^l/FOR^ Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2008 with funding from IVIicrosoft Corporation http://www.archive.org/details/briefhistoryofenOOemerrich A BRIEF HISTORY OF TH« ENGLISH LANGUAGE BY OLIVER FARRAR EMERSON, A.M., Ph.D. Professor of English at Western Reserve University; Author of " The History of the English Language," " An Outline History of the English Language," " A Middle English Reader" THE MACMILLAN COMPANY LONDON: MACMILLAN & CO., LTD. 1925 All rightx reserved Copyright, 1896, By the MACMILLAN COMPANY. Set up and electrotyped July, 1896. Reprinted, with corrections) November, 1897 ; July, 1900. J. S. CuBhing St Co. — Berwick & Smith Norwood Mm<. U.S.A. PREFACE When the author's History of the English Language was passing through the press, a friend suggested the advisability of preparing a brief book on the same subject for schools not desiring the longer work. ^ This suggestion, together with the success accorded to the larger book in this country and abroad, largely accounts for the present volume. The aim has been to shorten and simpHfy the History by the omission of technical details, especially regarding the phonology of the language, without changing materially the scope of the former work. Each part has been rewritten or much altered, usually by omission, but sometimes also by addition and rearrangement. The greatest changes have been made in Parts IV and V. In Part IV the history of English sounds has been replaced by some chapters illus- trating the most important and characteristic changes in the forms of words. It is hoped that these chapters, with- out being too technical, will emphasize the importance of phonetic change, analogy, and accent. They also make it possible to treat inflections on a phonetic, rather than an orthographic basis, thus simplifying classification and arrangement. \^} 31259 vi PREFACE In Part V some advantageous changes in order have been made. The most noticeable of these is in treating the weak verbs before the strong. This order, while not adopted in the larger work, is quite in accord with the plan of both ; namely, to give prominence to those elements of the lan- guage which have been most stable and most important. The weak verbs were not only more numerous than the strong in the oldest period, but have increased in number and influence at the expense of the latter. Besides, the present arrangement not only emphasizes the more regular weak class, but also brings together all the less regular classes, — an advantage in itself. As in the larger work, much emphasis has been laid upon the spoken language. Yet the latter has been by no means exhaustively treated, and teachers are urged to stimulate observation of language as it exists about them in speech, in order both to explain its forms with relation to older usage, and to illustrate the influences that have shaped English in the past. Indeed, as the greatest recent advance in linguis- tic research has been made through a study of speech forms as used by common people day by day, too great stress can- not be placed upon the interest and advantage still to be gained from the same process. Some selections representing Old, Modern, and Middle English will be found in the Appendix. To these, notes have been freely added, so as to facilitate their use in illus- trating changes which English has undergone. Other speci- mens may be easily obtained from the Old English readers, PREFACE vii and from Specimens of Early English, by Morris and Skeat. In the larger work reference was frequently made to authorities, — first as an acknowledgment of the author's indebtedness, second as a guide to the student in the choice of books for further study. It has not seemed necessary to repeat such references in this briefer book, as teachers and advanced students will naturally expect to use the larger History for reference. O. F. E. Cleveland, Ohio, July i, 1896. CONTENTS I. ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES CHAPTER PAGB I, The Indo-European Family i II. The Teutonic Languages ii II. THE STANDARD LANGUAGE AND THE DIALECTS III. The Old English Period . . , ... .23 IV. The Middle English Period 35 V. The Modern English Period 51 III. THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY VI. The Native Element 79 VII. The Borrowed Element 90 VIII. Relation of the Borrowed and Native Elements m IV. CHANGES IN THE FORMS OF WORDS IX. Phonetic Changes 125 X. Phonetic Changes in Vowels 136 XI. Analogy in English 147 XII. The English Accent 159 ix X CONTENTS V. THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS CHAPTER PAGB XIII. Inflectional Levelling in English . . . 167 XIV. The Noun 172 XV. The Adjective 185 XVI. The Pronoun 196 XVII. The Verb 213 XVIII. The Verb (continued) 220 XIX. Verbal Inflection 235 XX. Adverbs and Other Particles . . , . 241 Appendix 249 Index 257 ABBREVIATIONS Lat. = Latin. ME. = Middle English (i 100-1500). MnE. = Modern English (1500- ). OE. = Old English (800-1100). WS. = West Saxon. < = " from," or " derived from." > = " to." I ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES CHAPTER I . ,.. , THE raDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY X. The history of English properly begins with the first traces of the language in the land which has been for so long the home of the English people. | Yet there will be much advantage in going back of this and asking, " How far is English different from the other languages of civilized peoples?" "To what languages is EngHsh most closely allied, and what are the grounds of these aUiances ? " The answers to these questions will show with what languages English may be most profitably compared, as well as what are its most characteristic features. 2. Far from being an isolated language in any sense, EngUsh is but one of an important group making up what is known as the Indo-European family. By a family of languages is meant a group bound together by essential similarities in the forms and uses of words. Such a family is often subdivided into various branches, each of which is itself composed of one or more languages. The languages of each branch are also bound together by other similarities B 1 2 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES in words and forms, which are more or less independent of those characterizing the family itself. 3. A family of languages presupposes original union of all members of the group within a limited area, in other words a common home and a common ancestry. On the other hand, the separation of the family into various lin- guistic divisions is owing to changes which are inevitable in language;./ .The. common language of the original family became gradually broken up into separate speech groups, on account of the gradual breaking up into separate tribal groups as the people pushed out in various directions in search of new homes. Even slight barriers between two divisions, as a river or mountain range, would be sufficient to account for the beginning of speech divisions, or dialects, which might finally become new languages. 4. Each division of the original family came to have new words, new forms of inflection, and new usages in grouping words, or what is called syntax. It might at first be thought that this divergence would soon become so great as to pre- vent finding any likeness between the separate divisions. But, on the other hand, there would be a strong tendency to retain, along with the new elements, many common every-day words. For instance, constant usage would tend to prevent the loss of many names, as of common trees and shrubs, common domestic animals, common metals and arts, as well as names of close relationship, — father, mother, son, daughter, and others. In a similar way the commonest verbs, pronouns, and adjectives would be more likely to be kept than lost. A study of these simple words of various languages, as well as of the simplest grammatical forms, THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY S enables the philologist to find links connecting one lan- guage with another, and uniting several groups into a single family. 5. The reference to the common home of the original members of a family or group might seem to imply blood relationship, as well as linguistic ties. But language is not a race characteristic. While blood relationship is always possible, and often extremely probable, it is not proved by the possession of the same or of similar languages. Many facts illustrate this. The Irish and Scotch speak English, as do many of the natives of India. The African race in America has preserved few, if any, remnants of its native language, and uses no other than that learned from the descendants of the English settlers. In referring to the linguistic connections of English, therefore, race connections are not necessarily implied. 6. There are not only many languages, but many families of languages, known among men. At least one hundred families are known to exist, although only four have been studied with a considerable degree of thoroughness. The others include especially the native languages of America and Africa, all of which are difficult to study because almost without literature and constandy undergoing great changes. The four families which have been most thoroughly inves- tigated are the Hamitic, Semitic, Ural-Altaic, and Indo- European. Of these the Indo-European family is by far the most important, since it includes the languages spoken in ancient and modern times by the dominant races of Europe and Asia. Next in importance is the Semitic family, since it embraces languages spoken by peoples 4 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES which have had great influence on the world's history in general, and on the Indo-European races in particular. 7. As the name Indo-European implies, the family con- sists of languages spoken at some time in India and Europe. The term Indo-European, however, is not as accurate as might be desired. India does not include all the parts of Asia in which languages of the Indo-European type have been spoken, and Europe, on the other hand, is somewhat too general. Other names applied to the family are Aryan and Indo-Germanic, the former more commonly in England, the latter in Germany. Objections might be urged against each of these, and on the whole Indo-European seems to have somewhat the advantage of either of the others. In any case the exact application of the name must be learned from a consideration of the kind and number of languages included in the family. 8. As to kind, the Indo-European family includes lan- guages of the inflectional type. By this is meant that the words of the individual languages of the family are made up of roots and inflectional endings, or modifying parts, which are so united that it is difficult and often impossible to separate them into their elements. In this latter respect the Indo-European languages differ from those in which the roots and modifying parts are more loosely connected, or agglutinative languages, as they are called. Other languages, as Chinese, are made up of separate roots which, though used together in forming sentences and compound words, still maintain their separate identity. After being used together the words at once fall apart, to be reunited into equally loose combinations. Such languages are called isolating. THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY 5 9. Languages of the inflectional type, like the Indo- European, are supposed to have passed through both the other stages of development. There was first a root period, as it is called, in which no trace of inflection existed, as none exists in Chinese to-day. Later, roots and the minor words which afterwards became inflectional suffixes or pre- fixes were loosely joined into compounds. Finally these two elements of the word became fused into one, so that there was no longer any thought of the separate parts. The two or more parts then became indistinguishable except to the student of language, and even the philologist often hesitates to speak with certainty as to the exact dividing line between one part and another. 10. The Indo-European family of languages includes several important branches. The exact number has been variously given in the past, as scholars have variously esti- mated the importance of certain characteristics of each group. Thus from seven to ten divisions are made by dif- ferent scholars, the most reliable authority at present placing the number at eight. As is natural, most of these must again be separated into important subdivisions. The eight branches of Indo-European are Aryan, Armenian, Hellenic, Albanian, Italic, Celtic, Balto-Slavic, and Teutonic. A brief description of each, with some account of the most important subdivisions, will make clear the relationships of these several branches. II „ The Aryan branch consists of two groups, the Indian and the Iranian, often separated in the past into indepen- dent divisions. The Indian, in the older time, consisted of a literary language called Sanskrit, and a vulgar language 6 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES called Prakrit. The first is found in the Veda^ or Brahmanic scriptures, and in later classical writings. From the latter have developed the numerous dialects of modern India, while one form of Prakrit also became the literary language of the Buddhists. The Iranian group is represented by the cuneiform inscriptions of the oldest Persian, by the Avestic or Zend, the language of the sacred books of Zoroaster, and by the modern Persian, Kurdish, and Afghan. The oldest Indian hterature, the Veda, is perhaps as old as 1500 B.C., while the oldest Persian belongs to the beginning of the sixth century B.C. 12. The Armenian branch was formerly classed as a member of the Iranian group, but it is now given an inde- pendent position in the Indo-European family. It is repre- sented by a literary language. Old Armenian, which is found in the books of the early Armenian Christians, and by the living dialects of Armenia. Old Armenian dates from the fifth century a.d. 13. To the Hellenic branch belong the numerous Greek dialects of ancient and modern times. Ancient Greek is known from inscriptions, and from the literary language which was common to all Greeks. The latter sprang from the Attic dialect in the fifth century b.c, and soon became the standard language for all divisions of the race. It there- fore contains almost all of what is known as Greek literature. Outside the literary language, various dialects continued to be spoken, and these form the basis of the dialects of mod- ern Greece. From these, in modern times, has arisen a new literary language, Modern Greek, which is used by the writers of the new Greek nation. THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY 7 14. The Albanian language is now the only representative of an Indo-European branch which, at one time, may have been somewhat widely extended. Albanian is the language of ancient Illyria, and has been known especially since the seventeenth century. It is relatively of Httle importance except to the philologist, who finds in it a connecting link with the Aryan, Armenian, and Balto-Slavic. 15. The Italic branch embraced in ancient tim.es the dialects of Italy. Of these, Latin, the dialect of Latium, became the literary language of ancient Rome, and later, of the Roman empire. In addition to Latin, the Italic branch included an Umbrian-Samnitic group, of which the most important dialects were Umbrian and Oscan. These, however, were overshadowed by Latin, and gradually be- came extinct. Beside Hterary Latin, there existed in the Roman empire a vulgar tongue which, as spoken in the prov- inces, developed into the modern Romance languages. The most important of these are French, Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. 16. Languages of the Celtic branch were formerly spoken over most of western Europe, but later were largely dis- placed by the Romance languages and English. Celtic was also the language of Galatia in Asia Minor. The Celtic branch included three groups, Gallic, Britannic, and Gaelic. Of the first, the language of ancient Gaul, little is known. Britannic included Welsh and Cornish in Britain, and Ar- morican in northern France. Welsh and Armorican are known from the eighth or ninth century, Cornish from a somewhat later time. The latter died out about a century ago. Gaelic consists of Irish, Scotch-Gaelic, and Manx. 8 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES Of these, Irish is the most important, since it is represented by an extensive literature from the eighth century, and by inscriptions which are possibly as old as 500 a.d. Scotch- Gaelic literature began somewhat later, and Manx has been known only in the last few centuries. 17. The Balto-Slavic branch consists of two divisions. To the first, the Baltic division, belong Prussian, Lithuanian, and Lettic. The first died out in the seventeenth century. Of the others, Lithuanian is the more important for philo- logical purposes. The second, or Slavic division, falls into two geographical groups, the southeastern and the western. To the southeastern group belong Russian, Bulgarian, and Illyrian; to the western, Bohemian, Sorabjan, and Polish. Of these, Bulgarian was used by the Slavic apostles Cyril and Methodius in the ninth century, and it thus became the ecclesiastical language of the Greek church. A form of it, modified by Russian and other Slavic elements, is called Church Slavonic. 18. The Teutonic branch, in which we are especially in- terested, includes, among others, English, German, Dutch, and the Scandinavian languages. Its oldest representative is Gothic, which is preserved in a partial translation of the Bible, made in the fourth century a.d. The Scandinavian languages are known from runic inscriptions of the fourth century. The earliest records of the other members of the Teutonic group, English, Frisian, Saxon, Low Franconian, and High German, date from the seventh to the ninth cen- tury, with the exception of Frisian, which has been known only from the fourteenth century. But a complete description of the Teutonic languages must be left for the following chapter. THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY 9 19. The many relations of the eight branches of the Indo- European family to each other are not easily illustrated. The Asiatic and European branches might be united into geographical groups, but this would leave out of account many important bonds of union. A general idea of certain important relationships may be seen from the following diagram : — 'teuton'c \balto- C \/v^ X~^ ^-- — X ^ 1 \ INDO-EUROPEAN \ INDOIfaVNIAN In this figure the large oval represents the common words and grammatical forms, while the overlapping of the smaller circles indicates similar characteristics binding together the minor groups. Such groupings, however, while based on certain resemblances, take no account of others also impor- tant. In fact, no diagram can show the network of common bonds, which cross and recross in many ways. 20. The common ancestry of the Indo-European lan- guages implies a common home in the remote past. As to the place in which the parent race j^riginally lived, opinions have radically differed. According to the older 10 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES view, the original home was in the table-lands of central Asia. In the early part of this century Latham, an Eng- lish scholar, proposed Europe as the first home of Indo- Europeans, and this view has found increasing support among scholars. As to the part of Europe in which the first Indo-Europeans lived, scholars again differ. Some believe it to have ho^tw the region about the southern end of the Baltic Sea, while others suggest a region farther south in the neighbourhood of the Black Sea. The argu- ments for and against these various opinions depend upon a minute study of the culture of the parent race, as shown by the languages and literatures of its descendants. They are therefore quite too elaborate even for summarizing here. CHAPTER II THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES 21, The Teutonic languages receive their name from the Latin name of the people, Teutones. This is the Latin form of a Teutonic word tliiuda ^ * people/ which is not preserved in modern English, but is the root of the High German adjective Deutsch. The latter form of the word accounts for the English borrowed name Dutch, which was formerly applied to German, but is now restricted to the language and people of Holland. The Teutonic branch of the Indo- European family is sometimes called Germanic, but this word is easily misunderstood, because of the use of the term Ger- man for a particular division of the group. Besides, the name German was never applied by the Teutons to them- selves, in whole or in part, so that on this account also it seems less suitable for the race or the language. 22. There are three main divisions of the Teutonic lan- guages : Gothic ; Norse, or Scandinavian ; and West Teu- tonic, a term which includes all the other members of the group. Gothic, the oldest member of the Teutonic branch, early separated into East and West Gothic. Just when this separation took place is not known, but the language which Ulfilas used in his translation of the Bible, § i8, is sup- l The word occurred in Old English as ^eod ("5 =» th), II 12 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES posed to be West Gothic. An East Gothic speech remained in the Crimea until the sixteenth century, although only a few words of this last remnant of the Gothic language have been preserved, through the curiosity of travellers. Norse also separated into West and East divisions. The first includes Norwegian and Icelandic, the second Danish and Swedish. As far as literature is concerned, these four divi- sions were later reduced to three, since, owing to the union of Denmark and Norway in modern times, Danish became the literary language of both peoples. Gothic and Norse were formerly classed together as East Teutonic, but they are now considered independent members of the Teutonic branch. 23. West Teutonic, like Gothic and Norse, separated into two divisions. High German and Low German. High Ger- man is the language originally spoken by the Teutonic peo- ple who dwelt in the highlands of Germany. It is distin- guished from Low German by a shifting of consonants which affected the language of the highlands and only slightly, if at all, the language of the lowlands. High German has, how- ever, spread over middle and north Germany, while from it has also developed the literary language of the whole people. Many dialects still exist beside the literary language. 24. Low German is applied to all the other languages of the West Teutonic group. These were originally spoken in the extreme north of Germany, mainly in the countries bordering on the North Sea, until some of the Low German peoples migrated to Britain, and established there the lan- guage since known as English. Besides the latter, the other members of the Low German group were three, Saxon, Frisian, and Low Franconian. These were the languages THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES 13 of the Saxons, the Frisians, and the Franks of the lower Rhine. The Frisians dwelt in the northern part of Holland and Germany, the Saxons to the east and southeast, the Frankish people on the banks of the lower Rhine, mainly in southern Holland and Belgium. The modern representa- tive of the older Saxon is called North or Low German. The name Frisian is still retained, although the language is spoken only on some of the islands off the coast of north Germany. The modern languages springing from Low Franconian are Dutch, Flemish, and Low Franconian. Of all these modern Low German tongues, the only literary language at present is Dutch. 25. The Teutonic languages differ from Latin and Greek, which fairly represent the Indo-European parent speech, in many particulars. For example, the elaborate inflectional system, so characteristic of Indo-European, is far less per- fectly preserved than in the classical languages. This change has been brought about through a tendency toward simphfication of inflectional forms which, though affecting all Indo-European languages, has been especially strong in the Teutonic languages during all periods. In historic times this tendency has led to the almost total loss of inflections in some members of the Teutonic group, as in English. Besides this important feature, which will be referred to hereafter, some of the more striking characteristics, common to all the Teutonic languages, relate to, — 1. A Great Consonant Change, or Shifting of Consonants. 2. The Accent of Words. 3. A Twofold Declension of Adjectives. 4. The Verbal System. H ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES The above characteristics are more evident in the older periods of the Teutonic languages, although some traces bi them are still to be found in most members of the group. The Great Consonant Shift 26. One of the fundamental peculiarities of the Teutonic languages, as compared with Indo-European, relates to a shifting of certain consonants. While in all Indo-European languages there have been considerable consonantal changes, in none except Teutonic has there been such a systematic shifting of several series of consonants. This systematic shifting of several series of consonants is called the great consonant shift, or in its older and less complete form Grimm's Law. The results of the great consonant shift are compHcated in themselves, and can be fully appreciated only from the older forms of the languages. For our pur- pose the best idea of them may be gained by comparison with Latin, as the most familiar representative of the parent speech. 27. Even a superficial comparison of Latin with English shows that there are in both many words which have similar meanings and some resemblances in form. Examples are : brother — /rater, foot — ped{em)y thou — tu, two — duo, hill — coU{is), yoke — jugiurri). The same is true of Greek, or Sanskrit, or Celtic words, when compared with those of any one of the Teutonic languages. A minute examination of many such examples has led to a statement of the results in the form of a law of consonant change. A complete statement of this law belongs to more elaborate THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES IS treatises, but some idea of its more important features may be concisely given. 28. Four series of Indo-European consonants have shifted in the Teutonic languages. These are: — 1. The Labials p, ph, b, bh. 2. The Dentals t, th, d, dh. 3. The Palatals k', kh', g', gh'. 4. The Gutturals k, kh, g, gh In Teutonic, however, ph, th, kh', kh, have had the same development as p, t, k', k. The palatal and guttural series have also had a similar development in the main, so that for our purpose the sixteen consonants above are reduced to nine. The principal results of the great consonant shift may therefore be briefly summarized as follows : — Indo-European p, b, bh became Teutonic f, p, b respectively, t, d, dh « « th, t, d " " k, g, gh " « h, k, g " If the columns are read downwards, the law becomes, — Indo-European p, t, k became Teutonic f, th, h respectively. b, d, g *' « p,t, k « bh, dh, gh « " b, d, g " 29. The greatest difficulty in understanding the results of the consonant shift is owing to the fact, that no language perfectly preserves the Indo-European consonant system. Besides, a modern language such as English may not per- tectly preserve the Teutonic system. In comparing any two i6 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES languages, therefore, a certain modified statement of the law is necessary. This may be seen by comparing the con- sonants in Latin on the one side with the shifted consonants in Enghsh on the other. The law with regard to Latin and English consonants may be stated thus : — Latin p, b, f [b] equal English f , p, b (v) respectively. " t,d,f[d,b] « « th, t, d « " c,g,h[g] « « h,c(ch),g(y) « In this scheme the bracketed letters of Latin represent medial sounds only, and the English letters in parentheses represent modern variants of the original sounds. The sign c in Latin and English represents the k sound. The changes will be clearer from comparison of Latin and Eng- lish words. 30. Examples of words illustrating the Latin and English consonant equivalents in the first series are as follows : * — 1. Latin p = English f : pater — father ; pecu — fee ; ped(em) — foot; pell(is) — fell 'skin'; plu(ere) — flow; pat(ere) — fath(om) ; cap(io) — haf (t). 2. Latin b = EngHsh p : lubri(cus) — (s)lippery ; labi — (s)leep; turba — thorp (in compounds, as Ap thorp), 3. Latin f [b] = English b (v) : frango, fregi — break ; flos — blow 'blossom'; find (ere), fidi — bite; fiber — beaver. 1 The examples represent cognate forms. The meanings of the cognate words may be quite different, owing to changes which have taken place in the individual languages. In most cases the change of meaning can be easily traced. Many other examples may be selected for comparison in assisting to fix the law in memory. THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES 17 31 . For the second series the following are examples : — 1. Latin t = English th : tu — thou ; tres — three. 2. Latin d = English t : dom(are) — tame ; dom(us) — tim(ber) ; duo — two; ped(em) — foot; ed(ere) — eat; cord(is) — heart. 3. Latin f[d, b] = English d: fac(ere) — do; fing(ere) — dough; for(is) — door; vidua — widow; fend (ere ) -^ bind; rub(er) — red; uber — udder. 32. Some examples of the third series are : — 1. Latin c = English h : cent(um) — hund(red) ; coll(is) — hill ; can (is) — houn(d) ; cap(io) — haf(t). 2. Latin g= English c(ch) : genu — knee; (co)gnosco — know; gen(ui) — kin; gus(tus) — choose. 3. Latin h[g] = Enghsh g(/) : homo — g(r)oom (in bridegroom)', host (is) — guest; veh(ere) — way. 33. While the law of the great consonant shift affects the majority of the consonants included under it, there are cer- tain apparent exceptions. For instance, st remains un- changed in Latin statio — English stead, and in Latin hostis — English guest. In these, and other similar cases, the t, which would otherwise change, seems to be protected by the preceding s. The apparent exception, as in most other cases, is due to the influence of a minor law. These minor laws, which should accompany a complete statement of the great consonant shift, cannot here be explained because of their technicality. Enough has already been said, however, to show that the consonant system of Teutonic has a somewhat different character from that of any other Indo- European language. 18 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES Accent and Inflection 34. A second characteristic of Teutonic, as compared with Indo-European and most of its descendants, is its accent of words. In Indo-European the accent was free ; that is, it might change from one part of the word to another, as from root to prefix or suffix. In Teutonic, on the other hand, this original free accent became a fixed stress after the earliest period. That is, the Teutonic accent always rested upon a particular syllable of the word, and did not change in inflection as in Greek, and, to a less extent, in Latin. It is true that Celtic had a similar accent ; yet, com- pared with Indo-European and the classical languages espe- cially, the Teutonic accent is a characteristic feature. The law of the Teutonic accent will be given and illustrated, under accent of English words, in a later chapter. 35. Another peculiarity of the Teutonic languages in all their earlier forms, is a double declension of adjectives; that is, the Teutonic adjective was declined with one of two sets of endings, according to its use in different syntactical relations of the sentence. One of these two forms cor- responds in general to the adjective inflection in the cognate languages. The other was developed in early Teutonic, and therefore well deserves to be called a characteristic feature. The English adjective has lost all traces of inflection in the later development of the language, but the double declension is still found in modem German and in the Scandinavian languages. 