ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

BY

ROBERT GORDON LATHAM, M.D., F.R.S.,

LATE FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE; FELLOW OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS, LONDON; MEMBER OF THE ETHNOLOGICAL SOCIETY, NEW YORK; LATE PROFESSOR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE, UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON.

THIRD EDITION,

REVISED AND GREATLY ENLARGED.

LONDON:

TAYLOR, WALTON, AND MABERLY,

UPPER GOWER STREET, AND IVY LANE, PATERNOSTER ROW.

1850.

LONDON: Printed by Samuel Bentley & Co., Bangor House, Shoe Lane.

TO

THE REV. WILLIAM BUTCHER, M.A.,

OF

ROPSLEY, LINCOLNSHIRE,

IN ADMIRATION OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS AS A LINGUIST,

AND AS A TESTIMONY OF PRIVATE REGARD,

The following pages are Inscribed,

BY HIS FRIEND,

THE AUTHOR.

PREFACE

TO THE

SECOND EDITION.

The first edition of the present work was laid before the public, with the intention of representing in a form as systematic as the extent of the subject would allow, those views concerning the structure and relations of the English language, which amongst such scholars as had studied them with the proper means and opportunities, were then generally received; and which, so being received, might take their stand as established and recognized facts. With the results of modern criticism, as applied to his native tongue, it was conceived that an educated Englishman should be familiar. To this extent the special details of the language were exhibited; and to this extent the work was strictly a Grammar of the English Language.

But besides this, it was well known that the current grammarians, and the critical philologists, had long ceased to write alike upon the English, or indeed upon any other, language. For this reason the sphere of the work became enlarged; so that, on many occasions, general principles had to be enounced, fresh terms to be defined, and old classifications to be remodelled. This introduced extraneous elements of criticism, and points of discussion which, in a more advanced stage of English philology, would have been superfluous. It also introduced elements which had a tendency to displace the account of some of the more special and proper details of the language. There was not room for the exposition of general principles, for the introduction of the necessary amount of preliminary considerations, and for the minutiæ of an extreme analysis. Nor is there room for all this at present. A work that should, at one and the same time, prove its principles, instead of assuming them, supply the full and necessary preliminaries in the way of logic, phonetics, and ethnology, and, besides this, give a history of every variety in the form of every word, although, perhaps, a work that one man might write, would be a full and perfect Thesaurus of the English Language, and, would probably extend to many volumes. For, in the English language, there are many first principles to be established, and much historical knowledge to be applied. Besides which, the particular points both of etymology and syntax are far more numerous than is imagined. Scanty as is the amount of declension and conjugation in current use, there are to be found in every department of our grammars, numerous isolated words which exhibit the fragments of a fuller inflection, and of a more highly developed etymology. This is well-known to every scholar who has not only viewed our language as a derivative of the Anglo-Saxon, and observed that there are similar relations between many other languages (e. g. the Italian and Latin, the German and Mœso-Gothic, &c.), but who has, also, generalized the phenomena of such forms of relationship and derivation, and enabled himself to see in the most uninflected languages of the nineteenth century, the fragments of a fuller and more systematic inflection, altered by time, but altered in a uniform and a general manner.

The point, however, upon which, in the prefaces both of the first edition of the present work and of his English Grammar, the writer has most urgently insisted is the disciplinal character of grammatical studies in general, combined with the fact, that the grammatical study of one's own language is almost exclusively disciplinal. It is undoubtedly true, that in schools something that is called English Grammar is taught: and it is taught pretty generally. It is taught so generally that, I believe, here are only two classes of English boys and girls who escape it—those who are taught nothing at all in any school whatever, and those who are sent so early to the great classical schools (where nothing is taught but Latin and Greek), as to escape altogether the English part of their scholastic education. But what is it that is thus generally taught? not the familiar practice of speaking English—that has been already attained by the simple fact of the pupil having been born on English soil, and of English parents. Not the scientific theory of the language—that is an impossibility with the existing text-books. Neither, then, of these matters is taught. Nevertheless labour is expended, and time is consumed. What is taught? Something undoubtedly. The facts, that language is more or less regular (i. e. capable of having its structure exhibited by rules); that there is such a thing as grammar; and that certain expressions should be avoided, are all matters worth knowing. And they are all taught even by the worst method of teaching. But are these the proper objects of systematic teaching? Is the importance of their acquisition equivalent to the time, the trouble, and the displacement of more valuable subjects, which are involved in their explanation? I think not. Gross vulgarity of language is a fault to be prevented; but the proper prevention is to be got from habit—not rules. The proprieties of the English language are to be learned, like the proprieties of English manners, by conversation and intercourse; and the proper school for both, is the best society in which the learner is placed. If this be good, systematic teaching is superfluous; if bad, insufficient. There are undoubted points where a young person may doubt as to the grammatical propriety of a certain expression. In this case let him ask some one older, and more instructed. Grammar, as an art, is, undoubtedly, the art of speaking and writing correctly—but then, as an art, it is only required for foreign languages. For our own we have the necessary practice and familiarity.

