AS*fJ * A STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS By JESSIE MACMILLAN ANDERSON NEW YORK:. CINCINNATI: CHICAGO AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY Copyright, 1897, by AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. STUDY OF BNQ. WORDS w. P. 17 TO Cfte Ee&erenti Sameg iWiarsfjall antiergon WHO, A STUDENT OF ANCIENT AND MODERN LANGUAGES, HAS TAUGHT ME FROM MY EARLY CHILDHOOD TO LOOK FOE THE HIDDEN BEAUTIES OF OUR ENGLISH SPEECH THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY INSCRIBED 266949 PREFACE The study of English as language is beginning to find its rightful place, parallel with the study of Eng- lish as literature. Archbishop Trench and Richard Grant White, in their works on words, were pioneers in this direction. From our very position as followers, we cannot claim the origi- nality of these leaders, but we have the advantage of the records of late scholarship, far deeper and broader and more trustworthy than the accepted traditions on which they based their statements. . This little book is believed to be the first effort to bring within schoolroom scope and schoolbook form the latest discoveries of language students about Eng- lish. After Trench and White and Skeat, the author is indebted to Whitney and Emerson ; and Professor Jackson of Columbia University has most kindly allowed the use of his table for distinguishing word-origins at sight (page 46). Although the book is meant as a stepping-stone from Grammar to Rhetoric and the History of English Litera- 6 PREFACE ture, by means of an elastic set of Topics at the close of each chapter, original and varied work may be done by more advanced classes, if desired. It is the author's hope that this elementary work may help toward the time when our boys and girls shall know more of their English tongue, and shall feel increasingly the charm and worth of their language inheritance. J. M. A. April, 1897. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I PAOK General Principles of Language Growth 9 Difference between Organism and Mechanism ; Language is Organic ; Dead Languages ; Ancestry and Descendants ; The • Indo-European Family ; Alphabets : Consonants and Vowels, Classification of Consonants; Grimm's Law, Change in Words upon being used by Different Nations ; Growth of Compound Words ; Danger of Mistaken Etymologies. CHAPTER II Origin and Growth of English 23 How a Language changes as it travels ; Influences of Geo- graphical Position ; Traces in- English of the Roman Invasion, Celtic Element, Arrival of the German Tribes, — Angles, Saxons, Jutes ; Ecclesiastical Latin ; Scandinavian or Norse, Norman French ; Early English ; Wyclif and Chaucer, Differences be- tween Early and Modern English, Spelling ; Other Elements in English, Greek Words in English ; Technical Terms ; a Simpler Classification. CHAPTER III Greek, Latin, and French Elements in English specially Considered 34 Greek, Latin, and French Derivatives, — General Description, with Lists of Stems under Each ; Distinguishing Traits of the Saxon Element ; Hints for approximately testing Origin by Spell- ing ; Diagram showing Proportion of Elements in English. CHAPTER IV Growth and Change in Form of English Words 50 Roots ; Stems ; Inflectional Change ; Compounds, Prefixes, — Greek, Latin, French, English; Suffixes, — Greek, Latin, Eng- lish ; Weakening of Endings. 7 8 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER V rAOE The Spelling of Latin-English 66 Derivatives from Verb Stems ; Exceptions ; Exercise in forming Words from Latin Verb Stems ; Adjectives in -ble ; Derivatives from Noun Stems; Weakened Forms. CHAPTER VI Growth and Change in the Meaning of Words 70 Development of Meanings ; Principles of Change ; Change from Physical Meaning to Mental ; Transfer of Meaning, in Latin and Saxon Words ; History traced in the Growth of Words ; Narrowing of Meaning. CHAPTER VII Latin and Saxon English 82 Effect of the Latin and Saxon Elements ; Character of the Saxon Element ; Choice between Latin and Saxon Words ; Latin the Language of Exact Science ; Proper Use of Saxon Words ; Proportion of Latin and Saxon Vocabulary at Different Periods, with Quotations from Representative Writers. CHAPTER VIII The Artist's and the Scientist's Use of Words 93 Association of Words ; Value of the Associative Element in Meanings; Illustrations. CHAPTER IX '^ Synonyms 98 Meanings, by Derivation, Development, and Association ; Ex- amination of Several Groups of Synonyms, with Regard to Dis- tinctions ; No Absolute Synonyms ; Value of Distinguishing Synonyms, with Illustrations from Shakespeare and Matthew Arnold ; Choice of Words in Argument ; in Persuasion and Diplomacy. CHAPTER X Rhythm Ill Prose Accent ; Recurrence of Unaccented Syllables ; Value of Prose Rhythms illustrated from Stevenson and Dr. R. S. Storrs. A STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS CHAPTER I GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH Difference between Organism and Mechanism. — One of the differences between a house and a tree is that the tree was once a child tree, while the house was never a child house. The tree began with a little set of roots, a weak little trunk, and small and few branches ; the house did not begin with a little kitchen, a tiny front door, and a roof three inches from the ground. We say of the tree that it grew^ and of the house that it was built. There was within the tree a some- thing which made the parts swell out and shoot up ; the house was enlarged by adding on, first one story, then another. The difference may be seen in this : while the house is building, we can point out just what has been done each day, — '' They have laid ten more rows of bricks," or ''They have put in the staircases"; of the tree we can only say, " It is bigger, stronger than it was. It is developing." For these two classes of things, — those which ^r^ow and those which are made^ — we have two important names : Organism and Mechanism. The first question 9 10 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS of our present study is, To which class does Language belong ? Language is Organic. — In examining the history of primitive language, we find that its parts are not brought together all ready-made, like bricks for a house, but begin as baby words and grow to maturity, changing as a boy's features change ; yet the same, and recognizable in their developed forms, as the boy's nose and hands are recog- nizable in the grown man's. Like a tree, again, the growth of the whole is irregular ; language sends out an unexpected shoot here, and there it loses a branch through scanty supply of sap at that point. The many ways in which language life is like tree life may be guessed from the student's use of the words root^ stem^ branch, to express the facts of language growth. The deeper we go, the clearer it becomes that a lan- guage is Organic ; that like a tree, like a human being, it has life and the stages of life, — childhood, maturity, old age, death. Dead Languages. — We call a language dead when its life as a language is finished, though as a literature it may still live and convey thought. Such a literature is not unlike a mummy ; and as of a man's living appear- ance his mummy brings down to us very slight and vague notion, so of the beauty and richness of an ancient tongue we miss much when we study it as a dead language. ■ Ancestry and Descendants. — Another sign of organic life, long lines of ancestors and descendants, may be traced in languages as in men. Take, for example, Latin. It is a dead language, but it has left many living children. When the Romans fought and con- quered the savage tribes in the countries around them, these tribes learned to use the Latin tongue. So the GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 11 Latin took root and sent out shoots in the places which we now call France and Spain and Portugal. Like a tree, when it died, it left offshoots in these lands as well as in Italy ; or like a human mother, Latin left her children, one at home, the others scattered. And like transplanted trees, or like children of the same stock educated apart, these all grew up, alike and yet unlike, with family features, and individual variations on these. Thus we have the Romance (' from the Roman') languages of Modern Europe. And their family tide is like this : — LATIN , I I I I Italian French Spanish Portuguese The Indo-European Family. — For the ancestors of Latin we must go back to a vaguer record. Scholars tell us that there was an original family — which they call the Indo-European — and that it gradually spread and covered large parts of Asia and nearly all of Europe. Of the common grandmother tongue we have nothing left, not even a mummy. But there seem to have been eight branches in this family tree. We will look at these, leaving out some of the unfamiliar names in order to give all our attention to the more impor- tant ones. These eight branches did not, however, all sprout directly from the original trunk, and at even distances from one another. From the fact that some of them are very much alike (especially the Hellenic and Italic), it is clear that these, for example, have not been separated so long from each other as from the others. 12 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Vedic I , Sanskrit pi Aryan- 1 j old Persian f Avestan II Armenian — Ill Hellenic — Attic Greek rV Albanian (the language of ancient lllyria) L Indian Iranian ] PUmbrian Oscan I— 1 ( Italian, French ' i Spanish, Portuguese E Gallic Britannic — Welsh, Cornish Gaelic — Irish, Scotch-Gaelic, Manx EOld Prussian, Lithuanian Russian, Bulgarian Bohemian, Polish L-VIII Teutonic - - Scandinavian - Low German As has been said, we have no remnant of the original Indo-European tongue, therefore none of these lan- guages can be traced back to their source ; but Sanskrit, with the kindred Avestan, is undoubtedly nearest to the original form of the parent speech. The farther back we go in the history of the Indo- European languages, the more alike do the words of the various branches become, — especially the simple, familiar, necessary words, — pointing to the same roots in an original childlike speech, variations of which formed the lan- guage of our dis- tant ancestors while they were still living near one another in some common home. But wjiere this original home was, whether in Europe or in Asia, can prob- ably never be determined. I — Gothic Norwegian Icelandic Danish Swedish — High German — German Frisian Dutch Flemish [ English GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 13 From the chart, Latin and English are seen to belong to the same Family, but not to the same Branch. The English language is Teutonic, though she has inherited much from her aunts, Greek and Latin, and has borrowed largely from her cousins, especially French, and from her sisters, especially Modern (High) German (called High because spoken on the high lands, while the twin Low German languages, Dutch and English, or Anglo-Saxon, were the lowland tongues). This is but a hint of the vast study of the Genealogy of Languages. Let us now look at one great trait of every developed language, the mode of writing it, and trace therein the laws of heredity and growth. Development of Written Characters. — The earliest writ- ten language of which we know anything is the picture writing of the Egyptians, called the Hieroglyphic, from the Greek words meaning 'sacred carvings,' because it was used to carve in stone the priestly records. From these hieroglyphics we can trace the stages in the devel- opment of alphabets. The hieroglyphics were actually rude pictures of things. If one wished to write sun or moon^ he made a picture, somewhat like our modern almanac's O, ^. The second stage was the drawing of one thing, to rep- resent several words sounding alike ; as if, for instance, we should make the picture of a pear, to mean either pear or pair or pare^ with some little sign to show which was intended. This soon led to the third stage of writing, the Syllabic. In this, each figure, instead of representing a whole word, represented a syllable. The fourth step was to have each figure represent only a letter, and this is the real beginning of an alphabet. 14 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS The pictures began to have fewer and fewer strokes ; till we have, for example, the Phoenician sign <, which the Greeks changed to A and the later Romans to A. So Egypt was probably the birthplace of the alphabet now used over nearly all Europe. In some of the Roman numerals, we find traces of the old picture writing. I, II, III, IIII may have arisen from the holding up of the fingers in counting. Our Saxon ancestors had another kind of writing, called Runic. The Runic alphabet consisted of sixteen Runes, or letters, written almost wholly in straight lines, partly because they were carved in stone and hard woods. We can see a trace of these old Runes in an Anglo-Saxon letter called thorn^ ]> — our th. This letter looked some- what like y, and that is the reason that the old English the is so often written ye or y^. It was really '})e,' and was always pronounced 'the.' In the latter part of the sixth century, the English nation began to use the Roman alphabet, and in the eleventh century they had the Black-letter method of writing it (the origin of the present German type). The two present forms came from Italy, and accord- ingly are named — The Roman . . • « A, a. The Italic . . . . A, a. We have now shown that languages inherit, and hand down with slight changes, such special features as alpha- bets, just as a particular nose may be found in a tribe or family, distinguishable for generation after generation. We shall now see how such special features help us greatly in tracing the origin of modern languages and dialects. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 15 Resemblances and Changes in Words. — Of course the most distinct signs of family relationships among lan- guages are the Words that they may have in common. Such words often appear so changed as to be hardly recognizable by one who looks at them carelessly, while a student will see in them a deep likeness that could not have come by chance. As in all growth, there is no absolute regularity in these changes ; but again, as in all growth, there are underlying and general laws. The law of the Variation of Consonants in the Indo-European family of languages was discovered by Jacob Grimm and his brother, and is called Grimm's Law. (These are the famous Fairy Tale Grimms, and the law is as interesting as the fairy tales, when one takes the time to understand it fully.) Consonant and Vowel. — What is a consonant ? The name comes from the Latin consonans^ which means 'sounding with '; and was given to one class of sounds, because they were thought not to be "vocal" except when sounded with a vowel ; while those letter sounds wliich were of themselves vocal were called Vowels (a word from the Latin vocalis, modified by the French form, voyelle). This distinction is not the most accurate. The two sounds of the consonant 5, for instance, can be sounded as clearly, alone, as with a vowel. The distinction is rather of degree of openness or closeness. The vowel sounds are the freest, because the breath is allowed to pass through the throat and mouth with the least obstruction ; while the true consonant sounds are shaped by the palate or tongue or lips or teeth, considerably obstructing the passage of the breath. All vocal sounds, whether vowel or conso- nant, are varied by the variation of the shape of the 16 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS throat and mouth, while the breath is passing through ; just as the shape of the cavity in a wind instrument determines the quality of its tone. In the vowel sounds, the breath is, simply, shaped. In the semivowels the breath is slightly obstructed in its passage. In the true consonant sounds, the breath is actually blocked in its exit. For instance, the vowel sound a (as in father^ is shaped by freely opening throat, mouth, and lips, — giving the least possible obstruction to the passage of the breath. The sound of the semivowel w (as in water) is somewhat closer, the breath slightly obstructed before passing into the a-sound. The true consonant sounds are closed^ in less or greater degree. Classification of Consonants. — If closed by the lips, they are called Labial (j9, S, /). If by the teeth. Dental (t^ d^ tJi). If by the throat. Guttural (^, g^ K). If by the palate, Palatal (/, ch). Breathed and Voiced Q'Hard'' and '-^ Soft'') Consonants. — There is another classification of these true consonants, equally clear, and equally recognized by authorities, al- though, unfortunately, variously named. By comparing the sounds of p and J, t and c?, c (k) and ^, it will be found thatp, f, c can be pronounced simply by expelling the breathy while 5, d, g require the use of the vocal chords as well. The two classes have been, therefore, called Breathed and Voiced. Including with these consonants the Aspi- rates / ( = jt?