36. Teutonic also differs from the other members of the Indo-European family by reason of peculiarities in its verbal THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES 19 system. The most important of these is the dental preterit, or past tense. This dental preterit, that is the preterit end ing in EngHsh in d(t). or ed, began to be used in early Teu- tonic, and soon became the most common form. Equally characteristic, though less important as far as frequency is concerned, is the use of different vowels to distinguish verbal stems, as in sing — sang — sung. Such vowel variation is not unknown to other languages of the Indo-European family, but in no other language was it made a distinguish- ing feature of verbal stems. These peculiarities of the verbal system, though much modified, are still found in all members of the Teutonic group. 37. Besides the inflectional peculiarities already men- tioned, the Teutonic verb had another characteristic feature. Indo-European had an elaborate tense and mode system, as shown by the classical languages. The Teutonic verbal sys- tem, on the contrary, was extremely simple. Teutonic had but two tenses, a present and a preterit, the first of which was used for present and future, the second for all past time. The six tenses of the present English verb are compound, not inflectional, and are of later formation. Moreover, Teutonic early lost almost wholly its inflected passive voice, although its place was later supplied by a compound passive. In several respects, therefore, the Teutonic verbal system dif- fered from that of the other Indo-European languages. Relationship of the Teutonic Languages 38. A full discussion of Teutonic should include a state- ment of the differences between Gothic and Norse on the one side, and West Teutonic on the other. But these 20 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGE^ differences are in the details of sounds and inflections, and belong especially to the older periods of linguistic devel- opment. The special statement of the law of the second consonant shift, which separated High German from Low German, belongs rather to a History of German than of EngHsh. In addition to the shifting of consonants. High German is characterized by great conservatism in respect to its grammar. On the contrary, Low German shows a marked tendency to uniformity or leveUing of inflectional forms. 39. Within the Low German group, English and Frisian were so similar in their oldest periods that they may prop- erly be classed under the general title of the Anglo- Frisian group. Saxon was most closely related to Low Franconian, although in some respects it was not unlike both English and High German. The general relationships of the older divisions of the Teutonic languages are shown in the above diagram similar to that used for the Indo-European family, THE TEUTONIC LANGUAGES 21 § 19. It must be remembered, however, that such a dia- gram cannot represent all important relations, and must be regarded merely as a guide to some of the more significant bonds of union. 40. From the standpoint of language and literature, as well as from that of extended usage, English yields in importance to none of the Teutonic languages. It pre- serves a greater body of literature in its oldest period than any of the others. It also shows in its manuscripts an older stage of the language than any of the others except Gothic. English is therefore of preeminent importance to the student of early Teutonic literature and philology. More- over, English is at present the most widely used of all the Indo-European languages. For all these reasons the his- tory of English is important, not only to English-speaking peoples, but also to those of the whole civilized world. 41. So much has been said of the Teutonic languages, because they are most closely allied to English at present, as they have been in the past. That is, notwithstanding the external influences which have affected our language, English is still, as it always has been, a Teutonic speech. It has retained through all these influences a groundwork of Teutonic words, inflectional forms, and syntax, which have continued to give the language its distinctive charac- ter. Its closest connections, therefore, are with the Teu- tonic, and not with the Romance or classical, languages. The meaning of this, and the extent to which it is true, will be seen from the following chapters. 42. It is usual, in treating most of the Teutonic languages, to recognize three periods of historical development. These 22 ENGLISH AND OTHER LANGUAGES are called the old, middle, and new or modern periods. The history of English, therefore, will be an account of its development in each of these three chronological divisions. The first, or Old English, period extends from the settlement of England in the fifth century to iioo. The Middle Eng- lish period covers the four centuries from iioo to 1500, and the Modern English period extends fi^om 1500 to the present time. The language of these three periods is called Old, Middle, and Modern English. Old English is also called Anglo-Saxon, § 48. II THE STANDARD LANGUAGE^ AND THE DIALECTS CHAPTER III THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 43. Little is known of early Britain or of its settlement by our Teutonic ancestors. \ Most that is known rests upon the Ecclesiastical History of England, a Latin work written by the Venerable Bede. Bede says that the Teutons were invited by the British king Wyrtgeorn to assist him against his enemies, the Picts and Scots from the north, and west. After repulsing their enemies, the Teutons turned against the Britons themselves and subdued them. Whether this is exactly true or not, it is clear that, about the middle of the fifth century of our era, the Teutons gained a foothold upon the island of Britain and soon became masters in their new home. 1 By a standard language is usually meant that form which occurs in the generally accepted literature of a nation or people. There may also be a spoken standard, which means the language of cultivated speakers in some centre of national influence. Each of these is important to the history ol any language. 23 24 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS 44. Before this time the island of Britain had been the home of the kinsmen of the Gauls and the Irish. These Caesar found whep he set foot in Britain about the middle of the first centur> B.C. In the last half of the first cen- tury A.D. the Romans completed their conquest of the island as far north as the Forth. For more than three centuries from this time Britain was occupied by_ tke Romans. At the beginning of the fifth century, however, the Roman soldiers were withdrawn, and for a short time Britain was again an independent Celtic state. This independence was of short duration. The Teutons, who had been kept from settlement only by the vigilance of the Roman soldiery, soon conquered the island and made it their home. 45. The Teutonic invaders were of three tribes, — the Jutes, the Saxons, and the Angles. The Jutes settled in Kent, the isle of Wight, and the mainland adjoining. The Saxons occupied the rest of England south of the Thames, together with the land bordering on the north bank of the lower Thames. The Angles took possession of the rest of England to the north and east. The dates of the establishment of the various kingdoms are given in the Saxon Chronicle^ but it is doubtful whether they can be relied upon in every par- ticular. They are probably so far correct as to show that the Kentish kingdom was first established, the Saxon next, and finally that of the Angles, these events extending through about a century from the earliest settlement. 46. Our Teutonic ancestors, when they came to Britain, had been practically unaffected by Roman or Christian civ- ilization. After they reached the island, however, the Teu- tonic peoples received Christianity, and this had an indirect THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 2i influence upon the language itself. Christianity first came to the kingdom of Kent, owing to the marriage of King ^thelberht (d. 6 1 6). with a Christian princess of France. The conversion of ^thelberht brought Christianity to all southern Britain, as the Kentish king was overlord of the region south of the Humber. A little later, Eadwine (d. 633), king of Northumbria and overlord of Britain, married the daughter of the Kentish king, and also became a Christian. The establishment of Christianity formed a bond of union for all the peoples of Britain. As one result, a Christian literature sprang up, and not a few words from Latin, the language of the Christian church, were added to the language of England. Early Names 47. In the earliest times, the Teutonic peoples of Britain were distinguished by different names according as they came from different regions of northern Europe. Later, the terms Engle * Angles ' and Englisc * English ' were generally adopted for all the Teutonic peoples.; For example, the Kentish king y^thelberht called himself and his people Engle ^ and Pope Gregory used the same name for the whole people. Another name of similar origin, Angeicyn * Angle- kin,' was also used for the Saxons as well as Angles, and applied to the country as well as to the people. ; Still later, England {Englaland) * land of the Angles ' was generally employed. On the other hand, the Celts, during this early period, called all the Teutonic peoples by the general name Saxons, while the latter gave to the Celts the name Welsh^ that is, ' strangers.' 26 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS 48. The use of the name English for the language of our early forefathers, as distinct from the people, rests upon even better grounds. Its earliest and more restricted use is due to the fact that a vernacular literature first originated in Northumbria, an Anglian state. Soon, however, the name came to designate the language of the whole nation) For example, the Saxon Chronicle speaks of the five languages of Britain as " English, British, Scotch, Pictish, and Latin," in which English clearly refers to the language of all the Teutonic peoples. In the later period of West Saxon Ht- erary supremacy, the name English instead of Saxon was regularly employed. The name Anglo-Saxon for language and people was never generally used by the English them- selves, and its present employment is due mainly to those who, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, revived the study of the older language. | As the name English was originally so common, and as it better suggests a continuity of linguistic development which no one questions, it will be used in this book for the language of all periods. The Old English Language and its Dulects 49. Old English retained all the characteristics of Teu- tonic already described. On the other hand, it was distinct from the other Teutonic dialects in certain peculiarities of sounds, which gave its words somewhat different forms, as well as in its inflections and syntax. Few of these dis- tinctive features are easily illustrated without reciting details of Old English grammar. However, some general charac- teristics may be given. The Old English vocabulary was at THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD ti first almost exclusively Teutonic ; that is, unaffected by con- siderable foreign influences./ Later, as will be seen, some«^ words were borrowed from Celtic, and more from Latin and from Norse, or Scandinavian. The inflectional system of Old English was complicated, though less so than that of Latin or Greek. Old English syntax was much nearer that of Modern German than that of Modern English. 50. Not only were the Teutonic settlers in Britain of different tribes, but their language represented different dia- lects of the common Low German division. These dialects were scarcely so diverse that the different tribes could not understand each other, but there was still no common spoken or written language. After the tribes had become estab- lished in Britain, there were four fairly marked speech divi- sions. These were Kentish in the southeastern corner of Britain ; West Saxon south and west of the Thames ; Mer- cian between the Thames and the Humber ; and Northum- brian between the Humber and the Firth of Forth. Of these, Kentish and West Saxon form the Southern group, while Mercian and Northumbrian make up the Northern or Angiian group, each representing a division of the Anglian people. The position and extent of these dialect divisions may be seen from the map on the following page. 51. It is difficult to characterize these dialects in any but a general way, without going into the minutiae of grammar. As to the sounds of the language. Southern EngHsh, that is West Saxon and Kentish, shows a tendency to palatalization of both vowels and consonants. In this respect, Mercian also usually agrees with Southern English. The best single example of this palatalization is the case of the Old English 28 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS ENGLISH DIALECTS IN THE TENTH CENTURY, THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 29 consonant c, which has become the sound ch in Modern English, representing the older Mercian, while in Scotch, representing old Northumbrian, it has retained the sound of k. Compare such words as church, chaff, churl, chalk, with Scotch kirk, caff, carl, cauk. Note also Winchester, and Rochester in the south, as compared with Doncaster and Tadcaster in the north of England, all of which contain the Latin word castra ' camp,' which suffered palatalization along with native words. The palatalization which caused this change must have begun in the Old English period. 52. On the other hand. West Saxon and Kentish are more conservative in respect to inflectional forms than either Northumbrian or Mercian. Thus, final n in inflectional end- ings is regularly lost in Northumbrian and often in Mercian, but seldom in West Saxon. The infinitive of the verb ' sing ' - is singa in Northumbrian, but singan in West Saxon. The indicative third singular of verbs ends in ^3", ad (t5=th) in : West Saxon, but in es {as) , from which the Modern English s ending is derived, in Northumbrian. In Northumbrian also, feminine, as well as masculine and neuter, nouns take a geni- tive singular in es, instead of e, and thus approach more nearly the Modern English form. Some peculiarities of syn- tax may also be noted. For example, the Modern English preposition in is common only in Northumbrian and Mer- cian, while on {an) is the usual West Saxon form. In all these particulars, Northumbrian is nearer to Modern Enghsh »^ than is West Saxon. In most of them also, Mercian, fromw" which Modern English was eventually to develop, shows a Hkeness to Northumbrian. 30 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS The Literary Language 53. Of each of the dialects some literary monuments remain, but their value from the standpoint of language and literature varies greatly. Two of the dialects, Nor- thumbrian and West Saxon, gained prominence by becoming the medium of an important Hterature, while the others never attained the position of literary language for any considerable part of the people of England. The Nor- thumbrian and West Saxon Hteratures therefore merit special attention. 54. The first dialect in which an important national literature appeared was Northumbrian, the northern divi- sion of the AngHan group. In Northumbrian a rich body of English poetry was produced in the last of the seventh and the beginning of the eighth century. To Northumbria - belongs the composition of the great epic of Old English ■^ times, Beowulf y a poem which is still full of the fire of the heathen war spirit, although since its composition it has been retouched by a Christian writer. In this region^Csed- mon, called the father of English poetry, composed a para- . phrase of part of the Bible. To the same region probably ■^ belongs the excellent poetry of Cynewulf, the author of Christy Elene, Juliana^ and other poems. Besides these gr/eat epic poems there was a smaller number of lyric character. Native prose was also written. For instance, _^ the Venerable Bede, far more widely known for his Latin writings, translated part of the Bible into English. It should be mentioned, however, that most of the literature of the north is not preserved to us in a Northumbrian THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 3V dialect, and would not be known except that it was copied | in a later time by West Saxon scribes. ' 55. The literary supremacy of Northumbria is doubtless connected with that prowess of the Northumbrians which gained for them the overlordship of Britain in the seventh century. This preeminence in literature Northumbria re- tained through the eighth century, although her political importance was on the wane. For example, in Northum- bria during the last half of the eighth century, Alcuin acquired that learning which led to his becoming the teacher and friend of Charlemagne. But the importance of Northumbria finally diminished at the rise of a greater kingdom in the south. 56. Although Mercia was powerful during the last half of the eighth century, no Mercian king was overlord of all England. Probably on this account Mercian did not become, in Old EngHsh times, a Hterary language for the whole English people. At any rate, the next dialect to obtain literary supremacy was that of the important kingdom of Wessex, the rise of which began with Ecgberht, who reigned from 802 to 839. The kingdom of Wessex was strength- ened and enlarged by the great Alfred, and under his sons < the West Saxon king became overlord of all Britain. Alfred also stimulated a great literary revival. He himself trans- lated such works as the Cura Pastoralis, or Pastoral Care, of Pope Gregory, the Chronicle of Orosius, and the Con- solations of Philosophy by Boethius. Other prose works belong to the same time, as the Chronicle of Winchester, and a translation of Bede's Ecclesiastical History, which was formerly attributed to Alfred. The literary revival under 32 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS Alfred was thus principally productive of prose, although the older poetrj^of Northumbria, as already mentioned, was transcribed by West Saxon writers. 57. After Alfred's death literature suffered a decline in Wessex, although West Saxon remained the literary, or standard, language of England. A second literary revival occurred in the last of the tenth and the beginning of the eleventh century. The literature of the period consists mainly of religious writings, as ^thelwold's translation of the Rule of St. Bene die tj the JBilkkling^ Homilies ^ the Homiz lies o f .x^lfric a nd Wulfstan^ and ^Ifric's Lives of the Saints. iElfric also produced a Latin Grammar^ an English and Latin Colloquium^ and a translation of the Pentateuch and other parts of the Old Testament. Prose fiction is repre- sented by translations of Apollonius of Tyre and the Won- ders of the Orient. Besides this prose, there is some poetry belonging to the period, as the Solomon and Saturn^ and accounts of the battles of Brunanburh and^Maldon. 58. The literary ascendency of the West Saxon dialect ended with the fall of the kingdom of Wessex. The West Saxon overthrow resulted from the conquest of England by the Northmen, who are called Danes in English history, although they came from the Scandinavian peninsula as well as from Denmark. The first Danish attack on Northumber- land occurred as early as 787. About a century later the first actual settlements were made. East Anglia having been occupied in 870. Then came the great struggle with Wes- sex, in which the Danes were repulsed and held in check by the prowess of Alfred and his sons. In 980, however, a new Danish invasion began, and in 1016 the c onquest 01 THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD 33 t England was completed, aPanish king being seated on ^ ^ the En glish throne^ It is not strange that, under these ^ ^ circumstances, English literature should have almost ceased ^y^^. to exist, although English continued to be the language of V the people. a\ 59. In 1042 the English kingdom was temporarily re- ^o stored under Edward the Confessor, but the restoration had little effect upon literature or the extension of the use of English. This was largely owing to the weakness of the English king and the fact that Edward's sympathies were with Normandy, the land in which he had lived from boy- hood. Edward also surrounded himself with French nobles whom he placed in positions of trust, and French priests to whom he gave principal places in the church. More- over, the king and his favourites spoke Frencji^ so that •English was no longer the language of the court. So con- siderable were Edward's acts of favouritism that they were resented by the English people, and a revolution in 1052 resulted in the expulsion and outlawry of the Norman prelates. 60. The English restoration under Edward was soon followed by another conquest of far-reaching importance, that by which William of Normandy, in 1066, became William I of England. Such an event could not but have its effect on the use of English as an official and Hterary language. With the government in the hands of conquer- ors, there was naturally little stimulus to the production of a national literature. Besides, while English continued to be written. West Saxon was no longer recognized as pre- eminent among the dialects. Each writer used the dialect 34 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS most familiar to him, according as he lived in the south, the midland, or the north. 6i. It must not be forgotten, in speaking of the decline of English literature, that English has remained the spoken language of England through all the vicissitudes of her his- tory. The Normans did not force their language upon the people, as the Danes at their conquest did not attempt to force the use of Danish. In fact, it is probable that com- paratively few Englishmen learned Norman French. Cer- tainly, among the mass of the people the mother tonguf remained, at the close of the Old EngHsh period, almost as pure as if Frenchmen had not fought at Hastings, or a Norman been crowned at Westminster. The real influence of French upon English belongs almost wholly to the Middle English period and will be discussed in the following chapter. CHAPTER IV THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD gig 62. When the Old English period closed, English was ^ again in the condition of separate dialects none of which could claim ascendency over the others. In other words, at this time no literary language represented the nation as a whole, and no literature expressed the thought and feeling of the whole people. It is true that works were written in Latin, the common language of scholars throughout Europe, during the latter part of the eleventh and the beginning of the twelfth century. These were theological works, as those of Lanfranc and Anselm ; mathematical treatises, as those of Gerland, ^thelard of Bath, and Philip de Thaun ; chron- icles, as those of Florence of Worcester, Simeon of Durham, William of Malmesbury, Geoffrey of Monmouth, and many others. Besides this Latin literature, there were also many works in Norman French, the language of the conquerors, such as the poetical histories of Gaimar and Wace, and the romances of Walter Map. Almost the only English works written during the twelfth century were certain Chronicles^ one of which, kept at Peterborough, comes down to the year 1154. From the beginning of the twelfth century, however, an increasing literature was written in the different 35 36 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS Middle English dialects, and finally English again came to be the literary language of the whole English people. The history of the Middle English period, therefore, is the his- tory of certain dialects, and of the rise of a new literary language for England. Middle English and its Dialects 63. In describing Old English, § 49, some general char- acteristics of its most flourishing period were given. Typ- ical Middle EngHsh, or that of the two centuries from 1200 to 1400, shows some decided changes. In the first place, the vocabulary was no longer almost exclusively Enghsh in origin. Many words had already been borrowed from French and Norse, while the Latin element in the language had also gradually increased. Besides, the inflectional sys- tem had been largely levelled, so that in its simplicity English far more nearly approached the language of mod- ern times. With the losses to the inflectional system there had also come a more analytical syntax. That is, word order was much less free, and the relation of words to one another was marked by the larger use of prepositions and auxiliary verbs. 64. The dialects of Middle English are in the main nat- ural developments from those existing in Old English times. They also occupy practically the same territory (see p. 28). They are, however, called by somewhat different names, as Northern instead of Northumbrian, Midland instead of Mercian, and Southern instead of the older West Saxon. Kentish retains its name, although owing to its less impor- THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 37 tant development, it is often included in Southern English. Besides change in name, only one important difference between the dialects of Old and Middle English need be noted. The Midland dialect, which assumes new impor- tance in the Middle English period, separated into several minor dialectal divisions, of which the most important are East Midland and West Midland. Before the close of the Middle EngHsh period, the Northern dialect also began to separate into two divisions. Lowland Scotch and Northern English proper, the former of which became the literary language of Scotland. 65. The dialects of Middle English may be briefly char- acterized by some of their more striking features. As to sounds. Old EngHsh a became (as in lord^ in Southern and Midland, but remained a in Northern. This distinction accounts for the later difference between such words as English home and Scotch hame. Southern English, on the other hand, differed from Northern as well as Midland in changing f to v and s to z initially. Thus in Southern, for example, fox and so became vox and zo. As to vocabulary, the Northern dialect contained a larger number of Norse words, while Southern and Midland had borrowed a larger number of words from French. Certain differences in in- flection also distinguish the separate dialects. In nouns the plural form was more regularly made in Northern and Mid- land by adding es, while in Southern many en plurals were found. In verbs, eth was the Southern ending of the in- dicative third singular and the plural ; but en was the ending of the plural in Midland forms, while es was found in both singular and plural of the Northern dialect. 38 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS J The Fusion of French and English 66. Attention has already been called to the fact that English remained, after the conquest as before, the language of the great majority of the people of England. While at first French was spoken by the conquerors, and by the Normans who followed them after the establishment of the new kingdom, there is no evidence that it was adopted to any extent by the English people. On the other hand, it is clear from many recorded statements that the Normans themselves soon began to learn and use the language of their adopted country, as their Norse ancestors had learned French soon after settling in Normandy. Just how early this took place is uncertain, but of the fact itself there can be no reasonable doubt. 67. Indeed, the fusion of the two races probably took place much earlier than is usually supposed. This may be shown in many ways. In the first place, it was the policy of William the Conqueror to disturb existing laws and cus- toms as little as possible. After the battle of Hastings, he presented himself for election to the kingship before the English national assembly (Witenagemote), and took the coronation oath of former English kings. He also re- tained popular legal institutions, and confirmed the laws of his predecessor Edward. Moreover, William's sons, Rufus and Henry I, were able to hold their possessions against the Norman Robert and his adherents, only through the support of their loyal English subjects. Finally there is the evidence of contemporary writers as to the complete union of conquerors and conquered. Walter Map, who THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 39 died in 1210, tells us explicitly that the reign of Henry I put an end to the distinction between Norman and English- man. Another writer of the time of Henry II (1154-1189) confirms this by saying, " Already the English and Normans, by dwelling together and intermarrying, are so mixed that, among freemen at least, it can scarcely be determined to-day who is of EngHsh and who of Norman birth." 68. The fusion of the two races was rapid and easy on several accounts. First, the actual number of the Normans coming in at the conquest has been greatly exaggerated in popular estimation. Besides, many Normans came long after the conquest, when England and Normandy were united as parts of one great empire and all hostility between the races was a thing of the past. Moreover, direct Nor- man influence, if it continued so long, ceased at the loss of Normandy in 1204. Indeed that event could hardly have happened at all, if for some time before it the interests of Normans had not been transferred almost wholly to Eng- land. Finally, in 1244, Louis IX of France commanded the English nobles to relinquish their possessions in Eng- land, or give up their claim to those in France. In retalia- tion for this, the English king, Henry III, ordered all Frenchmen who held possessions in England to be de- prived of their property. This last act could hardly have been ordered, if many in England were still regarded as belonging to the Norman race. If all these facts are taken together, the conclusion seems inevitable that the fusion of the two races began as early as the first of the twelfth century, and a century after the conquest was complete. # 40 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS The Spoken Language 69. The best evidence of the fusion of the races depends on what is known of the adoption by the Normans of the language of the conquered people. As to this there are many incidental allusions. It is asserted on excellent au- thority that William I himself, far from trying to supplant English, attempted at the age of forty-three to acquire the English tongue. There is at least little doubt that he un- derstood English. William's son, Henry I, was probably taught English in childhood. Henry II (1154-1189) under- stood, if he did not speak, the tongue of EngHshmen, and in his time also nobles of Norman birth " could freely speak, or understand, English." In the reign of Richard I (1189-1199), a bishop of Norman birth blamed another Norman bishop because he could not speak the language of the people. In the century following, the Bishop of York refused benefices, even to those recommended by the Pope, on the ground that they could not speak English, while in the poHtical troubles of 1263 those nobles who did not understand the native tongue were held in no esteem by the common people. 