The claim of English grammar to form part and parcel of an English education stands or falls with the value of the philological and historical knowledge to which grammatical studies may serve as an introduction, and with the value of scientific grammar as a disciplinal study. I have no fear of being supposed to undervalue its importance in this respect. Indeed in assuming that it is very great, I also assume that wherever grammar is studied as grammar, the language which the grammar so studied should represent, must be the mother-tongue of the student; whatever that mother-tongue may be—English for Englishmen, Welsh for Welshmen, French for Frenchmen, German for Germans, &c. This study is the study of a theory; and for this reason it should be complicated as little as possible by points of practice. For this reason a man's mother-tongue is the best medium for the elements of scientific philology, simply because it is the one which he knows best in practice.

Now if, over and above the remarks upon the English language, and the languages allied to it, there occur in the present volume, episodical discussions of points connected with other languages, especially the Latin and Greek, it is because a greater portion of the current ideas on philological subjects is taken from those languages than from our own. Besides which, a second question still stands over. There is still the question as to the relative disciplinal merits of the different non-vernacular languages of the world. What is the next best vehicle for philological philosophy to our mother-tongue, whatever that mother-tongue maybe? Each Athenian who fought at Salamis considered his own contributions to that great naval victory the greatest; and he considered them so because they were his own. So it is with the language which we speak, and use, and have learned as our own. Yet each same Athenian awarded the second place of honour to Themistocles. The great classical languages of Greece and Rome are in the position of Themistocles. They are the best when the question of ourselves and our possessions is excluded. They are the best in the eyes of an indifferent umpire. More than this; if we take into account the studies of the learned world, they are second only to the particular mother-tongue of the particular student, in the way of practical familiarity. Without either affirming or denying that, on the simple scores of etymological regularity, etymological variety, and syntactic logic, the Sanskrit may be their equal, it must still be admitted that this last-named language has no claims to a high value as a practical philological discipline upon the grounds of its universality as a point of education; nor will it have. Older than the Greek, it may (or may not) be; more multiform than the Latin, it may (or may not) be: but equally rich in the attractions of an unsurpassed literature, and equally influential as a standard of imitation, it neither has been nor can be. We may admit all that is stated by those who admire its epics, or elucidate its philosophy; we may admire all this and much more besides, but we shall still miss the great elements of oratory and history, that connect the ancient languages of Greece and Italy with the thoughts, and feelings, and admiration of recent Europe.

The same sort of reasoning applies to the Semitic languages. One element they have, in their grammatical representation, which gives them a value in philological philosophy, in the abstract, above all other languages—the generality of the expression of their structure. This is symbolic, and its advantage is that it exhibits the naturally universal phenomena of their construction in a universal language. Yet neither this nor their historical value raises them to the level of the classical languages.

Now, what has just been written has been written with a view towards a special inference, and as the preliminary to a practical deduction; and it would not have been written but for some such ulterior application. If these languages have so high a disciplinal value, how necessary it is that the expression of their philological phenomena should be accurate, scientific, and representative of their true growth and form? How essential that their grammars should exhibit nothing that may hereafter be unlearned? Pace grammaticorum dixerim, this is not the case. Bad as is Lindley Murray in English, Busby and Lilly are worse in Greek and Latin. This is the comparison of the men on the low rounds of the ladder. What do we find as we ascend? Is the grammatical science of even men like Mathiæ and Zump much above that of Wallis? Does Buttmann's Greek give so little to be unlearned as Grimm's German? By any one who has gone far in comparative philology, the answer will be given in the negative.

This is not written in the spirit of a destructive criticism. If an opinion as to the fact is stated without reserve, it is accompanied by an explanation, and (partially, perhaps) by a justification. It is the business of a Greek and Latin grammarian to teach Greek and Latin cito, tute, ac jucunde,—cito, that is, between the years of twelve and twenty-four; tute, that is, in a way that quantities may be read truly, and hard passages translated accurately; jucunde, that is, as the taste and memory of the pupil may determine. With this view the grammar must be artificial. Granted. But then it should profess to be so. It should profess to address the memory only, not the understanding. Above all it should prefer to leave a point untaught, than to teach it in a way that must be unlearned.

In 1840, so little had been done by Englishmen for the English language, that in acknowledging my great obligations to foreign scholars, I was only able to speak to what might be done by my own countrymen. Since then, however, there has been a good beginning of what is likely to be done well. My references to the works of Messrs. Kemble, Garnet, and Guest, show that my authorities are now as much English as German. And this is likely to be the case. The details of the syntax, the illustrations drawn from our provincial dialects, the minute history of individual words, and the whole system of articulate sounds can, for the English, only be done safely by an Englishman: or, to speak more generally, can, for any language, only be dealt with properly by the grammarian whose mother-tongue is that language. The Deutsche Grammatik of Grimm is the work not of an age nor of a century, but, like the great history of the Athenian, a κτῆμα εἰς ἀεί. It is the magazine from whence all draw their facts and illustrations. Yet it is only the proper German portion that pretends to be exhaustive. The Dutch and Scandinavians have each improved the exhibition of their own respective languages. Monument as is the Deutsche Grammatik of learning, industry, comprehensiveness, and arrangement, it is not a book that should be read to the exclusion of others: nor must it be considered to exhibit the grammar of the Gothic languages, in a form unsusceptible of improvement. Like all great works, it is more easily improved than imitated. One is almost unwilling to recur to the old comparison between Aristotle, who absorbed the labour of his predecessors, and the Eastern sultans, who kill-off their younger brothers. But such is the case with Grimm and his fore-runners in philology. Germany, that, in respect to the Reformation, is content to be told that Erasmus laid the egg which Luther hatched, must also acknowledge that accurate and systematic scholars of other countries prepared the way for the Deutsche Grammatik,—Ten Kate in Holland; Dowbrowsky, a Slavonian; and Rask, a Dane.