^), th^ A, we may now build up a little table with which to illustrate the principles of Grimm's Law : — Labial Dental Guttural Breathed . . • P t C(=k) Voiced . . . . h d 9 Aspirate . . . /(=ph) th k GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 17 Grimm's Law. — The principle of Grimm's Law is that words in coming down from the Indo-European, or in passing from one branch of this family to another, have changed their consonants according to these columns. That is to say, the change is not by chance. For exam- ple, the Latin and Greek p is in English an /; while the Latin and Greek / is in English changed to I. (All these are in the same column, and differ in force of check given to the breath, being closed at the same place.) For instance, we have : — Latin English pater pater father phrater (=frater) frater brother We find another illustration of the law in the clas- sical soft changed to an English hard, a Greek or Latin d into an English t\ — Greek Latin English duo duo two The regular rotation of consonants is thus summed up by Grimm : If A is written for Aspirate, V for Voiced, B for Breathed, the following table will show the differences : — Greek, Latin Low German, English High German A V B V B A B A V This can be readily memorized by noticing that, whether read vertically or horizontally, we have AVB, VBA, BAV. There is, then, a regular change of consonants, in words appearing in different branches of the same family. Let us notice another regular set of changes. STIT. ENG. WOBDS 2 18 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Changes in Consonant Groups. — Many combinations of consonants found easy to the tongues of one nation, seem harsh and difficult to another nation and are avoided by them. For example, the French do not like s before (?( = k), ^, or p. Hence in taking from the Latin such words as scapus^ spiritus^ stomachus^ they put an e in front, to break the combination, throwing the s back with the e. We have thus the French escape, esprit, estomac. In many like words, they afterwards dropped the s ; and we find — Latin French schola ecole siudium etude Syllables Shortened and Dropped. — Another frequent change in words passing from Latin to French is found in the shortening process. Those syllables that follow the accented syllable of the Latin word are either cut down or dropped altogether. For instance : — Latin French pdpulus peuple dngelus ange Growth of Compound Words. — A most interesting ele- ment in the growth of words, whether within their original language or in process of transfer to another, is the form- ing of compounds. For example, from such a combination as the Latin vera mente, ' with true mind,' we come to such a compound as the French vraiment, 'truly.' And this ending, -ment, becomes the usual French suffix for forming adverbs from adjectives ; as our ending -ly, was once a separate word, like ; true-like (German treulicK) = truly. GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 19 Danger of Mistaken Etymologies. — One more point needs taking up, before we go on to our special study of the English tongue in its growth and changes ; and that is an earnest warning to young students. These changes that come about, in the life and growth of any language, often disguise the word altogether, and it is only by the closest and most cautious historical study that the origin of a word is with any certainty traced. Very often there are several laws acting together, each of which would be simple enough if acting alone, while the complex result of the interaction of all is very puzzling. There are also mere coincidences that look like laws ; for, as in every branch of science, many instances must agree before we can be sure of an underlying prin- ciple. Many mistakes about words have already been made, and corrected by later investigations ; and it is only in the latest dictionaries that one is told whether the offered derivations are certain or only accepted for lack of better knowledge. There are words that do not look alike, that can be proved to be historically related, perhaps in direct genea- logical line ; as is the case w4th the words jT, je, ik, ich^ ego. And there are words that look alike and have the same meaning, which have been proved, nevertheless, to have no historical connection ; as the Greek holos and the English whole, the Latin compono and the English compose. All language changes are especially active in the forma- tive period, the childhood of the language. We shall begin our study of English, then, with an examination of these early years and conditions of what we call Angk)-Saxon. 20 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER I 1. What is the difference between growing and being made? 2. Give five examples of each process, besides the house and tree. 3. How are the two classes of things named ? 4. To which class does language belong? Explain. In what respects is language growth like the growth of a man or of a tree ? 5. What is meant by a " dead language " ? 6. What is meant by " families " of languages ? 7. What children has Latin left us ? 8. From what tongue has Latin herself descended ? 9. Write out the Indo-European family tree, as given. Which two branches belong to Asia ? How many to Europe ? 10. To what branch of this family does English belong ? and to which is she most nearly related ? 11. What do we mean by " High '' and " Low " German ? 12. What was the earliest method of writing ? 13. Through what four stages did this pass, to reach an alphabet ? 14. Give the earlier forms of our A. 15. What trace of pictorial writing have we in the Eoman numerals ? 16. What were the Eunes ? 17. Explain how the came to be written y*. 18. In what century did our nation use the Eoman alpha- bet ? When did we write it in Black Letter ? From what country came the present mode of writing ? 19. How are family relationships traced among languages ? 20. What is the law of consonant change among the lan- guages of the Indo-European Family called ? 21. What is the derivation of the word consonant 9 What distinction did this imply ? 22. What is the truer distinction between vowels and con- sonants ? GENERAL PRINCIPLES OF LANGUAGE GROWTH 21 23. How is all variation of vocal sound produced ? 24. In this sense, what are the exact distinctions of " vowel," " semivowel,^' and " consonant '' sounds ? Give examples. 25. Give the classification of consonants according to the point at which they are partially closed. 26. Give the classification according to the force of the check. 27. Write the table, combining these classifications. 28. Give words illustrating the change of consonants by Grimm's Law. Also the mnemonic table (mnemonic from a Greek word for ^memory'). 29. What two general changes in spelling are found in many words passing from Latin into modern French ? 30. Illustrate the formation of compound words. 31. Explain the necessity for caution in word study. TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER I [For Review or Advanced Work] I. Organisms and Mechanisms. In the following list distinguish the two classes : — steam-engine family mine seal butterfly nation umbrella seal-muff Prepare an original list under each class. II. The principal words of Chapter I. Look up in Webster the derivation of the words — alphabet family history characteristic genealogy language development literature III. Some Facts about Latin. When was its classical period ? How long is it since it ceased to be a spoken language ? What took the Romans into the countries now called France, Spain, Portugal ? What sign of Eoman conquest was left in the languages of these countries ? 22 STUDY OF ENGLISH WOkDS IV. Illustrations of the fact that words may look alike and yet be derived from different roots, or at least from different branches of one original root. (The words of this list are to be studied from Webster's Interna- tional Dictionary; distinguish those which, though referred to separate derivations, have a common origin easily traced.) admiral, admirable. alder, elder, alderman. annual, annular. apparel, apparent. arsenal, arsenic. ash, the tree; ashes. ball, social dance ; ball, a round object. bank, as noun and verb, with all its meanings. bill, of a bird; bill, a declara- tion in writing. close, as noun, adjective, verb. date, fruit; date, time. dock, three uses, as noun. ear, two distinct derivations. fret, to tease ; fret, to ornament, gloss, polish; gloss, comment tary. grate, parallel bars; grate, to sound harshly. idea, idiot. jet, of water; jet, ornament. pile, a stake; pile, a heap. ring, a sound; ring, a circle. scale, in all meanings. V. Illustrations of the fact that words may look unlike but have a common root. (Study each word from Webster.) amateur, amiable, capable, deceive, cemetery, comedy, quiet, discern, decree, critic. ignore, agnostic, fact, deficient, fashion, double, ply. money, mint, rival, river, pathos, passion, preach, predicate, star, street, vision, envy, ticket, etiquette. Future chapters will discuss how words from the same root come to vary either in spelling or in meaning. CHAPTER II ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH How Language changes. — Language, as we have seen, is a living thing. Its growth and change come about through daily use by living people as they grow and change. So we must study the origin and growth of the people that use a language, in order to get at the facts of the life of that language. Period of Greatest Change. — This is especially true, as was seen in the last chapter, of the earlier periods of a language, before its words become fixed in a book litera- ture, — while they are simply passing from mouth to mouth, and, if written at all, are of very rude and uncer- tain spelling. Like a man, a language changes more in its youth. You hardly recognize the boy of six in the youth of sixteen, but the man of thirty-six will not be very different at forty-six. How a Language travels. — We have seen that our Eng- lish tongue comes of the Teutonic or Germanic branch of the Indo-European family. But a language does not travel in books, to be adopted by a foreign nation ; the people speaking it must first carry it over. How did a Germanic language reach England, and become England's language ? Caesar had gone to Britain as well as to Gaul. The language of France (ancient Gaul) is a Romance lan- 23 24 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS guage: why did not England receive a form of the old Roman language from the Roman soldiers, as did France and Spain and Portugal ? Or if the island rejected the Latin, why did she not preserve her native Celtic ? Who were the conquering Anglo-Saxons that brought in and established their Ger- manic speech? Influence of Geographical Position. — One reason why the Romans never established their rule so fully in Britain as in Gaul is that Britain was an island, which they could reach only by crossing a rough channel in their small boats. From this difficulty of transporting soldiers, and of getting prompt reports of native uprisings, as well as from a variety of causes lying in the nature and habits of the barbarians themselves, the Romans always had great trouble in keeping track of the constant rebellions among these Britons and quelling them. And, though Caesar had crossed as early as 65 B.C., we find the Romans of the fifth century a.d. abandoning the island and withdrawing their legions. Traces in English of the Roman Invasion. — Of course the Romans had left some trace of their language, but most of such words as had really become part of the island speech were names of new things introduced by the Romans, for which, of course, there was no native word. These were not many, but we still have some of them in slightly changed form. Thus we say street^ as they said street^ — from the Roman's strata via^ 'paved way.' Mil they took from the Latin measure, milia passuum^ ' thousand paces,' and we write mile. To this period belong also the endings, -caster^ -cester^ or -chester (Latin castra, 'camp'), and perhaps -coin (Latin colonia, 'colony'). So we still have Lancaster, Worcester, Winchester, Lincoln, ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH 25 The Celtic Element. — The examination of this element of our language is still so far from complete that few statements about it can be made with certainty. The most important Celtic words are place-names, especially those of Scotland and Ireland : Aberdeen^ Aberfeldie (aher, ' mouth ') ; Dunhar^ Dundee (dun^ a ' protected place ') ; Kilkermy (kilU ' church ') ; and a few common words bor- rowed from Irish and Scotch : bog^ erag^ whiskey. Arrival of the German Tribes. — As soon as the Romans left Britain, some Teutonic tribes from the lowlands lying between the Baltic Sea and the lower part of the Elbe pushed in, bringing with them their own vocabulary of about two thousand words, including a few words of Latin origin {chalky Saturday^ derived through the contact of their ancestors with the Romans. With the exception of the few Latin and Celtic words referred to above, the native speech was displaced by the languages of these conquering Teutons, and these soon began to be fused and to become the language of the island. The Romans, it will be remembered, went away in the fifth century, and by 600 a.d. the three tribes — Angles, Saxons, Jutes — had taken by force a large part of the island, begin- ning, of course, with the edge nearest the continent. We have now shown that there were three languages possible for Britain, — a native Celtic, a for;n of the finished and alegant Latin language, some combination of the rough dialects of the Germanic conquerors, and that the tongue actually adopted was Germanic. We may now look at the formation of this Anglo-Saxon parent of our English. Angles, Saxons, Jutes. — The probable date of the Sax- ons' first entrance into Britain is the year 449. In the sixth century, there were seven (some say, eight) distinct kingdoms, called the Heptarchy, from the Greek words 26 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS for 'seven kingdoms.' Of these, the Jutes had Kent; the Saxons had Sussex (South-Saxons), Wessex (West-Sax- ons), and Essex (East-Saxons); the Angles had the rest. Of these three tribes, the Jutes were fewest and weak- est. In the tenth century, when all the tribes were united enough to give a common name to the island, the Angles, having the most land, named it England (Angle-land), and the tongue English. Up to 1100, however, the language is now generally termed Old English or Anglo-Saxon. Ecclesiastical Latin. — We have already spoken of two sets of words foreign to the German tribes, but after- wards incorporated into Anglo-Saxon, the one taken from the Romans who went away in the fifth century, the other from the native Celtic tongue. A second set of Latin words was introduced when, in 597, a band of Christian missionaries came over from Rome to convert to Chris- tianity the heathen Anglo-Saxon tribes. These mission- aries brought with them many customs and conceptions belonging especially to the Church, and the Anglo-Saxon received what is known as Ecclesiastical Latin. The Church service itself was conducted in Latin ; the Latin element of this period includes,- however, not only many ecclesiastical terms (altar ^ bishop^ churchy priest^ psalm) ^ but also a number of common words, particularly names of plants, animals and foods (lily^ pea^ plants lobster^ trout^ butter^ cheese and others). Scandinavian or Norse. — In 870 the Danes began to invade Britain, and left a number of their words. It is often difficult to distinguish the Norse contributions from the Saxon, but their number is estimated at about five hundred. Among them may be mentioned the place- suffixes -Jy, and 'thorp^ ' village,' as in by-laws^ Whitby^ Oglethorp, ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH 27 Norman-French. — In 1066, the year of the Norman Con- quest, William the Conqueror brought in a court using Norman-French ; in fact, this use had already become the fashion in the court of Edward, who was educated in Normandy. As a consequence of the Norman-French supremacy, a vast number of French words thus gradu- ally crept into the common speech of the people, espe- cially words for fashionable uses and manners. Early English. — In 1100, then, the year from which we date early English, what was this Anglo-Saxon which has grown into English as we know it? It was, mainly, a Teutonic or Germanic tongue., made up from a fusion of the dialects of Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. It had grafted on it about six hundred Latin words, received at two dif- ferent times : the first from the early Roman conquerors who left Britain in the fifth century ; the second. Church Latin, brought in by Christian missionaries after 697. Again, it had taken a few Danish words from the invasion of the ninth century; and it had begun to feel the influ- ence of the use of Norman-French by the courts of Edward the Confessor and William the Conqueror. A table of these grafts upon a Teutonic stem may sum up the matter more clearly: — English in 1100 was the Anglo-Saxon tongue, modi- fied by — 1. A few native Celtic proper names. 2. Latin words for streets, etc., before the fifth century. 3. Latin words of Church and scholar, after 597. 4. A few Danish words, ninth century. 6. Norman-French of court and high life, after 1042. By 1200 every educated man Avas expected to know three languages, — English, French, and Latin. English 28 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS was the common speech, French the language of polite life and literature, Latin the scholar's tongue. In the thirteenth century, Robert of Gloucester wrote in English a Rhymed Chronicle of Britain. Professor Louns- bury gives us some lines of it, put into modern English : — " For unless a man knows French, he is little thought of, But low men keep to English and to their own speech." From 1272, when Edward I. came to the throne, on to the close of the fifteenth century, French was used in public acts. Influence of Wyclif and Chaucer. — In the fourteenth cen- tury, then, for a scholar to write in English took a degree of courage which may easily be underrated now. But this courage on the part of two great writers did much to shape the first literary English. In spite of the scorn of scholars who lacked insight into the vast possibilities of English, and still used French and Latin, Wyclif and Chaucer came forward as the fathers of English literature. Wyclif finished his English trans- lation of the Scriptures in 1380, and it is to him that we owe much of the simplicity and force and peculiar beauty of later translations of the Bible. What Wyclif did for the language and literature of re- ligion, Chaucer did for poetry and letters. Before this, no one had dreamed of the power and beauty latent in the Eng- lish language, and for one hundred years after their death their work went unappreciated. Even in 1623, two centu- ries and a quarter after Chaucer's death, Lord Bacon turned his English works into Latin, that they might be "pre- served " ! For he thought of Latin as the universal and per- manent language of learning, while English was a humble speech for the less learned, and might die cut altogether. ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH 29 Differences between Early and Modern English. — The English of Bacon and Shakespeare, though more modern than that of Wyclif and Chaucer, is still not our English. Professor Whitney says: "If we were to hear Shakespeare read aloud a scene from one of his works, it would be in no small part unintelligible, by reason especially of the great difference between his pronunciation and ours." To sum up : the English of the Anglo-Saxon period, although our own English is descended from it, differs in certain respects from our modern speech as much as Latin, for instance, from Spanish. The written English of the sixteenth century, except for the chaotic spelling, is for the most part intelligible to us, though we might not be able to understand it as then spoken. Spelling. — Johnson's Dictionary, published in 1765, did much to fix the spelling of English, and is by many held responsible for some of the lack of law or reason therein discoverable. Spelling ought to show the pronunciation of words, and if possible, at the same time, the derivation, while much of our spelling shows neither. Other Elements in English. — We have now shown, in a general way, the growth of English from Anglo-Saxon, influenced at various stages by Celtic and Danish, but far more seriously by Latin and French. There are many other languages to which we owe much : Spanish and Italian ; Modern German ; Hebrew, Persian, Arabic, Turkish ; and even the American Indian. For instance, English scholars went to Italy, especially in the period of the Renaissance, and their writings show strong traces of Italian influence ; words were borrowed especially for the fine arts; e.g., canto^ studio^ concert. Political dealings with Spain, especially during the reigns of Mary and Elizabeth, introduced Spanish words; 30 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS e.g., don^ cigar. The suffix -ese (as in Chinese^ Maltese) was taken from the Spaniards, though modified by the Italian spelling. The Reformation brought England and the Netherlands into contact, and many Dutch words, especially for sea- faring use, were anglicized; e.g., schooner^ sloop. Biblical literature uses a few English words direct from the Hebrew, as amen. Scholars use German derivatives for the sciences, etc. Travelers have brought into Eng- lish the names of Oriental importations ; e.g., skawl^ chintz^ indigo; and Americans have borrowed such native Indian words as canoe., tobacco. The words in the following list may be looked up by the student, and grouped under the divisions just sug- gested : — cherub maize quartz boor sloop alligator yacht piano-forte bazaar rum zinc nabob calico atlas arsenal admiral palaver emerald jubilee chemistry alchemy rice waltz alcove sugar seraph rupee jungle almanac sofa schooner alcohol potato skipper sherbet volcano cargo cheese syrup zero turban mosquito dimity muslin zenith cartoon nickel folio studio assassin caravan orange caste Sabbath talisman Greek and Latin Words in English. — Scholars trained specially in the classics are responsible for a special group of words. A large element of Greek and Latin words has come, not by slow process of change and adoption, but by a recent direct borrowing; e.g., the following words in common use are unchanged even in form : deficit^ maxi- ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH 31^ mum^ pathos^ stimulus^ apex^ alumnus^ animus^ syllabus^ cli- max^ delta. Scholars, and especially scientists, have also used Greek and Latin terms for their classifications and in- ventions, until it is almost impossible to study the natural sciences intelligently without a knowledge of Greek and Latin roots and endings. Technical Terms. — Some of these terms are still strictly technical, such as the nanies of botanical families. But many words from the Greek have been brought into our everyday usage, as the practical discoveries, for instance of electricity, have needed common names. Of two classes of Greek words, then, — names of sciences and names of new inventions, — we can find plenty of examples. Sciences Geo-graphy, earth-writhig, hence earth description, Geo-logy, earth-word, hence earth-study. Theo-logy, God-wordy hence study of God. Inventions Tele-scope, at-a-distance sight. Phono-graph, sound-writing. Tele-phone, at-a-distance sound. Auto-graph, self-writing. Tele-graph, at-a-distance writing. Photo-graph, light-writing. A Simpler Classification, — It is confusing to think of our language as enfolding so many alien elements. For general purposes, a simple twofold classification is used : — Elements of the f 1. Latin : words of classical origin. English Language. [ 2. Saxon ; native Teutonic words. A style is often described as containing a large propor- tion of Latin words, or as being ^'almost pure Saxon." 32 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS The characteristic marks of these two classes with regard to their effect upon style, we shall study in a future chapter. But first let us examine more exactly the stems, suffixes, and prefixes used in Greek, Latin, French, and Saxon derivatives. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER II 1. What is the connection between the study of a people and the study of a language ? 2. At what period does a language change most rapidly? 3. To what branch of the Indo-European family does the English language belong? 4. How did it happen not to be of the Latin branch ? 5. Why did the K/Omans never gain foothold in Britain as in Gaul? 6. In what century did the Eomans leave Britain ? 7. What class of Latin words belongs to this period ? 8. Have we kept any native Celtic words ? 9. Who conquered Britain in the sixth century ? 10. What is the relative position of the three settlements ? Draw the outline map. 11. What is the date of the Saxons' coming? 12. What was the Heptarchy? 13. When and how was England so named ? 14. What was the language called, up to 1100 ? 15. What class of words was brought in by the Eoman mis- sionaries ? When ? 16. In what century did the Danes leave a trace of their language ? 17. When and how was Norman-French introduced ? 18. Give a short review of the elements of the English of 1100. 19. Put this in tabular form. 20. In 1200 what three languages were in use in England ? ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF ENGLISH 33 21. What position did French hold in the thirteenth century? 22. What two great writers of English lived in the four- teenth century ? 23. What was the special value of the work of each ? 24. How did Lord Bacon regard English ? 25. Was Shakespeare^s English modern ? 26. Did it differ from ours more as spoken or as written ? 27. When did the present spelling of English become established ? 28. In what ways is English spelling bad ? 29. What are some of the sources, not before mentioned, of English words ? Illustrate. 30. How have English scholars and scientists used Greek and Latin in their treatises ? 31. What special classes of words are borrowed directly from Greek? 32. Give illustrations. 33. What twofold classification of English words (with regard to derivation) is commonly used? TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER H [For Review or Advanced Work] I. The Romans in Britain. Write a short essay ; getting facts from Caesar, from Histories of England or Rome, and from any ency- clopedia. II. Names of English towns in -caster, -cester, -Chester. Look these up on a large map, or in a list of geographical names. III. Short accounts of the writings of Wyclif and Chaucer, as given in any standard English Literature or ency- clopedia. IV. Johnson's Dictionary ; consult the encyclopedia. V. Additional Greek names for sciences or inventions. STU. ENG. words 3 CHAPTER III GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS IN ENGLISH SPECIALLY CONSIDERED Greek, Latin, and French Derivatives. — We may now study somewhat more in detail the .three most important classes of foreign elements in our English, with a view to learning how to distinguish Greek, Latin, and French derivatives, as contrasted with one another and with Saxon words. Historically, as we have seen in Chapter II, most of our French w^ords were descended from the Latin, and many of our Latin words were borrowed from the Greek; but in each case the forms have been so plainly modified by the tongues that have adopted them, that they have to be classed with the last language which they had reached when we took them. Accordingly, in this chapter we shall class — 1. As Greek Derivatives, those words which have been taken directly from the Greek into our English (for the most part this direct borrowing has been recent). 2. As Latin Derivatives (see Chapter II), those words that came — From the Roman occupation of Britain; mainly military words. From Augustine and his successors; mainly church words. 34 GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 35 From the monks and scholars of the Middle Ages; mainly scholastic words. From modern scholars; words for the most various purposes. 3. As French Derivatives, — Norman-French words, brought in from the beginning of the reign of Edward the Confessor (who was educated at the Norman court) to the loss of Nor- mandy by King John (1042-1204). Parisian French; both the words introduced by the French scholars of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and those of modern adoption. Greek Derivatives. — The Greek words are compara- tively easy to distinguish, and the stems in common use are so few as to be easily learned : — 1. The five familiar endings used in naming Sciences (compare end of Chapter II). •(o)logy, knowledge {log-, ^word/ ^speech'). •{p)nomy, science (nom-, * law '). '{p)graphy, description {graph-, ^ write'). '{o)metry, measurement {metr-, ^measure'). -ic, -ics (suffix, from the feminine adjective ending -iMy used by the Greeks with the noun, techn^, *art' : e.g., rhetor ike techne, * rhetorical art,^ shortened into our rhetoric; or with episteme, ^ science ' : e.g., mathematiM episteme, ' mathematical science ' ; in this case we have added s to the shortened form, making mathematics). The endings -sophy and -logy^ when combined with the stem pMU are really not, as in this list of ejidings, the less important, but the chief part of the compound : philosophy means ' love of wisdom ' ; philo-logy^ ' love of words.' 36 .. STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS 2. The more common forms of stems to which one or more of these endings have been added : — archae, arcliai, ancient. chron, time. aster, astr, star. entom, insect. bij life. ge, earth. oiko, house; cf. economy, once oeconomy, opt, sight. techn, art. phon, sound. the, God. physi, nature. zo, animal. With the knowledge of a few more stems, we shall be able to form the commoner Greek derivatives, and to recognize such derivatives as Greek whenever we meet them : — 1. arch, archy, first (in the sense of rule). In archaic, archaeology, this stem means first in the sense of ancient. 2. crat, cracy, power. Combine one, or one pair, of these endings with ej**ch of the following : — mon, alone. hier, priestly. pluto, rich. auto, self. hept, seven. aristo, best. olig, few. demo, people. patri, father. an, without ; discussed under Prefixes, Chapter IV. One more short, miscellaneous list: — micro, little. cycl, circle. Compare en-cyclo- pedia, ^in-a-circle (all-around) instruction.' pan, all. Compare pan-orama, ^ a view in every direction.' mim, mimic. petr, stone. Compare petrify. din, lean. meter, same as -metry above. seep (skep), scop, sight. tele, at a distance. electr, amber, the substance in which electricity was first observed. baro, weight. A barometer measures the weight or pressure of the atmosphere. crit, distinguish. Compare critic, criterion, dynam, force. polit, city. GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 37 The learning of these stems by much and varied prac- tice in forming and recognizing words, rather than by memorizing stems, is earnestly recommended. Latin Derivatives. — The Latin derivatives are far more numerous than the Greek. Practically, they are almost always to be recognized by the Latin pre- fixes and suffixes, as the simple stems are not often used. (See lists of prefixes and suffixes in the next chapter.) Let the student carefully examine the stems given below, and then analyze the subjoined derivatives with reference to the use of these stems, both in form and meaning. ag, ig, act, drive, do. alt, high. anim, mind. ann, year. aper, apr, apert, open. apt, fit. art, art. aud, hear. aur, gold. brev, short. cad, cid, cas, fall. cant, sing. capit, head. cap, dp, capt, take. cam, flesh. ced, cess, move, yield. celer, quick. cent, hundred. cing, cinct, sur- round, gird. cor, cord, heart. coron, crown. corpus, corpor, body. cred, believe. cur, care. curr, run. dat, dit, give. dent, tooth. di, day. diet, speak. dign, worthy. dom, home. domin, master. dorm, sleep. due, duct, lead. equ, equal. fa, fat, say. fac, face. fac, fie, fact, feet, make, do. felic, happy. fer, bear. fess, acknowledge. Jid, faith. Jin, end. form, shape. fort, strong. frang, frag, fract, break. fund, fus, melt. genus, gener, gen, kind. gest, carry. grad, gred, gress, step. gran, grain. grand, great. 38 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS gratf favor, thanks. hor, hour. horr, shudder. hospit, guest. ject, cast. judic, judge. junct, joined. jm^, law. latj carry. leg, send. leg, lig, led, gather, choose, read. liber, free. lin, flax, lingu, tongue. liter, letter. loc, place. loqu, locut, speak. hid, lus, play. magn, large. major, larger, older. man, mans, remain, dwell. manu, man, hand. mar, sea. mater, matr, mother. medi, middle. medic, heal. mens, measure. ment, mind. mere, pay. merg, mers, mingle, dip. migr, remove. mir, wonder. mitt, miss, send. mon, advise. mort, death. mot, move. mult, many. mu7i, fortify. 7iat, born. nav, ship. not, known. numer, number. nunci, announce. ocid, eye. par, equal. par, get ready. part, partit, divide. pass, step. pat, pass, suffer. past, feed. pater, patr, father. ped, foot. pell, puis, drive. pen, repent. pen, aljiKTst. pend, hang, weigh. pet, petit, ask. pig, pict, paint. plac, please. pie, plet, fill. plen, full. plic, fold. plum, feather. plumb, lead. pon, posit, place. port, carry. port, gate. pos, stop, place. pot, drink. potent, powerful. prehend, prehens, seize. prim, first. punct, point. quadr, four. quant, how much, quer, quir, ask. quer, complain. quiesc, quiet, quiet radi, ray. rap, rapt, snatch. rat, reason. reg, rect, rule. 7^id, ris, laugh. riv, brook. rog, rogat, ask. rupt, broken. sacr, holy. sal, salt. sal, sil, suit, leap. sanct, holy, estab- lished. sat, sa, enough. schol, school. sci, know. scrib, script, write. sec, sect, cut. sen, old. sent, sens, feel. sequ, secut, follow. serv, keep, serve. GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 39 sisty stand. solj alone. sol, accustomed. son, sound. soii, lot. spic, speet, sped, see. spir, breathe. sta7it, standing. stell, star. string, strict, bind. stru, struct, build. sui, self. suad, suas, per- suade. sum, sumpt, take. surg, S2irrect, rise. tang, ting, tact, touch. teg, tect, cover. temper, moderate. temper, time. tend, tent, tens, stretch. test, witness. tors, tort, twist. tract, draw. trit, rub. trud, trus, thrust. un, one. und, wave. ut, us, use. vad, vas, go. val, be strong. ven, vent, come. vert, vers, turn. vi, force. vine, vict, conquer. vid, vis, see. viv, victu, live. voc, call. volv, volut, roll. vot, vow. Latin Derivatives annual facial . degeneracy equinox animadversion judicial delegate medicine emigration abbreviate carnal jurisdiction fusible act capital relate aggrandize* celerity audible permanent fracture agent fortitude medieval coroner perfect horror linguistic confidence April horoscope majority admirable corporal maternal diction immense, accident paternal artist hospitable casual ges'ture magnitude cordial abject gratitude granary precinct reduce domestic manual definite legible date mental accurate credible dormant concede fable dental felicity process profession diurnal location dignity 40 STUDY OF BN6IJSH WORDS V domination petition persuade interrogation linen picture distract . enraptured admonition complacent science votive immortal application deride notify remission plumbing sacrifice potable remittance apposition rational involved capture export scribe construe literature portal partition stringent century omnipotent preparation temporize recant comprehend section temperate gradation primeval rapacity tense punctual quadrant pervasive tent conjunction quantity victory extort aptitude formation convenient specimen altitude liberty insurgent obtrude prelude mercenary corruption consumption loquacious submerge obsolete revive auriferous query violent union maritime querulous resist tact compass requiem multitude undulate compassion rector expect abuse compulsion saline sentimental trite expel pronunciation spiral resurrection pendulum innumerable service equivalent peninsula motive consequence protect current insult instant convert oculist sanctify solitary senior navigable satisfy constellation revision native ammunition suicide contest impede replenish assort vocation pastor scholar sonorous victuals disparage radiate rivulet penitent infinite lecture brevity general secure radius numeration generous 'description revolve utility generic GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 41 Greek Derivatives microscope telepathy pantomime democracy political electricity Peter hierarch Indianapolis criticise aristocrat monarch cyclometer barometer patriarch autocrat dynamics clinic plutocracy oligarchy 3. French Derivatives. — To draw an exact line between French and Latin Derivatives is impossible, for we must remember that French is one of the later forms of Latin. In the English language there are four classes of stems borrowed directly from the Latin: — 1. Latin words incorporated in the Saxons' speech be- fore they left Germany. 