70. More significant still of the favour in which English was held, is the attempt of Edward I (1272-1307) to incite enmity against the French by proclaiming that the king of France " planned, if his ability should correspond v/ith his iniquitous purpose (which God prevent), to destroy the English language wholly from the earth." The third Ed- ward (1327-1377) opened Parliament in 1362 by declaring in English the causes of the summons. This is significant THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 41 proof that in the formalities of parliamentary proceedings English was displacing French. In the same year the same Edward granted, on petition of the Commons, that pleadings in the courts of law should again be in English. The statute is most explicit. After reciting " the great mischiefs which have happened to divers of the realm, because the laws, customs, and statutes of this realm be not commonly known in the same realm, for that they be pleaded, showed, and judged in the French tongue, which is much unknown in the said realm," it ordains " that all pleas which shall be pleaded in his [the king's] courts whatsoever, before any of his justices whatsoever, or in his other places or before any of his ministers whatsoever, or in the courts or places of any other lords whatsoever within the realm, shall be pleaded, showed, defended, debated, and judged in the English tongue." 71. During the fourteenth century, English also regained its place as the language of the schools. This of course means that French, which had hitherto been thought proper for the sons of the upper classes, was now felt to be dis- tinctly out of place. Higden's Poly chronic on ^ written about 1352, is the authority for our knowledge of the use of French in the schools. Higden tells us, • "This impairing of the birth tongue is because of two things; one is, for children in school, against the usage and manner of all other nations, be compelled for to leave their own language and for to con- strue their lessons and their things in French, and so they have since the Normans came first into England. Also gentlemen's children be taught to speak French, from the time that they be rocked in their cradle and can speak and can play with a child's brooch." 42 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS On this passage the English translator, John Trevisa, adds a note telling us that the schools, in spite of their conserva- tism, had given up their use of French. His own words are as follows : "This manner was much used before the first death (1349), and is since somedeal changed; for John Cornwall, a master of grammar, changed the lore in grammar schools and construction of French into English ; and Richard Pencrich learned this manner of teaching of him, and other men of Pencrich; so that now, the year of our Lord a thou- sand three hundred four score and five, and of the second king Richard after the conquest nine, in all the grammar schools of England children leaveth French and construeth and learneth in English." 72. To sum up the history of the spoken language in the Middle English period, it may be said that French, the lan- guage of the conqueror, was used for a time by the upper classes, especially by Normans and those of Norman de- scent. Only for a comparatively short time was French used to the exclusion of English even by the upper classes. The Normans themselves soon learned English, although continuing to learn and use French, as scholars all over Europe continued to learn and use Latin. Gradually Eng- lish displaced French, not only as the language of daily intercourse among the descendants of the Normans them- selves, but also as the official language of England. Finally, in the fourteenth century, the conservatism of the law and the conservatism of the schools gave way to the language of the people, and the ascendency of Enghsh was complete. The Written Language 73. It has been shown in the preceding sections how English, the language of the Teutonic settlers in England, THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 43 again became the spoken language of all classes, as well as the language of Parhament, of the schools, and of the courts of law. During the same period English was also regaining its place as a written language, while one form of it was becoming established as the standard literary language for all England. The gradual steps by which this latter fact came about are of the first importance in the history of English. 74. It has already been said that William the Conqueror did not attempt to supplant the English speech. Equally true is it that he did not depose English from its place as the language of official documents. Before the Conqueror's time, writs and other acts issued by the government had been in English or Latin. WiUiam I continued the same practice, never using French in official documents, so far as shown by those preserved. After William's reign, the use of English in official records grows rarer until the reign of Richard I (1189-1199), the first king after the conquest of whose reign no English document is preserved. Char- ters, however, were written in Latin and English during the two centuries following iioo. Moreover, when English was displaced for a time in public documents, it gave way, not to the language of the Norman, but to Latin, the language of learning throughout Europe. 75. That the Normans did not make French an official language for England is clear, from the time at which it began to be used in official documents. Strange as it may seem, the first official use of French was in the year 1215, a century and a half after the conquest, and a decade after England had lost Normandy. Besides, less than fifty years 44 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS later, or in 1258, Henry III issued his famous proclamation to the whole nation in English, as well as in Latin and French, the languages common in public records. This proclamation related to the Provisions of Oxford, which, like Magna Charta, were a bill of rights wrested from the king. The "Provisions" had been demanded by a great popular uprising, and it was peculiarly fitting, therefore, that they should be published in the language of the people. 76. It is true that French was largely used in public documents after this time, but this fact must not be over- estimated. As an official language, French was not intended for the majority of the people, but for a comparatively small official class. Besides, in the thirteenth century, French was the language of half the courts of Europe, and it would not be strange if, on this account alone, it should have been used in England. Certainly this later and more extended use of French clearly indicates that the foreign tongue was no longer regarded with hatred as a badge of the conqueror. 77. English fully regained its place as an official language in the last part of the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth century. This is shown by English documents still preserved in the British Museum and Public Record Office of London. Of these, the oldest private records belong to the year 1375, the oldest London documents to the year 1384. The earliest English petition to Parliament also bears the latter date. The earliest English will is of the year 1387, and the earliest statutes of the Guilds written in English are of 1389. From the time of Henry VI (1422) private records are commonly in English. Petitions and bills in Parliament are regularly in English from the years THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 45 1444 and 1445. Only in the statutes did French continue to be used until 1488, after which they also are always in the native tongue. 78. The language of correspondence throws some light on the use of English, and on the relative positions of Latin and French. Latin was commonly used in correspondence during the earliest Middle English period. Later, but not before the last of the thirteenth century, French began to be used in letters. Just how early English was used is not certain, but a private letter of 1399, written in the latter language, is still preserved. At least from this time, English was doubtless the usual language of correspondence. This would seem to be clear also from the Paston Letters, a re- markable series extending from 1424 to 1508, and from the fact that, during the fifteenth century, the letters of kings, as of the nobility of England, are in English. 79. As has been said, § 62, both Latin and French were used in literature during the twelfth century. English con- tinued to be written, but the decadence of the language was more marked at this time than during almost any century of English history before or since. This was natural enough, owing to the supremacy of the Normans, and the inevitable repression of the English national life. It is not strange therefore that English was dialectal, that each writer used the dialect most familiar to himself and those of his own district, and that there was no attempt to reach the whole people in a language common to all. Yet even this dia- lectal literature is important to the history of English. 80. It is not strange that the Southern dialect, the direct descendant of West Saxon, the standard language of Old 46 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS English times, should continue to be used in literature. Some of the principal works in this dialect are the Lives of \/ St. Katherine and St. Juliana, the Ancren Riwle, or * Rule of Nuns,* and, in the fourteenth century, Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle and Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychroni- con. Less important, because not representing the Southern dialect so accurately, are such poems as the Moral Ode^ the Owl and Nightingale^ and the prose treatise called Wooing of our Lord. Kentish has few important representatives, but the Kentish Sermons and Michael of Northgate's Ayen- bite of Inwit, or * Prick of Conscience,' may be especially mentioned. As their titles suggest, almost all of these works are religious in character, and in this respect, among others, show the limited scope of early Middle English literature. 8i. To the Northern dialect belong the Metrical Psaltery V and the Cursor Mundi, a verse history of the world. There are also the works of Richard Hampole, the Prick of Con- >. ; science and the Book of an Anchoress, as well as a series of Metrical Homilies. The most noteworthy works in later Northern are the Songs of Lawrence Minot, and the York and Towneley Mysteries^ specimens of the early drama. In the fourteenth century also a national literature began to be written in Scotland, but this may be best considered in connection with the later Hterature of that country. 82. Far more important to a history of the English lan- guage is the literature of the Midland dialect. This dialect includes, as has been said, two divisions. Early East Mid- jland is represented by the Peterborough Chronicle and the Ormulum, or book of a monk named Orm. The Ormulum is a poem of 10,000 long lines, consisting of paraphrases THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 47 of passages from the New Testament and homilies upon them. It is important mainly because of the unique orthog- raphy of the writer, which throws much light upon the language of the time and on Middle EngUsh generally. Besides these, there are the Bestiary, a fanciful poem on animals and their assumed characteristics, and a poetical paraphrase of Genesis and Exodus, At the beginning of the fourteenth century Robert of Brunne wrote his Chronicle and Handlynge Synne, or ' Manual of Sins.' West Midland of the early period is represented by Layamon's Brut, a long verse history of England, by the story of King Horn, and by other poems of a popular cast. 83. The real blossoming of literature in the Midland dialect was during the fourteenth century, when English was becoming the language of the court, of the schools, and of legal proceedings. First a great number of metrical romances appeared in English of the East Midland district. Some of the most important are the tales of Havelok the Dane, Amis and Amiloun, King of Tars, and Guy of War- wick. Next came a great revival of popular alliterative poetry in the west and northwest. The most important works of this revival are the Piers Plowman of Langland, and the Pearl, Sir Gawain, and other works of an unknown poet. At the same time the great court poet Chaucer, a native of London, used English throughout his writings. In friendly rivalry or direct imitation of his great contem- porary, Gower gave up the use of French and Latin for the mother tongue. Both of the latter writers are represent- atives of the East Midland dialect, although their language shows a colouring of Southern English. Finally, Midland ^^ 48 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS prose is represented by Mandeville's Travels, and by the writings of the reformer WycHf, who, late in hfe, forsook Latin for the mother tongue in making his appeal to the people against the clergy. Before the end of the century also the Bible had been translated into English, first by Hereford and Wyclif and next by Purvey. 84. During the fourteenth century the principal Htera- ture of England was written in the Midland dialect, clearly suggesting that Midland was soon to become the standard language of the kingdom. Moreover, although the West Midland dialect was largely used in the early part of the century, in the last quarter of the fourteenth and the whole of the fifteenth century most of the literature of England was written in the language of the East Midland district. Still more exactly, the variety of East Midland which was most common was that spoken in London, the chief city of the East Midland district, as of the realm. The same variety of EngUsh had also become the official language of England, as shown by its constant use in official docu- ments. This was not only natural, but inevitable, since London itself had come to be the seat of national life and the centre of national influence. 85. The changes in literary English during the fifteenth century were few, at least as compared with the changes which had preceded that time. Such as did occur were changes due to the general tendency toward greater uni- formity whic''' had already affected the language. It has been noted that the language of Chaucer and Gower was coloured by some peculiarities of Southern English, pecul- iarities which belonged to the London speech of their time. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD 49 The language of Wyclif, on the other hand, was coloured by some intermixture of Northern forms. But the writings of Caxton, toward the end of the fifteenth century, show the language freed from the dialectal forms of his predecessors, more uniform in its orthography, and correspondingly neai'ST the language of literature in modern times. 86. The gradual advances by which English more and more fully became the language of Hterature may be seen in the writings of the fifteenth century. In poetry, Chaucer was followed by such disciples as Lydgate and Occleve. In prose, the use of English by Wyclif and his followers had led the supporters of orthodoxy to adopt the language of the people. The first of these champions of orthodoxy to write in English was Reginald Pecock. About the middle of the fifteenth century also, Richard Capgraye wrote a prose Chronicle in English, the first after the abrupt close of the Saxon Chronicle in 1154. Finally, toward the end of the century many books were printed, and not a few written, by William Caxton, the father of English printing. 87. In only one respect could English be said, to lack the fullest acceptance as the language of literature. Latin, which had been the common language of scholars through the Middle Ages, continued to be used occasionally long after the beginning of modern times. But Latin, as a lit- erary language in England, shows a marked decline toward the latter part of the Middle English period. Many a writer, especially in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, used both Latin and English at different times, as Wyclif, Gower, Capgrave, and Fortescue. But the language of mediaeval learning soon came to be limited to certain kinds IL 50 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS of books, as those of a scholarly character, or those intended for the continent as well as for England. From Caxton's time English was the only literary language for the whole English people. 88. To summarize, the history of English in the middle period began, much as in Old English times, as the history of several dialects, none of which had any real ascendency over another. This was owing to the conquest and over- throw of the English kingdom, and the consequent use, by the ruling class, of another language than EngHsh. For a time, the language spoken by the conquerors was Norman French, and the language of most of the literature either French or Latin. Gradually, however, the two races be- came one, and the Normans came to speak and use the language of the English people. At the same time English again came to be written with greater frequency, until it grad- ually displaced French entirely, and Latin also except as the latter was sometimes preferred by scholars in scholarly treatises. Lastly, English of a particular variety, the East Midland of London, became the prevailing form in litera- ture and the standard written language for the whole English nation. CHAPTER V THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 89. Compared with the varied vicissitudes through which Old and Middle English passed, the history of the modern language is exceedingly simple. The language of Lon- don has remained the standard form since its establish- ment, subject only to such changes as are incident to any language in the course of its history. There has been in modern times no revolution affecting the language materially, no conquest by a foreign nation such as happened to the people in the Old EngHsh period. Nor has there been any such radical change from within, as that by which West Saxon English in the oldest period was finally replaced by Midland English as the standard speech of later times. Yet English has by no means been stationary in the modem period, and many changes of a general nature require to be chronicled. There are also dialects of Modern English to be described, although these are not relatively so important as in previous periods. Besides, a separate literary language existed for many years in the Lowlands of Scotland, while during the modern period English has become the language of a new nation and of important extensions of the British empire. 90. The estabUshment of London English as the stand- 5« 52 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS ard language of England came about so gradually that it does not seem to have been formally recognized by con- temporaries, or by writers of the fifteenth century. In the following century, however, there is at least one distinct recognition of London English as the standard literary form. This is found in the Arte of English Poesie^ pub- lished in 1589 and attributed to George Puttenham. The reference occurs in incidental directions to the poet. " Our maker, therefore, at these days shall not . . . take the terms of Northern men, such as they use in daily talk, whether they be noble- men or gentlemen, or of their best clerks all is a matter; nor in effect any speech used beyond the river Trent, though no man can deny but that theirs is the purer English Saxon at this day. Yet it is not so courtly or so current as our Southern English is; no more is the far western man's speech. Ye shall therefore take the usual speech of the court, and that of London and the shires lying about London within sixty miles and not much above." It need scarcely be said that the writer uses Southern in the general sense, the language of London being Midland more exactly. 91. The general use of English in the flowering of our literature during the Elizabethan age indicates that it was already established as the permanent medium of expression for both poetry and prose. It is true, that such a writer as Ascham apologizes for using English, but says with confi- dence " that when the best of the realm think it [English] honest for them to use, I, one of the meanest sort, ought not to suppose it vile for me to write." There were also a few such favourers of Latin, as Bacon, who believed that " these modern languages" would, "at one time or other, play the bankrupt with books." Indeed Latin continued to be writ- THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD S3 ten by scholars, as by More, Bacon, Milton, and Newton. But, as in the last of the Middle English period, Latin was generally employed in order to reach some special class of readers on the continent as well as in England, so that its use in no sense affected English as the language of a dis- tinctively national literature. 92. Although the standard written language was already estabHshed at the beginning of the modern period, English at that time differed considerably from EngHsh to-day. In particular, the tendency to simplification of forms and regu- larity of usage had not yet brought the language to its pres- ent state. Many irregularities therefore appear in early Modern English, as may be seen by examination of the language of Caxton. In nouns, for example, a greater num- ber had irregular plurals, as winter^ year, in * three hundred winter,^ 'forty year.^ Other irregular plurals are eyeriy hosen, sometimes shoon, for * eyes, hose, shoes.' The adjec- tives long, strong, were still compared by the use of the older forms lenger — lengest, strenger — strengesi. In pro- nouns, to illustrate by two instances, his was still used for its, which had not yet appeared, and who was still infre- quent as a relative. Among verbs also, especially among strong verbs, a greater variety of forms was usual than at the present time. Besides, the present indicative third singular still retained the ending eth, thus differing from the modern form. Differences in syntax and idiom might also be illustrated. 93. The tendency to simplification of forms and regular- ity of usage in early Modern English was pardy unconscious, as in the previous periods, partly owing to a definite purpose S^ STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS of " improving " the language, as it was said. English and the other modern languages were compared to their disad- vantage with classical Latin. At the same time it was con- ceived that the former might be placed on a level with Latin by freely adopting Latin words and by imitating the rhetori- cal effects of Latin writers. This curious idea originated in Italy, and finally reached England through France. On this latter account, the attempt to improve English included the introduction of Romance, as well as Latin, words and also the imitation of Romance writers. 94. The purpose of improving English in the manner described was acknowledged as early as 1533. Sir Thomas Elyot, in the preface to The Knowledge which maketh a man Wise, refers to the "strange terms" found in another of his books, and says : " I intended to augment our English tongue, whereby men should as well express more abun- dantly the thing that they conceived in their hearts (where- fore language was ordained), having words apt for the purpose, as also interpret out of Greek, Latin, or any other tongue into English as sufficiently as out of any of the said tongues into another." Elyot also speaks of "other words late comen out of Italy and France and made denizens among us." George Pettie in 15 81 approved borrowing from Latin in these words : " It is indeed the ready way to enrich our tongue and make it copious ; and it is the way all tongues have taken to enrich themselves." In 1593, Thomas Nash, the pamphleteer, defended his borrowings from several foreign languages, on the ground that English contained too many monosyllables. 95. On the other hand, a second class of writers in the THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD SV sixteenth century showed a purist tendency with respect to English. These writers also wished to see English placed, so far as possible, on a level with the classic tongues. But they felt that borrowing of words from the classics, from French, and later from Italian and Spanish, was rather a corruption of the speech than a real improvement. One of those to oppose such borrowing was Roge r Ascham, already referred to, who disapproved of "using strange words as Latin, French, and Italian," and disagreed " with a man which reasoned the EngUsh tongue to be enriched thereby." Thomas Wilson, who published the Arte of Rhetorike in 1553, is even more severe upon the use of foreign words. The author of thie Arte of English Poesie, § 90, also belonged to the same purist school. In the latter work he writes thus of the corruption of the language : "Albeit peradventure some small admonition be not impertinent, for we find in our English writers many words and speeches amenable, and ye shall see in some many inkhorn terms so ill affected, brought in by men of learning as preachers and schoolmasters; and many strange terms of other languages by secretaries, and merchants and travelers and many dark words, and not usual nor well sounding, though they be daily spoken in court." 96. Each of these classes of writers, however, had its share in the development of English. The two influences worked together, so that the tendency of the first class to adopt foreign and newly coined words, was checked by the second class, while the latter was no doubt influenced to some extent by the former. That the purists were not narrow extremists is shown by other parts of their works. ft 56 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS For example, Wilson, who is so severe upon the affected use of foreign words, says in another place : " Now, whereas words be received, as well Greek as Latin, to set forth our meaning in the English tongue, either for lack of store or else because we would enrich the language, it is well done to use them, and no man therein can be charged for any affectation when all other are agreed to follow the same way." Perhaps no one has put the matter more truly for a language in which borrowed words are common. / 97. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries another attempt was made to improve the English language. Eng- lish writers of this time looked for some means of establish- ing the language, so that it should remain unchanged and thus be a better means of preserving literature to future generations. The apparent necessity for this grew out of /the revival of the classics, and out of false conceptions regarding the classical languages. It was believed, for example, that Greek had remained unchanged from Homer to Plutarch. Besides, writers of Latin imitated the style of Cicero, a fairly fixed quantity, and were esteemed in pro- portion as they caught the manner of the great Roman orator. In the modern languages, on the other hand, there was no fixed standard to be imitated, and men saw, by comparing the language of one period with another, that there had been great changes in diction, grammar, and style. They feared, therefore, that literature which was committed to such an unstable medium, would soon be- come antiquated and buried in libraries, rather than read and appreciated by posterity. This idea of the instability of the modern languages early led to the establishment of THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 57 Academies in Italy and France, in order to set a standard and prevent change. 980 The proposition to establish in England an Academy like those of Italy and France was often made in the seven- teenth century. Perhaps the first to suggest such a thing was Edmund Bolton, who, in 161 7, proposed a grand Royal Academy, one part of which was to be devoted to literature. This was even before the establishment of the French Acad- emy (1635) at the suggestion of Richelieu. Milton, though not proposing an Academy, wrote in the highest terms of " him who endeavours, by precept and by rules, to perpet- uate that style and idiom of speech and composition which have flourished in the purest periods of the language." Dryden, in 1663, regretted ** that, speaking so noble a language as we do, we have not a more certain measure of it, as they have in France, where they have an Academy enacted for that purpose and endowed with large privileges by the present king." In 1679 he again favoured an Acad- emy in these words : " I am desirous, if it were possible, that we might all write with the same certainty of words, and purity of phrase, to which the Italians first arrived and after them the French ; at least that we might advance so far as our tongue is capable of such a standard." Yet Dryden did not depreciate English, for in his Essay of Dramatic Poesie he says : " Our language is noble, full, and significant ; and I know not why he who is master of it may not clothe ordinary things in it as decently as the Latin, if he use the same diligence in his choice of words." 99. The proposal to establish an Academy was renewed in the eighteenth century by Swift. In 17 10 he suggested ^ STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS that the Tatler should exercise its authority as censor, " and by an annual index expurgatorius expunge all words and phrases that are offensive to good sense." In February, y 171 2, Swift elaborated his idea in z. Proposal for Correct- ing, Improving, and Ascertaining the English Tongue, which was published as a letter to the Earl of Oxford. In one part of this he says : " In order to reform our language, I conceive, my lord, that a free, judicious choice should be made of such persons as are generally allowed to be best qualified for such a work without any regard to quality, party, or profession. These, to a certain number at least, should assemble at some appointed time and place, and fix on rules by which they design to proceed." 100. Meanwhile Addison had taken up the proposal of Swift, and in the Spectator for August 4, 1711, favoured " something hke an Academy that, by the best authorities and rules drawn from the analogy of languages, shall settle all controversies between grammar and idiom." In the number for September 8 of the same year a similar wish was expressed, that "certain men might be set apart as superintendents of our language, to hinder any words of a foreign coin passing among us." Later in the century the feeling was somewhat different. Johnson, though agreeing with Swift and others as to the importance of establishing English, rejected the idea of an Academy, the estabhshment of which he hoped " the spirit of English liberty will hinder or destroy." loi. These proposals with regard to an Academy came from the purists. They were vigorously opposing the con- tinued introduction of foreign words, and the corruption, as THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 59 they called it, going on in the language itself. Dryden was theoretically a purist, although himself using many foreign words. Thus, in the Defence of the Epilogue ^ he says : — " As for the other part of refining, which consists in receiving new words and phrases, I shall not insist much on it. It is obvious that we have admitted many, some of which we wanted, and therefore our language is the richer for them, as it would be by importation of bullion; others are rather ornamental than necessary; yet by their admission, the language is become more courtly and our thoughts are better dressed. ... I cannot approve of their way of refining, who corrupt our English idiom by mixing it too much with French: that is a sophis- tication of language, not an improvement of it; a turning English into French rather than refining English by French." 102. Other writers of the time took the same view. Butler, the author of HudibraSj also wrote a Satire on our Ridiculous Imitation of the French^ in which he refers to the custom of borrowing French words and phrases as consid- ered meritorious. Swift thought that the corruption of the language was due to two classes, the pedants, as they were called, and the young men who, "terribly possessed with the fear of pedantry," as he says, "run into a worse ex- treme, . . . borrow the newest set of phrases, and, if tley take a pen into their hands, all the odd words they have picked up in a coffee-house, or a gaming ordinary, are pro- duced as flowers of style." The Spectator also wished to " prohibit any French phrases from becoming current in this kingdom, when those of our own stamp are altogether as valuable." 