Nor are there wanting older works in English that have a value in Gothic philology. I should be sorry to speak as if, beyond the writers of what may be called the modern school of philology, there was nothing for the English grammarian both to read and study. The fragments of Ben Jonson's English Grammar are worth the entireties of many later writers. The work of Wallis is eminently logical and precise. The voice of a mere ruler of rules is a sound to flee from; but the voice of a truly powerful understanding is a thing to be heard on all matters. It is this which gives to Cobbett and Priestley, to Horne Tooke as a subtle etymologist, and to Johnson as a practical lexicographer, a value in literary history, which they never can have in grammar. It converts unwholesome doctrines into a fertile discipline of thought.

The method of the present work is mixed. It is partly historical, and partly logical. The historical portions exhibit the way in which words and inflections have been used; the logical, the way in which they ought to be used. Now I cannot conceal from either my readers or myself the fact that philological criticism at the present moment is of an essentially historical character. It has been by working the historical method that all the great results both in general and special scholarship have been arrived at; and it is on historical investigation that the whole induction of modern philology rests. All beyond is à priori argument; and, according to many, à priori argument out of place. Now, this gives to the questions in philology, to questions concerning the phenomena of concord, government, &c. a subordinate character. It does so, however, improperly. Logic is in language what it is in reasoning,—a rule and standard. But in its application to reasoning and to language there is this difference. Whilst illogical reasoning, and illogical grammar are equally phenomena of the human mind, even as physical disease is a phenomenon of the human body, the illogical grammar can rectify itself by its mere continuance, propagation, and repetition. In this respect the phenomena of language stand apart from the other phenomena of either mind or organized matter. No amount of false argument can make a fallacy other than a fallacy. No amount of frequency can make physical disease other than a predisposing cause to physical disorganization. The argument that halts in its logic, is not on a par with the argument that is sound. Such also is the case with any bodily organ. No prevalence of sickness can ever evolve health. Language, however, as long as it preserves the same amount of intelligibility is always language. Provided it serve as a medium, it does its proper work; and as long as it does this, it is, as far as its application is concerned, faultless. Now there is a limit in logical regularity which language is perpetually overstepping; just as there is a logical limit which the reasoning of common life is perpetually overstepping, and just as there is a physiological limit which the average health of men and women may depart from. This limit is investigated by the historical method; which shows the amount of latitude in which language may indulge and yet maintain its great essential of intelligibility. Nay, more, it can show that it sometimes transgresses the limit in so remarkable a manner, as to induce writers to talk about the corruption of a language, or the pathology of a language, with the application of many similar metaphors. Yet it is very doubtful whether all languages, in all their stages, are not equally intelligible, and, consequently, equally what they ought to be, viz., mediums of intercourse between man and man; whilst, in respect to their growth, it is almost certain that so far from exhibiting signs of dissolution, they are, on the contrary, like the Tithonus of mythology, the Strulbrugs of Laputa, or, lastly, such monsters as Frankenstein, very liable to the causes of death, but utterly unable to die. Hence, in language, whatever is, is right; a fact which, taken by itself, gives great value to the historical method of inquiry, and leaves little to the à priori considerations of logic.

But, on the other hand, there is a limit in logical regularity, which language never oversteps: and as long as this is the case, the study of the logical standard of what language is in its normal form must go hand in hand with the study of the processes that deflect it. The investigation of the irregularities of language—and be it remembered that almost all change implies original irregularity—is analogous to the investigation of fallacies in logic. It is the comparison between the rule and the practice, with this difference, that in language the practice can change the rule, which in logic is impossible. I am sure that these remarks are necessary in order to anticipate objections that may be raised against certain statements laid down in the syntax. I often write as if I took no account of the historical evidence, in respect to particular uses of particular words. I do so, not because I undervalue that department of philology, but because it is out of place. To show that one or more writers, generally correct, have used a particular expression is to show that they speak, in a few instances, as the vulgar speak in many. To show that the vulgar use one expression for another is to show that two ideas are sufficiently allied to be expressed in the same manner: in other words, the historical fact is accompanied by a logical explanation; and the historical deviation is measured by a logical standard.

I am not desirous of sacrificing a truth to an antithesis, but so certain is language to change from logical accuracy to logical licence, and, at the same time, so certain is language, when so changed, to be just as intelligible as before, that I venture upon asserting that, not only whatever is, is right, but also, that in many cases, whatever was, was wrong. There is an antagonism, between logic and practice; and the phenomena on both sides must be studied.

CONTENTS.

PART I.

GENERAL ETHNOLOGICAL RELATIONS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER I.

GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE—DATE.

SECTION PAGE

1. English not originally British 1

2. Germanic in origin 2

3-10. Accredited details of the different immigrations from Germany into Britain 2-4

10-12. Accredited relations of the Jutes, Angles, and Saxons to each other as Germans 4

13. Criticism of evidence 5

Extract from Mr. Kemble 6

14. Inference 9

CHAPTER II.

GERMANIC ORIGIN OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE—THE IMMIGRANT TRIBES AND THEIR RELATION TO EACH OTHER.

15-20. The Jute immigration doubtful 10-12

22. Difficulties in identifying the Saxons 13

23. Difficulties in identifying the Angles 13

25-29. Populations with the greatest à priori likelihood of having immigrated 14, 15

26. Menapians 15

27. Batavians 15

28. Frisians 15

29. Chauci 15

30. Inference 16

31-34. Saxons and Nordalbingians 16, 17

35-50. Populations, whereof the continental relation help us in fixing the original country of the Angles and Saxons 17-21

36. Germans of the Middle Rhine 17

Franks 18

Salians 18

Chamavi 18

37. Thuringians 18

38. Catti 18

39. Geographical conditions of the Saxon Area 18

40. Its Eastern limit 19

41-50. Slavonian frontier 20, 21

41. ,, Polabi 20

42. ,, Wagrians 20

43. ,, Obotriti 20

44. ,, Lini 20

45. ,, Warnabi 21

46. ,, Morizani 21

47. ,, Doxani 21

48. ,, Hevelli 21

49. ,, Slavonians of Altmark 21

50. ,, Sorabians 21

51. Saxon area 21

CHAPTER III.

OF THE DIALECTS OF THE SAXON AREA AND OF THE SO-CALLED OLD SAXON.

52, 53. Extent and frontier 23

54-62. Anglo-Saxon and Old Saxon 23-25

63. Old-Saxon data 25

64. Specimen 26

CHAPTER IV.

AFFINITIES OF THE ENGLISH WITH THE LANGUAGES OF GERMANY AND SCANDINAVIA.

65. General affinities of the English language 28

67. The term Gothic 28

69. Scandinavian branch 28

70. Teutonic branch 31

71. Mœso-Gothic 31

73. Origin of the Mœso-Goths 32

76. Name not Germanic 33

77. Old High German 35

78. Low Germanic division 36

79. Frisian 36

81. Old Frisian 37

82. Platt-Deutsch 38

83. Anglo-Saxon and Icelandic compound 38

84. Scandinavian article 40

88. Scandinavian verb 44

91. Declension in -n 45

92. Difference between languages of the same division 46

93. Weak and strong nouns 46

Mœso-Gothic inflections 47

94. Old Frisian and Anglo-Saxon 50

98. The term German 56

99. The term Dutch 57

100. The term Teutonic 58

101. The term Anglo-Saxon 59

102. Icelandic, Old Norse 59

CHAPTER V.

ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE—GERMANIC ELEMENTS.

106. The Angles 62

109. Extract from Tacitus 63

,, Ptolemy 63

110. Extracts connecting them with the inhabitants of the Cimbric Chersonesus 64

111. The district called Angle 65

113. Inferences and remarks 65

114. What were the Langobardi with whom the Angles were connected by Tacitus? 66

115. What were the Suevi, &c. 66

116. What were the Werini, &c. 67

117. What were the Thuringians, &c. 67

121. Difficulties respecting the Angles 68

123-128. Patronymic forms, and the criticism based on them 68-72

129-131. Probably German immigrants not Anglo-Saxon 72, 73

CHAPTER VI.

THE CELTIC STOCK OF LANGUAGES, AND THEIR RELATIONS TO THE ENGLISH.

132. Cambrian Celtic 74

133. Gaelic Celtic 77

136. Structure of Celtic tongues 79-83

138. The Celtic of Gaul 84

139. The Pictish 84

CHAPTER VII.

THE ANGLO-NORMAN AND THE LANGUAGES OF THE CLASSICAL STOCK.

140. The Classical languages 86

141. Extension of the Roman language 86

142. The divisions 87

Specimen of the Romanese 88

Specimen of the Wallachian 88

143. French dialects 89

Oath of Ludwig 90

144. Norman-French 91

CHAPTER VIII.

THE POSITION OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE AS INDO-EUROPEAN.

147. The term Indo-European 94

148. Is the Celtic Indo-European? 95

————

PART II.

HISTORY AND ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

CHAPTER I.

HISTORICAL AND LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

149. Celtic elements 97

150. Latin of the First Period 98

151. Anglo-Saxon 98

152. Danish or Norse 98

153. Roman of the Second Period 100

154. Anglo-Norman 101

155. Indirect Scandinavian 101

156. Latin of the Third Period 101

157. Greek elements 102

158. Classical elements 102

159. Latin words 103

160. Greek elements 104

161, 162. Miscellaneous elements 105

163, 164. Direct and ultimate origin of words 106, 107

165. Distinction 107

166-168. Words of foreign simulating a vernacular origin 107-109

169-171. Hybridism 109, 110

172. Incompletion of radical 110

173. Historical and logical analysis 111

CHAPTER II.