2. Latin words left in the British speech by the Latin occupation. 3. Latin words taken from the Ecclesiastical vocabu- lary of Rome. 4. Latin words introduced by the Revival of Learning in the sixteenth century. But these bear a small proportion in point of number to the immense Latin element introduced into English through French. Those only are distinguished as French deriva- tives which underwent marked changes in the French use. Two classes of such changes in spelling were spoken of in Chapter I, namely, the shortening process, by which whole syllables may be altogether dropped ; and the euphonic process, by which a harsh combination of con- sonants is broken up by division into parts of two syl- lables. Both these changes were illustrated by the Latin word studium^ written in Old French estude^ in Modern French and English etude; compare the parallel deriva- tive unmodified by the French, study. 42 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Changes due to the Norman Conquest. — The influence of French upon English was, of course, most marked at the time of the Norman Conqu^est, — including, also, to speak more accurately, the period just before the Con- quest, — in all, from 1042 to 1204 (from the reign of Edward to John's loss of the province of Normandy). It was shown in four ways : — 1. The introduction of a vast number of Norman-French words. 2. A corresponding loss of a large number of old Anglo- Saxon words. 3. The introduction of new stems, which, with Anglo- Saxon prefixes or suffixes, formed many hybrids. 4. The introduction of new habits or tendencies of language growth. Borrowing. — The marked habit which distinguishes English from other Teutonic languages — namely, readi- ness to borrow words instead of coining them from its own resources — has been traced to the Norman influence. The Anglo-Saxons found it an advantage to have both native and foreign words, — Saxon and Norman, — a two- fold treasury ; and the English have developed this scheme to its present proportions. Introduction of New Words. — As to the new words actually brought into the language by the Norman Con- quest, though not so numerous as the FrencU words introduced in the fourteenth century, they are impor- tant for our study, because they came in at the earlier formative period and became part of the very foundation of the English language. Within the years which we have assigned to the Norman Period (1042-1204) are counted about five hundred of these borrowed French words ; at Chaucer's death, in 1400, we find nearly thirty- GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 43 five hundred French words in English. The older (Nor- man) element is harder to distinguish from the Anglo-Saxon warp with which it is interwoven, because, in obedience to the general principle that earlier combinations are more vital, the sound and spelling of a word were so often angli- cized ; while the later (Parisian) French of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and, in still greater degree, the modern French element, have more nearly kept the French sound and spelling. In the following pairs of words, the first is from the older, and the second from the later, French borrowing : — , chair, chaise ; suit, suite ; ticket, etiquette. For- a more general view, compare the two following sets of words, — the one from the oldest French borrow- ings, the other from the latest; notice how much more English the first group looks : — aid case fade obey air chair fail port branch change feign price brief cherry lamp taint brush chief lave trunk adroit baronet chagrin embarrass apartment brunette coquette grimace apparel burlesque contretemps repartee Early French borrowings may also differ according to the dialects from which they came. For example, we find doublets of the same period, showing a ch from the Nor- man, and a ^-sound from another dialect : e.g., chase^ catch; chattel^ cattle. Marks of French Derivatives. — A few general rules may now be given for recognizing French derivatives : — 44 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS 1. When a Latin stem has one consonant between two vowels, the French derivative shows a tendency to drop or soften this consonant. Consonant sounds in general are softened. Latin Stbm Latin Derivative IN English French Word French Derivative IN English cant cant chanter chant castel castle chateau chateau fact fact fait feat inimic inimical ennemi enemy lingu linguistic langue language prosecu {secu t) prosecute poursuivre pursue supplic supplicate supplier suppliant Latin Stem coming French Derivative Latin Stem THROUGH Old French Later French IN English with Latin INTO English with Word Stem considerably Little Change MODIFIED car car char, chariot chariot fact faction fa9on fashion fragil fragile frele frail mere mercantile march and merchant , merchandise nat native naif naive particul particle parcelle parcel popul popular peuple people rati ration, ratio raison reason reg regal royal royal vocal vocal voyelle vowel 2. Most nouns in -ier^ -cher^ and adjectives in -que^ are of French derivation : as cavalier^ sepulcher^ unique, 3. Most words beginning with counter^ pur^ sur, are of French derivation : as counterpoint, purpose, survey. These three rules maj^ be summed up in the general statement that most words in which Latin stems appear very much changed in spelling may be classed as French derivatives. GREEK, LATIN, AND FRENCH ELEMENTS 45 Norman -English Hybrids. — Our third class of Norman elements in English remains, — the Norman (originally Latin) stems, which were often used with Anglo-Saxon prefixes and suffixes; also, in compounds, with Anglo- Saxon stems. Anglo-Saxon Prefix, French Stem : a-round, he-cause, en-throne. French Stem, Anglo-Saxon SufB.x : duke-dom, false-hood, trouble- some, purpose-xss, genial-ly. French and Saxon Compounds : heir-loom, scape-goat. We may close the French division of this chapter by glancing at five stems peculiarly French (perhaps carried into the French from Low Latin, and so not traceable by us to classical Latin). bas, low ; bat, beat ; gross, thicken ; pari, speak ; taill, cut off : bas-relief, battle, debate, engross, parlor, parliament, tailor, entail. Distinguishing Traits of the Saxon Element. — The for- eign elements in English have been given first, because they are more definite in form and more easily distinguished. The Saxon part of the language, being the very root and substance thereof, is harder to separate and analyze, though far more useful for a scientific understanding of English. Saxon stems have two general characteristics : — 1. They are usually short monosyllables; as the stem hit^ from which come the verbs bite^ hit^ embitter; the nouns bit^ bitters; the adjective bitter. 2. They are modified (for number, tense, change in part of speech) by root- vowel changes rather than by endings. Verb8 Nouns Nouns from Adjectives draw, drew ; goose, geese ; broad, breadth ; fall, fell ; man, men ; strong, strength ; sing, sang ; mouse, mice ; deep, depth. 46 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Hints for approximately testing Origin by Spelling Nativb OB Inherited (A AND Teutonic) nglo-Saxon 150rr0wed or jtf oreign (^chiefly ceeded/' For these two meanings we have distinct adjec- tives : successive = following, and successful = prosperous. 5. Accumulation. The Latin word meant to heap up, as earth into a mound. The metaphor is a simple transfer from physi- cal to mental. 6. Gradually. From Latin gradus, a step. There was an early English use of this word, from Church Latin, for a book of hymns sung on the steps of the pulpit. In our use of gradual, we have the simple transfer of the first Latin mean- ing from the physical to the mental, — step = degree. History traced in the Growth of Words. — It will readily be seen that we can go deeply into the history of a nation, and get an insight into its peculiar characteristics, simply by studying the history of its words and by watching them adapt themselves to new needs. We can even read in words the actual events in history. For instance, the counties of England were formerly divided into 'Hun- dreds,' each of a hundred families. The division still exists, though in some of the ' hundreds ' are hundreds of thousands of families, while others have scarcely grown beyond their original number. In parts of this country settled by the English, we find traces of this old custom ; e.g., 'Bermuda Hundred,' a settlement in Virginia. This stretching of an old name, geographically, has often been based on error, and kept up for convenience ; as in the case of our American natives, called Indians, Narrowing of Meaning. — The growth of language does not always imply enlargement of meaning. On the con- trary, a word may lose one or more of its uses. This process is due mainly to the influence of other words having almost the same meaning and needing to be distinguished. It be- longs, therefore, to the chapter on Synonyms. 80 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VI 1. Is there any parallel between the life of a word and the life of language in general ? 2. Give six meanings of the word head. 3. Show how the meanings are related, and explain the metaphor in each case. 4. Define Metaphor in general, and in the five special cases illustrated. 5. Give some original illustrations of the transfer from physical to mental senses. 6. Give the additional meanings and idiomatic uses of head. 7. Account for the definitions of foot, arm, hand, eye, tongue, court, set. 8. Why are the metaphorical meanings in words of Latin origin less evident than in Saxon words ? 9. How are words for mental and spiritual use usually de- veloped ? 10. Write sentences, using words given in the table of Latin derivatives. 11. Eor illustrations of curious and interesting word-deriva- tions, see the following words : — algebra boudoir naughty spider thimble magnolia broadcloth aster amount dahlia gingham asterix buff fiAchsia damask dandelion angel meander imp gas insect ostracize academy squirrel bedlam squash nabob rosary dunce cathedral diamond mosaic jonquil calomel flute dactyl onyx fresco date cardinal Gotham, as humorously applied to New York 12. Find some other examples of curious derivation among names of flowers, gems, and cloths. GROWTH AND CHANGE IN MEANING OF WORDS 81 TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER VI I. A paper on a child's learning to speak, illustrating the widening of word-meanings. II. Give results of research into the history of the follow- ing words : — III. canon fume inflame precipitate spirit tribulation Presbyterian climax digress direct Methodist text strain distort Catholic transparent mass report heretic journal order taste kind tandem class gazette volume album Words whose changes in meaning mark historic facts, - pagan cicerone idiot dunce villain pantaloon volume rubric civil pedagogue colossal infantry czar post IV. V. Words whose meaning arose from error, — humor Gothic turkey amethyst melancholy leopard disastrous empyrean Geographical names preserving: facts of early settlement. Cf. the large variety of tow.a and river names in the United States ; also, especially, the names of the states, Virginia^ Georgia, Delaware, New York, New Jersey, Carolina. STU. ENG. WORDS — 6 CHAPTER VII LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH Effect of the Latin and Saxon Elements. — It is the pres- ence of these two elements in our English that makes it the rich and beautiful language it is. The short, simple, everyday Saxon words are like farmers and shoemakers and carpenters, without whom a country could not get on at all ; while the Latin words — longer, more elaborate, and more scholarly — are like what we call professional men, who go more broadly into abstract questions of Religion, Science, Art, and bring a finer culture to the national thought and taste. Character of the Saxon Element. — Most of the words of home life and of constant, daily use are Saxon ; and to use Latin for these things is not in good taste. Just because these words have been dear and familiar to us from childhood, they move us more quickly and surely than do their Latin synonyms. Almost all the little words that we have to use in common speech are Saxon : such words as a, an; the^ this^ that; and^ but, for, too; from, hy, with, in, at, to; who, which, tvhat; I, you, he, she, it; most of our words for home life, father, mother, brother, sister, fire, hearth, are Saxon in shape and associa- tion, even when akin to Latin stems ; the common verbs, go, come, run, hurry ^ shut, open, find, lose, love, hate, and the ad- jectives, good, bad, true, sweet, sour, strong, weak, are Saxon. 82 LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH 83 The different effect of Latin and Saxon words derived from the same Indo-European stem can be seen in fatherly and paternal. These words have equally necessary uses, — the one for the home, the other for legal relations as well. Choice between Latin and Saxon Words. — Some students of language have told us that, as a rule, Saxon words are better than Latin words. But, like most sweeping state- ments, this needs modifying. The choice between Latin and Saxon must depend on several things : on the sub- ject ; on the audience ; and on the aim of the speaker, that is, whether the result aimed at is simple or complex. As a general law, Saxon goes straighter to the heart and mind, and so arouses more directly a simple idea or feel- ing ; while Latin is more accurate for the making of sub- tile distinctions, and more profound for the arousing of deliberate or complex emotion. Latin the Language of Exact Science. — For instance, those scientists that tell us most emphatically that Saxon words are better than Latin find the need of Latin words when they try to make this very distinction a scientific and scholarly one. The Latin words have been used by scientists because of their greater exactness ; and to use Saxon words in place of these accepted Latin terms would sound loose and unscientific. The great advocate of Saxon words, Mr. Herbert Spencer, in writing on Edu- cation, calls one section ^'-Physical Education,'" not '•'Up- bringing of the Body'' ; and a sentence from this essay will show fairly enough his own choice of words, — " This physical reaction being certain, the question is, whether the gain resulting from the extra culture is equivalent to the loss ; whether defect of bodily growth, or the want of that structural perfection which gives high vigor and endurance, is compensated for by the additional knowledge gained.'' 