103. With the conservatives, in their influence upon lan- guage, must be classed the lexicographers. English lex- icography began in the early seventeenth century; but, y 60 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS notwithstanding occasional references, it was probably no! an important factor in affecting language until the following century. It would be impossible in our space to estimate the effect of each of the lexicographers in turn. The great- ^ est of them was Samuel Johnson, whose dictionary appeared in 1755. The purpose of Johnson, as expressed in his pub- lished Plan (1747), was " to fix the English language " ; for Johnson believed, like Swift, that Enghsh might be rescued from further corruption, and prevented from further change. Before completing his great work, Johnson seems to have partially realized the impossibility of his first purpose, for in the Preface to the Dictionary^ he admits a change in his views. On the other hand, his great work certainly acted as an important restraining and regularizing influ- ence, while it did still more in fixing the orthography of the language. 104. To the lexicographers, in their conservative influence upon English, must be added the grammarians and rheto- ricians. The oldest English grammar, as well as the oldest treatise on rhetoric, belong to the sixteenth century. But these early works were very fragmentary, and made little attempt to distinguish good from bad usage. In the eigh- teenth century, however, English grammarians, by approving certain forms and excluding others as dialectal, became more influential in preventing change within the language. At the same time the writers on rhetoric also became more numerous and more important. Besides, the rhetoricians broke away from the almost exclusive treatment of argu- mentation, in which former writers had closely followed Aristotle, and began to treat many individual points of usage. THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 61 They thus became influential in establishing regularity in form and expression. 105. In addition to these direct influences upon the lan- guage, must be mentioned the more indirect influence of the increasing literature of the nation. The usage of writers in one age is imitated by those of a following time. Thus literature becomes a most important conservative influence upon the form and manner of expression. This influence of literary form was especially strong in the eighteenth century, when such stylists as Addison came to be com- monly read and imitated. The Spoken Language 106. The last of the eighteenth century is also notable for attempts to set up a standard form of the spoken lan- guage. Early English dictionaries gave little attention to pronunciation of words. A beginning was made by Nathan Bailey, who marked accent in the Dictionary which he pub- Hshed in 1727. Johnson followed Bailey in marking accent only. It was not until 1773 that particular vowel sounds were indicated in the Dictionary of William Kenrick, who thus estabhshed orthoepy in its modern sense. The cus- tom of marking pronunciation was followed by later lexicog- raphers as by Perry in 1775, Sheridan in 1780, Walker in 1 791, and by many others in the nineteenth century. Of those named the most important was Walker, a London elocutionist, who gave special attention to orthoepy in his Dictionary and has since been closely followed. 107. The effect of this attempt to establish a standard pronunciation has not been as great as was anticipated. 62 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS The dictionary of Walker did not prevent change in pro- nunciation, any more than the dictionary of Johnson had prevented change in the written form. Still the effect of setting up a standard pronunciation has been to retard natural phonetic changes, and to prevent the use of marked dialectal peculiarities by cultivated speakers. Spoken Eng- lish has thus become more uniform among cultivated people of all classes. On the other hand, the theory of the older orthoepists was that words should be pronounced as they are spelled. Under this theory some irregularities in pro- nunciation have been introduced, as the orthoepists have tried to establish some pronunciations which had no his- torical or phonetic reason. An example in point is the word won't *will not'. The o in this word represents a former u sound, developed from / by influence of the pre- ceding w. It should, therefore, be pronounced like the vowel of but, not like o in dorCt. The latter pronunciation is due wholly to the spelling and to the wrong analogy set up by the orthoepist. The tendency of the theory men- tioned above has been to make pronunciation conform to some of the anomalies of our present English spelling. 1 08. During the nineteenth century, the influences affect- ing English in the preceding hundred years, the schools, lexicographers, grammarians, and rhetoricians, have been even more considerable in their effect. This may be seen from any close examination of literary English in the two periods. In addition to these, there is one tendency in the nineteenth century somewhat different from that affecting the language in any past time. Owing to a new interest in the older literature, especially ballad poetry, at the end THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 63 of the eighteenth and beginning of the nineteenth century, there has been a revival of many archaic words, particularly in poetry. This may be considered in general one form of the purist tendency already noticed in the past history of English. 109. Illustrations of this revival of older words may be seen in the poetry of the whole period, from the time of Coleridge and Wordsworth to that of Tennyson and Brown- ing. For example, Coleridge used such words as eftsoons^ I wis, the latter not originally a pronoun and verb, but an old adverb iwis 'certainly,' which was misunderstood by later writers. Tennyson also uses such older words as rathe 'early,' adowii, anear, afween, enow, lief, natheless, wot, wist, and many others. Browning shows a similar tendency, many of the words used being not only old, but odd and scarcely likely to be generally adopted. In The Ring a?id the Book, for example, occur cark, clomb, dubiety, endlong, holpen, quag, repristination, round ' whisper,' sib, smoothens, smugly, spilth, and others. no. The extreme of purism is seen in such a proposal as that of William Barnes, the Dorset poet, who wished to bring the English speech back to its original Teutonic char- acter. In his grammar of English, or Outline of English Speechcraft, he uses such terms as time-taking for ' tense,' mark-word of suchness for ' 2id]tci\wt,^ pitch-mark for 'com- parison.' Such an attempt, absurd as it is, rests upon the serious beUef that there is something pernicious in a bor- rowed word, even one of long standing and good use. That such a belief rests on no adequate foundation may be seen from a later discussion. M STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS Dialects in Modern English 111. The literary language of England has thus far been traced through the modern period without reference to dialects. Yet the elevation of a standard literary language, based upon the speech of London, did not prevent other dialects from continuing to exist among the common people. In Britain alone there are still six important dialect divi- sions, without including Wales or the Highlands of Scotland. These six divisions are the Southern, including the older Southern and Kentish ; tli^ Midland, the Eastern, and the ^Western, within the boundaries of the older Midland; the -^Northern and the Lowland, included within the district of the older Northern and the Lowlands of Scotland over which Northern had spread in Middle English times. The exact boundaries of these may be seen from the map on the opposite page. 112. Owing to the extent to which standard spoken English has been cultivated in all parts of the island of Britain, these dialects are found mainly among the peasant classes. In Scotland, however, a broad Scotch English is still used at times by many educated people. The dialects, as spoken by the peasants of England, are so unlike that a yeoman of one district would often have difficulty in making himself understood by a yeoman of another. Some idea of the different dialects may be gained from their use in litera- ture. Thus Southern is represented by the works of WiUiam Barnes already referred to, § no, and by passages in the novels of Blackmore and Hardy. In respect to dialect, George Eliot's Middlemarch represents northeast Midland, THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 65 ENGLISH DIALECTS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. 66 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS and Mrs. Ward's David Grieve^ northwest Midland, while Tennyson's Northern Farmer represents the Northern divi- sion. The Scottish dialect requires more extended notice, since it has had a literature of its own, distinct from the lit- erature of England, and from ordinary dialectal works. Besides these, the language of other parts of the British Empire and that of the United States deserves some con- sideration. Lowland Scotch 113. Lowland Scotch, the English of the south of Scot- land, is an outgrowth of the Northern dialect, which had spread over that region in Middle English times. It did not differ materially from Northern English, until about the middle of the fifteenth century, although there had been an uninterrupted series of Scottish writers from the early four- teenth century, the period of Scottish independence. From the middle of the fifteenth century, therefore, to the union with England in 1603, Lowland Scotch was the literary lan- guage of the north. After the union with England, Scotch was still spoken by the majority of the people of Scotland, and it is still a living language, although among the educated a variety of standard English is also used. 114. The father of Scottish poetry was John Barbour, archdeacon of Aberdeen. A contemporary of Chaucer, he had half completed his epic, the Bruce ^ in 1375. Another epic of his, the Brut, relating the descent of the Scottish kings from the Roman Brutus, has not been preserved. Next in importance was Andrew Wyntoun, who completed about 1420 the Orygynale Crony kit of Scotland, Among other THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 67 Scottish poets of importance were James I (1394-1437), who wrote the King's Quhair ' quire or book ' ; William Dunbar (1460-1530?), one of the greatest Scottish writers; Gawain Douglas (1474-15 22), David Lindsay (1490?- 1555), and King James VI, James I, of England (1566- 1625), whose poems are noteworthy mainly because they were written by a king. A fuller account of these, and of their works, belongs rather to literature than to the history of language. 115. The variety of Lowland Scotch, which was finally elevated to the position of literary language, was that spoken in and about the capital city, Edinburgh, rather than the speech of the extreme southern lowlands. This was affected, in the course of its history, by various influences from with- out, as the Norse, Celtic, French, Classical, and English, of which only the briefest accounts need be given. The Norse influence was probably slighter than on Northern English proper. The Celtic influence was somewhat greater than on English, since Celtic was spoken in close proximity to the Hterary centre for a longer period than in England. For this reason a considerable number of Celtic words was bor- rowed by the Scotch. What is known as the French influ- ence was due to that close union of Scotland with France, by which the former was able to retain her independence for so many years. Owing to this close alliance, many French words that have no place in English, entered Low- land Scotch, as shown for example by the poems of Bums. 116. The Classical influence on Lowland Scotch was due to the Revival of Learning, by which Scotland was as directly affected as England. Lastly, Scotch writers were constantly 68 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS influenced in vocabulary as in subject by the literature oi England. This influence was especially strong at the time of the Reformation, since the leaders of the movement in Scot- land were in direct intercourse with the English reformers. There was, too, no Scotch translation of the Scriptures, and the English Bible was used by the Reformers in Scotland. This use was strenuously opposed by the Catholic party, and was actually illegal until, in 1543, by act of Parliament, "it was made free to all, man and woman, to read the Scriptures in their own tongue, or in the English tongue." The litera- ture of the Elizabethan age also affected Scotland, and both of these influences materially aided in bringing about the adoption of English as the literary language of the Scottish people. 117. It was said above that the Scottish speech still re- mained after the Scottish writers had begun to use English, and that it reappeared in popular poetry. In fact, Scotch experienced a strong revival in the ballad and lyric poetry of Ramsay, Fergusson, and Burns. Still, these poets did not use the vernacular Scotch in its purity, but rather a con- ventionalized form made up of Scotch and English. This may be exemplified from some of the poems of Burns, by showing the exact relationship between the number of Scotch words and those that are English, or Scotch only in form. For instance, A inarCs a man for a' that, contains 115 dif- ferent words, of which only 18 are not EngHsh. In Duncan Gray cam here to woo, the different words in which number 117, there are only 30 words which are Scotch. In Auld Lang Syne, out of 80 words, there are 24, and in Scots wha hae, out of 100 words, there are only 9 which are not English. I THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 71 of a separate standard for Ireland. Besides, the suggestion of such names as those of Goldsmith, Sheridan, and Burke shows that, even in the eighteenth century. Irishmen con- tributed to what is called English literature. Yet the Eng- Hsh of the common people in Ireland is decidedly dialectal. This is due to the fact that certain changes, which have affected British English in the last two centuries, have not equally affected Irish English. An older pronunciation is therefore retained, as illustrated by such words as tea, wheats pronounced tay, whate, as in England in the eighteenth cen- tury. No doubt Celtic, too, has affected the English of the lower classes. 120. English is also the language of the British colonies, in so far as it has displaced the native tongues. It is thus the speech of the dominant classes in India, British America, Australia, South Africa, and in many smaller parts of the British Empire. In all of these countries the literary lan- guage of England is recognized as the standard, although the written language outside the mother country usually differs in details, owing to inevitable linguistic changes. Such differences are more noticeable in the spoken language, although as yet no distinctive dialects can be said to exist in any of the English colonies. That such dialects will appear in the future seems certain from the history of language. American English 121. English is not only the language of the British Empire, but also, owing to the separation of the American colonies from the mother country, the language of a new 72 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS nation. It is important to consider, therefore, the relation of American to British English in both written and spoken forms. Yet the lack of careful studies of American English, and especially of its relation to that of the mother country, makes it impossible to give more than general facts and tendencies. 122. Historically, American English is based upon the language of England in the seventeenth century, the great era of American colonization. This foundation of seven- teenth century English has been variously affected from both within and without. From without, it has been in- fluenced by immigration from the mother country and other lands. Yet in general, people from England as from other foreign lands have adopted the usage of America, so that few changes can be directly attributed to them. Such changes as have been brought about by their influence are mainly in the direction of additions to the vocabulary. Besides this, the most important external influence has been that of the literature of England, which has been a potent factor in making the literary language of America conform to the standard literary language of Britain. 123. The influences on American English from within have been more numerous. In the first place, American English has retained words and meanings of words which, though once common in England, are no longer used. In many parts of America also, there has been a retention of an older pronunciation than that now found in the mother country. This retention of older forms seems to be due to the curious fact that the colony usually tends to preserve the language of the time of separation. In addition to this THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 73 influence must be reckoned the development of a vigorous national life, which has led to considerable changes in vocabulary at least. 124. Besides these gomewhat indirect influences from within, there have been others of a more direct nature. The first of these, which may be called the purist tendency, has asserted the necessity of conforming to British standards, as representing the only correct usage. As early as 1789, Franklin called attention to " innovations " in the English of America. John Pickering, who made the first collection of " Americanisms " in 1816, pretended to point out the " corruptions," in order to preserve the purity, of EngHsh. Worcester, in his Dictionary of 1830, conformed very largely to British standards, opposing the views and usages of Webster. Finally, the extreme to which the purist has sometimes gone may be seen from the epigrammatic dictum of Richard Grant White, — " In language everything dis- tinctively American is bad." 125. Opposed to the purists in their view of American English are those who have seen, or have thought they have seen, the beginning of a separate standard for America. The first of these was Noah Webster, with whom American lexicography began in the first decade of this century. Webster recognized American, as distinct from British, usage, and an American pronunciation, while he also set up an American orthography. This recognition of Ameri- can usage was especially avowed in the American Diction- ary of the English Language, which was pubHshed in 1828. Many others have followed the lead of Webster more or less completely. The more conservative of these base their 74 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS belief in the eventual recognition of a somewhat separate standard for America on the inevitable changes in language, and the impossibihty that two nations so far separate as England and America should conform in all respects to a single standard of usage. 126. None of these tendencies has entirely replaced, or overcome, the others. American literary English may be said to be the product of all of them working together. In the first place there is substantial agreement in the literary standards of the two countries. Some minor differences occur in grammatical fo rms, in idiom, and in us age. Greater differences are found in the or thograp hy, and still more considerable divergences are noticeable in the vocabularies of the two nations. Yet the influence of a common Htera- ture in the past, as well as the literary relations of the two countries at present, will no doubt keep American literary English to a parallel development with the literary lan- guage of England. Moreover, as America produces a more extensive literature of its own, there will probably come on both sides of the water a tolerance of characteristic and reasonable differences, so that neither people need regard its somewhat separate standard as in any true sense superior or inferior to the other. 127. When the spoken language of the two countries is taken into account, more considerable divergences naturally appear. Take, for example, the vocabularies of the two peoples. It would be impossible that there should not be differences between democracy and aristocracy in the lan- guage of governmental relations. Such differences are too obvious to need illustration. But the differences between THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 75 a democratic government and one with an hereditary and titular aristocracy belong not only to governmental, but also to social, relations. Besides, social customs will seldom be exactly the same for any long period in two widely sepa- rated countries. Then, too, the cultivated language of every country is constantly receiving some additions from the language of common life, and as the conditions of Hfe differ in the vigorous growth of America and the more staid conservatism of England, so the additions to the stand- ard language from this source must differ in themselves. 128. These differences in vocabulary may be exemplified by colloquialisms of the two countries. Examples are Brit- ish clever, ill, knocked up, and American smart, sick, tired. Many colloquial words have different meanings in the two countries ; as nice, which means * small, delicate,' in Britain, * agreeable ' in America ; fix, which means * establish ' in Britain, 'arrange, repair,' in America; quite, used in the sense of * entirely ' in Britain, but in the sense of * very ' in America. The divergences in the spoken language of the two countries are more considerable when we examine particular phases of life. Take for instance the nomencla- ture of railway travel. Compare the following pairs, the first of which is American, the second British in each case : Engineer — driver; fireman — stoker ; conductor — guard; baggage- car — van; baggage — luggage; trunk — box; check — register; car — carriage ; track — line; freight- train — goods-train ; to switch — to shunt. 129. As to pronunciation, no American dictionary now attempts to follow British usage exactly. Many examples might be noted, as the large classes of words with vowels 76 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS like those in asky half, path, dance, and long. In some cases in which the standard is nominally the same, Ameri- can usage does not follow the dictionary, as in the great number of words like hot, not, etc. America differs from England, also, in not recognizing the speech of any one locality as standard. The only standard recognized in America is that of dictionaries, and these attempt to fol- low, not one locality, but the best usage of the country as a whole. The standard thus set up is more artificial than if the speech of a particular locaUty were chosen, and partly for this reason the dictionaries, influential as they are, have not been able to counteract considerable dialectal diver- gence. In time, perhaps, the speech of one or more locali- ties may come to be recognized as the standard by all good speakers. 130. In one other important respect American English differs from the modern language of England. Spoken English throughout America is more uniform among all classes, and there are no such strongly, marked peasant dia- lects as in England. This is no doubt due to the fact, that the language originated in the fairly homogeneous middle class of English society, and that, since its transplanting to America, it has not had time to break up into widely diverse dialects. Yet, as pointed out by Whitney^ nearly thirty years ago, we can by no means safely say that there are no dialects in America. Although there has been little careful study in this field, three great divisions — the east, the west, and the south — may be said to have characteristic differences, not only in the language of the uneducated, but also, to some 1 Language and the Study of Language, p. 174. THE MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD 77 extent, in that of the educated. Of these three great divi- sions, the most pronounced dialects are those of New Eng- land for the east, the upper Mississippi valley for the west, and perhaps Virginia and the Carolinas for the south. It is also true that when the speech of the uneducated alone is taken into account, the dialectal peculiarities are more numerous- and more marked. The Spread of English 131. Before closing this general survey of English in modern times, the spread of the English language must be noted as one of the most significant facts of language his- tory. How many of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes origi- nally settled in Britain can never be known. At the time of Elizabeth, however, EngHsh was spoken by at least five million people. At present it is the language of consid- erably more than one hundred million people, a larger number than has ever used a single homogeneous speech. Formerly also English was spoken only by the inhabitants of Britain and her colonies. In the nineteenth century, English has spread to many foreign countries as the lan- guage of trade, while the literature of England is read by the people of many nations which do not use the English speech. 132. It is the duty of the historian of language to chron- icle what has taken place in the past, rather than to suggest what may come in the future. Yet the extension of English in the past naturally suggests the possibility of its further extension in the future. Benjamin Franklin expressed the 78 STANDARD LANGUAGE AND DIALECTS opinion in his Autobiography ^ that English might sometime take a place second only to French in general use. The prediction has often been made in the present century that English will eventually become the universal language of the world. The opinion of Franklin has certainly been more than realized. The second prediction is one which ex- presses at least a possibility. Yet so largely is language a matter of convention, that to predict the universality of one form or another would require a knowledge of the future thought and feeling, the future rank and condition of all nations. Such a prediction is therefore scarcely more than idle speculation. Ill THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY CHAPTER VI THE NATIVE ELEMENT 133. By a history of the English vocabulary is meant a history of the general changes which have affected the native word stock, as distinct from those that have affected the sounds and inflections of words. In considering such changes in such a language as English, two classes of words are to be taken into account, — the native and the borrowed word. To the first element belong the original words brought over from the continent by our Teutonic forefathers, as well as those that have been formed from them by native changes. To the second element belong those words which have been borrowed from the various languages with which the English people have come in contact, together with those formed from them since the period of borrowing. While these two elements have usu- ally been assimilated to one another in English, each has in some respects a separate history. The native element naturally merits the first attention. 134. When the Teutonic peoples came to Britain their vocabulary was in the main a homogeneous one ; that is, 79 80 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY it had been but slightly affected by foreign influences. It consisted almost wholly of words that had been once common Teutonic, so that most of them appear in some of the other Teutonic languages. This was true, except as English had naturally kept some words which, for various reasons of usage, had not been retained by the other lan- guages of the Teutonic group. Besides, the vocabulary of Old English times included some words which had been formed after the separation of the English from their Teu- tonic relatives on the continent. 135. The special process by which English of the oldest period increased its vocabulary was word composition, the process common to all the Indo-European languages. Words were compounded in one of two ways, either by the union of independent words, or by the use of prefixes and suffixes. There is in reality no strict dividing line between these two means of word formation, because all prefixes and suffixes are supposed to have been independent words at one time, and some of them were so used even in Old English. Nevertheless the classification is convenient. 136. The freedom with which Old English formed com- pounds from independent words may be illustrated by some particular series. For example, the word land was part of at least sixty-three compounds in Old English, while the word even ' evening ' was used in twenty-six, and life in twenty-seven, compounds. These compounds were of the three classes — nouns, adjectives, and verbs. The expres- siveness of some of them may be illustrated by some which have not been preserved to modern times, as life-busy, life- care, life-day y life-fast * having Hfe,' life-ward 'guardian of THE NATIVE ELEMENT 81 life/ life -way, life-well *\\ym% spring,' life-win *joy of life. These are typical examples. Besides, there must have been many compounds once used, but not now known because not found in any relic of the older literature. 137. In addition to compounds of independent words, compounds were also formed by the use of prefixes and suffixes. Some idea of the number of Old English prefixes may be gained from the following list : a-, and-, afler-y be-, ed-, for-, ford- (forth), ge-, mid-, mis-, of, on-, or-, od- (oth), to-, un-, under-, up-, with-, wan-. Many of these were used in forming more than one class of words, as nouns, adjectives, verbs, so that the number of such compounds was considerable. The Old English suffixes were also numerous. The following, among others less frequent, were used in forming nouns : -cen * kin,' -dom *dom,* -en, -ere *tx,\-estre *ster,' -had 'hood (head),' -ing, -ling, -ness, -scipe * ship.' The Old English suffixes forming adjectives were -ede * ed,' -en, -feald ' fold,' -full, -ig * y,' -isc ' ish,' -leas ' less,' -Be * ly,' -sum * some,' -iveard * ward.' Among verb suffixes were -nian, -sian, -l^can, as in fast-en, clean-se, know-ledge (ME. knowlechen). There were also adverbial suffixes which were connected with inflectional endings of nouns and adjectives. 138. Some idea of the richness and flexibility of the Old English vocabulary may be gained by the following com- parison. In the great epic poem Beowulf, which consists of less than thirty-two hundred lines, there are nineteen synonyms for ' ocean,' nine for ' ship,' and eleven for * sword.' These are all simple words. In addition, there are twenty-three compound words used for ' ocean,' twelve V 82 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY for 'ship,* and eighteen for 'sword.' These are all true compounds also, and do not include descriptive phrases made up of a genitive and a noun, of which there are at least ten for the idea of 'ocean.' 139. In addition to word composition, the principal process by which the vocabulary was increased in Old English times, a less important means of growth must be noted. The word stock of a language is indirectly in- creased by any process which tends to form two words from one. In the Old English period doublets were indi- rectly formed from single roots by an important phonetic process called mutation, or change of root vowel, § 250. Mutation is illustrated by such words as man^ foot, goose, with their plurals, which have different vowels, as men, feet, geese. The latter examples are connected by inflection. In the case of words not so connected, however, the mu- tated and unmutated forms soon came to be practically separate roots, from each of which might be formed a separate series of derivatives. Examples of modern words thus connected are sale — sell, tale — tell, long — length, full — fill, lode — lead, dole — deal, food — feed, blood — bleed, grow — green, proud — pride} Changes in the Native Element since Old English Times 140. The changes that have affected the native element in tTie English vocabulary since Old English times are prin- cipally two, growth and decay, changes that affect the word 1 The relation of mutation to increase of the vocabulary was wholly indi- rect. It was never a direct, or conscious, means of forming new words. THE NATIVE ELEMENT 8i Stock of all languages in the course of their history. The slightest examination of any Old English work shows that, while many of the older words now exist in somewhat dif- ferent forms, many have been entirely lost. This loss of words is partly a natural process, partly a change produced by the various external influences that have affected Eng- lish. The first is common to all languages, since changes in men's thought and feeling, as well as in the material things about them, require new words for expression. The second is a more artificial process, and has differently affected different languages. 141. The most considerable losses to native English words have undoubtedly resulted from such external influ- ences. For example, conversion to Christianity brought a new religion to England. As many of the words used in the rehgion of the Teutons were unsuited to Christianity, they were displaced by words introduced from other lan- guages by Christian teachers. Yet some of the older words were retained in modified meanings, as bless, Easter, ghosf, God, heaven, lent, or new compounds of native words were made, as gospel, Lady day. Similar losses have occurred in words referring to governmental relations, owing to the con- quests of the Danes and the Normans. While such native words as king, sheriff, alderman, are still used in older or modified meanings, a multitude of words for governmental relations have been borrowed by EngHsh. Many other examples might also be given of similar losses to the native element by reason of external influences. 142. Losses of native words have been especially nu- merous in the case of compounds. For example, of the / 84 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY sixty- three compounds of land mentioned in § 136, only two, landlord and landmark^ are in ordinary use to-day, although two or three others are found in the older modern literature. Of the twenty-six compounds of even, only two, evensong and eventide^ remain in occasional use, while lifelesSf lifelike^ livelihood are the only compounds of life now left of the twenty-seven once existing in the language. Great losses have also occurred in words formed by the use of prefixes and suffixes. For instance, although there were many compounds in Old English with the prefixes and-, or-y and mid-, only one of each, answer, ordeal, midwife, now remains. (Jl some of the other older prefixes not a single example is left in Modern English. 143. With the loss of compounds since Old English times, the capability of forming compounds has also been partially lost. Yet this Teutonic method of increasing the vocabulary has never entirely disappeared. Many new compounds have been formed since the oldest period, and by such compounds the word stock of English has con- tinued to be enlarged in all periods. The difference in this respect between the earlier and later periods is, that since Old English times word composition has not been the prin- cipal means of increase in the number of words. 144. That the process of forming compound words has continued to be an important source of growth to the Eng- lish vocabulary, may be shown from many examples. For instance, the word life, which has been already used in illustrating older compounds, has become a part of many compounds not found in the Old English dictionaries. Examples are lifeblood, lifeboat^ lifeful, lifehold, lifelong, life- ^ THE NATIVE ELEMENT 85 mate, lifesomey lifespring, lifestring, lifetime. These are as close compounds as any formed in Old English times. In addition, there are many compounds still written with a hyphen, as life-giving, life-preserver, life-saving, life-size, life- weary. Some of these examples are poetic and rare, but all occur in literature of the modern period. Besides, some of the older prefixes and suffixes are still used in the forma- tion of compound words. 145. Moreover, there are many strict compounds, as indicated by inflection and syntax, which are not marked by any sign of union. Many of these are not even recog- nized by the dictionaries, still less by English speakers. The word life, for example, forms such unmarked compounds as life buoy, life car, life estate, life guard, life insurance, life line, life rate, life school, and many others. Similar unmarked compounds occur in the case of many verbs, to which various adverbs are appended in ordinary usage. For example, the verb look forms true compounds in such phrases as look at, look away, look in {into), look out, look up, and others. In all such cases the adverb is a virtual suffix, since it is indispensable to the meaning and syntax of the verb. j 146. It was said that in Old EngHsh times the vocabu- lary was indirectly increased by the phonetic change called mutation, § 139. Less important phonetic changes since Old EngHsh times have also resulted in the formation of a few doublets. For example, owing to slight phonetic influ- ences such doublets have been formed as emmet — ant, dent — dint, quid — cud, quitch — couch in quitchgrass — couchgrass. Doublets due to diff'erence in stress are off—* 86 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY off than — then, thorough — through, too — to. Colloquial doublets due to the same cause are will — 7/, had — V/, will not — won't, and many others. Occasionally doublets are the result of borrowing from another dialect than that from which standard English has developed. An example is fat — vat ' a vessel,' in which the first is the true Mid- land form, while the second has been borrowed from the Southern dialect, §- 65. 147. In addition to growth and decay, which have so far been illustrated in the history of the native element, there are certain minor changes which affect in other ways the vocabulary of any language. One of the most interesting of these is the obscuration of compounds, or loss of identity in the separate parts, which has resulted mainly from loss of stress. The change is by no means peculiar to one branch of the Indo-European family or indeed to the family itself. The theory of inflectional forms, for example, sup- poses original roots to which have been added suffixes that were once independent words. These were later modified by the same processes that have changed the form of com- pounds in English. Even in Old English the suffixes -donty 'hoodf -ship, were independent words, although they have lost this character since Old English times. 148. English has many of these obscure compounds, a few of which will suffice for illustration. Some still preserve a syllable for the word obscured, as bridal, OE. bryd-ealu * bride-feast ' ; brimstone^ ME. brenston ' burning-stone * ; cranberry for *craneberryy like German Kranbeere. Three common words of the same sort are daisy, OE. dceges-eage * day's eye ' ; darling, OE. deorling, allied to English dear; THE NATIVE ELEMENT 87 and starboard^ OE. sfeorbord 'steering-side.* Goodbye is a familiar case of an obscure compound. The word stands for the formula ' God be wi* ye/ or possibly for ' God be by ye.' The word God also occurs in gossip, ME. godsib * related in God, a sponsor/ possibly also in gospel * God's spell (story).' Even greater obscuration is seen in hussy, OE. huswlf ' housewife ' ; woman, OE. wlfman ; orchard, OE. ortgeard 'plant yard.* 149. Other obscure compounds are now monosyllabic, one or more syllables having been entirely lost. An ex- ample of this sort is lord, OE. hlaford <^ *hla,f-weard^ 'loaf ward,' the syllable hldf also occurring in lady, OE. hlaf-dige * loaf-knead er.' The word yes is for yea so, OE. gese i^ge- swa), while world is made up of wer ' man ' and celdu ' age,' so that it originally meant ' the age of man.' 150. When a compound is obscured and the original meaning changed, a new compound may be set up with the meaning of the older word. The language is thus enriched by a new word. Of this linguistic fact there are many ex- amples in English. To illustrate, housewife is a new com- pound with the same meaning that hussy (< OE. hus-wlf) originally possessed, the latter having lost the older idea. Other examples are lively — lifelike, livelong — lifelong. Somewhat similar is spider-web beside cob-web, since in the latter case the older meaning of cob {cop) ' spider ' has been wholly lost. 151. Another change in vocabulary is that by which 1 The sign < means ' from, or derived from.' A word with a star before it is a theoretical form. It does not exist in the language, .but must be assumed in order to account for a form which is found. 88 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY homonyms are produced. Homonyms are words from dif- ferent roots which, by various changes, have come to have the same phonetic form. The term is often incorrectly limited to words which have the same written form, as bear vb. and sb. ; but bare the adjective is also a homonym of these two. The number of homonyms in English is consid- erable. The examples already quoted, bear sb., bear vb., bare adj., are all Teutonic words. Other Teutonic homo- nyms are blow vb., blow sb. ' flower,' blow * stroke ' ; can vb., can sb. ; hide vb., hide * skin,' hide * measure of land.' 152. Some purely English homonyms are due to confu- sion of forms, or contamination. Thus, abide ' await for ' is the proper phonetic descendant of OE. abidan, but abide ' suffer ' is from OE. abycgan ' pay for,' ME. abyen. So bid * pray ' and bid ' command ' show confusion of two verbs, OE. biddan and beodan, § 431. In many cases homo- nyms result from borrowing a word similar in form to one of native origin ; but the discussion of these and of homo- nyms exclusively foreign belongs to a consideration of the foreign element. 153. On the other hand, homonyms sometimes lose their identity by confusion of meaning. The word ooze (formerly wooze) combines the meanings of two older words, OE. wos ' juice ' and was ' pool, slime,' which became homonyms in Middle English. So Ughl includes an older word mean- ing * close, thick, strong,' and one meaning * quickly,' as in the expression 'run as lighl as you can.' Sometimes also contamination of meaning takes place in the case of homo- nyms. The word dear in such an expression as * her dearest foe' is often supposed to be the same as the adjective dear THE NATIVE ELEMENT 89 'beloved.' It is in reality a homonym of the latter, and comes from an Old English adjective meaning ' dreadful.' The same word is common in the colloquialism ' dear me,' although it is here also commonly misunderstood. 154. The importance of the native element in English, and its persistence in spite of great changes, cannot obscure the fact that English has received large and important addi- tions to its vocabulary from foreign sources. In fact, the greatest increase to the English vocabulary from any single source has been through the borrowing of words from other languages. It is important, therefore, to consider the vari- ous sources from which words have been borrowed, as well as their relation to the original word stock. These subjects will accordingly be treated in the following chapters. CHAPTER VII THE BORROWED ELEMENT IN THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY 155. Important as is the borrowed element in English, it is not easily treated on several accounts. For instance, it is difficult in some cases to separate borrowed, from native, words. Frequently, also, words borrowed in early times have been displaced by similar words of later introduction, and this may cause confusion. Again, in tracing the history of a word, its ultimate origin must be separated from the immediate source from which it has come. A Greek or Persian word, for example, may have come to English in a Latin or French form. Its English form will, therefore, depend more upon the immediate source of the borrowing, than upon its ultimate origin. Such, and many other con- siderations, make it by no means easy to treat completely this important element in English. Yet some idea of the influences which have brought about the adoption of foreign words may be concisely given, together with some examples of the borro\ired words in the language. 156. Borrowing of foreign words is due to more or less direct contact of one nation with another. The slightest direct contact of two peoples, in a friendly or hostile man- ner, might easily lead to the adoption by each of at least the name of the other nation. More intimate association usually 90 THE BORROWED ELEMENT 9\ results in more considerable borrowings which are limited only by the barriers that custom and use may set. The Romans borrowed Greek words because the Latin people was dominated by Greek ideals in literature, art, and culture. Owing to the spread of Latin Christianity, to the use of Latin as a common language of culture, and to the great revival of Latin learning, the modern nations of western Europe have borrowed extensively from the language of the Roman Empire. The Enghsh people, owing primarily to the conquest by French invaders, and ever since to more or less intimate relations, have borrowed largely from the French language. Finally, in modern times the English people have again drawn upon Latin and Greek for scien- tific and technical terms. The peculiarity of this later bor- rowing consists in the fact that many of these technical terms have been coined by putting together words or parts of words not so united in the original language. 157. As to this tendency to borrow and use foreign words, nations have radically differed. Some have freely adopted words from all languages with which there has been the slightest contact. The conservatism of others has withstood incorporation of any considerable loan element even from the most friendly nation. To the latter class belongs mod- ern German, while English is one of the most striking examples of the first class. The importance of the foreign element in the English vocabulary, therefore, makes it neces- sary to consider with some care the classes of words bor- rowed, and their relation to the native speech. 158. The first class of words to be borrowed consists of nouns, or name words. This is natural, since the exchange 92 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY of commodities, the first result of contact between two peoples, naturally leads to the borrowing of names for the commodities exchanged. With long continued and more intimate contact, one nation may adopt from another ideas, customs, even forms of religion, law, and government. These influences also result in the adoption of new words, unless the conservatism of the language withstands this tendency, and makes old words or new compounds serve instead of words from the foreign tongue. In more ad- vanced stages of civilization, travel or books of travel, and translations of various kinds may have their influence in the introduction of new words. Still further, a new science may be adopted, and with it the scientific nomen- clature from the nation of which the loan is made. It may also become the custom of one nation to borrow names for new inventions, new sciences, or new arts springing up, instead of coining names from the old word stock. 159. Foreign influences so far mentioned account for the borrowing of new names of objects and ideas, or nouns, and names of actions, or verbs. Besides, intimate association of two peoples may result in the borrowing of some words describing nouns, or adjectives, as they are called. This is natural since adjectives are logically the names of qualities, or attributes, and for this reason are grouped in the mind with names of things and of actions. But it is evident from a regard to the nature of words, that nouns are borrowed most readily and in largest numbers, while verbs and ad- jectives are less commonly borrowed, and fewer of the latter than of the former. 160. Considering the nature of other parts of speech, THE BORROWED ELEMENT 93 it is clear that the borrowing of such words as pronouns, numerals, adverbs, and particles could result only from the closest contact of two peoples through a considerable period of time. Such words are so unobtrusive in use that they are the last to be given up by one people, or borrowed by another. But if borrowing from these classes of words should take place, it would probably first affect pronouns, since these partake most of the character of names. On the other hand, the chances are exceedingly small that a particle would be adopted from one language by another, although such a thing is by no means impossible if the intercourse between two nations is sufficiently intimate. To illustrate both of these less common cases of borrowing it may be noted that, owing to the settlement of the Danes in England, the Norse pronominal forms thcy^ their, came into English, § 373. By the influence of French, also, the interjection alas came to be a part of our present speech. Yet of such words the number borrowed in any language is exceedingly small. 161. In tracing the borrowed element in English, each of the three periods. Old, Middle, and Modern English, will be considered separately. This plan will make it somewhat easier to connect the words entering the language from foreign sources with the foreign influences through which they have been borrowed. On the other hand it must be remembered that, though contact of two peoples may begin in one period, it may result in the more or less frequent borrowing of words in all subsequent time. This is ex- emplified in English especially in the case of Celtic and French. 94 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY The Old English Period 162. It has been said, § 134, that the vocabulary of oui Teutonic ancestors when they reached Britain was practically homogeneous. It should be added, however, that a very few Latin words had probably entered the language before the Teutons left their continental home. This may be in- ferred from the fact that some words are found in the oldest English in common with the Teutonic languages of the con- tinent. Such words are chalky mint^ crisps short. Probably the words Saturday ^ coulter^ fuller (of cloth) are also to be included, and, possibly, anchor and ark. 163. When the Teutons reached Britain and conquered it, their language was at once affected by another foreign in- y fluence. Owing to contact with the conquered Celts, some words were adopted from their language. It was natural, for instance, that Celtic names of places should be retained by the Teutons. In fact, Celtic place names are found in all parts of England, though much more commonly in the north and west, and especially in Scotland and Ireland. These may be illustrated as follows : Celtic Aber * mouth ' is found in Aberdeen * mouth of the Dee,' and also in Aber- feldte, Abergeldie ; bally (ball) ' place ' occurs in Ballan- gleich, Ballanmahon; caer 'castle* in Caercolon, Caerleon * castle of the legion ' ; dun ' a protected place ' in Dunbar^ Dumbarton, Dufidee; inch 'island' in Inchcape, Inchcolon; inver ' mouth of river ' in Inverary, Inverness ; kill * church ' in Kildare, Kilkenny, Kilmarnock; llan 'sacred, holy ' in Llandaff, Llanfair. Names of rivers, as Avon, Usk {Ux)^ and names of mountains, as Pen, Ben, are also common. THE BORROWED ELEMENT 95 164. Besides the Celtic names of places, there were also in Old English a few Celtic words of more common usage. Some of these are bannock; 3r^/ * mantle, rag,' later ' child in rags ' ; brock ' badger ' ; do7£/n ' hill ' ; dun (colour) ; mattock. Some common Celtic words do not appear in Old English literature, but are known in the Middle English period, as bodkin and clan. In the time of Shakespeare are found bog, brogue, gallow-glass, glib sb., kerne, shamrock, all from the Irish. A few Celtic words have come from the Scotch Gaelic, as cairn, claymore, coronach, crag, glen, pibroch, slogan, whiskey, some of which are literary words only, and do not occur except in the language of books. Some Celtic words have also been borrowed from the Welsh, but the list of these is small and still uncertain. 165. With the Celtic borrowings came also a few Latin words which had remained among the Celts after the Roman occupation of Britain. Some of these are place names, as Lancaster, Doncaster, Chester, Winchester, Rochester, Leicester, Gloucester, all containing the Latin word castra *camp,* although much obscured by various phonetic changes. Others are common words such as lake, mount, port, street, wall, wick, wine. In addition to these, there are one or two words of Latin origin which can be best accounted for by supposing that English has borrowed forms from Celtic, rather than directly from Latin. Such are alms and Christ. 166. The most considerable Latin influence on the vocab- ulary of Old English, was due to that contact with the Latin race which began when the English accepted Christianity, just at the end of the sixth century. The story, as Bede 96 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY tells it, is too well known to need repetition : how Gregor) the priest saw the fair-haired Angles in the Roman slave market ; how years afterwards the same Gregory, then Pope, sent Augustine to England with a band of missionaries ; and how the English gave up their gods for the new worship. This adoption of a new religion not only brought immediate contact with Latin Christianity and Latin Christian litera- ture, but also direct intercourse with the continental peoples. As a natural result, many ecclesiastical terms were intro- duced into English, while many words not belonging to the church also became common in everyday hfe. Besides, owing to the introduction of Christianity and the influence of Latin literature, Latin became the language of scholars, and, on this account, Latin words were continually entering English throughout the Old English period. 167. Some of the Latin words which early entered the language are as follows. They are arranged in certain general classes according to their general character. 1. Church words : alb, altar, archbishops bishop y candle, churchy cowlj creed, deacon, devil, font, tJiartyr, mass, min- ster, monk, nooUy nun, organ, pall, pasch, pope, priest, psalm, shrine, temple. 2. Trees and plants : beef, box, chervil, fennel, feverfew, gladen ' sword grass,' lily, mallow, 7nint, ?nul- {berry), palm, pea, pear, pepper, periwinkle (OE. perwinca), pine, plant, plum, poppy, savine, spelt. 3. Animal names : capon, doe, lobster, mussel, pea- {cock), phoenix, trout, turtle- {dowt). 4. Miscellaneous : butter, canker, cap, cheese, chest, cook, coop{}), copper, cup, dish, fan, fever, fiddle, fork, imp, inch, THE BORROWED ELEMENT 97 kiln, kitchen, linen, mat, mill, mortar, must ' mv\t,' pan, pilch, pile, pillow, pin, pit, pitch, plaster, pole, port, punt, sack, shambles, sickle, silk, sock, sole, strap {strop), tile, tippet, tun, tunic. 5. Besides the above nouns there were also introduced the verbs dight ' prepared,' oj^er, shrive, spend, stop, and the adjectives crisp and short. 168. Among the words introduced into Old English from Latin are some which had been borrowed by the Romans themselves. Most of these were originally from Greek, or had come through Greek. Of Greek origin, for example, are many church words, as bishop, canon, church, deacon, devil, martyr, minster, monk, priest, psalm, and others. Pasch and sack are originally from Hebrew, and a few others might be traced to other sources. These last were first adopted into Greek, then became Latin, and finally English. 169. Another foreign influence of the Old English period was due to the incursions of the Danes and their subsequent ^ conquest of England, § 58. Owing to this conquest, a considerable number of Norse or Scandinavian words be- came a part of the English language. Yet, although the Norse influence began in Old English times, few Norse / words appear in literature before the Middle English period. Some of the earliest found in English writings occur in the Saxon Chronicle, § Zd. Examples are call, crave, fellow, haven, husband, hustings, knife, law, take, wrong. Others, although most of them do not appear until the Middle English period, may also be referred to here. 170. Sometimes these Norse words may be distinguished from those of English origin, owing to striking differences H 98 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY in sounds. For example, many common Teutonic words in English which have an sk combination of sounds are of Norse origin. Examples are scaldy scare^ skilly skin^ sky^ score, bask, busk. Such words, if English in origin, would now have sh instead of sk. On the other hand, some French words and a few of Low German origin also have the sound combination sk, as scape, scan, scarce, skipper. Similarly Norse words have g, k, as in gun, kid, instead of y, ch, the corresponding English sounds. Examples are giA gei, gii^st, drag, egg, flag, hug, leg, log, and keg, kid, kilt, kirtle. Of Norse origin also are many words with ai, ei, as bait, hail ' greet,' raid, raise, swain, they, their, wail. 171. Many names of places and of persons are also of Norse origin. Examples of the first are those with the suffixes -by, -thwaite, as in Whitby, Grimsby, Langthwaite. Such names are especially frequent in the north and east of England, the region of the old Danelagh. Corresponding English place names on the other hand end in -ton, -ham, -bury, as Alton, Horsham, Canterbury. Norse personal names have the distinctive suffix -son, as m Johnson, Gibson, Thomson. The specifically English suffix having the same meaning is -ing, as in Hastings, Birmingham, The Middle English Period 172. During the Middle English period the language continued to be affected by the foreign influences which had begun to affect it in the older period. For example, Latin continued to contribute new words to the native stock. As already noted, § 169, some words from Celtic and I THE BORROWED ELEMENT 99 Norse do not actually appear in literature until this period, although borrowings from both had begun in the older time. But the most considerable addition to the English language in the Middle English period was from the French, borrow- ings from which were due to the Norman conquest, to the Norman Hterature read and appreciated in England, and to a more or less constant intercourse between the French and English after the coming of the Normans. 173. The earliest French words to appear in literature are those which occur in the later version of the Saxon Chronicle, which ends in 1154. Of these some sixteen have been retained to modern times. They are castle, countess, court, empress, justice, miracle, peace, prison, privi- lege, procession, rent, standard, tower, treasoft, treasure, war. From this time French words in English became more frequent. It is naturally quite impossible to enu- merate all or nearly all of these that have remained to the present time. It is only possible to call attention to some of the more striking facts in regard to the French element. 174. It has already been shown, in the chapter on the Middle English period, that French did not displace Eng- lish during the Norman rule, and that its influence has been greatly exaggerated. This is also proved by the tardi- ness with which French words began to appear in Middle English writings. Although Edward the Confessor, who was of Norman education and sympathies, came to the throne in 1042, and the conquest itself took place some twenty years later, it is not until iioo that French words , begin to appear in English writings. Nor are they then by any means numerous. For example, the entries in the JOO THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY Saxon Chronicle during the first half of the twelfth centurj contain less than twenty French words. Layamon's Bmt^ with its 16,000 long lines, was based on a French poem by Wace. Although there are two texts, one written about 1200 and one about 1250, yet in both the number of French words does not exceed 150. In all Middle English writings before 1250, the number of French words probably does not exceed 500. By the year 1300 some 1000 French words were used in written monuments; while in some thirty-one texts written before 1400, 3400 words of French origin have been discovered. This number, however, in- cludes many that have not been preserved to Modern Eng- lish, since many French words have held but a temporary place in our English speech. 175. A good test of words borrowed from early and late French is based on differences in vowel and consonant sounds, due to differences between Old and Modern French. These may be exemplified by the following list, in which the first word of each pair represents an early, the second a late, borrowing. In some of these, as feast — fete, suit — suite, the words are etymological doublets ; that is, the same word has been introduced in both earlier and later forms. a. rage — mirage. 01. coy — reservoir. e. feast — fete. ou. count — tour. i. vine — ravine. ui. suit — suite. 0. bonny — chaperon, af- front — platoon. ch. chandler — chandelier. U. duty — debut. g. rage — rouge. au. cause — hautboy. j. just — jeu d'esprit. eau. beauty — beau. qu. quit — bouquet. eu. grandeur — connoisseur. THE BORROWED ELEMENT 101 Even this test of sounds does not apply to all words, since some introduced very late have assumed the sounds of earlier borrowings by analogy of written forms. This is true, for example, of g and j in legislative and cajole. Yet the general accuracy of the test, based on diiferences in pro- nunciation, may be rehed upon. : : .^ » ., . ^.. .., 176. In a few words, phonetic differaAc^s"^ ihdjcate differ^ ences in the dialects from which the . French; "vi^otids wei£j borrowed. For example, certain words with a 'k s6Und' (written c) are doublets of other words with ch, and yet both belong to early French borrowings. Here belong cal- dron — chaldron ; capital — chapter ; cark — charge ; catch — chase; cattle — chattel; kennel 'gutter' — channel. The explanation of these doublets is, that the words with the k sound are from Northern French, including Normandy, Picardy, and places like Cressy, Calais, Boulogne, well ki.own in English and French history. Those with ch are from Central French, including the Angevin kingdoms. The list is small, however, and it would be but slightly increased if certain Middle English words, which have since become obsolete, were added. 177. One class of words introduced by the Normans deserves special mention in connection with early French additions. Attention has already been called to the intro- duction of Danish surnames. The Normans also helped to establish the use of hereditary surnames in England. It had been the custom of the English to give but one name, to which no indication of parentage or place of residence was added. But the Normans followed the Romance cus- tom of giving to each knight or courtier a second name, 102 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY usually from his place of birth ; as, Robert Bruce, William Percy. Surnames became so much the fashion in England, that the story is told of how the heiress of Robert Fitz-Hamon disdained Robert of Caen because he had no to-name, and how King Henry made good this lack by giving the luckless kpight the sarnamfc Fitzroy. In addition to surnames, many igtven nani^s also' came in with the Normans, as some had deJtip' with' the Danes. * ' ^^8r. "Attempts have been made to arrange words bor- rowed from early French into certain general classes, accord- ing as they entered through various channels of thought. This is possible, at least to a certain extent. Norman devo- tion to the church brought many church words not hitherto introduced. Many terms used in reference to government and courts of \^ are also of French origin. The same is true of words applied to w^r and knighthood, owing to the Norman introduction of feudalism and chivalry. But it would be difficult to classify all French words in this way, since words applicable to all states and conditions of life were freely introduced. For example, in a list of some 500 French words introduced before 1250, sixty- four belong to religion and the church, twenty-eight to government and the courts of law, twelve to war and chivalry. This leaves, how- ever, almost 400 that cannot easily be classified. The large proportion belonging to the church is partly accounted for by the class of writings examined; but, in any case, the proportion of words which it would be difficult to classify would probably still remain unchanged. 179. So far no special effort has been made to separate Norman French from Parisian French loan-words which THE BORROWED ELEMENT 103 came somewhat later. Both these classes of words have conformed to native words in phonetic changes, in accent, and in development of forms. Parisian French words began to enter English at the last of the thirteenth, and the be- ginning of the fourteenth, century. During the fifteenth century they became more numerous, owing especially to the translation of French works by English writers. Many Italian books also came to England through French ver- sions. For example, Lydgate, who died about 1460, trans- lated Boccaccio's Fall of Princes and Colonna's Troy Book^ not from Italian, but from French versions. Later in the century the French translations of Caxton, Malory, Rivers, and others brought a great increase to the French element in our English speech. 180. The influence of Modern French on English has been by no means inconsiderable. During the early six- teenth century the translations from the French are repre- sented especially by the Froissart of Lord Berners, while in the Elizabethan time French was drawn upon for many novels and tales. As in Caxton's time, many of the classics, as well as works from the Italian, were also introduced into England through French versions. Later, in the time of Charles I, who married the daughter of Henry IV of France, French manners and customs were imitated in England. All these influences tended to bring in French words. 181. The accession of Charles II, who had long lived at the French court, intensified the French influence of his father's reign. This is exemplified especially in the lit- erature of the seventeenth century. To illustrate, many 104 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY words occurring in Dryden belong to this period, and werft due to the special French influence following the Restora- tion. Examples are adroit, aggressor^ antechamber^ apart- menty bagatelle, brunette, biirlesquey cadet^ cajole, calash, campaigtt, cannonade, caprice, caress^ chagrin, commandant, complaisant, console, coquette, corps, cravat. Many such words retain French accentuation, as bagatelle, barricade, cadet, caprice, or French pronunciation in other respects, as ballet, billet-doux, carte blanche, cuirassier. 182. Since the seventeenth century, French words have been borrowed occasionally as they have been used by great writers, or more frequently through the adoption of scientific and philosophical terms. Many of these retain a sort of French pronunciation, with some modification of vowels due to analogy of English words. It is not easy to estimate the exact relation of the French loan element to the whole number of borrowed words in English, but it is probably fair to say that the largest number of borrowed words from any one source is from French, while Latin words stand next in order of numbers. The Modern English Period 183. The new foreign influences affecting Modern Eng- lish are many, while borrowing from the languages which had already come in contact with English still continued in the modern period. The new influences upon English have resulted from the extension of the British Empire, and the widespread intercourse of the English people with other nations. This latter intercourse has been both direct, as THE BORROWED ELEMENT lOS through commerce and travel, and indirect, as througr. literature and science. Some account of these new influ- ences upon English is therefore important to an under- standing of the growth of the vocabulary in modern times. 184. Attention has already been called to the borrowed element from French. French, however, is not the only Romance language which has affected English. Some words have also been received from Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese. Of these, Italian was the earliest from which borrowed words were adopted. The Italian influence is mainly modern, although during the Middle English period a few Italian words came into English through French. Examples of the latter are alarm, brigand, ducat, florin, pilgrim. Besides these, there are certain others which had been borrowed by the Italians from eastern nations with which they were engaged in commerce, as diaper, fustian, orange, rebeck. These also came into English through the French language. 185. Direct contact with Italy belongs especially to the sixteenth century. The Italian influence at this time is indicated in many ways. Literature was then under special Italian influence, as shown by the poetry of Wyatt and Surrey. The same influence upon the language is attested by the strong protest of Ascham in his Schoolmaster against the 'Englishman Italianated,* and by others in various works. The Italian influence continued through the six- teenth, and part of the seventeenth, century. In the eigh- teenth century Italian music was introduced into England, and with it came many musical terms. It still remains true, however, that about half the Italian words in English, even 106 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY those of modem times, have come to us through French. Some characteristic Italian words borrowed direct from Italy are, archipelago^ balcony^ cameo^ campanile^ catacomb^ dilettante^ extravaganza. 1 86. The Spanish element differs from the Italian both in number of words, there being only about two- thirds as many, and in the way in which it has been received. Foi there never has been such direct contact with Spanish Ht- erature as with Italian, or indeed close contact of any sort. The Spanish element, like the Italian, is mainly modern, although some words of Spanish form, but of Arabic origin, were borrowed in Middle English times. As in the case of Italian, also, some Spanish words have come to us through French. For in Elizabethan times, when Spanish literature came to be known in England, as well as in the following centuries, many Spanish works appeared in French trans- lations. But the largest number of Spanish terms has been introduced through commerce and travel. Some of these are due to intercourse between Spaniards and Englishmen in the Americas, and thus some words from the aboriginal American languages have been adopted in Spanish forms. Examples of words direct from the Spanish are alcalde (originally Arabic), castanets, hidalgo, matador ; articles of merchandise, as indigo, sassafras, sherry, vanilla ; nautical terms, as armada, flotilla ; names of animals, as alligator, armadillo, mosquito. Words for abstract ideas are few, as punctilio, peccadillo. 187. A few words have been borrowed from Portuguese. The number of these has been variously estimated from thirteen to nearly twice as many. Among those that may THE BORROWED ELEMENT 107 be mentioned are aufo-de-fe, banana, binnacle, cobra, cocoa. Some Portuguese words in English are originally from India, Africa, and Brazil, countries settled by the Portuguese, or with which they have had commercial relations. i88. Among other foreign influences affecting the English vocabulary is that due to contact with the Low German languages, especially Dutch, to a less extent Frisian and Flemish. Although most of the words entering English from these sources are modern, borrowings from the lan- guages of the Low Countries may easily have begun as early as the Middle English period. This view is favoured by the fact that there were important commercial relations between the Netherlands and England in early times. It is said that in the reign of Edgar, who died in 975, there was a league of German traders in London. In 1260, Henry III granted by charter equal protection to all German merchants, and as a result new guilds were soon formed under control of the great Hanseatic League. At this time, also, all English wool was exported to Flanders, to be returned again in woven fabrics, or exchanged on the continent for other im- portant products. In 1328, Edward III married Philippa of Hainault, and about the same time invited Flemish weav- ers to settle in England. The modem borrowings are espe- cially due to the fact that in the sixteenth century the Dutch had possession of the carrying trade, and from them the English learned commerce and navigation. 189. Low German words, as those from Norse, strongly resemble those of English origin, so that a larger number may easily be assigned to this particular loan element than rightly belongs to it. To the Low German element 108 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY belong especially two classes of words, those relating to commerce and nautical affairs. The first includes cannikin^ groaty guilder J hogshead^ hollandy jerkin^ link ' torch,' lin- sfockf spool, swabber^ wagon. In the second are included ahoy, aloof, avast, boom, deck, hoist, lash, lighter * barge,' marline, moor (as a ship), reef, skipper, sloop, smack * fishing boat,' yacht, yawl. Examples of common everyday words probably from Low German sources are boy and girl. 190. The loan material so far mentioned has been wholly from languages belonging to the Indo-European family. Besides, two other branches of the same family have fur- nished us some loan-words more or less directly. The first of these is the Aryan, § 11, which includes Indian and Ira- nian. From the first, pepper, ginger, sugar, sulphur, nard, were indirectly borrowed before modern times. In modern times, owing to England's relations with India, some words have been adopted from the various dialects of the Indian Empire, as chintz, indigo, juggernaut, jungle. From Iranian, English has also received some common words. Some of the earliest are azure, candy, check, chess, orange, peach. Others, somewhat later, are bazaar, borax, caravan, divan. The second branch of the Indo-European family represented among our borrowed words is the Balto-Slavic. Words from this source are few, however, and are mostly names easily recognized as foreign. Examples are. Czar, drosky, knout, mazurka, polka, ukase, vampire. 191. Some words have been borrowed by English from the Semitic languages, and to a less extent from those of Turkey, China, Japan, Africa, and the countries of North and South America. The Semitic element is represented THE BORROWED ELEMENT 109 first by words from Hebrew and Aramaic, the languages of Palestine in Old and New Testament times. Such words were taken either directly from Hebrew and Greek, the lan- guages of the Old and New Testament, through late trans- lations, or from the Latin (Vulgate) translation of the Scriptures. Examples of Hebrew words are aUeluia, amen, dalsam, cherub, cummin, ephod, gehenna, gopher- {wood), Messiah, paschal. Words of Aramaic origin are abba, dam- ask, damson, mammon, targum. From the nature of the case, such words have been coming into English since the Christianization of Britain. 192. Arabic words also belong to the Semitic element, and these are more numerous in English than might be sup- posed. They have come to us indirectly in most cases, some through Greek and Italian, others through Spanish and French. The earliest Arabic words in the language are admiral, and maumet * idol,' from Mahomet, Some others, found in Middle English are alkali, alkoran, azimuth, elixir, and lemon. Many also belong to modern times. Charac- teristic Arabic words not already mentioned are alcohol, alge- bra, amber, artichoke, bedouin, benzoin, calif, coffee, cotton. 193. It is impossible to distinguish other Asiatic elements with great exactness. Some borrowed words in EngHsh are Turkish, as bashaw, bey, bosh, caftan, Cossack, dey, janizary, ottoman, uhlan. From Hungary have come hussar, sabre, shako. Of Tartar origin are khan, mammoth. Malay words are amuck, cockatoo, gong, guttapercha, junk. From China, besides the names of country and people, the word tea and the names of various kinds of tea have been borrowed. From Australia come boomerang, kangaroo ; from Polynesia, 110 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY taboo and tattoo * to mark the body.' The African element is somewhat larger, and includes such words as behemothy oasis y and gypsy. 194. The largest of the minor foreign elements is the native American, which includes words from the languages of the aboriginal inhabitants of North and South America. From the North American Indians come hominy, moccasin, moose, opossum, papoose, pemmican, raccoon, sachem, squaw, toboggan, tomahawk, wampum, wigwam, besides many place- names. Mexico has furnished us cacao, chocolate, copal, coyote, jalap, tomato ; the West Indies, barbecue, canoe, hur- ricane, maize, potato. From South America have come alpaca, caoutchouc, condor, guano, ipecacuanha, jaguar, pampas, quinine, tapioca, tapir. Some of these have been introduced directly, especially names of animals or articles of merchandise, while others have come to us from other modern languages. 195. With borrowed words from so many diverse sources, it might seem that Enghsh is at best a hodgepodge of many languages. But this is far from true. It is only when examining the various sources from which words have come into English, that the vocabulary seems a hodgepodge in any sense. As actually used in speaking and writing, it is as homogeneous as if all words had come from a single source. How and why this is so will be discussed in the following chapter. CHAPTER VIII RELATION OF THE BORROWED AND NATIVE ELEMENTS 196. Although the English vocabulary consists of two apparently diverse elements, the native and the borrowed, each is equally important for English expression. Most borrowed words have become thoroughly incorporated into the language, and are as much a part of present English as the words which were brought from the continent by our Teutonic forefathers. This is true, because from the stand- point of language one word is as good as another, if it is in equally good use for the idea intended. 197. It is true that another conception of the borrowed element has been not uncommon. Although foreign words were early adopted with the avowed purpose of enriching the native speech, § 94, the purists of the Elizabethan and the following ages opposed borrowing as tending to 'cor- rupt ' the language. In the nineteenth century also, not a few have bewailed the ' corruption * of English, by reason of the large proportion of borrowed words. Such critics have seemed to think that there was some peculiar charm in a word of English origin. Some of the purists have even wished to exclude all words from foreign sources, and so bring a return of the original Teutonic character of the English tongue. \ \ 112 TJ/£ EICGLISII VOCABULARY 198. Such views, however, rest on a wrong conception ol the nature of language. Words get their standing and im- portance wholly from usage. The word newly coined from the native stock, and the word newly borrowed from a for- eign source, acquire their value in the same way. When either becomes established in usage, it is an integral part of the language. The only advantage which arises from a word of native coinage is that it may be more easily understood and more generally accepted. So far, the use of the native word stock is to be preferred to borrowing a foreign word, or employing one which has not yet been sanctioned by established usage. On the other hand, if a borrowed word is once thoroughly established, it is to be preferred to a newly coined native word. 199. In only one important respect may the native ele- ment be said to have a certain advantage over the element borrowed from other languages. There can be little ques- tion that the native element bears a definite relation to sim- plicity and force of expression. This is true not because of any inherent qualities in native words, but because, by the accidents of our language history, the native words have been reduced to simpler forms. For this reason the larger the proportion of native words in a given author, the larger the proportion of short, simple, strong words, and the more concise, clear, and forcible the style. But in making such a comparison, only writings of similar char- acter can be compared. The scientist and the philosopher must necessarily use a somewhat different vocabulary from that of the poet and the essayist. 200. Too much, however, must not be made of this RELATION OF THE ELEMENTS 113 apparent difference between the two elements. Most early borrowings have become thoroughly assimilated to English, and hence are now as short and simple as native words. This will be seen by examining the number of common, monosyllabic uords derived from early French. Examples falling under the first three letters of the alphabet are ache^ age, air, arm ' firearm,' arf, aunt, bail, balm, bar, base, beak, beast, beef, blame, boil, brace, branch, bray, breeze, brief, brush, cage, calm, cape, car, case, catch, cause, cease, cell, chain, chair, chance, change, chant, charge, chase, chaste, cheer, chief, choice, choir, claim, clause, clear, cloak, close, coast, coil, corpse, cost, course, court, coy, crest, cross, cry, cull. All these are an integral part of the language, as truly as words originally Teutonic. 201. The thorough incorporation into the language of most borrowed words may be illustrated in many ways. Such words, for example, have usually been anglicized, that is, have been so modified as to conform to the sounds, accent, and inflections of English. After such anglicizing in whatever period, borrowed words have been affected by the phonetic and other changes affecting native words. For example, early borrowed words in Old English suffered mutation, § 250, perhaps the most considerable change that has affected the vowel sounds of stressed syllables. This accounts for English mint, kitchen, pit, inch, compared with Latin moneta, coquina, puteus, uncia, the words from which they are derived. Early borrowings have also assumed the English accent, and all but a few words from foreign sources have taken the native inflection. 202. In common with native words, those adopted from I 114 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY Other languages have suffered other phonetic changes. For instance, borrowed words have developed double forms in some cases. Examples are adventure — venture, appeal — pealj attend — tend * czxt for,' avow — vow, engine — gin, escape — scape. Similar double forms among native words have been mentioned in § 146. 203. The thorough assimilation of borrowed words is also shown by their entering into compounds after the manner of native words. Such compounds, called hybrids, are of two sorts, — those formed by a union with native words, and those with native prefixes and suffixes. Com- pounds of independent words are illustrated by black-guard, life-guard, salt-cellar, in which the first part is English and the second French; and by eyelet-hole, heir-loom, hobby- horse, scape-goat, in which the first is French and the sec- ond English. There are also hybrids made up of two borrowed words. Thus bandy-legged is French and Scandi- navian, as is b\so partake for * part-take ; juxta-position is Latin and French, interloper Latin and Dutch, and marigold Hebrew and English. 204. Compounds of foreign words with native prefixes are illustrated by around, because, in which the prefix is English and the rest of the word French. Other hybrids of similar composition are fore-front, out-ciy, over-power, un-able. More numerous are the words in which an Eng- lish suffix has been added to a French noun or adjective, and the custom of making such compounds still continues to some extent. Examples of famiHar words of this sort are aim-less, duke-dom, false-hood, court-ship, plenti-ful, dainti-ness, trouble-some, genial-ly. RELATION OF THE ELEMENTS . 115 205. Furthermore, many borrowed prefixes and suffixes not only occur in foreign derived words, but have also been used in forming new compounds in English. Some ex- amples of borrowed prefixes thus used are ante-^ anti-, bi-, dis-, ex-, inter-, non-, re-, semi-, sub-, super-, trans-, ultra-, as in anteroom, anti-American, bicycle, dislike, ex-sheriff, intertwist, nonconductor, renew, semiweekly, subway, super- charge, transform, ultra-clerical. As the examples show, the prefix of foreign origin has sometimes united with a borrowed, sometimes with a native, word. 206. The borrowed suffixes used in the same way are still more numerous. Some of those forming new nouns are -age, -ard, -ess, -ist, -ism, -let, -ment, and -ry, as in tillage, drunkard, murderess, nihilist, patriotism, brooklet, fulfilment, outlawry. Examples of borrowed suffixes used in forming adjectives are -an, -ate, -ble, -ese, -esque, -ic, -ide, as in Elizabethan, nitrate, eatable, Johnsonese, Dantesque, Celtic, bromide. The most common borrowed suffixes used in forming verbs are -fy, -ize, as in purify^ galvanize. Even these examples do not include all the prefixes and suffixes from foreign sources, and none of those which, though found in borrowed words, are not used in forming new compounds. 207. Attention has already been called to homonyms of English origin, § 151. Sometimes a borrowed word has come to have the same phonetic form as a native one, and sometimes two or more homonyms have been borrowed. Of the first sort are English angle 'fishing hook' and French angle ' corner ' ; English arm * part of body ' and French arm, as in * firearm ' ; English bank * mound of 116 THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY earth ' and French bank ' place for money.' To the second class of homonyms mentioned belong ancient * old ' and ancient ' banner.' In one case four homonyms have all been borrowed, as bay ' colour,' bay ' an inlet,' bay * laurel tree,' and bay * to bark as a dog.' 208. The influx of new words at various times and from various sources has produced one result not so true of any other language as of English. The same word etymologi- cally has been introduced in two, sometimes three different forms, as it has come at different times or through different channels. Thus caitiff, conceit, corpse, frail, are doublets of captive, conception, corps, fragile. Doublets that are ulti- mately Greek in origin are diamond — adamant, fancy — phantasy, priest — presbyter, "whiXt balm — balsam are ulti- mately Hebrew. In such cases the shorter form, or that which has evidently suffered the greater number of phonetic changes, is usually the older of the two. 209. Sometimes a word of Teutonic origin has come to English from a foreign language into which it had been adopted. Thus guard is the French form of an original Teutonic word which appears in English ward. In wage — gage, warrant — guarantee, French doublets have been bor- rowed, while their original Teutonic roots also appear in English wed — ware. Occasionally a word has been intro- duced in three different forms, as real (used by Chaucer), royal, and regal. Another etymological triplet is found in leal ('land o' the leal'), loyal, and legal A few words appear in four forms. For example, Latin discus has given us, directly or indirectly, dish, desk, dais, and finally disc. 210. Owing to the borrowing of the same word at dif- RELATION OF THE ELEMENTS 117 ferent times, a later form has frequently displaced an earlier. Latin angelus became Old English engel, which was later displaced by the French form angel. So Old English fic and sa7ictj from Latin ficus ' fig,' sanctus * holy,' have been replaced by fig and saint, which are French forms. Old English crisien * christian,' adj. and sb., has been made to conform to Latin Christianus, although the verb cJuisten remains unchanged except for the Latinized spelling, with ch instead of c. In many cases the displacement is prob- able, although not certain. English abbot, apostle, epistle, are probably French forms rather than from Old English abbod, {(i)postol, {e)pistel, forms which had been early adopted from Latin. 211. Sometimes the orthography, and even the pronun- ciation, of early French words in English has been changed by reason of a later borrowing. In this way the older forms dette and doute, have given place to debt and doubt. This also accounts for cord — chord, counter — compter, indite — indict, quire — choir, which are doublets in spelUng. The difference in speUing is due to the fact that French writers, during the 3ixteenth century, made the orthography of many words conform to that of Latin words from which they were, or were supposed to be, derived. Sometimes the added letters came to be pronounced in English, as in perfect and verdict, which replaced the older forms / are used for th — tb, and a special char- acter, no longer printed, was formerly used for w. Before the close of the Middle English period, the letters of the modern alphabet had all come to be used. 1 As in the, distinct from th as in thin. PHONETIC CHANGES 12? 224. Of the new consonant sounds in Modern English, that represented by sh has sprung from the Old Enghsh combination sc, as in ship, fish, < OE. scip, fisc. The sh sounds of native words were increased in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries from borrowed words with the com- bination sy (written si, ti, ce, etc.), which also became sh in sound. Examples are passion, nation, ocean. French words with sh (written ch) are also found, as charade, chandelier. In a very few words this sound is initial, as in sugar, sumach, sure, surety, from forms that may be written syugar, etc. Toward the last of the seventeenth century the corresponding voice palatal zh as in azure began to be recognized. This means that at that time the voice palatal had begun to develop out of z + y, as sh had sprung from s + y(i). Examples occur in usual, leisure, pleasure, osier. 225. The double consonant ch (^= tsh) in native words has sprung from OE. c, as in chaff, beech, OE. ceaf, bece. The same sound also occurs in many borrowed words, especially those coming from French in Middle English times, as change, chance. Besides, it developed in the eighteenth century from the combination ty in such words as nature, stature, from forms pronounced as if written natyure, statyure. The corresponding voice sound j i^dzK) has arisen in native words from OE. eg, as in hedge, bridge, < OE. hecg, brycg. It also occurs in many borrowed words, as French just, judge, and from words with the com- bination dy, as in verdure < verdyure. The latter change belongs to the eighteenth century, as the similar change of ty to ch, mentioned above. In many cases it has been 130 CHANGES IN THE FORMS OF WORDS resisted, as shown by the common pronunciation of duty, immediately. 226. The new consonant sounds have developed in both stressed and unstressed syllables. Besides, there have also been, in the history of English, certain general consonantal changes such as may occur in the history of any language. These may be arranged under various heads, as voicing and unvoicing, assimilation and dissimilation, addition, vocaliza- tion, metathesis, ecthlipsis. Most of these changes may be regarded as due to a tendency of speech, by which all sounds are made to conform, in greater or less degree, to neighbouring sounds. This tendency naturally affects unstressed syllables much more largely than stressed syl- lables, though it is by no means unknown in the latter. Voicing and Unvoicing 227. It will be seen from the table, § 222, that spirants and stops are each of two varieties, distinguished by the terms ' voice ' and ' breath.' By this is meant that, in making each pair, the vocal organs are in exactly the same position, but the voice consonant is made by vibration of the vocal cords, and the breath consonant by br eath o nly. It is not unnatural, therefore, that there should have been- some shiftings in the case of each pair to conform to neigh- bouring sounds. The change from breath to voice conso- nant has, however, been far more common than the reverse change. 228. As a rule, in the history of English, the spirants of stressed syllables have been stable. That is, the voice sounds have remained voiced, and the breath sounds, aspi- PHONETIC CHANGES 131 rate. In the Southern dialect of Middle English, however, f and s became v and z initially, § 65. This may be well illustrated from King Lear, IV, 6, 240, where Edgar assumes the Southern speech to conceal his identity. In the few lines, so, sir, swaggered, appear as zo, zir, zwaggered, and folk, further, fortnight, as volk, vurther, vortnight. From this Southern dialect standard English has borrowed a few words, as vane, vat, vixen (OE. fana, fset, fyxen * female fox'). With few exceptions, however, every word in Eng- hsh with initial v or z is of foreign origin. 229. In unstressed syllables or words the shifting of breath to voice spirants has sometimes occurred. This accounts for the difference in pronunciation between off and of, the latter being usually unstressed in the sentence. Lack of stress also accounts for the voice spirant th in with, and initially in such words as the, then, thus, etc. Shifting of s to z has occurred in plurals, as hoes, odds, and in verbs, as goes, shades. In all these cases the s was orig- inally in an unstressed syllable. Shifting of s in unstressed words has occurred in as, his, is, was, compared with such words as loss, toss. Shifting of ch, the last element of which is a spirant, appears in knowledge < ME. knowleche, and ajar < ME. on char * on the turn,' as of a door. 230. The voicing of breath stops has occurred in few words. Voicing of p, t, to b, d, may be illustrated by the following words, the first of which is the Modern, the sec- ond the Old English form. lobster < loppestre proud < prut cobweb < cop (web) * spider ' pride < pryte pebble < papol clod < clote * clot * 132 CHANGES IN THE FORMS OF WORDS In the latter case, the form clot shows the original t still preserved. Voicing is also illustrated by such double forms as dribble — drip, hobble — hop. It is doubtful whether the voicing of k to g has occurred in native words. It seems to occur in flagon, sugar < French flacon, sucre, and in trigger (earlier tricker) < Dutch trekker. 231. The less common unvoicing of spirants is illustrated by the f, s, in bereft, lost, compared with bereave, lose. Unvoicing of b, d, has also occasionally occurred in stressed syllables, as in unkempt < ME. unkembed 'uncombed,' in gossip < godsib * related in God,' in tilt < OE. teldan, and in cuttle(fish) < OE. cudele. Final d has also become t in a small class of English verbs, § 413. Assimilation and Dissimilation 232. Sometimes a consonant has conformed more or less completely to the character of another with which it has been brought into contact. For example, assimilation of the labial nasal m to the dental nasal n, before a dental consonant, has occurred in ant^e has its simplest representative in man — men, in which the mutated form came to be used as plural only. The same change appears in Frank — French, Wales — Welch, Cant(er- bury) — Kent, bank — bench, fall — fell. Other examples of this mutation have already been mentioned in § 139. The mutation > e would scarcely be recognized in over — eaves (OE. ofer — efesa) , yet these two words are connected 1 The sign > is to be read ' to.' 142 CHANGES IN THE FORMS OF WORDS through this vowel variation. The mutation o > y, more exactly an older u > y, appears in gold — gild (OE. gylden) , fore — first (OE. fyrst), corn — kernel (OE. cyrnel). Ex- amples of the mutation u > y are full — fill (OE. fyllan), lust — list * to choose,* a word found in Shakespeare. 252. There are many examples of the results of mutation of long vowels, although later phonetic changes have much obscured the original sounds. The Old English a>^(») mutation accounts for the connection of such words as dole — deal, lode — lead, sow — seed, (w) hole — heal. The OE. o>e mutation explains goose — geese, tooth — teeth, foot — feet, in which the mutated forms are now used as plurals. Other examples are doom — deem, food — feed, grow — green. Mutation of u > y occurs in mutated plurals as mouse — mice, louse — lice, as well as in such words as foul — (de) file, proud — pride. Contraction and Substitution 253. By contraction is meant the fusion of two vowels into one. This may occur within a stressed syllable, or a stressed and unstressed syllable may be brought together by contraction, as when a consonant is lost or two words are united in a compound. Contraction has occurred in the development of many English words, as in lord < hlaford, § 149 j friend < freond (*frijond). Examples of two words united into one by contraction are don < do on, dofif < do off. Contraction within a stressed syllable is illustrated by the OE. diphthongs ea, eo, which became the simple vowels |, e in Middle English. PHONETIC CHANGES IN VOWELS 143 254. Occasional variation in vowels of stressed syllables to which a phonetic cause cannot be so easily assigned may be classed under the general name substitution. Substitu- tion Seldom takes place in the case of long vowels, and in short vowels is limited to those which do not differ greatly in pitch, or in position of the vocal organs when producing them. Thus substitution of i for e, e for i or a {man), and a {man) for e are most common. Examples of the substi- tution of e for i are pepper < OE. pipor ; chest < OE. cist, cest. Examples of e for a {man) are together < OE. to- gaedere ; whether < hwaeSer, the substitution in these cases being probably due to lack of stress in the sentence. Short i for e is found in willow < OE. welig ; rid < hreddan. An example of a {man) for e is thrash (thresh) < tSerscan. Unstressed Syllables 255. The preceding general vowel changes apply espe- cially to stressed syllables, although shortening and con- traction also occur in unstressed syllables in English. In addition to shortening, the vowels of unstressed syllables suffer obscuration in sound, and in many cases ultimate loss. In this way the inflectional endings, which belonged originally to English speech, have gradually disappeared. Other parts of the word, not inflectional, have also been gradually obscured and have finally disappeared, thus ac- counting for many abbreviated and contracted forms. There are thus certain general vowel changes which are peculiar to unstressed syllables, and account for many changes in words. The most important are weakening, syncope, apheresis, and apocope. 144 CHANGES IN THE FORMS OF WORDS 256. Weakening. — The obscuration in sound that vowels of unstressed syllables undergo, may be called by the general name weakening. In Old English, unstressed vowels of whatever original quality or quantity had weakened to a, e, 0, u. In Middle English these were still further weakened to e. Since Middle English times the process of weakening has gone on to the total loss of many un- stressed vowels, as shown in the following paragraphs, while a new vowel weakening has also resulted. The vowels of unstressed syllables in Modern English have commonly come to have the quality of the vowels in bit or but. 257. One form of vowel weakening is that by which i, u, became the semi-vowels y, w. The first of these is shown by the development of y initially in French or Latin words beginning with u, originally the diphthong iu as in use, union, Utica. These words are phonetically yuse, yunion, etc., the y having come from the unstressed i of the original diphthong. The weakening of u to w is less common. Examples are one, phonetically like won, woofi 5UW, 5u, you. 198 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS The sign S in 5?, 5«r, etc., represents a consonant simi\ar to^. The forms in Chaucer were essentially the same as those above, with the exception of the Southern ich, now preserved only as a dialectal form in southwestern England. 365. In accounting for our Modern English forms of the pronouns, it must be remembered that they have usually little sentence stress, so that weak forms naturally came to exist beside the strong forms. This accounts for Middle English t beside //&, the former alone having survived in our pronoun /. It also accounts for short u in us, as well as for you, your instead of forms with the diphthong of house, as would be expected from the older words. The remaining forms in common use, me and we, still have short vowels when unemphatic. From what is said above, thou should have a vowel like that oiyou, but in the case of this archaic word the strong form has displaced the weak, which existed in earlier speech. 366. During the Middle English period, the plural ye, you, began to be used in ceremonious address in place of the singular. This was due to French, and perhaps to clas- sical, influence. Such a use occurs first in the thirteenth century, and by Chaucer's time was common. During all this time the older singular remained among the common people, and was probably employed to some extent by the upper classes, as well as by superiors to inferiors. It also continued to be used by the poets. Later, the plural be- came common among friends, and finally was also used in addressing inferiors. 367. In the language of literature, especially poetry, a traditional use of thou beside you has been more or less THE PRONOUN 19* common since Middle English times. The ordinary state- ment that the older distinctive use of thou and you occurs in Shakespeare is inaccurate, as shown by careful investigation. There are, however, occasional references to a use of thou as a term of reproach, for example in Twelfth Night, III, 2, 48. How long the older singular remained in use among common people in England is difficult to say. The speech of the Friends, or Quakers, is in this respect no criterion, since their usage is in imitation of biblical language and is retained as more or less of a religious obligation. 368. In the older inflection ye was nominative and you accusative. The two forms remained thus distinguished in case through Middle and early Modern English. In Shake- speare's time, however, J^'^^^ was often used for ye and some- times jf d, which was found in many preterits and participles in Teu- tonic. By confusion with a weak verb cleave * adhere,' cleave ' split ' often takes cleft for preterit and participle. Both cleave and seethe also have weak forms. The remain- ing verbs once belonging here have become weak so far as they have been preserved. They appear with different vowels in the present, as creep, flee, reek; brew, chew, rue; boWy sprout, crowd; and suck, sup, shove. Class III 424. The verbs of this class belonged to several well- marked subdivisions in Old English, according as their root 224 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS vowels were followed by various consonant combinations. In general, the verbs of only one of these sub-classes have remained strong in Modern English, those in which the vowel was originally followed by a nasal and a consonant. They may be separated into three groups, owing to differ- ences arising through phonetic changes or analogy. 425. The first group includes verbs with the diphthongs ai (written /) in the present stem, and au (written ou) in preterit and participle. Here belong, bind — bound — bound grind — ground — ground find — found — found wind — wound — wound The verb climbs now usually weak, has strong forms dia- lectally, as domb and climb. In all verbs of this group the original short vowels of present and preterit plural were first lengthened and then became diphthongs. 426. The second group includes verbs that have preterits with the vowel of man, from the vowel of the original pre- terit singular, as drink — drank — drunk sink — sank — sunk (be)gin — (be)gan — (be)gun spring — sprang — sprung shrink — shrank — shrunk swim — swam — swum sing — sang — sung To these maybe added ring — rang — rung, from a verb originally weak, the archaic and defective gin — gan, and run — ran — run with an irregular present. In the eigh- teenth century most verbs of this group had preterits with u, as drunk, and these sometimes occur to-day colloquially as well as in poetry. Occasionally, two preterits are used in THE VERB 225 different expressions, as 'John shrank away/ but 'the cloth shrunk.^ 427. Verbs of the third group have preterits with the vowel of but, from the vowel of the original preterit plural. They are, cling — clung — clung sting — stung — stung sling — slung — slung swing — swung — swung slink — slunk — slunk win — won — won spin — spun — spun wring — wrung — wrung stink — stunk — stunk To this class belong fling — flung — flung from the Norse, and string — strung — strung, which was formed in early Modern English from the substantive string. By analogy of the verbs above, dig has also assumed a preterit and participle in u, as dug, beside weak forms. This formation is late, since only weak forms occur in the Bible and Shakespeare. For stick — stuck — stuck, see § 429. Orig- inally burn belonged to this class, but is now weak, as are cringe and ding, the latter not found in Old English. Here belongs also the poetic and archaic swink ' to labour,' which had weak forms as well as strong. Several of these verbs have archaic forms with a in the preterit. 428. The remaining verbs of Class III have become weak so far as preserved, with two exceptions, flgkt — fought — fought and burst — burst — burst. The latter might easily be mistaken for a weak verb like cast, cut, but it was originally strong and it has never had a dental preterit except in such dialectal forms as bursted {busted^ . Molten and swollen, the old participles of melt and swell, are now used rather as adjectives than as participles, and Q 226 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS holpen^ archaic participle of help, is no longer found except dialectally. The defective verb worth ' become ' belonged here originally, but is now found only in such expressions as * woe worth the day.' Class IV 429. Few verbs belonged to this class in Old English and still fewer have come down to modern times. Those preserved are, bear — bore — borne steal — stole — stolen break — broke — broken tear — tore — torn shear — (shore) — shorn Quite irregular is come — came — come, from forms that were also somewhat irregular in Old English. To this class originally belonged stecan ' pierce,' beside which there was a weak verb stician ' pierce, adhere.' These were confused, and now appear as stick — stuck — stuck, with both mean- ings. The preterit and participle have been influenced by the verbs of Class III, although a weak preterit, sticked, existed in early Modern English, and is now found in dialects. By analogy also, wear, which was originally weak, has become strong, while shear often has weak forms. Class V 430. Verbs of this class show considerable irregularity, owing to vowel changes and analogy. Those that have been preserved may be divided into two groups, according as they have kept the old preterit form, or have been influ- enced by verbs of Class IV. To the first group belong, THE VERB 22? bid — bade — bidden lie — lay — lain eat — ate — eaten see — saw — seen give — gave — given sit — sat — sat 431. The verb bid with its compound forbid requires a word of explanation. There were two strong verbs in Old English having some Hkeness in form, biddan ' pray, ask,' of this class, and beodan 'offer, command,' of Class II. In the course of their development these were much confused and bid — bade assumed the meaning ' command ' along with its older meaning 'ask, invite,' the last belonging especially to the participle bidden. Beside this, there is also an invariable verb bid with the meanings ' offer ' and earlier ' pray.' The verb spit^ which earlier had a preterit ji/«/ associating it with these verbs, is now invariable, § 412. The older forms were probably due to mixture of two weak verbs spittan and spatan with the same meaning. 432. The second group includes, get — got — got (gotten) tread — trod — trodden speak — spoke — spoken weave — wove — woven The verbs of this group all show preterits and participles which have been influenced by those of Class IV, with which, a3 far as Modern English is concerned, they might be associated. The form gotten beside got is a late develop- ment, by analogy of participles in -en. The verbs get, give, included in this class, do not properly spring from OE. gietan, giefan^ since the latter should now have initial y. The forms with hard g have probably been due to the corre- sponding Norse verbs, which have influenced or supplanted 228 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS the others. An old preterit quoth is all that now remains of an Old English verb cwedan belonging to Class V, its com- pound bequeath being wholly weak. Other verbs of this class that have become weak are knead, mete, play. Class VI 433. The verbs of this class were few in number in Old English and still fewer are now strong. The most regular are, heave — hove — hove swear — swore — sworn (for-)sake — sook — saken wake — woke — (waked) shake — shook — shaken (a-) wake — woke — (waked) stand — stood — stood In these verbs the participles hove, stood, and sworn, have been influenced by the vowels of the preterits, or by verbs of Class IV, and the vowels of the presents, swear, heave, are due to mutation. The present stand differs from its other forms by reason of an n which belonged only to the present and participle even in Old English. Two verbs, draw — drew — drawn and slay — slew — slain, also be> longing here, have peculiar forms due to contraction. 434. This class now includes take — took — taken, which once belonged to the corresponding class in Norse and so easily associated itself with these verbs. Another verb, stave — stove — stove, was formed from a substantive in early Modern English, while reeve — rove — rove, a nautical term, is perhaps from Dutch, with strong forms by analogy. As in the other classes, several verbs originally belonging to Class VI have become weak, although some of them have old participles in -en. They are ache, bake, gnaw, grave, THE VERB ll") lade, shape, shave, wade, wax. The old participles, now used only as adjectives however, are gnawn, graven, laden, shapen, shaven. Verbs with Original Reduplication 435. The reduplicating verbs are interesting as forming a connecting link between the Teutonic languages and Greek and Latin, which also had reduplicated perfects. Yet actual reduplication was preserved only in Gothic, although all Teu- tonic languages show certain peculiar forms resulting from it. Old English reduplicating verbs formed two classes by reason of different vowels in the preterit. They differed in another respect from most strong verbs, since their four principal stems had but two different vowels, those of the present and participle on the one hand, and those of the preterit singular and plural on the other being the same. Most of the Modern English verbs have three forms, how- ever, owing to preservation of the participle in -en. 436. The reduplicating verbs which have remained strong are as follows : beat — beat — beaten (beat) hold — held — held blow — blew — blown know — knew — known fall — fell — fallen let — let — let * allow ' grow — grew — grown throw — threw — thrown Of these, hold has its participle by analogy of the preterit, holden {beholden^ being archaic. Let * allow* has become invariable by shortening of the present and preterit vowels. From it must be distinguished the older let ' hinder,' origi- nally a weak verb. The verb crow, now weak, had an 230 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS early Modern English preterit crew. Hew, mow, sow have weak preterits, but retain the strong participles hewn, mown, sown beside weak forms. 437. Sometimes hang is said to belong here, but this is only partly true. There were in Old English a reduplicat- ing verb hon — heng — hongen 'hang,' and a weak verb hangian, with similar meaning. In Middle English these were confused, so that the present hang is now associated with a strong preterit and participle hung and a weak hanged. The form hung < heng has been influenced by verbs of Class III. Most of the other reduplicating verbs have become weak, as blend, claw, dread, flow, fold, glow, leap, low, row, salt, sleep, swoop, weep, wheeze, wield. Preteritive Presents 438. The preterits of certain verbs in Teutonic, as in other languages, have assumed a present meaning, after which the original presents were usually lost. Examples in English are may, can, shall; in Latin novi ' I know,' memini * I remember.' Such verbs, called preteritive presents, de- veloped in Teutonic a new weak preterit, together with a new infinitive usually from the stem of the preterit plural. The preteritive presents in the Teutonic languages were all originally strong verbs, so that their presents are inflected Hke strong verbs, their preterits like weak verbs. 439. The somewhat numerous forms of the older pre- teritive presents have been greatly reduced in number. So far as preserved, they appear in the following table, under the various classes of strong verbs : THE VERB Class Infinitive Present Preterit I wit wot wist ought III can dare could durst IV shall should V * may might VI mote must 231 440. The infinitive of the first verb remains in the ex- pression to wit. It appears as a verb in the King James version of the Bible 2 Cor. 8 : i, *we do (make) you to wit (know),' and in Shakespeare, Pericles iv. 4, 31. Shake- speare also used the analogical forms wot'st, wots, woting, and the plural wot. An irregular OE. participle gewiss (Ger. gewiss) * certain ' became ME. iwisj and later was supposed to be a verb and pronoun, / wis, as if present to wiste, § 109. Compare Coleridge's * Fearfully dreaming yet / wis,' and Browning's * Howe'er you wis.' The other verb of this class, ought, is now present and preterit in use. From the same root are the weak verb owe ' be in debt for ' and own, an adjective and late weak verb. Dialectally ought appears as a past participle in the expression ' had ought.' 441. The preterit eou/d is derived from OE. euc^e (<*eun^e), ME. eoude, the spelling with / being due to analogy of would, should, § 235. Connected with it is the old participle cud ' known,' now found in uncouth, but with change of meaning. The verb dare has become weak, and the older durst, with its dialectal variant da{f)st, is some- times present in use. 442. The original meaning of shall was * be obliged, 232 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS ought,' and this is still found in certain uses oi should. The old participle of may is found in the adjective ftiain^ as in * main strength.' Beside might, there is also an archaic preterit mought. As a present, mote is found only in the archaic * so mote it be.' Must, like ought, is now present as well as preterit. 443. The preterits of such verbs originally assumed present use owing to quite natural changes in meaning. This may be illustrated by almost any of them. For ex- ample, Latin novi meant * I have become acquainted with,' which is equivalent in meaning to * I know.' It was not un- natural, therefore, that Latin novi should have come to be used with present meaning. So with all of the Old English verbs. New changes due to this same cause are also found in Modern English. For example, ought and must have assumed present use, though originally weak preterits. The same is true of durst in older Modern English, and a similar tendency is shown by some uses of should. A colloquial preteritive present of late formation is have got in the sense of * have, possess.' Verbs with Original Presents in -mi 444. A few Indo-European verbs took an ending -mi in the first person singular of the present indicative, instead of the usual ending -o. Examples are Latin sum and Eng- lish am, the latter showing the only relic in Modern English of this older suffix. To this class of ;«/-verbs belong be {am), do, go, and 7vilL 445. The verb to be, as it is called, is made up of three different roots, which appear in Modern English am {is, THE VERB 233 are), be {being, been), and was {were). Each had numer- ous forms in Old English, as a present indicative and sub- junctive-optative/ while be and was had also an infinitive, imperative, and participle, and was a preterit indicative and subjunctive-optative. Of these, there remain in Modern English only a present indicative from the first root, a present subjunctive, infinitive, and imperative from the sec- ond root, and a preterit from the third root. The participle been is a new formation of Middle English times. The forms of the roots are various, owing to many phonetic changes. Thus s of is has entirely disappeared from am, and has become r in are. 446. The third root, which now forms the preterit was — ivere of the verb to be, is not strictly a w/-verb. It was really a strong verb of the fifth class with all forms except the past participle. Only the preterit has been kept in Modern English, except that the imperative occurs in the word wassail, originally ' be whole, happy.' The r of were springs from an original s, as in are < is. ^^*j. The verbs will, do^ and go also belonged to the mi- verbs originally, although the mi ending has not been kept in English. The corresponding Latin verbs retain the m suffix in the subjunctive, as velim,fiam, earn. The verb will is now defective. Its preterit would (OE. wolde) has been formed by analogy of weak verbs. The preterit did (OE. dyde) is apparently a reduplicated form. The verb go is now found only in the present system and in the perfect 1 The term subjunctive-optative is used for a mode which had the uses of the subjunctive and potential in Modern English, or the subjunctive and optative in Greek. 234 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS participle gone. Its old preterit lode is found as yeede, yede in Chaucer and Spenser, but has since been supplanted by went^ an old preterit oi wend^ § 413. 448. There were once certain anomalous forms of these verbs due to combinations with the negative. The Old English negative ne was prefixed to some verbs in Old Eng- lish, notably was and will. These forms have not been preserved, however, except the negative form of will in the Shakespearean willy nilly * will he, nill {ne -\- will) he.' The negative not (OE. naht, noht, 'nothing'), used after certain verbs, gradually united with them through lack of stress, as in caiCt^ mayn't, shan't<, shall not with loss of /. Won't < will not shows change of / to u (written 0) after w, § 107. Don't does not rightly belong to the third singular, but is often used for doesn't by analogy. CHAPTER XIX VERBAL INFLECTION 449. The simplicity of our Modern English verbal inflec- tion is a striking proof of the tendency to uniformity which has characterized the development of English. The Old English inflectional system, though not as elaborate as that of the classical languages, included many different forms. The results of the changes that have taken place may be summed up as follows. The infinitive, imperative, and sub- junctive-optative do not differ from the indicative, except that the subjunctive-optative sometimes has a third singular without inflectional ending. The singular and plural of the preterit are alike, and the same is true of the present with exception of the third singular indicative. The past parti- ciple is the same as the preterit in all weak, and in many strong, verbs. The numerous forms of the old English verb have been reduced to four for weak verbs, as stir — stirs — stirring — stirred; and five (often four) for strong verbs, as sing — sings — singing — sang — sung. This does not include certain anomalous verbs, as be and go^ in which the forms are somewhat more numerous, as shown in §§ 445-447- 450. The two tenses of the Teutonic verb, § 37, as they appeared in the various modes formed two tense systems, 235 236 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS the present and preterit. The present system was inflected in Old Enghsh as follows, minor differences being disre- garded. Examples are given of typical weak and strong verbs through all forms. Weak Indicative Singular i dime ♦ deem * 2 dem(e)st 3 dem(e)S Plural I, 2, 3 dematJ Subjunctive-Optative Singular i, 2, 3 dime Plural I, 2, 3 demen Imperative Singular Plural 2 dim 1 diman 2 dima^ Strong binde * bind bindest binde^ bindaS binde binden bind (binde) bindan binda^ Infinitive deman(-anne) bindan (-anne) Participles demende bindende 451. Most of the inflectional changes in the verb are accounted for by the weakening of unstressed a to e, the loss of final «, and then of final e as in other inflectional forms. Other changes require more extended explanation. In the singular, such forms as deemest and deemeth are archaic, or remain in poetry and only occasionally in prose. The place of the first was taken by the second plural when VERBAL INFLECTION TiM you took the place of thou, § 366. The place of the second was taken in early Modern English by a form ending in -s, as deems, binds. This is a phonetic development, not of the Midland form in -eth, but of the -es form of the North- ern dialect. The present plural without inflectional ending, as bind, comes from a Midland form in -en which in Middle English had displaced the older -eth {OE. ad). This ME. -en ending was probably due to analogy of the OE. sub- junctive-optative -en suffix. In late Middle English, by the loss of final n and then of final e, the plural assumed its present form. 452. By similar changes the OE. subjunctive-optative became the same as the indicative, except in the third person singular. On this account, no doubt, the subjunc- tive-optative has been gradually losing ground in Modern EngHsh, and its place has been supplied by the indicative and by compound forms with auxiliaries. The imperative retained in Middle English a plural in -eth, and sometimes a singular in -e, but later lost the endings of both singular and plural. The infinitive in -an and its inflected form in -anne were reduced to a single form in -en in Middle EngHsh, and finally to the present form by the loss of this -en ending as in many other words. The to, now considered part of the infinitive form, belonged originally only to the inflected form, but gradually became estab- lished with all infinitives except after auxiliaries and a few other verbs. The participial ending -ende was 'dis- placed in Middle English by the suffix -ing, -inge, probably by analogy of verbal substantives in -ing, from Old English 'Ung, -ing. 2J8 THE HISTORY OF ENGLISH INFLECTIONS 453. The forms of the preterit system in Old English were as follows : — Weak Strong Indicative Singular i detnde band 2 demdes(t) bunde 3 demde band Plural I, 2, 3 demdon bundon Subjunctive-Optative Singular i, 2, 3 demde bunde Plural 1, 2, 3 demden bunden Participle (ge)demed (ge) bunden 454. By ordinary inflectional changes, as the weakening of -on to -en and the final loss of the a men l^e^^ hi devils and evil men. Then took they those men that they wenden ])8et ani god^- hefden, bathe be nihtes^ and be daeis, weened that any goods had, both by night and by day, carlmen^ and wimmen, and diden^ heom in prisun efter carlmen and women, and did ' put ' them in prison after gold and sylver, and pined ^ heom untellendlice^" pining; gold and silver, and tortured them \mspeakable torture; for ne weeren naevre nan martyrs ^ swa pined alse hi w«ron. for (ne) were never no martyrs so tortured as they were. — From the Peterborough Chronicle (1137). NOTES 1 In this selection g- is still used for consonantal y, except as mentioned in note 21 ; it was soon displaced by 5, and later by y, § 364. 2 xhe char- acter p had replaced gf, except as the latter stood for the conjunction that ; or the former gave way to modern th. 3 Xhe digraph ^, used in OE. (WS. especially), was soon replaced by e. ^ The use of e for a: was a peculiarity of Mercian, and was sometimes retained in Midland. 6 The whole expression means ' because ' ; the sign gf, always used for the con- junction that in the MS. of this selection, has been expanded to pcet. 6 Note that Norse they, § 373, was not yet used. ' MnE. ' would.' 8 The ME. form of as ; compare German ah, and note 21 to previous selection. 9 Cognate with German Oheim, later replaced by the borrowed word uncle ; note that the OE. diphthong had not yet become a monophthong, \ 247. 10 Perhaps^^/ at this time ; see \ 244. n The prefix to- is cognate with Latin dis-, German zu-. '^^ The common ME. negative, since lost. 13 Shortened form of men in indefinite sense, \ 400. i^ Used in OE. also for when or then. 16 OE. niman, German nehmen, later displaced by Norse take, § 434. APPENDIX 253 16 See \ 167. 1' Initial /5 (M) of pronominal words often became / in MEl. after words ending in / or d. ^^ For difference between canceler and chan- cellar, see k> 176. 19 This form has been replaced, except in dialects, by the French cognate word. 20 gee ^ 468. 21 See § 432 ; the spelling with i, instead of g, shows that this is the direct descendant of the OE, verb, and not yet replaced by the Norse word with hard g. 22 See ^ 373. 23 in bad sense of ' wondrous wicked deeds.' 24 Derived from man, as French homage from homme 'man.' 26 MnE. •forlorn' with somewhat different meaning. 26 Meant ' powerful,' but later influenced in meaning by riches from French. 27 See ^ 234. 28 From root of swink ' labour,' ^427; liter- ally ' make to labour.' 29 MnE. wretched has d by addition, \ 234. so See § 167. 31 OE. relative particle, ^ 388, still retained in early ME. 32 OE neuter plural ^<7a? 'goods,' now a regular plural, \ 325. 33 xhe OE. adverb- ial genitive, \ 462, as in the expression ' he works nights', where it is nov» regarded as a plural. 34 Carl is Norse and Scotch form of English churl § 51. 35 Do once meant ' make, put.' 36 QE. pin < Lat. pcena 'punish- ment ' ; MnE. pine in ' peak and pine.' 3^ The root is MnE. tell, so means • unrelatable.' 38 See \ 167. MIDDLE ENGLISH (EAST MIDLAND) OP THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY And see ^ schulle understonde that Machamete' was bora in Arabye, that^ was a pore^ knave that kepte cameles, that wenten* with marchantes for marchandise ; and so befelle that he wente with the marchandes^ intoEgipt: and thei weren thanne^ cristene* in tho^ partyes.^*' And at the desertes of Arabye he wente into a chapelle where a ere- myte^^ dwelte. And when he entred into the chapelle, that was a lytille and a low thing and had but a lityl dore^ and alow, than the entree began to wexe^^ so gret and so large and so high as though it had ben of a gret mynstre," or the sate^^ of a paleys.^^ And this was the firste myracle, the Sarazins seyn,'^ that Machomete dide in his southe.^^ After began he for to wexe wyse and riche, and he was a gret astronomer ; and after he was governour and prince 254 APPENDIX of the lond ^^ of Corrodane, and he governed it fuUe wisely. — From the Voyage and Travel of Sir John Maundeville^ Chap. XIII (c. 1400). NOTES 1 ME. form of ye, \ 364. 2 ■ Mahomet.' 8 Common ME. relative, \ 388. ♦'poor.' 6 Note t for d, \\ 231, 413. ^ Same as marchantes above. ' Not yet become then, \ 146. 8 See § 210. ^ ME. plural of that, \ 380. W 'parts,' though the form is that of Mxi^. party. H 'hermit.' 12. 'door.' 18 ' wax, grow.' !•* See § 167. I6 • gate ' ; would now be yate, but has been displaced by the Norse form with hard g, ^ 170. I6 ' palace.' i^ < say. 18 ' youth.' 19 ' land.' MODERN ENGLISH OP THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY Thenglisshmeir^ who were in thre batayls^ lyeng on the grounde to rest them,^ as sone as they saw the Frenchmen aproche, they rose upon their fete fayre and easely, without any hast, and aranged their batayls. The first, which was the princes* batell, the archers ther stod"^ in maner of a herse,** and the men of armes^ in the botome* of the batayle ; therle^ of Northampton & therle of Arundell with the second batell were on a wyng in good order, redy to comfort the princes batayle if nede were.^® The lordes and knyghtes of France came nat" to the assemble togyder^^ in good order, for some came before and some came after in such hast and yvell order the one of them dyd trouble another. When the French kyng sawe thenglisshmen, his blode chaunged, and sayde to his marshals " Make the Geno- wayes^ go on before and begynne the batayle in the name of God and Saynt Denyse." There were of the Genowayes crosbowes about a fiftene thousand, but they were so wery of goyng afote^* that day a six leages'^ armed with their APPENDIX 255 crosbowes, that they sayde to their constables " We be nat well ordered to fyght this day, for we be nat in the case^^ to do any great dede^'' of armes, we have more nede of rest." These wordes came to the erle of Alanson, who sayd " A man is well at ease to be charged with suche a sorte of rascalles, to be faynt and fayle nowe at most nede." — The Battle of Crecy, from the Froissart of Lord Berners (1523)- NOTES 1 ' The Englishmen ' ; see therle = ' the earl ' below. 2 • lines of battle.' 8 Personal pronoun used as a reflexive, § 374. ■* Note the genitive in -es with no apostrophe, and see § 322. 6 • stood.' 6 ' hearse,' i.e. triangular form ; see the word in Skeat's Etymological Dictionary. 7 See § 207. 8 That is, behind the archers. » See first note. 10 old subjunctive-optative, meaning 'should be," § 445. H'not'; see § 241 for a similar change of short 0. 12 ' together.' 18 • Genoese.' i^ • afoot." 16 • leagues.' i^ * con- dition ' ; see the dictionary for meaning. ^'^ ' deed.' INDEX The numbers refer to sections. Subjects and names begin with capitals; words ased as examples, except proper names, with small letters. Abbreviations are as follows : adj. = adjective ; adv, = adverb ; art, = article : conj. = conjunction ; demon = demonstrative ; indef. = indefinite ; inter. = interrogative , n. = noun ; pref. = prefix ; pron. = pronoun ; reU = relative ; sb. = substantive ; suf. = suffix ; vb. = verb. a, 354: pref., 137, 270. abba, 191. abbot, 210. abide, " wait for," 152, 270, 419, 421 ; '* suffer," 152. Academy for England, 98. Academy, French, 98. Accent, English, 219, 284; of borrowed words, 292, 298; kinds of, 298. accurse, 270. ache, 434. acorn, 274. ad-, pref., 270. adamant, 208. adder, 238= Addison, Joseph, 100; see " Spectator/' Addition, 234. Adjective, analogy affect- ing, 279; comparison of, 345. 351; inflection of, 337» 334'. twofold de- clension of, 25, 337; as- sumes noun inflection, 243; see Articles, Nu- merals. adjudge, 270. admiral, 192. ado, 270. adown, 104, 270. adroit, 181. advance, 270. adventure, 202, 2x3, 270. Adverb, the, 458-467. advise, 211. advocate, 211. adz, 258. ^Ifric, 58, iEthelard of Bath, 62. jEthelberht- 46, 47. .^thelwold, 57. afford, 270. affright, 270. affront, 175. Afghan language, 11. afoot, 270. African words in English, 193- after, 468; pref., 291. against, 234. -age, n. suf., 206, 269. aggressor, 181. ahoy, 189. aimlesSj 204, ajar, 229. alarm, 164, alas, 160, 470. alb, 167. Albanian language, 13, 14. alcalde, 186. alcohol. 192. alderbest, liefest, 341. Alfred, King, 56, 58. algebra, 192. alkali, 192. alkoran, 192. all, indef. pron., 398. alleluia, 191, alligator, 186. " Alliterative poems," 59. alms, 165, 273. alone, 354. along, 273, 462 aloof, 189. alpaca, 194. altar, 167. alway, 463. am, 444, 445- amber, 192. amen, 191. America, aboriginal lan- guages of, 194. American English, 121, amidst, 234. " Amis and Amiloun," 83 amuck, 193. an, art., 352; suf,, 206. Analogy, effect on lan- guage, 218, 308; when most effective, 285; in English, 262-285. anchor, 162. ancient, 287. " Ancren Riwle," 80. and, 471; pre' 137, 142, 291. anear, 109. angel, 210. angle, 207. Angles, 45, 50, 54. Anglo-Saxon, see Old Eng- lish, 48. Anglo-Frisian, 39; see also Frisian. anoint, 270. Anselm, 62. answer. 143 258 INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] ant, 146, 332. ante-, pref., 205. anti-, pref., 205. antechamber, 181. any, indef. pron., 398. apace, 464. apart, 464. apartment, 181. Apheresis, 259. Apocope, 266. apostle, 210. Apostrophe, use of, 322. appeal, 202. appear, 202. "Apollonius of Tyre," 57. Arabic element in English, 192. archbishop, 167. archipelago, 185. -ard, n. suf., 206, 269. arise, 270. ark, 162. arm, 207. armada, 186. armadillo, 186. Armenian language, 10, 12, 14- around, 204, 464. arouse, 270. artichoke, 192. Articles, 344; see an, a, and the. Aryan language, 10, 11, 14; element m English, 190. Ascham, Roger, 91, 95, 185. ask, 237. Assimilation, 232. at, 468. -ate, suf., 206. atone, 270, 354. attend, 202. atween, 109. auger, 238. aught, indef. pron., 399. aunt, 335. Australian words in Eng- lish, 193. authority, 239. auto da f^, 187. avast, 189. Avestic, II. avow, 202. awake, 433. aware, 280. away, 259, 270, 464. "Ayenbite of Inwit," 8ot azimuth, 192. azure, 190, 224. bachelor, 335. Bacon, Francis, gi. bagatelle, 181. Bailey, Nathan, 106. bait, 170. bake, 434. balcony, 185. ballet, i8i. balm, 208. balsam, 191, 208. Balto-Slavic, 10, 14, 17; element in English, 190. banana, 187. bandy-legged, 203. bank, 207 bannock, 164. barbecue, 194. Barbour, John, 114. Barnes, William, no, lia. bashaw, 193. bask, 170. bastard, 269. bay, 207. Baxter, 336. bazaar, 190. be, 444, 445- be-, pref, 139. bear, vb. , 429. beat, 436. beau, 175. beauty, 175. beaver, 30. because, 254, 471. Bede,43, 54, 56. bedouin, 192. beech, 225. beef, 212, 326. beet, 167. before, 462. begin, 426. behemoth, 193. behest, 234. bend, 413. benzoin, 192. " Beowulf," 54, 138. bequeathe, 432. beseech, 414. be.side, 464. " Bestiary," 82, bet, 412. between, 356. betwixt, 234, 356. bey, 193. bi-, pref., 205. "Bible," in Scotland, 116; vocabulary of, 215; ad- jectives, 360; pronouns, 377; verbs in, 420, 427, 440. bid, " pray, command," 152, 430, 431; "offer," 152, 431- billet doux, 181. billion, 357. bind, 31, 495. binnacle, 187. bird, 237. bishop, 167, 168. bite, 30, 419* blackguard, 203. Blackmore, Richard, ixa. -ble, suf., 206. bleed, 411. blend, 413, 437. " Blickling Homilies,** 57. blow, sb., 30; vb., 436. board, 212. bodkin, 164. Boethius, 56. bog, 164. Bolton, Edmund, 08. bonfire, 244. bonny, 175. book, 277. " Book of an Anchoress,* 81. boom, 189. boomerang, 193. borax, 190. Borrowed words in Eng- lish, 155-165; relation to native words, 196-216; inflection of, 333. bosh, 193. both, 398. bound, " prepared," 234. bouquet, 175. bow, vb., 423. box, 167. boy, 189. I brace, 325. j bramble, 234. I brat, 164. break, 31, 429. I breeches, 328. I breed, 411, j brew, 423. ! bridal, 148. bridegroom, 274, bridge, 225. brigand, 184. brimstone, 148. bring, 414. Britain, 43, 44, 47, sa brock, 164. brogue, 164, brother, 27, 329, 335. I Browning, Robert, 109 brunette, t8i. ^ Bruniie, Robert of, 8a. I build, 413. burial, 272. I burlesque, 181. I burn, 127, 413. I Burns, Robert, ii7» j burst, 428. INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] 259 -oury, n. suf., 171. bushel, 325, busk, 170. but, 471. Butler, Samuel, loi, 102. butter, 167. buy, 414. by, 468. -by, suf., 171. cabbage, 269. cacao, 194. cadet, 181. Csedmon, 54. caftan, 193. cairn, 164. caitiff, 208. cajole, 175, 181. calash, 181. caldron, 176. calf, 212. calif, 192. call, 169. cameo, 185. campaign, 181. campanile, 185. can, vb., 438, 439. candle, 167. candy, 192. canker, 167. cannikin, 189. cannon, 325. cannonade, 181. canoe, 194. canon, 168. caoutchouc, 194. cap, 167. Capgrave, John, 86. capital, 176. capon, 167. caprice, 181. captive, 208. caravan, 190. caressj 181. cark, 109, 175. carte blanche, 181. cast, 412. castanets, 186. castle, 173. catacomb, 185. catch, 176, 414. cattle, 176. cause, 175. Caxton, William, 85, 86, 92, 179, 180. cease, 169, 217. cell, 169. Celtic language, 10, 16, 26; element in English, 163, 164, 172. certain, indef. pron., 398; adv., 467. certainly, 218. chaff, 51, 225. chagrin, 181. chair, 212. chaldron, 176. chalk, 51, 162. chance, 225. chandelier, 175, 224. chandler, 175. change, 225. channel, 176. chaperon, 175, chapter, 176. charge, 176. Charles II, 181. chase, 176. chattel, 176. Chaucer, Geoffrey, 85 ; nouns in, 319, 327; adjec- tives, 340, 342, 343, 346, 35 1 > 355". adverbs, 460; pronouns, 364, 366, 372, 393 ; verbs, 447. check, 190. cheese, 167. cherry, 272. chervil, 167. cherub, 190. chess, 190. chest, 167, 254. chew, 423. chide, 420. child, 329, 334. Chinese language, 89 ; words in English, 193. chintz, 190. chocolate, 194. choir, 211. choose, 32, 422, chord, 211. Christ, 165; poem of, 54. christen, 210. Christianity, conversion of English to, 46. " Chronicle," Saxon, 45, 48, 62, 82, 86, 169, 173, 174. church, 57, 167, 168. churl, 51. clan, 164. Classical element in Eng- lish, see Latin, Greek. clasp, 237. claw, vb., 437. claymore, 164. cleave, " to adhere," 420, 423; " to split," 422, 423. climb, 109, 425. cling, 427. clod, 230. clothe, 415. cobra, 187. cobweb, 150, 230. cockatoo, 193, cocoa, 187. coffee, 192. Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 109. come, 429. commandment, 181. complaisant, 181. Compounds, in English, 143; obscuration of, 144, 147. compter, 211. conceit, 208. conception, 208. condor, 194. Conjunctions, 471. connoisseur, 175. console, 181. Consonants, great shift of, 26; phonetic changes of English, 222-239. Contraction, 253. contrary, 269. cook, 167. coop, 167. copal, 194. copper, 167. coquette, 181. cord, 211. corn, 251. Cornwall, John, 71. corona, 298. coronach, 159, 164. corporal, 289. corps, 178, 181-208. corpse, 169, 189, 208. Correspondence, English used in, 82. Cossack, 187, 193. cost, 412. cotton, 192. could, 235. coulter, 162. count, 175. counter, 211. countess, 173, 335. couple, 325. court, 173. courtship, 204. cowl, 167. coy, 175, coyote, 194. crag, 164. cranberry, 148. cravat, 181. crave, 169. creed, 167. creep, 423. cringe, 427. crisp, 162, 167. crow, 436. [The numbers refer to sections.! crowd, 423. -dom, n. suf., 147. endlong, 109. cud, 146. don, 253. endwise, 463. cuirassier, 181. doom, 252, 314. engine, 202. cummin, 191. door, 31. English, name, 48; divi- cup, 167. '* Cursor Mundi," 8i> dotard, 269. sions of history, 42; na- Doublets, 208. tive element in, 133-154; custard, 269. doubt, 211. monosyllabic element, cut, 412. dough, 31. 200; borrowed elements. cuttle-fish, 231. Douglas, Gawain, 114. 155-195; spread of, 130; see Old, Middle, Modern Cynewulf, 54. down, 164, 359. Czar, 190. drag, 170. English. draw, 433. " English Guilds," 81. daintiness, 204. dread, vb., 437. enough, 236; pron., 389; dais, 209. dream, 413. adv., 462. daisy, 148. dribble, 230- enow, 109. damask, 191. drink, 426. ephod, 191. damson, 191. drip, 230. epistle, 210. Danes, language of, 2a; drive, 419, -er, sb. suf., 336; compar. conquest of England, 58 ; drosky, 190. Dryden, John, 98, loi, suf., 346. influence on English, see 181. escape, 202. Norse. dubiety, 109. -ese, suf., 206. dare, vb., 439, 441, 443. ducat, 184. -esque, suf., 206. darling, 148. dukedom, 204. -ess, sb. suf., 206, 336. daughter, 335. dun, 164. -est, superl. suf, 346. * David Grieve," 112. Dunbar, William, 114. even, sb., 136, 142. deacon, 167, 168. Dutch language, 18, 21 24: ex-, pref., 205. deal, 252, 413. element in English, t88. Excrescent consonants, see dear, 153. duty, 175-225. Addition. debt, 211. dwell, 413. executor, 335. debut, 175. dwindle, 234. extravaganza, 185. deck, 189. eyelet hole, 203. deem, 252, each, indef. pron., 398. eyen, 92, 327. deer, 325. Eadwine, 46. defile, 252 carl, 335. fall, 436. delight, 211. earnest, sb., 234. falsehood, 204. dent, 146. eat, 31, 430. Family of languages, 2, 3, 6k desk, 209. eaves, 251, 273. fan, 167. devil, 167, 168. Ecgberht, 56. fancy, 208. dey, 193. _ Ecthlipsis, 237. farther, 350. Dialects, origin of, 3; Old English, 49-52; Middle -ed, vb. suf.,216; see Pret- fat, " vessel," 146. erite, dental. father, 30, 218, 335. English, 63-65; Modern Edgar, King, 188. fathom, 30, 325. English, 111-130. Edward the Confessor .59. feast, 175. diamond, 208. 174- fee, 30. did, 443. Edward I, 70; III, 70. feed, 252, 400. die, 329. 188. feel, 413. dig, 266, 427. eftsoons, 109, 462. fell, sb., 30. dight, 167. egg, 190. either, 397. fellow, 169. dilettante, 185. fennel, 167. dint, 146. elder, 218, 279, 347. Ferguson, Robert, 117. Diphthonging, 247. " Elene," 54. fSte, 175. dis-, pref., 205. Eliot, George, 112. fever, 167. disc, 209. elixir, 192. feverfew, 167. dish, 167, 209. Dissimilation, 232. else, 258, 462. few, 398. Elyot, Sir Thomas, 94 fiddle, 167, 239. distract, 414. embers, 234. fig, 210. divan, 190. emmet, 146. fight, 428. fill, 251. dive, 420. empress, 173. do, 31, 444, 447, 448. empty, 234. find, 425. doe, 167. -en, adj. suf, 137; plural first, 251, 268, 358. doff, 253. suf. of nouns, 316, 327; fish, 224, 334. dole, 252. participial ending, 455. five, 357. INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] 261 flag, 170. flagon, 230. flee, 415, 423. Flemish language, 24; ele- ment in English, 188. fling, 427. Florence of Worcester, 62, florin, 184. flotilla, 186. flow, 30, 437, fly, 422. fold, vb., 437. folk, 228, 325. Folk-etymology, see Anal- ogy. font, 167. food, 252. foot, 27, 30, 31, 252, 325. for, 468, 471. fore, 251 ; pref., 291. forefront, 204. foremost, 348. fork, 167. former, 349. forsake, 433. Fortescue, 87. fortnight, 228. forwards, 462. foul, 252. fragile, 208. frail, 208. Franconian language, 18, 24. 39- Franklin, Benjamin, 124, 131. 132- freeze, 422. freight, vb., 414. French, fusion of, with English, 66-68. French language, 15; French used in Eng- land, 66,75; element in English, 172. fresh, 237. friend, 253. Friends, use of thou, thee, 367. Frisian language, 18, 24, 39; see Anglo-Frisian. fro-, pref., 291. Froissart, 180. from, 463. frontispiece, 274. full, 257, 462; adj. suf., 137- fulfilment, 206. fuller, 162. further, 228, 349, 350. fustian, 184. -fy, suf., 206. Gaelic language, 16. gage, 209. Gaimar, 62. gallowglass, 164. gander, 234. ge-, pref., 406, gehenna, 191. Gender, grammatical, 313; in modern English, 334. " Genesis and Exodus," 82. genially, 204. Genitive case, 322; of a group, 324; his for, 323. Geofi'rey of Monmouth, 62. Gerland, 62. German, High, 18, 21, 23, 38, 39; Low, 23, 24, 38, 39; element in English, 188-189, Germanic, see Teutonic. get, 170, 432. Gibbon, Edward, 171. gift, 170. gild, 251,413, gin, sb., 202; vb,, 426. ginger, 190, gird, 413. girl, 189. give, 430, 432. gizzard, 269. gladen, 167. glen, 164. glib, sb., 164. glide, 421. glimpse, 234. Gloucester, Robert of, 80. glow, vb. , 437. gnaw, 434. go, 444, 447. God, 148. gold, 251. gong, 193. goodbye, 148. goose, 246, 252. gopher-wood, 191. gospel, 148. gossip, 231, 232. Gothic language, 18, 22, 38. Gower, John, 83, 85, grandeur, 175. grass, 237. grave, vb., 434, Greek language, 13, 25, 27; accent of, 34, 289; ele- ment in English, 168. green, 252. Gregory, Pope, 47. grind, 425, gripe, 421, groat, 189, groom, 32, gross, 325, grow, 252, 436, guano, 194, guarantee, 209, guard, 209. guest, 32, 33, 170. guilder, 189. gun, 170, guttapercha, 193, Gutturalization, 248. " Guy of Warwick," 83, gypsy, 193. haft, 30, 31, hail, 170. -ham, sb. suf., 171. Hamitic languages, 6. Hampole, Richard, 81, hang, 437. Hants, 232. Hardy, Thomas, 112, hasp, 237. hautboy, 175. have, 415, 443, " Havelok the Dane," 83, haven, 169. he, 245, 323. head, 236, 325; suf,, 137. headlong, 461. heal, 252. hear, 415. heart, 31, heat, vb,, 412. heave, 433. Hebrew words in English, 191. hedge, 225, heirloom, 203, Hellenicbranch.seeGreek, help, 109, 428. hemp, 232. hence, 258, 465. Henry I, 67, 69; H, 67, 69; ni, 68, 75, 189. here, 465. hew, 456. hidalgo, 186. hide, sb., 151; vb., i5i» Higden, Ralph, 71, 80. hill, 27, 32. hindmost, 348. hit, 412. hither, 465. hobble, 230. hobby-horse, 203. hogshead, 189. hoist, 189. hold, 436. holland, 189. home, 218, 219. " Homilies, Metrical," 81. hominy, 194. homonyms, 151-207. 262 INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] •hood, n. suf., 147. hop, 230. horse, 325. hound, 32. housewife, 150. how, 474. hug, 170. hundred, 32. Hungarian words in Eng- lish, 193. hurricane, 194. hurt, 412. husband, 169, 335. hussar, 193. hussy, 148, 150. hustings, 169. I> 365! confusion with nte^ -ic, suf., 200. Icelandic language, 22. -ide, suf., 206. if. 471. ilk, 383. immediately, 225. imp, 167. in-, pref., 291; prep., 52, 291, 468. inch, 167, 201. India, language of, 11; see Aryan. Indian, East, words in Eng- lish, 190; West, 194. indict, 211. indigo, 186, 190. indite, 211. Indo-European family, 7, 8, 1-9, 26; original home, 20; accent of, 34, 289; inflections in, 303; verbs in, 37. Infinitive, to and, 452. Inflectional levelling, 276, 303-312, Inflection, see Noun, Ad- jective, Pronoun, etc. -ing, n. suf., 171, 269; vb. suf., 216. inmost, 348. inter-, pref., 205. Interjections, 471. interloper, 203. ipecacuanha, 194. Iranian languages, see Aryan. Irish language, 16, 119. island, 235. -ism, suf., 206. -ist, suf., 206. it, 370- Italian language, 10, 15; element in English, 154. * Ivanhoe," 212. I wis, 109. -ize, 206. Jaguar, 194. jalap, 194. James I, 114. janizary, 193. jerkin, 18^. jeu d'esprit, 175. Johnson, Samuel, 103, 171. jolly, 269. Jonson, Ben, 390. judge, 225. juggernaut, 190. "Juliana," 54, So. Jungle, 190. junk, 193, just, 175, 225. justice, 173. Jutes, 45. juxtaposition, 203. kangaroo, 193. " Katharine, Life of St.," 80. keep, 244, 413. keg, 170. kennel, " a gutter," 171. Kenrick, William, 106. Kent, dialect of, 50, 51, 64, 80. " Kentish Sermons," 80. kerne, 164. kernel, 251. khan, 193. kid, 170. kiln, 167. kilt, 170. kin, 32. kindred, 234. kine, 328, 329. " King Horn," 82. "King of Tars," 83. kirk, 51. kirtle, 170. kitchen, 167, 201. knead, 432. knee, 32. kneel, 413. knife, 169. knights templars, 332. knit, 412. knout, 190. know, 32, 476. knowledge, 229. Kurdish, 11. lad, 335. lade, 434. lady, 149. lake, 165. Lammas, land Lanf_ _ Langh lash, lass, Lath_ Latin latter _ -5, 232. a, 136, 142. ifranc, 32. gland, William, 83. 1, 189. laaa, 335. Latham, Robert G., 20. ^ atin language, 15; ac- cent, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30, 34; borrowed words m, 49; use of, in England; 62, 74, 91; element in English, 166-172. tter, 349, 350. laugh, 239. law, 169. Layamon, 82. lead, 252, 411. leal, 209. lean, 413. leap, vb., 437. learn, 413. leg, 171. legal, 209. legislative, 175. leisure, 224. leman, 232. lemon, 192. lend, .113. Lengthening of vowels, 244. lengthwise, 463. less, 347, 350. -less, adj. suf., 137. let, 436; suf., 206. lie, 430. lief, 109. life, 136, 142, 144, 145, 150. life-guard, 203. light, vb., 412. lighter, " a barge," 189. like, 219. lily, 167. limb, 234. Lindsay, David, 114. linen, 167. -ling, adv. suf., 461. link, 189. linstock, 189. list, " choose," 251. little, 398. lively, 150. lo, 472. lobster, 167, 250. lode, 252. log, 170. London English, 84. -long, suf., 461. look, vb., compounds olj 145. lord, 65, 149, 236, 253. louse, 252. INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] 263 tow, vb., 437. loyal, 209. lust, 251. -ly, suf., 218, 219, 268, 276. Lydgate, John, 86, 179. Macaulay, Thomas Bab- ington, 216. Mahomet, 192. maid, 335. main, 442. maize, 194. make, 415. Malay words in English, 193- mallow, 167. mammon, 191. mammoth, 193. man, indef. pron., 399. Mandeville, Sir John, 83, many, 398. Map, Walter, 62, 67. marble, 233. marigold, 203. marline, 189. martyr, 167, 168. mass, 167. mat, 169. matador, 186. mattock, 164. maumet, 192. may, 438, 439. mazurka, 190. mean, vb., 413. meet, 412. melt, 428. -ment, suf., 206. Mercian dialect, 50, 51, 56. Messiah, 191. Metathesis, 237. mete, vb., 432. Mexican words in English, mid-, pref., 142, 291. Middle English, 42, 62-88; dialects of, 63; spoken language, 69; written language, 73; borrowed element in, 172-182. Midland English, 64, 82. midwife, 142, mile, 325. mill, 167. million, 357. Milton, John, 98, 394. Minot, Laurence, 81. minster, 167, 168. mint, 162, 167, 201. miracle, 173. mirage, 175. mis-, pref., 291. mistletoe, 238. moccasin, 194. Modern English, 42, 89- 132; dialects of, in; written language, 92; spoken language, 106. monk, 167, 168. Monophthonging, 247. month, 325. moor, 189. moose, 194. " Moral Ode," 80. more, comparison with, 350. 351- mortar, 167. mosquito, 186. mote, vb., 438, 442. mother, 335. mount, 165. mouse, 252. mow, vb., 436. mulberry, 167. murder, 239. mussel, 167. must, " wine," 167. must, vb., 442, 443. mustard, 269. Mutation, 139, 250, 261, 328. mutton, 212. *' Mysteries," 80. Names, 163, 177. nard, 190. Nash, Thomas, 94. natheless, 109, 465. nation, 224. nature, 225. naught, indef. pron., 399. nay, 473- near, 350. neat, " cattle," 325. needs, 463. Negatives, 473. neither, 397. -ness, n. suf., 137. nevertheless, 465. newt, 235. next, 350. nickname, 235. nigh, 350. night, 246, 325. no, 218, 3^4, 355- non-, pref, 205. nonce, 355, 371, 392. none, 355. noon, 167. nor, 397. Norse, language, «2, 38; element in English, 49, 169, 172. Northern English, 64, 81. Northumbria, dialect of, 51, 53. 54; literature, 55. not, 473. Nouns, inflection of, in OE., 313; in ME., 317; in MnE., 320; plural ending of, 316. Numerals, 352-360. nun, 167. oasis, 193. Occleve, William, 86. ocean, 234. of, 146, 229, 468; pref., 137- off, 146; pref., 229, 291. offer, 167. olden, 341. Old English, 42; dialects of, 49; literature of, 53; vocabulary of, 134; in- flectional levelling in, 305- on, 52, 468; pref., 291. one, 355, 398. only, 354- ooze, 153, 236. ope, 238. opossum, 194. or, 347; pref., 142. orange, 184, 190. orchard, 147. ordeal, 142. organ, 167. Orm, 82; noun inflection in, 317 ; pronouns in, 392, 293. " Ormulum," 82. Orosius, Chronicle of, 56. osier, 224. other, 358, 398, 399. Ottoman, 193. ought, vb. , 199, 439, 440. -ous, suf., 269. out, 468; pref., 291. outcry, 204. outmost, 348. over, 251, 468; pref., 291. overpower, 204. owe, 440. " Owl and Nightingale," 80. ox, 212, 327. Palatalization, 248. pall, 167. palm, 167. pampas, 194. pan, 167. pappoose, 194. partake, 203. 264 INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] Particles, negative, inter- rogative, affirmative, 473. Paschal, 191. pasch, 167, 168. passion, 224. '' Paston Letters," 78. pea, 167. peace, 173. peach, 170. peacock, 167, peal, 202. pear, 167. " Pearl, Poet of," 83. pebble, 230. peccadillo, 186, Pecock, William, 86. peer, 202. pemmican, 194. penny, 329. pent-house, 274. pepper, 167, 190, 254. peradventure, 464. perchance, 464. perfect, 211. periwinkle, 167. Perry, William, 106. Persian language, 11; ele- ment in English, 190. Pettie, George, 94. phantasy, 208. phoenix, 167. Phonetic change, 218, 220, 308, 316. pibroch, 164. pick axe, 274. Pickering, John, 124. piecemeal, 463. pilch, 167. pile, 167. pilgrim, 184. pillow, 167. pin, 167. pine, 167. pit, 167, 201. pitch, 167. plant, 167. plaster, 167. platoon, 175. play, vb., 432. ylead, 411. pleasure, 224. plentiful, 204. plum, 167. pole, 167. polka, 190. " Polychronicon," 71, 80. Polynesian words m Eng- lish, 193. pope, 167. Pope, Alexander, 216. poppy, 167. pork, 212. port, 165, 167. Portuguese, language, 15; element in English, 187. potato, 194. pound, 325. Prefixes, analogy affecting, 268. Prepositions, 468. presbyter, 208. Preterite, dental, 36, 404. pretty, 249. " Prick of Conscience," 87. pride, 230, 252. priest, 167, 168, 2q8. prison, 173. privilege, 173. procession, 173. Pronouns, personal, 362- 373; possessive, 375-378; reflexive, 374; demon- strative, 379-383; inter- rogative, 384-387; rela- tive, 388-394; indefinite, 395-400. proud, 230, 252. psalm, 167, 168. " Psalter, Metrical," 81. punctilio, 184. punt, 167. purple, 233. put, 412. Puttenham, George, 90, 95. quadrillion, 357. quid, 146. quinine, 194. quire, 211, 325. quit, 175, 412. quoth, 432. raccoon, 194. rage, 175. raid, 170. raise, 170. Ramsay, Allan, 117. ravine, 175. re-, pref., 205. reach, 414. read, 411. real, 209. ream, 325. rebeck, 184. red, 31. reef, 189. reek, 423. reeve, 434. regal, 209. rend, 413. renew, 205. rent, 173. reservoir, 175. rhyme, 211. rhythm, 211. Richard I, 74. riches, 273. rid, vb., 254, 411. riddle, 272. ride, 419, 421. righteous, 269. ring, vb., 42^ rise, 419. rive, 419. Romance languages, 15, 16, 41. rouge, 175. row, vb., 437. royal, 209. rudder, 239. rue, vb., 423. " Rule of St. Benedict," 57- run, 426. -ry, 206. -s, n., vb. suf., 216. sabre, 193. sachem, 194. sack, 167, 168. saint, 210. salt, vb., 437. salt-cellar, 203, Sanskrit, ii, 27. sassafras, 186. Saturday, 162. sausage, 269. savine, 167. Saxon, people, 41, 45; lan- guage, 18, 24; West, lan- guage of, 50, 51, 53, 64. say, 415. scald, 170. scan, 170. scape, 170, 202. scape-goat, 203. scarce, 170, 467. scare, 170. score, 170. scorn, 259. Scotch dialect, 51, 113, 115, 258. seamstress, 336. second, 358. see, 430. see, " bishop's see," 218. seed, 252. seek, 414. seethe, 422, 423. self, 383. sell, 413. semi-, 205. Semitic, languages, 6; ele- ment in English, 196. sempstress, 234. send, 413. INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] 265 set, 413. several, 398. shake, 433. Shakespeare, William, vo- cabulary of, 215, 216 ; pronouns in, 367, 369, 371. 374. 377, 382. 385, 391, 392, 394, 396, 397, 4CX). shako, 193. shall, 438, 439, 442. shambles, 167. shamrock, 164. shape, 434. shave, 434. she, 372. shear, 429. shed, 411. sheep, 212, 325. shepherd, 244. sherry, 1S6, 272. shine, 419, 421. ship, 224; n. suf., 147, shoe, vb., 415. shoot, 422. short, 162, 167. Shortening of vowels, 244. shove, 423. shred, 411. shrine, 167. shrink, 426. shrive, 167, 419, 421. shut, 412. sib, " relation," 109. sickle, 167. side-board, 212. sigh, 421. silk, 167. Simeon of Durham, 62. since, 471. sing, 36, 426. sink, 426. " Sir Gawain," 83. sister, 335. sit, 430. skill, 170. skin, 170. skipper, 170, 189. sky, 170. slay, 433- sleep, sb., 31 ; vb., 244, 437. slide, 419. sling, 427. slink, 427. slippery, 31. slit, 412, 421. slogan, 164. sloop, 189. smack, " fishing-boat," 189. smell, 413. smite, 419. smoothen, 109. smugly, 109. so, 471. sock, 167. sole, 167. *' Solomon and Saturn," 57. some, 398; adj. suf., 137. son, 335; n. suf, 171. songster, 336. songstress, 336. sore, adv., 463. sound, 234. South American words in English, 194. Southern dialect of Eng- lish, 51, 64, 80; see West Saxon, Kentish. sow, vb., 252, 416. Spanish language, 15; cle- ment in English, 186. speak, 432. " Spectator," The. 99, 102, speed, vb., 411. spell, vb., 413. spelt, 167. spend, 167, 413. Spenser, Edmund, 215, 316, 447- spew, 421. spiderweb, 150. spilth, 109. spin, 427. spindle, 234. spinner, 336. spinster, 335, 336. spit, 412, 43t. split, 412, 413. spoil, 413. spool, 189. spread, 411. spring, 426. sprout, 423. squaw, 194. squire, 259. stand, 433. standard, 173. Standard language, of Eng- land, 43-132; of America, 121. starboard, 148. stature, 225. stave, 434. stead, 33. steal, 429. -ster, n. suf, 336. stick, vb., 427, 429. sting, 427. stink, 427. stool, 212. stop, 167. strap, 167. street, 165. Stress, see Accent. stretch, 414. stride, 419. strike, 420. string, vb., 427. strive, 419. sub-, 205. subjunctive-optative, 445, ^ 1'^9: . Substitution, consonant, 253; vowel, 253. such, 398. suck, 423. Suffolk, 232. sugar, 190, 224, 230. suit, 175. suite, 175. sulphur, 190. sultan, 335. sumach, 224. sup, 427. super-, 205. sure, 224. surety, 224. Surnames, Danish, 171; French, 177. swab, 189. swabber, 189. swain, 170. swallow, 236. swear, 433. sweat, 412. Swedish language, 22. swell, 427. Swift, Jonathan, 99, 102. swim, 426. swine, 212, 323. swing, 427. swink, " labour," 427. swoop, vb., 437. Syncope, 258. Syntax, affected by anal- ogy, 284. table, 212. taboo, 193. take, 169, 434. tame, 31. tapioca, 194. tapir, 194. tardy, 219. targum, 191. Tartar words in English, ^93; „ " Tatler," 99. tattoo, 193. tea, 193. teach, 414. tear, 429. tell, 414. temple, 167. tent, 202. 266 INDEX [The numbers refer to sections.] Tennyson, Alfred, 109, 112 Teutonic languages, 10, 18 32,33; accent in, 25, 34 389; adjective, 35 ; verbs in, 36; West, 21, 33, 38 Thames, 239 _ , -jy- than, 146, 471. that, demon, pron., 380; rel. pron., 388; conj., Thaun, Philip de, 62. the, 229, 465. then, 146, 229, 471. thence, 465. there, 465. they, 160, 170, 311, 393. think, 414. thirteen, 356. thirty, 356. this, 380, 381. thither, 464. Thomas, 239. thorough, 146. thorny, 269. -thorp, n. suf., 31. thou, 27, 365. though, 471. thousand, 357. thrash, 254. thrice, 356. thrive, 419. through, 468, 146. throw, 436. thrust, 412. thunder, 234. thus, 229, 465. -thwait, n. suf., 17X. tight, 153. tile, 167. till, 468. tilt, 231. timber, 31. time, suf., 464. tippet, 167. titmouse, 274. to, 146, 468; pref., 137. toboggan, 194. together, 254, 462. tomahawk, 194. tomato, 194. ton, 325; suf., 171. to-night, 464. too, 146. tooth, 246, 252. tour, 175. tower, 173. trans-, 205. tread, 432. treason, 173. treasure, 173. Trevisa, John, 71, 80. trigger, 230. trillion, 357. troublesome, 204. trout, 167. tun, 16^. tunic, 167. Turkish element in Eng- lish, 193, turtle-dove, 167. twain, 356. twelve, 357. twenty, 357. twit, 421. two, 27, 31, 236. udder, 31. uhlan, 193. ukase, 190. Ulfilas, 22. ultra-, 205. un-, pref., 291. unable, 204. uncle, J35. uncouth, 441. under, 468; pref., 291. unkempt, 231. Unvoicing of consonants, 227. up-, pref., 291. Ural-Altaic family, 6. usual, 224. utmost, 348. utter, 349. vampire, 190. vane, 228. vanilla, 186. vat, 228. veal, 212. venture, 202, 211. Verbal system, Teutonic, 36; English, 401. Verbs, strong, 402, 417- 443; reduplicating, 435- 437 ; weak, 402, 404-416 ; preteritive present, 438- 443; minor group, 444- 448; inflection of, 449- 45?. verdict, 211. verdure, 225. verily, 467. very, 467. vine, 175. vixen, 228. Vocabulary, English, 133- 216. Vocalization of consonants, 236. Voicing of consonants, 227. vow, 202. Vowels in English, pho- netic changes of, 240. Wace, History of, 6a. wade, 434. wage, 209. wagon, 189. wail, 170. wake, 433. Walker, John, 106. wall, 165. wampum, 194. war, 173. ward, 209; adv. suf., 46a. ware, 209. warrant, 209, was, 445, 446. wasp, 237. wassail, 446. wax, vb., 434. way, 323 ; adv. suf., 463. Weakening, vowel, 256. wear, 266, 429. weave, 432. Webster, Noah, 124, 125. wed, 209, 411. weel, 245. weep, 437. welaway, 472. Welsh, 47, 258. wend, 413. went, 413. West Indian words in Eng- lish, 194. West Saxon, see Saxon, wet, 412. what, inter, pron., 386; rel. pron., 389; indef. pron., 396; interj., 472. wheeze, 437. when, 465. whence, 465. where, 465. whet, 412. whether, 254. which, inter, pron., 387; indef. pron., 396; rel. pron., 388. while, suf., 464. whilom, 463. whilst, 234. whine, 421. whiskey, 164. White, Richard Grant, 124. whither, 465. who, 236; inter, pron., 384; rel. pron., 388; indef. pron., 396. whole, 252. why, 465. wick, 165. widow, 31. wield, 437. wife, 335. wight, 399. INDEX 267 [The numbers refer to sections.] wigwam, 194. will, vb , 444. 447, 448. William I, 60, 67, 69, 74. William of Malmesbury, 62. William Rufus, 67. wi low, 254. Wilson, Thomas, 95, 96. win, 427. wind, 425. wine, 165. winter, 92. wis, 109. wisdom, 244. -wise, adv. suf., 463. wit, vb., 439, 440. with, 227, 468; pref., 137. without, 462. woe, 47a. woman, 148, 232. " Wonders of the Orient," 57. wont, 412. won't, 107. woof, 257. " Wooing of our Lord," 80. Worcester, Joseph E., 124. word, 314. Wordsworth, William, 109. work, 414. world, 149. wormwood, 270. worse, 350. worth, vb., " become," 428. wot, 129, 439, 440. wring, 427. write, 419, 421. writhe, 421. wrong, 169. Wulfstan, Homilies of, 57 Wyatt, Thomas, 185. Wyclif, John, 83, 85. Wyntoun, Andrew, 114. -y, adj. suf., 269. yacht, 189. yawl, 189. yea, 474. year, 92. yes, 148, 474. yoke, 27, 325. yon, 382. you, 365. Zend, IX. Printed in the United States of America. CV' ; 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. Renewed boolcs are subject to immediate recall. RFC :!DLjJa WW^^ii 5Jan gn|>-^atM66 171 7? '^^^^z "^ i'StAB HE ^59 LD 21A-50m-3,'62 (C7097slO)476B General Library University of California Berkeley