THE RELATION OF THE ENGLISH TO THE ANGLO-SAXON AND THE STAGES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

174. Ancient and modern languages 112

175. English and Anglo-Saxon compared 113

176. Semi-Saxon stage 117

177-179. Old English stage 119, 122

180. Middle English 122

181. Present tendencies of the English 123

182. Speculative question 123

CHAPTER III.

THE LOWLAND SCOTCH.

183-188. Lowland Scotch 124-127

189. Extracts 127

190. Points of difference with the English 130

CHAPTER IV.

ON CERTAIN UNDETERMINED AND FICTITIOUS LANGUAGES OF GREAT BRITAIN.

191, 192. The Belgæ 132-135

193. Caledonians, Iberians 135

194. Supposed affinities of the Irish 135

Extract from Plautus 136

195. Hypothesis of a Finnic race 139

————

PART III.

SOUNDS, LETTERS, PRONUNCIATION, AND SPELLING.

CHAPTER I.

GENERAL NATURE OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.

196. Preliminary remarks 141

197. Vowels and consonants 143

198. Divisions of articulate sounds 143

199. Explanation of terms 143

Sharp and flat 143

Continuous and explosive 144

200. General statements 144

201. H no articulation 144

CHAPTER II.

SYSTEM OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.

202. System of vowels 145

é fermé, ó chiuso, ü German 145

203. System of mutes 145

Lenes and aspirates 146

204. Affinities of the liquids 147

205. Diphthongs 147

206. Compound sibilants 148

207. Ng 148

208-210. Further explanation of terms 148-150

211. System of vowels 150

212. System of mutes 150

213. Varieties 150

214. Connection in phonetics 151

CHAPTER III.

ON CERTAIN COMBINATIONS OF ARTICULATE SOUNDS.

215. Unpronounceable combinations 152

216. Unstable combinations 153

217. Effect of y 153

218, 219. Evolution of new sounds 153, 154

220. Value of a sufficient system of sounds 154

221. Double consonants rare 154

222. Reduplications of consonants rare 155

223. True aspirates rare 155

CHAPTER IV.

EUPHONY; THE PERMUTATION AND TRANSITION OF LETTERS.

224. Euphonic change exhibited 157

225. The rationale of it 157

226. The combinations -mt, -nt 158

227. The combination -pth 158

228. Accommodation of vowels 158

229. Permutation of letters 159

230. Transition of letters 160

CHAPTER V.

ON THE FORMATION OF SYLLABLES.

231. Distribution of consonants between two syllables 161

CHAPTER VI.

ON QUANTITY.

232. Long and short 164

233. How far coincident with independent and dependent 164

234. Length of vowels and length of syllables 165

CHAPTER VII.

ON ACCENT.

235. Accent 167

236. How far accent always on the root 168

237. Verbal accent and logical accent 168

238. Effect of accent on orthography 169

239. Accent and quantity not the same 170

CHAPTER VIII.

THE PRINCIPLES OF ORTHOEPY.

240. Meaning of the word orthoepy 172

241. Classification of errors in pronunciation 172

242-244. Causes of erroneous enunciation 172-175

245. Appreciation of standards of orthoepy 175

246. Principles of critical orthoepy 176

CHAPTER IX.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF ORTHOGRAPHY.

247. Province of orthography 178

248. Imperfections of alphabets 178

249. Applications of alphabets 180

250. Changes of sound, and original false spelling 181

251. Theory of a perfect alphabet 181

252. Sounds and letters in English 182

253. Certain conventional modes of spelling 187

254. The inconvenience of them 189

255. Criticism upon the details of the English orthography 189-200

CHAPTER X.

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE ENGLISH ALPHABET.

256. Bearings of the question 200

257. Phœnician Period 200

258, 259. Greek Period 201-203

260-262. Latin Period 203-205

263. The Mœso-Gothic alphabet 205

264. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet 205

265. The Anglo-Norman Period 207

266. Extract from the Ormulum 208

267. The Runes 209

268. The order of the alphabet 210

269. Parallel and equivalent orthographies 213

————

PART IV.

ETYMOLOGY.

CHAPTER I.

ON THE PROVINCE OF ETYMOLOGY.

270. Meaning of the term etymology 214

CHAPTER II.

ON GENDER.

271. Latin genders 217

272. Words like he-goat 217

273. Words like genitrix 217

274. Words like domina 218

275. Sex 219

276. True Genders in English 219

277. Neuters in -t 220

278. Personification 220

279. True and apparent genders 221

CHAPTER III.

THE NUMBERS.

280, 281. Dual number 225

282-284. Plural in -s 226-230

285. The form in child-r-en 230

286. The form in -en 232

287. Men, feet, &c. 232

288. Brethren, &c. 232

CHAPTER IV.

ON THE CASES.

289, 290. Meaning of word case 234

291. Cases in English 237

292, 293. Determination of cases 239

294, 295. Analysis of cases 241

296. Case in -s 241

CHAPTER V.

THE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

297. True personal pronoun 243

298. We and me 244

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE TRUE REFLECTIVE PRONOUN IN THE GOTHIC LANGUAGES AND ON ITS ABSENCE IN THE ENGLISH.

299. The Latin se, sui 247

CHAPTER VII.

THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, ETC.

300. He, she, it, this, that, the 249

301. These 251

302. Those 253

CHAPTER VIII.

THE RELATIVE, INTERROGATIVE, AND CERTAIN OTHER PRONOUNS.

303. Who, what, &c. 255

304. Indo-European forms 255

305. Miscellaneous observations 256

CHAPTER IX.

ON CERTAIN FORMS IN -ER.

306, 307. Eith-er, ov-er, und-er, bett-er 260, 261

308. Illustration from the Laplandic 261

309. Idea of alternative 262

CHAPTER X.

THE COMPARATIVE DEGREE.

310. Forms in -tara and -îyas 263

311. Change from -s to -r 263

312. Mœso-Gothic comparative 264

313. Comparison of adverbs 264

314. Elder 265

315. Rather 265

316. Excess of expression 266

317. Better, &c. 266

318. Sequence in logic 266

319-325. Worse, &c. 267-270

CHAPTER XI.

ON THE SUPERLATIVE DEGREE.

326. Different modes of expression 271

327. The termination -st 272

CHAPTER XII.

THE CARDINAL NUMBERS.

328, 329. Their ethnological value 273

Variations in form 274

10+2 and 10×2 275

330. Limits to the inflection of the numeral 276

CHAPTER XIII.

ON THE ORDINAL NUMBERS.

331. First 277

332. Second 277

333. Third, fourth, &c. 278

334, 335. Ordinal and superlative forms 278-280

CHAPTER XIV.

THE ARTICLES.

336. A, the, no 281

CHAPTER XV.

DIMINUTIVES, AUGMENTATIVES, AND PATRONYMICS.

337, 338. Diminutives 283

339. Augmentatives 285

340. Patronymics 286

CHAPTER XVI.

GENTILE FORMS.

341. Wales 288

CHAPTER XVII.

ON THE CONNECTION BETWEEN THE NOUN AND VERB, AND ON THE INFLECTION OF THE INFINITIVE MOOD.

342-344. Substantival character of verbs 289

345, 346. Declension of the infinitive 290

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON DERIVED VERBS.

347. Rise, raise, &c. 292

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE PERSONS.

348-351. Persons in English 294-298

352. Person in -t, -art, &c. 298

353. Forms like spakest, sungest, &c. 299

354. Plurals in -s 299

CHAPTER XX.

ON THE NUMBERS OF VERBS.

355. Personal signs of numbers 300

Run, ran 301

CHAPTER XXI.

ON MOODS.

356. The infinitive mood 302

357. The imperative mood 302

358. The subjunctive mood 302

CHAPTER XXII.

OF TENSES IN GENERAL.

359. General nature of tenses 303

360. Latin preterites 304

361. Mœso-Gothic perfects 304

Reduplication 305

362. Strong and weak verbs 305

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE STRONG TENSES.

363. Sang, sung 307

364-376. Classification of strong verbs 308-316

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE WEAK TENSES.

377. The weak inflection 317

378. First division 318

379. Second division 318

380. Third division 319

381. Preterites in -ed and -t 319

382. Preterites like made, had 321-327

Would, should 322

Aught 322

Durst 322

Must 323

Wist 324

Do 325

Mind 325

Yode 327

CHAPTER XXV.

ON CONJUGATIONS.

383. So-called irregularities 328

384. Principles of criticism 329

Coincidence of form 329

Coincidence of distribution 329

Coincidence of order 329

385. Strong verbs once weak 332

386. Division of verbs into strong and weak natural 333

387. Obsolete forms 334

388. Double forms 334

CHAPTER XXVI.

DEFECTIVENESS AND IRREGULARITY.

389. Difference between defectiveness and irregularity 335

Vital and obsolete processes 336

Processes of necessity 337

Ordinary processes 338

Positive processes 338

Processes of confusion 339

390. Could 339

391. Quoth 340

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE IMPERSONAL VERBS.

392-394. Meseems, methinks, me listeth 342

CHAPTER XXVIII.

THE VERB SUBSTANTIVE.

395. The verb substantive defective 344

396. Was 344

397. Be 344

398, 399. Future power of be 345

400. Am 346

Worth 347

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE PRESENT PARTICIPLE.

401. The form in -ing 348

402. Substantival power of participle 349

403. Taylor's theory 349

CHAPTER XXX.

THE PAST PARTICIPLE.

404-406. Similarity to the preterite 351

407. Forlorn, frore 352

408. The form in -ed, -d, or -t 352

409. The y- in y-cleped, &c. 353

CHAPTER XXXI.

ON COMPOSITION.

410-414. Definition of composition 355-357

415-417. Parity of accent 358

418. Obscure compounds 361

419. Exceptions 362

420. Peacock, peahen, &c. 364

421. Third element in compound words 365

422. Improper compounds 365

423. Decomposites 365

424. Combinations 366

CHAPTER XXXII.

ON DERIVATION AND INFLECTION.

425. Derivation 367

426. Classification of derived words 368

427. Words like ábsent and absént, &c. 369

428. Words like churl, tail, &c. 370

429. Forms like tip and top, &c. 370

430. Obscure derivatives 370

CHAPTER XXXIII.

ADVERBS.

431. Classification of adverbs 371

432. Adverbs of deflection 372

433. Words like darkling 373

434. Words like brightly 374

CHAPTER XXXIV.

ON CERTAIN ADVERBS OF PLACE.

435-439. Here, hither, hence 374

440. Yonder 375

Anon 375

CHAPTER XXXV.

ON WHEN, THEN, AND THAN.

441. Origin of the words 377

CHAPTER XXXVI.

ON PREPOSITIONS, ETC.

442. Prepositions 378

443. Conjunctions 378

444. Yes and no 379

445. Particles 379

CHAPTER XXXVII.

ON THE GRAMMATICAL POSITION OF THE WORDS MINE AND THINE.

446. Peculiarities of inflection of pronouns 380

447. Powers of the genitive case 381

448. Ideas of possession and partition 382

449. Adjectival expressions 382

450. Evolution of cases 383

451. Idea of possession 383

452. Idea of partition 383

453. A posteriori argument 384

454-458. Analogy of mei and ἐμοῦ 384

459. Etymological evidence 386

460. Syntactic evidence 387

461. Value of the evidence of certain constructions 387

462, 463. Double adjectival form 388

CHAPTER XXXVIII.

ON THE CONSTITUTION OF THE WEAK PRÆTERITE.

464. Forms like salb-ôdêdum 390

465, 466. The Slavonic præterite 391

————

PART V.

SYNTAX.

CHAPTER I.

ON SYNTAX IN GENERAL.

467. The term syntax 392

468. What is not syntax 392

469. What is syntax 394

470. Pure syntax 395

471, 472. Mixed syntax 395

473. Figures of speech 395

474. Personification 395

475. Ellipsis 395

476. Pleonasm 395

477. Zeugma 397

478. Πρὸς τὸ σημαινόμενον 397

479. Apposition 398

480. Collective nouns 398

481, 482. Complex forms 399

483. Convertibility 399

484. Etymological convertibility 400

485. Syntactic convertibility 400

486. Adjectives used as substantives 400

487. Uninflected parts of speech used as such 400

488. Convertibility common in English 401

CHAPTER II.

SYNTAX OF SUBSTANTIVES.

489. Convertibility 402

490. Ellipsis 403

491. Proper names 403

CHAPTER III.

SYNTAX OF ADJECTIVES.

492. Pleonasm 404

493. Collocation 404

494. Government 404

495. More fruitful, &c. 405

496. The better of the two 405

497. Syntax of adjectives simple 406

CHAPTER IV.

SYNTAX OF PRONOUNS.

498, 499. Syntax of pronouns important 407

500, 501. Pleonasm 407

CHAPTER V.

THE TRUE PERSONAL PRONOUNS.

502. Pronomen reverentiæ 409

503. You and ye 409

504. Dativus ethicus 409

505. Reflected personal pronouns 410

506. Reflective neuter verbs 410

507. Equivocal reflectives 411

CHAPTER VI.

ON THE SYNTAX OF THE DEMONSTRATIVE PRONOUNS, AND ON THE PRONOUNS OF THE THIRD PERSON.

508. True demonstrative pronoun 412

509. His mother, her father 412

510, 511. Use of its 412

512. Take them things away 413

513, 514. Hic and ille, this and that 413

CHAPTER VII.

ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE WORD SELF.

515. Government, apposition, composition 416

516. Her-self, itself 416

517. Self and one 417

518, 519. Inflection of self 418

CHAPTER VIII.

ON THE POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS.

520, 521. My and mine, &c. 419

CHAPTER IX.

THE RELATIVE PRONOUNS.

522-524. That, which, what 422

525. The man as rides to market 423

526, 527. Plural use of whose 423

528, 529. Concord of relative and antecedent 423

530. Ellipsis of the relative 424

531. Relative equivalent to demonstrative pronoun 425

Demonstrative equivalent to substantive 425

532. Omission of antecedent 426

533. Χρῶμαι βιβλίοις οἷς ἔχω 426

534. Relatives with complex antecedents 427

CHAPTER X.

ON THE INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS.

535. Direct and oblique interrogations 428

536-539. Whom do they say that it is? 428-430

CHAPTER XI.

THE RECIPROCAL CONSTRUCTION.

540, 541. Structure of reciprocal expressions 431

CHAPTER XII.

THE INDETERMINATE PRONOUNS.

542. On dit=one says 433

543-546. It and there 433

Es sind 434

CHAPTER XIII.

THE ARTICLES.

547. Repetition of article 435

CHAPTER XIV.

THE NUMERALS.

548. The thousand-and-first 436

549. The first two and two first 436

CHAPTER XV.

ON VERBS IN GENERAL.

550. Transitive verbs 437

551. Auxiliary verbs 438

552. Verb substantive 438

CHAPTER XVI.

THE CONCORD OF VERBS.

553-556. Concord of person 439

557. Plural subjects with singular predicates 443

Singular subjects with plural predicates 443

CHAPTER XVII.

ON THE GOVERNMENT OF VERBS.

558, 559. Objective and modal government 444

560. Appositional construction 445

561. Verb and genitive case 448

562. Verb and accusative case 448

563. The partitive construction 448

564. I believe it to be him 448

565. φημὶ εἶναι δεσπότης 449

566. It is believed to be 449

CHAPTER XVIII.

ON THE PARTICIPLES.

567. Dying-day 451

568. I am beaten 451

CHAPTER XIX.

ON THE MOODS.

569. The infinitive mood 452

570. Objective construction 452

570. Gerundial construction 453

571. Peculiarities of imperatives 454

572. Syntax of subjunctives 454

CHAPTER XX.

ON THE TENSES.

573. Present form habitual 455

574. Præterite form aorist 455

CHAPTER XXI.

SYNTAX OF THE PERSONS OF VERBS.

575, 576. I, or he am (is) wrong 456

CHAPTER XXII.

ON THE VOICES OF VERBS.

577. The word hight 458

CHAPTER XXIII.

ON THE AUXILIARY VERBS.

578. Classification 459

579. Time and tense 461

Present 461

Aorist 461

Future 461

Imperfect 462

Perfect 462

Pluperfect 462

Future present 462

Future præterite 462

Emphatic tenses 463

Predictive future 463

Promissive future 463

580. Historic present 463

581. Use of perfect for present 464

582, 583. Varieties of tense 465

Continuance 465

Habit 466

584. Inference of continuance 466

Inference of contrast 467

585. Have with a participle 467

586. I am to speak 469

587. I am to blame 469

588. Shall and will 469

589. Archdeacon Hare's theory 470

590. Mr. De Morgan's theory 472

591. I am beaten 474

592, 593. Present use of ought, &c. 475

CHAPTER XXIV.

THE SYNTAX OF ADVERBS.

594. The syntax of adverbs simple 477

595. Full for fully, &c. 477

596. The termination -ly 477

597. To sleep the sleep of the righteous 478

598. From whence, &c. 478

CHAPTER XXV.

ON PREPOSITIONS.

599. All prepositions govern cases 479

600, 601. None, in English, govern genitives 479

602. Dative case after prepositions 481

603. From to die 481

604. For to go 481

605. No prepositions in composition 481

CHAPTER XXVI.

ON CONJUNCTIONS.

606. Syntax of conjunctions 482

607. Convertibility of conjunctions 482

608. Connexion of prepositions 483

609, 610. Relatives and conjunctions 484

611. Government of mood 485

612. Conditional propositions 486

613. Variations of meaning 486

614. If and since 487

615. Use of that 487

616. Succession of tenses 488

Succession of moods 489

617. Greek constructions 489

618. Be for may be 491

619. Disjunctives 491

620-623. Either, neither 492

CHAPTER XXVII.

THE SYNTAX OF THE NEGATIVE.

624. Position of the negative 495

625. Distribution of the negative 495

626. Double negative 496

627. Questions of appeal 496

628. Extract from Sir Thomas More 496

CHAPTER XXVIII.

OF THE CASE ABSOLUTE.

629. He excepted, him excepted 498

————

PART VI.

PROSODY.

630-632. Metre 499

633. Classical metres measured by quantities 500

634. English metre measured by accents 500

635. Alliteration 500

636. Rhyme 501

637. Definition of Rhyme 503

638. Measures 503

639. Dissyllabic and trisyllabic 503

640. Dissyllabic measures 504

641. Trisyllabic measures 504

642. Measures different from feet 505

643. Couplets, stanzas, &c. 506

644, 645. Names of elementary metres 507, 508

646. Scansion 509

647. Symmetrical metres 509

648. Unsymmetrical metres 510

649. Measures of one and of four syllables 510

650. Contrast between English words and English metre 510

651-653. The classical metres as read by Englishmen 511, 512

654-657. Reasons against the classical nomenclature as applied to English metres 513-515

658-661. The classical metres metrical to English readers—why 515-517

662. Symmetrical metres 517

663. Unsymmetrical metres 517

664. Classical metres unsymmetrical 518

665-667. Conversion of English into classical metres 519, 520

668, 669. Cæsura 520, 521

670-672. English hexameters, &c. 522-526

673. Convertible metres 526

674. Metrical and grammatical combinations 527

675. Rhythm 528

676, 677. Rhyme—its parts 529

————

PART VII.

THE DIALECTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

678. Bearing of the investigation 531

679. Structural and ethnological views 531

680-682. Causes that effect change 532

683, 684. Preliminary notices 533

685. Philological preliminaries 533

686, 687. Present provincial dialects 534-540

688-691. Caution 540-544

692-696. Districts north of the Humber 545-552

697. South Lancashire 552

698. Shropshire, &c. 553

699. East Derbyshire, &c. 553

700. Norfolk and Suffolk 554

701. Leicestershire, &c. 555

702. Origin of the present written language 555

703. Dialects of the Lower Thames 556

704. Kent—Frisian theory 557

705. Sussex, &c. 559

706. Supposed East Anglian and Saxon frontier 560

707. Dialects of remaining counties 560

708. Objections 561

709. Dialect of Gower 561

710. —— the Barony of Forth 563

711. Americanisms 565

712. Extract from a paper of Mr. Watts 566

713. Gypsy language, &c. 572

714. Talkee-talkee 573

715, 716. Varieties of the Anglo-Norman 574

717-719. Extracts from Mr. Kemble 575-580

Praxis 581