84 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS In this case there was good reason for using so many Latin words; we can find but a clumsy Saxon substitute for the passage, — "As an answering weakness of body is bound to follow, / we may ask whether the gain we get from that much more mind-training makes up for this loss ; whether the gain in knowledge makes up for the lack in bodily growth, or the want of that fulness of frame which gives strength and freshness." Aside from faults of translation, the passage has suf- fered in two ways. We miss, first, the exactness of the original ; second, the associations which make the scien- tific terms suggestive. Let us study these two points somewhat more closely. The Saxon constructions are looser and wordier, and so give to the ear an effect of looser and less concise think- ing. The words have an everyday usage which is inexact and untrained, even variable ; so that their meaning is open to discussion, if closely questioned. Take the phrase " structural perfection " ; there is no Saxon word for per- fection; and structure in the scientific sense is absolutely exact, while frame might mean vaguely the outline of the bone structure, as when we say, "a man of large frame." \j For the words reaction^ resulting^ equivalent^ in their scientific meaning, there is no Saxon. It is impossible to give them accurate definition in Saxon words. (Compare one of the Imperial Dictionary definitions of reaction : " Depression or exhaustion consequent on excessive ex- ^ citement or stimulation.") Again, each of these three words, as used by Mr. Spencer, is a host in itself. Each calls up to the trained mind a set of laws which really furnish the key to his whole argument. This LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH 85 force is lost when Saxon synonyms are used. Accord- ingly we may say that when a scientist is speaking of scientific subjects to scientifically trained minds, it is his wisest economy of language to use Latin terms. And if, for the sake of reaching untrained minds, he uses Saxon words, it is at the cost of exactness and force. The choice, we repeat, between Latin and Saxon words, depends on the class of subject, on the intelligence of the hearer, and on the aim of the speaker. Mr. Spencer, writing on a scientific subject, appealing mainly to trained minds, with a view to argumentative persuasion and con- clusion, made wise choice of Latin. Proper Use of Saxon Words. — Let us now look at an equally wise choice of Saxon, from a poem of Sidney Lanier's. The writer's wish here is to arouse a feeling which, though vast and deep, is perfectly simple : — ^' As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod, Behold, I will build me a nest on the greatness of God ; I will fly in the greatness of God, as the marsh-hen flies In the freedom that fills all the space 'twixt the marsh and the skies ; By so many roots as the marsh-grass sends in the sod, I will heartily lay me ahold on the greatness of God." Put this picturesque and musical Saxon into Latin (we will not go so far as to give the hen her scientific name) and the passage is ruined : — " As the marsh-hen constructs her abode on the aqueous sod, Observe, I my nest will erect on the power of God." The words, construct^ aqueous^ observe^ power^ erects are not voluminous words ; they are simple enough and easily understood. But they are contemplative, mental words, 86 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS fitted to a scientific narrative; not sympathetic, picturesque words, playing upon the imagination and the heart. In the present century, Tennyson is the great master of the music of Saxon words ; study this passage from In Memoriam : — " This truth came born with bier and pall, I felt it when I sorrowed most, 'Tis better to have loved and lost, Than never to have loved at all. " But I remained, whose hopes were dim, Whose life, whose thoughts, were little worth, To wander on a darkened earth. Where all things round me breathed of him.'' Proportion of Latin and Saxon Vocabulary at Different Periods. — The proportion of Latin and Saxon English to be found in representative writers, differs very markedly at various periods of the history of the language. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as represented by Milton and Samuel Johnson, and even in the earlier half of the nineteenth, as represented by Macaulay, the pre- ponderance of Greek and Latin in a gentleman's education is naturally shown in the Latin-English style thus devel- oped. But in the last few decades, there has been devel- oped a tendency toward the use of "good Saxon." We have spoken of the fact that the scientific terminology is largely Latin; yet, as a class, men trained in the natural sciences, use a simpler English than do men trained in the classics ; and, setting aside the technical terms, about which scientists have no choice, or a difficult one, we find a more purely Saxon English in essays on scientific sub- jects than in literary and critical essays. Many of the LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH 87 latest writers of general literature, however, recognize the value of a Saxon vocabulary in securing the charm and force of simplicity, wherever simplicity is possible. Illustrations of English, to be studied with Reference to Latin and Saxon Wording. (See Question 11, page 92) Let us examine some passages from English writers, of different periods and in different fields, with reference to this use of Latin or Saxon English, remembering to take into account always (1) the character of the theme; (2) the fashion of the writer's age. For an English that would in a scientific work be strongly Saxon, might in a poem on Nature be unduly Latin. And an essay that in the seventeenth century would be markedly Saxon, might now strike us as characteristically Latin. 1. The Exhortation, inserted in the Morning and Evening Prayer of the Prayer Book of 1552. Here the choice between Latin and Saxon words is given, the more learned word for the more learned classes, the simpler for the simpler : — " Dearly beloved brethren, the scripture moveth us in sundry places, to acknoivledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness, . . . and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them; . . . yet ought we chiefly so to do, when we assemble and meet together. ^^ 2. Shakespeare (1564-1616) — Julius Caesar: — " Thus, Brutus, did my master bid me kneel ; Thus did Mark Antony bid me fall down ; And, being prostrate, thus he bade me say : Brutus is noble, wise, valiant, and honest ; Caesar was mighty, bold, royal, and loving." 88 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS 3. Bacon (1560-1626) — Friendship : — '^ But little do men perceive what solitude is, and how far it extendeth; for a crowd is not company, and faces are but a gallery of pictures, and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love. The Latin adage meeteth with it a little, * Magna civitas, magna soUtudoJ " 4. Sir Thomas Browne (1605-1682) — Z7m Burial: — " Many have taken voluminous pains to determine the state of the soul upon disunion ; but men have been most phantasti- cal in the singular contrivances of their corporal dissolution; whilst the soberest nations have rested in two ways, of simple inhumation and burning." 5. Milton (1Q08-161 4:)— Li/cidas: — " For we were nursed upon the selfsame hill ; Fed the same flock by fountain, shade, and rill ; Together both, ere the high lawns appeared Under the opening eyelids of the morn. We drove afield, and both together heard What time the gray-fly winds her sultry horn, Batt'ning our flocks with the fresh dews of night. Oft, till the star that rose, at evening, bright. Toward heav'n's descent had sloped his westering wheel." Paradise Lost : — ,, Meanwhile the Son On his great expedition now appeared. Girt with omnipotence, with radiance crowned Of Majesty divine, sapience and love Immense." 6. Bunyan (1628-1688) — Pilgrim's Progress: — " So I saw that Christian went on his way ; yet, at the sight of the old man that sat at the mouth of the cave, he could not tell what to think, especially because he spoke to him, though LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH 89 he could not go after him, saying, ^ You will never mend till more of you be burned.' '^ 7. Addison (1672-1719)— /Spec^a^or, 1710. (Spoken of by the two writers next quoted, Franklin and Johnson, as a model in the use of pure English) : — " I have observed that a reader seldom peruses a book with pleasure, till he knows whether the writer of it be a black or a fair man, of a mild or choleric disposition, married or a bachelor, with other particularities of the lik6 nature, that con- duce very much to the right understanding of an author." 8. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) — Autobiography: — "Dr. Bond visited me and gave me an account of the pains he had taken to spread a general good liking to the law, and ascribed much to those endeavours. I had the vanity to ascribe all to my Dialogue. However, not knowing but that he might be in the right, I let him enjoy his opinion, which I take to be generally the best in such cases." 9. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) — Ori ''Julius Oae- sar'\' — " Of this tragedy many particular passages deserve regard, and the contention and reconcilement of Brutus and Cassius is universally celebrated; but I have never been strongly agitated in perusing it, and think it somewhat cold and un- affecting, compared with some other of • Shakespeare's plays ; his adherence to the real story, and to the Eoman manners, seems to have impeded the natural vigor of his genius." 10. Carlyle (1795-1881) — A^ar^or Resartus, 1833 : — " Between vague, wavering Capability and fixed, i ndub ijable Performance, what a difference ! A certain inarticulate Self- consciousness dwells dimly in us j which only our Works can 90 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS render articulate and decisively disceriiible. Our Works are the mirror wherein the spirit first sees its natural lineaments. Hence, too, the folly of that impossible Precept, Know thyself; till it be translated into this partially possible one, Know what thou canst work at.'' " And then to fancy the fair castles, that stood sheltered in these Mountain hollows ; with their green flower lawns, and white dames and damsels, lovely enough; or better still, the straw-roofed cottages, wherein stood many a Mother baking bread, with her children round her." 11. Macaulay (lS00-lS59) — Ristort/ of England: — " I shall relate how under that settlement, the authority of J law and the securi ty of property were found to bejcompatible with a liberty of d iscussio n and of individual action never before known.*' "^ 12. Emerson (imi^\^^2^ — Friendship : — " We have a great deal more kindness than is ever spoken. Maugre all the selfishness that chills like east winds the world, the whole human family is bathed with an element of love like a fine ether. How many persons we meet in houses, whom we scarcely speak to, whom yet we honor, and who honor us ! How many we see in the street, or sit with in church, whom, though silently, we warmly rejoice to be with ! Read the language of these wandering eye-beams. The heart knoweth." Living Writers 13. Henry James, Jr. — Niagara : — " In the matter of line, it beats Michael Angelo. One may seem at first to say the least, but the careful observer will admit that one says the most, in saying that it pleases — pleases even a spectator who was not ashamed to write the other day that he didn't care for cataracts." LATIN AND SAXON ENGLISH 91 14. William Dean Howells — Venetian Life: — "At home it sometimes seems that we are in such haste to live and be done with it we have no time to be polite. Or is it altogether better to be rude ? I wish it were not." 15. Rudyard Kipling — On India : — " There is a want of atmosphere in the painter's sense. There are no half-truths worth noticing. Men stand out all crude and raw, with nothing to tone them down, and nothing to scale them against. They do their work^ and grow to think that there is nothing but their work, and that they are the real pivots on which the administration turns." 16. Richard Watson Gilder : — " I light the sea and wake the sleeping land, My footsteps on the hills make music, and my hand Plays like a harper's on the wind-swept pines." QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VII 1. Compare the values of Latin and Saxon English. 2. Which gives us the words of home life ? Give examples. 3. Compare the words fatherly and paternal, with reference to origin and use. 4. On what three points depends the choice between Latin and Saxon words ? 5. What is ^he general distinction ? 6. In what two ways does the passage from Mr. Spencer suffer, when we have replaced the Latin by Saxon ? 7. Explain this loss, in detail. ^. Again, what is lost in changing the given bit of poetry from its Saxon into Latin ? 9. How does the proportion of the Latin and Saxon ele- ments vary with the different periods of English writing ? 92 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS 10. How do scientists compare with literary, writers in this respect ? 11. Study of Specimen Passages. (a) How is the English Prayer Book adapted to the learned and the unlearned ? (b) Look up, in Webster's International Dictionary, the important words of each selection. (c) Compare the proportion of Latin and Saxon words in each selection with that in some other selection ; either choosing the next in time, or one of a similar style and purpose. (d) Where two selections are made from the same author, notice the contrast between them in this propor- tion of Latin and Saxon, and explain it. (Much study should be given to these passages, and some of the more marked ones should be followed up, by a week's lessons on the author's characteristic work. If the proportion of Latin and Saxon is expressed numerically, by actual count- ing of the words, the pupil must guard against thinking the statement accurate or final when the research has necessarily been limited. The results may, however, be accurate enough for general comparison.) TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER VII I. Eobert Louis Stevenson's English. II. Comparison of the histories of Motley and Mr. John Fiske, as regards Latin and Saxon words, with study of effect in each. III. Exercise : An original essay on any topic, written in two versions, one as Latin, the other as Saxon, as possible. b CHAPTER VIII THE ARTIST'S AND THE SCIENTIST'S USE OF WORDS Association of Words. — It has been shown that a word may have two sets of meanings, the physical and the spiritual. In the use of words, there is another double significance which, if well understood, gives a twofold power to language. The two elements of this double significance are, (1) the dictionary definition of a word; (2) the associations of a word. For instance, stepmother has a definite dictionary mean- ing, quite colorless, representing a legal relationship ; but to our minds the word is so highly colored by association that it is difficult not to connect it with the type of step- mother with which we are familiar in the story of Cin- derella. And if we wish to explain that a particular second wife is not so unkind to her husband's children, we may say, '' She is not a stepmother at all ! " Here the word is clearly not used in its strict dictionary sense. In general, we may say that a word brings to our minds — 1. The essential properties that always and necessarily belong to the thing. 2. The accidental attributes that usually accompany these properties. The first element is invariable, and so is depended upon by the scientist. The second is variable, resulting from 94 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS experience, and so coming home to the feelings and imagination of each man more personally ; upon this appeal to the feelings the artist, especially the poet, de- pends. As a homely example, the names of the months have an invariable scientific value, as fixed divisions of time ; they have also a variable associative value to large classes of people : March means bluster, June means midsummer sunshine, November means Thanksgiving. This associ- ative value a poet uses, when he suggests that the " June of life "had come to a bride ; or a story writer, when he puts his story in a setting of a country "June morning." Yet to a New Zealander, June suggests the slight frosts of their midwinter, though the name June still belongs to the month scientifically* A still more prosaic example we may find in the days of the week. Scientifically, these names, Sunday^ Monday^ mean only the place each day holds in the fixed order of the seven. By association, to one class of people, Monday \j is " Wash day,". Saturday " Baking day " ; to another, Monday is "School again," Saturday "Holiday"; to another, Monday is " Work-again," Saturday " Pay- day." These associations have in our minds entirely replaced the associations which named the days; Satur- day no longer means to anybody Saturn-Day. No one can now speak of Fifth Avenue, New York, without suggesting to people in general something more than the avenue between Fourth and Sixth. If you say, " He's a clever little chap," there is a humorous affectionateness implied in the word chap not to be found in the word hoy (which is more colorless, and suggests the dictionary definition of a young male \J liuman l)eing). Imagination plays upon the words little ARTIST'S AND SCIENTIST'S USE OF WORDS 95 chap, and we think the speaker is fond of children, perhaps has some of his own. Value of the Associative Element. — The management of this associative power in words is of the very greatest importance. It is because associations have somewhat ol: the variable quality of human experience and human mood, that in the hands of a great artist they can be- come so subtle and penetrate to so fine issues ; for a Shakespeare discerns that which is vital in them, and so speaks to a universal experience, — understanding just how long to count on feeling and fancy, and stimu- lating without tiring these. He does not simply rely on the word for its full dictionary value, but he leads the thought of the reader to a point where he may see in the word the color needed for the effect desired. What is called oratory depends for its persuasive power on just this management of the associative value of words. For example, study Antony's speech in Julius Caesar, The power of this appeal to the people lies largely in the associations popularly connected with the word ambitious. Brutus may have reasoned that Caesar " would be king," thinking of the scientific fact, that this ambition would lead to certain political issues. But Antony, playing upon the popular associations with ambition^ draws the contrast between the robbery of their money that they would expect from this man of whom Brutus said '-'• he was ambitious," and the public bequests of Caesar's will. Antony arouses the prejudices of the people, then shows how these must fail if directed against Caesar, and, by a subtle move, turns them against Brutus, this time by the associations connected with the phrase ''so honorable (?) a man" ; i.e., he rouses their scorn of a dishonorable friend. Here, evidently, honorable is not used merely with diction- 96 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS ary value, but by the skill of the orator is made equivalent to dishonorable. In the smaller uses of life, this management of associa- tive values in words is half the battle in situations calling for tact in speech. By understanding this power, one may avoid the petty brutalities of thoughtless speech, and raise what would otherwise be careless, ungoverned talk to the dignity of an Art. A humorous turn, too, may be given to a disagreeable trait or situation, by the use of a word that has humorous associations. This may be done to bring a sordid fact within the pale of art, as when Du Maurier says, "Oh, happy times of careless impecuniosity ! " giving us pathos instead of the blank wretchedness of poverty ; or, it may be used in actual life, to brighten dull facts and soften hard ones, — and this art of words may be half the art of living. The choice between words of about the same meaning often turns on their associative value. This will be seen more fully in the next chapter, on Synonyms. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER VHI 1. In what does the twofold significance of a word consist ? 2. Illustrate by the word stepmother. 3. Define the two elements of word suggestions. 4. Illustrate by the names of the months, and of the days of the week. 5. Illustrate how so colorless a word as a mere number (as " Fifth " Avenue) may accumulate associations. 6. What is the associative value of chap as compared with hoy 9 7. How does such an artist as Shakespeare make us feel a word's associative value ? ARTIST'S AND SCIENTIST'S USE OF WORDS 97 8. Illustrate the effectiveness of this in oratory. 9. Explain the use of associations in humorous phrases. 10. Illustrate the dependence of some witticisms upon word ■ associations. 11. What associations (humorous, scornful, poetic) are con- nected with the following words, governing their use ? — old maid, kine (as compared with cattle), sweat, felloiv, irrepressible (rarely used seriously), animal, TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER VIII I. Associations of certain words because of which they are used only in poetry. II. Change of word for the sake of avoiding unpleasant asso- ciations. (Compare the use of the comparative degree to avoid the abruptness of the positive : " It is hard for older men," instead of " It is hard for old men.") III. Demoralizing effect of softening phrases for evil conduct. IV. Exercise : Illustrate associative values by other words, similar to the names of the months as given. Many simple examples may be drawn from daily life. BTU. ENG. WORDS — 7 CHAPTER IX SYNONYMS Meaning. — If words are enough alike in meaning to be used interchangeably, we may call them Synonyms. For almost every idea, we have in our language more than one word. To give tlie idea just the shade we wish for it, we must choose from a group of synonyms the one best word. This choice depends on three points already sxamined : — 1. Derivation, Latin or Saxon (Chapter VII). 2. The meanings through which the word has passed ^'Chapter VI). 3. Associations (Chapter VIII). The choice between Latin and Saxon synonyms has already been discussed. The two points now to be con- sidered are then the Past and the Present of a word. We must know both, before we can use the word intel- ligently. The two are not always, however, in harmony; when they conflict, present associations must decide our choice. For example, the word preMy had in Middle English the sense tricky ; this meaning is now quite lost, and the word now means physically attractive. Cunning meant originally knowing,, skillful ; from this meaning, two others have been adopted by good usage, tricky (the original meaning of pretty) and tvinsome. The purist that rejects 98 SYNONYMS 99 the second meaning should logically reject the first, as also the present use of pretty. As a rule, however, the derivation is a better guide to present usage than in that case^ For example, adore^ dote on. To say one " adores " kittens is at once shown to be a false use of the word, when we know that the Latin adorare meant to pray to ; the present usage follows this derivation, and the word is properly kept for the most sacred associations. To dote on kittens is the fitting ex- pression, for the original meaning of the word implies an innocent but trivial fondness, such as is seen in the stronger word, dotage. We have, then, — to review this point, — for almost every word we use, the choice among a group of syno- nyms ; and in choosing, we must consider : 1. What each word means by derivation ; 2. Whether the present asso- ciations uphold the derivative distinctions. On these two principles, let us examine some groups of synonyms : — Affable, accessible, courteous, civil, benign. Affable means by derivation to-be-spoken-to. This derivative meaning governs our use of the word, for we do not properly apply it to men in general, but to persons of rank, who grant such approach as a privilege. A man of high position is affable when he gives us an access to him not our due. We may say that he is accessible ; but this word means to-be-reached, and has a special suitability to a mountain, or an island, in the physical sense of reaching. Courteous is of the court, while civil is of the city. Civil means simply with the corners rubbed off by contact with men, — with manners formed to suit the formal life of a town. So we may say that a servant is civil, because his manner is formed to his office ; but we say of a gentleman that he is courteous to a lady. 100 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Benign meant originally well-born, and is used of the kindness and condescension from the higher to the lower, associated with nobility. In this group, we have found present association almost exactly determined by derivation. Awful, fearful, dreadful, terrible, horrible. In this group, the ending -ful marks the first three as Saxon, the ending -ible, the others as Latin. The suffixes may be dropped, for our purpose, and the nouns that call for discrimination are awe, fear, dread, terror, horror. The original meaning of awe was choking. Fear was first used of the peril of travel. Terror meant tremhling ; horror, a bristling of the hair. These deriva- tions, while they do not accurately define our present usage, give it invaluable color. Awe may be felt in the presence of what is vast, whether good or evil, while we use horror only of evil ; so we " choke '^ when reading of a magnanimous deed, while our "hair bristles" only when there is an element of threatened evil. Dread used to have a graver sense, as we find it used in religious literature ; the ordinary present idea of it is simply of a strong personal fear, as a child's "dread of the dark." While we usually associate fear with evil, there is the Biblical use of it in the sense of reverence and worship, as in the sentence, " They hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord." Fear has the widest range of all five words, being applied to things large or small. Tensor is an extreme degree of fear; one may have a fear of getting his feet wet, but he has a terror of the consequences of some grave crime. Love, like, enjoy, incline, pleased, content, satisfied. The fitting use of the word love is determined by association. If we are to keep it for the higher attachments, we must not vulgarize it ; the word is cheapened at once when we " love " potatoes. To like is found in Middle English as an impersonal, liketh^ = it is like or suitable for; this suitableness is still the prominent idea ; one likes what fits his taste. To enjoy is to joy in, and expresses a livelier feeling than mere liking, — a more positive SYNONYMS 101 pleasure. To incline to is to lean to, and has an idea of com- parison in it; one seems to stand between two things, and to lean away from one thing toward the other. To please is allied, in its Latin original, with the word to appease (as an enemy or an offended divinity) ; this may give us the special sense of it as a condescension, as a person is usually " pleased " with an inferior. To be content is from a Latin word meaning to hold together, and suggests that what a man has corresponds to what he wishes, or that he holds together and restrains his desires. To be satisfied also means to have enough; a man is said to be content if he has voluntarily limited his desires to his condition ; he is satisfied if he has not been obliged so to check his desires, but has had them fully met. Invent, discover. To invent is to come upon in thought; to discover is to uncover, reveal The distinction is that a thing discovered existed before the discovery : as " to discover Amer- ica '' ; to invent is used of a thing or combination first existent or "hit upon'^ in our minds ; as " to invent a new machine." Leisure, idleness. Leisure and idleness both mean free, un- employed time; but leisure is used of time not exacted by a regular employment or business ; while idleness means actually doing nothing (from a Saxon word meaning empty). So a business man may write a book in his leisure hours, but these hours could not be called idle. Lease, hire. To lease, from a French word, laisser, is used of the person to whom a property belongs. To hire (from the Saxon) is used of the person to whom the property is let for a season. Custom, habit. Rabit (Latin habeo, to have) is that which is held or retained, acquired by long custom. Custom (French coutume, cf. Latin consuetus, used) is an established practice either of a man or of a community. It is thus a more general word than habit, and has a more definite meaning. We speak ot any common vagary of a child, such as sucking the thumb, as a habit; while there are American and European customs. 102 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Enough, sufficient. One of the distinctions between these words is that already spoken of, as the difference between the \ dignified, colder Latin and the warm, homely Saxon. Sufficient (Latin, sufficiens = putting under, supplying, i.e., meeting our wants) means what is adequate to needs. Enough means what gives us the feeling of gratified wish, — plenty. Hinder, prevent. Hinder (from Anglo-Saxon, to keep back) v/ means to block, obstruct. Prevent (Latin praevenio, to go before, anticipate) means to get ahead of, and is oftener used in a good sense than hinder. We prevent disease by fore- thought; we hinder progress. Character, reputation. Character (from the Greek) means that which marks or distinguishes, and covers the essential qualities of a man. Reputation (Latin puto, to think) means what is thought of him, and may be a true sign of character or otherwise. Vice, crime. These are both from the Latin (vitiiinfi, a blem- ish ; crimen, a crime). They both mean wrongdoing, but vice refers to personal habit which cannot be touched by human law, until some outward evil act, or crime, is committed. Artist, artisan. These are from the same Latin word {ars, art) ; artist is used of a worker in the fine arts, — music, paint- ing, poetry ; an artisan is a mechanical laborer. Certain, sure. Certain (Latin certus) means decreed, estab- lished; sure (Latin securus) means safe. Certain is used more of the mind, and sure of the feelings. You may be certain of a fact, but sure of a friend. Allow, permit. Allow (from the French) and permit (Latin permitto) both mean to give leave. Permit may be used of impersonal agents (" my health does not permit," " time per- mits ") r allow should be used only of persons. Empty, vacant. Empty (from the Saxon) means actually containing nothing; vacant means deprived of an occupant. A furnished house may be vacant, but cannot be empty. Kill, murder. To Mil means simply to take life. Murder SYNONYMS 108 means the wrongful taking of human life; any other use of the word is metaphorical. Hope, expect. To expect is to look for something — whether good or evil — with confidence that it will come. To hope is to wish ardently that a thing may come, feeling partially sure of it. We may expect a calamity, but we hope for even what seems unattainable if it is desirable. Knowledge, wisdom. These are Saxon words, of simple meaning. Knowledge is of the mind principally, and means information. Wisdom is of the life and experience, and means ripeness of character. Convince, persuade. To convince (Latin convinco, to conquer) is to triumph in an argument, to overcome another's reasoning. To persuade is to sway a man's feeling and will, specially with reference to action. One convinces a man that he is in the wrong, in order to persuade him to change. There are no Absolute Synonyms. — It is the tendency of a language to let no two words stand in it side by side with precisely the same meaning ; and it is a scholar's duty to see to it that these distinctions are well founded, based on the history of the words. There are instances, however, in which words have come into English from different languages, with no real distinction in their original meanings. In such a case, an arbitrary distinction soon arises. For example, sympathy and compassion are exactly parallel words, one from the Greek, the other from the Latin, — both meaning, by derivation, with-feeling^ fellow-feeling. But a distinction has grown up which permits sympathy to keep its earliest meaning, applicable to either joy or sorrow ; while compassion is used in the later sense of i^Wow -suffering^ pity. On the other hand, passion is used of a great emotion, whether of love or of anger ; while pathos is kept for sorrow. 104 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Value of these Distinctions. — However these distinc- tions arise, it is the mark of a trained artist to use them not as limitations, but as opportunities. By fine shading in words, a writer is enabled to convey the finer effects of feeling, the finer shades of thought, and if his choice of words seems at first to be narrowed by the fact that in a large group of synonyms there is really only one that fits his meaning, the force and beauty of that one right word is just so much heightened. Let us now study some passages that show well-chosen words : — 1. From Lowell's JjTar^^arc? Commemoration Ode: — " Long as man's hope insatiate can discern Or only guess some more inspiring goal." The three words here that seem chosen with particular art are insatiate^ discern^ guess. Insatiate^ because it is so sympathetic with hope; insatiable would have stated boldly that the hope would never be satisfied ; while insatiate (which is really un-sated) has the more subtle idea of not yet satisfied, and allows one to look on into the future. Discern and guess are well chosen, because they bring into vivid contrast the two faculties, reason and imagination, of both of which Hope avails herself; to discern is to separate between^ and implies the most accurate and painstaking mental process ; to guess is to loose the fancy from all bonds of reason. Some goals can be dis- cerned^ grasped by logic ; toward such Hope presses rationally ; others can only be guessed by freest fancy or aspiration ; toward such Hope presses irrationally. How much more he has said about the eagerness, the greed, of Hope, than could have been said in three other wora^. SYNONYMS 105 2. From Matthew Arnold's Sonnet on Shakespeare : — " Self -schooled, self-scanned, self-honored, self-secure." These words are evidently chosen with care ; let us see just how. What the author means to emphasize is that Shake- speare stands alone in his generation and above its standards and its sympathy. He — " walked on earth unguessed at," as the mountain hides his head in clouds, and — " Spares but the cloudy border of his base To the foiled searching of Mortality." If none other schooled him, he schooled himself ; if none scanned him, he scaimed himself ; for honor and security he depended upon himself. Doubtless the words self-schooled^ self-scanned^ were chosen partly for the alliterative effect; but how, in meaning, do they compete with their synonyms? Clearly, much would be lost by not keeping the self in the four words. As to the participles, schooled means trained^ dis- ciplined ; in such hands as Matthew Arnold's, schooled recalls the original Greek word, which meant leisure^ and suggests, not the technical training of our schools, but the calmer, more pervasive education which belongs, not to a course, but to life. It is a better word here than disciplined^ because discipline is a prose word, — both in sound and in association, too clumsy for poetry. Scanned means scrutinized ; but it has the advantage of being better suited to verse ; and it has not the suggestion )f looking for a flaw that seems to go with scrutinize; the lerivation of scan (from Latin scandere^ to climb) seems to 106 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS give the idea of going over hy degrees^ and so, thoroughly, not hastily. Honored has a number of synonyms, — praised^ respected^ revered^ esteemed; but of the group honored is the word particularly associated with the rewards of literary great- ness. Self-praised^ self -esteemed^ have also associations of self-glorification; and self-respecting is a decidedly prosaic word. Secure means safe (without care). He could not say self-safe^ and self saved would mean self-rescued. Self- guarded or self protected would suggest aggressive eifort, while self -secure gives just the right impression of a calm self-poise, carrying out the figure of the mountain. So it appears that we could not change one of these words with- out marring the effect. 