessiner' and 'designer'; + from 'decimare', 'dîmer' and 'décimer'; from 'consumere', + 'consommer' and 'consumer'; from 'simulare', 'sembler' and + 'simuler'; from the low Latin, 'disjejunare', 'dîner' and + 'déjeûner'; from 'acceptare', 'acheter' and 'accepter'; from + 'homo', 'on' and 'homme'; from 'paganus', 'payen' and 'paysan' [the + latter from 'pagensis']; from 'obedientia', 'obéissance' and + 'obédience'; from 'strictus', 'étroit' and 'strict'; from + 'sacramentum', 'serment' and 'sacrement'; from 'ministerium', + 'métier' and 'ministère'; from 'parabola', 'parole' and 'parabole'; + from 'peregrinus', 'pélerin' and 'pérégrin'; from 'factio', 'façon' + and 'faction', and it has now adopted 'factio' in a third shape, + that is, in our English 'fashion'; from 'pietas', 'pitié' and + 'piété'; from 'capitulum', 'chapitre' and 'capitule', a botanical + term. So, too, in Italian, 'manco', maimed, and 'monco', maimed _of + a hand_; 'rifutáre', to refute, and 'rifiutáre', to refuse; 'dama' + and 'donna', both forms of 'domina'. + +{27} See Marsh, _Manual of the English Language_, Engl. Ed. p. 88 _seq._ + +{28} W. Schlegel (_Indische Bibliothek_, vol. i. p. 284): Coeunt quidem + paullatim in novum corpus peregrina vocabula, sed grammatica + linguarum, unde petitæ sunt, ratio perit. + +{29} J. Grimm, quoted in _The Philological Museum_ vol. i. p. 667. + +{30} _Works_, vol. iv. p. 202. + +{31} [These words are taken from the 'Whistlecraft' of John Hookham + Frere:-- + + "Don't confound the language of the nation + With long-tail'd words in _osity_ and _ation_". + + (_Works_, 1872, vol. 1, p. 206).] + +{32} _History of Normandy and England_, vol. i, p. 78. + +{33} [F. W. Faber,] _Dublin Review_, June, 1853. + +{34} There is more on this matter in my book _On the Authorized Version + of the New Testament_, pp. 33-35. + +{35} See a paper _On the Probable Future Position of the English + Language_, by T. Watts, Esq., in the _Proceedings of the + Philological Society_, vol. iv, p. 207. + +{36} A little more than two centuries ago a poet, himself abundantly + deserving the title of 'well-languaged'; which a cotemporary or + near successor gave him, ventured in some remarkable lines timidly + to anticipate this. Speaking of his native tongue, which he himself + wrote with such vigour and purity, though wanting in the fiery + impulses which go to the making of a first-rate poet, Daniel + exclaims:-- + + "And who, in time, knows whither we may vent + The treasure of our tongue, to what strange shores + This gain of our best glory shall be sent, + To enrich unknowing nations with our stores? + What worlds in the yet unformèd Occident + May come refined with the accents that are ours? + Or who can tell for what great work in hand + The greatness of our style is now ordained? + What powers it shall bring in, what spirits command, + What thoughts let out, what humours keep restrained, + What mischief it may powerfully withstand, + And what fair ends may thereby be attained"? + +{37} _Ueber den Ursprung der Sprache_, Berlin, 1832, p. 5. + + + + +II + +GAINS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE + + +It is not for nothing that we speak of some languages as _living_, of +others as _dead_. All spoken languages may be ranged in the first class; +for as men will never consent to use a language without more or less +modifying it in their use, will never so far forgo their own activity as +to leave it exactly where they found it, it will therefore, so long as +it is thus the utterance of human thought and feeling, inevitably show +itself alive by many infallible proofs, by motion, growth, acquisition, +loss, progress, and decay. A living language therefore is one which +abundantly deserves this name; for it is one in which, spoken as it is +by living men, a _vital_ formative energy is still at work. It is one +which is in course of actual evolution, which, if the life that animates +it be a healthy one, is appropriating and assimilating to itself what it +anywhere finds congenial to its own life, multiplying its resources, +increasing its wealth; while at the same time it is casting off useless +and cumbersome forms, dismissing from its vocabulary words of which it +finds no use, rejecting from itself by a re-active energy the foreign +and heterogeneous, which may for a while have been forced upon it. I +would not assert that in the process of all this it does not make +mistakes; in the desire to simplify it may let go distinctions which +were not useless, and which it would have been better to retain; the +acquisitions which it makes are very far from being all gains; it +sometimes rejects words as worthless, or suffers words to die out, which +were most worthy to have lived. So far as it does this its life is not +perfectly healthy; there are here signs, however remote, of +disorganization, decay, and ultimate death; but still it lives, and even +these misgrowths and malformations, the rejection of this good, the +taking up into itself of that ill, all these errors are themselves the +utterances and evidences of life. A dead language is the contrary of all +this. It is dead, because books, and not now any generation of living +men, are the guardians of it, and what they guard, they guard without +change. Its course has been completely run, and it is now equally +incapable of gaining and of losing. We may come to know it better; but +in itself it is not, and never can be, other than it was when it ceased +from the lips of men. + +{Sidenote: _English a Living Language_} + +Our own is, of course, a living language still. It is therefore gaining +and losing. It is a tree in which the vital sap is circulating yet, +ascending from the roots into the branches; and as this works, new +leaves are continually being put forth by it, old are dying and dropping +away. I propose for the subject of my present lecture to consider some +of the evidences of this life at work in it still. As I took for the +subject of my first lecture the actual proportions in which the several +elements of our composite English are now found in it, and the service +which they were severally called on to perform, so I shall consider in +this the _sources_ from which the English language has enriched its +vocabulary, the _periods_ at which it has made the chief additions to +this, the _character_ of the additions which at different periods it has +made, and the _motives_ which induced it to seek them. + +I had occasion to mention in that lecture and indeed I dwelt with some +emphasis on the fact, that the core, the radical constitution of our +language, is Anglo-Saxon; so that, composite or mingled as it must be +freely allowed to be, it is only such in respect to words, not in +respect of construction, inflexions, or generally its grammatical forms. +These are all of one piece; and whatever of new has come in has been +compelled to conform itself to these. The framework is English; only a +part of the filling in is otherwise; and of this filling in, of these +its comparatively more recent accessions, I now propose to speak. + +{Sidenote: _The Norman Conquest_} + +The first great augmentation by foreign words of our Saxon vocabulary, +setting aside those which the Danes brought us, was a consequence, +although not an immediate one, of the battle of Hastings, and of the +Norman domination which Duke William's victory established in our land. +And here let me say in respect of that victory, in contradiction to the +sentimental regrets of Thierry and others, and with the fullest +acknowledgement of the immediate miseries which it entailed on the Saxon +race, that it was really the making of England; a judgment, it is true, +but a judgment and mercy in one. God never showed more plainly that He +had great things in store for the people which should occupy this +English soil, than when He brought hither that aspiring Norman race. At +the same time the actual interpenetration of our Anglo-Saxon with any +large amount of French words did not find place till very considerably +later than this event, however it was a consequence of it. Some French +words we find very soon after; but in the main the two streams of +language continued for a long while separate and apart, even as the two +nations remained aloof, a conquering and a conquered, and neither +forgetting the fact. + +Time however softened the mutual antipathies. The Norman, after a while +shut out from France, began more and more to feel that England was his +home and sphere. The Saxon, recovering little by little from the extreme +depression which had ensued on his defeat, became every day a more +important element of the new English nation which was gradually forming +from the coalition of the two races. His language partook of his +elevation. It was no longer the badge of inferiority. French was no +longer the only language in which a gentleman could speak, or a poet +sing. At the same time the Saxon, now passing into the English language, +required a vast addition to its vocabulary, if it were to serve all the +needs of those who were willing to employ it now. How much was there of +high culture, how many of the arts of life, of its refined pleasures, +which had been strange to Saxon men, and had therefore found no +utterance in Saxon words. All this it was sought to supply from the +French. + +We shall not err, I think, if we assume the great period of the +incoming of French words into the English language to have been when the +Norman nobility were exchanging their own language for the English; and +I should be disposed with Tyrwhitt to believe that there is much +exaggeration in attributing the large influx of these into English to +one man's influence, namely to Chaucer's{38}. Doubtless he did much; he +fell in with and furthered a tendency which already prevailed. But to +suppose that the majority of French vocables which he employed in his +poems had never been employed before, had been hitherto unfamiliar to +English ears, is to suppose that his poems must have presented to his +contemporaries an absurd patchwork of two languages, and leaves it +impossible to explain how he should at once have become the popular poet +of our nation. + +{Sidenote: _Influence of Chaucer_} + +That Chaucer largely developed the language in this direction is indeed +plain. We have only to compare his English with that of another great +master of the tongue, his contemporary Wiclif, to perceive how much more +his diction is saturated with French words than is that of the Reformer. +We may note too that many which he and others employed, and as it were +proposed for admission, were not finally allowed and received; so that +no doubt they went beyond the needs of the language, and were here in +excess{39}. At the same time this can be regarded as no condemnation of +their attempt. It was only by actual experience that it could be proved +whether the language wanted those words or not, whether it could absorb +them into itself, and assimilate them with all that it already was and +had; or did not require, and would therefore in due time reject and put +them away. And what happened then will happen in every attempt to +transplant on a large scale the words of one language into another. Some +will take root; others will not, but after a longer or briefer period +will wither and die. Thus I observe in Chaucer such French words as +these, 'misericorde', 'malure' (malheur), 'penible', 'ayel' (aieul), +'tas', 'gipon', 'pierrie' (precious stones); none of which, and Wiclif's +'creansur' (2 Kings iv. 1) as little, have permanently won a place in +our tongue. For a long time 'mel', used often by Sylvester, struggled +hard for a place in the language side by side with honey; 'roy' side by +side with king; this last quite obtained one in Scotch. It is curious to +mark some of these French adoptions keeping their ground to a +comparatively late day, and yet finally extruded: seeming to have taken +firm root, they have yet withered away in the end. Thus it has been, for +example, with 'egal' (Puttenham); with 'ouvert', 'mot', 'ecurie', +'baston', 'gite' (Holland); with 'rivage', 'jouissance', 'noblesse', +'tort' (=wrong), 'accoil' (accuellir), 'sell' (=saddle), all occurring +in Spenser; with 'to serr' (serrer), 'vive', 'reglement', used all by +Bacon; and so with 'esperance', 'orgillous' (orgueilleux), 'rondeur', +'scrimer' (=fencer), all in Shakespeare; with 'amort' (this also in +Shakespeare){40}, and 'avie' (Holland). 'Maugre', 'congie', 'devoir', +'dimes', 'sans', and 'bruit', used often in our Bible, were English +once{41}; when we employ them now, it is with the sense that we are +using foreign words. The same is true of 'dulce', 'aigredoulce' +(=soursweet), of 'mur' for wall, of 'baine' for bath, of the verb 'to +cass' (all in Holland), of 'volupty' (Sir Thomas Elyot), 'volunty' +(Evelyn), 'medisance' (Montagu), 'petit' (South), 'aveugle', 'colline' +(both in _State Papers_), and 'eloign' (Hacket){42}. + +We have seen when the great influx of French words took place--that is, +from the time of the Conquest, although scantily and feebly at the +first, to that of Chaucer. But with him our literature and language had +made a burst, which they were not able to maintain. He has by Warton +been well compared to some warm bright day in the very early spring, +which seems to say that the winter is over and gone; but its promise is +deceitful; the full bursting and blossoming of the springtime are yet +far off. That struggle with France which began so gloriously, but ended +so disastrously, even with the loss of our whole ill-won dominion there, +the savagery of our wars of the Roses, wars which were a legacy +bequeathed to us by that unrighteous conquest, leave a huge gap in our +literary history, nearly a century during which very little was done for +the cultivation of our native tongue, during which it could have made +few important accessions to its wealth. + +{Sidenote: _Latin Importation_} + +The period however is notable as being that during which for the first +time we received a large accession of Latin words. There was indeed +already a small settlement of these, for the most part ecclesiastical, +which had long since found their home in the bosom of the Anglo-Saxon +itself, and had been entirely incorporated into it. The fact that we had +received our Christianity from Rome, and that Latin was the constant +language of the Church, sufficiently explains the incoming of these. +Such were 'monk', 'bishop' (I put them in their present shapes, and do +not concern myself whether they were originally Greek or no; they +reached _us_ as Latin); 'provost', 'minster', 'cloister', 'candle', +'psalter', 'mass', and the names of certain foreign animals, as +'camel', or plants or other productions, as 'pepper', 'fig'; which are +all, with slightly different orthography, Anglo-Saxon words. These, +however, were entirely exceptional, and stood to the main body of the +language not as the Romance element of it does now to the Gothic, one +power over against another, but as the Spanish or Italian or Arabic +words in it now stand to the whole present body of the language--and +could not be affirmed to affect it more. + +So soon however as French words were imported largely, as I have just +observed, into the language, and were found to coalesce kindly with the +native growths, this very speedily suggested, as indeed it alone +rendered possible, the going straight to the Latin, and drawing directly +from it; and thus in the hundred years which followed Chaucer a large +amount of Latin found its way, if not into our speech, yet at all events +into our books--words which were not brought _through_ the French, for +they are not, and have not at any time been, French, but yet words which +would never have been introduced into English, if their way had not been +prepared, if the French already domesticated among us had not bridged +over, as it were, the gulf, that would have otherwise been too wide +between them and the Saxon vocables of our tongue. + +In this period, a period of great depression of the national spirit, we +may trace the attempt at a pedantic latinization of English quite as +clearly at work as at later periods, subsequent to the revival of +learning. It was now that a crop of such words as 'facundious', +'tenebrous', 'solacious', 'pulcritude', 'consuetude' (all these occur in +Hawes), with many more, long since rejected by the language, sprung up; +while other words, good in themselves, and which have been since +allowed, were yet employed in numbers quite out of proportion with the +Saxon vocables with which they were mingled, and which they altogether +overtopped and shadowed. Chaucer's hearty English feeling, his thorough +sympathy with the people, the fact that, scholar as he was, he was yet +the poet not of books but of life, and drew his best inspiration from +life, all this had kept him, in the main, clear of this fault. But in +others it is very manifest. Thus I must esteem the diction of Lydgate, +Hawes, and the other versifiers who filled up the period between Chaucer +and Surrey, immensely inferior to Chaucer's; being all stuck over with +long and often ill-selected Latin words. The worst offenders in this +line, as Campbell himself admits, were the Scotch poets of the fifteenth +century. "The prevailing fault", he says, "of English diction, in the +fifteenth century, is redundant ornament, and an affectation of +anglicising Latin words. In this pedantry and use of "aureate terms" the +Scottish versifiers went even beyond their brethren of the south.... +When they meant to be eloquent, they tore up words from the Latin, which +never took root in the language, like children making a mock garden with +flowers and branches stuck in the ground, which speedily wither"{43}. + +To few indeed is the wisdom and discretion given, certainly it was +given to none of those, to bear themselves in this hazardous enterprise +according to the rules laid down by Dryden; who in the following +admirable passage declares the motives that induced him to seek for +foreign words, and the considerations that guided him in their +selection: "If sounding words are not of our growth and manufacture, who +shall hinder me to import them from a foreign country? I carry not out +the treasure of the nation which is never to return, but what I bring +from Italy I spend in England. Here it remains and here it circulates, +for, if the coin be good, it will pass from one hand to another. I trade +both with the living and the dead, for the enrichment of our native +language. We have enough in England to supply our necessity, but if we +will have things of magnificence and splendour, we must get them by +commerce. Poetry requires adornment, and that is not to be had from our +old Teuton monosyllables; therefore if I find any elegant word in a +classic author, I propose it to be naturalized by using it myself; and +if the public approves of it, the bill passes. But every man cannot +distinguish betwixt pedantry and poetry: every man therefore is not fit +to innovate. Upon the whole matter a poet must first be certain that the +word he would introduce is beautiful in the Latin; and is to consider in +the next place whether it will agree with the English idiom: after this, +he ought to take the opinion of judicious friends, such as are learned +in both languages; and lastly, since no man is infallible, let him use +this licence very sparingly; for if too many foreign words are poured +in upon us, it looks as if they were designed not to assist the natives, +but to conquer them"{44}. + +{Sidenote: _Influence of the Reformation_} + +But this tendency to latinize our speech was likely to receive, and +actually did receive, a new impulse from the revival of learning, and +the familiar re-acquaintance with the great masterpieces of ancient +literature which went along with this revival. Happily another movement +accompanied, or at least followed hard on this; a movement in England +essentially national; and which stirred our people at far deeper depths +of their moral and spiritual life than any mere revival of learning +could have ever done; I refer, of course, to the Reformation. It was +only among the Germanic nations of Europe, as has often been remarked, +that the Reformation struck lasting roots; it found its strength +therefore in the Teutonic element of the national character, which also +it in its turn further strengthened, purified, and called out. And thus, +though Latin came in upon us now faster than ever, and in a certain +measure also Greek, yet this was not without its redress and +counterpoise, in the cotemporaneous unfolding of the more fundamentally +popular side of the language. Popular preaching and discussion, the +necessity of dealing with truths the most transcendent in a way to be +understood not by scholars only, but by 'idiots' as well, all this +served to evoke the native resources of our tongue; and thus the +relative proportion between the one part of the language and the other +was not dangerously disturbed, the balance was not destroyed; as it +might well have been, if only the Humanists{45} had been at work, and +not the Reformers as well. + +The revival of learning, which made itself first felt in Italy, extended +to England, and was operative here, during the reigns of Henry the +Eighth and his immediate successors. Having thus slightly anticipated in +time, it afterwards ran exactly parallel with, the period during which +our Reformation was working itself out. The epoch was in all respects +one of immense mental and moral activity, and such never leave the +language of a nation where they found it. Much is changed in it; much +probably added; for the old garment of speech, which once served all +needs, has grown too narrow, and serves them now no more. "Change in +language is not, as in many natural products, continuous; it is not +equable, but eminently by fits and starts"; and when the foundations of +the national mind are heaving under the power of some new truth, greater +and more important changes will find place in fifty years than in two +centuries of calmer or more stagnant existence. Thus the activities and +energies which the Reformation awakened among us here--and I need not +tell you that these reached far beyond the domain of our directly +religious life--caused mighty alterations in the English tongue{46}. + +{Sidenote: _Rise of New Words_} + +For example, the Reformation had its scholarly, we might say, its +scholastic, as well as its popular, aspect. Add this fact to the fact of +the revived interest in classical learning, and you will not wonder that +a stream of Latin, now larger than ever, began to flow into our +language. Thus Puttenham, writing in Queen Elizabeth's reign{47}, gives +a long list of words which, as he declares, had been quite recently +introduced into the language. Some of them are Greek, a few French and +Italian, but very far the most are Latin. I will not give you his whole +catalogue, but some specimens from it; it is difficult to understand +concerning some of these, how the language should have managed to do +without them so long; 'method', 'methodical', 'function', 'numerous', +'penetrate', 'penetrable', 'indignity', 'savage', 'scientific', +'delineation', 'dimension'--all which he notes to have recently come up; +so too 'idiom', 'significative', 'compendious', 'prolix', 'figurative', +'impression', 'inveigle', 'metrical'. All these he adduces with praise; +others upon which he bestows equal commendation, have not held their +ground, as 'placation', 'numerosity', 'harmonical'. Of those neologies +which he disallowed, he only anticipated in some cases, as in +'facundity', 'implete', 'attemptat' ('attentat'), the decision of a +later day; other words which he condemned no less, as 'audacious', +'compatible', 'egregious', have maintained their ground. These too have +done the same; 'despicable', 'destruction', 'homicide', 'obsequious', +'ponderous', 'portentous', 'prodigious', all of them by another writer a +little earlier condemned as "inkhorn terms, smelling too much of the +Latin". + +{Sidenote: _French Neologies_} + +It is curious to observe the "words of art", as he calls them, which +Philemon Holland, a voluminous translator at the end of the sixteenth +and beginning of the seventeenth century, counts it needful to explain +in a sort of glossary which he appends to his translation of Pliny's +_Natural History_{48}. One can hardly at the present day understand how +any person who would care to consult the book at all would find any +difficulty with words like the following, 'acrimony', 'austere', 'bulb', +'consolidate', 'debility', 'dose', 'ingredient', 'opiate', 'propitious', +'symptom', all which, however, as novelties he carefully explains. Some +of the words in his glossary, it is true, are harder and more technical +than these; but a vast proportion of them present no greater difficulty +than those which I have adduced{49}. + +The period during which this naturalization of Latin words in the +English Language was going actively forward, may be said to have +continued till about the Restoration of Charles the Second. It first +received a check from the coming up of French tastes, fashions, and +habits of thought consequent on that event. The writers already formed +before that period, such as Cudworth and Barrow, still continued to +write their stately sentences, Latin in structure, and Latin in diction, +but not so those of a younger generation. We may say of this influx of +Latin that it left the language vastly more copious, with greatly +enlarged capabilities, but perhaps somewhat burdened, and not always +able to move gracefully under the weight of its new acquisitions; for as +Dryden has somewhere truly said, it is easy enough to acquire foreign +words, but to know what to do with them after you have acquired, is the +difficulty. + +{Sidenote: _Pedantic Words_} + +It might have received indeed most serious injury, if _all_ the words +which the great writers of this second Latin period of our language +employed, and so proposed as candidates for admission into it, had +received the stamp of popular allowance. But happily it was not so; it +was here, as it had been before with the French importations, and with +the earlier Latin of Lydgate and Occleve. The re-active powers of the +language, enabling it to throw off that which was foreign to it, did not +fail to display themselves now, as they had done on former occasions. +The number of unsuccessful candidates for admission into, and permanent +naturalization in, the language during this period, is enormous; and one +may say that in almost all instances where the Alien Act has been +enforced, the sentence of exclusion was a just one; it was such as the +circumstances of the case abundantly bore out. Either the word was not +idiomatic, or was not intelligible, or was not needed, or looked ill, or +sounded ill, or some other valid reason existed against it. A lover of +his native tongue will tremble to think what that tongue would have +become, if all the vocables from the Latin and the Greek which were then +introduced or endorsed by illustrious names, had been admitted on the +strength of their recommendation; if 'torve' and 'tetric' (Fuller), +'cecity' (Hooker), 'fastide' and 'trutinate' (_State Papers_), +'immanity' (Shakespeare), 'insulse' and 'insulsity' (Milton, prose), +'scelestick' (Feltham), 'splendidious' (Drayton), 'pervicacy' (Baxter), +'stramineous', 'ardelion' (Burton), 'lepid' and 'sufflaminate' (Barrow), +'facinorous' (Donne), 'immorigerous', 'clancular', 'ferity', +'ustulation', 'stultiloquy', 'lipothymy' ({Greek: leipothymia}), +'hyperaspist' (all in Jeremy Taylor), if 'mulierosity', 'subsannation', +'coaxation', 'ludibundness', 'delinition', 'septemfluous', 'medioxumous', +'mirificent', 'palmiferous' (all in Henry More), 'pauciloquy' and +'multiloquy' (Beaumont, _Psyche_); if 'dyscolous' (Foxe), 'ataraxy' +(Allestree), 'moliminously' (Cudworth), 'luciferously' (Sir Thomas +Browne), 'immarcescible' (Bishop Hall), 'exility', 'spinosity', +'incolumity', 'solertiousness', 'lucripetous', 'inopious', 'eluctate', +'eximious' (all in Hacket), 'arride'{50} (ridiculed by Ben Johnson), +with the hundreds of other words like these, and even more monstrous +than are some of these, not to speak of such Italian as 'leggiadrous' (a +favourite word in Beaumont's _Psyche_), 'amorevolous' (Hacket), had not +been rejected and disallowed by the true instinct of the national mind. + +{Sidenote: _Naturalization of Words_} + +A great many too _were_ allowed and adopted, but not exactly in the shape +in which they first were introduced among us; they were made to drop +their foreign termination, or otherwise their foreign appearance, to +conform themselves to English ways, and only so were finally incorporated +into the great family of English words{51}. Thus of Greek words we have +the following: 'pyramis' and 'pyramides', forms often employed by +Shakespeare, became 'pyramid' and 'pyramids'; 'dosis' (Bacon) 'dose'; +'distichon' (Holland) 'distich'; 'hemistichion' (North) 'hemistich'; +'apogæon' (Fairfax) and 'apogeum' (Browne) 'apogee'; 'sumphonia' +(Lodge) 'symphony'; 'prototypon' (Jackson) 'prototype'; 'synonymon' +(Jeremy Taylor) or 'synonymum' (Hacket), and 'synonyma' (Milton, prose), +became severally 'synonym' and 'synonyms'; 'syntaxis' (Fuller) became +'syntax'; 'extasis' (Burton) 'ecstasy'; 'parallelogrammon' (Holland) +'parallelogram'; 'programma' (Warton) 'program'; 'epitheton' (Cowell) +'epithet'; 'epocha' (South) 'epoch'; 'biographia' (Dryden) 'biography'; +'apostata' (Massinger) 'apostate'; 'despota' (Fox) 'despot'; +'misanthropos' (Shakespeare) if 'misanthropi' (Bacon) 'misanthrope'; +'psalterion' (North) 'psaltery'; 'chasma' (Henry More) 'chasm'; 'idioma' +and 'prosodia' (both in Daniel, prose) 'idiom' and 'prosody'; 'energia', +'energy', and 'Sibylla', 'Sibyl' (both in Sidney); 'zoophyton' (Henry +More) 'zoophyte'; 'enthousiasmos' (Sylvester) 'enthusiasm'; 'phantasma' +(Donne) 'phantasm'; 'magnes' (Gabriel Harvey) 'magnet'; 'cynosura' +(Donne) 'cynosure'; 'galaxias' (Fox) 'galaxy'; 'heros' (Henry More) +'hero'; 'epitaphy' (Hawes) 'epitaph'. + +The same process has gone on in a multitude of Latin words, which +testify by their terminations that they were, and were felt to be, Latin +at their first employment; though now they are such no longer. Thus +Bacon uses generally, I know not whether always, 'insecta' for +'insects'; and 'chylus' for 'chyle'; Bishop Andrews 'nardus' for 'nard'; +Spenser 'zephyrus', and not 'zephyr'; so 'interstitium' (Fuller) +preceded 'interstice'; 'philtrum' (Culverwell) 'philtre'; 'expansum' +(Jeremy Taylor) 'expanse'; 'preludium' (Beaumont, _Psyche_), 'prelude'; +'precipitium' (Coryat) 'precipice'; 'aconitum' (Shakespeare) 'aconite'; +'balsamum' (Webster) 'balsam'; 'heliotropium' (Holland) 'heliotrope'; +'helleborum' (North) 'hellebore'; 'vehiculum' (Howe) 'vehicle'; +'trochæus' and 'spondæus' (Holland) 'trochee' and 'spondee'; and +'machina' (Henry More) 'machine'. We have 'intervalla', not 'intervals', +in Chillingworth; 'postulata', not 'postulates', in Swift; 'archiva', +not 'archives', in Baxter; 'demagogi', not 'demagogues', in Hacket; +'vestigium', not 'vestige', in Culverwell; 'pantomimus' in Lord Bacon +for 'pantomime'; 'mystagogus' for 'mystagogue', in Jackson; 'atomi' in +Lord Brooke for 'atoms'; 'ædilis' (North) went before 'ædile'; +'effigies' and 'statua' (both in Shakespeare) before 'effigy' and +'statue'; 'abyssus' (Jackson) before 'abyss'; 'vestibulum' (Howe) before +'vestibule'; 'symbolum' (Hammond) before 'symbol'; 'spectrum' (Burton) +before 'spectre'; while only after a while 'quære' gave place to +'query'; 'audite' (Hacket) to 'audit'; 'plaudite' (Henry More) to +'plaudit'; and the low Latin 'mummia' (Webster) became 'mummy'. The +widely extended change of such words as 'innocency', 'indolency', +'temperancy', and the large family of words with the same termination, +into 'innocence', 'indolence', 'temperance', and the like, can only be +regarded as part of the same process of entire naturalization. + +The plural very often tells the secret of a word, and of the light in +which it is regarded by those who employ it, when the singular, being +less capable of modification, would have failed to do so; thus when +Holland writes 'phalanges', 'bisontes', 'ideæ', it is clear that +'phalanx', 'bison', 'idea', were still Greek words for him; as 'dogma' +was for Hammond, when he made its plural not 'dogmas', but 'dogmata'{52}; +and when Spenser uses 'heroes' as a trisyllable, it plainly is not yet +thoroughly English for him{53}. 'Cento' is not English, but a Latin word +used in English, so long as it makes its plural not 'centos', but +'centones', as in the old anonymous translation of Augustin's _City of +God_{54}; and 'specimen', while it makes its plural 'specimina' (Howe). +Pope making, as he does, 'satellites' a quadrisyllable in the line + + "Why Jove's _satellites_ are less than Jove", + +must have felt that he was still dealing with it as Latin; just as +'terminus', a word which the necessities of railways have introduced +among us, will not be truly naturalized till we use 'terminuses', and +not 'termini' for its plural; nor 'phenomenon', till we have renounced +'phenomena'. Sometimes it has been found convenient to retain both +plurals, that formed according to the laws of the classical language, +and that formed according to the laws of our own, only employing them in +different senses; thus is it with 'indices' and 'indexes', 'genii' and +'geniuses'. + +The same process has gone on with words from other languages, as from +the Italian and the Spanish; thus 'bandetto' (Shakespeare), 'bandito' +(Jeremy Taylor), becomes 'bandit'; 'ruffiano' (Coryat) 'ruffian'; +'concerto', 'concert'; 'busto' (Lord Chesterfield) 'bust'; 'caricatura' +(Sir Thomas Browne) 'caricature'; 'princessa' (Hacket) 'princess'; +'scaramucha' (Dryden) 'scaramouch'; 'pedanteria' (Sidney) 'pedantry'; +'impresa' 'impress'; 'caprichio' (Shakespeare) becomes first 'caprich' +(Butler), then 'caprice'; 'duello' (Shakespeare) 'duel'; 'alligarta' +(Ben Jonson), 'alligator'; 'parroquito' (Webster) 'parroquet'; 'scalada' +(Heylin) or 'escalado' (Holland) 'escalade'; 'granada' (Hacket) +'grenade'; 'parada' (J. Taylor) 'parade'; 'emboscado' (Holland) +'stoccado', 'barricado', 'renegado', 'hurricano' (all in Shakespeare), +'brocado' (Hackluyt), 'palissado' (Howell), drop their foreign +terminations, and severally become 'ambuscade', 'stockade', 'barricade', +'renegade', 'hurricane', 'brocade', 'palisade'; 'croisado' in like +manner (Bacon) becomes first 'croisade' (Jortin), and then 'crusade'; +'quinaquina' or 'quinquina', 'quinine'. Other slight modifications of +spelling, not in the termination, but in the body of a word, will +indicate in like manner its more entire incorporation into the English +language. Thus 'shash', a Turkish word, becomes 'sash'; 'colone' +(Burton) 'clown'{55}; 'restoration' was at first spelt 'rest_au_ration'; +and so long as 'vicinage' was spelt 'voisinage'{56} (Sanderson), +'mirror' 'miroir' (Fuller), 'recoil' 'recule', or 'career' 'carriere' +(both by Holland), they could scarcely be considered those purely +English words which now they are{57}. + +Here and there even at this comparatively late period of the language +awkward foreign words will be recast in a more thoroughly English mould; +'chirurgeon' will become 'surgeon'; 'hemorrhoid', 'emerod'; 'squinancy' +will become first 'squinzey' (Jeremy Taylor) and then 'quinsey'; +'porkpisce' (Spenser), that is sea-hog, or more accurately hogfish{58} +will be 'porpesse', and then 'porpoise', as it is now. In other words +the attempt will be made, but it will be now too late to be attended +with success. 'Physiognomy' will not give place to 'visnomy', however +Spenser and Shakespeare employ this briefer form; nor 'hippopotamus' to +'hippodame', even at Spenser's bidding. In like manner the attempt to +naturalize 'avant-courier' in the shape of 'vancurrier' has failed. +Other words also we meet which have finally refused to take a more +popular form, although such was once more or less current; or, if this +is too much to say of all, yet hazarded by good authors. Thus Holland +wrote 'cirque', but we 'circus'; 'cense', but we 'census'; 'interreign', +but we 'interregnum'; Sylvester 'cest', but we 'cestus'; 'quirry', but +we 'equerry'; 'colosse', but we still 'colossus'; Golding 'ure', but we +'urus'; 'metropole', but we 'metropolis'; Dampier 'volcan', but this has +not superseded 'volcano'; nor 'pagod' (Pope) 'pagoda'; nor 'skelet' +(Holland) 'skeleton'; nor 'stimule' (Stubbs) 'stimulus'. Bolingbroke +wrote 'exode', but we hold fast to 'exodus'; Burton 'funge', but we +'fungus'; Henry More 'enigm', but we 'enigma'; 'analyse', but we +'analysis'. 'Superfice' (Dryden) has not put 'superficies', nor +'sacrary' (Hacket) 'sacrarium', nor 'limbeck' 'alembic', out of use. +Chaucer's 'potecary' has given way to a more Greek formation +'apothecary'. Yet these and the like must be regarded quite as +exceptions; the tendency of things is altogether the other way. + +Looking at this process of the reception of foreign words, with their +after assimilation in feature to our own, we may trace, as was to be +expected, a certain conformity between the genius of our institutions +and that of our language. It is the very character of our institutions +to repel none, but rather to afford a shelter and a refuge to all, from +whatever quarter they come; and after a longer or shorter while all the +strangers and incomers have been incorporated into the English nation, +within one or two generations have forgotten that they were ever ought +else than members of it, have retained no other reminiscence of their +foreign extraction than some slight difference of name, and that often +disappearing or having disappeared. Exactly so has it been with the +English language. No language has shown itself less exclusive; none has +stood less upon niceties; none has thrown open its arms wider, with a +fuller confidence, a confidence justified by experience, that it could +make truly its own, assimilate and subdue to itself, whatever it +received into its bosom; and in none has this experiment in a larger +number of instances been successfully carried out. + + * * * * * + +{Sidenote: _French at the Restoration_} + +Such are the two great enlargements from without of our vocabulary. All +other are minor and subordinate. Thus the introduction of French tastes +by Charles the Second and his courtiers returning from exile, to which I +have just adverted, though it rather modified the structure of our +sentences than the materials of our vocabulary, gave us some new words. +In one of Dryden's plays, _Marriage à la Mode_, a lady full of +affectation is introduced, who is always employing French idioms in +preference to English, French words rather than native. It is not a +little curious that of these, thus put into her mouth to render her +ridiculous, not a few are excellent English now, and have nothing +far-sought or affected about them: for so it frequently proves that what +is laughed at in the beginning, is by all admitted and allowed at the +last. For example, to speak of a person being in the 'good graces' of +another has nothing in it ridiculous now; the words 'repartee', +'embarrass', 'chagrin', 'grimace', do not sound novel and affected now +as they all must plainly have done at the time when Dryden wrote. +'Fougue' and 'fraischeur', which he himself employed--being, it is true, +no frequent offender in this way--have not been justified by the same +success. + +{Sidenote: _Greek Words Naturalized_} + +Nor indeed can it be said that this adoption and naturalization of +foreign words ever ceases in a language. There are periods, as we have +seen, when this goes forward much more largely than at others; when a +language throws open, as it were, its doors, and welcomes strangers with +an especial freedom; but there is never a time, when one by one these +foreigners and strangers are not slipping into it. We do not for the +most part observe the fact, at least not while it is actually doing. +Time, the greatest of all innovators, manages his innovations so +dexterously, spreads them over such vast periods, and therefore brings +them about so gradually, that often, while effecting the mightiest +changes, we have no suspicion that he is effecting any at all. Thus how +imperceptible are the steps by which a foreign word is admitted into the +full rights of an English one; the process of its incoming often +eluding our notice altogether. There are numerous Greek words, for +example which, quite unchanged in form, have in one way or another ended +in finding a home and acceptance among us. We may in almost every +instance trace step by step the naturalization of one of these; and the +manner of this singularly confirms what has just been said. We can note +it spelt for a while in Greek letters, and avowedly employed as a Greek +and not an English vocable; then after it had thus obtained a certain +allowance among us, and become not altogether unfamiliar, we note it +exchanging its Greek for English letters, and finally obtaining +recognition as a word which however drawn from a foreign source, is yet +itself English. Thus 'acme', 'apotheosis', 'criterion', 'chrysalis', +'encyclopedia', 'metropolis', 'opthalmia', 'pathos', 'phenomena', are +all now English words, while yet South with many others always wrote +{Greek: akmê}, Jeremy Taylor {Greek: apotheôsis} and {Greek: kritêrion}, +Henry More {Greek: chrysalis}, Ben Jonson speaks of 'the knowledge of +the liberal arts, which the Greeks call {Greek: enkyklopadeian}'{59}, +Culverwell wrote {Greek: mêtropolis} and {Greek: ophthalmia}, Preston, +{Greek: phainomena}--Sylvester ascribes to Baxter, not 'pathos', but +{Greek: pathos}{60}. {Greek: Êthos} is a word at the present moment +preparing for a like passage from Greek characters to English, and +certainly before long will be acknowledged as an English word{61}. The +only cause which has hindered this for some time past is the misgiving +whether it will not be read '{)e}thos,' and not '{-e}thos,' and thus not +be the word intended. + +Let us trace a like process in some French word, which is at this moment +becoming English. I know no better example than the French 'prestige' +will afford. 'Prestige' has manifestly no equivalent in our own +language; it expresses something which no single word in English, which +only a long circumlocution, could express; namely, that magic influence +on others, which past successes as the pledge and promise of future +ones, breed. The word has thus naturally come to be of very frequent use +by good English writers; for they do not feel that in employing it they +are passing by as good or a better word of their own. At first all used +it avowedly as French, writing it in italics to indicate this. At the +present moment some write it so still, some do not; some, that is, +regard it still as foreign, others consider that it has now become +English, and obtained a settlement among us{62}. Little by little the +number of those who write it in italics will become fewer and fewer, +till they cease altogether. It will then only need that the accent +should be shifted, in obedience to the tendencies of the English +language, as far back in the word as it will go, that instead of +'prestíge', it should be pronounced 'préstige' even as within these few +years instead of 'depót' we have learned to say 'dépot', and its +naturalization will be complete. I have little doubt that in twenty +years it will be so pronounced by the majority of well educated +Englishmen{63},--some pronounce it so already,--and that our present +pronunciation will pass away in the same manner as 'obl_ee_ge', once +universal, has past away, and everywhere given place to 'obl_i_ge'{64}. + +{Sidenote: _Shifting of Accents_} + +Let me here observe in passing, that the process of throwing the accent +of a word back, by way of completing its naturalization, is one which we +may note constantly going forward in our language. Thus, while Chaucer +accentuates sometimes 'natúre', he also accentuates elsewhere 'náture', +while sometimes 'virtúe', at other times 'vírtue'. 'Prostrate', +'adverse', 'aspect', 'process', 'insult', 'impulse', 'pretext', +'contrite', 'uproar', 'contest', had all their accent on the last +syllable in Milton; they have it now on the first; 'cháracter' was +'charácter' with Spenser; 'théatre' was 'theátre' with Sylvester; while +'acádemy' was accented 'académy' by Cowley and Butler{65}. 'Essay' was +'essáy' with Dryden and with Pope; the first closes an heroic line with +the word; Pope does the same with 'barrier'{66} and 'effort'; therefore +pronounced 'barríer', 'effórt', by him. + +There are not a few other French words which like 'prestige' are at this +moment hovering on the verge of English, hardly knowing whether they +shall become such, or no. Such are 'ennui', 'exploitation', 'verve', +'persiflage', 'badinage', 'chicane', 'finesse', and others; all of them +often employed by us,--and it is out of such frequent employment that +adoption proceeds,--because expressing shades of meaning not expressed +by any words of our own{67}. Some of these, we may confidently +anticipate, will complete their naturalization; others will after a time +retreat again, and become for us avowedly French. 'Solidarity', a word +which we owe to the French Communists, and which signifies a fellowship +in gain and loss, in honour and dishonour, in victory and defeat, a +being, so to speak, all in the same bottom, is so convenient, that +unattractive as confessedly it is, it will be in vain to struggle +against its reception. The newspapers already have it, and books will +not long exclude it; not to say that it has established itself in +German, and probably in other European languages as well. + +{Sidenote: _Greek in English_} + +Greek and Latin words also we still continue to adopt, although now no +longer in troops and companies, but only one by one. With the lively +interest which always has been felt in classical studies among us, and +which will continue to be felt, so long as any greatness and nobleness +survive in our land, it must needs be that accessions from these +quarters would never cease altogether. I do not refer here to purely +scientific terms; these, so long as they continue such, and do not pass +beyond the threshold of the science or sciences for the use of which +they were invented, being never heard on the lips, or employed in the +writings, of any but the cultivators of these sciences, have no right to +be properly called words at all. They are a kind of shorthand of the +science, or algebraic notation; and will not find place in a dictionary +of the language, constructed upon true principles, but rather in a +technical dictionary apart by themselves. Of these, compelled by the +advances of physical science, we have coined multitudes out of number in +these later times, fashioning them mainly from the Greek, no other +language within our reach yielding itself at all so easily to our needs. + +Of non-scientific words, both Greek and Latin, some have made their way +among us quite in these latter times. Burke in the House of Commons is +said to have been the first who employed the word 'inimical'{68}. He +also launched the verb 'to spheterize' in the sense of to appropriate +or make one's own; but this without success. Others have been more +fortunate; 'æsthetic' we have got indeed _through_ the Germans, but +_from_ the Greeks. Tennyson has given allowance to 'æon'{69}; and 'myth' +is a deposit which wide and far-reaching controversies have left in the +popular language. 'Photography' is an example of what I was just now +speaking of--namely, a scientific word which has travelled beyond the +limits of the science which it designates and which gave it birth. +'Stereotype' is another word of the same character. It was invented--not +the thing, but the word,--by Didot not very long since; but it is now +absorbed into healthy general circulation, being current in a secondary +and figurative sense. Ruskin has given to 'ornamentation' the sanction +and authority of his name. 'Normal' and 'abnormal', not quite so new, +are yet of recent introduction into the language{70}. + +{Sidenote: _German Importations_} + +When we consider the near affinity between the English and German +languages, which, if not sisters, may at least be regarded as first +cousins, it is somewhat remarkable that almost since the day when they +parted company, each to fulfil its own destiny, there has been little +further commerce between them in the matter of giving or taking. At any +rate adoptions on our part from the German have been till within this +period extremely rare. 'Crikesman' (Kriegsmann) and 'brandschat' +(Brandschatz), with some other German words common enough in the _State +Papers_ of the sixteenth century, found no permanent place in the +language. The explanation lies in the fact that the literary activity of +Germany did not begin till very late, nor our interest in it till later +still, not indeed till the beginning of the present century. Yet +'plunder', as I have mentioned elsewhere, was brought back from Germany +about the beginning of our Civil Wars, by the soldiers who had served +under Gustavus Adolphus and his captains{71}. And 'trigger', written +'tricker' in _Hudibras_ is manifestly the German 'drücker'{72}, though +none of our dictionaries have marked it as such; a word first appearing +at the same period, it may have reached us through the same channel. +'Iceberg' (eisberg) also we must have taken whole from the German, as, +had we constructed the word for ourselves, we should have made it not +'ice_berg_', but 'ice-_mountain_'. I have not found it in our earlier +voyagers, often as they speak of the 'icefield', which yet is not +exactly the same thing. An English 'swindler' is not exactly a German +'schwindler', yet the notion of the 'nebulo', though more latent in the +German, is common to both; and we must have drawn the word from +Germany{73} (it is not an old one in our tongue) during the course of +the last century. If '_life_-guard' was originally, as Richardson +suggests, '_leib_-garde', or '_body_-guard', and from that transformed, +by the determination of Englishmen to make it significant in English, +into '_life_-guard', or guard defending the _life_ of the sovereign, +this will be another word from the same quarter. Yet I have my doubts; +'leibgarde' would scarcely have found its way hither before the +accession of the House of Hanover, or at any rate before the arrival of +Dutch William with his memorable guards; while 'lifeguard', in its +present shape, is certainly an older word in the language; we hear often +of the 'lifeguards' in our Civil Wars; as witness too Fuller's words: +"The Cherethites were a kind of _lifegard_ to king David"{74}. + +Of late our German importations have been somewhat more numerous. With +several German compound words we have been in recent times so well +pleased, that we must needs adopt them into English, or imitate them in +it. We have not always been very happy in those which we have selected +for imitation or adoption. Thus we might have been satisfied with +'manual', and not called back from its nine hundred years of oblivion +that ugly and unnecessary word 'handbook'. And now we are threatened +with 'word-building', as I see a book announced under the title of +"Latin _word-building_", and, much worse than this, with 'stand-point'. +'Einseitig' (itself a modern word, if I mistake not, or at any rate +modern in its secondary application) has not, indeed, been adopted, but +is evidently the pattern on which we have formed 'onesided'--a word to +which a few years ago something of affectation was attached; so that any +one who employed it at once gave evidence that he was more or less a +dealer in German wares; it has however its manifest conveniences, and +will hold its ground. 'Fatherland' (Vaterland) on the contrary will +scarcely establish itself among us, the note of affectation will +continue to cleave to it, and we shall go on contented with 'native +country' to the end{75}. The most successful of these compounded words, +borrowed recently from the German, is 'folk-lore', and the substitution +of this for popular superstitions, must be esteemed, I think, an +unquestionable gain{76}. + +To speak now of other sources from which the new words of a language are +derived. Of course the period when absolutely new roots are generated +will have past away, long before men begin by a reflective act to take +any notice of processes going forward in the language which they speak. +This pure productive energy, creative we might call it, belongs only to +the earlier stages of a nation's existence,--to times quite out of the +ken of history. It is only from materials already existing either in its +own bosom, or in the bosom of other languages, that it can enrich itself +in the later, or historical stages of its life. + +{Sidenote: _Compound Words_} + +And first, it can bring its own words into new combinations; it can join +two, and sometimes even more than two, of the words which it already +has, and form out of them a new one. Much more is wanted here than +merely to attach two or more words to one another by a hyphen; this is +not to make a new word: they must really coalesce and grow together. +Different languages, and even the same language at different stages of +its existence, will possess this power of forming new words by the +combination of old in very different degrees. The eminent felicity of +the Greek in this respect has been always acknowledged. "The joints of +her compounded words", says Fuller, "are so naturally oiled, that they +run nimbly on the tongue, which makes them though long, never tedious, +because significant"{77}. Sir Philip Sidney boasts of the capability of +our English language in this respect--that "it is particularly happy in +the composition of two or three words together, near equal to the Greek". +No one has done more than Milton to justify this praise, or to make +manifest what may be effected by this marriage of words. Many of his +compound epithets, as 'golden-tressed', 'tinsel-slippered', 'coral-paven', +'flowry-kirtled', 'violet-embroidered', 'vermeil-tinctured', are +themselves poems in miniature. Not unworthy to be set beside these are +Sylvester's "_opal-coloured_ morn", Drayton's "_silver-sanded_ shore", +and perhaps Marlowe's "_golden-fingered_ Ind"{78}. + +Our modern inventions in the same kind are for the most part very +inferior: they could hardly fail to be so, seeing that the formative, +plastic powers of a language are always waning and diminishing more and +more. It may be, and indeed is, gaining in other respects, but in this +it is losing; and thus it is not strange if its later births in this +kind are less successful than its earlier. Among the poets of our own +time Shelley has done more than any other to assert for the language +that it has not quite renounced this power; while among writers of prose +in these later days Jeremy Bentham has been at once one of the boldest, +but at the same time one of the most unfortunate, of those who have +issued this money from their mint. Still we ought not to forget, while +we divert ourselves with the strange and formless progeny of his brain, +that we owe 'international' to him--a word at once so convenient and +supplying so real a need, that it was, and with manifest advantage, at +once adopted by all{79}. + +{Sidenote: _Adjectives ending in al_} + +Another way in which languages increase their stock of vocables is by +the forming of new words according to the analogy of formations, which +in seemingly parallel cases have been already allowed. Thus long since +upon certain substantives such as 'congregation', 'convention', were +formed their adjectives, 'congregational', 'conventional'; yet these +also at a comparatively modern period; 'congregational' first rising up +in the Assembly of Divines, or during the time of the Commonwealth{80}. +These having found admission into the language, it is attempted to repeat +the process in the case of other words with the same ending. I confess +the effect is often exceedingly disagreeable. We are now pretty well used +to 'educational', and the word is sometimes serviceable enough; but I can +perfectly remember when some twenty years ago an "_Educational_ Magazine" +was started, the first impression on one's mind was, that a work having +to do with education should not thus bear upon its front an offensive, +or to say the best, a very dubious novelty in the English language{81}. +These adjectives are now multiplying fast. We have 'inflexional', +'seasonal', 'denominational', and, not content with this, in dissenting +magazines at least, the monstrous birth, 'denominationalism'; 'emotional' +is creeping into books{82}, 'sensational', and others as well, so that +it is hard to say where this influx will stop, or whether all our words +with this termination will not finally generate an adjective. Convenient +as you may sometimes find these, I would yet certainly counsel you to +abstain from all but the perfectly well recognized formations of this +kind. There may be cases of exception; but for the most part Pope's +advice is good, as certainly it is safe, that we be not among the last +to use a word which is going out, nor among the first to employ one that +is coming in. + +'Starvation' is another word of comparatively recent introduction, +formed in like manner on the model of preceding formations of an +apparently similar character--its first formers, indeed, not observing +that they were putting a Latin termination to a Saxon word. Some have +supposed it to have reached us from America. It has not however +travelled from so great a distance, being a stranger indeed, yet not +from beyond the Atlantic, but only from beyond the Tweed. It is an old +Scottish word, but unknown in England, till used by Mr. Dundas, the +first Viscount Melville, in an American debate in 1775. That it then +jarred strangely on English ears is evident from the nickname, +"_Starvation_ Dundas", which in consequence he obtained{83}. + +{Sidenote: _Revival of Words_} + +Again, languages enrich themselves, our own has done so, by recovering +treasures which for a while had been lost by them or forgone. I do not +mean that all which drops out of use _is_ loss; there are words which it +is gain to be rid of; which it would be folly to wish to revive; of +which Dryden, setting himself against an extravagant zeal in this +direction, says in an ungracious comparison--they do "not deserve this +redemption, any more than the crowds of men who daily die, or are slain +for sixpence in a battle, merit to be restored to life, if a wish could +revive them"{84}. There are others, however, which it is a real gain to +draw back again from the temporary oblivion which had overtaken them; +and this process of their setting and rising again, or of what, to use +another image, we might call their suspended animation, is not so +unfrequent as at first might be supposed. + +You may perhaps remember that Horace, tracing in a few memorable lines +the history of words, while he notes that many once current have now +dropped out of use, does not therefore count that of necessity their +race is for ever run; on the contrary he confidently anticipates a +_palingenesy_ for many among them{85}; and I am convinced that there has +been such in the case of our English words to a far greater extent than +we are generally aware. Words slip almost or quite as imperceptibly back +into use as they once slipped out of it. Let me produce a few facts in +evidence of this. In the contemporary gloss which an anonymous friend of +Spenser's furnished to his _Shepherd's Calendar_, first published in +1579, "for the exposition of old words", as he declares, he thinks it +expedient to include in his list, the following, 'dapper', 'scathe', +'askance', 'sere', 'embellish', 'bevy', 'forestall', 'fain', with not a +few others quite as familiar as these. In Speght's _Chaucer_ (1667), +there is a long list of "old and obscure words in Chaucer explained"; +including 'anthem', 'blithe', 'bland', 'chapelet', 'carol', 'deluge', +'franchise', 'illusion', 'problem', 'recreant', 'sphere', 'tissue', +'transcend', with very many easier than these. In Skinner's +_Etymologicon_ (1671), there is another list of obsolete, words{86}, and +among these he includes 'to dovetail', 'to interlace', 'elvish', +'encombred', 'masquerade' (mascarade), 'oriental', 'plumage', 'pummel' +(pomell), and 'stew', that is, for fish. Who will say of the verb 'to +hallow' that it is now even obsolescent? and yet Wallis two hundred +years ago observed--"It has almost gone out of use" (fer. desuevit). It +would be difficult to find an example of the verb, 'to advocate', +between Milton and Burke{87}. Franklin, a close observer in such +matters, as he was himself an admirable master of English style, +considered the word to have sprung up during his own residence in +Europe. In this indeed he was mistaken; it had only during this period +revived{88}. Johnson says of 'jeopardy' that it is a "word not now in +use"; which certainly is not any longer true{89}. + +{Sidenote: _Dryden and Chaucer's English_} + +I am persuaded that in facility of being understood, Chaucer is not +merely as near, but much nearer, to us than Dryden and his cotemporaries +felt him to be to them. He and the writers of his time make exactly the +same sort of complaints, only in still stronger language, about his +archaic phraseology and the obscurities which it involves, that are made +at the present day. Thus in the _Preface_ to his _Tales from Chaucer_, +having quoted some not very difficult lines from the earlier poet whom +he was modernizing, he proceeds: "You have here a specimen of Chaucer's +language, which is so obsolete that his sense is scarce to be +understood". Nor was it merely thus with respect of Chaucer. These wits +and poets of the Court of Charles the Second were conscious of a greater +gulf between themselves and the Elizabethan era, separated from them by +little more than fifty years, than any of which _we_ are aware, +separated from it by nearly two centuries more. I do not mean merely +that they felt themselves more removed from its tone and spirit; their +altered circumstances might explain this; but I am convinced that they +found a greater difficulty and strangeness in the language of Spenser +and Shakespeare than we find now; that it sounded in many ways more +uncouth, more old-fashioned, more abounding in obsolete terms than it +does in our ears at the present. Only in this way can I explain the +tone in which they are accustomed to speak of these worthies of the near +past. I must again cite Dryden, the truest representative of literary +England in its good and in its evil during the last half of the +seventeenth century. Of Spenser, whose death was separated from his own +birth by little more than thirty years, he speaks as of one belonging to +quite a different epoch, counting it much to say, "Notwithstanding his +obsolete language, he is still intelligible"{90}. Nay, hear what his +judgment is of Shakespeare himself, so far as language is concerned: "It +must be allowed to the present age that the tongue in general is so much +refined since Shakespeare's time, that many of his words and more of his +phrases are scarce intelligible. And of those which we understand, some +are ungrammatical, others coarse; and his whole style is so pestered +with figurative expressions, that it is as affected as it is +obscure"{91}. + +{Sidenote: _Nugget_, _Ingot_} + +Sometimes a word will emerge anew from the undercurrent of society, not +indeed new, but yet to most seeming as new, its very existence having +been altogether forgotten by the larger number of those speaking the +language; although it must have somewhere lived on upon the lips of men. +Thus, for instance, since the Californian and Australian discoveries of +gold we hear often of a 'nugget' of gold; being a lump of the pure +metal; and there has been some discussion whether the word has been born +for the present necessity, or whether it be a recent malformation of +'ingot', I am inclined to think that it is neither one nor the other. I +would not indeed affirm that it may not be a popular recasting of +'ingot'; but only that it is not a recent one; for 'nugget' very nearly +in its present form, occurs in our elder writers, being spelt 'niggot' +by them{92}. There can be little doubt of the identity of 'niggot' and +'nugget'; all the consonants, the _stamina_ of a word, being the same; +while this early form 'niggot' makes more plausible their suggestion +that 'nugget' is only 'ingot' disguised, seeing that there wants nothing +but the very common transposition of the first two letters to bring that +out of this{93}. + +{Sidenote: _Words from Proper Names_} + +New words are often formed from the names of persons, actual or +mythical. Some one has observed how interesting would be a complete +collection, or a collection approaching to completeness, in any language +of the names of _persons_ which have afterwards become names of +_things_, from 'nomina _appellativa_' have become 'nomina _realia_'{94}. +Let me without confining myself to those of more recent introduction +endeavour to enumerate as many as I can remember of the words which have +by this method been introduced into our language. To begin with mythical +antiquity--the Chimæra has given us 'chimerical', Hermes 'hermetic', +Tantalus 'to tantalize', Hercules 'herculean', Proteus 'protean', Vulcan +'volcano' and 'volcanic', and Dædalus 'dedal', if this word may on +Spenser's and Shelley's authority be allowed. Gordius, the Phrygian king +who tied that famous 'gordian' knot which Alexander cut, will supply a +natural transition from mythical to historical. Here Mausolus, a king of +Caria, has left us 'mausoleum', Academus 'academy', Epicurus 'epicure', +Philip of Macedon a 'philippic', being such a discourse as Demosthenes +once launched against the enemy of Greece, and Cicero 'cicerone'. +Mithridates, who had made himself poison-proof, gave us the now +forgotten word 'mithridate', for antidote; as from Hippocrates we +derived 'hipocras', or 'ypocras', a word often occurring in our early +poets, being a wine supposed to be mingled after his receipt. Gentius, a +king of Illyria, gave his name to the plant 'gentian', having been, it +is said, the first to discover its virtues. A grammar used to be called +a 'donnat', or 'donet' (Chaucer), from Donatus, a famous grammarian. +Lazarus, perhaps an actual person, has given us 'lazar' and 'lazaretto'; +St. Veronica and the legend connected with her name, a 'vernicle'; +being a napkin with the Saviour's face portrayed on it; Simon Magus +'simony'; Mahomet a 'mammet' or 'maumet', meaning an idol{95}, and +'mammetry' or idolatry; 'dunce' is from Duns Scotus; while there is a +legend that the 'knot' or sandpiper is named from Canute or Knute, with +whom this bird was a special favourite. To come to more modern times, +and not pausing at Ben Johnson's 'chaucerisms', Bishop Hall's +'scoganisms', from Scogan, Edward the Fourth's jester, or his +'aretinisms', from an infamous writer, 'a poisonous Italian ribald' as +Gabriel Harvey calls him, named Aretine; these being probably not +intended even by their authors to endure; a Roman cobbler named Pasquin +has given us the 'pasquil' or 'pasquinade'; 'patch' in the sense of +fool, and often so used by Shakespeare, was originally the proper name +of a favourite fool of Cardinal Wolsey{96}; Colonel Negus in Queen +Anne's time first mixed the beverage which goes by his name; Lord Orrery +was the first for whom an 'orrery' was constructed; and Lord Spencer +first wore, or at least first brought into fashion, a 'spencer'. Dahl, a +Swede, introduced the cultivation of the 'dahlia', and M. Tabinet, a +French Protestant refugee, the making of the stuff called 'tabinet' in +Dublin; in '_tram_-road', the second syllable of the name of Ou_tram_, +the inventor, survives{97}. The 'tontine' was conceived by an Italian +named Tonti; and another Italian, Galvani, first noted the phenomena of +animal electricity or 'galvanism'; while a third Italian, 'Volta', gave +a name to the 'voltaic' battery. 'Martinet', 'mackintosh', 'doyly', +'brougham', 'to macadamize', 'to burke', are all names of persons or +from persons, and then transferred to things, on the score of some +connection existing between the one and other{98}. + +Again the names of popular characters in literature, such as have taken +strong hold on the national mind, give birth to a number of new words. +Thus from Homer we have 'mentor' for a monitor; 'stentorian', for +loud-voiced; and inasmuch as with all of Hector's nobleness there is a +certain amount of big talking about him, he has given us 'to +hector'{99}; while the medieval romances about the siege of Troy ascribe +to Pandarus that shameful ministry out of which his name has past into +the words 'to pandar' and 'pandarism'. 'Rodomontade' is from Rodomont, a +blustering and boasting hero of Boiardo, adopted by Ariosto; +'thrasonical', from Thraso, the braggart of the Roman comedy. Cervantes +has given us 'quixotic'; Swift 'lilliputian'; to Molière the French +language owes 'tartuffe' and 'tartufferie'. 'Reynard' too, which with us +is a duplicate for fox, while in the French 'renard' has quite excluded +the older 'volpils', was originally not the name of a kind, but the +proper name of the fox-hero, the vulpine Ulysses, in that famous +beast-epic of the middle ages, _Reineke Fuchs_; the immense popularity +of which we gather from many evidences, from none more clearly than from +this. 'Chanticleer' is in like manner the proper name of the cock, and +'Bruin' of the bear in the same poem{100}. These have not made fortune +to the same extent of actually putting out in any language the names +which before existed, but still have become quite familiar to us all. + +We must not count as new words properly so called, although they may +delay us for a minute, those comic words, most often comic combinations +formed at will, and sometimes of enormous length, in which, as plays and +displays of power, great writers ancient and modern have delighted. +These for the most part are meant to do service for the moment, and then +to pass away{101}. The inventors of them had themselves no intention of +fastening them permanently on the language. Thus among the Greeks +Aristophanes coined {Greek: mellonikiaô}, to loiter like Nicias, with +allusion to the delays with which this prudent commander sought to put +off the disastrous Sicilian expedition, with not a few other familiar to +every scholar. The humour of them sometimes consists in their enormous +length, as in the {Greek: amphiptolemopêdêsistratos} of Eupolis; the +{Greek: spermagoraiolekitholachanopôlis} of Aristophanes; sometimes in +their mingled observance and transgression of the laws of the language, +as in the 'oculissimus' of Plautus, a comic superlative of 'oculus'; +'occisissimus' of 'occisus'; as in the 'dosones', 'dabones', which in +Greek and in medieval Latin were names given to those who were ever +promising, ever saying "I will give" but never performing their promise. +Plautus with his exuberant wit, and exulting in his mastery and command +of the Latin language, will compose four or five lines consisting +entirely of comic combinations thrown off for the occasion{102}. Of the +same character is Butler's 'cynarctomachy', or battle of a dog and bear. +Nor do I suppose that Fuller, when he used 'to avunculize', to imitate +or follow in the steps of one's uncle, or Cowper, when he suggested +'extraforaneous' for out of doors, in the least intended them as lasting +additions to the language. + +{Sidenote: '_To Chouse_'} + +Sometimes a word springs up in a very curious way; here is one, not +having, I suppose, any great currency except among schoolboys; yet being +no invention of theirs, but a genuine English word, though of somewhat +late birth in the language, I mean 'to chouse'. It has a singular +origin. The word is, as I have mentioned already, a Turkish one, and +signifies 'interpreter'. Such an interpreter or 'chiaous' (written +'chaus' in Hackluyt, 'chiaus' in Massinger), being attached to the +Turkish embassy in England, committed in the year 1609 an enormous fraud +on the Turkish and Persian merchants resident in London. He succeeded in +cheating them of a sum amounting to £4000--a sum very much greater at +that day than at the present. From the vast dimensions of the fraud, and +the notoriety which attended it, any one who cheated or defrauded was +said 'to chiaous', 'chause', or 'chouse'; to do, that is, as this +'chiaous' had done{103}. + +{Sidenote: _Different Spelling of Words_} + +There is another very fruitful source of new words in a language, or +perhaps rather another way in which it increases its vocabulary, for a +question might arise whether the words thus produced ought to be called +new. I mean through the splitting of single words into two or even more. +The impulse and suggestion to this is in general first given by +varieties in pronunciation, which are presently represented by varieties +in spelling; but the result very often is that what at first were only +precarious and arbitrary differences in this, come in the end to be +regarded as entirely different words; they detach themselves from one +another, not again to reunite; just as accidental varieties in fruits or +flowers, produced at hazard, have yet permanently separated off, and +settled into different kinds. They have each its own distinct domain of +meaning, as by general agreement assigned to it; dividing the +inheritance between them, which hitherto they held in common. No one who +has not had his attention called to this matter, who has not watched and +catalogued these words as they have come under his notice, would at all +believe how numerous they are. + +{Sidenote: _Doublets_} + +Sometimes as the accent is placed on one syllable of a word or another, +it comes to have different significations, and those so distinctly +marked, that the separation may be regarded as complete. Examples of +this are the following: 'dívers', and 'divérse'; 'cónjure' and +'conjúre'; 'ántic' and 'antíque'; 'húman' and 'humáne'; 'úrban' and +'urbáne'; 'géntle' and 'gentéel'; 'cústom' and 'costúme'; 'éssay' and +'assáy'; 'próperty' and 'propríety'. Or again, a word is pronounced with +a full sound of its syllables, or somewhat more shortly: thus 'spirit' +and 'sprite'; 'blossom' and 'bloom'{104}; 'personality' and +'personalty'; 'fantasy' and 'fancy'; 'triumph' and 'trump' (the +_winning_ card{105}); 'happily' and 'haply'; 'waggon' and 'wain'; +'ordinance' and 'ordnance'; 'shallop' and 'sloop'; 'brabble' and +'brawl'{106}; 'syrup' and 'shrub'; 'balsam' and 'balm'; 'eremite' and +'hermit'; 'nighest' and 'next'; 'poesy' and 'posy'; 'fragile' and +'frail'; 'achievement' and 'hatchment'; 'manoeuvre' and 'manure';--or +with the dropping of the first syllable: 'history' and 'story'; +'etiquette' and 'ticket'; 'escheat' and 'cheat'; 'estate' and 'state'; +and, older probably than any of these, 'other' and 'or';--or with a +dropping of the last syllable, as 'Britany' and 'Britain'; 'crony' and +'crone';--or without losing a syllable, with more or less stress laid on +the close: 'regiment' and 'regimen'; 'corpse' and 'corps'; 'bite' and +'bit'; 'sire' and 'sir'; 'land' or 'laund' and 'lawn'; 'suite' and +'suit'; 'swinge' and 'swing'; 'gulph' and 'gulp'; 'launch' and 'lance'; +'wealth' and 'weal'; 'stripe' and 'strip'; 'borne' and 'born'; 'clothes' +and 'cloths';--or a slight internal vowel change finds place, as between +'dent' and 'dint'; 'rant' and 'rent' (a ranting actor tears or _rends_ a +passion to tatters){107}; 'creak' and 'croak'; 'float' and 'fleet'; +'sleek' and 'slick'; 'sheen' and 'shine'; 'shriek' and 'shrike'; 'pick' +and 'peck'; 'peak', 'pique', and 'pike'; 'weald' and 'wold'; 'drip' and +'drop'; 'wreathe' and 'writhe'; 'spear' and 'spire' ("the least _spire_ +of grass", South); 'trist' and 'trust'; 'band', 'bend' and 'bond'; +'cope', 'cape' and 'cap'; 'tip' and 'top'; 'slent' (now obsolete) and +'slant'; 'sweep' and 'swoop'; 'wrest' and 'wrist'; 'gad' (now surviving +only in gadfly) and 'goad'; 'complement' and 'compliment'; 'fitch' and +'vetch'; 'spike' and 'spoke'; 'tamper' and 'temper'; 'ragged' and +'rugged'; 'gargle' and 'gurgle'; 'snake' and 'sneak' (both crawl); +'deal' and 'dole'; 'giggle' and 'gaggle' (this last is now commonly +spelt 'cackle'); 'sip', 'sop', 'soup' and 'sup'; 'clack', 'click' and +'clock'; 'tetchy' and 'touchy'; 'neat' and 'nett'; 'stud' and 'steed'; +'then' and 'than'{108}; 'grits' and 'grouts'; 'spirt' and 'sprout'; +'cure' and 'care'{109}; 'prune' and 'preen'; 'mister' and 'master'; +'allay' and 'alloy'; 'ghostly' and 'ghastly'{110}; 'person' and +'parson'; 'cleft' and 'clift', now written 'cliff'; 'travel' and +'travail'; 'truth' and 'troth'; 'pennon' and 'pinion'; 'quail' and +'quell'; 'quell' and 'kill'; 'metal' and 'mettle'; 'chagrin' and +'shagreen'; 'can' and 'ken'; 'Francis' and 'Frances'{111}; 'chivalry' +and 'cavalry'; 'oaf' and 'elf'; 'lose' and 'loose'; 'taint' and 'tint'. +Sometimes the difference is mainly or entirely in the initial +consonants, as between 'phial' and 'vial'; 'pother' and 'bother'; +'bursar' and 'purser'; 'thrice' and 'trice'{110}; 'shatter' and +'scatter'; 'chattel' and 'cattle'; 'chant' and 'cant'; 'zealous' and +'jealous'; 'channel' and 'kennel'; 'wise' and 'guise'; 'quay' and 'key'; +'thrill', 'trill' and 'drill';--or in the consonants in the middle of +the word, as between 'cancer' and 'canker'; 'nipple' and 'nibble'; +'tittle' and 'title'; 'price' and 'prize'; 'consort' and 'concert';--or +there is a change in both, as between 'pipe' and 'fife'. + +Or a word is spelt now with a final _k_ and now with a final _ch_; out +of this variation two different words have been formed; with, it may be, +other slight differences superadded; thus is it with 'poke' and 'poach'; +'dyke' and 'ditch'; 'stink' and 'stench'; 'prick' and 'pritch' (now +obsolete); 'break' and 'breach'; to which may be added 'broach'; 'lace' +and 'latch'; 'stick' and 'stitch'; 'lurk' and 'lurch'; 'bank' and +'bench'; 'stark' and 'starch'; 'wake' and 'watch'. So too _t_ and _d_ +are easily exchanged; as in 'clod' and 'clot'; 'vend' and 'vent'; +'brood' and 'brat'{112}; 'halt' and 'hold'; 'sad' and 'set'{113}; 'card' +and 'chart'; 'medley' and 'motley'. Or there has grown up, besides the +rigorous and accurate pronunciation of a word, a popular as well; and +this in the end has formed itself into another word; thus is it with +'housewife' and 'hussey'; 'hanaper' and 'hamper'; 'puisne' and 'puny'; +'patron' and 'pattern'; 'spital' (hospital) and 'spittle' (house of +correction); 'accompt' and 'account'; 'donjon' and 'dungeon'; 'nestle' +and 'nuzzle'{114} (now obsolete); 'Egyptian' and 'gypsy'; 'Bethlehem' +and 'Bedlam'; 'exemplar' and 'sampler'; 'dolphin' and 'dauphin'; 'iota' +and 'jot'. + +Other changes cannot perhaps be reduced exactly under any of these +heads; as between 'ounce' and 'inch'; 'errant' and 'arrant'; 'slack' and +'slake'; 'slow' and 'slough'{115}; 'bow' and 'bough'; 'hew' and +'hough'{115}; 'dies' and 'dice' (both plurals of 'die'); 'plunge' and +'flounce'{115}; 'staff' and 'stave'; 'scull' and 'shoal'; 'benefit' and +'benefice'{116}. Or, it may be, the difference which constitutes the two +forms of the word into two words is in the spelling only, and of a +character to be appreciable only by the eye, escaping altogether the +ear: thus it is with 'draft' and 'draught'; 'plain' and 'plane'; 'coign' +and 'coin'; 'flower' and 'flour'; 'check' and 'cheque'; 'straight' and +'strait'; 'ton' and 'tun'; 'road' and 'rode'; 'throw' and 'throe'; +'wrack' and 'rack'; 'gait' and 'gate'; 'hoard' and 'horde'{117}; 'knoll' +and 'noll'; 'chord' and 'cord'; 'drachm' and 'dram'; 'sergeant' and +'serjeant'; 'mask' and 'masque'; 'villain' and 'villein'. + +{Sidenote: _Words in Two Forms_} + +Now, if you will put the matter to proof, you will find, I believe, in +every case that there has attached itself to the different forms of a +word a modification of meaning more or less sensible, that each has won +for itself an independent sphere of meaning, in which it, and it only, +moves. For example, 'divers' implies difference only, but 'diverse' +difference with opposition; thus the several Evangelists narrate the +same event in 'divers' manner, but not in 'diverse'. 'Antique' is +ancient, but 'antic', is now the ancient regarded as overlived, out of +date, and so in our days grotesque, ridiculous; and then, with a +dropping of the reference to age, the grotesque, the ridiculous alone. +'Human' is what every man is, 'humane' is what every man ought to be; +for Johnson's suggestion that 'humane' is from the French feminine, +'humaine', and 'human' from the masculine, cannot for an instant be +admitted. 'Ingenious' expresses a mental, 'ingenuous' a moral, +excellence{118}. A gardener 'prunes', or trims his trees, properly +indeed his _vines_ alone (pro_vigner_), birds 'preen' or trim their +feathers. We 'allay' wine with water; we 'alloy' gold with platina. +'Bloom' is a finer and more delicate efflorescence even than 'blossom'; +thus the 'bloom', but not the 'blossom', of the cheek. It is now always +'clots' of blood and 'clods' of earth; a 'float' of timber, and a +'fleet' of ships; men 'vend' wares, and 'vent' complaints. A 'curtsey' +is one, and that merely an external, manifestation of 'courtesy'. +'Gambling' may be, as with a fearful irony it is called, _play_, but it +is nearly as distant from 'gambolling' as hell is from heaven{119}. Nor +would it be hard, in almost every pair or larger group of words which I +have adduced, as in others which no doubt might be added to complete the +list, to trace a difference of meaning which has obtained a more or less +distinct recognition{120}. + +But my subject is inexhaustible; it has no limits except those, which +indeed may be often narrow enough, imposed by my own ignorance on the +one side; and on the other, by the necessity of consulting your +patience, and of only choosing such matter as will admit a popular +setting forth. These necessities, however, bid me to pause, and suggest +that I should not look round for other quarters from whence accessions +of new words are derived. Doubtless I should not be long without finding +many such. I must satisfy myself for the rest with a very brief +consideration of the _motives_ which, as they have been, are still at +work among us, inducing us to seek for these augmentations of our +vocabulary. + +And first, the desire of greater clearness is a frequent motive and +inducement to this. It has been well and truly said: "Every new term, +expressing a fact or a difference not precisely or adequately expressed +by any other word in the same language, is a new organ of thought for +the mind that has learned it"{121}. The limits of their vocabulary are +in fact for most men the limits of their knowledge; and in a great +degree for us all. Of course I do not affirm that it is absolutely +impossible to have our mental conceptions clearer and more distinct than +our words; but it is very hard to have, and still harder to keep, them +so. And therefore it is that men, conscious of this, so soon as ever +they have learned to distinguish in their minds, are urged by an almost +irresistible impulse to distinguish also in their words. They feel that +nothing is made sure till this is done. + +{Sidenote: _Dissimilation of Words_} + +The sense that a word covers too large a space of meaning, is the +frequent occasion of the introduction of another, which shall relieve +it of a portion of this. Thus, there was a time when 'witch' was applied +equally to male and female dealers in unlawful magical arts. Simon +Magus, for example, and Elymas are both 'witches', in Wiclif's _New +Testament_ (Acts viii. 9; xiii. 8), and Posthumus in _Cymbeline_: but +when the medieval Latin 'sortiarius' (not 'sortitor' as in Richardson), +supplied another word, the French 'sorcier', and thus our English +'sorcerer' (originally the "caster of lots"), then 'witch' gradually was +confined to the hag, or female practiser of these arts, while 'sorcerer' +was applied to the male. + +New necessities, new evolutions of society into more complex conditions, +evoke new words; which come forth, because they are required now; but +did not formerly exist, because they were not required in the period +preceding. For example, in Greece so long as the poet sang his own +verses 'singer' ({Greek: aoidos}) sufficiently expressed the double +function; such a 'singer' was Homer, and such Homer describes Demodocus, +the bard of the Phæacians; that double function, in fact, not being in +his time contemplated as double, but each part of it so naturally +completing the other, that no second word was required. When, however, +in the division of labour one made the verses which another chaunted, +then 'poet' or 'maker', a word unknown in the Homeric age, arose. In +like manner, when 'physicians' were the only natural philosophers, the +word covered this meaning as well as that other which it still retains; +but when the investigation of nature and natural causes detached itself +from the art of healing, became an independent study of itself, the +name 'physician' remained to that which was as the stock and stem of the +art, while the new offshoot sought out a new name for itself. + +Another motive to the invention of new words, is the desire thereby to +cut short lengthy{122} explanations, tedious circuits of language. +Science is often an immense gainer by words, which say singly what it +would have taken whole sentences otherwise to have said. Thus +'isothermal' is quite of modern invention; but what a long story it +would be to tell the meaning of '_isothermal_ lines', all which is +summed up in and saved by the word. We have long had the word +'assimilation' in our dictionaries; 'dissimilation' has not yet found +its way into them, but it speedily will. It will appear first, if it has +not already appeared, in our books on language{123}. I express myself +with this confidence, because the advance of philological enquiry has +rendered it almost a matter of necessity that we should possess a word +to designate a certain process, and no other word would designate it at +all so well. There is a process of 'assimilation' going on very +extensively in language; it occurs where the organs of speech find +themselves helped by changing a letter for another which has just +occurred, or will just occur in a word; thus we say not '_adf_iance' +but '_aff_iance', not 're_n_ow_m_', as our ancestors did when the word +'renommée' was first naturalized, but 're_n_ow_n_'. At the same time +there is another opposite process, where some letter would recur too +often for euphony or comfort in speaking, if the strict form of the word +were too closely held fast, and where consequently this letter is +exchanged for some other, generally for some nearly allied; thus it is +at least a reasonable suggestion, that 'coe_r_uleum' was once +'coe_l_uleum', from coelum: so too the Italians prefer 've_l_e_n_o' to +'ve_n_e_n_o'; and we 'cinnamo_n_' to 'cinnamo_m_' (the earlier form); in +'turtle' and 'purple' we have shrunk from the double '_r_' of 'turtur' +and 'purpura'; and this process of _making unlike_, requiring a term to +express it, will create, or indeed has created, the word 'dissimilation', +which probably will in due time establish itself among us in far wider +than its primary use. + +'Watershed' has only recently begun to appear in books of geography; and +yet how convenient it must be admitted to be; how much more so than +'line of water parting', which it has succeeded; meaning, as I need +hardly tell you it does, not merely that which _sheds_ the waters, but +that which _divides_ them ('wasserscheide'); and being applied to that +exact ridge and highest line in a mountain region, where the waters of +that region separate off and divide, some to one side, and some to the +other; as in the Rocky Mountains of North America there are streams +rising within very few miles of one another, which flow severally east +and west, and, if not in unbroken course, yet as affluents to larger +rivers, fall at least severally into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. It +must be allowed, I think, that not merely geographical terminology, but +geography itself, had a benefactor in him who first endowed it with so +expressive and comprehensive a word, bringing before us a fact which we +should scarcely have been aware of without it. + +There is another word which I have just employed, 'affluent', in the +sense of a stream which does not flow into the sea, but joins a larger +stream, as for instance, the Isis is an 'affluent' of the Thames, the +Moselle of the Rhine. It is itself an example in the same kind of that +whereof I have been speaking, having been only recently constituted a +substantive, and employed in this sense, while yet its utility is +obvious. 'Confluents' would perhaps be a fitter name, where the rivers, +like the Missouri and the Mississippi, were of equal or nearly equal +importance up to the time of their meeting{124}. + +{Sidenote: '_Selfishness_', '_Suicide_'} + +Again, new words are coined out of the necessity which men feel of +filling up gaps in the language. Thoughtful men, comparing their own +language with that of other nations, become conscious of deficiencies, +of important matters unexpressed in their own, and with more or less +success proceed to supply the deficiency. For example, that sin of sins, +the undue love of self, with the postponing of the interests of all +others to our own, had for a long time no word to express it in English. +Help was sought from the Greek, and from the Latin. 'Philauty' ({Greek: +philautia}) had been more than once attempted by our scholars; but found +no popular acceptance. This failing, men turned to the Latin; one writer +trying to supply the want by calling the man a 'suist', as one seeking +_his own_ things ('sua'), and the sin itself, 'suicism'. The gap, +however, was not really filled up, till some of the Puritan writers, +drawing on our Saxon, devised 'selfish' and 'selfishness', words which +to us seem obvious enough, but which yet are little more than two +hundred [and fifty] years old{125}. + +{Sidenote: _Notices of New Words_} + +Before quitting this part of the subject, let me say a few words in +conclusion on this deliberate introduction of words to supply felt +omissions in a language, and the limits within which this or any other +conscious interference with the development of a language is desirable +or possible. By the time that a people begin to meditate upon their +language, to be aware by a conscious reflective act either of its merits +or deficiencies, by far the greater and more important part of its work +is done; it is fixed in respect of its structure in immutable forms; the +region in which any alteration or modification, addition to it, or +substraction from it, deliberately devised and carried out, may be +possible, is very limited indeed. Its great laws are too firmly +established to admit of this; so that almost nothing can be taken from +it, which it has got; almost nothing added to it, which it has _not_ +got. It will travel indeed in certain courses of change; but it would be +as easy almost to alter the career of a planet as for man to alter +these. This is sometimes a subject of regret with those who see what +they believe manifest defects or blemishes in their language, and such +as appear to them capable of remedy. And yet in fact this is well; since +for once that these redressers of real or fancied wrongs, these +suppliers of things lacking, would have mended, we may be tolerably +confident that ten times, yea, a hundred times, they would have marred; +letting go that which would have been well retained; retaining that +which by a necessary law the language now dismisses and lets go; and in +manifold ways interfering with those processes of a natural logic, which +are here evermore at work. The genius of a language, unconsciously +presiding over all its transformations, and conducting them to a +definite issue, will have been a far truer, far safer guide, than the +artificial wit, however subtle, of any single man, or of any association +of men. For the genius of a language is the sense and inner conviction +of all who speak it, as to what it ought to be, and the means by which +it will best attain its objects; and granting that a pair of eyes, or +two or three pairs of eyes may see much, yet millions of eyes will +certainly see more. + +{Sidenote: _German Purists_} + +It is only with the words, and not with the forms and laws of a +language, that any interference such as I have just supposed is +possible. Something, indeed much, may here be done by wise masters, in +the way of rejecting that which would deform, allowing and adopting that +which will strengthen and enrich. Those who would purify or enrich a +language, so long as they have kept within this their proper sphere, +have often effected much, more than at first could have seemed possible. +The history of the German language affords so much better illustration +of this than our own would do, that I shall make no scruple in seeking +my examples there. When the patriotic Germans began to wake up to a +consciousness of the enormous encroachments which foreign languages, +the Latin and French above all, had made on their native tongue, the +lodgements which they had therein effected, and the danger which +threatened it, namely, that it should cease to be German at all, but +only a mingle-mangle, a variegated patchwork of many languages, without +any unity or inner coherence at all, various societies were instituted +among them, at the beginning and during the course of the seventeenth +century, for the recovering of what was lost of their own, for the +expelling of that which had intruded from abroad; and these with +excellent effect. + +But more effectual than these societies were the efforts of single men, +who in this merited well of their country{126}. In respect of words +which are now entirely received by the whole nation, it is often +possible to designate the writers who first substituted them for some +affected Gallicism or unnecessary Latinism. Thus to Lessing his +fellow-countrymen owe the substitution of 'zartgefühl' for 'delicatesse', +of 'empfindsamkeit' for 'sentimentalität', of 'wesenheit' for 'essence'. +It was Voss (1786) who first employed 'alterthümlich' for 'antik'. +Wieland too was the author or reviver of a multitude of excellent words, +for which often he had to do earnest battle at the first; such were +'seligkeit', 'anmuth', 'entzückung', 'festlich', 'entwirren', with many +more. For 'maskerade', Campe would have fain substituted 'larventanz'. +It was a novelty when Büsching called his great work on geography +'erdbeschreibung' instead of 'geographie'; while 'schnellpost' instead +of 'diligence', 'zerrbild' for 'carricatur' are also of recent +introduction. In regard of 'wörterbuch' itself, J. Grimm tells us he can +find no example of its use dating earlier than 1719. + +Yet at the same time it must be acknowledged that some of these +reformers proceeded with more zeal than knowledge, while others did +whatever in them lay to make the whole movement absurd--even as there +ever hang on the skirts of a noble movement, be it in literature or +politics or higher things yet, those who contribute their little all to +bring ridicule and contempt upon it. Thus in the reaction against +foreign interlopers which ensued, and in the zeal to purify the language +from them, some went to such extravagant excesses as to desire to get +rid of 'testament', 'apostel', which last Campe would have replaced by +'lehrbote', with other words like these, consecrated by longest use, and +to find native substitutes in their room; or they understood so little +what words deserved to be called foreign, or how to draw the line +between them and native, that they would fain have gotten rid of +'vater', 'mutter', 'wein', 'fenster', 'meister', 'kelch'{127}; the first +three of which belong to the German language by just as good a right as +they do to the Latin and the Greek; while the other three have been +naturalized so long that to propose to expel them now was as if, having +passed an alien act for the banishment of all foreigners, we should +proceed to include under that name, and as such drive forth from the +kingdom, the descendants of the French Protestants who found refuge here +at the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, or even of the Flemings who +settled among us in the time of our Edwards. One notable enthusiast in +this line proposed to create an entirely new nomenclature for all the +mythological personages of the Greek and the Roman pantheon, who, one +would think, might have been allowed, if any, to retain their Greek and +Latin names. So far however from this, they were to exchange these for +equivalent German titles; Cupid was to be 'Lustkind', Flora 'Bluminne', +Aurora 'Röthin'; instead of Apollo schoolboys were to speak of +'Singhold'; instead of Pan of 'Schaflieb'; instead of Jupiter of +'Helfevater', with much else of the same kind. Let us beware (and the +warning extends much further than to the matter in hand) of making a +good cause ridiculous by our manner of supporting it, of assuming that +exaggerations on one side can only be redressed by exaggerations as +great upon the other. + + +{FOOTNOTES} + +{38} Thus Alexander Gil, head-master of St. Paul's School, in his book, + _Logonomia Anglica_, 1621, _Preface_: Huc usque peregrinæ voces in + linguâ Anglicâ inauditæ. Tandem circa annum 1400 Galfridus + Chaucerus, infausto omine, vocabulis Gallicis et Latinis poësin + suam famosam reddidit. The whole passage, which is too long to + quote, as indeed the whole book, is curious. Gil was an earnest + advocate of phonetic spelling, and has adopted it in all his + English quotations in this book. + +{39} We may observe exactly the same in Plautus: a multitude of Greek + words are used by him, which the Latin language did not want, and + therefore refused to take up; thus 'clepta', 'zamia' ({Greek: + zêmia}), 'danista', 'harpagare', 'apolactizare', 'nauclerus', + 'strategus', 'morologus', 'phylaca', 'malacus', 'sycophantia', + 'euscheme' ({Greek: euschêmôs}), 'dulice' ({Greek: doulikôs}), [so + 'scymnus' by Lucretius], none of which, I believe, are employed + except by him; 'mastigias' and 'techna' appear also in Terence. Yet + only experience could show that they were superfluous; and at the + epoch of Latin literature in which Plautus lived, it was well done + to put them on trial. + +{40} [Modern poets have given 'amort' a new life; it is used by Keats, + by Bailey (_Festus_, xxx), and by Browning (_Sordello_, vi).] + +{41} ['Bruit' has been revived by Carlyle and Chas. Merivale. Its verbal + form is used by Cowper, Byron and Dickens.] + +{42} Let me here observe once for all that in adding the name of an + author, which I shall often do, to a word, I do not mean to affirm + the word in any way peculiar to him; although in some cases it may + be so; but only to give one authority for its use. [Coleridge uses + 'eloign'.] + +{43} _Essay on English Poetry_, p. 93. + +{44} _Dedication of the Translation of the Æneid_. + +{45} [i.e. the promoters of Classical learning.] + +{46} We have notable evidence in some lines of Waller of the sense which + in his time scholars had of the rapidity with which the language + was changing under their hands. Looking back at what the last + hundred years had wrought of alteration in it, and very naturally + assuming that the next hundred would effect as much, he checked + with misgivings such as these his own hope of immortality: + + "Who can hope his lines should long + Last in a daily changing tongue? + While they are new, envy prevails, + And as that dies, our language fails. + + * * * * * + + "Poets that lasting marble seek, + Must carve in Latin or in Greek: + _We_ write in sand; our language grows, + And like the tide our work o'erflows". + + Such were his misgivings as to the future, assuming that the rate + of change would continue what it had been. How little they have + been fulfilled, every one knows. In actual fact two centuries, + which have elapsed since he wrote, have hardly antiquated a word or + a phrase in his poems. If we care very little for them now, that is + to be explained by quite other causes--by the absence of all moral + earnestness from them. + +{47} In his _Art of English Poesy_, London, 1589, republished in + Haslewood's _Ancient Critical Essays upon English Poets and Poesy_, + London, 1811, vol. i. pp. 122, 123; [and in Arber's _English + Reprints_, 1869]. + +{48} London, 1601. Besides this work Holland translated the whole of + Plutarch's _Moralia_, the _Cyropoedia_ of Xenophon, Livy, + Suetonius, Ammianus Marcellinus, and Camden's _Britannia_. His + works make a part of the "library of dullness" in Pope's _Dunciad_: + + "De Lyra there a dreadful front extends, + And here the groaning shelves _Philemon_ bends"-- + + very unjustly; the authors whom he has translated are all more or + less important, and his versions of them a mine of genuine + idiomatic English, neglected by most of our lexicographers, wrought + to a considerable extent, and with eminent advantage by Richardson; + yet capable, as it seems to me, of yielding much more than they + hitherto have yielded. + +{49} And so too in French it is surprising to find of how late + introduction are many words, which it seems as if the language + could never have done without. 'Désintéressement', 'exactitude', + 'sagacité', 'bravoure', were not introduced till late in the + seventeenth century. 'Renaissance', 'emportement', 'sçavoir-faire', + 'indélébile', 'désagrément', were all recent in 1675 (Bouhours); + 'indévot', 'intolérance', 'impardonnable', 'irréligieux', were + struggling into allowance at the end of the seventeenth century, + and were not established till the beginning of the eighteenth. + 'Insidieux' was invented by Malherbe; 'frivolité' does not appear + in the earlier editions of the _Dictionary of the Academy_; the + Abbé de St. Pierre was the first to employ 'bienfaisance', the + elder Balzac 'féliciter', Sarrasin 'burlesque'. Mad. de Sevigné + exclaims against her daughter for employing 'effervescence' in a + letter (comment dites-vous cela, ma fille? Voilà un mot dont je + n'avais jamais ouï parler). 'Demagogue' was first hazarded by + Bossuet, and was counted so bold a novelty that it was long before + any ventured to follow him in its use. Somewhat earlier Montaigne + had introduced 'diversion' and 'enfantillage', though not without + being rebuked by cotemporaries on the score of the last. + Desfontaines was the first who employed 'suicide'; Caron gave to + the language 'avant-propos', Ronsard 'avidité', Joachim Dubellay + 'patrie', Denis Sauvage 'jurisconsulte', Menage 'gracieux' (at + least so Voltaire affirms) and 'prosateur', Desportes 'pudeur', + Chapelain 'urbanité', and Etienne first brought in, apologizing at + the same time for the boldness of it, 'analogie' (si les oreilles + françoises peuvent porter ce mot). 'Préliber' (prælibare) is a word + of our own day; and it was Charles Nodier who, if he did not coin, + yet revived the obsolete 'simplesse'.--See Génin, _Variations du + Langage Français_, pp. 308-19. + +{50} [Resuscitated in vain by Charles Lamb.] + +{51} J. Grimm (_Wörterbuch_, p. xxvi.): Fällt von ungefähr ein fremdes + wort in den brunnen einer sprache, so wird es so lange darin + umgetrieben, bis es ihre farbe annimmt, und seiner fremden art zum + trotze wie ein heimisches aussieht. + +{52} Have we here an explanation of the 'battalia' of Jeremy Taylor and + others? Did they, without reflecting on the matter, regard + 'battalion' as a word with a Greek neuter termination? It is + difficult to think they should have done so; yet more difficult to + suggest any other explanation. ['Battalia' was sometimes mistaken + as a plural, which indeed it was originally, the word being derived + through the Italian _battaglia_, from low Latin _battalia_, which + (like _biblia_, _gaudia_, etc.) was afterwards regarded as a + feminine singular (Skeat, _Principles_, ii, 230). But Shakespeare + used it as a singular, "Our _battalia_ trebles that account" + (_Rich. III_, v. 3, 11); and so Sir T. Browne, "The Roman + _battalia_ was ordered after this manner" (_Garden of Cyrus_, 1658, + p. 113).] + +{53} "And old heroës, which their world did daunt". + + _Sonnet on Scanderbeg._ + +{54} [By J. H(ealey), 1610, who has "centones ... of diuerse colours", + p. 605.] + +{55} [The identity of these two words, notwithstanding the analogy of + _corona_ and _crown_, is denied by Skeat, Kluge and Lutz.] + +{56} Skinner (_Etymologicon_, 1671) protests against the word + altogether, as purely French, and having no right to be considered + English at all. + +{57} It is curious how effectually the nationality of a word may by + these slight alterations in spelling be disguised. I have met an + excellent French and English scholar, to whom it was quite a + surprise to learn that 'redingote' was 'riding-coat'. + +{58} [Compare French _marsouin_ (=German _meer-schwein_), "sea-pig", the + dolphin; Breton _mor-houc'h_; Irish _mucc mara_, "pig of the sea", + the dolphin (W. Stokes, _Irish Glossaries_, p. 118); French _truye + de mer_ (Cotgrave); old English _brun-swyne_ (_Prompt. Parv._), + "brown-pig", the dolphin or seal.] + +{59} He is not indeed perfectly accurate in this statement, for the + Greeks spoke of {Greek: en kyklô paideia} and {Greek: enkyklios + paideia}, but had no such composite word as {Greek: enkyklopadeia}. + We gather however from these expressions, as from Lord Bacon's + using the term 'circle-learning' (='orbis doctrinæ', Quintilian), + that 'encyclopædia' did not exist in their time. [But + 'encyclopedia' occurs in Elyot, _Governour_, 1531, vol. i, p. 118 + (ed. Croft); 'encyclopædie' in J. Sylvester, _Workes_, 1621, p. + 660.] + +{60} See the passages quoted in my paper, _On some Deficiencies in our + English Dictionaries_, p. 38. + +{61} [This prediction has been verified. 'Ethos' is used by Sir F. + Palgrave, 1851, and in the 'Encyclopædia Britannica', 1875. N.E.D.] + +{62} We may see the same progress in Greek words which were being + incorporated in the Latin. Thus Cicero writes {Greek: antipodes} + (_Acad._ ii, 39, 123), but Seneca (_Ep._ 122), 'antipodes'; that + is, the word for Cicero was still Greek, while in the period that + elapsed between him and Seneca, it had become Latin: so too Cicero + wrote {Greek: eidôlon}, the Younger Pliny 'idolon', and Tertullian + 'idolum'. + +{63} [This rash prophecy has not been fulfilled. English speakers are + still no more inclined to say 'préstige' than 'pólice'.] + +{64} See in Coleridge's _Table Talk_, p. 3, the amusing story of John + Kemble's stately correction of the Prince of Wales for adhering to + the earlier pronunciation, 'obl_ee_ge,'--"It will become your royal + mouth better to say obl_i_ge." + +{65} "In this great _académy_ of mankind". + + Butler, _To the Memory of Du Val_. + +{66} "'Twixt that and reason what a nice _barrier_". + +{67} [A fairly complete collection of these and similar semi-naturalized + foreign words will be found in _The Stanford Dictionary of + Anglicized Words_, edited by Dr. C. A. M. Fennell, 1892.] + +{68} [This is quite wrong. Mr. Fitzedward Hall shows that 'inimical' was + used by Gaule in 1652, as well as by Richardson in 1758 (_Modern + English_, p. 287). The N.E.D. quotes an instance of it from Udall + in 1643.] + +{69} [The word had been already naturalized by H. More, 1647, Cudworth, + 1678, Tucker 1765, and Carlyle, 1831.--N.E.D.] + +{70} [The earliest citation for 'abnormal' in the N.E.D. is dated 1835. + The older word was 'abnormous'. Curious to say it is unrelated to + 'normal' to which it has been assimilated, being merely an + alteration of 'anomal-ous'.] + +{71} [Fuller says of 'plunder', "we first heard thereof in the Swedish + wars", and that it came into England about 1642 (_Church History_, + bk. xi, sec. 4, par. 33). It certainly occurs under that date in + _Memoirs of the Verney Family_, "It is in danger of _plonderin_" + (vol. i, p. 71, also p. 151). It also occurs in a document dated + 1643, "We must _plunder_ none but Roundheads" (_Camden Soc. + Miscellany_, iii, 31). Drummond (died 1649) has "Go fight and + _plunder_" (_Poems_, ed. Turnbull, p. 330). It appears in a + quotation from _The Bellman of London_ (no reference) given in + Timbs, _London and Westminster_, vol. i, p. 254.] + +{72} [It is rather from the old Dutch _trecker_, a 'puller'. Very few + English words come to us from German.] + +{73} [So Skeat, _Etym. Dict._ But the Germans themselves take their + _schwindler_ (in the sense of cheat) to have been adopted from the + English 'swindler'. Dr. Dunger asserts that it was introduced into + their language by Lichtenberg in his explanation of Hogarth's + engravings, 1794-99 (_Englanderei in der Deutschen Sprache_, 1899, + p. 7).] + +{74} _Pisgah Sight of Palestine_, 1650, p. 217. + +{75} [This word introduced as a 'pure neologism' by D'Israeli + (_Curiosities of Literature_, 1839, 11th ed. p. 384) as a companion + to 'mother-tongue', had been already used by Sir W. Temple in 1672 + (Hall, _Mod. English_, p. 44). Nay, even by Tyndale, see T. L. K. + Oliphant, _The New English_, i, 439.] + +{76} ['Folk-lore' was introduced by Mr. W. J. Thoms, editor of _Notes + and Queries_, in 1846. Still later came 'Folk-etymology', the + earliest use of which in N.E.D. is given as 1883, but the editor's + work bearing that title appeared in 1882.] + +{77} _Holy State_, b. 2, c. 6. There was a time when the Latin + promised to display, if not an equal, yet not a very inferior, + freedom in this forming of new words by the happy marriage of + old. But in this, as in so many respects, it seemed possessed at + the period of its highest culture with a timidity, which caused + it voluntarily to abdicate many of its own powers. Where do we + find in the Augustan period of the language so grand a pair of + epithets as these, occurring as they do in a single line of + Catullus: Ubi cerva _silvicultrix_, ubi aper _nemorivagus_? or + again, as his 'fluentisonus'? Virgil's vitisator (_Æn._ 7, 179) + is not his own, but derived from one of the earlier poets. Nay, + the language did not even retain those compound epithets which + it once had formed, but was content to let numbers of them drop: + 'parcipromus'; 'turpilucricupidus', and many more, do not extend + beyond Plautus. On this matter Quintilian observes (i. 5, 70): + Res tota magis Græcos decet, nobis minus succedit; nec id fieri + naturâ puto, sed alienis favemus; ideoque cum {Greek: kyrtauchena} + mirati sumus, _incurvicervicum_ vix a risu defendimus. Elsewhere + he complains, though not with reference to compound epithets, of + the little _generative_ power which existed in the Latin language, + that its continual losses were compensated by no equivalent gains + (viii. 6, 32): Deinde, tanquum consummata sint omnia, nihil + generare audemus ipsi, quum multa quotidie ab antiquis ficta + moriantur. Notwithstanding this complaint, it must be owned that + the silver age of the language, which sought to recover, and did + recover to some extent the abdicated energies of its earlier times, + reasserted among other powers that of combining words with a + certain measure of success. + +{78} [For Shakespearian compounds see Abbott's _Shakespearian Grammar_, + pp. 317-20.] + +{79} [Writing in the year 1780 Bentham says: "The word it must be + acknowledged is a new one".] + +{80} _Collection of Scarce Tracts_, edited by Sir W. Scott, vol. vii, p. + 91. + +{81} [Hardly a novelty, as the word occurs in J. Gaule, {Greek: + Pys-mantia}, 1652, p. 30. See F. Hall, _Mod. English_, p. 131.] + +{82} [First used apparently by Grote, 1847, and Mrs. Gaskell, 1857, + N.E.D.] + +{83} See _Letters of Horace Walpole and Mann_, vol. ii. p. 396, quoted + in _Notes and Queries_, No. 225; and another proof of the novelty + of the word in Pegge's _Anecdotes of the English Language_, 1814, + p. 38. + +{84} Postscript to his _Translation of the Æneid_. + +{85} Multa renascentur, quæ jam cecidere. + + _De A. P._ 46-72; cf. _Ep._ 2, 2, 115. + +{86} _Etymologicon vocum omnium antiquarum quæ usque a Wilhelmo Victore + invaluerunt, et jam ante parentum ætatem in usu esse desierunt._ + +{87} [As a matter of fact the N.E.D. fails to give any quotation for + this word in the period named.] + +{88} [The verb 'to advocate' had long before been employed by Nash, + 1598, Sanderson, 1624, and Heylin, 1657 (F. Hall, _Mod. English_, + p. 285).] + +{89} In like manner La Bruyère, in his _Caractères_, c. 14, laments the + extinction of a large number of French words which he names. At + least half of these have now free course in the language, as + 'valeureux', 'haineux', 'peineux', 'fructueux', 'mensonger', + 'coutumier', 'vantard', 'courtois', 'jovial', 'fétoyer', + 'larmoyer', 'verdoyer'. Two or three of these may be rarely used, + but every one would be found in a dictionary of the living + language. + +{90} _Preface to Juvenal._ + +{91} _Preface to Troilus and Cressida._ In justice to Dryden, and lest + it should be said that he had spoken poetic blasphemy, it ought not + to be forgotten that 'pestered' had not in his time at all so + offensive a sense as it would have now. It meant no more than + inconveniently crowded; thus Milton: "Confined and _pestered_ in + this pinfold here". + +{92} Thus in North's _Plutarch_, p. 499: "After the fire was quenched, + they found in _niggots_ of gold and silver mingled together, about + a thousand talents"; and again, p. 323: "There was brought a + marvellous great mass of treasure in _niggots_ of gold". The word + has not found its way into our dictionaries or glossaries. + +{93} ['Niggot' rather stands for 'ningot', due to a coalescence of the + article in 'an ingot' (as if 'a ningot'); just as, according to + some, in French _l'ingot_ became _lingot_.] + +{94} [Such collections were essayed in J. C. Hare's _Two Essays in + English Philology_, 1873, "_Words derived from Names of Persons_", + and in R. S. Charnock's _Verba Nominalia_, pp. 326.] + +{95} [In a strangely similar way the stone-worshipper in the Malay + Peninsula gives to his sacred boulder the title of Mohammed (Tylor, + _Primitive Culture_, 3rd ed. ii. 254).] + +{96} [But Wolsey's jester was most probably so called from his wearing a + varicoloured or patchwork coat; compare the Shakespearian use of + 'motley'. Similarly the _maquereaux_ of the old French comedy were + clothed in a mottled dress like our harlequin, just as the Latin + _maccus_ or mime wore a _centunculus_ or patchwork coat, his name + being perhaps connected with _macus_ (in _macula_), a spot (Gozzi, + _Memoirs_, i, 38). In stage slang the harlequin was called + _patchy_, as his Latin counterpart was _centunculus_.] + +{97} [An error. Prof. Skeat shows that 'tram' was an old word in + Scottish and Northern English (_Etym. Dict._, 655 and 831).] + +{98} Several of these we have in common with the French. Of their own + they have 'sardanapalisme', any piece of profuse luxury, from + Sardanapalus; while for 'lambiner', to dally or loiter over a task, + they are indebted to Denis Lambin, a worthy Greek scholar of the + sixteenth century, whom his adversaries accused of sluggish + movement and wearisome diffuseness in style. Every reader of + Pascal's _Provincial Letters_ will remember Escobar, the great + casuist among the Jesuits, whose convenient subterfuges for the + relaxation of the moral law have there been made famous. To the + notoriety which he thus acquired he owes his introduction into the + French language; where 'escobarder' is used in the sense of to + equivocate, and 'escobarderie' of subterfuge or equivocation. The + name of an unpopular minister of finance, M. de Silhouette, + unpopular because he sought to cut down unnecessary expenses in the + state, was applied to whatever was cheap, and, as was implied, + unduly economical; it has survived in the black outline portrait + which is now called a 'silhouette'. (Sismondi, _Histoire des + Français_, tom. xix, pp. 94, 95.) In the 'mansarde' roof we have + the name of Mansart, the architect who introduced it. I need hardly + add 'guillotine'. + +{99} See Col. Mure, _Language and Literature of Ancient Greece_, vol. i, + p. 350. + +{100} See Génin, _Des Variations du Langage Français_, p. 12. + +{101} [Dr. Murray in the N.E.D. calls these by the convenient term + 'nonce-words'.] + +{102} _Persa_, iv. 6, 20-23. At the same time these words may be earnest + enough; such was the {Greek: elachistoteros} of St. Paul (Ephes. + iii, 8); just as in the Middle Ages some did not account it + sufficient to call themselves "fratres minores, minimi, postremi", + but coined 'postremissimi' to express the depth of their + "voluntary humility". + +{103} It is curious that a correspondent of Skinner (_Etymologicon_, + 1671), although quite ignorant of this story, and indeed wholly + astray in his application, had suggested that 'chouse' might be + thus connected with the Turkish 'chiaus'. I believe Gifford, in + his edition of Ben Jonson, was the first to clear up the matter. A + passage in _The Alchemist_ (Act i. Sc. 1) will have put him on the + right track. [But Dr. Murray notes that Gifford's story, as given + above, has not hitherto been substantiated from any independent + source, and is so far open to doubt.] + +{104} [These are quite distinct words, though perhaps distantly + related.] + +{105} If there were any doubt about this matter, which indeed there is + not, a reference to Latimer's famous _Sermon on Cards_ would + abundantly remove it, where 'triumph' and 'trump' are + interchangeably used. + +{106} [Dr. Murray does not regard these words as ultimately identical.] + +{107} ['Rant' (old Dutch _ranten_) has no connection with 'rend' + (Anglo-Saxon _hrendan_) (Skeat).] + +{108} On these words see a learned discussion in _English Retraced_, + Cambridge, 1862. + +{109} [These are quite unconnected (Skeat).] + +{110} [Neither are these words to be confused with one another.] + +{111} The appropriating of 'Franc_e_s' to women and 'Franc_i_s' to men + is quite of modern introduction; it was formerly nearly as often + Sir Franc_e_s Drake as Sir Franc_i_s, while Fuller (_Holy State_, + b. iv, c. 14) speaks of Franc_i_s Brandon, eldest _daughter_ of + Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk; and see Ben Jonson's _New Inn_, + Act. ii, Sc. 1. + +{112} [Not connected.] + +{113} ['Sad' akin to 'sated' bears no relationship to 'set'; neither + does 'medley' to 'motley'.] + +{114} [On the connection of these words see my _Folk and their + Word-Lore_, p. 110.] + +{115} [Not connected, see Skeat.] + +{116} Were there need of proving that these both lie in 'beneficium', + which there is not, for in Wiclif's translation of the Bible the + distinction is still latent (1 Tim. vi. 2), one might adduce a + singularly characteristic little trait of Papal policy, which once + turned upon the double use of this word. Pope Adrian the Fourth + writing to the Emperor Frederic the First to complain of certain + conduct of his, reminded the Emperor that he had placed the + imperial crown upon his head, and would willingly have conferred + even greater 'beneficia' upon him than this. Had the word been + allowed to pass, it would no doubt have been afterwards appealed + to as an admission on the Emperor's part, that he held the Empire + as a feud or fief (for 'beneficium' was then the technical word + for this, though the meaning had much narrowed since) from the + Pope--the very point in dispute between them. The word was + indignantly repelled by the Emperor and the whole German nation, + whereupon the Pope appealed to the etymology, that 'beneficium' + was but 'bonum factum', and protested that he meant no more than + to remind the Emperor of the 'benefits' which he had done him, and + which he would have willingly multiplied still more. ['Benefice' + from Latin _beneficium_, and 'benefit' from Latin _bene-factum_, + are here confused.] + +{117} ['Hoard' (Anglo-Saxon _hord_) cannot be equated with 'horde' (from + Persian _órdú_).] + +{118} [These words have been differentiated in comparatively modern + times. 'Ingenuity' was once used for 'ingenuousness'.] + +{119} [The words are really unconnected, 'to gamble' being 'to gamle' or + 'game', and 'to gambol' being akin to French _gambiller_, to fling + up the legs (_gambes_ or _jambes_) like a frisking lamb.] + +{120} The same happens in other languages. Thus in Greek '{Greek: + anathema}' and '{Greek: anathêma}' both signify that which is + devoted, though in very different senses, to the gods; '{Greek: + tharsos}', boldness, and '{Greek: thrasos}', temerity, were no + more at first than different spellings of the same word; not + otherwise is it with {Greek: gripos} and {Greek: griphos}, {Greek: + ethos} and {Greek: êthos}, {Greek: brykô} and {Greek: brychô}, + while {Greek: obelos} and {Greek: obolos}, {Greek: soros} and + {Greek: sôros}, are probably the same words. So too in Latin + 'penna' and 'pinna' differ only in form, and signify alike a + 'wing'; while yet 'penna' has come to be used for the wing of a + bird, 'pinna' (its diminutive 'pinnaculum', has given us + 'pinnacle') for that of a building. So is it with 'Thrax' a + Thracian, and 'Threx' a gladiator; with 'codex' and 'caudex'; + 'forfex' and 'forceps'; 'anticus' and 'antiquus'; 'celeber' and + 'creber'; 'infacetus' and 'inficetus'; 'providentia', 'prudentia', + and 'provincia'; 'columen' and 'culmen'; 'coitus' and 'coetus'; + 'ægrimonia' and 'ærumna'; 'Lucina' and 'luna'; 'navita' and + 'nauta'; in German with 'rechtlich' and 'redlich'; 'schlecht' and + 'schlicht'; 'ahnden' and 'ahnen'; 'biegsam' and 'beugsam'; + 'fürsehung' and 'vorsehung'; 'deich' and 'teich'; 'trotz' and + 'trutz'; 'born' and 'brunn'; 'athem' and 'odem'; in French with + 'harnois' the armour, or 'harness', of a soldier, 'harnais' of a + horse; with 'Zéphire' and 'zéphir', and with many more. + +{121} Coleridge, _Church and State_, p. 200. + +{122} [One hardly expects to find this otiose Americanism (first used by + J. Adams in 1759) in the work of a verbal purist, when 'longish' + or the old 'longsome' were at hand. No one, as yet, has ventured + on 'strengthy' or 'breadthy' for somewhat strong or broad.] + +{123} [This prediction was correct. 'Dissimilation' is first found in + philological works published in the decade 1874-85. See N.E.D.] + +{124} [Coblenz, at the junction of the Moselle and Rhine (from + _Confluentes_), reminds us that the word was so used.] + +{125} A passage from Hacket's _Life of Archbishop Williams_, part 2, p. + 144, marks the first rise of this word, and the quarter from + whence it arose: "When they [the Presbyterians] saw that he was + not _selfish_ (it is a word of their own new mint), etc". In + Whitlock's _Zootomia_ (1654) there is another indication of it as + a novelty, p. 364: "If constancy may be tainted with this + _selfishness_ (to use our _new wordings_ of old and general + actings)"--It is he who in his striking essay, _The Grand + Schismatic, or Suist Anatomized_, puts forward his own words, + 'suist', and 'suicism', in lieu of those which have ultimately + been adopted. 'Suicism', let me observe, had not in his time the + obvious objection of resembling another word nearly, and being + liable to be confused with it; for 'suicide' did not then exist in + the language, nor indeed till some twenty years later. The coming + up of 'suicide' is marked by this passage in Phillips' _New World + of Words_, 1671, 3rd ed.: "Nor less to be exploded is the word + '_suicide_', which may as well seem to participate of _sus_ a sow, + as of the pronoun _sui_". In the _Index_ to Jackson's Works, + published two years later, it is still '_suicidium_'--"the horrid + _suicidium_ of the Jews at York". 'Suicide' is apparently of much + later introduction into French. Génin (_Récréations Philol._ vol. + i, p. 194) places it about the year 1728, and makes the Abbé + Desfontaines its first sponsor. He is wrong, as the words just + quoted show, in supposing that we borrowed it from the French, or + that the word did not exist in English till the middle of last + century. The French sometimes complain that the fashion of suicide + was borrowed from England. It would seem at all events probable + that the word was so borrowed. + + Let me urge here the advantage of a complete collection, or one as + nearly complete as the industry of the collectors would allow, of + all the notices in our literature, which mark, and would serve as + dates for, the first incoming of new words into the language. + These notices are of the most various kinds. Sometimes they are + protests and remonstrances, as that just quoted, against a new + word's introduction; sometimes they are gratulations at the same; + while many hold themselves neuter as to approval or disapproval, + and merely state, or allow us to gather, the fact of a word's + recent appearance. There are not a few of these notices in + Richardson's _Dictionary_: thus one from Lord Bacon under 'essay'; + from Swift under 'banter'; from Sir Thomas Elyot under + 'mansuetude'; from Lord Chesterfield under 'flirtation'; from + Davies and Marlowe's _Epigrams_ under 'gull'; from Roger North + under 'sham' (Appendix); the third quotation from Dryden under + 'mob'; one from the same under 'philanthropy', and again under + 'witticism', in which he claims the authorship of the word; that + from Evelyn under 'miss'; and from Milton under 'demagogue'. There + are also notices of the same kind in _Todd's Johnson_. The work, + however, is one which no single scholar could hope to accomplish, + which could only be accomplished by many lovers of their native + tongue throwing into a common stock the results of their several + studies. The sources from which these illustrative passages might + be gathered cannot beforehand be enumerated, inasmuch as it is + difficult to say in what unexpected quarter they would not + sometimes be found, although some of these sources are obvious + enough. As a very slight sample of what might be done in this way + by the joint contributions of many, let me throw together + references to a few passages of the kind which I do not think have + found their way into any of our dictionaries. Thus add to that + which Richardson has quoted on 'banter', another from _The + Tatler_, No. 230. On 'plunder' there are two instructive passages + in Fuller's _Church History_, b. xi, § 4, 33; and b. ix, § 4; and + one in Heylin's _Animadversions_ thereupon, p. 196. On 'admiralty' + see a note in Harington's _Ariosto_, book 19; on 'maturity' Sir + Thomas Elyot's _Governor_, b. i, c. 22; and on 'industry' the + same, b. i, c. 23; on 'neophyte' a notice in Fulke's _Defence of + the English Bible_, Parker Society's edition, p. 586; and on + 'panorama', and marking its recent introduction (it is not in + Johnson), a passage in Pegge's _Anecdotes of the English + Language_, first published in 1803, but my reference is to the + edition of 1814, p. 306; on 'accommodate', and supplying a date + for its first coming into popular use, see Shakespeare's _2 Henry + IV._ Act 3, Sc. 2; on 'shrub', Junius' _Etymologicon_, s. v. + 'syrup'; on 'sentiment' and 'cajole' Skinner, s. vv., in his + _Etymologicon_ ('vox nuper civitate donata'); and on 'opera' + Evelyn's _Memoirs and Diary_, 1827, vol. i, pp. 189, 190. In such + a collection should be included those passages of our literature + which supply implicit evidence for the non-existence of a word up + to a certain moment. It may be urged that it is difficult, nay + impossible, to prove a negative; and yet a passage like this from + Bolingbroke makes certain that when it was written the word + 'isolated' did not exist in our language: "The events we are + witnesses of in the course of the longest life, appear to us very + often original, unprepared, signal and _unrelative_: if I may use + such a word for want of a better in English. In French I would say + _isolés_" (_Notes and Queries_, No. 226). Compare Lord + Chesterfield in a letter to Bishop Chenevix, of date March 12, + 1767: "I have survived almost all my cotemporaries, and as I am + too old to make new acquaintances, I find myself _isolé_". So, + too, it is pretty certain that 'amphibious' was not yet English, + when one writes (in 1618): "We are like those creatures called + {Greek: amphibia}, who live in water or on land". {Greek: + Zôologia}, the title of a book published in 1649, makes it clear + that 'zoology' was not yet in our vocabulary, as {Greek: + zôophyton} (Jackson) proves the same for 'zoophyte', and {Greek: + polytheismos} (Gell) for 'polytheism'. One precaution, let me + observe, would be necessary in the collecting, or rather in the + adopting of any statements about the newness of a word--for the + passages themselves, even when erroneous, ought not the less to be + noted--namely, that, where there is the least motive for + suspicion, no one's affirmation ought to be accepted simply and at + once as to the novelty of a word; for all here are liable to + error. Thus more than one which Sir Thomas Elyot indicates as new + in his time, 'magnanimity' for example (_The Governor_, 2, 14), + are to be met in Chaucer. When Skinner affirmed of 'sentiment' + that it had only recently obtained the rights of English + citizenship from the translators of French books, he was + altogether mistaken, this word being also one of continual + recurrence in Chaucer. An intelligent correspondent gives in + _Notes and Queries_, No. 225, a useful catalogue of recent + neologies in our speech, which yet would require to be used with + caution, for there are at least half a dozen in the list which + have not the smallest right to be so considered. + +{126} There is an admirable Essay by Leibnitz with this view (_Opera_, + vol. vi, part 2, pp. 6-51) in French and German, with this title, + _Considérations sur la Culture et la Perfection de la Langue + Allemande_. + +{127} _Zur Geschichte und Beurtheilung der Fremdwörter im Deutschen_, + von. Aug. Fuchs, Dessau, 1842, pp. 85-91. + + + + +III + +DIMINUTIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE + + +I took occasion to observe at the commencement of my last lecture that +it is the essential character of a living language to be in flux{128} +and flow, to be gaining and losing; the words which constitute it as +little continuing exactly the same, or in the same relations to one +another, as do the atoms which at any one moment make up our bodies +remain for ever without subtraction or addition. As I then undertook for +my especial subject to trace some of the acquisitions which our own +language had made, I shall consider in the present some of the losses, +or at any rate diminutions, which during the same period it has endured. +But it will be well here, by one or two remarks going before, to avert +any possible misapprehensions of my meaning. + +It is certain that all languages must, or at least all languages do in +the end, perish. They run their course; not at all at the same rate, for +the tendency to change is different in different languages, both from +internal causes (mechanism and the like), and also from causes external +to the language, laid in the varying velocities of social progress and +social decline; but so it is, that whether of shorter or longer life, +they have their youth, their manhood, their old age, their decrepitude, +their final dissolution. Not indeed that, even when this last hour has +arrived, they disappear, leaving no traces behind them. On the contrary, +out of their death a new life comes forth; they pass into new forms, the +materials of which they were composed more or less survive, but these +now organized in new shapes and according to other laws of life. Thus +for example, the Latin perishes as a living language, but a chief part +of the words that composed it live on in the four daughter languages, +French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese; or the six, if we count the +Provençal and Wallachian; not a few in our own. Still in their own +proper being languages perish and pass away; there are dead records of +what they were in books; not living men who speak them any more. Seeing +then that they thus die, they must have had the germs of a possible +decay and death in them from the beginning. + +{Sidenote: _Languages Gain and Lose_} + +Nor is this all; but in such mighty strong built fabrics as these, the +causes which thus bring about their final dissolution must have been +actually at work very long before the results began to be visible. +Indeed, very often it is with them as with states, which, while in some +respects they are knitting and strengthening, in others are already +unfolding the seeds of their future and, it may be, still remote +overthrow. Equally in these and those, in states and in languages, it +would be a serious mistake to assume that all up to a certain point and +period is growth and gain, while all after is decay and loss. On the +contrary, there are long periods during which growth in some directions +is going hand in hand with decay in others; losses in one kind are +being compensated, or more than compensated, by gains in another; during +which a language changes, but only as the bud changes into the flower, +and the flower into the fruit. A time indeed arrives when the growth and +gains, becoming ever fewer, cease to constitute any longer a +compensation for the losses and the decay; which are ever becoming more; +when the forces of disorganization and death at work are stronger than +those of life and order. It is from this moment the decline of a +language may properly be dated. But until that crisis and turning point +has arrived, we may be quite justified in speaking of the losses of a +language, and may esteem them most real, without in the least thereby +implying that the period of its commencing degeneracy has begun. This +may yet be far distant, and therefore when I dwell on certain losses and +diminutions which our own has undergone, or is undergoing, you will not +conclude that I am seeking to present it to you as now travelling the +downward course to dissolution and death. This is very far from my +intention. If in some respects it is losing, in others it is gaining. +Nor is everything which it lets go, a loss; for this too, the parting +with a word in which there is no true help, the dropping of a cumbrous +or superfluous form, may itself be sometimes a most real gain. English +is undoubtedly becoming different from what it has been; but only +different in that it is passing into another stage of its development; +only different, as the fruit is different from the flower, and the +flower from the bud; having changed its merits, but not having +renounced them; possessing, it may be, less of beauty, but more of +usefulness; not, perhaps, serving the poet so well, but serving the +historian and philosopher and theologian better than before. + +One observation more let me make, before entering on the special details +of my subject. It is this. The losses and diminutions of a language +differ in one respect from its gains and acquisitions--namely, that they +are of _two_ kinds, while its gains are only of _one_. Its gains are +only in _words_; it never puts forth in the course of its evolution a +new _power_; it never makes for itself a new case, or a new tense, or a +new comparative. But its losses are both in words and in _powers_--in +words of course, but in powers also: it leaves behind it, as it travels +onwards, cases which it once possessed; renounces the employment of +tenses which it once used; forgets its dual; is content with one +termination both for masculine and feminine, and so on. Nor is this a +peculiar feature of one language, but the universal law of all. "In all +languages", as has been well said, "there is a constant tendency to +relieve themselves of that precision which chooses a fresh symbol for +every shade of meaning, to lessen the amount of nice distinction, and +detect as it were a royal road to the interchange of opinion". For +example, a vast number of languages had at an early period of their +development, besides the singular and plural, a dual number, some even a +trinal, which they have let go at a later. But what I mean by a language +renouncing its powers will, I trust, be more clear to you before my +lecture is concluded. This much I have here said on the matter, to +explain and justify a division which I shall make, considering first the +losses of the English language in _words_, and then in _powers_. + +{Sidenote: _Words become Extinct_} + +And first, there is going forward a continual extinction of the words in +our language--as indeed in every other. When I speak of this, the dying +out of words, I do not refer to mere _tentative_, experimental words, +not a few of which I adduced in my last lecture, words offered to the +language, but not accepted by it; I refer rather to such as either +belonged to the primitive stock of the language, or if not so, which had +been domiciled in it long, that they might have been supposed to have +found in it a lasting home. Thus not a few pure Anglo-Saxon words which +lived on into the times of our early English, have subsequently dropped +out of our vocabulary, sometimes leaving a gap which has never since +been filled, but their places oftener taken by others which have come up +in their room. Not to mention those of Chaucer and Wiclif, which are +very numerous, many held their ground to far later periods, and yet have +finally given way. That beautiful word 'wanhope' for despair, hope which +has so _waned_ that now there is an entire _want_ of it, was in use down +to the reign of Elizabeth; it occurs so late as in the poems of +Gascoigne{129}. 'Skinker' for cupbearer, (an ungraceful word, no doubt) +is used by Shakespeare and lasted till Dryden's time and beyond. + +Spenser uses often 'to welk' (welken) in the sense of to fade, 'to sty' +for to mount, 'to hery' as to glorify or praise, 'to halse' as to +embrace, 'teene' as vexation or grief: Shakespeare 'to tarre' as to +provoke, 'to sperr' as to enclose or bar in; 'to sag' for to droop, or +hang the head downward. Holland employs 'geir'{130} for vulture +("vultures or _geirs_"), 'specht' for woodpecker, 'reise' for journey, +'frimm' for lusty or strong. 'To schimmer' occurs in Bishop Hall; 'to +tind', that is, to kindle, and surviving in 'tinder', is used by Bishop +Sanderson; 'to nimm', or take, as late as by Fuller. A rogue is a +'skellum' in Sir Thomas Urquhart. 'Nesh' in the sense of soft through +moisture, 'leer' in that of empty, 'eame' in that of uncle, _mother's_ +brother (the German 'oheim'), good Saxon-English once, still live on in +some of our provincial dialects; so does 'flitter-mouse' or +'flutter-mouse' (mus volitans), where we should use bat. Indeed of those +above named several do the same; it is so with 'frimm', with 'to sag', +'to nimm'. 'Heft' employed by Shakespeare in the sense of weight, is +still employed in the same sense by our peasants in Hampshire{131}. + +{Sidenote: _Vigorous Compound Words_} + +A number of vigorous compounds we have dropped and let go. 'Earsports' +for entertainments of song or music ({Greek: akroamata}) is a constantly +recurring word in Holland's _Plutarch_. Were it not for Shakespeare, we +should have quite forgotten that young men of hasty fiery valour were +called 'hotspurs'; and even now we regard the word rather as the proper +name of one than that which would have been once alike the designation +of all{132}. Fuller warns men that they should not 'witwanton' with God. +Severe austere old men, such as, in Falstaff's words would "hate us +youth", were 'grimsirs', or 'grimsires' once (Massinger). 'Realmrape' +(=usurpation), occurring in _The Mirror for Magistrates_, is a vigorous +word. 'Rootfast' and 'rootfastness'{133} were ill lost, being worthy to +have lived; so too was Lord Brooke's 'bookhunger'; and Baxter's +'word-warriors', with which term he noted those whose strife was only +about words. 'Malingerer' is familiar enough to military men, but I do +not find it in our dictionaries; being the soldier who, out of _evil +will_ (malin gré) to his work, shams and shirks and is not found in the +ranks{134}. + +Those who would gladly have seen the Anglo-Saxon to have predominated +over the Latin element in our language, even more than it actually has +done, must note with regret that in many instances a word of the former +stock had been dropped, and a Latin coined to supply its place; or where +the two once existed side by side, the Saxon has died, and the Latin +lived on. Thus Wiclif employed 'soothsaw', where we now use proverb; +'sourdough', where we employ leaven; 'wellwillingness' for benevolence; +'againbuying' for redemption; 'againrising' for resurrection; +'undeadliness' for immortality; 'uncunningness' for ignorance; +'aftercomer' for descendant; 'greatdoingly' for magnificently; 'to +afterthink' (still in use in Lancashire) for to repent; 'medeful', which +has given way to meritorious; 'untellable' for ineffable; 'dearworth' +for precious; Chaucer has 'forword' for promise; Sir John Cheke +'freshman' for proselyte; 'mooned' for lunatic; 'foreshewer' for +prophet; 'hundreder' for centurion; Jewel 'foretalk', where we now +employ preface; Holland 'sunstead' where we use solstice; 'leechcraft' +instead of medicine; and another, 'wordcraft' for logic; 'starconner' +(Gascoigne) did service once, if not instead of astrologer, yet side by +side with it; 'halfgod' (Golding) had the advantage over 'demigod', that +it was all of one piece; 'to eyebite' (Holland) told its story at least +as well as to fascinate; 'shriftfather' as confessor; 'earshrift' +(Cartwright) is only two syllables, while 'auricular confession' is +eight; 'waterfright' is a better word than our awkward Greek +hydrophobia. The lamprey (lambens petram) was called once the +'suckstone' or the 'lickstone'; and the anemone the 'windflower'. +'Umstroke', if it had lived on (it appears as late as Fuller, though +our dictionaries know nothing of it), might have made 'circumference' +and 'periphery' unnecessary. 'Wanhope', as we saw just now, has given +place to despair, 'middler' to mediator; and it would be easy to +increase this list. + +{Sidenote: _Local and Provincial English_} + +I had occasion just now to notice the fact that many words survive in +our provincial dialects, long after they have died out from the main +body of the speech. The fact is one connected with so much of deep +interest in the history of language that I cannot pass it thus slightly +over. It is one which, rightly regarded, may assist to put us in a just +point of view for estimating the character of the local and provincial +in speech, and rescuing it from that unmerited contempt and neglect with +which it is often regarded. I must here go somewhat further back than I +could wish; but only so, only by looking at the matter in connexion with +other phenomena of speech, can I hope to explain to you the worth and +significance which local and provincial words and usages must oftentimes +possess. + +Let us then first suppose a portion of those speaking a language to have +been separated off from the main body of its speakers, either through +their forsaking for one cause or other of their native seats, or by the +intrusion of a hostile people, like a wedge, between them and the +others, forcibly keeping them asunder, and cutting off their +communications one with the other, as the Saxons intruded between the +Britons of Cornwall and of Wales. In such a case it will inevitably +happen that before very long differences of speech will begin to reveal +themselves between those to whom even dialectic distinctions may have +been once unknown. The divergences will be of various kinds. Idioms will +come up in the separated body, which, not being recognized and allowed +by those who remain the arbiters of the language, will be esteemed by +them, should they come under their notice, violations of its law, or at +any rate departures from its purity. Again, where a colony has gone +forth into new seats, and exists under new conditions, it is probable +that the necessities, physical and moral, rising out of these new +conditions, will give birth to words, which there will be nothing to +call out among those who continue in the old haunts of the nation. +Intercourse with new tribes and people will bring in new words, as, for +instance, contact with the Indian tribes of North America has given to +American English a certain number of words hardly or not at all allowed +or known by us; or as the presence of a large Dutch population at the +Cape has given to the English spoken there many words, as 'inspan', +'outspan'{135}, 'spoor', of which our home English knows nothing. + +{Sidenote: _Antiquated English_} + +There is another cause, however, which will probably be more effectual +than all these, namely, that words will in process of time be dropped by +those who constitute the original stock of the nation, which will not be +dropped by the offshoot; idioms which those have overlived, and have +stored up in the unhonoured lumber-room of the past, will still be in +use and currency among the smaller and separated section which has gone +forth; and thus it will come to pass that what seems and in fact is the +newer swarm, will have many older words, and very often an archaic air +and old-world fashion both about the words they use, their way of +pronouncing, their order and manner of combining them. Thus after the +Conquest we know that our insular French gradually diverged from the +French of the Continent. The Prioress in Chaucer's _Canterbury Tales_ +could speak her French "full faire and fetishly", but it was French, as +the poet slyly adds, + + "After the scole of Stratford atte bow, + For French of Paris was to hire unknowe". + +One of our old chroniclers, writing in the reign of Elizabeth, informs +us that by the English colonists within the Pale in Ireland numerous +words were preserved in common use, "the dregs of the old ancient +Chaucer English", as he contemptuously calls it, which had become quite +obsolete and forgotten in England itself. For example, they still called +a spider an 'attercop'--a word, by the way, still in popular use in the +North;--a physician a 'leech', as in poetry he still is called; a +dunghill was still for them a 'mixen'; (the word is still common all +over England in this sense;) a quadrangle or base court was a +'bawn'{136}; they employed 'uncouth' in the earlier sense of unknown. +Nay more, their general manner of speech was so different, though +containing English still, that Englishmen at their first coming over +often found it hard or impossible to comprehend. We have another example +of the same in what took place after the revocation of the Edict of +Nantes, and the consequent formation of colonies of Protestant French +emigrants in various places, especially in Amsterdam and other chief +cities of Holland. There gradually grew up among these what came to be +called 'refugee French', which within a generation or two diverged in +several particulars from the classical language of France; its +divergence being mainly occasioned by this, that it remained stationary, +while the classical language was in motion; it retained usages and +words, which the latter had dismissed{137}. + +{Sidenote: _Provincial English_} + +Nor is it otherwise in respect of our English provincialisms. It is true +that our country people who in the main employ them, have not been +separated by distance of space, nor yet by insurmountable obstacles +intervening, from the main body of their fellow-countrymen; but they +have been quite as effectually divided by deficient education. They have +been, if not locally, yet intellectually, kept at a distance from the +onward march of the nation's mind; and of them also it is true that many +of their words, idioms, turns of speech, which we are ready to set down +as vulgarisms, solecisms of speech, violations of the primary rules of +grammar, do merely attest that those who employ them have not kept +abreast with the advance of the language and nation, but have been left +behind by it. The usages are only local in the fact that, having once +been employed by the whole body of the English people, they have now +receded from the lips of all except those in some certain country +districts, who have been more faithful than others to the tradition of +the past{138}. + +It is thus in respect of a multitude of isolated words, which were +excellent Anglo-Saxon, which were excellent early English, and which +only are not excellent present English, because use, which is the +supreme arbiter in these matters, has decided against their further +employment. Several of these I enumerated just now. It is thus also with +several grammatical forms and flexions. For instance, where we decline +the plural of "I sing", "we sing", "ye sing", "they sing", there are +parts of England in which they would decline, "we sin_gen_", "ye +sin_gen_", "they sin_gen_". This is not indeed the original form of the +plural, but it is that form of it which, coming up about Chaucer's time, +was just going out in Spenser's; he, though we must ever keep in mind +that he does not fairly represent the language of his time, or indeed of +any time, affecting a certain artificial archaism both in words and +forms, continually uses it{139}. After him it becomes ever rarer, the +last of whom I am aware as occasionally using it being Fuller, until it +quite disappears. + +{Sidenote: _Earlier and Later English_} + +Of such as may now employ forms like these we must say, not that they +violate the laws of the language, but only that they have taken their +_permanent_ stand at a point which was only a point of transition, and +which it has now left behind, and overlived. Thus, to take examples +which you may hear at the present day in almost any part of England--a +countryman will say, "He made me _afeard_"; or "The price of corn _ris_ +last market day"; or "I will _axe_ him his name"; or "I tell _ye_". You +would probably set these phrases down for barbarous English. They are +not so at all; in one sense they are quite as good English as "He made +me _afraid_"; or "The price of corn _rose_ last market day"; or "I will +_ask_ him his name". 'Afeard', used by Spenser, is the regular +participle of the old verb to 'affear', still existing as a law term, as +'afraid' is of to 'affray', and just as good English{140}; 'ris' or +'risse' is an old præterite of 'to rise'; to 'axe' is not a +mispronunciation of 'to ask', but a genuine English form of the word, +the form which in the earlier English it constantly assumed; in Wiclif's +Bible almost without exception; and indeed 'axe' occurs continually, I +know not whether invariably, in Tyndale's translation of the Scriptures; +there was a time when 'ye' was an accusative, and to have used it as a +nominative or vocative, the only permitted uses at present, would have +been incorrect. Even such phrases as "Put _them_ things away"; or "The +man _what_ owns the horse" are not bad, but only antiquated +English{141}. Saying this, I would not in the least imply that these +forms are open to you to employ, or that they would be good English for +_you_. They would not; inasmuch as they are contrary to present use and +custom, and these must be our standards in what we speak, and in what we +write; just as in our buying and selling we are bound to employ the +current coin of the realm, must not attempt to pass that which long +since has been called in, whatever merits or intrinsic value it may +possess. All which I affirm is that the phrases just brought forward +represent past stages of the language, and are not barbarous violations +of it. + +{Sidenote: _Luncheon_, _Nuncheon_} + +The same may be asserted of certain ways of pronouncing words, which are +now in use among the lower classes, but not among the higher; as, for +example, 'contr{-a}ry', 'mischi{-e}vous', 'blasph{-e}mous', instead of +'contr{)a}ry', 'mischi{)e}vous', 'blasph{)e}mous'. It would be +abundantly easy to show by a multitude of quotations from our poets, and +those reaching very far down, that these are merely the retention of the +earlier pronunciation by the people, after the higher classes have +abandoned it{142}. And on the strength of what has just been spoken, let +me here suggest to you how well worth your while it will prove to be on +the watch for provincial words and inflexions, local idioms and modes of +pronunciation, and to take note of these. Count nothing in this kind +beneath your notice. Do not at once ascribe anything which you hear to +the ignorance or stupidity of the speaker. Thus if you hear 'nuncheon', +do not at once set it down for a malformation of 'luncheon'{143}, nor +'yeel'{144}, of 'eel'. Lists and collections of provincial usage, such +as I have suggested, always have their value. If you are not able to +turn them to any profit yourselves, and they may not stand in close +enough connexion with your own studies for this, yet there always are +those who will thank you for them; and to whom the humblest of these +collections, carefully and intelligently made, will be in one way or +another of real assistance{145}. And there is the more need to urge this +at the present, because, notwithstanding the tenacity with which our +country folk cling to their old forms and usages, still these forms and +usages must now be rapidly growing fewer; and there are forces, moral +and material, at work in England, which will probably cause that of +those which now survive the greater part will within the next fifty +years have disappeared{146}. + +{Sidenote: _'Its' of Late Introduction_} + +Before quitting this subject, let me instance one example more of that +which is commonly accounted ungrammatical usage, but which is really the +retention of old grammar by some, where others have substituted new; I +mean the constant application by our rustic population in the south, and +I dare say through all parts of England, of 'his' to inanimate objects, +and to these not personified, no less than to persons; where 'its' would +be employed by others. This was once the manner of speech among all; for +'its' is a word of very recent introduction, many would be surprised to +learn of how recent introduction, into the language. You will look for +it in vain through the whole of our Authorized Version of the Bible; +the office which it now fulfils being there accomplished, as our rustics +accomplish it at the present, by 'his' (Gen. i. 11; Exod. xxxvii. 17; +Matt. v. 15) or 'her' (Jon. i. 15; Rev. xxii. 2) applied as freely to +inanimate things as to persons, or else by 'thereof' (Ps. lxv. 10) or +'of it' (Dan. vii. 5). Nor may Lev. xx. 5 be urged as invalidating this +assertion; for reference to the exemplar edition of 1611, or indeed to +any earlier editions of King James' Bible, will show that in them the +passage stood, "of _it_ own accord"{147}. 'Its' occurs very rarely in +Shakespeare, in many of his plays it will not once be found. Milton also +for the most part avoids it, and this, though in his time others freely +allowed it. How soon all this was forgotten we have striking evidence in +the fact that when Dryden, in one of his fault-finding moods with the +great men of the preceding generation, is taking Ben Jonson to task for +general inaccuracy in his English diction, among other counts of his +indictment, he quotes this line from _Catiline_ + + "Though heaven should speak with all _his_ wrath at once", + +and proceeds, "_heaven_ is ill syntax with _his_"; while in fact up to +within forty or fifty years of the time when Dryden began to write, no +other syntax was known; and to a much later date was exceedingly rare. +Curious also, is it to note that in the earnest controversy which +followed on Chatterton's publication of the poems ascribed by him to a +monk Rowlie, who should have lived in the fifteenth century, no one +appealed to such lines as the following, + + "Life and all _its_ goods I scorn", + +as at once deciding that the poems were not of the age which they +pretended. Warton, who denied, though with some hesitation, the +antiquity of the poems, giving many and sufficient reasons for this +denial, failed to take note of this little word; while yet there needed +no more than to point it out, for the disposing of the whole question; +the forgery at once was betrayed. + +{Sidenote: _American English_} + +What has been here affirmed concerning our provincial English, namely +that it is often _old_ English rather than _bad_ English, may be +affirmed with equal right of many so-called Americanisms. There are +parts of America where 'het' is used, or was used a few years since, as +the perfect of 'to heat'; 'holp' as the perfect of 'to help'; 'stricken' +as the participle of 'to strike'. Again there are the words which have +become obsolete during the last two hundred years, which have not become +obsolete there, although many of them probably retain only a provincial +existence. Thus 'slick', which indeed is only another form of 'sleek', +was employed by our good writers of the seventeenth century{148}. Other +words again, which have remained current on both sides of the Atlantic, +have yet on our side receded from their original use, while they have +remained true to it on the other. 'Plunder' is a word in point{149}. + +In the contemplation of facts like these it has been sometimes asked, +whether a day will ever arrive when the language spoken on this side of +the Atlantic and on the other, will divide into two languages, an old +English and a new. We may confidently answer, No. Doubtless, if those +who went out from us to people and subdue a new continent, had left our +shores two or three centuries earlier than they did, when the language +was very much farther removed from that ideal after which it was +unconsciously striving, and in which, once reached, it has in great +measure acquiesced; if they had not carried with them to their distant +homes their English Bible, and what else of worth had been already +uttered in the English tongue; if, having once left us, the intercourse +between Old and New England had been entirely broken off, or only rare +and partial; there would then have unfolded themselves differences +between the language spoken here and there, which in tract of time +accumulating and multiplying, might in the end have justified the +regarding of the languages as no longer one and the same. It could not +have failed but that such differences should have displayed themselves; +for while there is a law of _necessity_ in the evolution of languages, +while they pursue certain courses and in certain directions, from which +they can be no more turned aside by the will of men than one of the +heavenly bodies could be pushed from its orbit by any engines of ours, +there is a law of _liberty_ no less; and this liberty must inevitably +have made itself in many ways felt. In the political and social +condition of America, so far removed from our own, in the many natural +objects which are not the same with those which surround us here, in +efforts independently carried out to rid the language of imperfections, +or to unfold its latent powers, even in the different effects of soil +and climate on the organs of speech, there would have been causes enough +to have provoked in the course of time not immaterial divergencies of +language. + +As it is, however, the joint operation of those three causes referred to +already, namely, that the separation did not take place in the infancy +or youth of the language, but only in its ripe manhood, that England and +America owned a body of literature, to which they alike looked up and +appealed as containing the authoritative standards of the language, that +the intercourse between the one people and the other has been large and +frequent, hereafter probably to be larger and more frequent still, has +effectually wrought. It has been strong enough so to traverse, repress, +and check all those causes which tended to divergence, that the +_written_ language of educated men on both sides of the water remains +precisely the same, their _spoken_ manifesting a few trivial +differences of idiom; while even among those classes which do not +consciously acknowledge any ideal standard of language, there are +scarcely greater differences, in some respects far smaller, than exist +between inhabitants of different provinces in this one island of +England; and in the future we may reasonably anticipate that these +differences, so far from multiplying, will rather diminish and +disappear. + +{Sidenote: _Extinct English_} + +But I must return from this long digression. It seems often as if an +almost unaccountable caprice presided over the fortunes of words, and +determined which should live and which die. Thus in instances out of +number a word lives on as a verb, but has ceased to be employed as a +noun; we say 'to embarrass', but no longer an 'embarrass'; 'to revile', +but not, with Chapman and Milton, a 'revile'; 'to dispose', but not a +'dispose'{150}; 'to retire' but not a 'retire'; 'to wed', but not a +'wed'; we say 'to infest', but use no longer the adjective 'infest'. Or +with a reversed fortune a word lives on as a noun, but has perished as +a verb--thus as a noun substantive, a 'slug', but no longer 'to slug' +or render slothful; a 'child', but no longer 'to child', ("_childing_ +autumn", Shakespeare); a 'rape', but not 'to rape' (South); a 'rogue', +but not 'to rogue'; 'malice', but not 'to malice'; a 'path', but not 'to +path'; or as a noun adjective, 'serene', but not 'to serene', a beautiful +word, which we have let go, as the French have 'sereiner'{151}; 'meek', +but not 'to meek' (Wiclif); 'fond', but not 'to fond' (Dryden); 'dead', +but not 'to dead'; 'intricate', but 'to intricate' (Jeremy Taylor) no +longer. + +Or again, the affirmative remains, but the negative is gone; thus +'wisdom', 'bold', 'sad', but not any more 'unwisdom', 'unbold', 'unsad' +(all in Wiclif); 'cunning', but not 'uncunning'; 'manhood', 'wit', +'mighty', 'tall', but not 'unmanhood', 'unwit', 'unmighty', 'untall' +(all in Chaucer); 'buxom', but not 'unbuxom' (Dryden); 'hasty', but not +'unhasty' (Spenser); 'blithe', but not 'unblithe'; 'ease', but not +'unease' (Hacket); 'repentance', but not 'unrepentance'; 'remission', +but not 'irremission' (Donne); 'science', but not 'nescience' +(Glanvill){152}; 'to know', but not 'to unknow' (Wiclif); 'to give', but +not 'to ungive'. Or once more, with a curious variation from this, the +negative survives, while the affirmative is gone; thus 'wieldy' +(Chaucer) survives only in 'unwieldy'; 'couth' and 'couthly' (both in +Spenser), only in 'uncouth' and 'uncouthly'; 'rule' (Foxe) only in +'unruly'; 'gainly' (Henry More) in 'ungainly'; these last two were both +of them serviceable words, and have been ill lost{153}; 'gainly' is +indeed still common in the West Riding of Yorkshire; 'exorable' +(Holland) and 'evitable' only in 'inexorable' and 'inevitable'; +'faultless' remains, but hardly 'faultful' (Shakespeare). In like manner +'semble' (Foxe) has, except as a technical law term, disappeared; while +'dissemble' continues. So also of other pairs one has been taken and one +left; 'height', or 'highth', as Milton better spelt it, remains, but +'lowth' (Becon) is gone; 'righteousness', or 'rightwiseness', as it +would once more accurately have been written, for 'righteous' is a +corruption of 'rightwise', remains, but its correspondent 'wrongwiseness' +has been taken; 'inroad' continues, but 'outroad' (Holland) has +disappeared; 'levant' lives, but 'ponent' (Holland) has died; 'to +extricate' continues, but, as we saw just now, 'to intricate' does not; +'parricide', but not 'filicide' (Holland). Again, of whole groups of +words formed on some particular scheme it may be only a single specimen +will survive. Thus 'gainsay', that is, again say, survives; but +'gainstrive' (Foxe), 'gainstand', 'gaincope' (Golding), and other +similarly formed words exist no longer. It is the same with 'foolhardy', +which is but one, though now indeed the only one remaining, of at least +five adjectives formed on the same principle; thus 'foollarge', quite as +expressive a word as prodigal, occurs in Chaucer, and 'foolhasty', found +also in him, lived on to the time of Holland; while 'foolhappy' is in +Spencer; and 'foolbold' in Bale. 'Steadfast' remains, but 'shamefast', +'rootfast', 'bedfast' (=bedridden), 'homefast', 'housefast', +'masterfast' (Skelton), with others, are all gone. 'Exhort' remains; but +'dehort' a word whose place neither 'dissuade' nor any other exactly +supplies, has escaped us{154}. We have 'twilight', but 'twibill' = +bipennis (Chapman) is extinct. + +Let me mention another real loss, where in like manner there remains in +the present language something to remind us of that which is gone. The +comparative 'rather' stands alone, having dropped on one side its +positive 'rathe'{155}, and on the other its superlative 'rathest'. +'Rathe', having the sense of early, though a graceful word, and not +fallen quite out of popular remembrance, inasmuch as it is embalmed in +the _Lycidas_ of Milton, + + "And the _rathe_ primrose, which forsaken dies", + +might still be suffered without remark to share the common lot of so many +words which have perished, though worthy to have lived; but the disuse +of 'rathest' has left a real gap in the language, and the more so, +seeing that 'liefest' is gone too. 'Rather' expresses the Latin 'potius'; +but 'rathest' being out of use, we have no word, unless 'soonest' may be +accepted as such, to express 'potissimum', or the preference not of one +way over another or over certain others, but of one over all; which we +therefore effect by aid of various circumlocutions. Nor has 'rathest' +been so long out of use, that it would be playing the antic to attempt +to revive it. It occurs in the _Sermons_ of Bishop Sanderson, who in the +opening of that beautiful sermon from the text, "When my father and my +mother forsake me, the Lord taketh me up", puts the consideration, "why +these", that is, father and mother, "are named the _rathest_, and the +rest to be included in them"{156}. + +It is sometimes easy enough, but indeed oftener hard, and not seldom +quite impossible, to trace the causes which have been at work to bring +about that certain words, little by little, drop out of the language of +men, come to be heard more and more rarely, and finally are not heard +any more at all--to trace the motives which have induced a whole people +thus to arrive at a tacit consent not to employ them any longer; for +without this tacit consent they could never have thus become obsolete. +That it is not accident, that there is a law here at work, however +hidden it may be from us, is plain from the fact that certain families +of words, words formed on certain patterns, have a tendency thus to fall +into desuetude. + +{Sidenote: _Words in '-some'_} + +Thus, I think, we may trace a tendency in words ending in 'some', the +Anglo-Saxon and early English 'sum', the German 'sam' ('friedsam', +'seltsam') to fall out of use. It is true that a vast number of these +survive, as 'gladsome', 'handsome', 'wearisome', 'buxom' (this last +spelt better 'bucksome', by our earlier writers, for its present +spelling altogether disguises its true character, and the family to +which it belongs); being the same word as the German 'beugsam' or +'biegsam', bendable, compliant{157}; but a larger number of these words +than can be ascribed to accident, many more than the due proportion of +them, are either quite or nearly extinct. Thus in Wiclif's Bible alone +you might note the following, 'lovesum', 'hatesum', 'lustsum', 'gilsum' +(guilesome), 'wealsum', 'heavysum', 'lightsum', 'delightsum'; of these +'lightsome' long survived, and indeed still survives in provincial +dialects; but of the others all save 'delightsome' are gone; and that, +although used in our Authorized Version (Mal. iii, 12), is now only +employed in poetry. So too 'mightsome' (see Coleridge's _Glossary_), +'brightsome' (Marlowe), 'wieldsome', and 'unwieldsome' (Golding), +'unlightsome' (Milton), 'healthsome' (_Homilies_), 'ugsome' and +'ugglesome' (both in Foxe), 'laboursome' (Shakespeare), 'friendsome', +'longsome' (Bacon), 'quietsome', 'mirksome' (both in Spenser), +'toothsome' (Beaumont and Fletcher), 'gleesome', 'joysome' (both in +Browne's _Pastorals_), 'gaysome' (_Mirror for Magistrates_), 'roomsome', +'bigsome', 'awesome', 'timersome', 'winsome', 'viewsome', 'dosome' +(=prosperous), 'flaysome' (=fearful), 'auntersome' (=adventurous), +'clamorsome' (all these still surviving in the North), 'playsome' +(employed by the historian Hume), 'lissome'{158}, have nearly or quite +disappeared from our English speech. They seem to have held their +ground in Scotland in considerably larger numbers than in the south of +the Island{159}. + +{Sidenote: _Words in '-ard'_} + +Neither can I esteem it a mere accident that of a group of depreciatory +and contemptuous words ending in 'ard', at least one half should have +dropped out of use; I refer to that group of which 'dotard', 'laggard', +'braggard', now spelt 'braggart', 'sluggard', 'buzzard', 'bastard', +'wizard', may be taken as surviving specimens; 'blinkard' (_Homilies_), +'dizzard' (Burton), 'dullard' (Udal), 'musard' (Chaucer), 'trichard' +(_Political Songs_), 'shreward' (Robert of Gloucester), 'ballard' (a +bald-headed man, Wiclif); 'puggard', 'stinkard' (Ben Jonson), 'haggard', +a worthless hawk, as extinct. + +Thus too there is a very curious province of our language, in which we +were once so rich, that extensive losses here have failed to make us +poor; so many of its words still surviving, even after as many or more +have disappeared. I refer to those double words which either contain +within themselves a strong rhyming modulation, such for example as +'willy-nilly', 'hocus-pocus', 'helter-skelter', 'tag-rag', 'namby-pamby', +'pell-mell', 'hodge-podge'; or with a slight difference from this, +though belonging to the same group, those of which the characteristic +feature is not this internal likeness with initial unlikeness, but +initial likeness with internal unlikeness; not rhyming, but strongly +alliterative, and in every case with a change of the interior vowel from +a weak into a strong, generally from _i_ into _a_ or _o_; as +'shilly-shally', 'mingle-mangle', 'tittle-tattle', 'prittle-prattle', +'riff-raff', 'see-saw', 'slip-slop'. No one who is not quite out of love +with the homelier yet more vigorous portions of the language, but will +acknowledge the life and strength which there is often in these and in +others still current among us. But of the same sort what vast numbers +have fallen out of use, some so fallen out of all remembrance that it +may be difficult almost to find credence for them. Thus take of rhyming +the following: 'hugger-mugger', 'hurly-burly', 'kicksy-wicksy' (all in +Shakespeare); 'hibber-gibber', 'rusty-dusty', 'horrel-lorrel', 'slaump +paump' (all in Gabriel Harvey), 'royster-doyster' (Old Play), +'hoddy-doddy' (Ben Jonson); while of alliterative might be instanced +these: 'skimble-skamble', 'bibble-babble' (both in Shakespeare), +'twittle-twattle', 'kim-kam' (both in Holland), 'hab-nab' (Lilly), +'trim-tram', 'trish-trash', 'swish-swash' (all in Gabriel Harvey), +'whim-wham' (Beaumont and Fletcher), 'mizz-mazz' (Locke), 'snip-snap' +(Pope), 'flim-flam' (Swift), 'tric-trac', and others{160}. + +{Sidenote: _Words under Ban_} + +Again, there was once a whole family of words whereof the greater number +are now under ban; which seemed at one time to have been formed almost +at pleasure, the only condition being that the combination should be a +happy one--I mean all those singularly expressive words formed by a +combination of verb and substantive, the former governing the latter; as +'telltale', 'scapegrace', 'turncoat', 'turntail', 'skinflint', +'spendthrift', 'spitfire', 'lickspittle', 'daredevil' (=wagehals), +'makebate' (=störenfried), 'marplot', 'killjoy'. These with a certain +number of others, have held their ground, and may be said to be still +more or less in use; but what a number more are forgotten; and yet, +though not always elegant, they constituted a very vigorous portion of +our language, and preserved some of its most genuine idioms{161}. It +could not well be otherwise; they are almost all words of abuse, and the +abusive words of a language are always among the most picturesque and +vigorous and imaginative which it possesses. The whole man speaks out in +them, and often the man under the influence of passion and excitement, +which always lend force and fire to his speech. Let me remind you of a +few of them; 'smellfeast', if not a better, is yet a more graphic, word +than our foreign parasite; as graphic indeed for us as {Greek: +trechedeipnos} to Greek ears; 'clawback' (Hackett) is a stronger, if not +a more graceful, word than flatterer or sycophant; 'tosspot' (Fuller), +or less frequently 'reel-pot' (Middleton), tells its own tale as well as +drunkard; and 'pinchpenny' (Holland), or 'nipfarthing' (Drant), as well +as or better than miser. And then what a multitude more there are in +like kind; 'spintext', 'lacklatin', 'mumblematins', all applied to +ignorant clerics; 'bitesheep' (a favourite word with Foxe) to such of +these as were rather wolves tearing, than shepherds feeding, the flock; +'slip-string' = pendard (Beaumont and Fletcher), 'slip-gibbet', +'scapegallows'; all names given to those who, however they might have +escaped, were justly owed to the gallows, and might still "go upstairs +to bed". + +{Sidenote: _Obsolete Compounds_} + +How many of these words occur in Shakespeare. The following list makes +no pretence to completeness; 'martext', 'carrytale', 'pleaseman', +'sneakcup', 'mumblenews', 'wantwit', 'lackbrain', 'lackbeard', +'lacklove', 'ticklebrain', 'cutpurse', 'cutthroat', 'crackhemp', +'breedbate', 'swinge-buckler', 'pickpurse', 'pickthank', 'picklock', +'scarecrow', 'breakvow', 'breakpromise', 'makepeace'--this last and +'telltruth' (Fuller) being the only ones in the whole collection wherein +reprobation or contempt is not implied. Nor is the list exhausted yet; +there are further 'dingthrift' = prodigal (Herrick), 'wastegood' +(Cotgrave), 'stroygood' (Golding), 'wastethrift' (Beaumont and +Fletcher), 'scapethrift', 'swashbuckler' (both in Holinshed), +'shakebuckler', 'rinsepitcher' (both in Bacon), 'crackrope' (Howell), +'waghalter', 'wagfeather' (both in Cotgrave), 'blabtale' (Racket), +'getnothing' (Adams), 'findfault' (Florio), 'tearthroat' (Gayton), +'marprelate', 'spitvenom', 'nipcheese', 'nipscreed', 'killman' +(Chapman), 'lackland', 'pickquarrel', 'pickfaults', 'pickpenny' (Henry +More), 'makefray' (Bishop Hall), 'make-debate' (Richardson's _Letters_), +'kindlecoal' (attise feu), 'kindlefire' (both in Gurnall), 'turntippet' +(Cranmer), 'swillbowl' (Stubbs), 'smell-smock', 'cumberwold' (Drayton), +'curryfavor', 'pinchfist', 'suckfist', 'hatepeace' (Sylvester), +'hategood' (Bunyan), 'clutchfist', 'sharkgull' (both in Middleton), +'makesport' (Fuller), 'hangdog' ("Herod's _hangdogs_ in the tapestry", +Pope), 'catchpoll', 'makeshift' (used not impersonally as now), +'pickgoose' ("the bookworm was never but a _pickgoose_"){162}, 'killcow' +(these three last in Gabriel Harvey), 'rakeshame' (Milton, prose), with +others which it will be convenient to omit. 'Rakehell', which used to be +spelt 'rakel' or 'rakle' (Chaucer), a good English word, would be only +through an error included in this list, although Cowper, when he writes +'rakehell' ("_rake-hell_ baronet") evidently regarded it as belonging to +this group{163}. + +{Sidenote: _Words become Vulgar_} + +Perhaps one of the most frequent causes which leads to the disuse of +words is this: in some inexplicable way there comes to be attached +something of ludicrous, or coarse, or vulgar to them, out of a feeling +of which they are no longer used in earnest serious writing, and at the +same time fall out of the discourse of those who desire to speak +elegantly. Not indeed that this degradation which overtakes words is in +all cases inexplicable. The unheroic character of most men's minds, with +their consequent intolerance of that heroic which they cannot +understand, is constantly at work, too often with success, in taking +down words of nobleness from their high pitch; and, as the most +effectual way of doing this, in casting an air of mock-heroic about +them. Thus 'to dub', a word resting on one of the noblest usages of +chivalry, has now something of ludicrous about it; so too has 'doughty'; +they belong to that serio-comic, mock-heroic diction, the multiplication +of which, as of all parodies on greatness, and the favour with which it +is received, is always a sign of evil augury for a nation, is at present +a sign of evil augury for our own. + +'Pate' in the sense of head is now comic or ignoble; it was not so once; +as is plain from its occurrence in the Prayer Book Version of the Psalms +(Ps. vii. 17); as little was 'noddle', which occurs in one of the few +poetical passages in Hawes. The same may be said of 'sconce', in this +sense at least; of 'nowl' or 'noll', which Wiclif uses; of 'slops' for +trousers (Marlowe's _Lucan_); of 'cocksure' (Rogers), of 'smug', which +once meant no more than adorned ("the _smug_ bridegroom", Shakespeare). +'To nap' is now a word without dignity; while yet in Wiclif's Bible it +is said, "Lo he schall not _nappe_, nether slepe that kepeth Israel" +(Ps. cxxi. 4). 'To punch', 'to thump', both of which, and in serious +writing, occur in Spenser, could not now obtain the same use, nor yet +'to wag', or 'to buss'. Neither would any one now say that at Lystra +Barnabas and Paul "rent their clothes and _skipped out_ among the +people" (Acts xiv. 14), which is the language that Wiclif employs; nor +yet that "the Lord _trounced_ Sisera and all his host" as it stands in +the Bible of 1551. "A _sight_ of angels", for which phrase see Cranmer's +Bible (Heb. xii. 22), would be felt as a vulgarism now. We should +scarcely call now a delusion of Satan a "_flam_ of the devil" (Henry +More). It is not otherwise in regard of phrases. "Through thick and +thin", occurring in Spenser, "cheek by jowl" in Dubartas{164}, do not +now belong to serious poetry. In the glorious ballad of _Chevy Chase_, a +noble warrior whose legs are hewn off, is described as being "in doleful +dumps"; just as, in Holland's _Livy_, the Romans are set forth as being +"in the dumps" as a consequence of their disastrous defeat at Cannæ. In +Golding's _Ovid_, one fears that he will "go to pot". In one of the +beautiful letters of John Careless, preserved in Foxe's _Martyrs_, a +persecutor, who expects a recantation from him, is described as "in the +wrong box". And in the sermons of Barrow, who certainly intended to +write an elevated style, and did not seek familiar, still less vulgar, +expressions, we constantly meet such terms as 'to rate', 'to snub', 'to +gull', 'to pudder', 'dumpish', and the like; which we may confidently +affirm were not vulgar when he used them. + +Then too the advance of refinement causes words to be forgone, which are +felt to speak too plainly. It is not here merely that one age has more +delicate ears than another; and that matters are freely spoken of at one +time which at another are withdrawn from conversation. This is +something; but besides this, and even if this delicacy were at a +standstill, there would still be a continual process going on, by which +the words, which for a certain while have been employed to designate +coarse or disagreeable facts or things, would be disallowed, or at all +events relinquished to the lower class of society, and others adopted in +their place. The former by long use being felt to have come into too +direct and close relation with that which they designate, to summon it +up too distinctly before the mind's eye, they are thereupon exchanged +for others, which, at first at least, indicate more lightly and +allusively the offensive thing, rather hint and suggest than paint and +describe it: although by and by these new will also in their turn be +discarded, and for exactly the same reasons which brought about the +dismissal of those which they themselves superseded. It lies in the +necessity of things that I must leave this part of my subject, very +curious as it is, without illustration{165}. But no one, even +moderately acquainted with the early literature of the Reformation, can +be ignorant of words freely used in it, which now are not merely coarse +and as such under ban, but which no one would employ who did not mean to +speak impurely and vilely. + + * * * * * + +{Sidenote: _Lost Powers of a Language_} + +Thus much in respect of the words, and the character of the words, which +we have lost or let go. Of these, indeed, if a language, as it travels +onwards, loses some, it also acquires others, and probably many more +than it loses; they are leaves on the tree of language, of which if some +fall away, a new succession takes their place. But it is not so, as I +already observed, with the _forms_ or _powers_ of a language, that is, +with the various inflections, moods, duplicate or triplicate formation +of tenses; which the speakers of a language come gradually to perceive +that they can do without, and therefore cease to employ; seeking to +suppress grammatical intricacies, and to obtain grammatical simplicity +and so far as possible a pervading uniformity, sometimes even at the +hazard of letting go what had real worth, and contributed to the more +lively, if not to the clearer, setting forth of the inner thought or +feeling of the mind. Here there is only loss, with no compensating gain; +or, at all events, diminution only, and never addition. In regard of +these inner forces and potencies of a language, there is no creative +energy at work in its later periods, in any, indeed, but quite the +earliest. They are not as the leaves, but may be likened to the stem and +leading branches of a tree, whose shape, mould and direction are +determined at a very early stage of its growth; and which age, or +accident, or violence may diminish, but which can never be multiplied. I +have already slightly referred to a notable example of this, namely, to +the dropping of the dual number in the Greek language. Thus in all the +New Testament it does not once occur, having quite fallen out of the +common dialect in which that is composed. Elsewhere too it has been felt +that the dual was not worth preserving, or at any rate, that no serious +inconvenience would follow on its loss. There is no such number in the +modern German, Danish or Swedish; in the old German and Norse there was. + +{Sidenote: _Extinction of Powers_} + +How many niceties, delicacies, subtleties of language, _we_, speakers of +the English tongue, in the course of centuries have got rid of; how bare +(whether too bare is another question) we have stripped ourselves; what +simplicity for better or for worse reigns in the present English, as +compared with the old Anglo-Saxon. That had six declensions, our present +English but one; that had three genders, English, if we except one or +two words, has none; that formed the genitive in a variety of ways, we +only in one; and the same fact meets us, wherever we compare the +grammars of the two languages. At the same time, it can scarcely be +repeated too often, that in the estimate of the gain or loss thereupon +ensuing, we must by no means put certainly to loss everything which the +language has dismissed, any more than everything to gain which it has +acquired. It is no real wealth in a language to have needless and +superfluous forms. They are often an embarrassment and an encumbrance to +it rather than a help. The Finnish language has fourteen cases. Without +pretending to know exactly what it is able to effect, I yet feel +confident that it cannot effect more, nor indeed so much, with its +fourteen as the Greek is able to do with its five. It therefore seems to +me that some words of Otfried Müller, in many ways admirable, do yet +exaggerate the losses consequent on the reduction of the forms of a +language. "It may be observed", he says, "that in the lapse of ages, +from the time that the progress of language can be observed, grammatical +forms, such as the signs of cases, moods and tenses have never been +increased in number, but have been constantly diminishing. The history +of the Romance, as well as of the Germanic, languages shows in the +clearest manner how a grammar, once powerful and copious, has been +gradually weakened and impoverished, until at last it preserves only a +few fragments of its ancient inflections. Now there is no doubt that +this luxuriance of grammatical forms is not an essential part of a +language, considered merely as a vehicle of thought. It is well known +that the Chinese language, which is merely a collection of radical words +destitute of grammatical forms, can express even philosophical ideas +with tolerable precision; and the English, which, from the mode of its +formation by a mixture of different tongues, has been stripped of its +grammatical inflections more completely than any other European +language, seems, nevertheless, even to a foreigner, to be distinguished +by its energetic eloquence. All this must be admitted by every +unprejudiced inquirer; but yet it cannot be overlooked, that this +copiousness of grammatical forms, and the fine shades of meaning which +they express, evince a nicety of observation, and a faculty of +distinguishing, which unquestionably prove that the race of mankind +among whom these languages arose was characterized by a remarkable +correctness and subtlety of thought. Nor can any modern European, who +forms in his mind a lively image of the classical languages in their +ancient grammatical luxuriance, and compares them with his mother +tongue, conceal from himself that in the ancient languages the words, +with their inflections, clothed as it were with muscles and sinews, come +forward like living bodies, full of expression and character, while in +the modern tongues the words seem shrunk up into mere skeletons"{166}. + +{Sidenote: _Words in '-ess'_} + +Whether languages are as much impoverished by this process as is here +assumed, may, I think, be a question. I will endeavour to give you some +materials which shall assist you in forming your own judgment in the +matter. And here I am sure that I shall do best in considering not forms +which the language has relinquished long ago, but mainly such as it is +relinquishing now; which, touching us more nearly, will have a far more +lively interest for us all. For example, the female termination which +we employ in certain words, such as from 'heir' 'heiress', from +'prophet' 'prophetess', from 'sorcerer' 'sorceress', was once far more +widely extended than at present; the words which retain it are daily +becoming fewer. It has already fallen away in so many, and is evidently +becoming of less frequent use in so many others, that, if we may augur +of the future from the analogy of the past, it will one day altogether +vanish from our tongue. Thus all these occur in Wiclif's Bible; +'techeress' as the female teacher (2 Chron. xxxv. 25); 'friendess' +(Prov. vii. 4); 'servantess' (Gen. xvi. 2); 'leperess' (=saltatrix, +Ecclus. ix. 4); 'daunceress' (Ecclus. ix. 4); 'neighbouress' (Exod. iii. +22); 'sinneress' (Luke vii. 37); 'purpuress' (Acts xvi. 14); 'cousiness' +(Luke i. 36); 'slayeress' (Tob. iii. 9); 'devouress' (Ezek. xxxvi. 13); +'spousess' (Prov. v. 19); 'thralless' (Jer. xxxiv. 16); 'dwelleress' +(Jer. xxi. 13); 'waileress' (Jer. ix. 17); 'cheseress' (=electrix, Wisd. +viii. 4); 'singeress', 'breakeress', 'waiteress', this last indeed +having recently come up again. Add to these 'chideress', the female +chider, 'herdess', 'constabless', 'moveress', 'jangleress', 'soudaness' +(=sultana), 'guideress', 'charmeress' (all in Chaucer); and others, +which however we may have now let them fall, reached to far later +periods of the language; thus 'vanqueress' (Fabyan); 'poisoneress' +(Greneway); 'knightess' (Udal); 'pedleress', 'championess', 'vassaless', +'avengeress', 'warriouress', 'victoress', 'creatress' (all in Spenser); +'fornicatress', 'cloistress', 'jointress' (all in Shakespeare); +'vowess' (Holinshed); 'ministress', 'flatteress' (both in Holland); +'captainess' (Sidney); 'saintess' (Sir T. Urquhart); 'heroess', +'dragoness', 'butleress', 'contendress', 'waggoness', 'rectress' (all in +Chapman); 'shootress' (Fairfax); 'archeress' (Fanshawe); 'clientess', +'pandress' (both in Middleton); 'papess', 'Jesuitess' (Bishop Hall); +'incitress' (Gayton); 'soldieress', 'guardianess', 'votaress' (all in +Beaumont and Fletcher); 'comfortress', 'fosteress' (Ben Jonson); +'soveraintess' (Sylvester); 'preserveress' (Daniel); 'solicitress', +'impostress', 'buildress', 'intrudress' (all in Fuller); 'favouress' +(Hakewell); 'commandress' (Burton); 'monarchess', 'discipless' (Speed); +'auditress', 'cateress', 'chantress', 'tyranness' (all in Milton); +'citess', 'divineress' (both in Dryden); 'deaness' (Sterne); +'detractress' (Addison); 'hucksteress' (Howell); 'tutoress' +(Shaftesbury); 'farmeress' (Lord Peterborough, _Letter to Pope_); +'laddess', which however still survives in the contracted form of +'lass'{167}; with more which, I doubt not, it would not be very hard to +bring together{168}. + +{Sidenote: _Words in '-ster'_} + +Exactly the same thing has happened with another feminine affix. I refer +to 'ster', taking the place of 'er' where a feminine doer is +intended{169}. 'Spinner' and 'spinster' are the only pair of such +words, which still survive. There were formerly many such; thus 'baker' +had 'bakester', being the female who baked: 'brewer' 'brewster'; 'sewer' +'sewster'; 'reader' 'readster'; 'seamer' 'seamster'; 'fruiterer' +'fruitester'; 'tumbler' 'tumblester'; 'hopper' 'hoppester' (these last +three in Chaucer; "the shippes _hoppesteres_", about which so much +difficulty has been made, are the ships _dancing_, i.e., on the +waves){170}, 'knitter' 'knitster' (a word, I am told, still alive in +Devon). Add to these 'whitster' (female bleacher, Shakespeare), +'kempster' (pectrix), 'dryster' (siccatrix), 'brawdster', (I suppose +embroideress){171}, and 'salster' (salinaria){172}. It is a singular +example of the richness of a language in forms at the earlier stages of +its existence, that not a few of the words which had, as we have just +seen, a feminine termination in 'ess', had also a second in 'ster'. Thus +'daunser', beside 'daunseress', had also 'daunster' (Ecclus. ix. 4); +'wailer', beside 'waileress', had 'wailster' (Jer. ix. 17); 'dweller' +'dwelster' (Jer. xxi. 13); and 'singer' 'singster' (2 Kin. xix. 35); so +too, 'chider' had 'chidester' (Chaucer), as well as 'chideress', +'slayer' 'slayster' (Tob. iii. 9), as well as 'slayeress', 'chooser' +'chesister', (Wisd. viii. 4), as well as 'cheseress', with others that +might be named. + +{Sidenote: _Deceptive Analogies_} + +It is difficult to understand how Marsh, with these examples before him +should affirm, "I find no positive evidence to show that the termination +'ster' was ever regarded as a feminine termination in English". It may +be, and indeed has been, urged that the existence of such words as +'seamstr_ess_', 'songstr_ess_', is decisive proof that the ending 'ster' +of itself was not counted sufficient to designate persons as female; for +if, it has been said, 'seam_ster_' and 'song_ster_' had been felt to be +already feminine, no one would have ever thought of doubling on this, +and adding a second female termination; 'seam_stress_', 'song_stress_'. +But all which can justly be concluded from hence is, that when this +final 'ess' was added to these already feminine forms, and examples of +it will not, I think, be found till a comparatively late period of the +language, the true principle and law of the words had been lost sight of +and forgotten{173}. The same may be affirmed of such other of these +feminine forms as are now applied to men, such as 'gamester', +'youngster', 'oldster', 'drugster' (South), 'huckster', 'hackster', +(=swordsman, Milton, prose), 'teamster', 'throwster', 'rhymester', +'punster' (_Spectator_), 'tapster', 'whipster' (Shakespeare), +'trickster'. Either, like 'teamster', and 'punster', the words first +came into being, when the true significance of this form was altogether +lost{174}; or like 'tapster', which was female in Chaucer ("the gay +_tapstere_"), as it is still in Dutch and Frisian, and distinguished +from 'tapper', the _man_ who keeps the inn, or has charge of the tap, or +as 'bakester', at this day used in Scotland for 'baker', as 'dyester' +for 'dyer', the word did originally belong of right and exclusively to +women; but with the gradual transfer of the occupation to men, and an +increasing forgetfulness of what this termination implied, there went +also a transfer of the name{175}, just as in other words, and out of +the same causes, the exact converse has found place; and 'baker' or +'brewer', not 'bakester' or 'brewster'{176}, would be now in England +applied to the woman baking or brewing. So entirely has this power of +the language died out, that it survives more apparently than really even +in 'spinner' and 'spinster'; seeing that 'spinster' has obtained now +quite another meaning than that of a woman spinning, whom, as well as +the man, we should call not a 'spinster', but a 'spinner'{177}. It would +indeed be hard to believe, if we had not constant experience of the +fact, how soon and how easily the true law and significance of some +form, which has never ceased to be in everybody's mouth, may yet be lost +sight of by all. No more curious chapter in the history of language +could be written than one which should trace the violations of analogy, +the transgressions of the most primary laws of a language, which follow +hereupon; the plurals like 'welkin' (=wolken, the clouds){178}, +'chicken'{179}, which are dealt with as singulars, the singulars, like +'riches' (richesse){180}, 'pease' (pisum, pois){181}, 'alms', +'eaves'{182}, which are assumed to be plurals. + +{Sidenote: _The Genitival Inflexion '-s'_} + +There is one example of this, familiar to us all; probably so familiar +that it would not be worth while adverting to it, if it did not +illustrate, as no other word could, this forgetfulness which may +overtake a whole people, of the true meaning of a grammatical form which +they have never ceased to employ. I refer to the mistaken assumption +that the 's' of the genitive, as 'the king's countenance', was merely a +more rapid way of pronouncing 'the king _his_ countenance', and that the +final 's' in 'king's' was in fact an elided 'his'. This explanation for +a long time prevailed almost universally; I believe there are many who +accept it still. It was in vain that here and there a deeper knower of +our tongue protested against this "monstrous syntax", as Ben Jonson in +his _Grammar_ justly calls it{183}. It was in vain that Wallis, another +English scholar of the seventeenth century, pointed out in _his_ Grammar +that the slightest examination of the facts revealed the untenable +character of this explanation, seeing that we do not merely say "the +_king's_ countenance", but "the _queen's_ countenance"; and in this case +the final 's' cannot stand for 'his', for "the queen _his_ countenance" +cannot be intended{184}; we do not say merely "the _child's_ bread", but +"the _children's_ bread", where it is no less impossible to resolve the +phrase into "the children _his_ bread"{185}. Despite of these protests +the error held its ground. This much indeed of a plea it could make for +itself, that such an actual employment of 'his' _had_ found its way +into the language, as early as the fourteenth century, and had been in +occasional, though rare use, from that time downward{186}. Yet this, +which has only been elicited by the researches of recent scholars, does +not in the least justify those who assumed that in the habitual 's' of +the genitive were to be found the remains of 'his'--an error from which +the books of scholars in the seventeenth, and in the early decades of +the eighteenth, century are not a whit clearer than those of others. +Spenser, Donne, Fuller, Jeremy Taylor, all fall into it; I cannot say +confidently whether Milton does. Dryden more than once helps out his +verse with an additional syllable gained by its aid. It has even forced +its way into our Prayer Book itself, where in the "Prayer for all sorts +and conditions of men", added by Bishop Sanderson at the last revision +of the Liturgy in 1661, we are bidden to say, "And this we beg for Jesus +Christ _his_ sake"{187}. I need hardly tell you that this 's' is in fact +the one remnant of flexion surviving in the singular number of our +English noun substantives; it is in all the Indo-Germanic languages the +original sign of the genitive, or at any rate the earliest of which we +can take cognizance; and just as in Latin 'lapis' makes 'lapidis' in the +genitive, so 'king', 'queen', 'child', make severally 'kings', 'queens', +'childs', the comma, an apparent note of elision, being a mere modern +expedient, "a late refinement", as Ash calls it{188}, to distinguish the +genitive singular from the plural cases{189}. + +{Sidenote: _Adjectives in '-en'_} + +Notice another example of this willingness to dispense with inflection, +of this endeavour on the part of the speakers of a language to reduce +its forms to the fewest possible, consistent with the accurate +communication of thought. Of our adjectives in 'en', formed on +substantives, and expressing the material or substance of a thing, some +have gone, others are going, out of use; while we content ourselves with +the bare juxtaposition of the substantive itself, as sufficiently +expressing our meaning. Thus instead of "_golden_ pin" we say "_gold_ +pin"; instead of "_earthen_ works" we say "_earth_ works". 'Golden' and +'earthen', it is true, still belong to our living speech, though mainly +as part of our poetic diction, or of the solemn and thus stereotyped +language of Scripture; but a whole company of such words have nearly or +quite disappeared; some lately, some long ago. 'Steelen' and 'flowren' +belong only to the earliest period of the language; 'rosen' also went +early. Chaucer is my latest authority for it ("_rosen_ chapelet"). +'Hairen' is in Wiclif and in Chaucer; 'stonen' in the former (John iii. +6){190}. 'Silvern' stood originally in Wiclif's Bible ("_silverne_ +housis to Diane", Acts xix. 24); but already in the second recension of +this was exchanged for 'silver'; 'hornen', still in provincial use, he +also employs, and 'clayen' (Job iv. 19) no less. 'Tinnen' occurs in +Sylvester's _Du Bartas_; where also we meet with "Jove's _milken_ +alley", as a name for the _Via Lactea_, in Bacon also not "the _Milky_", +but "the _Milken_ Way". In the coarse polemics of the Reformation the +phrase, "_breaden_ god", provoked by the Romish doctrine of +transubstantiation, was of frequent employment, and occurs as late as in +Oldham. "_Mothen_ parchments" is in Fulke; "_twiggen_ bottle" in +Shakespeare; '_yewen_', or, according to earlier spelling, "_ewghen_ +bow", in Spenser; "_cedarn_ alley", and "_azurn_ sheen" are both in +Milton; "_boxen_ leaves" in Dryden; "a _treen_ cup" in Jeremy Taylor; +"_eldern_ popguns" in Sir Thomas Overbury; "a _glassen_ breast", in +Whitlock; "a _reeden_ hat" in Coryat; 'yarnen' occurs in Turberville; +'furzen' in Holland; 'threaden' in Shakespeare; and 'bricken', 'papern' +appear in our provincial glossaries as still in use. + +It is true that many of these adjectives still hold their ground; but +it is curious to note how the roots which sustain even these are being +gradually cut away from beneath them. Thus 'brazen' might at first sight +seem as strongly established in the language as ever; it is far from so +being; its supports are being cut from beneath it. Even now it only +lives in a tropical and secondary sense, as 'a _brazen_ face'; or if in +a literal, in poetic diction or in the consecrated language of +Scripture, as 'the _brazen_ serpent'; otherwise we say 'a _brass_ +farthing', 'a _brass_ candlestick'. It is the same with 'oaten', +'birchen', 'beechen', 'strawen', and many more, whereof some are +obsolescent, some obsolete, the language manifestly tending now, as it +has tended for a long time past, to the getting quit of these, and to +the satisfying of itself with an adjectival apposition of the +substantive in their stead. + +{Sidenote: _Weak and Strong Præterites_} + +Let me illustrate by another example the way in which a language, as it +travels onward, simplifies itself, approaches more and more to a +grammatical and logical uniformity, seeks to do the same thing always in +the same manner; where it has two or three ways of conducting a single +operation, lets all of them go but one; and thus becomes, no doubt, +easier to be mastered, more handy, more manageable; for its very riches +were to many an embarrassment and a perplexity; but at the same time +imposes limits and restraints on its own freedom of action, and is in +danger of forfeiting elements of strength, variety and beauty, which it +once possessed. I refer to the tendency of our verbs to let go their +strong præterites, and to substitute weak ones in their room; or, where +they have two or three præterites, to retain only one of them, and that +invariably the weak one. Though many of us no doubt are familiar with +the terms 'strong' and 'weak' præterites, which in all our better +grammars have put out of use the wholly misleading terms, 'irregular' +and 'regular', I may perhaps as well remind you of the exact meaning of +the terms. A strong præterite is one formed by an internal vowel change; +for instance the verb 'to _drive_' forms the præterite '_drove_' by an +internal change of the vowel 'i' into 'o'. But why, it may be asked, +called 'strong'? In respect of the vigour and indwelling energy in the +word, enabling it to form its past tense from its own resources, and +with no calling in of help from without. On the other hand 'lift' forms +its præterite 'lift_ed_', not by any internal change, but by the +addition of 'ed'; 'grieve' in like manner has 'griev_ed_'. Here are weak +tenses; as strength was ascribed to the other verbs, so weakness to +these, which can form their præterites only by external aid and +addition. You will see at once that these strong præterites, while they +witness to a vital energy in the words which are able to put them forth, +do also, as must be allowed by all, contribute much to the variety and +charm of a language{191}. + +The point, however, which I am urging now is this,--that these are +becoming fewer every day; multitudes of them having disappeared, while +others are in the act of disappearing. Nor is the balance redressed and +compensation found in any new creations of the kind. The power of +forming strong præterites is long ago extinct; probably no verb which +has come into the language since the Conquest has asserted this power, +while a whole legion have let it go. For example, 'shape' has now a weak +præterite, 'shaped', it had once a strong one, 'shope'; 'bake' has now a +weak præterite, 'baked', it had once a strong one, 'boke'; the præterite +of 'glide' is now 'glided', it was once 'glode' or 'glid'; 'help' makes +now 'helped', it made once 'halp' and 'holp'. 'Creep' made 'crope', +still current in the north of England; 'weep' 'wope'; 'yell' 'yoll' +(both in Chaucer); 'seethe' 'soth' or 'sod' (Gen. xxv. 29); 'sheer' in +like manner once made 'shore'; as 'leap' made 'lope'; 'wash' 'wishe' +(Chaucer); 'snow' 'snew'; 'sow' 'sew'; 'delve' 'dalf' and 'dolve'; +'sweat' 'swat'; 'yield' 'yold' (both in Spenser); 'mete' 'mat' (Wiclif); +'stretch' 'straught'; 'melt' 'molt'; 'wax' 'wex' and 'wox'; 'laugh' +'leugh'; with others more than can be enumerated here{192}. + +{Sidenote: _Strong Præterites_} + +Observe further that where verbs have not actually renounced their +strong præterites, and contented themselves with weak in their room, +yet, once possessing two, or, it might be three of these strong, they +now retain only one. The others, on the principle of dismissing whatever +can be dismissed, they have let go. Thus 'chide' had once 'chid' and +'chode', but though 'chode' is in our Bible (Gen. xxxi. 36), it has not +maintained itself in our speech; 'sling' had 'slung' and 'slang' (1 Sam. +xvii. 49); only 'slung' remains; 'fling' had once 'flung' and 'flang'; +'strive' had 'strove' and 'strave'; 'stick' had 'stuck' and 'stack'; +'hang' had 'hung' and 'hing' (Golding); 'tread' had 'trod' and 'trad'; +'choose' had 'chose' and 'chase'; 'give' had 'gave' and 'gove'; 'lead' +had 'led' 'lad' and 'lode'; 'write' had 'wrote' 'writ' and 'wrate'. In +all these cases, and more might easily be cited, only [of] the +præterites which I have named the first remains in use. + +Observe too that in every instance where a conflict is now going on +between weak and strong forms, which shall continue, the battle is not +to the strong; on the contrary the weak is carrying the day, is getting +the better of its stronger competitor. Thus 'climbed' is gaining the +upper hand of 'clomb', 'swelled' of 'swoll', 'hanged' of 'hung'. It is +not too much to anticipate that a time will come, although it may be +still far off, when all English verbs will form their præterites weakly; +not without serious damage to the fulness and force which in this +respect the language even now displays, and once far more eminently +displayed{193}. + +{Sidenote: _Comparatives and Superlatives_} + +Take another proof of this tendency in our own language to drop its +forms and renounce its own inherent powers; though here also the +renunciation, threatening one day to be complete, is only partial at the +present. I refer to the formation of our comparatives and superlatives; +and I will ask you again to observe here that curious law of language, +namely, that wherever there are two or more ways of attaining the same +result, there is always a disposition to drop and dismiss all of these +but one, so that the alternative or choice of ways once existing, shall +not exist any more. If only it can attain a greater simplicity, it seems +to grudge no self-impoverishment by which this result may be brought +about. We have two ways of forming our comparatives and superlatives, +one dwelling in the word itself, which we have inherited from our old +Gothic stock, as 'bright', 'bright_er_', 'bright_est_', the other +supplementary to this, by prefixing the auxiliaries 'more' and 'most'. +The first, organic we might call it, the indwelling power of the word to +mark its own degrees, must needs be esteemed the more excellent way; +which yet, already disallowed in almost all adjectives of more than two +syllables in length, is daily becoming of narrower and more restrained +application. Compare in this matter our present with our past. Wiclif +for example forms such comparatives as 'grievouser', 'gloriouser', +'patienter', 'profitabler', such superlatives as 'grievousest', +'famousest'; this last occurring also in Bacon. We meet in Tyndale, +'excellenter', 'miserablest'; in Shakespeare, 'violentest'; in Gabriel +Harvey, 'vendiblest', 'substantialest', 'insolentest'; in Rogers, +'insufficienter', 'goldener'; in Beaumont and Fletcher, 'valiantest'. +Milton uses 'virtuosest', and in prose 'vitiosest', 'elegantest', +'artificialest', 'servilest', 'sheepishest', 'resolutest', 'sensualest'; +Fuller has 'fertilest'; Baxter 'tediousest'; Butler 'preciousest', +'intolerablest'; Burnet 'copiousest', Gray 'impudentest'. Of these +forms, and it would be easy to adduce almost any number, we should +hardly employ any now. In participles and adverbs in 'ly', these organic +comparatives and superlatives hardly survive at all. We do not say +'willinger' or 'lovinger', and still less 'flourishingest', or +'shiningest', or 'surmountingest', all which Gabriel Harvey, a foremost +master of the English of his time, employs; 'plenteouslyer', 'fulliest' +(Wiclif), 'easiliest' (Fuller), 'plainliest' (Dryden), would be all +inadmissible at present. + +In the manifest tendency of English at the present moment to reduce the +number of words in which this more vigorous scheme of expressing degrees +is allowed, we must recognize an evidence that the energy which the +language had in its youth is in some measure abating, and the stiffness +of age overtaking it. Still it is with us here only as it is with all +languages, in which at a certain time of their life auxiliary words, +leaving the main word unaltered, are preferred to inflections of this +last. Such preference makes itself ever more strongly felt; and, judging +from analogy, I cannot doubt that a day, however distant now, will +arrive, when the only way of forming comparatives and superlatives in +the English language will be by prefixing 'more' and 'most'; or, if the +other survive, it will be in poetry alone. + +It will fare not otherwise, as I am bold to predict, with the flexional +genitive, formed in 's' or 'es' (see p. 161). This too will finally +disappear altogether from the language, or will survive only in poetry, +and as much an archaic form there as the 'pictaï' of Virgil. A time will +come when it will not any longer be free to say, as now, either, "_the +king's sons_", or "_the sons of the king_", but when the latter will be +the only admissible form. Tokens of this are already evident. The region +in which the alternative forms are equally good is narrowing. We should +not now any more write, "When _man's son_ shall come" (Wiclif), but +"When _the Son of man_ shall come", nor yet, "_The hypocrite's hope_ +shall perish" (Job viii. 13, Authorized Version), but, "_The hope of the +hypocrite_ shall perish"; not with Barrow, "No man can be ignorant _of +human life's brevity and uncertainty_", but "No man can be ignorant _of +the brevity and uncertainty of human life_". The consummation which I +anticipate may be centuries off, but will assuredly arrive{194}. + +{Sidenote: _Lost Diminutives_} + +Then too diminutives are fast disappearing from the language. If we +desire to express smallness, we prefer to do it by an auxiliary word; +thus a little fist, and not a 'fistock' (Golding), a little lad, and not +a 'ladkin', a little worm, rather than a 'wormling' (Sylvester). It is +true that of diminutives very many still survive, in all our four +terminations of such, as 'hillock', 'streamlet', 'lambkin', 'gosling'; +but those which have perished are many more. Where now is 'kingling' +(Holland), 'whimling' (Beaumont and Fletcher), 'godling', 'loveling', +'dwarfling', 'shepherdling' (all in Sylvester), 'chasteling' (Bacon), +'niceling' (Stubbs), 'fosterling' (Ben Johnson), and 'masterling'? Where +now 'porelet' (=paupercula, Isai. x. 30, Vulg.), 'bundelet', (both in +Wiclif); 'cushionet' (Henry More), 'havenet', or little 'haven', +'pistolet', 'bulkin' (Holland), and a hundred more? Even of those which +remain many are putting off, or have long since put off, their +diminutive sense; a 'pocket' being no longer a _small_ poke, nor a +'latchet' a _small_ lace, nor a 'trumpet' a small _trump_, as once they +were. + +{Sidenote: _Thou and Thee_} + +Once more--in the entire dropping among the higher classes of 'thou', +except in poetry or in addresses to the Deity, and as a necessary +consequence, the dropping also of the second singular of the verb with +its strongly marked flexion, as 'lovest', 'lovedst', we have another +example of a force once existing in the language, which has been, or is +being, allowed to expire. In the seventeenth century 'thou' in English, +as at the present 'du' in German, 'tu' in French, was the sign of +familiarity, whether that familiarity was of love, or of contempt and +scorn{195}. It was not unfrequently the latter. Thus at Sir Walter +Raleigh's trial (1603), Coke, when argument and evidence failed him, +insulted the defendant by applying to him the term 'thou':--"All that +Lord Cobham did was at _thy_ instigation, _thou_ viper, for I _thou_ +thee, _thou_ traitor". And when Sir Toby Belch in _Twelfth Night_ is +urging Sir Andrew Aguecheek to send a sufficiently provocative challenge +to Viola, he suggests to him that he "taunt him with the licence of ink; +if thou _thou'st_ him some thrice, it shall not be amiss". To keep this +in mind will throw much light on one peculiarity of the Quakers, and +give a certain dignity to it, as once maintained, which at present it is +very far from possessing. However needless and unwise their +determination to 'thee' and 'thou' the whole world was, yet this had a +significance. It was not, as now to us it seems, and, through the silent +changes which language has undergone, as now it indeed is, a gratuitous +departure from the ordinary usage of society. Right or wrong, it meant +something, and had an ethical motive: being indeed a testimony upon +their parts, however misplaced, that they would not have high or great +or rich men's persons in admiration; nor give the observance to some +which they withheld from others. It was a testimony too which cost them +something; at present we can very little understand the amount of +courage which this 'thou-ing' and 'thee-ing' of all men must have +demanded on their parts, nor yet the amount of indignation and offence +which it stirred up in them who were not aware of, or would not allow +for, the scruples which obliged them to it{196}. It is, however, in its +other aspect that we must chiefly regret the dying out of the use of +'thou'--that is, as the pledge of peculiar intimacy and special +affection, as between husband and wife, parents and children, and such +other as might be knit together by bands of more than common affection. + +{Sidenote: _Gender Words_} + +I have preferred during this lecture to find my theme in changes which +are now going forward in English, but I cannot finish it without drawing +one illustration from its remoter periods, and bidding you to note a +force not now waning and failing from it, but extinct long ago. I +cannot well pass it by; being as it is by far the boldest step which in +this direction of simplification the English language has at any time +taken. I refer to the renouncing of the distribution of its nouns into +masculine, feminine, and neuter, as in German, or even into masculine +and feminine, as in French; and with this, and as a necessary +consequence of this, the dropping of any flexional modification in the +adjectives connected with them. Natural _sex_ of course remains, being +inherent in all language; but grammatical _gender_, with the exception +of 'he', 'she', and 'it', and perhaps one or two other fragmentary +instances, the language has altogether forgone. An example will make +clear the distinction between these. Thus it is not the word 'poetess' +which is _feminine_, but the person indicated who is _female_. So too +'daughter', 'queen', are in English not _feminine_ nouns, but nouns +designating _female_ persons. Take on the contrary 'filia' or 'regina', +'fille' or 'reine'; there you have _feminine_ nouns as well as _female_ +persons. I need hardly say to you that we did not inherit this +simplicity from others, but, like the Danes, in so far as they have done +the like, have made it for ourselves. Whether we turn to the Latin, or, +which is for us more important, to the old Gothic, we find gender; and +in all daughter languages which have descended from the Latin, in most +of those which have descended from the ancient Gothic stock, it is fully +established to this day. The practical, business-like character of the +English mind asserted itself in the rejection of a distinction, which in +a vast proportion of words, that is, in all which are the signs of +_inanimate_ objects, and as such incapable of sex, rested upon a +fiction, and had no ground in the real nature of things. It is only by +an act and effort of the imagination that sex, and thus gender, can be +attributed to a table, a ship, or a tree; and there are aspects, this +being one, in which the English is among the least imaginative of all +languages even while it has been employed in some of the mightiest works +of imagination which the world has ever seen{197}. + +What, it may be asked, is the meaning and explanation of all this? It is +that at certain earlier periods of a nation's life its genius is +synthetic, and at later becomes analytic. At earlier periods all is by +synthesis; and men love to contemplate the thing, and the mode of the +thing, together, as a single idea, bound up in one. But a time arrives +when the intellectual obtains the upper hand of the imaginative, when +the tendency of those that speak the language is to analyse, to +distinguish between these two, and not only to distinguish but to +divide, to have one word for the thing itself, and another for the +quality of the thing; and this, as it would appear, is true not of some +languages only, but of all. + + +{FOOTNOTES} + +{128} [Apparently a slip for 'ebb'] + +{129} It is still used in prose as late as the age of Henry VIII; see + the _State Papers_, vol. viii. p. 247. It was the latest survivor + of a whole group or family of words which continued much longer in + Scotland than with us; of which some perhaps continue there still; + these are but a few of them; 'wanthrift' for extravagance; + 'wanluck', misfortune; 'wanlust', languor; 'wanwit', folly; + 'wangrace', wickedness; 'wantrust' (Chaucer), distrust, [Also + 'wan-ton', devoid of breeding (_towen_). Compare German + _wahn-sinn_, insanity, and _wahn-witz_.] + +{130} We must not suppose that this still survives in '_gir_falcon'; + which wholly belongs to the Latin element of the language; being + the later Latin 'gyrofalco', and that, "a _gyrando_, quia diu + _gyrando_ acriter prædam insequitur". + +{131} ['Heft', from 'heave' (_Winter's Tale_, ii. 1, 45), is widely + diffused in the Three Kingdoms and in America. See E.D.D. _s.v._] + +{132} "Some _hot-spurs_ there were that gave counsel to go against them + with all their forces, and to fright and terrify them, if they + made slow haste". (Holland's _Livy_, p. 922.) + +{133} _State Papers_, vol. vi. p. 534. + +{134} ['Malinger', French _malingre_ (mistakenly derived above), stands + for old French _mal-heingre_ (maliciously or falsely ill, feigning + sickness), which is from Latin _male aeger_, with an intrusive + _n_--Scheler.] + +{135} [To which the late Boer War contributed many more, such as + 'kopje', 'trek', 'slim', 'veldt', etc.] + +{136} The only two writers of whom I am aware as subsequently using this + word are, both writing in Ireland and of Irish matters, Spenser + and Swift. The passages are both quoted in Richardson's + _Dictionary_. ['Bawn' stands for the Irish _ba-dhun_ (not + _bábhun_, as in N.E.D.), or _bo-dhun_, literally 'cow-fortress', a + cattle enclosure (Irish _bo_, a cow). See P. W. Joyce, _Irish + Names of Places_, 1st ser. p. 297.] + +{137} There is an excellent account of this "refugee French" in Weiss' + _History of the Protestant Refugees of France_. + +{138} [Thus the Shakespearian word _renege_ (Latin _renegare_), to deny + (_Lear_ ii, 2) still lives in the mouths of the Irish peasantry. I + have heard a farmer's wife denounce those who "_renege_ [_renaig_] + their religion".] + +{139} With all its severity, there is some truth in Ben Johnson's + observation: "Spenser, in affecting the ancients, writ no + language". In this matter, however, Ben Jonson was at one with + him; for he does not hesitate to express his strong regret that + this form has not been retained. "The _persons_ plural" he says + (_English Grammar_, c. 17), "keep the termination of the first + _person_ singular. In former times, till about the reign of King + Henry VIII, they were wont to be formed by adding _en_; thus, + _loven_, _sayen_, _complainen_. But now (whatsoever is the cause) + it hath quite grown out of use, and that other so generally + prevailed, that I dare not presume to set this afoot again; albeit + (to tell you my opinion) I am persuaded that the lack hereof, well + considered, will be found a great blemish to our tongue. For + seeing _time_ and _person_ be as it were the right and left hand + of a verb, what can the maiming bring else, but a lameness to the + whole body"? + +{140} [The two words are often popularly confounded. When a good woman + said "I'm _afeerd_", Mr. Pickwick exclaimed "_Afraid_"! (_Pickwick + Papers_, ch. v.). Chaucer, instructively, uses both in the one + sentence, "This wyf was not _affered_ ne _affrayed_" (_Shipman's + Tale_, l. 400).] + +{141} Génin (_Récréations Philologiques_, vol. i. p. 71) says to the + same effect: "Il n'y a guères de faute de Français, je dis faute + générale, accréditée, qui n'ait sa raison d'être, et ne pût au + besoin produire ses lettres de noblesse; et souvent mieux en règle + que celles des locutions qui ont usurpé leur place au soleil". + +{142} A single proof may in each case suffice: + + "Our wills and fates do so _contráry_ run".--_Shakespeare._ + + "Ne let _mischiévous_ witches with their charms".--_Spenser._ + + "O argument _blasphémous_, false and proud".--_Milton._ + + [These archaisms are still current in Ireland.] + +{143} I cannot doubt that this form which our country people in + Hampshire, as in many other parts, always employ, either retains + the original pronunciation, our received one being a modern + corruption; or else, as is more probable, that _we_ have made a + confusion between two originally different words, from which they + have kept clear. Thus in Howell's _Vocabulary_, 1659, and in + Cotgrave's _French and English Dictionary_ both words occur: + "nuncion or nuncheon, the afternoon's repast", (cf. _Hudibras_, i. + 1, 346: "They took their breakfasts or their _nuncheons_"), and + "lunchion, a big piece" i.e. of bread; for both give the old + French 'caribot', which has this meaning, as the equivalent of + 'luncheon'. It is clear that in this sense of lump or 'big piece' + Gay uses 'luncheon': + + "When hungry thou stood'st staring like an oaf, + I sliced the _luncheon_ from the barley loaf"; + + and Miss Baker in her _Northamptonshire Glossary_ explains 'lunch' + as "a large lump of bread, or other edible; 'He helped himself to + a good _lunch_ of cake'". We may note further that this 'nuntion' + may possibly put us on the right track for arriving at the + etymology of the word. Richardson has called attention to the fact + that it is spelt "noon-shun" in Browne's _Pastorals_, which must + at least suggest as possible and plausible that the 'nuntion' was + originally applied to the labourer's slight meal, to which he + withdrew for the _shunning_ of the heat of the middle _noon_: + especially when in Lancashire we find a word of similar formation, + 'noon-scape', and in Norfolk 'noon-miss', for the time when + labourers rest after dinner. [It really stands for the older + English _none-schenche_, i.e. 'noon-skink' or noon-drink (see + Skeat, _Etym. Dict._, _s.v._), correlative to 'noon-meat' or + 'nam-met'.] It is at any rate certain that the dignity to which + 'lunch' or 'luncheon' has now arrived, as when we read in the + newspapers of a "magnificent _luncheon_", is altogether modern; + the word belonged a century ago to rustic life, and in literature + had not travelled beyond the "hobnailed pastorals" which professed + to describe that life. + +{144} See it so written, Holland's _Pliny_, vol. ii. p. 428, and often. + +{145} As a proof of the excellent service which an accurate acquaintance + with provincial usages may render in the investigation of the + innumerable perplexing phenomena of the English language, I would + refer to the admirable article _On English Pronouns Personal_ in + _Transactions of the Philological Society_, vol. i. p. 277. + +{146} [We now have the good fortune to possess a complete collection of + this valuable class of words in the splendid "English Dialect + Dictionary", edited by Professor Joseph Wright of Oxford, which is + an essential supplement to all existing dictionaries of our + language.] + +{147} This last very curious usage, which served as a kind of + stepping-stone to 'its', and of which another example occurs in + the Geneva Version (Acts xii. 10), and three or four in + Shakespeare, has been abundantly illustrated by those who have + lately written on the early history of the word 'its'; thus see + Craik, _On the English of Shakespeare_, p. 91; Marsh, _Manual of + the English Language_ (Eng. Edit.), p. 278; _Transactions of the + Philological Society_, vol. 1. p. 280; and my book _On the + Authorized Version of the New Testament_, p. 59. + +{148} Thus Fuller (_Pisgah Sight of Palestine_, vol. ii. p. 190): "Sure + I am this city [the New Jerusalem] as presented by the prophet, + was fairer, finer, _slicker_, smoother, more exact, than any + fabric the earth afforded". + +{149} [In the United States 'plunder' is used for personal effects, + baggage and luggage (Webster). This is not noticed in the E.D.D.] + +{150} [But we have acquired, in some quarters, the abomination 'an + invite'.] + +{151} How many words modern French has lost which are most vigorous and + admirable, the absence of which can only now be supplied by a + circumlocution or by some less excellent word--'Oseur', + 'affranchisseur' (Amyot), 'mépriseur', 'murmurateur', + 'blandisseur' (Bossuet), 'abuseur' (Rabelais), 'désabusement', + 'rancoeur', are all obsolete at the present. So 'désaimer', to + cease to love ('disamare' in Italian), 'guirlander', 'stériliser', + 'blandissant', 'ordonnément' (Montaigne), with innumerable others. + +{152} [It has now attained a fair currency.] + +{153} ['Gainly' is still used by nineteenth century writers, 1855-86; + see N.E.D.] + +{154} ['Dehort' has been used in modern times by Southey (_Letters_, + 1825, iii, 462), and Cheyne (_Isaiah, introd._ 1882, xx.)--N.E.D.] + +{155} [Tennyson has endeavoured to resuscitate the word--"_Rathe_ she + rose"--_Lancelot and Elaine_--but with no great success.] + +{156} For other passages in which 'rathest' occurs, see the _State + Papers_, vol. ii. pp. 92, 170. + +{157} ['Buxom' for old English _buc-sum_ or _buch-sum_, i.e. 'bow-some', + yielding, compliant, obedient. "Sara was _buxom_ to Abraham", 1 + Pet. iii, 6 (xiv. Cent. Version, ed. Pawes, p. 216).] + +{158} ['Lissome' for _lithe-some_, like Wessex _blissom_ for + _blithe-some_. Tennyson has "as _lissome_ as a hazel wand"--_The + Brook_, l. 70.] + +{159} Jamieson's _Dictionary_ gives a large number of words with this + termination which I should suppose were always peculiar to + Scotland, as 'bangsome', i.e. quarrelsome, 'freaksome', 'drysome', + 'grousome' (the German 'grausam') [Now in common use as + 'gruesome'.] + +{160} [A list of some of these reduplicated words was given by Dr. Booth + in his "Analytical Dictionary of the English Language", 1835; but + a full collection of nearly six hundred was published by Mr. H. B. + Wheatley in the _Transactions of the Philological Society_ for + 1865.] + +{161} Many languages have groups of words formed upon the same scheme, + although, singularly enough, they are altogether absent from the + Anglo-Saxon. (J. Grimm, _Deutsche Gramm._, vol. ii. p. 976). The + Spaniards have a great many very expressive words of this + formation. Thus with allusion to the great struggle in which + Christian Spain was engaged for so many centuries, a vaunting + braggart is a 'matamoros', a 'slaymoor'; he is a 'matasiete', a + 'slayseven'; a 'perdonavidas', a 'sparelives'. Others may be added + to these, as 'azotacalles', 'picapleytos', 'saltaparedes', + 'rompeesquinas', 'ganapan', 'cascatreguas'. + +{162} [This stands for 'peak-goose' (_peek goos_ in Ascham, + _Scholemaster_, 1570, p. 54, ed. Arber), a _goose_ that _peaks_ or + pines, used for a sickly, delicate person, and a simpleton. In + Chapman, Cotgrave and others it appears as 'pea-goose'.] + +{163} The mistake is far earlier; long before Cowper wrote the sound + suggested first this sense, and then this spelling. Thus + Stanihurst, _Description of Ireland_, p. 28: "They are taken for + no better than _rakehels_, or _the devil's black guard_"; and + often elsewhere. + +{164} [i.e. in Joshua Sylvester's translation of "Du Bartas, his Diuine + Weekes and Workes", 1621.] + +{165} As not, however, turning on a _very_ coarse matter, and + illustrating the subject with infinite wit and humour, I might + refer the Spanish scholar to the discussion between Don Quixote + and his squire on the dismissal of 'regoldar', from the language + of good society, and the substitution of 'erutar' in its room + (_Don Quixote_, 4. 7. 43). In a letter of Cicero to Pætus (_Fam._ + ix. 22) there is a subtle and interesting disquisition on + forbidden words, and their philosophy. + +{166} _Literature of Greece_, p. 5. + +{167} [Notwithstanding the analogous instance of 'abbess' for 'abbatess' + this account of 'lass' must be abandoned. It is the old English + _lasce_ (akin to Swedish _lösk_), meaning (1) one free or + disengaged, (2) an unmarried girl (N.E.D.)] + +{168} In Cotgrave's _Dictionary_ I find 'praiseress', 'commendress', + 'fluteress', 'possesseress', 'loveress', but have never met them + in use. + +{169} On this termination see J. Grimm, _Deutsche Gramm._, vol. ii. p. + 134; vol. iii. p. 339. + +{170} [_The Knightes Tale_, ed. Skeat, l. 2017.] + +{171} [Yes; so in N.E.D.] + +{172} I am indebted for these last four to a _Nominale_ in the _National + Antiquities_, vol. i. p. 216. + +{173} The earliest example which Richardson gives of 'seamstress' is + from Gay, of 'songstress', from Thomson. I find however + 'sempstress' in the translation of Olearius' _Voyages and + Travels_, 1669, p. 43. It is quite certain that as late as Ben + Jonson, 'seamster' and 'songster' expressed the _female_ seamer + and singer; a single passage from his _Masque of Christmas_ is + evidence to this. One of the children of Christmas there is + "Wassel, like a neat _sempster_ and _songster_; _her_ page bearing + a brown bowl". Compare a passage from _Holland's Leaguer_, 1632: + "A _tyre-woman_ of phantastical ornaments, a _sempster_ for + ruffes, cuffes, smocks and waistcoats". + +{174} This was about the time of Henry VIII. In proof of the confusion + which reigned on the subject in Shakespeare's time, see his use of + 'spinster' as--'spinner', the _man_ spinning, _Henry VIII_, Act. + i. Sc. 2; and I have no doubt that it is the same in _Othello_, + Act i. Sc. 1. And a little later, in Howell's _Vocabulary_, 1659, + 'spinner' and 'spinster' are _both_ referred to the male sex, and + the barbarous 'spinstress' invented for the female. + +{175} I have included 'huckster', as will be observed, in this list. I + certainly cannot produce any passage in which it is employed as + the _female_ pedlar. We have only, however, to keep in mind the + existence of the verb 'to huck', in the sense of to peddle (it is + used by Bishop Andrews), and at the same time not to let the + present spelling of 'hawker' mislead us, and we shall confidently + recognize 'hucker' (the German 'höker' or 'höcker'), in hawker, + that is, the _man_ who 'hucks', 'hawks', or peddles, as in + 'huckster' the _female_ who does the same. When therefore Howell + and others employ 'hucksteress', they fall into the same barbarous + excess of expression, whereof we are all guilty, when we use + 'seamstress' and 'songstress'.--The note stood thus in the third + edition. Since that was published, I have met in the _Nominale_ + referred to p. 155, the following, "hæc auxiatrix, a _hukster_". + [Huckster, xiii. cent. _huccster_, it may be noted is an older + word in the language than _hukker_ (hucker) and _to huck_, both + first appearing in the xiv. cent. N.E.D.] + +{176} [Preserved in the surnames Baxter and Brewster. See C. W. + Bardsley, _English Surnames_, 2nd ed. 364, 379.] + +{177} _Notes and Queries_, No. 157. + +{178} ['Welkin' is possibly a plural, but in Anglo-Saxon _wolcen_ is a + cloud, and the plural _wolcnu_.] + +{179} When Wallis wrote, it was only beginning to be forgotten that + 'chick' was the singular, and 'chicken' the plural: "_Sunt qui + dicunt_ in singulari 'chicken', et in plurali 'chickens'"; and + even now the words are in many country parts correctly employed. + In Sussex, a correspondent writes, they would as soon think of + saying 'oxens' as 'chickens'. ['Chicken' is properly a singular, + old English _cicen_, the _-en_ being a diminutival, not a plural, + suffix (as in 'kitten', 'maiden'). Thus 'chicken' was originally + 'a little chuck' (or cock), out of which 'chick' was afterwards + developed.] + +{180} See Chaucer's _Romaunt of the Rose_, 1032, where Richesse, "an + high lady of great noblesse", is one of the persons of the + allegory; and compare Rev. xviii. 17, Authorized Version. This has + so entirely escaped the knowledge of Ben Jonson, English scholar + as he was, that in his _Grammar_ he cites 'riches' as an example + of an English word wanting a singular. + +{181} "Set shallow brooks to surging seas, + An orient pearl to a white _pease_". + + _Puttenham._ + +{182} ['Eaves' (old English _efes_) from which an imaginary singular + 'eave' has sometimes been evolved, as when Tennyson speaks of a + 'cottage-eave' (_In Memoriam_, civ.), and Cotgrave of 'an + house-eave'.] + +{183} It is curious that despite of this protest, one of his plays has + for its name, _Sejanus his Fall_. + +{184} Even this does not startle Addison, or cause him any misgiving; on + the contrary he boldly asserts (_Spectator_, No. 135), "The same + single letter 's' on many occasions does the office of a whole + word, and represents the 'his' _or 'her'_ of our forefathers". + +{185} Nothing can be better than the way in which Wallis disposes of + this scheme, although less successful in showing what this 's' + does mean than in showing what it cannot mean (_Gramm. Ling. + Anglic._, c. 5); Qui autem arbitrantur illud s, loco _his_ + adjunctum esse (priori scilicet parte per aphæresim abscissâ), + ideoque apostrophi notam semper vel pingendam esse, vel saltem + subintelligendam, omnino errant. Quamvis enim non negem quin + apostrophi nota commode nonnunquam affigi possit, ut ipsius + litteræ s usus distinctius, ubi opus est, percipiatur; ita tamen + semper fieri debere, aut etiam ideo fieri quia vocem _his_ innuat, + omnino nego. Adjungitur enim et foeminarum nominibus propriis, et + substantivis pluralibus, ubi vox _his_ sine soloecismo locum + habere non potest: atque etiam in possessivis _ours_, _yours_, + _theirs_, _hers_, ubi vocem _his_ innui nemo somniaret. + +{186} See the proofs in Marsh's _Manual of the English Language_, + English Edit., pp. 280, 293. + +{187} I cannot think that it would exceed the authority of our + University Presses, if this were removed from the Prayer Books + which they put forth, as certainly it is supprest by many of the + clergy in the reading. Such a liberty they have already assumed + with the Bible. In all earlier editions of the Authorized Version + it stood at 1 Kin. xv. 24: "Nevertheless _Asa his_ heart was + perfect with the Lord"; it is "_Asa's_ heart" now. In the same way + "_Mordecai his_ matters" (Esth. iii. 4) has been silently changed + into "_Mordecai's_ matters"; and in some modern editions, but not + in all, "_Holofernes his_ head" (Judith xiii. 9) into + "_Holofernes'_ head". + +{188} In a good note on the matter, p. 6, in the _Comprehensive Grammar_ + prefixed to his _Dictionary_, London, 1775. + +{189} See Grimm. _Deut. Gramm._, vol. ii. pp. 609, 944. + +{190} The existence of 'stony'--'lapidosus', 'steinig', does not make + 'stonen'--'lapideus', 'steinern', superfluous, any more than + 'earthy' makes 'earthen'. That part of the field in which the good + seed withered so quickly (Matt. xiii. 5) was 'stony'. The vessels + which held the water that Christ turned into wine (John iii. 6) + were 'stonen'. + +{191} J. Grimm (_Deutsche Gramm._ vol. i, p. 1040): Dass die starke form + die ältere, kräftigere, innere; die schwache die spätere, + gehemmtere und mehr äusserliche sey, leuchtet ein. Elsewhere, + speaking generally of inflections by internal vowel change, he + characterizes them as a 'chief beauty' (hauptschönheit) of the + Teutonic languages. Marsh (_Manual of the English Language_, p. + 233, English ed.) protests, though, as it seems to me, on no + sufficient grounds, against these terms 'strong' and 'weak', as + themselves fanciful and inappropriate. + +{192} The entire ignorance as to the past historic evolution of the + language, with which some have undertaken to write about it, is + curious. Thus the author of _Observations upon the English + Language_, without date, but published about 1730, treats all + these strong præterites as of recent introduction, counting 'knew' + to have lately expelled 'knowed', 'rose' to have acted the same + part toward 'rised', and of course esteeming them as so many + barbarous violations of the laws of the language; and concluding + with the warning that "great care must be taken to prevent their + increase"!!--p. 24. Cobbett does not fall into this absurdity, yet + proposes in his _English Grammar_, that they should all be + abolished as inconvenient. [Now many others are rapidly becoming + obsolescent. How seldom do we hear 'drank', 'shrank', 'sprang', + 'stank'.] + +{193} J. Grimm (_Deutsche Gramm._ vol. i. p. 839): "Die starke flexion + stufenweise versinkt und ausstirbt, die schwache aber um sich + greift". Cf. i. 994, 1040; ii. 5; iv. 509. + +{194} [See also J. C. Hare, _Two Essays in Eng. Philology_ i. 47-56.] + +{195} Thus Wallis (_Gramm. Ling. Anglic._, 1654): Singulari numero + siquis alium compellet, vel dedignantis illud esse solet, vel + familiariter blandientis. [For a good discussion of the old use of + 'thou', see the Hares, _Guesses at Truth_, 1847, pp. 169-90. Even + at the present day a Wessex matron has been known to resent the + too familiar address of an inferior with the words, "Who bist thou + _a-theein'_ of"? (_The Spectator_, 1904, Sept. 3, p. 319).] + +{196} What the actual position of the compellation 'thou' was at that + time, we may perhaps best learn from this passage in Fuller's + _Church History, Dedication of Book_ vii.: "In opposition + whereunto [i.e. to the Quaker usage] we maintain that _thou_ from + superiors to inferiors is proper, as a sign of command; from + equals to equals is passable, as a note of familiarity; but from + inferiors to superiors, if proceeding from ignorance, hath a smack + of clownishness; if from affectation, a tone of contempt". + +{197} See on this subject of the dropping of grammatical gender, Pott, + _Etymologische Forschungen_, part 2, pp. 404, _sqq._ + + + + +IV + +CHANGES IN THE MEANING OF ENGLISH WORDS + + +I propose, according to the plan sketched out in my first lecture, to +take for my subject in the present those changes which in the course of +time have found place, or now are finding place, in the meaning of many +among our English words; so that, whether we are aware of it or not, we +employ them at this day in senses very different from those in which our +forefathers employed them of old. You observe that it is not _obsolete_ +words, words quite fallen out of present use, which I propose to +consider; but such, rather, as are still on the lips of men, but with +meanings more or less removed from those which once they possessed. My +subject is far more practical, has far more to do with your actual life, +than if I had taken obsolete words, and considered them. These last have +an interest indeed, but it is an interest of an antiquarian character. +They constituted a part of the intellectual money with which our +ancestors carried on the business of their life; but now they are rather +medals for the cabinets and collections of the curious than current +money for the needs and pleasures of all. Their wings are clipped, so +that they are "_winged_ words" no more; the spark of thought or +feeling, kindling from mind to mind, no longer runs along them, as along +the electric wires of the soul. + +{Sidenote: _Obsolete Words_} + +And then, besides this, there is little or no danger that any should be +misled by them. A reader lights for the first time on one of these +obsolete English words, as 'frampold', or 'garboil', or 'brangle'{198}; +he is at once conscious of his ignorance; he has recourse to a glossary, +of if he guesses from the context at the word's signification, still his +guess is as a guess to him, and no more. But words that have changed +their meaning have often a deceivableness about them; a reader not once +doubts but that he knows their intention, has no misgiving but that they +possess for him the same force which they possessed for their writer, +and conveyed to _his_ contemporaries, when indeed it is quite otherwise. +The old life has gone out of them and a new life entered in. + +Thus, for example, a reader of our day lights upon such a passage as the +following (it is from the _Preface_ to Howell's _Lexicon_, 1660): +"Though the root of the English language be _Dutch_{199}, yet it may be +said to have been inoculated afterwards on a French stock". He may know +that the Dutch is a sister language or dialect to our own; but this +that it is the mother or root of it will certainly perplex him, and he +will hardly know what to make of the assertion; perhaps he ascribes it +to an error in his author, who is thereby unduly lowered in his esteem. +But presently in the course of his reading he meets with the following +statement, this time in Fuller's _Holy War_, being a history of the +Crusades: "The French, _Dutch_, Italian, and English were the four +elemental nations, whereof this army [of the Crusaders] was compounded". +If the student has sufficient historical knowledge to know that in the +time of the Crusades there were no Dutch in our use of the word, this +statement would merely startle him; and probably before he had finished +the chapter, having his attention once aroused, he would perceive that +Fuller with the writers of his time used 'Dutch' for German; even as it +was constantly so used up to the end of the seventeenth century; and as +the Americans use it to this present day; what we call now a Dutchman +being then a Hollander. But a young student might very possibly want +that amount of previous knowledge, which should cause him to receive +this announcement with misgiving and surprise; and thus he might carry +away altogether a wrong impression, and rise from a perusal of the book, +persuaded that the Dutch, as we call them, played an important part in +the Crusades, while the Germans took little or no part in them at all. + +{Sidenote: _Miscreant_} + +And as it is here with an historic fact, so still more often will it +happen with the subtler changes which words have undergone. Out of this +it will continually happen that they convey now much more blame and +condemnation, or convey now much less, than formerly they did; or of a +different kind; and a reader not aware of the altered value which they +now possess, may be in continual danger of misreading his author, of +misunderstanding his intentions, while he has no doubt whatever that he +perfectly apprehends and takes it in. Thus when Shakespeare in _1 Henry +VI_ makes the gallant York address Joan of Arc as a 'miscreant', how +coarse a piece of invective this sounds; how unlike what the chivalrous +soldier would have uttered; or what one might have supposed Shakespeare, +even with his unworthy estimate of the holy warrior Maid, would have put +into his mouth. But a 'miscreant' in Shakespeare's time had nothing of +the meaning which now it has. It was simply, in agreement with its +etymology, a misbeliever, one who did not believe rightly the Articles +of the Catholic Faith. And I need not remind you that this was the +constant charge which the English brought against Joan,--namely, that +she was a dealer in hidden magical arts, a witch, and as such had fallen +from the faith. On this plea they burnt her, and it is this which York +means when he calls her a 'miscreant', and not what we should intend by +the name. + +In reading of poetry above all what beauties are often missed, what +forces lost, through this assumption that the present of a word is +always equivalent to its past. How often the poet is wronged in our +estimation; that seeming to us now flat and pointless, which at once +would lose this character, did we know how to read into some word the +emphasis which it once had, but which now has departed from it. For +example, Milton ascribes in _Comus_ the "_tinsel-slippered_ feet" to +Thetis, the goddess of the sea. How comparatively poor an epithet this +'tinsel-slippered' sounds for those who know of 'tinsel' only in its +modern acceptation of mean and tawdry finery, affecting a splendour +which it does not really possess. But learn its earlier use by learning +its derivation, bring it back to the French 'étincelle', and the Latin +'scintillula'; see in it, as Milton and the writers of his time saw, +'the sparkling', and how exquisitely beautiful a title does this become +applied to a goddess of the sea; how vividly does it call up before our +mind's eye the quick glitter and sparkle of the waves under the light of +sun or moon{200}. It is Homer's 'silver-footed' ({Greek: argyropeza}), +not servilely transferred, but reproduced and made his own by the +English poet, dealing as one great poet will do with another; who will +not disdain to borrow, but to what he borrows will add often a further +grace of his own. + +{Sidenote: '_Influence_'} + +Or, again, do we keep in mind, or are we even aware, that whenever the +word 'influence' occurs in our English poetry, down to comparatively a +modern date, there is always more or less remote allusions to invisible +illapses of power, skyey, planetary effects, supposed to be exercised by +the heavenly luminaries upon the lives of men{201}? How many a passage +starts into new life and beauty and fulness of allusion, when this is +present with us; even Milton's + + "store of ladies, whose bright eyes + Rain _influence_", + +as spectators of the tournament, gain something, when we regard +them--and using this language, he intended we should--as the luminaries +of this lower sphere, shedding by their propitious presence strength and +valour into the hearts of their knights. + +{Sidenote: '_Baffle_'} + +The word even in its present acceptation may yield, as here, a +convenient and even a correct sense; we may fall into no positive +misapprehension about it; and still, through ignorance of its past +history and of the force which it once possessed, we may miss a great +part of its significance. We are not _beside_ the meaning of our author, +but we are _short_ of it. Thus in Beaumont and Fletcher's _King and no +King_, (Act iii. Sc. 2,) a cowardly braggart of a soldier describes the +treatment he experienced, when like Parolles he was at length found out, +and stripped of his lion's skin:--"They hung me up by the heels and beat +me with hazel sticks, ... that the whole kingdom took notice of me for a +_baffled_, whipped fellow". The word to which I wish here to call your +attention is 'baffled'. Were you reading this passage, there would +probably be nothing here to cause you to pause; you would attach to +'baffled' a sense which sorts very well with the context--"hung up by +the heels and beaten, all his schemes of being thought much of were +_baffled_ and defeated". But "baffled" implies far more than this; it +contains allusion to a custom in the days of chivalry, according to +which a perjured or recreant knight was either in person, or more +commonly in effigy, hung up by the heels, his scutcheon blotted, his +spear broken, and he himself or his effigy made the mark and subject of +all kinds of indignities; such a one being said to be 'baffled'{202}. +Twice in Spenser recreant knights are so dealt with. I can only quote a +portion of the shorter passage, in which this infamous punishment is +described: + + "And after all, for greater infamy + He by the heels him hung upon a tree, + And _baffled_ so, that all which passéd by + The picture of his punishment might see"{203}. + +Probably when Beaumont and Fletcher wrote, men were not so remote from +the days of chivalry, or at any rate from the literature of chivalry, +but that this custom was still fresh in their minds. How much more to +them than to us, so long as we are ignorant of the same, would those +words I just quoted have conveyed? + +{Sidenote: '_Religion_'} + +There are several places in the Authorized Version of Scripture where +those who are not aware of the changes which have taken place during the +last two hundred and fifty years in our language, can hardly fail of +being to a certain extent misled as to the intention of our Translators; +or, if they are better acquainted with Greek than with early English, +will be tempted to ascribe to them, though unjustly, an inexact +rendering of the original. Thus the altered meaning of a word involves +a serious misunderstanding in that well known statement of St. James, +"Pure _religion_ and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to +visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction". "There", exclaims +one who wishes to set up St. James against St. Paul, that so he may +escape the necessity of obeying either, "listen to what St. James says; +there is nothing mystical in what he requires; instead of harping on +faith as a condition necessary to salvation, he makes all religion to +consist in practical deeds of kindness from one to another". But let us +pause for a moment. Did 'religion', when our translation was made, mean +godliness? did it mean the _sum total_ of our duties towards God? for, +of course, no one would deny that deeds of charity are a necessary part +of our Christian duty, an evidence of the faith which is in us. There is +abundant evidence to show that 'religion' did not mean this; that, like +the Greek {Greek: thrêskeia}, for which it here stands, like the Latin +'religio', it meant the outward forms and embodiments in which the +inward principle of piety arrayed itself, the _external service_ of God; +and St. James is urging upon those to whom he is writing something of +this kind: "Instead of the ceremonial services of the Jews, which +consisted in divers washings and in other elements of this world, let +our service, our {Greek: thrêskeia}, take a nobler shape, let it consist +in deeds of pity and of love"--and it was this which our Translators +intended, when they used 'religion' here and 'religious' in the verse +preceding. How little 'religion' once meant godliness, how predominantly +it was used for the _outward_ service of God, is plain from many +passages in our _Homilies_, and from other contemporary literature. + +Again, there are words in our Liturgy which I have no doubt are commonly +misunderstood. The mistake involves no serious error; yet still in our +own language, and in words which we have constantly in our mouths, and +at most solemn times, it is certainly better to be right than wrong. In +the Litany we pray God that it would please Him, "to give and preserve +to our use the _kindly_ fruits of the earth". What meaning do we attach +to this epithet, "the _kindly_ fruits of the earth"? Probably we +understand by it those fruits in which the _kindness_ of God or of +nature towards us finds its expression. This is no unworthy explanation, +but still it is not the right one. The "_kindly_ fruits" are the +"_natural_ fruits", those which the earth according to its _kind_ should +naturally bring forth, which it is appointed to produce. To show you how +little 'kindly' meant once benignant, as it means now, I will instance +an employment of it from Sir Thomas More's _Life of Richard the Third_. +He tells us that Richard calculated by murdering his two nephews in the +Tower to make himself accounted "a _kindly_ king"--not certainly a +'kindly' one in our present usage of the word{204}; but, having put them +out of the way, that he should then be lineal heir of the Crown, and +should thus be reckoned as king _by kind_ or natural descent; and such +was of old the constant use of the word. + +{Sidenote: '_Worship_'} + +A phrase in one of our occasional Services "with my body I thee +_worship_", has sometimes offended those who are unacquainted with the +early use of English words, and thus with the intention of the actual +framers of that Service. Clearly in our modern sense of 'worship', this +language would be unjustifiable. But 'worship' or 'worthship' meant +'honour' in our early English, and 'to worship' to honour, this meaning +of 'worship' still very harmlessly surviving in the title of "your +worship", addressed to the magistrate on the bench. So little was it +restrained of old to the honour which man is bound to pay to God, that +it was employed by Wiclif to express the honour which God will render to +his faithful servants and friends. Thus our Lord's declaration "If any +man serve Me, him will my Father _honour_", in Wiclif's translation +reads thus, "If any man serve Me, my Father shall _worship_ him". I do +not say that there is not sufficient reason to change the words, "with +my body I thee _worship_", if only there were any means of changing +anything which is now antiquated and out of date in our services or +arrangements. I think it would be very well if they were changed, liable +as they are to misunderstanding and misconstruction now; but still they +did not mean at the first, and therefore do not now really mean, any +more than, "with my body I thee _honour_", and so you may reply to any +fault-finder here. + +Take another example of a very easy misapprehension, although not now +from Scripture or the Prayer Book, Fuller, our Church historian, having +occasion to speak of some famous divine that was lately dead, exclaims, +"Oh the _painfulness_ of his preaching!" If we did not know the former +uses of 'painfulness', we might take this for an exclamation wrung out +at the recollection of the tediousness which he inflicted on his +hearers. Far from it; the words are a record not of the _pain_ which he +caused to others, but of the _pains_ which he bestowed himself: and I am +persuaded, if we had more 'painful' preachers in the old sense of the +word, that is, who _took_ pains themselves, we should have fewer +'painful' ones in the modern sense, who _cause_ pain to their hearers. +So too Bishop Grosthead is recorded as "the _painful_ writer of two +hundred books"--not meaning hereby that these books were painful in the +reading, but that he was laborious and painful in their composing. + +Here is another easy misapprehension. Swift wrote a pamphlet, or, as he +called it, a _Letter to the Lord Treasurer_, with this title, "A +proposal for correcting, improving, and _ascertaining_ the English +Tongue". Who that brought a knowledge of present English, and no more, +to this passage, would doubt that "_ascertaining_ the English Tongue" +meant arriving at a certain knowledge of what it was? Swift, however, +means something quite different from this. "_To ascertain_ the English +tongue" is not with him to arrive at a subjective certainty in our own +minds of what that tongue is, but to give an objective certainty to that +tongue itself, so that henceforth it shall not alter nor change. For +even Swift himself, with all his masculine sense, entertained a dream +of this kind, as is more fully declared in the work itself{205}. + +{Sidenote: '_Treacle_'} + +In other places unacquaintance with the changes in a word's usage will +not so much mislead as leave you nearly or altogether at a loss in +respect of the intention of an author whom you may be reading. It is +evident that he has a meaning, but what it is you are unable to divine, +even though all the words he employs are words in familiar employment to +the present day. For example, the poet Waller is congratulating Charles +the Second on his return from exile, and is describing the way in which +all men, even those formerly most hostile to him, were now seeking his +favour, and he writes: + + "Offenders now, the chiefest, do begin + To strive for grace, and expiate their sin: + All winds blow fair that did the world embroil, + _Your vipers treacle yield_, and scorpions oil". + +Many a reader before now has felt, as I cannot doubt, a moment's +perplexity at the now courtly poet's assertion that "_vipers treacle +yield_"--who yet has been too indolent, or who has not had the +opportunity, to search out what his meaning might be. There is in fact +allusion here to a curious piece of legendary lore. 'Treacle', or +'triacle', as Chaucer wrote it, was originally a Greek word, and wrapped +up in itself the once popular belief (an anticipation, by the way, of +homoeopathy), that a confection of the viper's flesh was the most potent +antidote against the viper's bite{206}. Waller goes back to this the +word's old meaning, familiar enough in his time, for Milton speaks of +"the sovran _treacle_ of sound doctrine"{207}, while "Venice treacle", +or "viper wine", as it sometimes was called, was a common name for a +supposed antidote against all poisons; and he would imply that regicides +themselves began to be loyal, vipers not now yielding hurt any more, but +rather healing for the old hurts which they themselves had inflicted. To +trace the word down to its present use, it may be observed that, +designating first this antidote, it then came to designate any antidote, +then any medicinal confection or sweet syrup; and lastly that particular +syrup, namely, the sweet syrup of molasses, to which alone it is now +restricted. + +{Sidenote: '_Blackguard_'} + +I will draw on the writings of Fuller for one more example. In his _Holy +War_, having enumerated the rabble rout of fugitive debtors, runaway +slaves, thieves, adulterers, murderers, of men laden for one cause or +another with heaviest censures of the Church, who swelled the ranks, and +helped to make up the army, of the Crusaders, he exclaimed, "A +lamentable case that the devil's _black guard_ should be God's +soldiers"! What does he mean, we may ask, by "the devil's _black +guard_"? Nor is this a solitary mention of the "black guard". On the +contrary, the phrase is of very frequent recurrence in the early +dramatists and others down to the time of Dryden, who gives as one of +his stage directions in _Don Sebastian_, "Enter the captain of the +rabble, with the _Black guard_". What is this "black guard"? Has it any +connexion with a word of our homeliest vernacular? We feel that probably +it has so; yet at first sight the connexion is not very apparent, nor +indeed the exact force of the phrase. Let me trace its history. In old +times, the palaces of our kings and seats of our nobles were not so well +and completely furnished as at the present day: and thus it was +customary, when a royal progress was made, or when the great nobility +exchanged one residence for another, that at such a removal all kitchen +utensils, pots and pans, and even coals, should be also carried with +them where they went. Those who accompanied and escorted these, the +lowest, meanest, and dirtiest of the retainers, were called 'the black +guard'{208}; then any troop or company of ragamuffins; and lastly, when +the origin of the word was lost sight of, and it was forgotten that it +properly implied a company, a rabble rout, and not a single person, one +would compliment another, not as belonging to, but as himself being, the +'blackguard'. + +The examples which I have adduced are, I am persuaded, sufficient to +prove that it is not a useless and unprofitable study, nor yet one +altogether without entertainment, to which I invite you; that on the +contrary any one who desires to read with accuracy, and thus with +advantage and pleasure, our earlier classics, who would avoid continual +misapprehension in their perusal, and would not often fall short of, and +often go astray from, their meaning, must needs bestow some attention on +the altered significance of English words. And if this is so, we could +not more usefully employ what remains of this present lecture than in +seeking to indicate those changes which words most frequently undergo; +and to trace as far as we can the causes, mental and moral, at work in +the minds of men to bring these changes about, with the good and evil +out of which they have sprung, and to which they bear witness. + +For indeed these changes to which words in the progress of time are +submitted are not changes at random, but for the most part are obedient +to certain laws, are capable of being distributed into certain classes, +being the outward transcripts and witnesses of mental and moral +processes inwardly going forward in those who bring them about. Many, it +is true, will escape any classification of ours, the changes which have +taken place in their meaning being, or at least seeming to us, the +result of mere caprice; and not explicable by any principle which we can +appeal to as habitually at work in the mind. But, admitting all this, a +majority will still remain which are reducible to some law or other, and +with these we will occupy ourselves now. + +{Sidenote: '_Duke_', '_Corpse_', '_Weed_'} + +And first, the meaning of a word oftentimes is gradually narrowed. It +was once as a generic name, embracing many as yet unnamed species within +itself, which all went by its common designation. By and bye it is found +convenient that each of these should have its own more special sign +allotted to it{209}. It is here just as in some newly enclosed country, +where a single household will at first loosely occupy a whole district; +while, as cultivation proceeds, this district is gradually parcelled out +among a dozen or twenty, and under more accurate culture employs and +sustains them all. Thus, for example, all food was once called 'meat'; +it is so in our Bible, and 'horse-meat' for fodder is still no unusual +phrase; yet 'meat' is now a name given only to flesh. Any little book or +writing was a 'libel' once; now only such a one as is scurrilous and +injurious. Any leader was a 'duke' (dux); thus "_duke_ Hannibal" (Sir +Thomas Eylot), "_duke_ Brennus" (Holland), "_duke_ Theseus" +(Shakespeare), "_duke_ Amalek", with other 'dukes' (Gen. xxxvi.). Any +journey, by land as much as by sea, was a 'voyage'. 'Fairy' was not a +name restricted, as now, to the _Gothic_ mythology; thus "the _fairy_ +Egeria" (Sir J. Harrington). A 'corpse' might be quite as well living as +dead{210}. 'Weeds' were whatever covered the earth or the person; while +now as respects the earth, those only are 'weeds' which are noxious, or +at least self-sown; as regards the person, we speak of no other 'weeds' +but the widow's{211}. In each of these cases, the same contraction of +meaning, the separating off and assigning to other words of large +portions of this, has found place. 'To starve' (the German 'sterben', +and generally spelt 'sterve' up to the middle of the seventeenth +century), meant once to die any manner of death; thus Chaucer says, +Christ "_sterved_ upon the cross for our redemption"; it now is +restricted to the dying by cold or by hunger. Words not a few were once +applied to both sexes alike, which are now restricted to the female. It +is so even with 'girl', which was once a young person of either +sex{212}; while other words in this list, such for instance as +'hoyden'{213} (Milton, prose), 'shrew' (Chaucer), 'coquet' (Phillips, +_New World of Words_), 'witch' (Wiclif), 'termagant' (Bale), 'scold', +'jade', 'slut' (Gower), must be regarded in their present exclusive +appropriation to the female sex as evidences of men's rudeness, and not +of women's deserts. + +{Sidenote: _Words used more accurately_} + +The necessities of an advancing civilization demand a greater precision +and accuracy in the use of words having to do with weight, measure, +number, size. Almost all such words as 'acre', 'furlong', 'yard', +'gallon', 'peck', were once of a vague and unsettled use, and only at a +later day, and in obedience to the requirements of commerce and social +life, exact measures and designations. Thus every field was once an +'acre'; and this remains so still with the German 'acker', and in our +"God's acre", as a name for a churchyard{214}; it was not till about the +reign of Edward the First that 'acre' was commonly restricted to a +determined measure and portion of land. Here and there even now a +glebeland will be called "the acre"; and this, even while it contains +not one but many of our measured acres. A 'furlong' was a 'furrowlong', +or length of a furrow{215}. Any pole was a 'yard', and this vaguer use +survives in 'sail_yard_', 'hal_yard_', and in other sea-terms. Every +pitcher was a 'galon' (Mark xiv. 13, Wiclif), while a 'peck' was no more +than a 'poke' or bag{216}. And the same has no doubt taken place in all +other languages. I will only remind you how the Greek 'drachm' was at +first a handful ({Greek: drachmê} = 'manipulus', from {Greek: drassô}, +to grasp); its later word for 'ten thousand' ({Greek: myrioi}) implied +in Homer's time any great multitude; and with the accent on a different +syllable always retained this meaning. + +{Sidenote: _Words used less accurately_} + +Opposite to this is a counter-process by which words of narrower +intention gradually enlarge the domain of their meaning, becoming +capable of much wider application than any which once they admitted. +Instances in this kind are fewer than in that which we have just been +considering. The main stream and course of human thoughts and human +discourse tends the other way, to discerning, distinguishing, dividing; +and then to the permanent fixing of the distinctions gained, by the aid +of designations which shall keep apart for ever in word that which has +been once severed and sundered in thought. Nor is it hard to perceive +why this process should be the more frequent. Men are first struck with +the likenesses between those things which are presented to them, with +their points of resemblance; on the strength of which they bracket them +under a common term. Further acquaintance reveals their points of +unlikeness, the real dissimilarities which lurk under superficial +resemblances, the need therefore of a different notation for objects +which are essentially different. It is comparatively much rarer to +discover real likeness under what at first appeared as unlikeness; and +usually when a word moves forward, and from a specialty indicates now a +generality, it is not in obedience to any such discovery of the true +inner likeness of things,--the steps of successful generalizations being +marked and secured in other ways. But this widening of a word's meaning +is too often a result of those elements of disorganization and decay +which are at work in a language. Men forget a word's history and +etymology; its distinctive features are obliterated for them, with all +which attached it to some thought or fact which by right was its own. +Appropriated and restricted once to some striking specialty which it +vigorously set out, it can now be used in a wider, vaguer, more +unsettled way. It can be employed twenty times for once when it would +have been possible formerly to employ it. Yet this is not gain, but pure +loss. It has lost its place in the disciplined _army_ of words, and +become one of a loose and disorderly _mob_. + +Let me instance the word 'preposterous'. It is now no longer of any +practical service at all in the language, being merely an ungraceful and +slipshod synonym for absurd. But restore and confine it to its old use; +let it designate that one peculiar branch of absurdity which it +designated once, namely the reversing of the true order of things, the +putting of the last first, and, by consequence, of the first last, and +of what excellent service the word would be capable. Thus it is +'preposterous', in the most accurate use of the word, to put the cart +before the horse, to expect wages before the work is done, to hang a man +first and try him afterwards; and in this strict and accurate sense the +word was always used by our elder writers{217}. + +In like manner 'to prevaricate' was never employed by good writers of +the seventeenth century without nearer or more remote allusion to the +uses of the word in the Roman law courts, where a 'prævaricator' +(properly a straddler with distorted legs) did not mean generally and +loosely, as now with us, one who shuffles, quibbles, and evades; but one +who plays false in a particular manner; who, undertaking, or being by +his office bound, to prosecute a charge, is in secret collusion with the +opposite party; and, betraying the cause which he affects to support, so +manages the accusation as to obtain not the condemnation, but the +acquittal, of the accused; a "feint pleader", as, I think, in our old +law language he would have been termed. How much force would the keeping +of this in mind add to many passages in our elder divines. + +Or take 'equivocal', 'equivocate', 'equivocation'. These words, which +belonged at first to logic, have slipped down into common use, and in so +doing have lost all the precision of their first employment. +'Equivocation' is now almost any such dealing in ambiguous words with +the intention of deceiving, as falls short of an actual lie; but +according to its etymology and in its primary use 'equivocation', this +fruitful mother of so much error, is the calling by the same name, of +things essentially diverse, hiding intentionally or otherwise a real +difference under a verbal resemblance{218}. Nor let it be urged in +defence of its present looser use, that only so could it have served the +needs of our ordinary conversation; on the contrary, had it retained its +first use, how serviceable an implement of thought would it have been in +detecting our own fallacies, or those of others; all which it can be now +no longer. + +{Sidenote: '_Idea_'} + +What now is 'idea' for us? How infinite the fall of this word since the +time when Milton sang of the Creator contemplating his newly created +world, + + "how it showed, + Answering his great _idea_", + +to its present use when this person "has an _idea_ that the train has +started", and the other "had no _idea_ that the dinner would be so bad". +But this word 'idea' is perhaps the worst case in the English language. +Matters have not mended here since the times of Dr. Johnson; of whom +Boswell tells us: "He was particularly indignant against the almost +universal use of the word _idea_ in the sense of _notion_ or _opinion_, +when it is clear that _idea_ can only signify something of which an +image can be formed in the mind". There is perhaps no word in the whole +compass of English, so seldom used with any tolerable correctness; in +none is the distance so immense between the frequent sublimity of the +word in its proper use, and the triviality of it in its slovenly and its +popular. + +This tendency in words to lose the sharp, rigidly defined outline of +meaning which they once possessed, to become of wide, vague, loose +application instead of fixed, definite, and precise, to mean almost +anything, and so really to mean nothing, is among the most fatally +effectual which are at work for the final ruin of a language, and, I do +not fear to add, for the demoralization of those that speak it. It is +one against which we shall all do well to watch; for there is none of us +who cannot do something in keeping words close to their own proper +meaning, and in resisting their encroachment on the domain of others. + +The causes which bring this mischief about are not hard to trace. We all +know that when a piece of our silver money has long fulfilled its part, +as "pale and common drudge 'tween man and man", whatever it had at first +of sharper outline and livelier impress is in the end wholly obliterated +from it. So it is with words, above all with words of science and +theology. These getting into general use, and passing often from mouth +to mouth, lose the "image and superscription" which they had, before +they descended from the school to the market-place, from the pulpit to +the street. Being now caught up by those who understand imperfectly and +thus incorrectly their true value, who will not be at the pains of +understanding that, or who are incapable of doing so, they are obliged +to accommodate themselves to the lower sphere in which they circulate, +by laying aside much of the precision and accuracy and depth which once +they had; they become weaker, shallower, more indefinite; till in the +end, as exponents of thought and feeling, they cease to be of any +service at all. + + * * * * * + +{Sidenote: '_Bombast_', '_Garble_'} + +Sometimes a word does not merely narrow or extend its meaning, but +altogether changes it; and this it does in more ways than one. Thus a +secondary figurative sense will quite put out of use and extinguish the +literal, until in the entire predominance of that it is altogether +forgotten that it ever possessed any other. I may instance 'bombast' as +a word about which this forgetfulness is nearly complete. What 'bombast' +now means is familiar to us all, namely inflated words, "full of sound +and fury", but "signifying nothing". This, at present its sole meaning, +was once only the secondary and superinduced; 'bombast' being properly +the cotton plant, and then the cotton wadding with which garments were +stuffed out and lined. You remember perhaps how Prince Hal addresses +Falstaff, "How now, my sweet creature of _bombast_"; using the word in +its literal sense; and another early poet has this line: + + "Thy body's bolstered out with _bombast_ and with bags". + +'Bombast' was then transferred in a vigorous image to the big words +without strength or solidity wherewith the discourses of some were +stuffed out, and has now quite forgone any other meaning. So too 'to +garble' was once "to cleanse from dross and dirt, as grocers do their +spices, to pick or cull out"{219}. It is never used now in this its +primary sense, and has indeed undergone this further change, that while +once 'to garble' was to sift for the purpose of selecting the best, it +is now to sift with a view of picking out the worst{220}. 'Polite' is +another word which in the figurative sense has quite extinguished the +literal. We still speak of 'polished' surfaces; but not any more, with +Cudworth, of "_polite_ bodies, as looking glasses". Neither do we now +'exonerate' a ship (Burton); nor 'stigmatize', at least otherwise than +figuratively, a 'malefactor' (the same); nor 'corroborate' our health +(Sir Thomas Elyot). + +Again, a word will travel on by slow and regularly progressive courses +of change, itself a faithful index of changes going on in society and in +the minds of men, till at length everything is changed about it. The +process of this it is often very curious to observe; capable as not +seldom it is of being watched step by step in its advances to the final +consummation. There may be said to be three leading phases which the +word successively presents, three steps in its history. At first it +grows naturally out of its own root, is filled with its own natural +meaning. Presently the word allows another meaning, one superinduced on +the former, and foreign to its etymology, to share with the other in the +possession of it, on the ground that where the former exists, the latter +commonly co-exists with it. At the third step, the newly introduced +meaning, not satisfied with its moiety, with dividing the possession of +the word, has thrust out the original and rightful possessor altogether, +and remains in sole and exclusive possession. The three successive +stages may be represented by _a_, _ab_, _b_; in which series _b_, which +was wanting altogether at the first stage, and was only admitted as +secondary at the second, does at the third become primary and indeed +alone. + +{Sidenote: _Gradual Change of Meaning_} + +We are not to suppose that in actual fact the transitions from one +signification to another are so strongly and distinctly marked, as I +have found it convenient to mark them here. Indeed it is hard to imagine +anything more gradual, more subtle and imperceptible, than the process +of change. The manner in which the new meaning first insinuates itself +into the old, and then drives out the old, can only be compared to the +process of petrifaction, as rightly understood--the water not gradually +turning what is put into it to stone, as we generally take the operation +to be; but successively displacing each several particle of that which +is brought within its power, and depositing a stony particle, in its +stead, till, in the end, while all appears to continue the same, all has +in fact been thoroughly changed. It is precisely thus, by such slow, +gradual, and subtle advances that the new meaning filters through and +pervades the word, little by little displacing entirely that which it +before possessed. + +No word would illustrate this process better than that old example, +familiar probably to us all, of 'villain'. The 'villain' is, first, the +serf or peasant, 'villanus', because attached to the 'villa' or farm. He +is, secondly, the peasant who, it is further taken for granted, will be +churlish, selfish, dishonest, and generally of evil moral conditions, +these having come to be assumed as always belonging to him, and to be +permanently associated with his name, by those higher classes of society +who in the main commanded the springs of language. At the third step, +nothing of the meaning which the etymology suggests, nothing of 'villa', +survives any longer; the peasant is wholly dismissed, and the evil moral +conditions of him who is called by this name alone remain; so that the +name would now in this its final stage be applied as freely to peer, if +he deserved it, as to peasant. 'Boor' has had exactly the same history; +being first the cultivator of the soil; then secondly, the cultivator of +the soil who, it is assumed, will be coarse, rude, and unmannerly; and +then thirdly, any one who is coarse, rude, and unmannerly{221}. So too +'pagan'; which is first villager, then heathen villager, and lastly +heathen. You may trace the same progress in 'churl', 'clown', 'antic', +and in numerous other words. The intrusive meaning might be likened in +all these cases to the egg which the cuckoo lays in the sparrow's nest; +the young cuckoo first sharing the nest with its rightful occupants, but +not resting till it has dislodged and ousted them altogether. + +{Sidenote: '_Gossip_'} + +I will illustrate by the aid of one word more this part of my subject. I +called your attention in my last lecture to the true character of +several words and forms in use among our country people, and claimed for +them to be in many instances genuine English, though English now more +or less antiquated and overlived. 'Gossip' is a word in point. I have +myself heard this name given by our Hampshire peasantry to the sponsors +in baptism, the godfathers and godmothers. I do not say that it is a +usual word; but it is occasionally employed, and well understood. This +is a perfectly correct employment of 'gossip', in fact its proper and +original one, and involves moreover a very curious record of past +beliefs. 'Gossip', or 'gossib', as Chaucer spelt it, is a compound word, +made up of the name of 'God', and of an old Anglo-Saxon word, 'sib', +still alive in Scotland, as all readers of Walter Scott will remember, +and in some parts of England, and which means, akin; they were said to +be 'sib', who are related to one another. But why, you may ask, was the +name given to sponsors? Out of this reason;--in the middle ages it was +the prevailing belief (and the Romish Church still affirms it), that +those who stood as sponsors to the same child, besides contracting +spiritual obligations on behalf of that child, also contracted spiritual +affinity one with another; they became _sib_, or akin, in _God_; and +thus 'gossips'; hence 'gossipred', an old word, exactly analogous to +'kindred'. Out of this faith the Roman Catholic Church will not allow +(unless indeed by dispensations procured for money), those who have +stood as sponsors to the same child, afterwards to contract marriage +with one another, affirming them too nearly related for this to be +lawful. + +Take 'gossip' however in its ordinary present use, as one addicted to +idle tittle-tattle, and it seems to bear no relation whatever to its +etymology and first meaning. The same three steps, however, which we +have traced before will bring us to its present use. 'Gossips' are, +first, the sponsors, brought by the act of a common sponsorship into +affinity and near familiarity with one another; secondly, these +sponsors, who being thus brought together, allow themselves one with the +other in familiar, and then in trivial and idle talk; thirdly, any who +allow themselves in this trivial and idle talk,--called in French +'commérage', from the fact that 'commére' has run through exactly the +same stages as its English equivalent. + +It is plain that words which designate not things and persons only, but +these as they are contemplated more or less in an ethical light, words +which tinge with a moral sentiment what they designate, are peculiarly +exposed to change; are constantly liable to take a new colouring, or to +lose an old. The gauge and measure of praise or blame, honour or +dishonour, admiration or abhorrence, which they convey, is so purely a +mental and subjective one, that it is most difficult to take accurate +note of its rise or of its fall, while yet there are causes continually +at work leading it to the one or the other. There are words not a few, +but ethical words above all, which have so imperceptibly drifted away +from their former moorings, that although their position is now very +different from that which they once occupied, scarcely one in a hundred +of casual readers, whose attention has not been specially called to the +subject, will have observed that they have moved at all. Here too we +observe some words conveying less of praise or blame than once, and +some more; while some have wholly shifted from the one to the other. +Some were at one time words of slight, almost of offence, which have +altogether ceased to be so now. Still these are rare by comparison with +those which once were harmless, but now are harmless no more; which +once, it may be, were terms of honour, but which now imply a slight or +even a scorn. It is only too easy to perceive why these should exceed +those in number. + +{Sidenote: '_Imp_', '_Brat_'} + +Let us take an example or two. If any were to speak now of royal +children as "royal _imps_", it would sound, and with our present use of +the word would be, impertinent and unbecoming enough; and yet 'imp' was +once a name of dignity and honour, and not of slight or of undue +familiarity. Thus Spenser addresses the Muses in this language, + + "Ye sacred _imps_ that on Parnasso dwell"; + +and 'imp' was especially used of the scions of royal or illustrious +houses. More than one epitaph, still existing, of our ancient nobility +might be quoted, beginning in such language as this, "Here lies that +noble _imp_". Or what should we say of a poet who commenced a solemn +poem in this fashion, + + "Oh Israel, oh household of the Lord, + Oh Abraham's _brats_, oh brood of blessed seed"? + +Could we conclude anything else but that he meant, by using low words on +lofty occasions, to turn sacred things into ridicule? Yet this was very +far from the intention of Gascoigne, the poet whose lines I have just +quoted. "Abraham's _brats_" was used by him in perfect good faith, and +without the slightest feeling that anything ludicrous or contemptuous +adhered to the word 'brat', as indeed in his time there did not, any +more than adheres to 'brood', which is another form of the same word +now{222}. + +Call a person 'pragmatical', and you now imply not merely that he is +busy, but _over_-busy, officious, self-important, and pompous to boot. +But it once meant nothing of the kind, and 'pragmatical' (like {Greek: +pragmatikos}) was one engaged in affairs, being an honourable title, +given to a man simply and industriously accomplishing the business which +properly concerned him{223}. So too to say that a person 'meddles' or is +a 'meddler' implies now that he interferes unduly in other men's +matters, without a call mixing himself up with them. This was not +insinuated in the earlier uses of the word. On the contrary three of our +earlier translations of the Bible have, "_Meddle_ with your own +business" (1 Thess. iv. 11); and Barrow in one of his sermons draws at +some length the distinction between 'meddling' and "being _meddlesome_", +and only condemns the latter. + +{Sidenote: '_Proser_'} + +Or take again the words, 'to prose' or a 'proser'. It cannot indeed be +affirmed that they convey any _moral_ condemnation, yet they certainly +convey no compliment now; and are almost among the last which any one +would desire should with justice be applied either to his talking or his +writing. For 'to prose', as we all now know too well, is to talk or +write heavily and tediously, without spirit and without animation; but +once it was simply the antithesis of to versify, and a 'proser' the +antithesis of a versifier or a poet. It will follow that the most rapid +and liveliest writer who ever wrote, if he did not write in verse would +have 'prosed' and been a 'proser', in the language of our ancestors. +Thus Drayton writes of his contemporary Nashe: + + "And surely Nashe, though he a _proser_ were, + A branch of laurel yet deserves to bear"; + +that is, the ornament not of a 'proser', but of a poet. The tacit +assumption that vigour, animation, rapid movement, with all the +precipitation of the spirit, belong to verse rather than to prose, and +are the exclusive possession of it, is that which must explain the +changed uses of the word. + +{Sidenote: '_Knave_'} + +Still it is according to a word's present signification that we must +apply it now. It would be no excuse, having applied an insulting epithet +to any, if we should afterwards plead that, tried by its etymology and +primary usage, it had nothing offensive or insulting about it; although +indeed Swift assures us that in his time such a plea was made and was +allowed. "I remember", he says, "at a trial in Kent, where Sir George +Rooke was indicted for calling a gentleman 'knave' and 'villain', the +lawyer for the defendant brought off his client by alleging that the +words were not injurious; for 'knave' in the old and true signification +imported only a servant{224}; and 'villain' in Latin is villicus, which +is no more than a man employed in country labour, or rather a baily". +The lawyer may have deserved his success for his ingenuity and his +boldness; though, if Swift reports him aright, not certainly on the +ground of the strict accuracy either of his Anglo-Saxon or his Latin. + +The moral sense and conviction of men is often at work upon their words, +giving them new turns in obedience to these convictions, of which their +changed use will then remain a permanent record. Let me illustrate this +by the history of our word 'sycophant'. You probably are acquainted with +the story which the Greek scholiasts invented by way of explaining a +word of which they knew nothing, namely that the 'sycophant' was a +"manifester of figs", one who detected others in the act of exporting +figs from Attica, an act forbidden, they asserted, by the Athenian law; +and accused them to the people. Be this explanation worth what it may, +the word obtained in Greek a more general sense; any accuser, and then +any _false_ accuser, was a 'sycophant'; and when the word was first +adopted into the English language, it was in this meaning: thus an old +English poet speaks of "the railing route of _sycophants_"; and Holland: +"The poor man that hath nought to lose, is not afraid of the +_sycophant_". But it has not kept this meaning; a 'sycophant' is now a +fawning flatterer; not one who speaks ill of you behind your back; +rather one who speaks good of you before your face, but good which he +does not in his heart believe. Yet how true a moral instinct has +presided over the changed signification of the word. The calumniator and +the flatterer, although they seem so opposed to one another, how closely +united they really are. They grow out of the same root. The same +baseness of spirit which shall lead one to speak evil of you behind your +back, will lead him to fawn on you and flatter you before your face; +there is a profound sense in that Italian proverb, "Who flatters me +before, spatters me behind". + +{Sidenote: _Weakening of Words_} + +But it is not the moral sense only of men which is thus at work, +modifying their words; but the immoral as well. If the good which men +have and feel, penetrates into their speech, and leaves its deposit +there, so does also the evil. Thus we may trace a constant tendency--in +too many cases it has been a successful one--to empty words employed in +the condemnation of evil, of the depth and earnestness of the moral +reprobation which they once conveyed. Men's too easy toleration of sin, +the feebleness of their moral indignation against it, brings about that +the blame which words expressed once, has in some of them become much +weaker now than once, has from others vanished altogether. "To do a +_shrewd_ turn", was once to do a _wicked_ turn; and Chaucer, using +'shrewdness' by which to translate the Latin 'improbitas', shows that it +meant wickedness for him; nay, two murderers he calls two 'shrews',--for +there were, as already noticed, male shrews once as well as female. But +"a _shrewd_ turn" now, while it implies a certain amount of sharp +dealing, yet implies nothing more; and 'shrewdness' is applied to men +rather in their praise than in their dispraise. And not 'shrewd' and +'shrewdness' only, but a multitude of other words,--I will only instance +'prank' 'flirt', 'luxury', 'luxurious', 'peevish', 'wayward', +'loiterer', 'uncivil',--conveyed once a much more earnest moral +disapproval than now they do. + +But I must bring this lecture to a close. I have but opened to you +paths, which you, if you are so minded, can follow up for yourselves. We +have learned lately to speak of men's 'antecedents'{225}; the phrase is +newly come up; and it is common to say that if we would know what a man +really now is, we must know his 'antecedents', that is, what he has been +in time past. This is quite as true about words. If we would know what +they now are, we must know what they have been; we must know, if +possible, the date and place of their birth, the successive stages of +their subsequent history, the company which they have kept, all the road +which they have travelled, and what has brought them to the point at +which now we find them; we must know, in short, their antecedents. + +{Sidenote: _Changes of Meaning_} + +And let me say, without attempting to bring back school into these +lectures which are out of school, that, seeking to do this, we might add +an interest to our researches in the lexicon and the dictionary which +otherwise they could never have; that taking such words, for example, as +{Greek: ekklêsia}, or {Greek: palingenesia}, or {Greek: eutrapelia}, or +{Greek: sophistês}, or {Greek: scholastikos}, in Greek; as 'religio', or +'sacramentum', or 'urbanitas', or 'superstitio', in Latin; as +'libertine', or 'casuistry'{226}, or 'humanity', or 'humorous', or +'danger', or 'romance', in English, and endeavouring to trace the manner +in which one meaning grew out of and superseded another, and how they +arrived at that use in which they have finally rested (if indeed before +our English words there is not a future still), we shall derive, I +believe, amusement, I am sure, instruction; we shall feel that we are +really getting something, increasing the moral and intellectual stores +of our minds; furnishing ourselves with that which may hereafter be of +service to ourselves, may be of service to others--than which there can +be no feeling more pleasurable, none more delightful. I shall be glad +and thankful, if you can feel as much in regard of that lecture, which I +now bring to its end{227}. + + +{FOOTNOTES} + +{198} ['Frampold', peevish, perverse (_Merry Wives of Windsor_, 1598, + ii, 2, 94) is supposed to be another form of 'from-polled', as if + 'wrong-headed'. 'Garboil', a tumult or hubbub, was originally + _garboyl_, and came from old French _garbouil_ (Italian + _garbuglio_). 'Brangle', a brawl, stands for 'brandle' from Old + Fr. _brandeler_, akin to 'brandish'.] + +{199} ['Dutch' i.e. Teutonic, Mid. High-German _diutsch_, old + High-German _diut-isk_ from _diot_, people, and so the people-ish + or popular language the mother-tongue, founded on a primitive + _teuta_, 'people'. See Kluge _s.v. Deutsch_.] + +{200} So in Herrick's _Electra_: + + "More white than are the whitest creams, + Or moonlight _tinselling_ the streams". + +{201} [Hence also the epidemic of malefic power supposed to be + air-borne, 'influenza'.] + +{202} See Holinshed's _Chronicles_, vol. iii, pp. 827, 1218; Ann. 1513, + 1570. + +{203} _Fairy Queen_, vi, 7, 27; cf. v. 3, 37. + +{204} [The two words are intimately related, 'king', contracted for + _kining_ (Anglo-Saxon _cyn-ing_), 'son of the kin' or 'tribe', one + of the people, cognate with _cynde_, true-born, native, 'kind', + and _cynd_, nature 'kind', whence 'kindly', natural.] + +{205} See Sir W. Scott's edition of Swift's _Works_, vol. ix, p. 139. + +{206} {Greek: thêriakê}, from {Greek: thêrion}, a designation given to + the viper, see Acts xxviii, 4. 'Theriac' is only the more rigid + form of the same word, the scholarly, as distinguished from the + popular, adoption of it. Augustine (_Con. duas Epp. Pelag._ iii, + 7): Sicut fieri consuevit antidotum etiam de serpentibus contra + venena serpentum. + +{207} And Chaucer, more solemnly still: + + "Christ, which that is to every harm _triacle_". + + The _antidotal_ character of treacle comes out yet more in these + lines of Lydgate: + + "There is no _venom_ so parlious in sharpnes, + As whan it hath of _treacle_ a likenes". + +{208} "A slave that within these twenty years rode with the _black + guard_ in the Duke's carriage, 'mongst spits and dripping pans". + (Webster's _White Devil_.) [First ed. 1612. "The Black Guard of + the King's Kitchen" is mentioned in a State Paper of 1535 + (N.E.D.).] + +{209} Génin (_Lexique de la Langue de Molière_, p. 367) says well: "En + augmentant le nombre des mots, il a fallu restreindre leur + signification, et faire aux nouveaux un apanage aux dépens des + anciens". + +{210} [Accordingly there is nothing tautological in the "dead corpses" + of 2 Kings xix, 35, in the A.V.] + +{211} ['Weed', vegetable growth, Anglo-Saxon _weód_, is here confounded + with a perfectly distinct word 'weed', clothing, which is the + Anglo-Saxon _waéd_, a garment.] + +{212} And no less so in French with 'dame', by which form not 'domina' + only, but 'dominus', was represented. Thus in early French poetry, + "_Dame_ Dieu" for "_Dominus_ Deus" continually occurs. We have + here the key to the French exclamation, or oath, as we now + perceive it to be, 'Dame'! of which the dictionaries give no + account. See Génin's _Variations du Langage Français_, p. 347. + +{213} ['Hoyden' seems to be derived from the old Dutch _heyden_, a + heathen, then a clownish, boorish fellow.] + +{214} [This "ancient Saxon phrase", as Longfellow calls it, has not been + found in any old English writer, but has been adopted from the + Modern German. Neither is it known in the dialects, E.D.D.] + +{215} "A _furlong_, quasi _furrowlong_, being so much as a team in + England plougheth going forward, before they return back again". + (Fuller, _Pisgah Sight of Palestine_, p. 42.) ['Furlong' in St. + Luke xxiv, 13, already occurs in the Anglo-Saxon version of that + passage as _furlanga_.] + +{216} [Recent etymologists cannot see any connexion between 'peck' and + 'poke'.] + +{217} [e. g. "One said thus _preposterously_: 'when we had climbed the + clifs and were a shore'" (Puttenham, _Arte of Eng. Poesie_, 1589, + p. 181, ed. Arber). "It is a _preposterous_ order to teach first + and to learn after" (_Preface to Bible_, 1611). "Place not the + coming of the wise men, _preposterously_, before the appearance of + the star" (Abp. Secker, _Sermons_, iii, 85, ed. 1825).] + +{218} Thus Barrow: "Which [courage and constancy] he that wanteth is no + other than _equivocally_ a gentleman, as an image or a carcass is + a man". + +{219} Phillips, _New World of Words_, 1706. ['Garble' comes through old + French _garbeler_, _grabeler_ (Italian _garbellare_) from Latin + _cribellare_, to sift, and that from _cribellum_, a sieve, + diminutive of _cribrum_.] + +{220} "But his [Gideon's] army must be _garbled_, as too great for God + to give victory thereby; all the fearful return home by + proclamation" (Fuller, _Pisgah Sight of Palestine_, b. ii, c. 8). + +{221} [Compare the transitions of meaning in French _manant_ = (1) a + dweller (where he was born--from _manoir_ to dwell), the + inhabitant of a homestead, (2) a countryman, (3) a clown or boor, + a coarse fellow.] + +{222} [These words lie totally apart. 'Brat', an infant, seems a + figurative use of 'brat', a rag or pinafore, just as 'bantling' + comes from 'band', a swathe.] + +{223} "We cannot always be contemplative, or _pragmatical_ abroad: but + have need of some delightful intermissions, wherein the enlarged + soul may leave off awhile her severe schooling". (Milton, + _Tetrachordon_.) + +{224} [Anglo-Saxon _cnafa_, or _cnapa_, a boy.] + +{225} [Mr. Fitzedward Hall in 1873 says 'antecedents' is "not yet a + generation old" (_Mod. English_, 303). Landor in 1853 says "the + French have lately taught (it to) us" (_Last Fruit of an Old + Tree_, 176). De Quincey, in 1854 calls it "modern slang" (_Works_ + xiv, 449); and the earliest quotation, 1841, given in the N.E.D., + introduces it as "what the French call their antecedents".] + +{226} See Whewell, _History of Moral Philosophy in England_, pp. + xxvii.-xxxii. + +{227} For a fuller treatment of the subject of this lecture, see my + _Select Glossary of English Words used formerly in senses + different from their present_, 2nd ed. London, 1859. + + + + +V + +CHANGES IN THE SPELLING OF ENGLISH WORDS + + +When I announce to you that the subject of my lecture to-day will be +English orthography, or the spelling of the words in our native +language, with the alterations which this has undergone, you may perhaps +think with yourselves that a weightier, or, if not a weightier, at all +events a more interesting subject might have occupied this our +concluding lecture. I cannot admit it to be wanting either in importance +or in interest. Unimportant it certainly is not, but might well engage, +as it often has engaged, the attention of those with far higher +acquirements than any which I possess. Uninteresting it may be, by +faults in the manner of treating it; but I am sure it ought as little to +be this; and would never prove so in competent hands{228}. Let us then +address ourselves to this matter, not without good hope that it may +yield us both profit and pleasure. + +I know not who it was that said, "The invention of printing was very +well; but, as compared to the invention of writing, it was no such great +matter after all". Whoever it was who made this observation, it is clear +that for him use and familiarity had not obliterated the wonder which +there is in that, whereat we probably have long ceased to wonder at +all--the power, namely, of representing sounds by written signs, of +reproducing for the eye that which existed at first only for the ear: +nor was the estimate which he formed of the relative value of these two +inventions other than a just one. Writing indeed stands more nearly on a +level with speaking, and deserves rather to be compared with it, than +with printing; which, with all its utility, is yet of altogether another +and inferior type of greatness: or, if this is too much to claim for +writing, it may at any rate be affirmed to stand midway between the +other two, and to be as much superior to the one as it is inferior to +the other. + +The intention of the written word, that which presides at its first +formation, the end whereunto it is a mean, is by aid of symbols agreed +on beforehand, to represent to the eye with as much accuracy as possible +the spoken word. + +{Sidenote: _Imperfection of Writing_} + +It never fulfils this intention completely, and by degrees more and more +imperfectly. Short as man's spoken word often falls of his thought, his +written word falls often as short of his spoken. Several causes +contribute to this. In the first place, the marks of imperfection and +infirmity cleave to writing, as to every other invention of man. All +alphabets have been left incomplete. They have superfluous letters, +letters, that is, which they do not want, because other letters already +represent the sound which they represent; they have dubious letters, +letters, that is, which say nothing certain about the sounds they stand +for, because more than one sound is represented by them--our 'c' for +instance, which sometimes has the sound of 's', as in '_c_ity', +sometimes of 'k', as in '_c_at'; they are deficient in letters, that is, +the language has elementary sounds which have no corresponding letters +appropriated to them, and can only be represented by combinations of +letters. All alphabets, I believe, have some of these faults, not a few +of them have all, and more. This then is one reason of the imperfect +reproduction of the spoken word by the written. But another is, that the +human voice is so wonderfully fine and flexible an organ, is able to +mark such subtle and delicate distinctions of sound, so infinitely to +modify and vary these sounds, that were an alphabet complete as human +art could make it, did it possess eight and forty instead of four and +twenty letters, there would still remain a multitude of sounds which it +could only approximately give back{229}. + +{Sidenote: _Alphabets Inadequate_} + +But there is a further cause for the divergence which comes gradually to +find place between men's spoken and their written words. What men do +often, they will seek to do with the least possible trouble. There is +nothing which they do oftener than repeat words; they will seek here +then to save themselves pains; they will contract two or more syllables +into one; ('toto opere' will become 'topper'; 'vuestra merced', 'usted'; +and 'topside the other way', 'topsy-turvey'{230}); they will slur over, +and thus after a while cease to pronounce, certain letters; for hard +letters they will substitute soft; for those which require a certain +effort to pronounce, they will substitute those which require little or +none. Under the operation of these causes a gulf between the written and +spoken word will not merely exist; but it will have the tendency to grow +ever wider and wider. This tendency indeed will be partially +counterworked by approximations which from time to time will by silent +consent be made of the written word to the spoken; here and there a +letter dropped in speech will be dropped also in writing, as the 's' in +so many French words, where its absence is marked by a circumflex; a new +shape, contracted or briefer, which a word has taken on the lips of men, +will find its representation in their writing; as 'chirurgeon' will not +merely be pronounced, but also spelt, 'surgeon', and 'synodsman' +'sidesman'. Still for all this, and despite of these partial +readjustments of the relations between the two, the anomalies will be +infinite; there will be a multitude of written letters which have ceased +to be sounded letters; a multitude of words will exist in one shape upon +our lips, and in quite another in our books. + +It is inevitable that the question should arise--Shall these anomalies +be meddled with? shall it be attempted to remove them, and bring writing +and speech into harmony and consent--a harmony and consent which never +indeed in actual fact at any period of the language existed, but which +yet may be regarded as the object of written speech, as the idea which, +however imperfectly realized, has, in the reduction of spoken sounds to +written, floated before the minds of men? If the attempt is to be made, +it is clear that it can only be made in one way. The alternative is not +open, whether Mahomet shall go to the mountain, _or_ the mountain to +Mahomet. The spoken word is the mountain; it will not stir; it will +resist all interference. It feels its own superior rights, that it +existed the first, that it is, so to say, the elder brother; and it will +never be induced to change itself for the purpose of conforming and +complying with the written word. Men will not be persuaded to pronounce +'wou_l_d' and 'de_b_t', because they write 'would' and 'debt' severally +with an 'l' and with a 'b': but what if they could be induced to write +'woud' and 'det', because they pronounce so; and to deal in like manner +with all other words, in which there exists at present a discrepancy +between the word as it is spoken, and the word as it is written? + +{Sidenote: _Phonetic Systems_} + +Here we have the explanation of that which in the history of almost all +literatures has repeated itself more than once, namely, the endeavour to +introduce phonetic writing. It has certain plausibilities to rest on; it +has its appeal to the unquestionable fact that the written word was +intended to picture to the eye what the spoken word sounded in the ear. +At the same time I believe that it would be impossible to introduce it; +and, even if it _were_ possible, that it would be most undesirable, and +this for two reasons; the first being that the losses consequent upon +its introduction, would far outweigh the gains, even supposing those +gains as great as the advocates of the scheme promise; the second, that +these promised gains would themselves be only very partially realized, +or not at all. + +{Sidenote: _Alphabets Imperfect_} + +In the first place, I believe it to be impossible. It is clear that such +a scheme must begin with the reconstruction of the alphabet. The first +thing that the phonographers have perceived is the necessity for the +creation of a vast number of new signs, the poverty of all existing +alphabets, at any rate of our own, not yielding a several sign for all +the several sounds in the language. Our English phonographers have +therefore had to invent ten of these new signs or letters, which are +henceforth to take their place with our _a_, _b_, _c_, and to enjoy +equal rights with them. Rejecting two (_q_, _x_), and adding ten, they +have raised their alphabet from twenty-six letters to thirty-four. But +to procure the reception of such a reconstructed alphabet is simply an +impossibility, as much an impossibility as would be the reconstitution +of the structure of the language in any points where it was manifestly +deficient or illogical. Sciolists or scholars may sit down in their +studies, and devise these new letters, and prove that we need them, and +that the introduction of them would be a great gain, and a manifest +improvement; and this may be all very true; but if they think they can +induce a people to adopt them, they know little of the ways in which its +alphabet is entwined with the whole innermost life of a people. One may +freely own that all present alphabets are redundant here, are deficient +there; our English perhaps is as greatly at fault as any, and with that +we have chiefly to do. Unquestionably it has more letters than one to +express one and the same sound; it has only one letter to express two or +three sounds; it has sounds which are only capable of being expressed at +all by awkward and roundabout expedients. Yet at the same time we must +accept the fact, as we accept any other which it is out of our power to +change--with regret, indeed, but with a perfect acquiescence: as one +accepts the fact that Ireland is not some thirty or forty miles nearer +to England--that it is so difficult to get round Cape Horn--that the +climate of Africa is so fatal to European life. A people will no more +quit their alphabet than they will quit their language; they will no +more consent to modify the one _ab extra_ than the other. Cæsar avowed +that with all his power he could not introduce a new word, and certainly +Claudius could not introduce a new letter. Centuries may sanction the +bringing in of a new one, or the dropping of an old. But to imagine that +it is possible to suddenly introduce a group of ten new letters, as +these reformers propose--they might just as feasibly propose that the +English language should form its comparatives and superlatives on some +entirely new scheme, say in Greek fashion, by the terminations 'oteros' +and 'otatos'; or that we should agree to set up a dual; or that our +substantives should return to our Anglo-Saxon declensions. Any one of +these or like proposals would not betray a whit more ignorance of the +eternal laws which regulate human language, and of the limits within +which deliberate action upon it is possible, than does this of +increasing our alphabet by ten entirely novel signs. + +But grant it possible, grant our six and twenty letters to have so +little sacredness in them that Englishmen would endure a crowd of +upstart interlopers to mix themselves on an equal footing with them, +still this could only be from a sense of the greatness of the advantage +to be derived from this introduction. Now the vast advantage claimed by +the advocates of the system is, that it would facilitate the learning to +read, and wholly save the labour of learning to spell, which "on the +present plan occupies", as they assure us, "at the very lowest +calculation from three to five years". Spelling, it is said, would no +longer need to be learned at all; since whoever knew the sound, would +necessarily know also the spelling, this being in all cases in perfect +conformity with that. The anticipation of this gain rests upon two +assumptions which are tacitly taken for granted, but both of them +erroneous. + +The first of these assumptions is, that all men pronounce all words +alike, so that whenever they come to spell a word, they will exactly +agree as to what the outline of its sound is. Now we are sure men will +not do this from the fact that, before there was any fixed and settled +orthography in our language, when therefore everybody was more or less a +phonographer, seeking to write down the word as it sounded to _him_, +(for he had no other law to guide him,) the variations of spelling were +infinite. Take for instance the word 'sudden'; which does not seem to +promise any great scope for variety. I have myself met with this word +spelt in the following fifteen ways among our early writers: 'sodain', +'sodaine', 'sodan', 'sodayne', 'sodden', 'sodein', 'sodeine', 'soden', +'sodeyn', 'suddain', 'suddaine', 'suddein', 'suddeine', 'sudden', +'sudeyn'. Again, in how many ways was Raleigh's name spelt, or +Shakespeare's? The same is evident from the spelling of uneducated +persons in our own day. They have no other rule but the sound to guide +them. How is it that they do not all spell alike; erroneously, it may +be, as having only the sound for their guide, but still falling all into +exactly the same errors? What is the actual fact? They not merely spell +wrong, which might be laid to the charge of our perverse system of +spelling, but with an inexhaustible diversity of error, and that too in +the case of simplest words. Thus the little town of Woburn would seem to +give small room for caprice in spelling, while yet the postmaster there +has made, from the superscription of letters that have passed through +his hands, a collection of two hundred and forty-four varieties of ways +in which the place has been spelt{231}. It may be replied that these +were all or nearly all from the letters of the ignorant and uneducated. +Exactly so;--but it is for their sakes, and to place them on a level +with the educated, or rather to accelerate their education by the +omission of a useless yet troublesome discipline, that the change is +proposed. I wish to show you that after the change they would be just as +much, or almost as much, at a loss in their spelling as now. + +{Sidenote: _Pronouncing Dictionaries_} + +And another reason which would make it quite as necessary then to learn +orthography as now, is the following. Pronunciation, as I have already +noticed, is far too fine and subtle a thing to be more than approximated +to, and indicated in the written letter. In a multitude of cases the +difficulties which pronunciation presented would be sought to be +overcome in different ways, and thus different spelling, would arise; or +if not so, one would have to be arbitrarily selected, and would have +need to be learned, just as much as the spelling of a word now has need +to be learned. I will only ask you, in proof of this which I affirm, to +turn to any Pronouncing Dictionary. That greatest of all absurdities, a +Pronouncing Dictionary, may be of some service to you in this matter; it +will certainly be of none in any other. When you mark the elaborate and +yet ineffectual artifices by which it toils after the finer distinctions +of articulation, seeks to reproduce in letters what exists, and can only +exist, as the spoken tradition of pronunciation, acquired from lip to +lip by the organ of the ear, capable of being learned, but incapable of +being taught; or when you compare two of these dictionaries with one +another, and mark the entirely different schemes and combinations of +letters which they employ for representing the same sound to the eye; +you will then perceive how idle the attempt to make the written in +language commensurate with the sounded; you will own that not merely +out of human caprice, ignorance, or indolence, the former falls short of +and differs from the later; but that this lies in the necessity of +things, in the fact that man's _voice_ can effect so much more than ever +his _letter_ can{232}. You will then perceive that there would be as +much, or nearly as much, of the arbitrary in spelling which calls itself +phonetic as in our present, that spelling would have to be learned just +as really then as now. We should be unable to dismiss the spelling card +even after the arrival of that great day, when, for example, those lines +of Pope which hitherto we have thus spelt and read, + + "But errs not nature from this gracious end, + From burning suns when livid deaths descend, + When earthquakes swallow, or when tempests sweep + Towns to one grave, whole nations to the deep"? + +when I say, instead of this they should present themselves to our eyes +in the following attractive form: + + "But ¿ erz not n[e]tiur from ðis gr[e]cus end, + from burni[ng] sunz when livid deþs d[i]send, + when erþkw[e]ks swol[o], or when tempests sw[i]p + tounz tu wun gr[e]v, h[o]l n[e]conz tu ðe d[i]p". + +{Sidenote: _Losses of Phonetic Spelling_} + +The scheme would not then fulfil its promises. Its vaunted gains, when +we come to look closely at them, disappear. And now for its losses. +There are in every language a vast number of words, which the ear does +not distinguish from one another, but which are at once distinguishable +to the eye by the spelling. I will only instance a few which are the +same parts of speech; thus 'sun' and 'son'; 'virge' ('virga', now +obsolete) and 'verge'; 'reign', 'rain', and 'rein'; 'hair' and 'hare'; +'plate' and 'plait'; 'moat' and 'mote'; 'pear' and 'pair'; 'pain' and +'pane'; 'raise' and 'raze'; 'air' and 'heir'; 'ark' and 'arc'; 'mite' +and 'might'; 'pour' and 'pore'; 'veil' and 'vale'; 'knight' and 'night'; +'knave' and 'nave'; 'pier' and 'peer'; 'rite' and 'right'; 'site' and +'sight'; 'aisle' and 'isle'; 'concent' and 'consent'; 'signet' and +'cygnet'. Now, of course, it is a real disadvantage, and may be the +cause of serious confusion, that there should be words in spoken +languages of entirely different origin and meaning which yet cannot in +sound be differenced from one another. The phonographers simply propose +to extend this disadvantage already cleaving to our spoken languages, to +the written languages as well. It is fault enough in the French +language, that 'mère' a mother, 'mer' the sea, 'maire' a mayor of a +town, should have no perceptible difference between them in the spoken +tongue; or again that in some there should be nothing to distinguish +'sans', 'sang', 'sent', 'sens', 's'en', 'cent'; nor yet between 'ver', +'vert', 'verre' and 'vers'. Surely it is not very wise to propose +gratuitously to extend the same fault to the written languages as well. + +This loss in so many instances of the power to discriminate between +words, which however liable to confusion now in our spoken language, are +liable to none in our written, would be serious enough; but far more +serious than this would be the loss which would constantly ensue, of all +which visibly connects a word with the past, which tells its history, +and indicates the quarter from which it has been derived. In how many +English words a letter silent to the ear, is yet most eloquent to the +eye--the _g_ for instance in 'deign', 'feign', 'reign', 'impugn', +telling as it does of 'dignor', 'fingo', 'regno', 'impugno'; even as the +_b_ in 'debt', 'doubt', is not idle, but tells of 'debitum' and +'dubium'{233}. + +{Sidenote: _Pronunciation Alters_} + +At present it is the written word which is in all languages their +conservative element. In it is the abiding witness against the +mutilations or other capricious changes in their shape which +affectation, folly, ignorance, and half-knowledge would introduce. It is +not indeed always able to hinder the final adoption of these corrupter +forms, but does not fail to oppose to them a constant, and very often a +successful, resistance. With the adoption of phonetic spelling, this +witness would exist no longer; whatever was spoken would have also to be +written, let it be never so barbarous, never so great a departure from +the true form of the word. Nor is it merely probable that such a +barbarizing process, such an adopting and sanctioning of a vulgarism, +might take place, but among phonographers it already has taken place. We +all probably are aware that there is a vulgar pronunciation of the word +'Eu_rope_', as though it were 'Eu_rup_'. Now it is quite possible that +numerically more persons in England may pronounce the word in this +manner than in the right; and therefore the phonographers are only true +to their principles when they spell it in the fashion which they do, +'Eurup', or indeed omitting the E at the beginning, 'Urup'{234} with +thus the life of the first syllable assailed no less than that of the +second. What are the consequences? First its relations with the old +mythology are at once and entirely broken off; secondly, its most +probable etymology from two Greek words, signifying 'broad' and 'face', +Europe being so called from the _Broad_ line or _face_ of coast which +our continent presented to the Asiatic Greek, is totally obscured. But +so far from the spelling servilely following the pronunciation, I should +be bold to affirm that if ninety-nine out of every hundred persons in +England chose to call Europe 'Urup', this would be a vulgarism still, +against which the written word ought to maintain its protest, not +sinking down to their level, but rather seeking to elevate them to its +own{235}. + +{Sidenote: _Changes of Pronunciation_} + +And if there is much in orthography which is unsettled now, how much +more would be unsettled then. Inasmuch as the pronunciation of words is +continually altering, their spelling would of course have continually to +alter too. For the fact that pronunciation is undergoing constant +changes, although changes for the most part unmarked, or marked only by +a few, would be abundantly easy to prove. Take a Pronouncing Dictionary +of fifty or a hundred years ago; turn to almost any page, and you will +observe schemes of pronunciation there recommended, which are now merely +vulgarisms, or which have been dropped altogether. We gather from a +discussion in Boswell's _Life of Johnson_{236}, that in his time 'great' +was by some of the best speakers of the language pronounced 'gr_ee_t', +not 'gr_a_te': Pope usually rhymes it with 'cheat', 'complete', and the +like; thus in the _Dunciad_: + + "Here swells the shelf with Ogilby the _great_, + There, stamped with arms, Newcastle shines com_plete_". + +Spenser's constant use of the word a century and a half earlier, leaves +no doubt that such was the invariable pronunciation of his time{237}. +Again, Pope rhymes 'obliged' with 'beseiged'; and it has only ceased to +be 'obl_ee_ged' almost in our own time. Who now drinks a cup of 'tay'? +yet there is abundant evidence that this was the fashionable +pronunciation in the first half of the last century; the word, that is, +was still regarded as French: Locke writes it 'thé'; and in Pope's time, +though no longer written, it was still pronounced so. Take this couplet +of his in proof: + + "Here thou, great Anna, whom three realms _obey_, + Dost sometimes counsel take, and sometimes _tea_". + +So too a pronunciation which still survives, though scarcely among +well-educated persons, I mean 'Room' for 'Rome', must have been in +Shakespeare's time the predominant one, else there would have been no +point in that play on words where in _Julius Cæsar_ Cassius, complaining +that in all _Rome_ there was not _room_ for a single man, exclaims, + + "Now is it _Rome_ indeed, and _room_ enough". + +Samuel Rogers too assures us that in his youth "everybody said +'Lonnon'{238} not 'London'; that Fox said 'Lonnon' to the last". + +The following quotation from Swift will prove to you that I have been +only employing here an argument, which he employed long ago against the +phonographers of his time. He exposes thus the futility of their +scheme{239}: "Another cause which has contributed not a little to the +maiming of our language, is a foolish opinion advanced of late years +that we ought to spell exactly as we speak: which, besides the obvious +inconvenience of utterly destroying our etymology, would be a thing we +should never see an end of. Not only the several towns and counties of +England have a different way of pronouncing, but even here in London +they clip their words after one manner about the court, another in the +city, and a third in the suburbs; and in a few years, it is probable, +will all differ from themselves, as fancy or fashion shall direct; all +which, reduced to writing, would entirely confound orthography". + +This much I have thought good to say in respect of that entire +revolution in English orthography, which some rash innovators have +proposed. Let me, dismissing them and their innovations, call your +attention now to those changes in spelling which are constantly going +forward, at some periods more rapidly than at others, but which never +wholly cease out of a language; while at the same time I endeavour to +trace, where this is possible, the motives and inducements which bring +them about. It is a subject which none can neglect, who desire to obtain +even a tolerably accurate acquaintance with their native tongue. Some +principles have been laid down in the course of what has been said +already, that may help us to judge whether the changes which have found +place in our own have been for better or for worse. We shall find, if I +am not mistaken, of both kinds. + +{Sidenote: '_Grogram_'} + +There are alterations in spelling which are for the worse. Thus an +altered spelling will sometimes obscure the origin of a word, concealing +it from those who, but for this, would at once have known whence and +what it was, and would have found both pleasure and profit in this +knowledge. I need not say that in all those cases where the earlier +spelling revealed the secret of the word, told its history, which the +latter defaces or conceals, the change has been injurious, and is to be +regretted; while, at the same time, where it has thoroughly established +itself, there is nothing to do but to acquiesce in it: the attempt to +undo it would be absurd. Thus, when 'gro_c_er' was spelt 'gro_ss_er', it +was comparatively easy to see that he first had his name, because he +sold his wares not by retail, but in the _gross_. 'Co_x_comb' tells us +nothing now; but it did when spelt, as it used to be, 'co_cks_comb', the +_comb_ of a _cock_ being then an ensign or token which the fool was +accustomed to wear. In 'grogra_m_' we are entirely to seek for the +derivation; but in 'grogra_n_' or 'grogra_in_', as earlier it was spelt, +one could scarcely miss 'grosgrain', the stuff of a _coarse grain_ or +woof. How many now understand 'woodbin_e_'? but who could have helped +understanding 'woodbin_d_' (Ben Jonson)? What a mischievous alteration +in spelling is 'd_i_vest' instead of 'd_e_vest'{240}. This change is so +recent that I am tempted to ask whether it would not here be possible to +return to the only intelligible spelling of this word. + +{Sidenote: '_Pigmy_'} + +'P_i_gmy' used formerly to be spelt 'p_y_gmy', and so long as it was so, +no Greek scholar could see the word, but at once he knew that by it +were indicated manikins whose measure in height was no greater than +that of a man's arm from the elbow to the closed _fist_{241}. Now he may +know this in other ways; but the word itself, so long as he assumes it +to be rightly spelt, tells him nothing. Or again, the old spelling, +'diam_ant_', was preferable to the modern 'diam_ond_'. It was +preferable, because it told more of the quarter whence the word had +reached us. 'Diamant' and 'adamant' are in fact only two different +adoptions on the part of the English tongue, of one and the same Greek, +which afterwards became a Latin word. The primary meaning of 'adamant' +is, as you know, the indomitable, and it was a name given at first to +steel as the hardest of metals; but afterwards transferred{242} to the +most precious among all the precious stones, as that which in power of +resistance surpassed everything besides. + +{Sidenote: '_Cozen_', '_Bless_'} + +Neither are new spellings to be commended, which obliterate or obscure +the relationship of a word with others to which it is really allied; +separating from one another, for those not thoroughly acquainted with +the subject, words of the same family. Thus when '_j_aw' was spelt +'_ch_aw', no ne could miss its connexions with the verb 'to chew'{243}. +Now probably ninety-nine out of a hundred who use both words, are +entirely unaware of any relationship between them. It is the same with +'cousin' (consanguineus), and 'to cozen' or to deceive. I do not propose +to determine which of these words should conform itself to the spelling +of the other. There was great irregularity in the spelling of both from +the first; yet for all this, it was then better than now, when a +permanent distinction has established itself between them, keeping out +of sight that 'to cozen' is in all likelihood to deceive under show of +kindred and affinity; which if it be so, Shakespeare's words, + + "_Cousins_ indeed, and by their uncle _cozened_ + Of comfort"{244}, + +will be found to contain not a pun, but an etymology{245}. The real +relation between 'bliss' and 'to bless' is in like manner at present +obscured{246}. + +The omission of a letter, or the addition of a letter, may each +effectually do its work in keeping out of sight the true character and +origin of a word. Thus the omission of a letter. When the first syllable +of 'bran-new' was spelt 'bran_d_' with a final 'd', 'bran_d_-new', how +vigorous an image did the word contain. The 'brand' is the fire, and +'brand-new' equivalent to 'fire-new' (Shakespeare), is that which is +fresh and bright, as being newly come from the forge and fire. As now +spelt, 'bran-new' conveys to us no image at all. Again, you have the +word 'scrip'--as a 'scrip' of paper, government 'scrip'. Is this the +same word with the Saxon 'scrip', a wallet, having in some strange +manner obtained these meanings so different and so remote? Have we here +only two different applications of one and the same word, or two +homonyms, wholly different words, though spelt alike? We have only to +note the way in which the first of these 'scrips' used to be written, +namely with a final 't', not 'scrip' but 'scrip_t_', and we are at once +able to answer the question. This 'script' is a Latin, as the other is +an Anglo-Saxon, word, and meant at first simply a _written_ (scripta) +piece of paper--a circumstance which since the omission of the final 't' +may easily escape our knowledge. 'Afraid' was spelt much better in old +times with the double 'ff', than with the single 'f' as now. It was then +clear that it was not another form of 'afeared', but wholly separate +from it, the participle of the verb 'to affray', 'affrayer', or, as it +is now written, 'effrayer'{247}. + +{Sidenote: '_Whole_', '_Hale_', '_Heal_'} + +In the cases hitherto adduced, it has been the omission of a letter +which has clouded and concealed the etymology. The intrusion of a letter +sometimes does the same. Thus in the early editions of _Paradise Lost_, +and in all writers of that time, you will find 'scent', an odour, spelt +'sent'. It was better so; there is no other noun substantive 'sent', +with which it is in danger of being confounded; while its relation with +'sentio', with 're_sent_'{248}, 'dis_sent_', and the like, is put out of +sight by its novel spelling; the intrusive '_c_', serves only to +mislead. The same thing was attempted with 'site', 'situate', +'situation', spelt for a time by many, 's_c_ite', 's_c_ituate', +'s_c_ituation'; but it did not continue with these. Again, 'whole', in +Wiclif's Bible, and indeed much later, occasionally as far down as +Spenser, is spelt 'hole', without the 'w' at the beginning. The present +orthography may have the advantage of at once distinguishing the word to +the eye from any other; but at the same time the initial 'w', now +prefixed, hides its relation to the verb 'to heal', with which it is +closely allied. The 'whole' man is he whose hurt is 'healed' or +covered{249} (we say of the convalescent that he 'recovers'){250}; +'whole' being closely allied to 'hale' (integer), from which also by +its modern spelling it is divided. 'Wholesome' has naturally followed +the fortunes of 'whole'; it was spelt 'holsome' once. + +Of 'island' too our present spelling is inferior to the old, inasmuch as +it suggests a hybrid formation, as though the word were made up of the +Latin 'insula', and the Saxon 'land'. It is quite true that 'isle' _is_ +in relation with, and descent from, 'insula', 'isola', 'île'; and hence +probably the misspelling of 'island'. This last however has nothing to +do with 'insula', being identical with the German 'eiland', the +Anglo-Saxon 'ealand'{251} and signifying the sea-land, or land girt, +round with the sea. And it is worthy of note that this 's' in the first +syllable of 'island' is quite of modern introduction. In all the earlier +versions of the Scriptures, and in the Authorized Version as at first +set forth, it is 'iland'; while in proof that this is not accidental, it +may be observed that, while 'iland' has not the 's', 'isle' has it (see +Rev. i. 9). 'Iland' indeed is the spelling which we meet with far down +into the seventeenth century. + +{Sidenote: _Folk-etymologies_} + +What has just been said of 'island' leads me as by a natural transition +to observe that one of the most frequent causes of alteration in the +spelling of a word is a wrongly assumed derivation. It is then sought to +bring the word into harmony with, and to make it by its spelling +suggest, this derivation, which has been erroneously thrust upon it. +Here is a subject which, followed out as it deserves, would form an +interesting and instructive chapter in the history of language{252}. Let +me offer one or two small contributions to it; noting first by the way +how remarkable an evidence we have in this fact, of the manner in which +not the learned only, but all persons learned and unlearned alike, crave +to have these words not body only, but body and soul. What an +attestation, I say, of this lies in the fact that where a word in its +proper derivation is unintelligible to them, they will shape and mould +it into some other form, not enduring that it should be a mere inert +sound without sense in their ears; and if they do not know its right +origin, will rather put into it a wrong one, than that it should have +for them no meaning, and suggest no derivation at all{253}. + +There is probably no language in which such a process has not been going +forward; in which it is not the explanation, in a vast number of +instances, of changes in spelling and even in form, which words have +undergone. I will offer a few examples of it from foreign tongues, +before adducing any from our own. 'Pyramid' is a word, the spelling of +which was affected in the Greek by an erroneous assumption of its +derivation; the consequences of this error surviving in our own word to +the present day. It is spelt by us with a 'y' in the first syllable, as +it was spelt with the {Greek: y} corresponding in the Greek. But why was +this? It was because the Greeks assumed that the pyramids were so named +from their having the appearance of _flame_ going up into a point{254}, +and so they spelt 'pyramid', that they might find {Greek: pyr} or 'pyre' +in it; while in fact 'pyramid' has nothing to do with flame or fire at +all; being, as those best qualified to speak on the matter declare to +us, an Egyptian word of quite a different signification{255}, and the +Coptic letters being much better represented by the diphthong 'ei' than +by the letter 'y', as no doubt, but for this mistaken notion of what the +word was intended to mean, they would have been. + +Once more--the form 'Hierosolyma', wherein the Greeks reproduced the +Hebrew 'Jerusalem', was intended in all probability to express that the +city so called was the _sacred_ city of the _Solymi_{256}. At all events +the intention not merely of reproducing the Hebrew word, but also of +making it significant in Greek, of finding {Greek: hieron} in it, is +plainly discernible. For indeed the Greeks were exceedingly intolerant +of foreign words, till they had laid aside their foreign appearance--of +all words which they could not thus quicken with a Greek soul; and, with +a very characteristic vanity, an ignoring of all other tongues but their +own, assumed with no apparent misgivings that all words, from whatever +quarter derived, were to be explained by Greek etymologies{257}. + +'Tartar' is another word, of which it is at least possible that a +wrongly assumed derivation has modified the spelling, and indeed not +the spelling only, but the very shape in which we now possess it. To +many among us it may be known that the people designated by this +appellation are not properly 'Tartars', but 'Tatars'; and you sometimes +perhaps have noted the omission of the 'r' on the part of those who are +curious in their spelling. How, then, it may be asked, did the form +'Tartar' arise? When the terrible hordes of middle Asia burst in upon +civilized Europe in the thirteenth century, many beheld in the ravages +of their innumerable cavalry a fulfilment of that prophetic word in the +Revelation (chap. ix.) concerning the opening of the bottomless pit; and +from this belief ensued the change of their name from 'Tatars' to +'Tartars', which was thus put into closer relation with 'Tartarus' or +hell, out of which their multitudes were supposed to have proceeded{258}. + +Another good example in the same kind is the German word 'sündflut', the +Deluge, which is now so spelt as to signify a 'sinflood', the plague or +_flood_ of waters brought on the world by the _sins_ of mankind; and +probably some of us have before this admired the pregnant significance +of the word. Yet the old High German word had originally no such +intention; it was spelt 'sinfluot', that is, the great flood; and as +late as Luther, indeed in Luther's own translation of the Bible, is so +spelt as to make plain that the notion of a '_sin_-flood' had not yet +found its way into, even as it had not affected the spelling of, the +word{259}. + +{Sidenote: '_Currants_'} + +But to look now nearer home for our examples. The little raisins brought +from Greece, which play so important a part in one of the national +dishes of England, the Christmas plum-pudding, used to be called +'corinths'; and so you would find them in mercantile lists of a hundred +years ago: either that for the most part they were shipped from Corinth, +the principal commercial city in Greece, or because they grew in large +abundance in the immediate district round about it. Their likeness in +shape and size and general appearance to our own currants, working +together with the ignorance of the great majority of English people +about any such place as Corinth, soon brought the name 'corinths' into +'currants', which now with a certain unfitness they bear; being not +currants at all, but dried grapes, though grapes of diminutive +size{260}. + +{Sidenote: '_Court-cards_'} + +'_Court_-cards', that is, the king, queen, and knave in each suit, were +once 'coat-cards'{261}; having their name from the long splendid 'coat' +(vestis talaris) with which they were arrayed. Probably 'coat' after a +while did not perfectly convey its original meaning and intention; being +no more in common use for the long garment reaching down to the heels; +and then 'coat' was easily exchanged for 'court', as the word is now +both spelt and pronounced, seeing that nowhere so fitly as in a Court +should such splendidly arrayed personages be found. A public house in +the neighbourhood of London having a few years since for its sign "The +George _Canning_" is already "The George and _Cannon_",--so rapidly do +these transformations proceed, so soon is that forgotten which we +suppose would never be forgotten. "Welsh _rarebit_" becomes "Welsh +_rabbit_"{262}; and '_farced_' or stuffed 'meat' becomes "forced meat". +Even the mere determination to make a word _look_ English, to put it +into an English shape, without thereby so much as seeming to attain any +result in the way of etymology, this is very often sufficient to bring +about a change in its spelling, and even in its form{263}. It is thus +that 'sipahi' has become 'sepoy'; and only so could 'weissager' have +taken its present form of 'wiseacre'{264}. + +{Sidenote: _Transformation of Words_} + +It is not very uncommon for a word, while it is derived from one word, +to receive a certain impulse and modification from another. This extends +sometimes beyond the spelling, and in cases where it does so, would +hardly belong to our present theme. Still I may notice an instance or +two. Thus our 'obsequies' is the Latin 'exequiæ', but formed under a +certain impulse of 'obsequium', and seeking to express and include the +observant honour of that word. 'To refuse' is 'recusare', while yet it +has derived the 'f' of its second syllable from 'refutare'; it is a +medley of the two{265}. The French 'rame', an oar, is 'remus', but that +modified by an unconscious recollection of 'ramus'. 'Orange' is no doubt +a Persian word, which has reached us through the Arabic, and which the +Spanish 'naranja' more nearly represents than any form of it existing in +the other languages of Europe. But what so natural as to think of the +orange as the _golden_ fruit, especially when the "_aurea_ mala" of the +Hesperides were familiar to all antiquity? There cannot be a doubt that +'aurum', 'oro', 'or', made themselves felt in the shapes which the word +assumed in the languages of the West, and that here we have the +explanation of the change in the first syllable, as in the low Latin +'aurantium', 'orangia', and in the French 'orange', which has given us +our own. + +It is foreign words, or words adopted from foreign languages, as might +beforehand be expected, which are especially subjected to such +transformations as these. The soul which the word once had in its own +language, having, for as many as do not know that language, departed +from it, or at least not being now any more to be recognized by such as +employ the word, these are not satisfied till they have put another soul +into it, and it has thus become alive to them again. Thus--to take first +one or two very familiar instances, but which serve as well as any other +to illustrate my position--the Bellerophon becomes for our sailors the +'Billy Ruffian', for what can they know of the Greek mythology, or of +the slayer of Chimæra? an iron steamer, the Hirondelle, now or lately +plying on the Tyne, is the 'Iron Devil'. '_Contre_ danse', or dance in +which the parties stand _face to face_ with one another, and which ought +to have appeared in English as '_counter_ dance', does become '_country_ +dance'{266}, as though it were the dance of the country folk and rural +districts, as distinguished from the quadrille and waltz and more +artificial dances of the town{267}. A well known rose, the "rose _des +quatre saisons_", or of the four seasons, becomes on the lips of some of +our gardeners, the "rose of the _quarter sessions_", though here it is +probable that the eye has misled, rather than the ear. 'Dent de lion', +(it is spelt 'dentdelyon' in our early writers) becomes 'dandylion', +"_chaude_ melée", or an affray in _hot_ blood, "_chance_-medley"{268}, +'causey' (chaussée) becomes 'causeway'{269}, 'rachitis' 'rickets'{270}, +and in French 'mandragora' 'main de gloire'{271}. + +{Sidenote: '_Necromancy_'} + +'Necromancy' is another word which, if not now, yet for a long period +was erroneously spelt, and indeed assumed a different shape, under the +influence of an erroneous derivation; which, curiously enough, even now +that it has been dismissed, has left behind it the marks of its +presence, in our common phrase, "the _Black_ Art". I need hardly remind +you that 'necromancy' is a Greek word, which signifies, according to its +proper meaning, a prophesying by aid of the dead, or that it rests on +the presumed power of raising up by potent spells the dead, and +compelling them to give answers about things to come. We all know that +it was supposed possible to exercise such power; we have a very awful +example of it in the story of the witch of Endor, and a very horrid one +in Lucan{272}. But the Latin medieval writers, whose Greek was either +little or none, spelt the word, 'nigromantia', as if its first syllables +had been Latin: at the same time, not wholly forgetting the original +meaning, but in fact getting round to it though by a wrong process, they +understood the dead by these 'nigri', or blacks, whom they had brought +into the word{273}. Down to a rather late period we find the forms, +'_negro_mancer' and '_negro_mancy' frequent in English. + +{Sidenote: _Words Misspelt_} + +'Pleurisy' used often to be spelt, (I do not think it is so now,) +without an 'e' in the first syllable, evidently on the tacit assumption +that it was from _plus pluris_{274}. When Shakespeare falls into an +error, he "makes the offence gracious"; yet, I think, he would scarcely +have written, + + "For goodness growing to a _plurisy_ + Dies of his own _too much_", + +but that _he_ too derived 'plurisy' from _pluris_. This, even with the +"small Latin and less Greek", which Ben Jonson allows him, he scarcely +would have done, had the word presented itself in that form, which by +right of its descent from {Greek: pleura} (being a pain, stitch, or +sickness _in the side_) it ought to have possessed. Those who for +'crucible' wrote 'chrysoble' (Jeremy Taylor does so) must evidently have +done this under the assumption that the Greek for _gold_, and not the +Latin for _cross_, lay at the foundation of this word. 'Anthymn' instead +of 'anthem' (Barrow so spells the word), rests plainly on a wrong +etymology, even as this spelling clearly betrays what that wrong +etymology is. 'Rhyme' with a 'y' is a modern misspelling; and would +never have been but for the undue influence which the Greek 'rhythm' has +exercised upon it. Spenser and his cotemporaries spell it 'rime'. +'Abominable' was by some etymologists of the seventeenth century spelt +'abhominable', as though it were that which departed from the human (ab +homine) into the bestial or devilish. + +In all these words which I have adduced last, the correct spelling has +in the end resumed its sway. It is not so with 'frontisp_ie_ce', which +ought to be spelt 'frontisp_i_ce' (it was so by Milton and others), +being the low Latin 'frontispicium', from 'frons' and 'aspicio', the +forefront of the building, that part which presents itself to the view. +It was only the entirely ungrounded notion that the word 'piece' +constitutes the last syllable, which has given rise to our present +orthography{275}. + +{Sidenote: Wrong Spelling} + +You may, perhaps, wonder that I have dwelt so long on these details of +spelling; that I have bestowed on them so much of my own attention, +that I have claimed for them so much of yours; yet in truth I cannot +regard them as unworthy of our very closest heed. For indeed of how much +beyond itself is accurate or inaccurate spelling the certain indication. +Thus when we meet 's_y_ren', for 's_i_ren', as so strangely often we do, +almost always in newspapers, and often where we should hardly have +expected (I met it lately in the _Quarterly Review_, and again in +Gifford's _Massinger_), how difficult it is not to be "judges of evil +thoughts", and to take this slovenly misspelling as the specimen and +evidence of an inaccuracy and ignorance which reaches very far wider +than the single word which is before us. But why is it that so much +significance is ascribed to a wrong spelling? Because ignorance of a +word's spelling at once argues ignorance of its origin and derivation. I +do not mean that one who spells rightly may not be ignorant of it too, +but he who spells wrongly is certainly so. Thus, to recur to the example +I have just adduced, he who for 's_i_ren' writes 's_y_ren', certainly +knows nothing of the magic _cords_ ({Greek: seirai}) of song, by which +those fair enchantresses were supposed to draw those that heard them to +their ruin{276}. + +Correct or incorrect orthography being, then, this note of accurate or +inaccurate knowledge, we may confidently conclude where two spellings +of a word exist, and are both employed by persons who generally write +with precision and scholarship, that there must be something to account +for this. It will generally be worth your while to inquire into the +causes which enable both spellings to hold their ground and to find +their supporters, not ascribing either one or the other to mere +carelessness or error. It will in these cases often be found that two +spellings exist, because two views of the word's origin exist, and each +of those spellings is the correct expression of one of these. The +question therefore which way of spelling should continue, and wholly +supersede the other, and which, while the alternative remains, we should +ourselves employ, can only be settled by settling which of these +etymologies deserves the preference. So is it, for example, with +'ch_y_mist' and 'ch_e_mist', neither of which has obtained in our common +use the complete mastery over the other{277}. It is not here, as in some +other cases, that one is certainly right, the other as certainly wrong: +but they severally represent two different etymologies of the word, and +each is correct according to its own. If we are to spell 'ch_y_mist' and +'ch_y_mistry', it is because these words are considered to be derived +from the Greek word, {Greek: chymos}, sap; and the chymic art will then +have occupied itself first with distilling the juice and sap of plants, +and will from this have derived its name. I have little doubt, however, +that the other spelling, 'ch_e_mist', not 'ch_y_mist', is the correct +one. It was not with the distillation of herbs, but with the +amalgamation of metals, that chemistry occupied itself at its rise, and +the word embodies a reference to Egypt, the land of Ham or 'Cham'{278}, +in which this art was first practised with success. + +{Sidenote: '_Satyr_', '_Satire_'} + +Of how much confusion the spelling which used to be so common, 'satyr' +for 'satire', is at once the consequence, the expression, and again the +cause; not indeed that this confusion first began with us{279}; for the +same already found place in the Latin, where 'satyricus' was continually +written for 'satiricus' out of a false assumption of the identity +between the Roman _satire_ and the Greek _satyric_ drama. The Roman +'satira',--I speak of things familiar to many of my hearers,--is +properly a _full_ dish (lanx being understood)--a dish heaped up with +various ingredients, a 'farce' (according to the original signification +of that word), or hodge-podge; and the word was transferred from this to +a form of poetry which at first admitted the utmost variety in the +materials of which it was composed, and the shapes into which these +materials were wrought up; being the only form of poetry which the +Romans did _not_ borrow from the Greeks. Wholly different from this, +having no one point of contact with it in its form, its history, or its +intention, is the 'satyric' drama of Greece, so called because Silenus +and the 'Satyrs' supplied the chorus; and in their naïve selfishness, +and mere animal instincts, held up before men a mirror of what they +would be, if only the divine, which is also the truly human, element of +humanity, were withdrawn; what man, all that properly made him man being +withdrawn, would prove. + +{Sidenote: '_Mid-wife_', '_Nostril_'} + +And then what light, as we have already seen, does the older spelling of +a word often cast upon its etymology; how often does it clear up the +mystery, which would otherwise have hung about it, or which _had_ hung +about it till some one had noticed and turned to profit this its earlier +spelling. Thus 'dirge' is always spelt 'dirige' in early English. This +'dirige' may be the first word in a Latin psalm or prayer once used at +funerals; there is a reasonable probability that the explanation of the +word is here; at any rate, if it is not here, it is nowhere{280}. The +derivation of 'mid-wife' is uncertain, and has been the subject of +discussion; but when we find it spelt 'medewife' and 'meadwife', in +Wiclif's Bible, this leaves hardly a doubt that it is the _wife_ or +woman who acts for a _mead_ or reward{281}. In cases too where there +was no mystery hanging about a word, how often does the early spelling +make clear to all that which was before only known to those who had made +the language their study. For example, if an early edition of Spenser +should come into your hands, or a modern one in which the early spelling +is retained, what continual lessons in English might you derive from it. +Thus 'nostril' is always spelt by him and his cotemporaries +'nosethrill'; a little earlier it was 'nosethirle'. Now 'to thrill' is +the same as to drill or pierce; it is plain then here at once that the +word signifies the orifice or opening with which the _nose_ is +_thrilled_, drilled, or pierced. We might have read the word for ever in +our modern spelling without being taught this. 'Ell' tells us nothing +about itself; but in 'eln' used in Holland's translation of Camden, we +recognize 'ulna' at once. + +Again, the 'morris' or 'morrice-dance', which is alluded to so often by +our early poets, as it is now spelt informs us nothing about itself; but +read '_moriske_ dance', as it is generally spelt by Holland and his +cotemporaries, and you will scarcely fail to perceive that of which +indeed there is no manner of doubt; namely, that it was so called either +because it was really, or was supposed to be, a dance in use among the +_moriscoes_ of Spain, and from thence introduced into England{282}. + +Again, philologers tell us, and no doubt rightly, that our 'cray-fish', +or 'craw-fish', is the French 'écrevisse'. This is true, but certainly +it is not self-evident. Trace however the word through these successive +spellings, 'krevys' (Lydgate), 'crevish' (Gascoigne), 'craifish' +(Holland), and the chasm between 'cray-fish' or 'craw-fish' and +'écrevisse' is by aid of these three intermediate spellings bridged over +at once; and in the fact of our Gothic 'fish' finding its way into this +French word we see only another example of a law, which has been already +abundantly illustrated in this lecture{283}. + +{Sidenote: '_Emmet_', '_Ant_'} + +In other ways also an accurate taking note of the spelling of words, and +of the successive changes which it has undergone, will often throw light +upon them. Thus we may know, others having assured us of the fact, that +'ant' and 'emmet' were originally only two different spellings of one +and the same word; but we may be perplexed to understand how two forms +of a word, now so different, could ever have diverged from a single +root. When however we find the different spellings, 'emmet', 'emet', +'amet', 'amt', 'ant', the gulf which appeared to separate 'emmet' from +'ant' is bridged over at once, and we do not merely know on the +assurance of others that these two are in fact identical, their +differences being only superficial, but we perceive clearly in what +manner they are so{284}. + +Even before any close examination of the matter, it is hard not to +suspect that 'runagate' is in fact another form of 'renegade', slightly +transformed, as so many words, to put an English signification into its +first syllable; and then the meaning gradually modified in obedience to +the new derivation which was assumed to be its original and true one. +Our suspicion of this is very greatly strengthened (for we see how very +closely the words approach one another), by the fact that 'renega_d_e' +is constantly spelt 'renega_t_e' in our old authors, while at the same +time the denial of _faith_, which is now a necessary element in +'renegade', and one differencing it inwardly from 'runagate', is +altogether wanting in early use--the denial of _country_ and of the +duties thereto owing being all that is implied in it. Thus it is +constantly employed in Holland's _Livy_ as a rendering of 'perfuga'{285}; +while in the one passage where 'runagate' occurs in the Prayer Book +Version of the Psalms (Ps. lxviii. 6), a reference to the original will +show that the translators could only have employed it there on the +ground that it also expressed rebel, revolter, and not runaway +merely{286}. + +{Sidenote: _Assimilating Power of English_} + +I might easily occupy your attention much longer, so little barren or +unfruitful does this subject of spelling appear likely to prove; but all +things must have an end; and as I concluded my first lecture with a +remarkable testimony borne by an illustrious German scholar to the +merits of our English tongue, I will conclude my last with the words of +another, not indeed a German, but still of the great Germanic stock; +words resuming in themselves much of which we have been speaking upon +this and upon former occasions: "As our bodies", he says, "have hidden +resources and expedients, to remove the obstacles which the very art of +the physician puts in its way, so language, ruled by an indomitable +inward principle, triumphs in some degree over the folly of grammarians. +Look at the English, polluted by Danish and Norman conquests, distorted +in its genuine and noble features by old and recent endeavours to mould +it after the French fashion, invaded by a hostile entrance of Greek and +Latin words, threatening by increasing hosts to overwhelm the indigenous +terms. In these long contests against the combined power of so many +forcible enemies, the language, it is true, has lost some of its power +of inversion in the structure of sentences, the means of denoting the +difference of gender, and the nice distinctions by inflection and +termination--almost every word is attacked by the spasm of the accent +and the drawing of consonants to wrong positions; yet the old English +principle is not overpowered. Trampled down by the ignoble feet of +strangers, its springs still retain force enough to restore itself. It +lives and plays through all the veins of the language; it impregnates +the innumerable strangers entering its dominions with its temper, and +stains them with its colour, not unlike the Greek which in taking up +oriental words, stripped them of their foreign costume, and bid them to +appear as native Greeks"{287}. + + +{FOOTNOTES} + +{228} In proof that it need not be so, I would only refer to a paper, + _On Orthographical Expedients_, by Edwin Guest, Esq., in the + _Transactions of the Philological Society_, vol. iii. p. 1. + +{229} [The scientific treatises on Phonetics of Mr. Alexander J. Ellis + and Dr. Henry Sweet have surmounted the difficulty of registering + sounds with great accuracy.] + +{230} I have not observed this noticed in our dictionaries as the + original form of the phrase. There is no doubt however of the + fact; see _Stanihurst's Ireland_, p. 33, in Holinshed's + _Chronicles_. [Rather from _torvien_, to throw,--Skeat]. + +{231} _Notes and Queries_, No. 147. + +{232} See Boswell's _Life of Johnson_, Croker's edit. 1848, p. 233. + +{233} [The _b_ was purposely foisted into these words by bookmen to + suggest their Latin derivation; it did not belong to them in + earlier English. The same may be said of the _g_, intruded into + 'deign' and 'feign'.] + +{234} A chief phonographer writes to me to deny that this is the present + spelling (1856) of 'Europe'. It was so when this paragraph was + written. [Most people would now consider [Yeuroap] as American + pronunciation.] + +{235} Quintilian has expressed himself with the true dignity of a + scholar on this matter (_Inst._ 1, 6, 45): Consuetudinem sermonis + vocabo _consensum eruditorum_; sicut vivendi consensum + bonorum.--How different from innovations like this the changes in + the spelling of German which J. Grimm, so far as his own example + may reach, _has_ introduced; and the still bolder and more + extensive ones which in the _Preface_ to his _Deutsches + Wörterbuch_, pp. liv.-lxii., he avows his desire to see + introduced;--as the employment of _f_, not merely where it is at + present used, but also wherever _v_ is now employed; the + substituting of the _v_, which would be thus disengaged, for _w_, + and the entire dismissal of _w_. They may be advisable, or they + may not; it is not for strangers to offer an opinion; but at any + rate they are not a seizing of the fluctuating, superficial + accidents of the present, and a seeking to give permanent + authority to these, but they all rest on a deep historic study of + the language, and of the true genius of the language. + +{236} Croker's edit. 1848, pp. 57, 61, 233. + +{237} [An incorrect conclusion. Almost all 'ea' words were pronounced + 'ai' down to the eighteenth century. Thus 'great' was a true rhyme + to 'cheat' and 'complete', their ordinary pronunciation being + 'grait', 'chait', 'complait'.] + +{238} [i.e. 'Lunnun'.] + +{239} _A proposal for correcting, improving and ascertaining the English + Tongue_, 1711, Works, vol. ix, pp. 139-59. + +{240} ['Devest' was still in use till the end of the eighteenth century, + but 'divest' is already found in _King Lear_, 1605, i, 1, 50.] + +{241} Pygmæi, quasi _cubitales_ (Augustine). + +{242} First so used by Theophrastus in Greek, and by Pliny in + Latin.--The real identity of the two words explains Milton's use + of 'diamond' in _Paradise Lost_, b. 7; and also in that sublime + passage in his _Apology for Smectymnuus_: "Then zeal, whose + substance is ethereal, arming in complete _diamond_".--Diez + (_Wörterbuch d. Roman. Sprachen_, p. 123) supposes, not very + probably, that it was under a certain influence of '_dia_fano', + the translucent, that 'adamante' was in the Italian, whence we + have derived the word, changed into '_dia_mante'. + +{243} [Similarly _jowl_ for _chowl_ or _chavel_.] + +{244} _Richard III_, Act iv, Sc. 4. + +{245} [For another account of this word, approved by Dr. Murray, see + _The Folk and their Word-Lore_, p. 156.] + +{246} ['Bliss' representing the old English _bliths_ or _blidhs_, + blitheness, is really a quite distinct word from 'bless', standing + for _blets_, old English _blétsian_ (=_blóedsian_, to consecrate + with blood, _blód_), although the latter was by a folk-etymology + very frequently spelt 'bliss'.] + +{247} [But 'afraied' is the earliest form of the word (1350), the verb + itself being at first spelt 'afray' (1325). N.E.D.] + +{248} How close this relationship was once, not merely in respect of + etymology, but also of significance, a passage like this will + prove: "Perchance, as vultures are said to smell the earthiness of + a dying corpse; so this bird of prey [the evil spirit which + personated Samuel, 1 Sam. xxviii. 41] _resented_ a worse than + earthly savor in the soul of Saul, as evidence of his death at + hand". (Fuller, _The Profane State_, b. 5, c. 4.) + +{249} [There is an unfortunate confusion here between 'heal' to make + 'hale' or '[w]hole' (Anglo-Saxon _hælan_) and the old (and + Provincial) English _hill_, to cover, _hilling_, covering, + _hellier_, a slater, akin to 'hell', the covered place, 'helm'; + Icelandic _hylja_, to cover.] + +{250} [By a curious slip Dr. Trench here confounds 'recover', to + recuperate or regain health (derived through old French _recovrer_ + from Latin _recuperare_), with a totally distinct word _re-cover_, + to cover or clothe over again, which comes from old French + _covrir_, Latin _co-operire_. It is just the difference between + 'recovering' a lost umbrella through the police and 'recovering' a + torn one at a shop. I pointed this out to the author in 1869, and + I think he altered the passage in his later editions.] + +{251} ['Island', though cognate with Anglo-Saxon _eá-land_ "water-land" + (German _ei-land_), is really identical with Anglo-Saxon + _íg-land_, i.e. "isle-land", from _íg_, an island, the diminutive + of which survives in _eyot_ or _ait_.] + +{252} [The editor essayed to make a complete collection of this class of + words in his _Folk-etymology, a Dictionary of Words corrupted by + False Derivation or Mistaken Analogy_, 1882, and more recently in + a condensed form in _The Folk and their Word-Lore_, 1904.] + +{253} Diez looks with much favour on this process, and calls it, ein + sinnreiches mittel fremdlinge ganz heimisch zu machen. + +{254} Ammianus Marcellinus, xxii, 15, 28. + +{255} [The Greek _pyramis_ probably represents the Egyptian + _piri-m-ûisi_ (Maspero, _Dawn of Civilization_, 358), or + _pir-am-us_ (Brugsch, _Egypt under the Pharaohs_, i, 73), rather + than _pi-ram_, 'the height' (Birch, _Bunsen's Egypt_, v, 763).] + +{256} Tacitus, _Hist._ v. 2. + +{257} Let me illustrate this by further instances in a note. Thus + {Greek: boutyron}, from which, through the Latin, our 'butter' has + descended to us, is borrowed (Pliny, _H.N._ xxviii. 9) from a + Scythian word, now to us unknown: yet it is sufficiently plain + that the Greeks so shaped and spelt it as to contain apparent + allusion to _cow_ and _cheese_; there is in {Greek: boutyron} an + evident feeling after {Greek: bous} and {Greek: tyron}. Bozra, + meaning citadel in Hebrew and Phoenician, and the name, no doubt, + which the citadel of Carthage bore, becomes {Greek: Byrsa} on + Greek lips; and then the well known legend of the ox-hide was + invented upon the name; not having suggested it, but being itself + suggested by it. Herodian (v. 6) reproduces the name of the Syrian + goddess Astarte in a shape that is significant also for Greek + ears--{Greek: Astroarchê}, The Star-ruler, or Star-queen. When the + apostate and hellenizing Jews assumed Greek names, 'Eliakim' or + "Whom God has set", became 'Alcimus' ({Greek: alkimos}) or The + Strong (1 Macc. vii. 5). Latin examples in like kind are + 'com_i_ssatio', spelt continually 'com_e_ssatio', and + 'com_e_ssation' by those who sought to naturalize it in England, + as though it were connected with 'c{)o}medo', to eat, being indeed + the substantive from the verb 'c{-o}missari' (--{Greek: + kômazein}), to revel, as Plutarch, whose Latin is in general not + very accurate, long ago correctly observed; and 'orichalcum', + spelt often '_au_richalcum', as though it were a composite metal + of mingled _gold_ and brass; being indeed the _mountain_ brass + ({Greek: oreichalkos}). The miracle play, which is 'mystère', in + French, whence our English 'mystery' was originally written + 'mistère', being properly derived from 'ministère', and having its + name because the clergy, the _ministri_ Ecclesiæ, conducted it. + This was forgotten, and it then took its present form of + 'mystery', as though so called because the mysteries of the faith + were in it set out. + +{258} We have here, in this bringing of the words by their supposed + etymology together, the explanation of the fact that Spenser + (_Fairy Queen_, i, 7, 44), Middleton (_Works_, vol. 5, pp. 524, + 528, 538), and others employ 'Tartary' as equivalent to 'Tartarus' + or hell. + +{259} For a full discussion of this matter and fixing of the period at + which 'sinfluot' became 'sündflut', see the _Theol. Stud. u. + Krit._ vol. ii, p. 613; and Delitzsch, _Genesis_, 2nd ed. vol. ii, + p. 210. + +{260} [The name of the small grape, originally _raisins de Corauntz_, + was transferred to the _ribes_ in the sixteenth century.] + +{261} Ben Jonson, _The New Inn_, Act i, Sc. i. + +{262} [On the contrary, it is the modern "Welsh _rarebit_" which has + been mistakenly evolved out of the older "Welsh _rabbit_" as I + have shown in _Folk-Etymology_, p. 431. Grose has both forms in + his _Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue_, 1785.] + +{263} 'Leghorn' is sometimes quoted as an example of this; but + erroneously; for, as Admiral Smyth has shown (_The Mediterranean_, + p. 409) 'Livorno' is itself rather the modern corruption, and + 'Ligorno' the name found on the earlier charts. + +{264} Exactly the same happens in other languages; thus 'armbrust', a + crossbow, _looks_ German enough, and yet has nothing to do with + 'arm' or 'brust', being a contraction of 'arcubalista', but a + contraction under these influences. As little has 'abenteuer' + anything to do with 'abend' or 'theuer', however it may seem to be + connected with them, being indeed the Provençal 'adventura'. And + 'weissagen' in its earlier forms had nothing in common with + 'sagen'. + +{265} [So Diez. But Prof. Skeat and Scheler see no reason why it should + not be direct from French _refuser_ and Low Latin _refusare_, from + _refusus_, rejected.] + +{266} It is upon this word that De Quincey (_Life and Manners_, p. 70, + American Ed.) says excellently well: "It is in fact by such + corruptions, by off-sets upon an old stock, arising through + ignorance or mispronunciation originally, that every language is + frequently enriched; and new modifications of thought, unfolding + themselves in the progress of society, generate for themselves + concurrently appropriate expressions.... It must not be allowed to + weigh against a word once fairly naturalized by all, that + originally it crept in upon an abuse or a corruption. Prescription + is as strong a ground of legitimation in a case of this nature, as + it is in law. And the old axiom is applicable--Fieri non debuit, + factum valet. Were it otherwise, languages would be robbed of much + of their wealth". [_Works_, vol. xiv., p. 201.] + +{267} [The direct opposite is the fact. The French _contredanse_ was + borrowed from the English 'country-dance'. See _The Folk and their + Word-Lore_, p. 153.] + +{268} [These words are not identical. They were in use as distinct words + in the fifteenth century. See N.E.D.] + +{269} [Dr. Murray has shown that 'causeway' is not a corruption of + 'causey' but a compound of that word with 'way'.] + +{270} [Prof. Skeat has demonstrated that the supposed Greek 'rachitis', + inflammation of the back, is an ætiological invention to serve as + etymon of 'rickets', the condition of being rickety, a purely + native word. See also _Folk-Etymology_, 312.] + +{271} [See _The Folk and their Word-Lore_, p. 124.] + +{272} _Phars._ vi. 720-830. + +{273} Thus in a _Vocabulary_, 1475: Nigromansia dicitur divinatio facta + _per nigros_. + +{274} [Dyce believed that it was really thus derived and distinct from + _pleurisy_, but it was evidently modelled upon that word (_Remarks + on Editions of Shakespeare_, p. 218).] + +{275} As 'orthography' itself means properly "_right_ spelling", it might + be a curious question whether it is permissible to speak of an + _incorrect_ _ortho_graphy, that is of a _wrong_ _right_-spelling. + The question which would be thus started is one of not unfrequent + recurrence, and it is very worthy of observation how often, so + soon as we take note of etymologies, this _contradictio in + adjecto_ is found to occur. I will here adduce a few examples from + the Greek, the Latin, the German, and from our own tongue. Thus + the Greeks having no convenient word to express a rider, apart + from a rider _on a horse_, did not scruple to speak of the + _horse_man ({Greek: hippeus}) upon an _elephant_. They often + allowed themselves in a like inaccuracy, where certainly there was + no necessity; as in using {Greek: andrias} of the statue of a + _woman_; where it would have been quite as easy to have used + {Greek: heikôn} or {Greek: agalma}. So too their 'table' ({Greek: + trapeza} = {Greek: tetrapeza}) involved probably the _four_ feet + which commonly support one; yet they did not shrink from speaking + of a _three_-footed table ({Greek: tripous trapeza}), in other + words, a "_three_-footed _four_-footed"; much as though we should + speak of a "_three_-footed _quadru_ped". Homer writes of a + 'hecatomb' not of a _hundred_, but of twelve, oxen; and elsewhere + of Hebe he says, in words not reproducible in English, {Greek: + nektar eônochoei}. 'Tetrarchs' were often rulers of quite other + than _fourth_ parts of a land. {Greek: Akratos} had so come to + stand for wine, without any thought more of its signifying + originally the _unmingled_, that St. John speaks of {Greek: + akratos kekerasmenos} (Rev. xiv. 10), or the unmingled mingled. + Boxes in which precious ointments were contained were so commonly + of alabaster, that the name came to be applied to them whether + they were so or not; and Theocritus celebrates "_golden_ + alabasters". Cicero having to mention a water-clock is obliged to + call it a _water_ _sun_dial (solarium ex aquâ). Columella speaks + of a "_vintage_ of honey" (vindemia mellis), and Horace invites + his friend to im_pede_, not his _foot_, but his head, with myrtle + (_caput_ im_ped_ire myrto). Thus too a German writer who desired + to tell of the golden shoes with which the folly of Caligula + adorned his horse could scarcely avoid speaking of _golden_ + hoof-_irons_. The same inner contradiction is involved in such + language as our own, a "_false_ _ver_dict", a "_steel_ _cuirass_" + ('coriacea' from corium, leather), "antics new" (Harrington's + _Ariosto_), an "_erroneous_ _etymo_logy", a "_corn_ _chandler_"; + that is, a "_corn_ _candle_-maker", "_rather_ _late_", 'rather' + being the comparative of 'rathe', early, and thus "rather late" + being indeed "more early late"; and in others. + +{276} ['Siren' is now generally understood to have meant originally a + songstress, from the root _svar_, to sing or sound, seen in + _syrinx_, a flute, _su(r)-sur-us_, etc. See J. E. Harrison, _Myths + of the Odyssey_, p. 175.] + +{277} ['Chymist' seems to be the oldest form of the word in English; see + N.E.D.] + +{278} {Greek: chêmia}, the name of Egypt; see Plutarch, _De Is. et Os._ + c. 33. + +{279} We have a notable evidence how deeply rooted this error was, how + long this confusion endured, of the way in which it was shared by + the learned as well as the unlearned, in Milton's _Apology for + Smectymnuus_, sect. 7, which everywhere presumes the identity of + the 'satyr' and the 'satirist'. It was Isaac Casaubon who first + effectually dissipated it even for the learned world. The results + of his investigations were made popular for the unlearned reader + by Dryden, in the very instructive _Discourse on Satirical + Poetry_, prefixed to his translations of Juvenal; but the + confusion still survives, and 'satyrs' and 'satires', the Greek + 'satyric' drama, the Latin 'satirical' poetry, are still assumed + by most to have something to do with one another. + +{280} ['Dirige' was the first word of the antiphon at matins in the + Office for the Dead, taken from Psalm v, 9 (Vulg.), in which occur + the words "_dirige_ in conspectu tuo vitam meam". See Skeat, + _Piers Plowman_, ii, 52. Hence also Scotch _dregy_, a dirge.] + +{281} [Incorrect: the 'mid-wife' is etymologically she that is _with_ + (old English _mid_) a woman to help her in her hour of need, like + German _bei-frau_, Spanish _co-madre_, Icelandic _naer-kona_, + "near-woman", Latin _ob-stetrix_, "by-stander", all words for the + lying-in nurse. Compare German _mit-bruder_, a comrade.] + +{282} "I have seen him + Caper upright, like a wild _Môrisco_, + Shaking the bloody darts, as he his bells". + + Shakespeare, _2 Henry VI_ Act iii, Sc. 1. + +{283} In the reprinting of old books it is often very difficult to + determine how far the old shape in which words present themselves + should be retained, how far they should be conformed to present + usage. It is comparatively easy to lay down as a rule that in + books intended for popular use, wherever the form of the word is + not affected by the modernizing of the spelling, as where this + modernizing consists merely in the dropping of superfluous + letters, there it shall take place; as who would wish our Bibles + to be now printed letter for letter after the edition of 1611, or + Shakespeare with the orthography of the first folio; but wherever + more than the spelling, the actual shape, outline, and character + of the word has been affected by the changes which it has + undergone, that in all such cases the earlier form shall be held + fast. The rule is a judicious one; but when it is attempted to + carry it out, it is not always easy to draw the line, and to + determine what affects the form and essence of a word, and what + does not. About some words there can be no doubt; and therefore + when a modern editor of Fuller's _Church History_ complacently + announces that he has allowed himself in such changes as 'dirige' + into 'dirge', 'barreter' into 'barrister', 'synonymas' into + 'synonymous', 'extempory' into 'extemporary', 'scited' into + 'situated', 'vancurrier' into 'avant-courier'; he at the same time + informs us that for all purposes of the study of the English + language (and few writers are for this more important than + Fuller), he has made his edition utterly worthless. Or again, when + modern editors of Shakespeare print, and that without giving any + intimation of the fact, + + "Like quills upon the fretful _porcupine_", + + he having written, and in his first folio and quarto the words + standing, + + "Like quills upon the fretful _porpentine_", + + this being the earlier, and in Shakespeare's time the more common + form of the word [e.g. "the _purpentines_ nature" (Puttenham, + _Eng. Poesie_, 1589, p. 118, ed. Arber)], they must be considered + as taking a very unwarrantable liberty with his text; and no less, + when they substitute 'Kenilworth' for 'Killingworth', which he + wrote, and which was his, Marlowe's, and generally the earlier + form of the name. + +{284} [Compare Latin _amita_, yielding old French _ante_, our 'aunt'.] + +{285} "The Carthaginians shall restore and deliver back all the + _renegates_ [perfugas] and fugitives that have fled to their side + from us".--p. 751. + +{286} [See further in _The Folk and their Word-Lore_, p. 80.] + +{287} Halbertsma quoted by Bosworth, _Origin of the English and Germanic + Languages_, p. 39. + + + + +INDEX OF WORDS + + + PAGE + Abenteuer 240 + Abnormal 72 + Abominable 245 + Academy 70 + Accommodate 107 + Acre 193 + Adamant 230 + Admiralty 107 + Advocate 82 + Æon 72 + Æsthetic 72 + Afeard 126 + Affluent 104 + Afraid 127 + Afterthink 120 + Alcimus 237 + Alcove 16 + Amphibious 107 + Analogie 56 + Ant 253 + Antecedents 210 + Anthem 245 + Antipodes 68 + Apotheosis 67 + -ard 141 + Armbrust 240 + Arride 58 + Ascertain 186 + Ask 126 + Astarte 237 + Attercop 123 + Aurantium 241 + Aurichalcum 237 + Avunculize 91 + Axe 126 + + Baffle 181 + Baker, bakester 157 + Banter 106 + Barrier 70 + Battalion 61 + Bawn 123 + Benefice, benefit 97 + Bitesheep 144 + Black art 243 + Blackguard 189 + Blasphemous 128 + Bless 231 + Bombast 199 + Book 21 + Boor 202 + Bozra 237 + Brangle 177 + Bran-new 231 + Brat 205 + Brazen 164 + Breaden 163 + Bruin 89 + Buffalo 16 + Butter 237 + Buxom 139 + + Chagrin 95 + Chance-medley 243 + Chanticleer 89 + Chemist, chemistry 248 + Chicken 158 + Chouse 91 + Chymist, chymistry 248 + Clawback 144 + Comissatio 237 + Commérage 204 + Confluent 104 + Congregational 79 + Contrary 128 + Corpse 191 + Country dance 242 + Court card 239 + Coxcomb 229 + Cozen 231 + Crawfish 252 + Creansur 45 + Criterion 67 + Crone, crony 93 + Crucible 245 + Crusade 62 + Cuirass 246 + Currant 239 + Cynarctomachy 91 + + Dahlia 88 + Dame 192 + Dandylion 243 + Dearworth 120 + Dedal 86 + Dehort 137 + Demagogue 55 + Denominationalism 79 + Depot 69 + Diamond 230 + Dirge 250 + Dissimilation 103 + Divest 229 + Donat 86 + Dorter 20 + Dosones 90 + Doughty 146 + Drachm 193 + Dragoman 12 + Dub 146 + Duke 191 + Dumps 147 + Dutch 177 + + Eame 118 + Earsport 119 + Eaves 159 + Educational 79 + Effervescence 55 + Einseitig 75 + Eliakim 237 + Ell 251 + Emet 253 + Emotional 79 + Encyclopedia 67 + Enfantillage 55 + Equivocation 196 + Erutar 149 + Escobarder 88 + -ess 153 + Europe 224 + Eyebite 120 + + Fairy 191 + Farfalla 15 + Fatherland 75 + Flitter-mouse 118 + Flota 17 + Folklore 75 + Foolhappy 137 + Foolhardy 137 + Foolhasty 137 + Foollarge 137 + Foretalk 120 + Fougue 66 + Fraischeur 66 + Frances 95 + Francis 95 + Frimm 118 + Frivolité 55 + Frontispiece 245 + Furlong 193 + + Gainly 136 + Gallon 193 + Galvanism 88 + Garble 199 + Geir 118 + Gentian 86 + Girdle 21 + Girfalcon 118 + Girl 192 + Glassen 163 + Gordian 86 + Gossip 203 + Great 226 + Grimsire 119 + Grocer 229 + Grogram 229 + + Halfgod 120 + Hallow 82 + Handbook 75 + Hangdog 145 + Hector 89 + Heft 118 + Hermetic 86 + Hery 118 + Hierosolyma 236 + Hipocras 86 + Hippodame 64 + His 131 + Hooker 16 + Hoppester 155 + Hotspur 119 + Hoyden 192 + Huck 157 + Huckster, huckstress 157 + Hurricane 14 + + Iceberg 73 + Icefield 74 + Idea 197 + Imp 205 + Influence 181 + International 78 + Island 234 + Isle 234 + Isolated 107 + Isothermal 102 + Its 130 + + Jaw 230 + Jeopardy 82 + + Kenilworth 253 + Kindly 184 + Kirtle 21 + Knave 207 + Knitster 155 + Knot 87 + + Lambiner 88 + Lass 154 + Lazar 86 + Leer 118 + Leghorn 240 + Libel 191 + Lifeguard 74 + Lissome 140 + London 227 + Lunch, luncheon 129 + + Malingerer 119 + Mammet, mammetry 87 + Mandragora 243 + Mansarde 89 + Matachin 17 + Matamoros 143 + Mausoleum 86 + Meat 191 + Meddle, meddlesome 206 + Middler 121 + Mid-wife 250 + Milken 163 + Mischievous 128 + Miscreant 179 + Mithridate 86 + Mixen 123 + Morris dance 251 + Mystery, mystère 237 + Myth 72 + + Nap 147 + Necromancy 243 + Negus 87 + Nemorivagus 77 + Neophyte 107 + Nesh 118 + Niggot 85 + Nimm 118 + Noonscape 129 + Noonshun 129 + Normal 72 + Nostril 251 + Nugget 85 + Nuncheon 128 + + Oblige 69 + Obsequies 241 + Oculissimus 90 + Orange 241 + Orichalcum 237 + Ornamentation 72 + Orrery 87 + Orthography 245 + + Pagan 202 + Painful, painfulness 186 + Pandar, pandarism 89 + Panorama 107 + Pasquinade 87 + Patch 87 + Pate 146 + Pease 159 + Peck 193 + Pester 84 + Philauty 105 + Photography 72 + Physician 101 + Pigmy 229 + Pinchpenny 144 + Pleurisy 244 + Plunder 73, 106 + Poet 101 + Polite 200 + Polytheism 107 + Porcupine 253 + Porpoise 63 + Postremissimus 91 + Potecary 64 + Prævaricator 196 + Pragmatical 206 + Préliber 56 + Preposterous 195 + Prestige 68 + Prevaricate 196 + Privado 16 + Prose, proser 206 + Punctilio 16 + Punto 16 + Pyramid 235 + + Quellio 17 + Quinsey 63 + Quirpo 16 + Quirry 64 + + Rakehell 145 + Rame 241 + Rathe, rathest 138 + Realmrape 119 + Recover 233 + Redingote 63 + Refuse 241 + Regoldar 149 + Religion 183 + Renegade 254 + Renown 103 + Resent 233 + Reynard 89 + Rhyme 245 + Riches 159 + Rickets 243 + Righteousness 137 + Rodomontade 89 + Rome 227 + Rootfast 119 + Rosen 162 + Ruly 136 + Runagate 254 + + Sag 118 + Sardanapalisme 88 + Sash 63 + Satellites 61 + Satire, satirical 250 + Satyr, satyric 249, 250 + Scent 232 + Schimmer 118 + Scrip 232 + Seamster, seamstress 155, 156 + Selfish, selfishness 105 + Sentiment 107 + Sepoy 240 + Serene 135 + Shrewd, shrewdness 209 + Silhouette 88 + Silvern 163 + Silvicultrix 77 + Siren 247 + Skinker 117 + Skip 147 + Slick 132 + Smellfeast 143 + Smug 146 + Solidarity 70 + Songster, songstress 155, 156 + Sorcerer 101 + Spencer 88 + Sperr 118 + Spheterize 72 + Spinner, spinster 156 + Starconner 120 + Starvation 80 + Starve 192 + Stereotype 72 + Stonen 163 + Suckstone 120 + Sudden 220 + Suicide 105 + Suicism, suist 105 + Sündflut 238 + Sunstead 120 + Swindler 74 + Sycophant 208 + + Tabinet 88 + Tapster 157 + Tarre 118 + Tartar 237 + Tartary 238 + Tea 227 + Theriac 187 + Thou 171 + Thrasonical 89 + Tind 118 + Tinnen 163 + Tinsel 180 + Tinsel-slippered 180 + Tontine 88 + Topsy-turvy 215 + Tosspot 144 + Tram 88 + Treacle 187 + Trigger 73 + Trounce 147 + Turban 13 + + Umstroke 120 + Uncouth 124 + + Vancurrier 64 + Vicinage 63 + Villain 201, 208 + Volcano 86 + Voltaic 88 + Voyage 191 + + Wanhope 117 + Waterfright 120 + Watershed 103 + Weed 192 + Welk 118 + Welkin 158 + Welsh rabbit 240 + Whole 234 + Windflower 120 + Wiseacre 240 + Witch 101 + Witticism 106 + Witwanton 119 + Woburn 220 + Woodbine 229 + Worship 185 + Wörterbuch 111 + + Yard 193 + Youngster 156 + + Zoology 107 + Zoophyte 107 + + +THE END. + + +Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London. + + + + * * * * * + + + +{TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE + +Variation in the spelling of the names Jonson/Johnson, Spenser/Spencer, +and Ralegh/Raleigh is as in the original. + +The following have been left as they appear in the original: + + fetisch + There are who venture + substraction + tanquum consummata (probable error for "tamquam consumpta") + divergencies + In 'grogra_m_' we are entirely to seek + +The following obvious printing errors have been corrected: + + LECTURE I + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + up words n every quarter in + el lagarto' removed quote mark + 'trespasses' might be substitued substituted + matter than in our authorized Authorized + Galations v. 19 Galatians + artificial, made-up, facititious factitious + such doublets is given by Pro f Prof. + + LECTURE II + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + masterpieces of antient ancient + {Greek: Hêthos} is a word at Êthos + at other times 'vìrtue'. vírtue + 'hcáracter' with Spenser; charácter + perfectly well recognised recognized + Shakesspeare than we find now Shakespeare + 'maumet', meaning an idol{95} added comma after footnote marker + 'aretinisms', from an, removed comma after "an" + whith hitherto they held which + Missouri and the Missisippi Mississippi + things lacking, would have mended added comma after "mended" + "The word t must be it + we have in common with the French added period after "French" + Language Français_, p. 12. Langage + 'fursehung' and 'vorsehung' fürsehung + + LECTURE III + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + so dose 'flitter-mouse' does + is an old preterite præterite + instrinsic value it may possess. intrinsic + which it belongs; being the same added ")" before semicolon + 'guideress'; 'charmeress' changed semicolon to comma + superlatives as 'griveousest' grievousest + 'dwarfling', 'sherperdling' shepherdling + _contráry_ run"--_Shakespeare._ added period after quotes + their charms".--_Spenser,_ changed comma to period + _bu h-sum_, i.e. 'bow-some', buch-sum + + LECTURE IV + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + Shakespeare in _I Henry VI_ changed I to 1 + words justI quoted have conveyed? I just + misapprehension in their persual perusal + as by sea, was a 'voyage', changed final comma to period + Langage Francais_, p. 347 Français + before they return back again. added double quotes after "again" + 1589, p. 181 (ed. 181, ed. + _Preface to Bible_, 1611. added ")" before period + Secker, _Sermons_, iii, 85 (ed. 85, ed. + + LECTURE V + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + of the arbitary in spelling arbitrary + 'vert', 'verre' and 'vers', changed final comma to period + v corresponding in the Greek. changed "v" to {Greek: y} + and a very horried one horrid + {Greek: ch ymo} chymos + Croker's edit. 1848, pp. 57 '5' unclear in the original + the Provencal 'adventura'. Provençal + oua 'aunt'. our + + INDEX + + _ORIGINAL TEXT_ _CHANGE_ + Alcove 15 16 + Book 20 21 + Creansur 46 45 + Flota 16 17 + Galvanism 9 88 + Girdle 20 21 + Hooker 15 16 + Icefield 73 74 + Imp 215 205 + Kirtle 20 21 + Matachin 16 17 + Milken 162 163 + Postremissimus 90 91 + Quellio 16 17 + Rosen 161 162 + Silvern 162 163 + Stonen 162 163 + Tapster 156 157 +} + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of English Past and Present, by +Richard Chenevix Trench + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ENGLISH PAST AND PRESENT *** + +***** This file should be named 20900-8.txt or 20900-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/0/9/0/20900/ + +Produced by Malcolm Farmer, Amy Cunningham, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |