EXAMPLES. (151.) Health and plenty cheer the labouring swain. Power to judge both quick and dead. I fled, because I was afraid. To give it, then, a tongue, is wise in man. (152.) At Venice, you may go to any house either by land or water. Fight neither with small nor great. He that is slow to anger, is better than the mighty. The good which men do is not lost, though often disregarded. We take no note of time, save from its loss. (153.) As for the rest of those who have written against me, &c. As if to him it could impart, &c. I was mistaken as to the day. And it was as though it budded. Forasmuch as the thirst is intolerable, the patient may be indulged. So then the Volscians stand. INTERJECTIONS. 154. An INTERJECTION is a sudden articulate exclamation or outcry, to express some feeling in a brief form. The same interjection may convey different passions, according to the manner of utterance. The following are specimens: Ah! adieu! alas! avaunt! alack! aha! eh! fie! ha! ho! hush! hist! heigh-ho! hail! hark! huzza! hurrah! holloa! lo! welcome! pshaw! O! oh! no more! so! EXAMPLES. (154.) Ah! then and there was hurrying to and fro. Alas! both for the deed and for the cause. Alack! when once we have our grace forgot, nothing goes right. They opened their mouth wide against me, and said: Aha! aha!' Fy! my lord, fy! a soldier, and afraid! Ha! laugh'st thou, Lochiel, my vision to scorn? Ho! shifts she thus?' King Henry cried. Hush! hark! a deep sound strikes like a rising knell. DERIVATION OF WORDS. 155. DERIVATION is the third part of Etymology, and treats of the History, Composition, and Signification of words. I. HISTORY. 'War, invasion, conquests, treaties, intercourse with different nations, commerce, colonies, rise of arts, logical refinements, controversies, time or age, and the humours of a people, are all causes of alteration in language.'-SHARPE. 156. The English language, as now used, is composed from many others, and consists of nearly 60,000 words, exclusive of proper names. The following are the most important facts in its history: · 157. CELTIC dialects existed at an early period, and still partly exist, in Britain. The following are specimens of the D few Celtic words that are found in modern English :-Cap, basket, glass, bush, sprig, spike, cradle, creak, spar, imp; there are also many names of places-Dunglass, Strathaven, Benlomond, &c. 158. The ROMANS invaded Britain 55 B. C., but did not complete its conquest till 86 A.D. From about 50 to 450 A.D., the Roman or Latin language prevailed, and mingled with the Celtic. 159. The SAXON tribes, from the banks of the Elbe, entered England after the departure of the Romans, and driving out nearly all the Celts, became masters of the country; and the Saxon language, taking the place of the Celtic and Roman, formed the foundation of the English tongue, contributing about 23,000 words. Almost all our common words are Saxon; such as--good, bad, great, small, go, come, see, hear, &c. 160. The DANES (Cimbric Goths), invading England in 1016, held it entirely for twenty-six years, besides partially for a longer period, and introduced words still used-awry, earl, girl, clap, Aay, fail, gammer. 161. The NORMANS (Norwegian settlers in France) crossed into England in 1066, introducing Norman-French, a mixture of Gothic, Latin, and other languages. It was the language of law, fashion, and chivalry, as its numerous remains prove― bailiff, embezzle, damsel, baron, fief, feud, &c. 162. LATIN, nearly expelled by the Saxon invasion, was introduced again by the monks, and gained ground as the language of theology, medicine, law, literature, and politics. Latin words were adopted chiefly after 1500 A.D., when the study of it became fashionable. It now forms a large part of the English language. The following are specimens:-Exaggerate, brevity, decimal, century, equestrian, final, gradual, habit, imagine, juvenile. 163. GREEK entered English partly with Latin, and partly since the revival of learning. It possesses great power of forming compounds, and is extensively used in scientific expressions. Specimens aeronaut, amphitheatre, analogy, anatomy, botany, barometer, chronology, cylinder, geometry. 164. MODERN LANGUAGES have contributed many words. 165. FRENCH has supplied words in military affairs-aid-decamp, piquet, bayonet, bivouac; in cookery-omelet, fricassée, entremets; in dress-vest, blonde; and in manners-etiquette, naïveté, ridicule, grimace, foible, &c. 166. ITALIAN words relate chiefly to music, sculpture, and painting-piano, theorbo, adagio, presto, prima donna, tenor, mezzotinto, cameo, &c. 167. GERMAN, FLEMISH, and DUTCH, have given many mercantile, manufacturing, and naval terms-boom, caboose, cambric, canvas, cable, fluke, jib, jigger, keel, ship, sloop, yacht. 168. SPANISH has furnished admiral, alcove, barilla, bilboes, castanet, cigar, junto, lagoon, picaroon, and many others. 169. PORTUGUESE has contributed albino, alligator, calabash, &c. 170. ASIA has poured in a great mass of words since the extension of commerce; such as henna, alcohol, koran, coffee, cotton, caravan, from Arabia; bazaar, borax, rhubarb, sherbet, shrub, from Persia; bamboo, palanquin, rajah, sofa, toddy, from India; tea, junk, hong, &c., from China. 171. AMERICA, too, has given names as well as thingsalco, calumet, cannibal, hammock, potato, tobacco, tomahawk, wigwam. 172. PLACES give many names-currant from Corinth; sherry from Xerez; port from Oporto; calico from Calicut'; syenite from Syene. 173. PERSONS give names to things-galvanism from Galvani; voltaism from Volta; the daguerreotype from Daguerre; a davy from Sir H. Davy. 174. The coining of words tends constantly to increase the language. It is done in three ways: 1. Making a new word out of two or more old ones-anti-church-extensionist, nonintrusionist, railway-station-house. 2. Using a word in a new sense; as-switches and sleepers on a railway; conservative, radical. 3. Inventing an entirely new word-teetotal, quiz, fudge. 175. From the above sketch, it is evident that the English language is composed of words introduced at different periods during more than a thousand years, and gleaned from almost every part of the world. II. COMPOSITION. 176. Ideas, mental images, are expressed by words, and the word must be simple or compound, according to the idea. A simple idea is generally expressed by a simple word; as-steam, water, sun. A compound idea requires a compound word; as -steam-boat, water-pipe, sun-beam. 177. Ideas are also called radical, as opposed to derivative. The radical, or first idea, is expressed by some original word, generally a verb; as-bind. The derivative idea requires a derivative word; as-bond, bound, band; from which secondary derivatives may be formed; as-bondage, boundless, banded, unbind, unbounded. 178. The original word is called the Root; the changes before it are called Prefixes; those after it, Affixes: thusin 'un-bind-ing,' 'un' is the prefix, 'bind' the root, and 'ing' the affix. 1. ROOT, in language as in botany, means source or origin. It is the element beyond which words cannot be traced. It is the word from which others are derived, but which is itself underived. Roots are short words in all languages—sit, tell; scrib-o, fund-o; graph-o, leg-o; parl-er, pun-ir; hab-en. Long words are formed from these by prefixes, affixes, and combination of roots. The same root, with slight changes, frequently runs through many languages, rendering it difficult to determine in which it originated. Thus, the English word brother is in Gothic brothar; in Saxon, Swedish, and Danish, broder; in Dutch, bröder; in German, bruder; in Sanscrit, brader; in Irish, brathair; in Latin, frater; in French, frère; in Italian, fratello. II. PREFIXES are put before roots to modify the meaning; as-im-pure, not pure; fore-tell, to tell beforehand. III. AFFIXES modify the particular application of roots; as -act, act-or, act-ress, act-ive, act-ivity, act-ion, act-ual, &c. Ever loving, lovely, and beloved.-BYRON. 179. It is of great importance to have an accurate knowledge of prefixes and affixes. 180. Roots, prefixes, and affixes, are variously combined to form derivative and compound words; thus-two roots unite in watch-case, pen-knife, metro-polis, &c.; a root and an affix in angel-ic, art-ist, bond-age, &c.; a root and two affixeshope-ful-ly, child-ish-ly; a root and a prefix-in-form, compose; a root and two prefixes-mis-in-form, de-com-pose; a root, a prefix, and an affix-in-form-er, &c. A single root may, by the aid of prefixes and affixes, give origin to forty or fifty important words. Thus, the Latin word pon-o (put or place), having pos-itus for its participle, enters into the composition of many English words. Ap-pos-e, -pos-ition, -pos-er, -pos-ite, -pos-iteness. Com-pos-e, -pos-er, -pos-edly, pos-ite, -pos-ition, -pos-itor, -pos-ure. De-pon-e, -pon-ent, -pos-e, -pos-it, -pos-itary, -pos-ition. Ex-pos-e, -pos-ition, -pos-itive, -pos-itor, -pon-ent. &c., to the amount of seventy, at least. III. SIGNIFICATION. 181. The signification of a word is the sense in which men understand it, varying with time and place; thus-prevent, once meant to go before-it now signifies to hinder; let, meant to hinder-now it is to permit. It is clear, then, that the history or composition of a word is by no means always an infallible guide to its signification; and that especially in common words which have been long used among us, we must rather be guided simply by the reputable, national, and present usage. It is chiefly with respect to scientific terms, and those derived in comparatively recent times from the classical languages, that much light is to be obtained by analysing their construction. 182. Every word, whether its form is simple or compound, primitive or derivative, has always one meaning called primary -that is, the one first attached to the word. Most words have also one secondary meaning, and some have four or five; thus -horn, in its primary sense, refers to an animal, as, a sheep's horn; whereas the following are secondary senses:-He blew the horn; the moon's horns; a horn full of ale; the horns of a dilemma. To make one word bear several secondary meanings, obviously saves the necessity of inventing a new word for every modification of an idea; but the advantage is almost counterbalanced by the ambiguity to which this practice gives rise. Disputes frequently occur, because two parties attach different meanings to the same word. 'Words in very common use are both the most liable, from the looseness of ordinary discourse, to slide from one sense into another, and also the least likely to have that ambiguity suspected. The remedy for ambiguity is a definition of the term which is suspected of being used in two senses.'-WHATELY'S LOGIC. 183. The primary signification of a word is often obscure, and sometimes altogether unknown. It is extremely important to distinguish between the primary meaning of a word and its present use. Tide formerly meant time, but it is now applied to the flowing of the sea. Holy once meant entire, complete. |