8. An example from Shakespeare,- — Macbeth: — " the king-becoming graces, As justice, verity, temperance, stableness, Bounty, perseverance, mercy, lowliness, Devotion, patience, courage, fortitude, — '* We can soon see that this passage is ruined by the substi- tution of less artistically chosen synonyms ; for instance, — the sovereign-like virtues, Equity, truthfulness, moderation, constancy, Generosity, persistence, pity, humility. Faithfulness, resignation, bravery, endurance. Here it is not so much that the words taken separately are inferior for their purpose, as that the harmony of the whole is gone. Shakespeare has the art of so grouping words that, as in a piece of mosaic, the impression is of a whole, not of a sequence or list. In this passage, the SYNONYMS lQ7 effect of the simplicity and broad humanity which he calls king-becoming, rather than an artificial condescen- sion toward his subjects, is given by the whole as a whole, though it is especially marked by the simpler words, — bounty for generosity^ stableness for constancy. The general difference between his group of words and ours is hinted at by his first general term, graces — a more spontaneous word than virtues. In this passage from Macbeth^ the choice of words de- pends, of course, somewhat upon the verse meter ; and in prose, our choice will be partly governed by the rhythm of words and word sequences. Before taking up the subject of rhythm as affecting the selection of words, let us look at two important advantages to be gained by care in distinguishing syno- nyms : 1. As a basis for Argument ; 2. As a method of Persuasion. Choice of Words as a Basis for Argument. — Carlyle often condenses the whole force of an argument into the distinction between two synonyms, and this distinction he almost always bases upon the derivation of the words. "A man," he says, "can do without Happiness, and instead thereof find Blessedness. Why ? Because Hap- piness depends on hap^ and man cannot depend upon a -per-haps!. He must be able to do without this ; but what is there to take its place ? Ah ! he may have Blessed- ness^ which word — even if we do not accept the deriva- tion from 'Blood' with the idea of sacrifice — has always something of a religious meaning, and suggests the stead- fastness of its source, which is — not ' hap ' but God,'' This meaning he emphasizes further on, — "Love not Pleasure, love God ; this is the Everlasting Yea." We have just seen an instance of Matthew Arnold's 1Q8 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS choice of words in a sonnet, — short, pithy words, as was lit for sonnet form ; words that carried the impression of cahn majesty, as was fitting for his subject, Shakespeare. Let us now see how, in prose, he uses the same care in his choice of words, making his whole argument turn on phrasing that exactly suits his meaning, and repeating these phrases over and over with an insistence too severe for a commonplace writer, who would need a variety of synonyms to give variety to his style. For, as in matters of architecture or of dress, so severe a simplicity is very trying and must be carried out with perfect art. In his essay On Translating Homer he says that Homer has four qualities never to be lost sight of by a translator ; that he is eminently rapid ; eminently plain and direct in style ; eminently plain and direct in ideas ; eminently noble. These words the great critic turns over and over, in the pages that follow, wringing out of them their utmost of descriptive power, showing that it is for want of the understanding of these simple qualities that this or the other translator has wholly or partially failed, — till we are driven to the conclusion that these and no other words explain such failures of the past and possibilities for the future. Choice of Words as a Method of Persuasion. — To the orator, the proper choice of words is of the utmost im- portance, for on it to a large extent depends his power of persuading and swaying his audience. As an exam- ple of an orator who could hit upon the right word for bringing his audience to his side, we may xtake Disraeli. Once, after a cutting speech from Lord Salis- bury, he took the sting out of it and turned the laugh upon his opponent by remarking, "The noble lord's in- vective possesses vigor, but it has one defect, — it lacks SYNONYMS 109 finish!''' The word finish is so cool, so neat, so calmly judicial, that in point and delicacy no one of its syno- nyms — grace^ polish^ ease, elegance — can match it. It has also the other suggestion of an end. It will be seen from this short chapter that in daily speech we may gain or lose much, in proportion to our regard for the proper distinctions of synonyms. In the most trivial talk. Discriminate ! Do not say that a girl, a cheese, a dance, a sky, a story, a sermon, a day, are "lovely." The girl may be lovely; the cheese is excel- lent; the dance was delightful; the sky, beautiful; the story, entertaining; the sermon, remarkably good; the day, fine. Do not, above all, use words with no regard whatever for their meaning, in such a phrase as "I like her awfully well." The habit of using words intelligently is of twofold value, as a means and an end : 1. a means of training the mind for scholarly thought on any subject, and for well- defined thought in practical life ; 2. an end, in improving the tone of general conversation and letter writing. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER IX 1. What is meant by synonyms f 2. On what two considerations does the choice of synonyms depend ? 3. How, in other words, is our use of a word governed by its Past and Present ? 4. Comment on the history of the words cunning and pretty. 5. Discuss the synonyms affable, accessible, courteous, civil, benign, and write sentences showing difference in use and meaning. 6. Use as above^ awful, fearful, dreadful, terrible, horrible. 110 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS 7. To love, like J enjoy, incline to, he pleased with, he content with, he satisfied with. 8. Invent, discover. 16. Artist, artisan. 9. Leisure, idleness. 17. Certain, sure. 10. Lease, hire. 18. Allow, permit. 11. Custom, hahit. 19. Empty, vacant. 12. Enough, sufficient. 20. Kill, murder. 13. Hinder, prevent. « 21. Propose, purpose. 14. Character, reputation. 22. Hope, expect. 15. Vice, crime. 23. Knowledge, wisdom. 24. Convince, persuade. 25. What is meant by an arhitrary distinction between synonyms, as between sympathy and compassion? 26. What may a word artist gain from a careful discrimina- tion between synonyms ? 27. "Long as man's hope insatiate can discern Or only guess some more inspiring goal.'' Point out the niceties of word selection in this passage. (Other words than those specially noted in the text should be taken up here.) 28. Discuss the verse, — " Self -schooled, self-scanned, self-honored, self-secure." 29. In the passage from Macheth, look up all derivations and synonyms, and discuss in detail. 30. What two particular advantages to the writer or speaker are to be gained by careful distinguishing of synonyms ? 31. What general advantages, for the daily purposes of life ? TOPICS Distinction of synonyms for the purposes of Art, Argument, Persuasion, Study, Conversation, and Letter Writing. CHAPTER X RHYTHM Prose Accent. — Prose has been said to be to verse what walking is to dancing ; that is, while the measure of prose is not marked by a regular recurrence of the accent or beat, there should be a rhythmical movement, giving to it a grace of its own. In English verse there is less regularity than in classic verse. As Sidney Lanier says in his Science of English Verse^ though each measure between two accents, like a bar of music, has an equal time, this time may be distrib- uted over any number of syllables, provided the number is not too great for easy movement. The usual number of syllables in an English foot is two or three. These varieties of foot are named thus : — Trochee; two syllables, with an accent on the first, as Idve-ly, Iambus: two syllables, with an accent on the second, as a-fdr. Dactyl : three syllables, with an accent on the first, as ten-der-ly. Amphibrach : three syllables, with an accent on the second, as 171 spring time (rare). Anapest : three syllables, with an accent on the third, as in the light. Ill 112 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS Three syllables may be substituted for two (like a triplet of eighth-notes for one quarter, in music), or two for one, provided the accent and the general time are not dis- turbed ; or the accent may be shifted, for a special effect, as is done in music when the middle of the bar receives the accent by syncopation. Recurrence of Unaccented Syllables. — It is rare, how- ever, either in verse or in prose, to have more than two unaccented syllables follow each other. So natural is this habit to the English tongue, that it is almost impossible to get people to say, cdntumeli/, hd spit able. The tendency is to divide more evenly, — contHmely, hospitable ; or to give a secondary accent, — mdtrimony^ ciistomdry. A certain class of words is thus cut out of poetical use, unless the poem is very irregular in form, or a humorous effect is aimed at. It is difficult to fit into regular verse form such words as cdmbatable^ disinterestedly^ without interfer- ing with both accent and time. By the use of secondary accent, however, in such words as readily admit it, long words may be used in a perfectly metrical verse ; as in Poe's " tm-tin-ab-u-la-tion of the bells.'' This four-time verse is rare in English. The reason for its rarity may be the prejudice spoken of above, against three consecutive unaccented syllables. This prejudice holds in prose as in verse. It is an im- portant principle that for rhythmical prose, we must avoid the fault of too great regularity of accent (sing-song in prose, because not proper to prose as it is to verse), and the opposite fault of too great irregularity (for to that extent, the same laws of rhythm govern both prose and verse) In other words, the accent should occur usually RHYTHM 113 *:it a distance not greater than three syllables, though the three must be varied with one and two. Recurrence of Accented Syllables. — There is also a preju- dice against more than two consecutive accents. Two accented syllables or, in some cases, three, may be thrown together for special eifects, as for the emphasis of broken rhythm, or for imitation of a pause in feeling ; for a break or a pause will be made, equal in time to the value of an unaccented syllable between the two accents. For in- stance, Carlyle throws the emphasis of pause on these adjectives : — "one huge dead steam-engine." For a study of the requirements of rhythmical prose, see how — other things equal — we naturally put names together in a firm name. It is smoother to say Tait and Morrison than Mdrrison and Tait, because in the former the accents are better arranged ; in the latter, there are three unaccented syllables between the accented extremes, and the syllables son and and are not easily pronounced together quickly enough to take the place of one. Again we may put in or leave out and for the purposes of rhythm ; the Shipley F6rd Company needs no and, but the Smith F6rd Cdmpany sounds better with an unaccented syllable inserted to break the two accents, — the Smith and F6rd Cdmpany. These effects, as pleasing to the popular ear, and as an aid to memory, have a practical business value, e.g., in the titles of books. This natural desire for rhythm, even in prose, enters into the choice of synonyms and arrangement of words. In this respect, let us now analyze the words and word sequences of some descriptive prose from a story of Stevenson's : — STU. ENG. WORDS 8 114 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS " The sea, it is true, was smooth like glass : even the Boost was but a seam on that wide mirror, and the Merry Men no more than caps of foam; but to my eye and ear, so long familiar with these places, the sea also seemed to lie uneasily ; a sound of it, like a long sigh, mounted to me where I stood ; and, quiet as it was, the Roost itself appeared to be revolving mischief. For I x)ught to say that all we dwellers in these parts attributed, if not prescience, at least a quality of warn- ing, to that strange and dangerous creature of the tides/' Study particularly the effect of the syllables, — "a 16ng sigh, mdunted," with the imitative pause demanded as for the time of an unaccented syllable between — " a long (-er) sigh (-ing), mounted^ Now examine, with regard to rhythm, the closing sentence of Dr. R. S. Storrs's Oration at the opening of the East River Bridge : — " Surely we should not go from this hour, which marks a new era in the history of these cities, and which points to their future indefinite expansion, without the purpose in each of us that, so far forth as in us lies, with their increase in numbei-s, wealth, equipment, shall also proceed with equal step then- progress in whatever is noblest and best in public and private life ; that all which sets humanity forward shall come in them to ampler endowment, more renowned exhibition; so that, linked together, as hereafter they must be, and seeing the purple deepening in their robes of power, they may be always increasingly conscious of fulfilled obligation to the nation and to God ; may make the land, at whose magnificent gateway they stand, their constant debtor, and may contribute their mighty part toward that ultimate perfect human society for RHYTHM 115 which the seer could find no image so meet or so majestic as that of a city, coming down from above, its stones laid with fair colors, its foundations with sapphires, its windows of agates, its gates of carbuncles, and all its borders of pleasant stones, with the sovereign promise resplendent above it : — * And great shall be the peace of thy children.' " The rhythm of this is more artificial than that of Stevenson; but of its kind, it is almost perfect. The smoothness can easily be seen to depend on the words and on their sequence in about equal proportion. " With the sovereign promise resplendent above it " reads like a verse from a poem based on the regular foot, two unaccented syllables followed by an accented ; it is saved from being too regular for prose by the irregu- larity of the following phrase ; if this read, " And great is the peace of thy children," there would be an unpleasantly sing-song sound to the whole ; so that, to break this, the three successive unaccented syllables are welcome. Now the rhythm of the phrase is very beautiful. If it had been written, '^ With the majestic promise shining over it," the. loss of effectiveness would have been due quite as much to the lack of rhythm as to anything in the meaning or associations of the words. As to sequence, take the phrase " in numbers, wealth, equipment." How much poorer it is if we say, "in equip- ment, wealth, numbers." In the original phrase, the three words roll smoothly together to give us just the desired effect of combined resources. But rhythm does not always mean smoothness. This would be fatal to a passage in which sharp contrast or emphasis was desired ; abruptness may be so managed as to have a fine rhythm of its own ; for example, — 116 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS " Be no longer a Chaos. Produce ! Produce ! Were it but the pitifulest infinitesimal fraction of a Product, pro- duce it ! '' Here the swing of the sentence, as well as the meaning of it, throws in the four unaccented little syllables — " were it but the " ; then comes out with emphasis on '-'pitifulest infinitesimal,'' and jerks out the crisis of stress on ''frdction.'' The unusual number of unaccented sylla- bles between -pit- and -tes six of them — gives an effect of a torrent of words sweeping one on to the climax. Rough as is this rhythm, it is not lawless or the effect of chance. To make one little change — most pitiful for pitifulest — would spoil it. It is said that the natural expression of strong feeling is always rhythmical ; like the rhythm of the unrestrained winds in a great storm — not the smooth rhythm of peace- fully lapping waves. Addison says, in one of the Spectator papers, that the sounds of English words are less '' tunable and sonorous " than those of other languages, — "like string music, short and transient, sounds which rise and perish upon a single touch," while those of other languages are "like the notes of wind instruments, sweet and swelling, and lengthened out into variety of modulation." The inconvenience of short words for lengthened sound is at once felt in calling to a person. We use the longer form of a name, " Be^-sie ! " rather than " Bess," prolonging the latter syllable to be heard at a distance. A monosyllable has not much " carrying " power. Southerners often say, " Mary I " allowing the long sound of the call to rest on the vowel 0. So, too, we say, " Hurry up l'' when, for meaning, " Hurry ! " would do as well. When we read of Fox saying, " If I had a son I should RHYTHM 117 insist on his frequently writing English verses, because that sort of composition forces one to consider very care- fully the exact meaning of words," we can go farther and say that the necessities of rhythmical prose also force upon one the exact consideration of synonyms: and that we shall be masters of words only when we can balance the claims of their derivative meaning, their associations, and their metrical value. It is more clearly understood than it used to be, that this choosing and using of words is not a superficial but a vital and inextricable part of thought^ even of character. So largely is a man's vocabulary the result of his life and development, that his language is, as Buffon said, " of the man." So also is the language of a nation the expression of the character and genius of that people. QUESTIONS ON CHAPTER X 1. Is there anything in prose corresponding to meter in verse ? 2. What are the recognized varieties of foot in English verse ? 3. What two general laws govern the frequency of accents in both prose and verse ? 4. Give an example of the application of these laws to the wording of a firm name. 5. Analyze the passage from Stevenson, with reference to accents. 6. The same, in the sentence from Dr. Storrs. 7. Can a rough emphasis be rhythmical ? 8. What was Addison's remark about the English language, with reference to rhythm ? 9. Illustrate the necessity of rhythm in calling to any one. 10. What did Fox say of the bearing of verse writing upon the choice and use of words ? 118 STUDY OF ENGLISH WORDS TOPICS IN CONNECTION WITH CHAPTER X I. A study of Sidney Lanier's theory, that "Prose is an irregular variety of verse." (For advanced students, this would amply repay two weeks' work at this point). II. Rhythm illustrated in Emerson's Essays. III. In Euskin's Sesame and Lilies, first lecture. IV. Carlyle's contrasts of smoothness and roughness. V. The sing-song quality of parts of Edwin Arnold's Light ^§^' -^ of Asia, INDEX Accent, 111 Accessible, 99 Accurnulation, 79 Addison, quoted 89, 116 Adjectives in -ble, 68 Affable, 99 Allow, 10.2 Alphabet, development of, 13 Angles, Saxons, Jutes, 25 Arabic element in English, 29 Arm, 73 Arnold, quoted, 105 Artist, artisan, 102 Artist's and scientist's use of words, Chapter VIII Association, 93-96 Awful, 100 Bacon, quoted, 88 Benign, 99 Brother, 17 Urowne, Sir Thomas, quoted, 88 Bunyan, quoted, 88 Carlyle, quoted, 89, 107, 116 Celtic element in English, 25 Certain, 102 Change in words, 15 Changes in form of English words, 50-65 Changes in meaning, 70-81 PAGK Character, 102 Chaucer, influence on English, 28 Civil, 99 Classification of consonants, 16 Classification of derivatives, 31 Compound words, 18, 51 Consonant sounds, 15 Consonant groups, 18 Content, 100 Convince, 103 Court, 75 Courteous^ 99 Crime, 102 Chinning, 98 Custom, 101 D Dead languages, 10 Development of word-meanings, 70 Discover, 101 Distinguishing of synonyms, 104-109 Dreadful, 100 Dutch element in English, 30 E Early English, 27 Ecclesiastical-Latin derivatives, 26 Emerson, quoted, 90 Empty, . 102 English in 1100, 27 in 1200, 27-28 English, difference between Early and Modem, 29 119 120 INDEX Enjoy, 100 Invent, 101 Enough^ 102 Italian element in English, 29 Etymologies, mistaken, 19 Expect, 103 J Eye, 74 James, quoted, 90 F Johnson, quoted, 89 Father, 17 Jutes, 26 Fearful, 100 K Foot, 73 KUl, 102 Franklin, quoted, 89 Kipling, quoted. 91 French element in English, 34, 41-45 Knowledge, T 103 G 11 Genealogy of Language, of Indo-European languages, 12 of English, . 12 German element in English, 29 Gilder, quoted, 91 Gradually, 79 Greek derivatives, 31, 34-36 Grimm's Law, 17 Habit, 101 Hand, 74 Head, 70, 73 Hebrew element in English, 29 Heptarchy, 25 Hinder, 102 Hire, 101 History in words, 79 Hope, 103 Horrible, 100 Howells, quoted, 91 Humorous words, 96 Hybrids, 45 Idleness, 101 Incline, 100 Indian element in English, 29 Inflectional change, 51 Intend, 76 Language growth, 23 Lanier, quoted, 85 Latin derivatives, spelling, 66-69 Latin element in English, 34, 37-40 Latin-English, exactness of, 83 Latin and Saxon English, Chapter YII Latin prefixes, 53-55 Latin stems, 37-39 Latin suffixes, 58-61 Latin, why not established in Britain ? 24 Lease, 101 Leisure, 101 Like, love, 100 Limit, ' 78 M Macaulay, quoted, 90 Mental and physical uses of words, 77 Metaphors in language-growth, 70, 72, 75-79 Mile, 24 Milton, quoted, 88 Monosyllabic language, 50 Murder, 102 N Narrowing of meanings, 79 Norman element in English, 27, 42, 43 Norse element in English, 26 INDEX 121 Organism, language an, 10 Origin of words tested by spelling, 46 Periods of English, with refer- ence to "Latin" and *' Saxon" words, 86 Permit, 102 Persian element in English, 29 Persuade, 103 Philology, philosophy, 35 Physical and mental meanings, 77 Pleased, 100 Prefixes, 51 from Greek, 62-53 from Latin, 53-55 from French, 55 from English, 55, 56 Pretty, 98 Prevent, 102 Privilege, 78 Proportion of elements in Eng- lish, 46, 86 R Rhythm, Chapter X Roman invasion, traces in English, 24 Roots, 50 S Satisjied, 100 Saxons, 25 Saxon English, 45, 46, 85 Saxon and Latin English, Chapter VII Scandinavian element in English, 26 JSetf 75 Shakespeare, quoted, 87, 106 Spanish element in English, 29 Spelling, English, 29, 66-69 Spencer, quoted, 83 Stems, 50 Stevenson, quoted, 114 Storrs, quoted, 114 Street, 24 Study, 41, 78 Successive, 78 Sufficient, 102 Suffixes, 57 from Greek, 57, 58 from Latin and French, 68,61 from English, 62, 63 Sure, 102 Synonyms, Chapter IX Technical Greek derivatives, 31 Tennyson, quoted, 86 Terrible,' 100 Teutonic tribes in Britain, 25 Tongue, 75 Turkish element in English, 29 Two, 17 V Vacant, 102 Various elements in English, 29 Vice, 102 Vowels, 15 W Weakening of stems, 64, 69 Wisdom., 103 Wyclif , influence on English, 28 WEBSTER'S DICTIONARIES The Only Genuine School Editions PRIMARY SCHOOL DICTIONARY . . . jo.48 Cloth, i2mo, 336 pages. Containing over 20,000 words and meanings, with over 400 illustrations. COMMON SCHOOL DICTIONARY . . . ;fo.72 Cloth, 1 2 mo, 432 pages. Containing over 25,000 words and meanings, with over 500 illustrations. HIGH SCHOOL DICTIONARY $o.g'^ Cloth, i2mo, 560 pages. Containing about 37,000 words and definitions, with over 800 illustrations. ACADEMIC DICTIONARY ;^i.5o Cloth, 8vo, 739 pages. Containing about 60,000 words and definitions, with over 800 illustrations. Indexed, ;^i.8o. The same. . . Half calf, $2.75; Indexed, §3.00 WEBSTER'S DICTIONARIES are the acknowledged authority throughout the English-speaking world. They are more widely used in the home, the office, and the schoolroom than all others combined. They constitute a com- plete and progressive series, carefully graded, and adapted for all classes. The spelling and punctuation in all leading school- books are based on these dictionaries, which are, therefore, a necessity to every teacher. •[[ There have been issued cheap photographic reprints of the old editions of Webster's Dictionaries, and other cheaply made up books fraudulently using the Webster name. These reprints are of editions over fifty years old, and not only are badly printed, but do not contain the words in common use to-day. ^ The only genuine Webster's School Dictionaries are dis- tinguished by the circular trade mark which appears on the cover of each, and by the name of the American Book Company on the title page. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY (1021 AN INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN ARGUMENTATION .... ^i.oo By FRANCES M. PERRY, Associate Professor of Rhetoric and Composition, Wellesley College. SIMPLIFIED to suit the understanding of students in the first years of college or the last years of the secondary school without lessening its educative value. Each suc- cessive step is given explicit exposition and fully illustrated, and carefully graded exercises are provided to test the student's understanding of an idea and fix it in his memory. The beginner is set to w^ork to exercise his reasoning power on familiar material and without the added difficulty of re- search. The brief-drawing method and the syllogistic method have been combined so that the one will help the student to understand the other. Though the course calls for a sustained piece of work, its preparation and criticism by installments are provided for, so that there is no dearth of work during the course and no accumulation of work at its close. PERRY'S INTRODUCTORY COURSE IN EXPOSITION ..... $i.oo A SYSTEMATIZED course in the theory and practice of expository writing. The student will acquire from its study a clear understanding of exposition — its nature; its two processes ; its three functions; and the special applica- tion of exposition in literary criticism. He will also gain through the practice required by the course facility in writing in a clear and attractive way the various types of exposition. The volume includes an interesting section on literary criticism. The method used is direct exposition, amply reinforced by examples and exercises. The illustrative matter is taken from many and varied sources, but much of it is necessarily modern. The book meets the needs of students in the final years of secondary schools, or the first years of college. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY COMPOSITION-RHETORIC $ 1 .00 By STRATTON D. BROOKS, Superintendent of Schools, Boston, Mass., and MARIETTA HUBBARD, for- merly English Department, High School, La Salle, 111. THE fiindamental aim of this volume is to enable pupils to express their thoughts freely, clearly, and forcibly. At the same time it is designed to cultivate literary appreciation, and to develop some knowledge of rhetorical theory. The work follows closely the requirements of the College Entrance Examination Board, and of the New York State Education Department. ^ In Part One are given the elements of description, narra- tion, exposition, and argument ; also special chapters on letter- writing and poetry. A more complete and comprehensive treatment of the four forms of discourse already discussed is furnished in Part Two. In each part is presented a series of themes covering these subjects, the purpose being to give the pupil inspiration, and that confidence in himself which comes from the frequent repetition of an act. A single new princi- ple is introduced into each theme, and this is developed in the text, and illustrated by carefully selected examples. These principles are referred to again and again as the subject grows. •|| The pupils are taught how to correct their own errors, and also how to get the main thought in preparing their lessons. Careful coordination with the study of Hterature and with other school studies is made throughout the book. ^ The modern character of the illustrative extracts can not fail to interest every boy and girl. Concise summaries are given following the treatment of the various forms of discourse, and toward the end of the book there is a very comprehensive and compact summary of grammatical principles. More than usual attention is devoted to the treatment of argument. The ap- pendix contains the elements of form, the figures of speech, etc. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY (88) A HISTORY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M.A., Principal, Male High School, Louisville, Ky. ^1.25 ACOMPANION volume to the author's History of Eng- lish Literature. It describes the greatest achievements in American literature from colonial times to the pres- ent, placing emphasis not only upon men, but also upon liter- ary movements, the causes of vv^hich are thoroughly investi- gated. Further, the relation of each period of American literature to the corresponding epoch of English Hterature has been carefully brought out — and each period is illumin- ated by a brief survey of its history. ^ The seven chapters of the book treat in succession of Colonial Literature, The Emergence of a Nation (1754- 1809), the New York Group, The New England Group, Southern Literature, Western Literature, and the Eastern Realists. To these are added a supplementary list of less important authors and their chief works, as well as A Glance Backward, which emphasizes in brief compass the most im- portant truths taught by American literature. ^ At the end of each chapter is a summary which helps to fix the period in mind by briefly reviewing the most significant achievements. This is followed by extensive historical and literary references for further study, by a very helpful list of suggested readings, and by questions and suggestions, designed to stimulate the student's interest and enthusiasm, and to lead him to investigate for himself the remarkable literary record of American spirituality, individuality, initiative, and democratic aspiration and accomplishment. ^ While within the comprehension ot secondary pupils, the treatment is sufficiently full and suggestive for a systematic, progressive study of American literature. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY (318) ECLECTIC ENGLISH CLASSICS New Edition in Cloth. The 20 Cent Series 49 Volumes, including the following: Addison's Sir Roger de Coverlcy Papers (Underwood) .... $0.20 Arnold's Sohrab and Rustum (Tanner) .20 Burke's Conciliation with the American Colonies ^ Clark) . . .20 Burns' s Poems — Selections (Venable) ,20 Byron's Childe Harold (Canto IV), Prisoner of Chillon, Mazeppa, and other Selections (Venable) .20 Carlyle's Essay on Burns (Miller) 20 Chaucer's Prologue and Knighte's Talc (Van Dyke) .20 Coleridge's Ancient Mariner (Garrigues) .20 Cooper's Pilot (Watrous). Double number . .40 Defoe's History of the Plague in London (Syle) .20 Robinson Crusoe (Stephens) . .20 Dickens's Tale of Two Cities (Pearce). Double number . . . .40 Dry den's Palarrwn and Arcite (Bates) .20 Emerson's Essays. Selections (Smith) .20 Franklin's Autobiography (Reid) .20 George Eliot's Silas Marner (McKitrick) .20 Goldsmith's Vicar of Wakefield (Hansen) .20 Gray's Elegy in a Country Churchyard, and Goldsmith's Deserted Village (Van Dyke) 20 Irving' s Sketch Book — Selections (St. John) .20 Tales of a Traveler (Rutland). Double number .40 Macaulay's Essay on Addison (Matthews) .20 Essay on Milton (Mead) . .20 Life of Johnson (Lucas) .20 Milton's Minor Poems (Buck) .20 Paradise Lost. Books I and II (Stephens) .20 Old Testament Narratives (Baldwin) .20 Pope's Rape of the Lock, and Essay on Man (Van Dyke) . . .20 Scott's Ivanhoe (Schreiber). Double number . .40 Lady of the Lake (Bacon) .20 Marmion (Coblentz) 20 Quentin Durward (Norris). Double number .40 Shakespeare's As You Like It (North) .20 Hamlet (Shower) .20 Julius Caesar (Baker) 20 Macbeth (Livengood) 20 Merchant of Venice (Blakely) .20 Midsummer-Night's Dream (Haney) .20 Twelfth Night (Weld) . .20 Tennyson's Idylls of the King. Selections (Willard) .20 Princess (Shryock) .20 Thackeray's Henry Esmond (Bissell). Triple number 60 Washington's Farewell Address, and Webster's First Bunker Hill Oration (Lewis) .20 Wordsworth's Poems — Selections (Venable) .20 -_ ,, A HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE By REUBEN POST HALLECK, M. A. (Yale), Louisville Male High School HALLECK' S HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITER- ATURE traces the development of that literature from the earliest times to the present in a concise, interesting, and stimulating manner. Although the subject is presented so clearly that it can be readily comprehended by high school pupils, the treatment is sufficiently philosophic and suggestive for any student beginning the study. ^ The book is a history of literature, and not a mere col- lection of biographical sketches. Only enough of the facts of an author's life are given to make students interested in him as a personality, and to show how his environment affected his work. Each author's productions, their rela- tion to the age, and the reasons why they hold a position in literature, receive treatment commensurate with their importance. ^ One of the most striking features of the work consists in the way in which literary movements are clearly outlined at the beginning of each chapter. Special attention is given to the essential qualities which differentiate one period from another, and to the animating spirit of each age. The author shows that each period has contributed something definite to the literature of England, either in laying characteristic foundations, in presenting new ideals, in improving literary form, or in widening the circle of human thought. ^ At the end of each chapter a carefully prepared list of books is given to direct the student in studying the original works of the authors treated. He is told not only what to read, but also where to find it at the least cost. The book contains a special literary map of England in colors. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY DESCRIPTIVE CATALOGUE OF HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE TEXTBOOKS Published Complete and in Sections WE issue a Catalogue of High School and College Text- books, which we have tried to make as valuable and as useful to teachers as possible. In this catalogue are set forth briefly and clearly the scope and leading charac- teristics of each of our best textbooks. In most cases there are also given testimonials from well-known teachers, which have been selected quite as much for their descriptive qualities as for their value as commendations. ^ For the convenience of teachers this Catalogue is also published in separate sections treating of the various branches of study. These pamphlets are entitled : Eng- lish, Mathematics, History and Political Science, Science, Modern Foreign Languages, Ancient Languages, Com- mercial Subjects, and Philosophy and Education. A single pamphlet is devoted to the Newest Books in all subjects. ^ Teachers seeking the newest and best books foi their classes are invited to send for our Complete High School and College Catalogue, or for such sections as may be of greatest interest. ^[ Copies of our price hsts, or of special circulars, in which these books are described at greater length than the space limitations of the catalogue permit, will be mailed to any address on request. ^ All correspondence should be addressed to the nearest of the following offices of the company: New York, Cincin- nati, Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, San Francisco. AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY ^^- r^-TIE LAST DAT±i ■V ■* 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED LOAN DEPT. This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. i Renewed books are subjea to immediate recall. ' 7 i«ay62 JP REC'D l-D wi/\Y 7 19^2. IlIB »• § ""^ »' i 1 (C7097sl0)476B ^^^^"^^g^'^^"*"^ ^ V\v^ ^^ 366949 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY