LOS AN^^fc|;ES LIBRARY PRINCIPLES OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY BY THE Rev. WALTER W. SKEAT, Litt.D. LL.D. Edin., M.A. Oxon Elrhigton and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon VI the University of Cambridge FIRST SERIES THE NATIVE ELEMENT ' Or should we careless come behind the rest In power of words, that go before in worth, Whenas our accent's equal to the best, Is able greater wonders to bring forth? When all that ever hotter spirits express'd Comes better'd by the patience of the north.' Daniel, Mtisophihis AT THE CLARENDON PRESS 1887 \^All rights reserved ] 3 1 9 S ■" zjt^Q 5- 7310 PREFACE. The present volume is intended to serve as a help to the student of English etymology. In my Etymological Dictionary, the numerous examples of similar letter-changes are invariably separated from each other, by the necessity for adhering to the alphabetical order. It is therefore advisable to re-arrange the results so as to shew what words should be under consideration at the same time. It is only by a com- parison of this character that the various phonetic laws can be properly observed and tested. I have found it advisable to follow the example of Mr. Sweet, in his History of English Sounds, and to consider what may be called the ' native element ' of our language apart from the Romance or imported element. Hence I \\2.\Q. purposely excluded all words of French origin from the present investigation. A few French words are quoted here and there by way of illustration, but no inferences are here drawn from the results which their history furnishes. If the present volume should meet with approval, I propose to issue another volume, to be entitled ' Second Series,' which will deal particularly, and almost exclusively, with the words which have been imported into English from French, as well as from Latin, Greek, and other languages (except Teutonic and Celtic) after the Norman Conquest. I have, however, here taken into consideration such Latin and Greek words as found their way into Anglo-Saxon (see Chap. XXI) ; and have been careful to include words from VI PREFACE, Scandinavian sources, as these mostly belong to an early stage of the language (see Chap. XXIII). I have also con- sidered the Celtic element of the language (see Chap. XXII); as v^ell as the words which have been borrowed, at various times, from Dutch or some other Low German source (see Chap. XXIV). A list of the few and unimportant words of German origin is also included, for the sake of completeness (see Chap. VI, p. 85); so that all the Teutonic sources of our language are thus accounted for. Whilst the main sub- ject of the book is the ' native element ' of our very composite language, it is convenient to consider, at the same time, all words of Teutonic origin (except such as have reached us, at second-hand, through the French or some other Romance language), as well as the words of Celtic origin and such as were borrowed from Latin at an early period. The exact contents of the book may best be learnt from the very full ' Table of Contents ' which follows this Preface. I may here say, briefly, that I begin with a very short sketch of the history of the language ; and give an explanation, with specimens, of the three principal Middle-English dialects, corresponding to the three principal dialects of the earliest period. I then discuss the chief Anglo-Saxon vowel-sounds, purposely choosing the long vowels, because their history is more clearly inarked and more striking than that of the short vowels. It will easily be seen how very largely I have here copied from Mr. Sweet. I then shew that Anglo-Saxon is cognate with the other Teutonic tongues, and explain what is meant by this; and further, that it is cognate with the other Aryan tongues, and explain what is meant by this also. Next follows a discussion of Grimm's Law, which is stated, first in its usual form, and secondly in a much more simple form, obtained by leaving out of consideration the com- PREFACE, VII paratlvely unimportant sound-shiftings peculiar to the Old High German. The consideration necessarily involves the distinction of the guttural sounds into the two series known as ' palatal ' and ' velar * sounds ; a point which, I believe, nearly all English works on English etymology commonly ignore. I have here received much assistance from Dr. Peile. Next follows a statement of Verner's Law, with illustrations. This is succeeded by an account of vowel- gradation and of vowel-mutation ; both subjects of the highest importance to the student of English etymology, yet frequently receiving but little attention. Chapters XII and XIII deal with Prefixes and Substantival Suffixes, of native origin only. Chapter XIV deals with Adjectival, Adverbial, and Verbal Suffixes, also of native origin only. Chapter XV explains what is meant by an Aryan root, and how English words can sometimes be traced up to such a root, or deduced from it. Chapter XVI attempts a short sketch of a highly important subject, viz. the changes that have at various times taken place in English spelling ; in order to enable the student to see for himself that Early and Middle EngHsh spelling was intended to be purely phonetic, and that the present almost universal notion of spelling words so as to insinuate their etymology (often a false one) is of comparatively modern growth, and contradictory to the true object of writing, which is to express by symbols the spoken words themselves, and not their long-dead originals. This necessarily leads to a brief account of the phonetic systems of spelling employed by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sweet, though of course the true student will consult the original works of these two masters of our language. In Chapter XVIII, I give an account of the various Teutonic consonants, and trace the history of each downwards to the present da}', viii PREFACE. which is the only way of dealing with them that avoids end- less confusion ; it also renders the results, after a little study, perfectly easy to remember. In the next Chapter, I consider the phonology of words (chiefly as regards the consonants) more fully, and shew the various modes by which their forms suffer change. Chapter XX deals with ' doublets,' or double forms of the same original word, and with words formed by composition. A hst of compound words is appended, ex- plaining all those, of common occurrence, of which the origin has been obscured. I then discuss, as I have already stated, the early words of Latin origin; words of Celtic origin; words of Scandian ^ origin (with a second Hst of compound words of obscure form) ; and words which may be of Friesic origin or which have been borrowed from Dutch or (con- tinental) Low German. The last chapter treats, very briefly and perhaps inadequately, of the important effects produced upon the sound of a word by accent and emphasis. The whole volume is nothing but a compilation from the . works of others and from results obtained in my own Dic- tionary. I trust there is in it very little that is original ; for it is better to follow a good guide than to go astray. Some experience in teaching has suggested the general mode of arrangement of the book, which cannot be said to follow any particular order; yet I believe it will be found to conduce to clearness, and that, if the chapters be read in the order in which they stand, the whole will be more easily grasped than by another method. Perhaps, however. Chap- ters XVIII-XX, which are not difficult, may be read, with advantage, immediately after Chapter V. The exact and rigid order prescribed by theory is seldom best suited for a ^ Scandian is just as good a word as the long and clumsy word Scan- dinavian ; see note to p. 454. PREFACE. IX beginner; and it is for beginners in philology that I have principally written. To the advanced student I can only apologise for handling the subject at all ; being conscious that he will find some unfortunate slips and imperfections, which I should have avoided if I had been better trained, or indeed, trained at all. It is well known how completely the study of the English language was formerly ignored, and it is painful to see how persistently it is disregarded (except in rare instances) even at the present moment j for the notion prevails that it does not pay. I append a list of some of the books which I have found most useful, and from which I have copied more or less. I also beg leave to acknowledge my great obligations to the works of Mr. Sweet, and to the kind and friendly assistance I have received, chiefly as regards Aryan philology, from Dr. Peile, Reader in Comparative Philology. Professor Rhys has kindly helped me in the chapter upon Celtic, and Mr. Magnusson in that upon Scandian ; but for the present form of those chapters I am solely responsible. I have also received some assistance from Prof. Cowell and Mr. Mayhew. The Index of Words, intended to make the book useful for frequent reference, is my own work. LIST OF BOOKS CONSULTED. (/ mention the editions lohich I have tised ; they are not ahuays the latest.^ Anglia: Zeitschrift fiir englische Philologie. Halle, 1878- 1886. Bahder, K. von: Die Verhalahstracta in den germaiiischen Sprachen. Halle, 1880. Brugmann, K. : Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der X • PREFACE, indogermanischen Sprachen. Erster Band. Strassburg, 1886. Douse, T. le ]M. : An Introduction to the Gothic of Ulfilas. London, 1886. (This admirable book appeared too late to be of much help.) Earle, J. : Anglo-Saxoji Literature. London (S. P. C. K), 1884. Ellis, A. J. : Early English Pronunciation. Parts I — IIL London, 1869, 1870. (The tract on Glossic is pre- fixed to Part III ; it was also published separately.) FiCK, A. : Vergleichefides Worterbuch der indogermaiiischen Sprachen, Dritte Atiflage. Gottingen, 1874-6. Helfenstein, J. : A Comparative Grammar of the Teutonic Languages, London, 1870. KocH, C. F. : Historische Graryimatik der e?2glischen Sprache. 3 vols. Weimar, 1863; and Cassel, 1865-8. Kluge, F. : Nominate Stammbildungslehre der altgerftianischen Dialecte. Halle, 1886. Kluge, F. : Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutscheji Sprache. Strassburg, 1883. Loth, J. : Etymologische aiigelscEchsisch-englische Grammatik. Elberfeld, 1870. Maetzner, Professor : A71 English Grammar ; translated by C. J. Grece, LL.B. 3 vols. London, 1874. Morris, R. : Historical Outlines of English Accidence, London, 1872. Morris, R. : Specimens of Early English, froin 11 50 to 1300. (PartL) Oxford, 1885. Morris and Skeat : Speci??iens of Early English, from 1298 /^ 1393. (Part IL) Oxford, 1873. MDller, F. Max : Lectures on the Science of Language, 2 vols. Eighth Edition. London, 1875. PREFACE. XI MtJLLER, IwAN : Handhich der Klassischen Altertums-Wissen- scha/L Fiinfter Halbband. Nordlingen, 1886. Peile, J. : Introduction to Greek afid Latin Etymology. Second edition. London, 1872. Peile, J.: Primer of Philology. London, 1877. Rhys, J. : Lectures on Welsh Philology. Second edition. London, 1879. Sayce, a. H. : Introduction to the Scieftce of Language. 2 vols. London, 1880. ScHADE, O. : Altdeutsches Worterhuch ; Halle, 1872-82. SiEVERS, E. : A71 Old English Grammar^ translated by A. S. Cook. Boston, 1885. (A most useful book.) Skeat, W. W. : A71 Etymological Dictiojiary of the English Language. Second edition. Oxford, 1884. (See the list of Works consulted at p. xxv.) Skeat, W. W. : A Concise- Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. Second edition. 1885. (See the list of Dictionaries at p. xi.) Skeat, W. W. : Specimens of Ejiglish Literature ; from 1394 to 1579. (Part m.) Oxford, 1879. Skeat, W. W. : The Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic. Oxford, 1882. Skeat, W. W. : The Gospels in the Anglo-Saxon a7id North- umbrian {and Mercian) Versions. 4 vols. Cambridge, 1871-1887. (St. Matthew, in the press, is nearly ready.) Strong, H. A., and Meyer, K. : Outlines of a History of the German Laftguage. London, 1886. Sweet, H. : A Handbook of Phonetics. Oxford, 1877. Sweet, H. : A History of English Sounds. (Eng. Dialect Society.) London, 1874. Sweet, H. : An Anglo-Saxon Reader. Fourth edition. Oxford, 1884. XU PREFACE. Sweet, H. : An Icelajidic Pi'imer. Oxford, 1886. Sweet, H.: The Oldest English Texts. (E.E.T. S.) London, 1885. Trench, R. C. : English Past and Present. Ninth edition, 1875. And On the Study of Words. Tenth edition, 1861. Whitney, W. D. : Language and the Study of Language. Second edition. London, 1868. Wright, T. : Anglo-Saxon and Old English Vocabularies. Second edition. Edited by R. P. Wulcker. 2 vols. London, 1884. ABBREVIATIONS AND SIGNS. A.S. — Anglo-Saxon; the Wessex or Southern dialect of the Oldest English. M.E. — Middle English; chiefly of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. E. — IModern English. The ordinary grammatical abbreviations, such as ' s.' for ' substantive,' ' v.' for ' verb,' will be readily understood ; as also the ordinary abbreviations for languages, such as ' Du.' for ' Dutch,' ' Skt.' for Sanskrit. (See Concise Etym. Diet.) The following signs are introduced to save space : — < is to be read as ' is derived from,' or ' comes from,' or 'is a later form than.' (Compare its ordinary algebraical meaning of ' is less than '). > is to be read as ' produces,' or * becomes,' or ' is the original of,' or 'is an earlier form than.' (Compare its usual algebraical meaning of ' is greater than.') .. is the symbol of mutation, and stands for the words * by mutation.' PREFACE. XIU II signifies * a stem of the same form as/ or ' the verbal stem which appears in.' It denotes parallehsm of form. Hence > .. is to be read as ' produces by mutation.' < .. is to be read as 'is derived by mutation from.* < II is to be read as ' is derived from the verbal stem which appears in.' < .. II is to be read as 'is derived by mutation from the verbal stem which appears in.' * prefixed to a word signifies that it is an original theo- retical form, evolved by known principles of development. V signifies 'Aryan root.' If it be desired to know to which conjugation a modern English strong verb belongs, the reader has only to consult the Index, referring to pp. 1 61-167. *^* I have not always been consistent in writing the theoretical Teutonic forms of words. Thus the theoretical Teutonic stem of E. whole is given sometimes as haila, and sometimes as hailo. The former really represents the original Gothic stem, and the latter the original Teutonic stem. The inconsistency will not give much trouble, now that it is pointed out. PRONUNCIATION OF ANGLO-SAXON. The A. S. so-called accent (as in the case of a) really marks vowel-length; thus A. S. a=:Lat. ^. The pronunciation of the long vowels ^, /, ?, 6, u^ is given at p. 52 ; of/, at p. 66 ; of ce, at p. 67 ; of e'a, eo, at p. 68 ; of the short vowels a, e, i, 0, u, ce, at p. 71 ; and ofj/, at p. 66. See also p. 301, and consult Sweet's A. S. Grammar or Primer. For remarks on the A. S. consonants, see pp. 299-302. ERRATA. p. 79, 1. 9. For usally read usually P. 108, 1. 15. For tiveir read tveir P. 117, 1. II. Y ox fader residifadar ; and for "^father read *fathar . P. 155, 1. 16. For '^lis-an read ^leis-an P. 183, 1. 4 from bottom. For pt. t. read pp. P. 268, 11. 12-16. Dele from Bo-th to bei-de. [See p. 456.] P. 291, 1. II. Dele shire P. 352. For 13. Vozvel-mfliience read 13. Conso7iantalinfluence Pp. 386-408. \n\t2.dXm^%M MORPHOLOGYxQ?.^ PHONOLOGY P. 406, 1. 8 from bottom. Dele would P. 445, notes, last line. For stice read usee P. 470, note, last line. For seiri read eiris TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Preface v Chapter I.— Introductory. § 1. A passage from Shakespeare quoted. § 2. English literature and the English language. § 3. Vocabulary of Modern English. § 4. Composite nature of that vocabulary i Chapter II. — The Sources of the English Language. § 5. Necessity of observing chronology. § 6. Additions to the Vocabulary of the English language. § 7. Changes in the languages are ceaseless but silent. § 8. Sources of the English language. § 9. Enumeration of these sources. Native English; Celtic; Latin; Scandinavian; Dutch; Greek; Frenc h ; Hebrew; Arabic. Modern stage of the language. Additions from Spanish, Italian, German, Russian, Turkish, &c. § 10. The Modern Period begins about a.d. 1500. Importance of this date with regard to the Vocabulary. § 11. Foreign things denoted by foreign words. Examples of words borrowed from Dutch, Gaelic, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Greek ; &c. § 12. Useful dates. § 13. Historical Survey ; shewing the influence of historical events upon the English language. § 14. The same continued during the Modern Period .... 5 Chapter III. — The Native Element; Dialects of Middle English. § 15. Tests for distinguishing native English words from borrowed ones. § 16. The passage from Shakespeare (formerly quoted at p. i) examined. §1 17. Changes in pro- nunciation much greater than the changes in our spelling seem to indicate. Necessity for examining the old forms of words. § 18. Variations in spelling from time to time. Values of a, e, i, 0, and zc in the time of Chaucer. § 19. Middle-English Vowels. Necessity for some study of Chaucer. § 20. Chaucer's spelling. The Midland Dialect. Passage from the Man of xvi TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE Law's Tale. Remarks upon the pronunciation of the words in this passage. § 21. The vocabulary of the words in the same passage considered ; preponderance of native English words. § 22. Changes in the spelling of words in the same passage. § 23. History of some of these words. § 24. The three main Dialects; Northern, Southern, and Midland. § 25. The Southern Dialect. Passage from Trevisa's translation of Higden's Polychronicon. § 26. The same in modem English ; with a continuation. § 27. Interesting information found in the above passage. Peculiarities of the Southern Dialect. § 28. The Northern Dialect. Passage from Hampole's Prick of Conscience. Peculiarities of the Northern Dialect. § 29. The East-Midland Dialect. Passage from the Handl}Tig Synne, written by Robert of Brunne. Peculiarities of the East-Midland Dialect. Its strong resemblance to the standard literary English. § 30. Difference between East-Midland and Y\"est-Midland. Area over which these dialects extend . . . . 19 Chapter IV. — The Native Element : the oldest dialects. § 31. The three main dialects of Middle- English traced further back. They appear as Northumbrian, Mercian, and Wessex. ' Anglo-Saxon ' includes the Wessex dialect only, and is not co-extensive with ' Old English.' § 32. Remains of the Old Northumbrian dialect. Remains of the Old Mercian dialect ; and of the Wessex dialect. § 33. Modem literary English derived from the Old Mercian dialect. Table of thirty-two English words, with their corresponding Old Mercian and Anglo-Saxon (or Wessex) forms. § 34. The A. S. 'broken' vowels not found in modem English, nor commonly used in the Old Mercian dialect. § 35. Chronology of A. S. writings and manuscripts. The Lauderdale MS. of iElfred's translation of Orosius older than the Cotton MS. of the same. § 36. Specimen of ' Anglo-Saxon,' i. e. of the Wessex dialect ; St. Matt. xiii. 3-8. § 37. Useful lessons in English grammar, etymology, and pronimciation to be leamt from the above extract . . 40 Chapter V.— English Long Vowels. § 38. Change of pro- nvmciation of the A. S, 6 in soQ to the modem English 00 in sooth. The same change exemplified in other words. § 39. General shifting of vowel-sounds. The A.S. vowels a, e, /, 6, u have been replaced by the modem E. oa, ee, t, 00, ou. The A. S. bat, bete, bitan, hot, d-btitan have become boat, beet, bite, boot, a-bout. § 40. English should be traced downwards as well TABLE OF CONTENTS. XVII PAGE as upwards. The former method shews the true process of the development. The A.S. vowels / and u have become, pho- netically, ai (mod. E. z) and au (E. oti). The A.S. e, ie, ie, ea^ eo, and <. The series DH> D>T>THisequivalenttoD B > P > PH. Difficulties relating to the Teutonic/. § 99. Aryan B : Skt. ^ ; Gk. iS ; Lat. b. Aryan P : Skt. /, ph ; Gk. tt ; Lat., Slav., Lith. p. Aryan BH : Skt. bh', Gk. <^; Lat. /, h (initial), b (medial). § 100. Teut. b: Goth. b. Teut. p : Goth./. Teut. ph : Goth. /(or, by Vemer's Law,<^). BH >B>P>PH(F)isthesameasB G > K > KH. Diffi- culty of interpreting these symbols, owing to the double values of the Aryan G, K, and GH. § 102. Palatal and velar sounds of the Aryan G. Explanation by Prof. Sayce. Aryan palatal sounds denoted by K, G, and GH. Aryan velar sounds denoted by Q, Gw, and GHw. § 103. Aryan G (palatal) : Skt./; Lith. z ; Slav, z ; Gk. 7 ; Lat. g > Teut. K. Aryan Gw (velar) : (a) Skt. g,j ; Gk. 7 ; Lat. g > Teut. K. (J)) Skt. g, j ; Gk. j8 ; Lat. h, z;>Teut. Q (k, kw). § 104. Aryan K (palatal): Skt. g\ Lith. sz ; Gk. « ; Lat. <: >Teut. GH ; Goth. h. Aryan Q (velar) : Skt. k, ch ; Gk. k, t, tt ; Lat. c, qu, v ; Lith. k > Teut. khw (Hw) ; Goth. hw,f, h. % 105. Aryan GH (palatal) ; Skt. h ; Gk. X ; Lat. h,f{g) ; Lith. ^ > Teut. g. Aryan GHw (velar) : Skt. gh, h ; Gk. x> ^) ^ ; Lat.^, h,f {gu, v) ; Lith. g > Teut. Gw (g). § 106. Grimm's Law : Guttural Series (velar). GHw > Gw > Q > KHw (hw). Otherwise, Q < Gw ; Hw < Q ; Gw (G) < GHw. § 107. Table of regular substitution of consonants. § 108. Examples : Teut. K < Aryan G. E. kin ; 'LzX. genus , Gk. 761/0? ; Skt. jan (to beget). § 109. Examples from Scandinavian. § 110. Teut. K >E.f/^. Y..chin\ Lat.^^?za, Gk.76Vus. § 111. Teut. K ; final. E. eke ; Lat. augere ; and other examples. § 112. Teut. KH (h) < Aryan K. Examples. E. horn, Lat. cornu. § 113. Teut. G < Aryan GH. Examples. E. gall', 'La.t/el; Gk. X0A77. §114. Teut. Q < Aryan Gw. Examples. E. queen ; Gk. yvvrj i Skt. jam. § 115. Teut. Hw < Aryan Q. Examples. E. zc//io ; Lat. qui; Skt. kas. § 116. Teut. gw, G< Aryan GHw. Examples. § 117. Teut. T< Aryan D. Examples. E. la?ne ; Lat. domare ; Skt. dam. § 118. Teut. th < Aryan T. Examples. E. t/iiji; Lat. tenuis', Skt. tanu. § 119. Teut. D< Aryan DH. Examples. Y.. dare\ Gk.dapadv. § 120. Teut. p < Aryan B. Paucity of examples. The possi- bility of Aryan P remaining unshifted. § 121. Teut. ph (f) < Aryan P. Examples numerous. E. father ; Lat. pater ; Gk. 7raTi7p ; Skt. pilar. § 122. Teut. B < Aryan BH. E. brother ; \jsX.f rater; Skt. bhrdtar 115 TABLE OF CONTENTS. Xxi PAGE Chapter IX. — Consonantal Shifting ; Verner's Law. § 123. Difficulties about Grimm's Law, as originally explained. The Second Shifting (from Low to High German) much later in time than the First Shifting (from Aryan to Teutonic). Probable date of the Second Shifting. § 124. In what sense 'Law' is to be understood. The vagueness of popular notions on this point. § 125. Sound-shifting not confined to Teutonic ; difficulty of explaining its origin. § 126. Anomalies explained by Verner's Law. § 127. Verner's Law discovered in 1875. Statement of the Law. Peculiarities of Aryan and Teutonic accent. § 128. Verner's Law, as stated in the original German ; with a transla- tion of it. § 129. Examples. Gk. kXvtos does not answer to A. S, hhid, but to A. S. hliid (E. loud) ; this is due to the accent being upon the second syllable. Change of s to z, and afterwards to r. Causal verbs accented on the suffix. Explanation of the equivalent forms rear and raise. § 130. Points in A. S. gram- mar explained by Verner's Law. "Why the A. S. sni^an (to cut), pt. t. snd$, makes the pt. t. pi. snidon, and the pp. sniden (instead of silicon and sniQeii). Why mod. E. comparative adjectives end vn-er. §131. Vedic Accentuation ; how connected with Anglo- Saxon spellings. § 132. General Results ; in a slightly different form. § 133. Examples. Shiftings of guttural, dental, and labial consonants. The occurrence of r for s in English. E. hare = G. Hase. The words lore, better, forlorn, frore . 142 Chapter X.— Vowel-Gradation. § 134. Meaning of gradation : drink, drank, drunkeii. Found also in Greek and Latin. § 135. Modern English gradation very imperfect. Confusion of past tenses with past participles. Strong verbs often become weak ; the converse seen in the case of wear. § 136. Necessity of considering the M. E. and A. S. forms of E. verbs. The Seven Conjugations : fall, shake, bear, give, drink, drive, choose. Memorial couplet. § 137. Reduplicating Verbs : the \erh fall. No real gradation here. § 138. The four principal stems of A. S. Verbs: (i) the present stem; (2) the first preterit-stem; (3) the second preterit-stem ; (4) the past participial-stem. Stems oifall: {\) feall-an \ {2)feoll\ {■^ feoll-on \ {\) feall-en. § 139. Principal E. verbs of the/a//-conjugation. § 140. The verb shake. Stem-vowels : a, 6, 6, a. Mod. E. Stem-vowels : a, 00, 00, a. Example: shake, shook, shook, shaken. § 141. Principal E. verbs of the j/m/Cv-conjugation. § 142. General resemblance in the conjugations of bear, give, and drink ; Teut. stem-vowels : e {i), a, e, {zi) ; or else e (i), a, e, e if) \ or else XXll TABLE OF CONTENTS, PAGE e (?), a, n, o {ti). General formula: E, a, O. Compare Gk. rpecpuv, erpacpov, rerpocpa. § 143. The verb dear. Stem-vowels : e (z) a, and < in combination with the symbol (. .). (i) maun > . . menn. (2) gold > . . gylden. (3) biirh > . . by rig. (4) hdl'> . . /ice/an. (5) gos > . .ges. (6) czi '> . . cy. (7) ccap > . . ciepan, cypan. § 192. Examples of mutation in modem English. A > . . E. § 193. o > . . Y. § 194. u > . . Y. §195. A>..A §196. o>..E. §197. u>..t. §198. EA > . . Y ; EO > . . Y. § 199. Recapitulation of examples of mutation in modern English. § 200. A vowel may be affected both by gradation and (subsequently) by mutation . . 190 Chapter XIL Prefixes and Substantival Suffixes. § 201. Prefixes: A-, after-, an-, ami-, at-, be-, c-, e-,edd-,emb-,for- (i), for- {2), fore-, forth; fro-, gain-, im-, in-, /-, mid-, mis-, n- (i), n- (2), «- (3), n- (4), of, off-, on-, or-, out-, over-, t-, thorough-y to-{i), to- (2), twi-, ten- (1), un- (2), tin- (3), under-, up-, wan-y with-, y-. § 202. Substantival Suffixes: -dom, -hood, -head, -lock, -ledge, -red (i), -red (2), -ric, -ship. § 203. Suffixes ex- pressive of diminution : -c, -el, -en, -ing, -ling, -kin . . 213 Chapter XIII. Substantival Suffixes {continued). § 204. Aryan suffixes: -o, -a, -i, -u, -10, -ia, -wo, -wa, -mo, -mon, -RO, -LO, -NO, -NI, -NU, -TO, -TI, -TU, -TER (-TOR), -TRO, -ONT, -ES (-OS), -KO. The Aryan -TO may become Teut. -TO, -THO, or -DO (-TA, -THA, or -da). § 205. Aryan -o ; fem. -A. Examples of Modern English words which once contained this suffix : masc. day, neut. deer; fem. half, &c. § 206. Teut. suffix -AN; fem. -ON (= -an). Examples: masc., bear, bow, bourn, cove, drop^ gall, shank, smoke, spark, stake, wit ; fem., crow, ear, eye^ Jly, heart, tongue, week; ashes. § 207. Aryan -l. Examples: masc. hip; fem. queen; &c. § 208. Aryan -u. Examples: masc. wand; fem. chin; &c. §209. Aryan -lO ; Gothic ^''icz ; A. S. -e. Examples: end, herd (shepherd), &c. Aryan -I A. Examples: bridge, crib, edge, Sec, all feminine. §210. Teut. -YAN. Examples: masc. ebb, Sec; fem. eld, &c. Teut. -in a; A. S. -en. Examples: main, sb., switie. § 211. Aryan -wo. XXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS, PAGE Examples: bale , aid, meal, tar, glee, knee, tree, straw, lee ; also dew, low, snow. § 212. Aryan -WA ; feminine. Examples : claw^ gear, mead, shade, shadow, sinew, stow. § 213. Teutonic -WAN. Examples : swallow, arrozv, barrow, sparrow, yarrow, widozu. § 214. Aryan -MO. Examples : bea?n, bosom, bottom, doo7?i, dream^ fathom,film,foa77i, gleam, gloo?n, hatihii, helm, holm, loai7i, limey qualm, seam, slime, steam, storm, stream, swarm, team; also room, booJ7i. § 215., Aryan -Ml. Example: home. § 216. Aryan -MON (-men). Examples: bartn, besom, bloo?fi, name^ time; 2iX%o blossom. § 217. Aryan -RO; Goth. -RA. Examples: masc. acre, beaver , finger , floor, hafnmer, otter, steer, sumjuer^ tear, thunder; also anger \ i&co.. feather, liver, tinder; neut. bower, lair, leather, tifnber, udder, water, wonder ; also stair. Suffix -RU : exx. hunger, winter. § 218. Aryan -LO ; English -le, -el, -I. Substantives of verbal origin ; beetle, bundle, &c. Angle, apple, &c. ; fowl, hail, nail, rail, &c. Sickle, tile, mangle. § 219. Teut. suffixes -rana, -arna. Examples: acorn, iron. § 220. Teut. suffix -LAN. Examples: heel, nettle, throstle; navel. Teut. suffix -Ilsa. Examples : burial, riddle, shuttle. § 221. Aryan suffix -no. Examples : beacon, oven, raven, token ^ weapon ; baij-n, blaiji, brain, cor-n, horn, loan, rain, stone, thane, wain, yarn; game, roe. Aryan suffix -Ni. Exx. soken, em (eagle). Aryan suffix -NU. Exx. quern, son, thorn. § 222. Teut. suffix -NAN. Exx. haven, sun, teen. § 223. Aryan suffix -TO. {a) E. suffix -th ; birth, b7-oth, &c. {b) E. suffix -t, after f,gh, n, r, s ; as theft, light, b7'U7it, ha7-t,f7'ost. (c) E. suffix d; gold, blade, blood, &c. § 224. Aryan suffix -Ti. {a) E. suffix -th \ as birth, ib) E. suffix -t ; flight, gift, thirst, &c. (f) E. suffix -d', deed,glede, 77ii7id, &c. § 225. Aryan suffix -TU. {a) E. suffix -th ; as death, {h) E. suffix -t ; loft, lust, {c) E. suffix -d; flood, shield, wold. § 226. Suffixes augmented by adding -n ; food, maide7t. § 227. Aryan suffix -ter (-tor). l.Tit.f-ater. {a) Goth, -thar ; brother, {b) Goth, -dar ; father, J7iother. (f) E. -ter; datighter, sister. § 228. Aryan suffix -TRO : Teut. suffix -THRO, -THLO. {o) The form -tlwo; rudder, lather, murder, leather, {b) The form -dro ; bladder, adder, fodder, ladder, weather, {c) The form -tro ; halter, laughter, slaughter, foster, bluster, {d) Suffix -s-t7'o ; bolster, holster, if) Suffix -plo ; needle, {f) Suffix -Qlo ; spittle, (g) Suffix -tlo ; bristle, throstle, iji) A. S. suffix -Id', A. S. bold, whence E. build; thi-eshold. § 229. Aryan suffix -ONT (-ENT, -NT). Present Participles. Hence erra7id,fle7id,frie7id, tidi7igs, wi?td, youth. § 230. Aryan suffix -OS, -ES. Lat. opus, gen. operis. {a) E. hate, awe, la77ib, &c. TABLE OF CONTENTS, XXV PAGE iU) E. suffix -J, -ze, -X', adze, ax, bliss, eaves, [c] E. suffix -r; ear (of com"), children. § 231. (a) Suffix -s-la ; housel, ousel, {b) Suffix -L-s ; burial, riddle, shuttle. § 232. E. suffix -tiess ; for -n-es-s. § 233. Aryan suffix -{i)s-to', sophist, dentist , florist ; harvest y earnest. E. words in -st ; twist, trust, last, wrist, rust, grist. § 234. Teut. suffix -s-Ti ; fist, listen. § 235. Teut. suffix -s-tu ; mist. § 236. Teut. suffix -s-t-man ; blossom. § 237. Teut. suffix -SKA ; tusk, husk. § 238. A. S. suffix -es-tran ; E. suffix -ster ; spinster, songster, &c. § 239. E. suffix -er, expressing the agent. § 240. Aryan suffix -KO ; Gk. -/cos, Lat. -cus ; Goth, -ha-, -ga ; body, honey, ivy, sally. E. -k ; folk, hawk, zvhelk,yolk, silk. § 241. Teut. suffix -ga, -an-ga, -itt-ga, -un-ga. {a) A. S. suffix -ijtg ; patronymic and diminutival, {b) A. S. suffix -ung; the so-called * verbal' substantive. How to parse * for breaking a window.' 225 Chapter XIV. Adjectival, Adverbial, and Verbal Suffixes. § 242. The suffixes -fast, -fold, -ful, -less, -like or -ly, -some, -ward, -wart, wise. § 243. Aryan -o ; blind, blacky bleak, &c. § 244. Aryan -i ; mean. § 245. Aryan -u ; quick, hard. § 246. Aryan -10 ; Gk. -io-% ; dear, free, mid, new, wild; also (with mutation) keen, sweet. § 247. Teut. -i-na; Goth, -ei-na ; A. S. -en ; E. -en, -n ; beech-en, gold-en, &c. § 248. Aryan -wo ; call-ow, fall-ow, mell-ow, narr-ow, sall-ow, yell-ow. AXsofeiv, nigh, raw, slow, true,yare. § 249. Aryan -MO ; %var-?7i. § 2hQ. Teut. -ma-n ; fore-m-ost , hind-m-ost , &c.; for-m-er. § 251. Aryan -RO ; bitt-er , fai-r , slipp-er-y. Aryan -LO ; A. S. -ol,-el\ britt-le, ev-il, fick-le, id-le, litt-le, mick-le ; rakehell, ai-l,fou-l. § 252. Aryan -NO ; broto-n, ev-en, fai-Jt, giv-en, heath-en, gree-n, lea-n, ster-n ; east-ern, &c. § 253. Aryan -TO; pp.suffix. {a) Y..-th\ uncou-th,nor-th,sou-th ; four-thy &c. {b) E. -t ; cleft, reft, &c. ; set, hurt, &c. ; deft, left, softy swift; brigh-t, ligh-t, righ-t, sligh-t, straigh-t, tigh-t ; sal-ty swar-t, tar-t, eas-t, wes-i ; was-ie. (<:) E. -d ; bal-d, bol-d, col-dy dea-d, lou-d, nak-ed. § 254. Aryan -ter ; o-ther, whe-ther, ei-ther, nei-ther. § 255. Aryan -ONT, -ent ; (cf. §. 229). § 256. Aryan -KO ; Goth, -ha ; might-y, man-y ; bus-y, craft-y, dizz-y, dought-y, dust-y , foam-y , heav-y, wear-y ; an-y ; sill-y. § 257. Aryan -ISKO, -SKO ; A. S. -isc, E. -ish, -sh, -ch ; heathen-ishy Engl-ishy Dan-ish, Fren-ch, Welsh, Brit-ish, &c. ; f re-shy mar-sh, ra-sh. Aryan -IS-TO, for -yons-to; E. superl. -est. § 258. Adverbial Suffixes ; -ly, -meal, -ward, -wards, -way, -ways, -wise. § 259. SuffixeS; -s, -se, -ce ; else, needs, on-ce, twi-ce. xxvi TABLE OF CONTENTS, PAGE Suffix -er\ ev-er, nev-er, yest-er-day. Suffix -om ; ivhil-om, seld- om. Suffix -l-ing, -l-ong ; head-l-ong, dark-l-ing. § 260. Verbal Suffixes. Suffixes -en, -n; fatt-en, lcngth-e7i, &c. ; glist-en, op-en; daw-n, drow-n, faw-n, lear-fi, ow-n. § 261. Suffix k'y har-k, lur-k, scul-k, smir-k, stal-k, wal-k. § 262. Suffix-/^, -/; bahb-le, rtimb-le, Sec. ; dragg-le, dazz-le, &c. ; draw-l, mew-l, wau-l. Suffix -er ; glimm-er ,flutt-er, glitt-er, welt-er. Cf. z\socrtimb-le,k7iee-l,Scc. Also gird-le,fett-e}'. §263. Suffix -j^; cleanse, rinse ; clasp , g7'asp ; lisp 261 Chapter XV. — Derivations from Roots. § 246. Definition of a root. § 265. Discussion of roots. § 266. Affixes are due to roots. § 267. Examples of roots ; care is to be exercised in discriminating the vowel-sound found in a root. A list of fifty- roots. § 268. How to discover the root of an E. word ; ex- emplified in the case of the word listen, from the root KLEU. § 269. Other words derived from the same root. § 270. Results of the two preceding sections ; listen, lotid, hwiber, client, glory, slave, are all from the same root. § 271. The root GHEU, to pour; whence GHEUD and GHEUS. Hence are chyme, chyle, alcheviy ?, chemist ?, fuse, con-fotind, I'e-ftmd, ftit-ile, con-fute^ re-ftite, foisoji, found; gut, in-got; geys-ir, gush; Bill-i-ter Lane. § 272. The root sek, to cut, with its derivatives ; sec-ant, seg-me7tt, bisect, insect, scion, sickle. Sec. §273. The root SKAD, to cut ; sched-ule,shing-le, scatt-er, shatt-er. § 274. The root skid, to cut; schism, schist, zest, squill, abscind; shed, shide, sheath, skid ; C(2s-ura, circum-cise, Sec. ; chis-el, sciss-ors. § 275. The root skap, kap, to cut; apo-cope, syn- cope, comma, cap-on ; shape, shave, shaft, scab, shabby, chop, chip, chump. § 276. The root sker, to shear; shear, share, shore, short, shirt, shard, score, scaur, skerry, skirt; scar-ify, char-acter ; cuir-ass, s-cour-ge. § 277. The root skel, to divide ; scale, shell ; scall, skull, skill ; shale. § 278. The root SKARP, to cut ; sharp, scarp, scarf, scrape, scrap, scrip ; ex~ cerp-t, s-car-ce; harv-est. § 279. The root SKALP, to cut; scalp-el, sculp-ture, scallop, scalp ; shelf. § 280. The root skur, to cut ; cur-t ; scru-ple, scrutiny ; shroud, shred, screed; scro-ll. §281. Remarks on the tracing of roots .... 2S0 Chapter XVI. — Modern English Spelling. § 282. Arch- bishop Trench's remarks on ' etymological ' spelling. Fallacy of the argument. Neglect of phonetic considerations. § 283. History the only true £uide to spelling; importance of pho- TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXVU PAGE netics. § 284. Account of the symbols employed in English. The Celtic alphabet. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet. § 285. Value of the A. S. symbols ; especially of c, g, ge,f, r, s. Double values of / and s. § 286. The A. S. vowel-system; use of accents to denote vowel-length. The A. S. system of writing was intended to be purely phonetic. § 287. A.D. 1 150-1300. Changes in spelling ; new use oiy ; use oi k, 'i,gh ; e^ as a consonant, v as a vowel ; introduction of ch, sch,y as a consonant, qzc, ivh ; new use of/, 9. Disappearance of a, ea, eo. Introduction of the Anglo-French system of spelling; the English language is re- spelt by scribes accustomed to Anglo-French. Hence qii, c as j, u and y as consonants, ay, ey, v, w, ch, i asy, &c. Change of A. S. « to oa, 00. § 288. Symbols in use about 1300; ch (or he), ph, sch, th, wh ; at, ay, au, aw, ea, ei, ey, eo, ie, oa, oi, oy, ou,ui, eu, ew; kk, cch, sc, §289. A.D. 1300-1400. Further changes in spelling; use oi gh, aa, ee, 00, y for long ?'; French eo. § 290. About a.d. 1400. Spelling of Chaucer (EUesmere MS.; see Appendix A). § 291. List of Symbols in 1400; vowels ; diphthongs ; consonants ; digraphs ; doubled letters ; biform digraphs ; initial and final combinations. § 292. Changes since A.D. 1400 ; loss of the final -e in the spoken lan- guage. § 293. History of the spelling of the words bone, stones shewing how the final e (mute) came to be used to indicate the length of the preceding vowel. History of the spelling of the French word cone ; with a similar result. § 294. Origin of the spellings ride, white, tell. § 295. Spelling of words derived from French. Use of^^ for/, and oi ce for s. § 296. History of the plurat suffix -es, both in English and French words. § 297. Use of a double consonant to indicate that the preceding vowel is short. Why the medial consonant is not doubled in vmnagef matins, bigot, metal, colour, busy, cation, &c. The spelling tollerate. Use of gge for final//'. Doubling of r and of final s. § 298. A.D. 1400-1500. Caxton's spelling in 1471. Use of idle final -e in impossible places. § 299. Caxton's use of vowels, diphthongs, and consonants. Origin of the symbol/. Use oi v consonant. 5 confused with z. Caxton's use of digraphs, and of yiox\. Explanation of initial^ Biform digraphs; origin of tch ; disuse of thth. Initial combinations. § 300. Review, shewing that the old spelling was meant to be phonetic. Con- fusion between the close and open 0, and the close and open e. Anglo-French words introduced in the Anglo-French spelling. Borrowing of French words from the French of Paris. § 301. Invention of Printing. Origin of the Tudor-English oa to denote XXVlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE open 0, and ea to denote open e. Other changes. § 302. Effect of the loss of final e. Origin of final bs, bt, cs, gs, &c. § 303. Revival of learning. Attempt to be consciously etymological. Different treatment of native words and of those of Latin or Greek origin. The new spellings doubt, debt, f milt, victuals, advance. Innovations in spelling made," on a false principle. § 304. Stu- pidity of the pedantic method. Blunders of the pedants ; sylvan, style, tiro, Syren ; verbs in -ize ; aneurisin ; scent ; tongue. § 305. Changes made since the time of Shakespeare. Error in writing have for hav, and stiff iox stif. Uniform spelling (about 1690). Marked and violent changes in pronunciation ; abate, beet. Results. § 306. Summary of the preceding investigation . 294 Chapter XVII. — Phonetic Spelling. § 307. Unsatisfactory character of the so-called ' etymological ' spelling. Absurdity of the spellings scythe, to7igue, sieve, rhyme, scent. § 308. The ' glossic ' system of Mr. Alexander J. Ellis ; useful for repre- senting English dialects. § 309. Outline of the ' glossic ' system, as applied to ordinary English. § 310. The 'romic' system of Mr. H. Sweet. Advantages of this system. Vowels as repre- sented by Mr. Sweet. § 311. Consonants as represented by Mr. Sweet. § 312. Specimen of ' romic ' spelling, with some modifications. § 313. Utility of the ' romic ' system exemplified. List of the chief vowel-sounds and diphthongal sounds in Anglo- Saxon, Middle English, and Modem English, as exhibited in twenty- eight characteristic words. § 314. Some other sounds, found in Tudor- English. § 315. Great value of the works by Ellis and Sweet. Note: various modifications of the ' romic'" system ; with illustrations 334 Chapter XVIII. — English Consonants. § 316. Classification of consonants ; gutturals, dentals, labials, &c. §317. Voiceless and voiced consonants. Why k is voiceless, but g is voiced. Why s is voiceless, but z is voiced. Voiceless letters : k, ch, t, th (in thin), p, f, s, sh, wh. Voiced letters : g,j, d, th (in thine)^ b, V, z, zh, w, § 318. Importance of the above distinction. Affinity of voiceless consonants for other such, and of voiced con- sonants for other such. Illustrations. § 319. Voiced conso- nants are nearer than the others to the nature of vowels. Liability of voiceless letters to become voiced. § 320, Substitu- tion of one voiceless (or voiced) letter for another of like kind. Illustrations. §321. Origin of consonantal changes. Economy of effort. External influence, due to mental association. Ex- TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXIX PAGE amples of this. § 322. Principal methods by which conso- nantal change is effected in English. § 323. Examples of palatalisation {k > ch) ; voicing {k "> g)\ vocalisation (^ > j) ; assimilation {kd > kt) ; substitution (^ > ^) ; metathesis {sk > ks) ; abbreviation (A. ^.ftigol > Y..fowl) ; unvoicing {d ^ t)\ addition (excrescent p, &c.) ; symbol-change {c '> k); mis- apprehension (5 > z) ; doubling of consonants ; consonantal influ- ence {er > ar) ; confluence. § 324. Examples of palatisation. § 325. History of K. A' > ch ; initially, as in chaff, char-zvoman^ charlock, &c. ; finally, as in ache, beech, bench, &c. § 326. kk > M. E. cch > E. tch ; as in bitch, flitch, itch, &c. § 327. Voicing; k'> ch'P' y, as in a-jar,jowl,jole. % 328- k^ g\ dig, sprig, trigger. Final k lost ; sigh, barley, /, every. § 329. Substitution ; k ">■ t; ast, apricot, bat, mate, milt. ^ > / > (^ ; lobster. § 330. sk "> sh; ashes, ash, dish, fish, &c. Initially, as Vi\. shake, shame. Sk '>■ ks = x ; fuix, yex, ax, Sec. § 331. Aw = C7a > gu. Kn > gn or n ; knave, knead, &c. ; gnarled^ gnash, gnazv, jzibble, nap. § 332. History of H. When sounded initially; misuse of h. hi ^ /; hn > n ; hr >■ r; as in ladder, nap, rather, &c. § 333. Final h, now gh ; borough, bough, &c. The combination o?/:^/i explained. § 334. Final ht; now ght. § 335. Loss ofh; finally, as xsx fee, lea; medi- ally, in trout, not', initially, in it. Loss of A. S. h ; ^ar (of com), see, tear, s., Welsh. § 336. Hw > wh ; wh for w, in tf//zV, whelk, whortlebeny. § 337. History of G ; gear, get, giddy, 8cc. Ge ">■ y ; as in ye, yea, yes ; also in yard, yare, &c. Gi > y, as in yard (rod), yearn, &c. Mid. E. 5. A. S. ge- "> y- or Z-. A. S.^^ > ^ in e-nough. G lost in if, itch, icicle. § 338. Final and medial g'- g "> gh, in 7ieigh ; g "> y or i, in day, gray, key, ail, blain, &c. ', g > w ox ow, in bow,fotvl, &c., and in morrow, &c. ; ^ >y, in dwarf; g is lost in steward, nine, tile. Ng > nge in sifige, stingy ; ^ is lost in lent. § 339. Double ^; A. S. eg > M. E. gg or ^i? > E. dge, in bridge, edge ; is vocal- ised in lay, lie, buy. Gg or g final preserved in Scand. words, as in egg, v., egg, s. § 340. History of T. 7" > i/, in proud, pride, clod; t > th, in swarthy, lath. 7" lost in anvil, best, last, ado, &c. § 341. Excrescent /, after w or s. Dissimilated gemi- nation. Y-xx.; against, a;?iidst. See; anent. §342. History of TH. Voiceless th (» ; voiced th (S) ; S > d, in afford, burden, could, &c., ; \ "> t, in height, nostril, &c. ; ths > w, in bliss, lissom.. Th lost, in worship, wrist, &c., and in whittle, whack. § 343. History of D. Verner's Law. /) > S ; hither, thither, &c. ; ^, in abbot, cuttlefish, tilt (of cart) ; wont, built, See. ; XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE § 344. Loss of d, as in a^tswer, gospel. Excrescent d ; after n, in bound (to go), dtvindle ; after /, in alder, elder; ds > ss, in bless, gossip. § 345. History of N. iV > m, in hemp, wimberry, &c. \n> I, m funnel, perhuinkle (fish). § 346. N lost in A. S. ; also lost in Thursday, agnail; and in inflexions. Initial n lost in adder, auger ; an- lost in drake. § 347. Intrusive n ; newt, nuncle, nightingale ; bittern, niarten, stiibborn. Nd > nn^ in winnow. § 348. History of P. P "> b, pebble, dribble, wabble, cobweb. P > f {v),m knave. Excrescent / after w, as in empty. § 349. History of F. Often sounded as v. Use of^ F "> V initially, in vane, vat, vinewed, vixen; finally, in lives, calves, calve, /^lost in hast, hath, had, head, lord, lady. Fm >■ mm, in lemman, Lamnias, woman. § 350. History of B. B. > p, in gossip, unkempt. Excrescent b, after m ; in embers, &c. § 351. History of M. J/ lost xnfive, ousel, soft; m > n in ant, Hants, aunt. § 352, History of Y. Aryan y preserved '\nye, yea, yes, year, &c. § 353. History of R. R '> 1,'va. smoulder; rr > dd, in paddock ; r lost in speak, speech ; r intrusive in bridegroom, hoarse, surf. Metathesis of r, as in bird, burn, &c. § 354. History of L. L lost in each, which, such, as, England; not sounded in calf; It > //, in totter. § 355. History of W. A. S. -we >• -ow, in arrow. A. S. -w absorbed in t}'ee, knee. W lost in ooze, cud, lark, aught, soul; and in initial wl, thw, tw, sw. Hiv > wh. Wr. H > wh, in whole, whoop. § 356. History of S. 6" written ce, finally; s >■ f , in cinder; s >• sc, in scythe ; j > s, in adze, bedizen, with which cf. rise, besom. Voicing of J. 6" > sh, in gush ; s > ch, in linch-pin, hench- man. § 357. S > r, by Vemer's Law, as in are, were, lorn, &c. § 358. S lost, finally, in burial, riddle, pea. Origin of s in skates, bodice, eaves. § 359. ^ > /, in paddle (small spade). S intrusive, in island. S prefixed in squeeze. 6" < /, in sneeze ; lost in neeze. § 360. History of SK. Sk {sc) > sh, in shame, shine ; exceptions. The word schooner. St > ss, in blossom, &c. Metathesis of j/^ and sp. § 361. Table of Principal Con- sonantal Changes 344 Chapter XIX. — Various Changes in the Forms of Words ; Phonology. § 362. Palatalisation ; Voicing of voiceless letters ; Vocalisation of voiced letters ; Assimilation ; Substi- tution ; Metathesis. § 363. Abbreviation. Aphesis defined. Loss of initial consonants, as in nip, nibble, &c. § 364. Loss of medial consonants, as in drown, ear, &c. § 365. Loss of final consonants, as in barley, every, &c. Loss of final «, TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXXI PAGE especially in inflexions. Loss of final w in glee, knee ; loss of final s in burial, 8cc. § 366. Syncope ; as in e^er for ever. Loss of medial^, as in nail. Loss of a medial vowel, as in adze, ant, &c. Examples of violent contraction. Vowel-shortening. § 367. Apocope. Loss of genders in English. Final a lost, in ass, bow, s. ; final e lost, in crow, end', final o lost in heat, eld; final u lost in door, son, wood', final se lost in alf?is ; final en lost in lent, kindred; &c. § 368. Unvoicing of voiced con- sonants, as in abbot, want (mole), gossip, purse. § 369. Addition. Vowel-insertion ; whisper, beso^n, &c. The E. suffix -yer, -ier, in bowyer, brazier, &c. Origin of the suffix -ier. Insertion of o before w, as in wallow. Addition of inorganic mute e. § 370. Consonantal insertions. H wrongly prefixed, as in yellozu-hamnier. Wrong insertion of h, in whelk, rhyme ; and of n, in Jieivt. N suffixed, as in bittern. V prefixed, in yexa, you. R inserted, in bridegroom, hoarse, surf, swarths. L inserted in could. W inserted, in whole, whoop, woof. S in- serted in island. Excrescent letters. § 371. Graphic changes; €> k; cchy- tch ; h > gh ; cw > qu ; hzu > wh ; &c. § 372. Misuse of symbols. List of symbols that are most often confused. § 373. Errors of editors and of early printers. The word oivery. The ' phrase ' chek yn a tyde. Ghost-words (see foot note). § 374. Doubling of consonants to denote vowel-shortening. Needless use of c in acknoivledge ; needless doubling of/in afford, affright. § 375. Vowel-changes due to consonantal influence. Effect of h. § 376. The same ; effect of ^. § 377. The same ; effect of n or m. § 378. The same ; effect of nd in lengthening i. Effect oim. § 379. Effect of m or n upon a preceding o. § 380. Effect of ndm lengthening ti. § 381. Effect of r on the preceding vowel. Loss of trill of r. Er > ar ; examples. § 382. Effect of / upon a preceding vowel. § 383. Effect of w, wh, and qu upon a following vowel ; ag > aw. § 384. Change of wi to ti ; and of iw to eiu. § 385. Confluence of forms. Definition of ' confluence.' Examples ; three words spelt sound ; barse and bass ; wilk and whelk; &c. § 386. Homonyms. Homographs and homo- phones defined. Examples of homographs. § 387. Further examples. § 388. Examples of homophones; ale, ail; beat, beet; &CC 384 Chapter XX. — Doublets and Compounds. § 389. Dimor- phism. Definition of doublets. § 390. Doublets sometimes due to a difference of dialect, as ridge, rig; or to borrowed XXXll TABLE OF CONTENTS. PAGE words from abroad, as in the case of deck, a doublet of thatch. § 391. One of the pair may be Scandinavian, as in the case of dale, doublet of dell, &c. § 392. One of the pair may be French or Latin ; examples. Both forms may be Latin ; exam- ples. § 393. Compound Words. § 394. Substantive com- pounds. Adjective Compounds. Verbal Compounds. § 395. List of Compounds, of native origin, in which the origin has been more or less obscured. § 396. Petrified forms. § 397. Hybrid forms . . . . • . . . . 414 Chapter XXL — Early Words of Latin origin. § 398. Latin of the First Period. Chester. Street, wall. Wme, wick, p07't,pool, mile, pine, v. § 399. Latin of the Second Period. Words such as A. S. sanct are not to be included. Two sets of such words. § 400. List of Words of pure Latin origin, found in Anglo-Saxon, and still in use ; including those of the First Period. § 401. List of unorignal Latin words found in Anglo- Saxon, and still in use. § 402. Classification of Words found in the two preceding Lists. § 403. Remarks. Notice of some Latin words found in Anglo-Saxon that have been supplanted by French forms 432 Chapter XXIL — The Celtic element, § 404. Difficulty of the subject. Welsh has frequently borrowed words from Middle English. § 405. Most Celtic words have been borrowed at a late period. § 406. Words of Irish origin. §§ 407-409, "Words of Scotch-Gaelic origin. §410. Words of Wel5h origin. § 411, Words possibly of early Celtic origin, § 412. Anglo- Saxon words of Celtic origin 443 Chapter XXIII. — The Scandinavian or Scandian element. § 413. Period of the borrowing of Scandian words. § 414. Language of the Northmen. Scandian defined. § 415. Ice- landic ; its archaic form. It may be taken as the best type of Scandian. § 416. The Icel. long a > E. long o', as in both. Examples. § 417. The Icel. long ^ > E. ^^ ; as in kneel, lee. § 418. The Icel. long i > E. ee, as in leech ; or t, as in grime. Examples. § 419. The Icel. long £» > E. 00, as in bloom, loon, root, scoop, toom ; or- E. 0, as in bowline ; or ou, as in bozu (of a sh\Y>), plough, slouch. § 420. The Icel. long tt > E. 00, as in booth, droop, hoot, pooh ; or E. ou, as in bound (ready 1, cow, v., cower, &c. § 421. Icelandic vowel-mutation. § 422. The Icel. long J > E. f j as in Jie, mire, shy, sky, suite, v. § 423. TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXXUl PAGE The Icel. long cc > E. ea, as in screa??i ; or E. ee, in seemly, sneer; or E. z, as in eider -dticli, fry (spawn), sly; or E. ai, in wail. § 424. The Icel. ati; whence E. loose, stoop, ?,.,ga%vky, Jluster. § 425. The Icel. ei > E. ai, as in bait ; or ea, in weak, queasy ; or oi, in groin. § 426. The Icel. ^_;/ appears in geysir ; of. also d/zV, v., steep, v., /rji-/, s. § 427. The \z€i. j6,ju; cf. E. shealing, meek. % 428. Mutation ; a > . . £, as in beck, dregs, ged,ken ; ^ > . .7, whence drip , filly , flit , lift ; u> . .y, whence skim. U-mutation of a ; hark (of a tree), brindled, ledge. § 429. Gradation. Verbal derivatives formed by gradation. Strong verbs of Scand. origin ; fling, rive, take, thrive. Other verbs of Scand. origin. The pp. rotten. § 430. Aryan suffixes exemplified in words of Scand. origin. § 431. The suffixed-^ of the neuter gender ; athwart, scant, thwart, toft, want, wight. § 432. The suffix -sk in bask, busk. The suffix -ter in sis-ter. The suffix -st in trust, tryst. § 433. Verbal suffixes ; -en, -n, as in batten, fawn; -k, as in lurk; -ch, in fllch ; -le or -^/, as in bungle, grovel ; -I, as in kneel ; -er, as in blwider ; -se, as in rinse. The verb gasp. § 434. Palatalisation rare in Scand. words ; sk is often preserved. Final g is also commonly pre- served ; large number of Scand. words ending in g, gg, or con- taining gg. The sb. egg. Final sk > sh, as in dash ; -sk remains in whisk, bask, btisk; final ^ > ^/i, in gush, flush. §435. Voicing of voiceless letters. Various examples. § 436. Vocalis- ation of voiced letters ; fawn, bora (of a ship), gai7i, hoio (hill), low, adj., low (flame), roe ; flazv, fraught. § 437. Assimila- tion ; brad, gad, s., ill, odd, &c. § 438. Substitution ; k> t, as in nasty ; s > sh, in gush. The word sledge. § 439. Meta- thesis ; gasp, dirt. § 440. Contraction. Loss of initial letter, as in lee ; of a medial letter, as in bask, whirl ; of a final letter, as in roe (of a fish). § 441. Unvoicing of voiced consonants ; blunt, shunt. § 442. Additions ; excrescent b and n. The words whisk and windlass. § 443. Graphic changes. Pecu- liarities of Icelandic spelling. § 444. Misuse of p for / § 445. Vowel-changes due to consonantal influence or other cause. Vowel-lengthening. Change of en to in ; hinge, fling. § 446. List of Compound Words, of Scandian origin, in which the origin has been more or less obscured. Note on words bor- rowed from modern Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian 453 Chapter XXIV. — The Old Friesic and Old Dutch ele- ment. § 447. Scarcity of Information. § 448. Borrowings from Dutch have taken place at various dates. Many sea-terms VOL. I. C XXXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS. PACK are Dutch ; examples. § 449, Many cant terms are of Dutch origin ; examples. § 450. Dutch words borrowed in the time of Elizabeth. List of Dutch words in Shakespeare. § 451. Introduction of Dutch words into Middle English. Difficulty of the enquiry. Examples. § 452. Imperfection of the remains of Anglo-Saxon . . . 481 Chapter XXV. — Effects of the English Accent. § 453. Shortening of long vowels often due to accent. § 454. Rule /. A long vowel is often shortened by accentual stress, when a word is augmented by an additional syllable. Examples : (a) words augmented by a suffix ; {U) words augmented by composition, the vowel being followed by two or more consonants ; («:) com- pound words, in which the vowel is not clogged by consonants. § 455. Rule 2. In dissyllabic compounds, a long vowel in the latter syllable may be shortened by the want of stress. Examples. (Note that, by Rules i and 2, both the vowels in A. S. Diinstdn are short in modem English). § 456. Rule 3. In dissyllabic words, the vowel of the imaccented syllable, if short, may dis- appear ; hence ' crushed forms,' such as hern for heron ; lone for alotie. § 457. Rtde 4. In trisyllabic words, the middle (un- accented) vowel or syllable may disappear ; hence ' crushed forms,' such i3A fortnight iox fonrteen-night. This is common in place names, as in Gloster for Gloucester. § 458. Effect of emphasis ; differentiation of to and too ; of and off. Loss of h in unemphatic it. Voicing of final s in plurals of substantives, &c. 491 Notes 501 Appendix A. Further Illustrations of §§ 60-65 . . 503 Appendix B. Specimens of Spelling 509 Index of English Words 513 General Index of Principal Matters Discussed . 539 ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY. CHAPTER 1. Introductory. § 1. It will assist me in explaining the scope of the pre- sent book if I first of all make a few remarks upon a given passage of English literature. For this purpose, I open Booth's reprint of the celebrated 'First Folio' edition of Shakespeare's plays, first printed in 1623. In ^ Actus Tertia of The Tam.ing of the Shrew, Gremio thus speaks of Petruchio : — ' Tut, fhe's a Lambe, a Doue, a foole to him : He tell you fir Lticentio ; when the Priefl Shoulde aske if Katheri?te fhould be his wife, I, by goggs wo ones quoth he, and fwore so loud, That all amaz'd the Prieft let fall the booke, And as he floop'd againe to take it vp. This mad-brain'd bridegroome tooke him such a cufife, That downe fell Priefl and booke, and booke and Priefl, Now take them vp quoth he, if any lifl.' Those who are accustomed only to modern print and spelHng will at once notice slight variations between the old and modern methods of printing this well-known passage. Thus the use of / to represent the affirmative aye has certainly a pecuhar look ; and few people would now make use of such an expression as ' if any list.' This will at once help us to see that our language has a history, and that it alters from time to time. The importance of studying our VOL. I. B 3 INTRODUCTORY. [Chap. I. language historically can hardly be over-estimated. A student who is unacquainted with the older forms of it, is in no wise qualified ^ to give opinions upon the derivation of English words, unless the word be derived from Latin or Greek in so obvious a manner that the derivation cannot easily be missed by such as have received a fair education in those languages ; and even then, if the word has come to us indirectly, through the French, he is very likely to miss some important point concerning it. § 2. Glancing once more at the above quotation, let us consider the various points about it which call for special attention and study. First of all, we naturally ask, who was the author, and at what time did he live ? What kind of literary work is here exhibited, in what relation does it stand to other works by the same writer, and what is the exact date of its composition ? These are questions which chiefly belong to what is called the history of English literature, and to literary history in general. Looking at it once more from another point of view, we may ask, in what language is this written, and at what period ? What were the peculiarities of the language at that period, as regards the pronunciation, the spelling, the method of printing and punctuation, the grammar, and the nature of the vocabulary? These are questions which belong to the history of the English lan- guage, and to the history of language in general. § 3. With a view to limiting the field of observation and enquiry as far as possible, I propose, in the present work, to consider chiefly the vocabulary , and further to limit this, for the most part, to the vocabulary of our language as it is current at the present day. And further, as regards the vocabulary, I propose to deal mainly with the etymology of ' I have frequently heard such grossly false statements concerning English so confidently uttered by supposed ' scholars ' that any hint of contradiction was hopeless. Nothing was left but to listen in silent shame. § 4.] COMPOSITE NATURE OF EN-GLISH. 3 the words which go to compose it ; so that the precise sub- ject of our enquiry is, in fact, the etymology of words CURRENT IN MODERN English. At the Same time, it must be carefully borne in mind, that all the points mentioned above are more or less intimately connected with the subject. We shall certainly make a great mistake unless we are always ready to accept such help as may be afforded us by con- sidering the literary use of words, the phonetic history of their changing forms, the dates at which certain changes of form took place, the dates at which certain words (pre- viously unknown) came into current use, and the changes to which words are subject in consequence of their grammatical relation to each other in the sentence. Whilst, on the one hand, we limit the subject as far as possible in order to master the essential principles with less effort, we are often obliged, on the other hand, to make use of all the aid that can be afforded us by proper attention to chronology and linguistic history; and we often find ourselves compelled to seek for aid from all the resources which comparative philo- logy can yield. Inasmuch, however, as the vocabulary and grammar of every language can be, to some extent, con- sidered independently, I propose to leave the grammar in the background, and to refer the reader, for further informa- tion concerning it, to Morris's ' Historical Oudines of Eng- lish Accidence,' and Matzner's 'Englische Grammatik,' of which there is an English translation by C. J. Grece. Another highly important work is the ' Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache' by C. F. Koch, which, like the work by Matzner, contains a great deal of valuable information about the vocabulary as well as the grammar. To these three books I shall have occasion to refer pardcularly, and I have frequently drawn upon them for illustrative examples. § 4. The most remarkable point about the vocabulary of modern English is its composite nature. Certainly no language was ever composed of such numerous and such B 2 4 INTRODUCTORY. diverse elements. The sentiment of the old Roman — ' homo sum : humani nihil a me alienum puto '" ' — has been fully- adopted by the Englishman, with a very practical effect upon his language. This important subject, of the various sources whence our language has been supplied, will form the subject of Chapter II ; and the succeeding Chapters of the present volume will deal with what may be called the native element or the primary source of modern English. I also take into consideration Latin words found in Anglo- Saxon, and early words of Celtic and Scandinavian origin. The secondary sources, including the very important French element, will be dealt with in another volume. ^ ' I am a man, and nothing which relates to man can be a matter of unconcern to me;' Terence, Heautontimorumcnos, i. i. 25. CHAPTER 11. The Sources of the English Language. § 5. Chronology. In considering the various sources from which the vocabulary of modern English has been drawn, our most important help is chroftology. A strict attention to chronology will often decide a question which might otherwise be somewhat obscure. A single example may suffice to shew this, and may furnish further instruction by the way. Johnson's Dictionary, in treating of the word surloin, under the spelling sirloin, refers us to the 5th sense of sir, under which we find, accordingly, that sirloin is ' a title given to the loin of beef, which one of our kings knighted in a good humour.' This is one of those famous and abundant falsehoods which the general public, who usually have no special linguistic experience, applaud to the echo and believe greedily; but any student who has had but a moderate experience of the history of language cannot but feel some doubts, and will at once ask the very pertinent question, who was the king? Turning to RicHardson's Dictionary, we are told that surloin is * the loin of beef, so entided by King James the First.' Not the slightest evidence is off"ered of this historical event, nor is any hint given as to the author who is responsible for such a statement. But in an account of some expenses of the Ironmongers' Company, in the time of Henry VI, quoted by Wedgwood from the Athenaeum of Dec. 28, 1867, we find the entry — 'A surloyn beeff, vii(/.' Thus chronology at once tells us that the word was in use at least a century before King James I was born, and eff"ectually disposes of this idle and mischievous invention. 6 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. II. In fact, our loin is merely borrowed from the French longe (formerly also spelt logne\ and our surloin from the French surlonge^. In Littrd's French Dictionary is a quotation shewing that surlonge was already in use in the fourteenth century, which carries the word's history still further back. Hence we learn the very necessary lesson, that etymology requires scientific treatment, and does not consist in giving indolent credence to silly guesses ; and we at once establish the value of chronology as a helpful guide to the truth. § 6. Additions to the Vocabulary. The vocabulary of the English language has, for many centuries, been steadily increased by the constant addition of new words borrowed from extraneous sources. It is true that many words, being no longer wanted, or having their places supplied by more convenient or more popular expressions, have from time to time become obsolete ; but the loss thus occasioned has always been more than counterbalanced by additions from without. In some cases we are able to tell the exact date at which a word has been introduced. Two examples of this may be readily given. The verb to boycott was first used in 1880, being suddenly brought into use by the peculiar circumstances of the case. Captain Boycott, of Lough Mask House, in Mayo (Ireland), was subjected to a kind of social oudawry by the people among whom he lived, and to whom he had given offence. Such treatment was called boycotting, and the use of the word may be readily understood by help of the following extract from the Scotsman newspaper of Dec. 4, 1880: — 'They advise that men who pay full rents shall be Boycotted] nobody is to work for ^ Thus surloin is really the upper part of the loin ; from F. sur, above, and O. F. logne, longe, the loin. Again, the F. stir is from Lat. super, above ; and lotige represents a Lat. fem. adj. hwibea, formed from hinibtis, a loin. In many cases I shall not give the details of such etymologies, as they can be found in my Etymological Dictionary, or in the epitome of it, called the Concise Et)Tnological Dictionary, both of which are published by the Clarendon Press. §7.] ADDITIONS TO THE VOCABULARY. J them, nobody is to sell them anything, nobody is to buy anything of them/ Further, the people who acted against Captain Boycott were called Boycoiters, and the Echo news- paper of Dec. 7, 1880, even ventured to speak of 'the latest victim of Boycottism ^! Here is a case still fresh within the memory of most of us, which at once shows how readily a new verb can be formed to express a new kind of social oppression : whilst the date of its introduction is so well determined, that it would be useless to search for examples of it earlier than 1880. The other example to which I allude is the word mob^ which is a mere contraction of the Latin mobile or mobile vtdgtis (the fickle crowd or multitude), first introduced as a convenient form for common use, and afterwards retained because of its convenience. This word can be dated, without much risk of error, about 1688. In Shadwell's Squire of Alsatia, 4to., 1688, the word is spelt ??iobile on p. 3, but mob on p. 59. (See Notes and Queries, 6th S. xii. 501). In Dryden's Don Sebastian, written in 1690, we find the word 77iobile in Act i. sc. i, whilst in Act iii. sc. 3 it is shortened to mob. In 1692, he again uses ?}iob, m his preface to Cleomenes. I have given, in my Dictionary, examples from the Hatton Correspondence, of the use of iJiobile in 1690, but mob in 1695. We shall not be likely to find many examples of the use of iiiob before 1688, nor of 7nobile long after 1690. § 7. Changes introduced unceasingly but silently. These constant additions to our language are seldom much noticed by any of us. They usually creep in unobserved ; or if, as in the case of boycoll, they are so curious as to force themselves upon our attention, the novelty soon wears off, and we soon come to employ them without much re- gard to the manner or time of their introduction. ' In this matter of language,' says Archbishop Trench, 'how few aged persons . . . are conscious of any serious difference ^ The word is well explained and illustrated in Cassell's Dicticnary, 8 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. II. between the spoken language of their early youth, and that of their old age ; are aware that words and ways of using words are obsolete now, which were usual then ; that many words are current now, which had no existence at that time ; that new idioms have sprung up, that old idioms have past away. And yet it is certain that so it 7mist be. . . . But there are few to whom this is brought so distinctly home as it was to Caxton, who writes — "our language now used varieth far from that which was used and spoken when I was born ^" ' It will thus be seen that it is best to fix an absolute date for the period of the language under discus- sion; and I therefore take the year 1885 as our starting- point, being the year in Avhich this work was commenced. § 8. Sources of the Language. Before we can discuss the etymology of any word employed in modern English, it is necessary to be quite certain, if possible, as to the source whence the word has come to us. It would be useless to try to explain such a word as elixir by the help of Latin or Dutch, because, as a matter of fact, it is a term of alchemy, and, as such, is due to the Arabic el-iksir. Here el (al) is the definite article, and iksir, i. e. essence or ' the philosopher's stone,' is not a true Arabic word, but borrowed from the Greek ^rjpov, dry or dried up, a term applied to the residuum left in a retort^. Archbishop Trench gives a long Hst of words which have found their way into EngHsh from various sources ^, but I have since given a fuller and more exact hst in the Appendix to my Dictionary ^. In the attempt to settle this question of ' distribution ' of our words according to the languages whence they are derived, we always receive great ^ Trench ; 'English Past and Present,' lect. i ; 9th ed., pp. 8-10. See the whole passage. ^ Explained in the Supplement to my Etymological Dictionary, p. 801. ^ ' English Past and Present,' lect. i. See also Morris, Eng. Accidence, § 29. ^ ' Distribution of Words,' at p. 747 of the larger edition, or p. 603 of the Concise edition. § 9-] SOURCES OF ENGLISH. 9 help from chronology and history. Hence the following 'Canons for Etymology' are of primary importance. Before attempting an etymology, ascertain the earliest form and use of the word, and observe chronology. If the word be of native origin, we should next trace its history in cognate languages. If the word be bor- rowed, we must observe geography and the history of events, remembering that borrowings are due to actual contact. We may be sure, for example, that we did not take the word elixir directly from the Moors, but rather obtained it through the medium of Latin, in which language alchemical treatises were usually written. § 9. Enumeration of these sources. The various sources of English may be thus enumerated ^ Taking English to represent the native speech of the Low-German conquerors of England, the earliest accessions to the language, after a.d. 450, were due to borrowings from the Celtic inhabitants of our island. Latin occupies the curious position of a language which has lent us words at many different dates, from a period preceding historical record^ down to modern times. Many Scandinavian words were introduced at an early date, chiefly before the Norman Conquest in 1066, although many of them cannot be traced much further back than 1200, or even somewhat later. Owing to an almost constant trade or contact with Holland, Dutch words have been borrowed directly at various periods ; the chief of these being, in my opinion, the reigns of Edward III and Elizabeth. A con- siderable number of words have been borrowed from Greek, many of which belong purely to science or literature rather * For fuller details, see Morris, English Accidence, ch. iii. ^ Several Latin words were known to the Teutonic tribes before the Saxon invasion of England. Such words are cafnp, cdsej-e, mil, pin, street (camp, Ccesar, mile, pine, i. e. punishment, street) ; ' Dialects and Prehistoric Forms of Old English,' by H. Sweet; Phil. Soc. Trans., 1876, p. 543. Some, such dA port (harbour), wall, &c., may have been learnt from the Britons. lO SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. II. than to the spoken language. Such as have been borrowed directly may mostly be dated from a period not earlier than the reign of Edward VI, when the revival of the study of Greek took place owing to the teaching of Sir John Cheke and others at Cambridge ^. Before that period, many Greek words found their way indeed into English, but only in- directly, through the medium of Latin or French; such words comtnonly refer to ecclesiastical affairs or to the art of medicine. I The Norman conquest opened the way for the introduction of French words into English, but this in- troduction was at first very sparing, so that the number of them extant in English writings before the year 1300 is by no means large. After that date, the influx of them was immense, especially during the fourteenth century; so much so that by the end of that century the composite character of our language was completely established. One great cause of this was certainly the influence of the law-courts, which notoriously retain to the present day many old French words that have dropped out of current use, or have never found their way into our daily speech. \ Besides these sources, there are no others of importance much before 1500, with the sole and curious exception of the Semitic languages, Hebrew and Arabic. The Hebrew words are due to the influence of the Hebrew Scriptures, which rendered such words as seraph and sabbath familiar to Greek, Latin, and French authors at an early period. Arabic words came through contact with Eastern commerce, or were due to some acquaintance, either through the medium of Latin or by way of France and Spain, with the Moors who had established themselves in the latter country. But about the year 1500, our language entered upon what ^ ' Thy age, like ours, O Soul of Sir John Cheek, Hated not learning worse than toad or asp, When thou taught'st Cambridge, and King Edward, Greek.' Milton ; Sotinct vi. § 10.] MODERN STAGE OF ENGLISH. II may be definitely called its modern stage. Not only did the discovery of America render possible the gradual introduction of a few native American words, but English was brought into closer contact with Spanish and Portuguese, owing to the stimulus thus given to foreign travel and trade, and the increased facilities for them. At the same time, the French language began to borrow largely from Italian, especially during the reigns of Francis I (15 15-1547) and Henry II (1547-1559); and we frequently borrowed Italian words, not only indirectly, through the French, but directly also. Wyatt and Surrey studied and imitated Italian, and already in -1545 we find Ascham, in his Preface to Toxophilus, com- plaining that many English writers use ' straunge wordes, as latin, french, and Italian-,' see Arber's reprint, p. 18 \ The end of the sixteenth century, and the century succeeding it, made our travellers familiar with such foreign languages as German 2, Russian, Turkish, and Persian; and later still, words have been introduced from many others, including various Indian languages, and the diverse tongues scattered over the continents of Asia, Africa, and America, the remoter parts of Europe, and the distant islands of Polynesia. We have also borrowed Spanish words indirectly, through the medium of French, from the time of Henry IV of France (1589-16 10) ; and even directly, from a somewhat earlier date. It may be remarked that the influence of French upon English has now lasted for more than five centuries. § 10. The Modern Period begins about 1500. It will thus appear that a tolerably distinct, though arbitrary, line of separation may be drawn by taking the date 1500^ ^ See an essay on ' The Influence of Italian upon English Literature,' by J. Ross Murray; 1886. ^ The number of words directly derived from German is very small. A considerable number were derived from Old or Middle High German through the medium of French. The common popular delusion about the ' derivation ' of English from German is refuted below. 3 Some prefer to take the date 1485, i. e. the date of the accession of 12 SOURCES OF ENGLISH, [Chap. II. as indicating the commencement of a new stage in the his- tory of our language. Roughly speaking, and with very few exceptions, this date separates the earlier stages of the language from nearly all contact with such languages as Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, German, Greek (as used in science or as an immediate source), Turkish, Russian, and Hungarian in Europe, and (with the exceptions of Hebrew, Arabic, and, to a slight extent, of Persian) from nearly every tongue not spoken within the European continent. If, therefore, we ascertain that a given word was already in common use in the fifteenth century, or earlier, the range of our search is much limited. Words of Eastern origin are, in general, easily detected and set aside ; and when these are disposed of, the choice is usually limited to English, Low German, Scandinavian, or Dutch on the one hand, or to French, Latin, or Greek (in a Latin or French form) on the other. The Celtic words stand apart from these, and often present much difficulty; and there are doubtless some cases in which a word borrowed from French turns out to be ultimately of Celtic origin. Owing to this gradual narrowing down of the number of original sources as we recede from m.odern to more ancient times, the question of a word's origin frequently resolves itself into the tolerably simple form — is it native English, Scandinavian, Latin, or French .? These four sources are all of primary importance, and will each of them be considered hereafter ; but (with the excep- tion of words borrowed before the Norman Conquest) only the two former fall within the scope of the present volume. § 11. Foreign things denoted by foreign words. The best way to set about the enquiry into the etymology of a given word is, as I have said, to find out the earliest example of its use. Yet even without this aid, our general knowledge .Henry VII, as tlie date of the commencement of the modem period. Nothing is gained by it. The discovery of America did not take place till 1492, and the very year 1500 is famous for the discovery of Brazil. §11.] FOREIGN WORDS FOR FOREIGN THINGS. 1 3 of history and geography will often indicate the true source, by telling us something about the thmg which the word indicates. Examples of this may be seen in Trench's * English Past and Present/ lect. i. The mere mention of holland suggests Dutch ; whilst geography tells us that Holland contains the town of Delft, whence our delf, as well as the province of Gelderland, whence our guelder-rose *. The gey sir suggests Icelandic, and meerschatmi German. Such words as clan, claymore, gillie, loch, pibroch, slogan, whisky, can hardly be other than Gaelic. Such musical terms as allegro, andante, duet, opera, pianoforte, solo, sonata, soprario, trio, are of course Italian; and so are ca7ito, cicerone, doge, incognito, iiitaglio, lava, macaroni, mezzotinto,^ stanza, stiletto, vermicelli, vista. The very forms of the words at once betray their origin. Similarly the student of Spanish easily recognises the words armada, armadillo, don, duenna, flotilla, grandee, hidalgo, junta, lasso, matador, mosquito, negro, peccadillo, primero, quadroon, real (as the name of a coin), tornado, vanilla', and "even those who have no acquaintance with that language naturally associate armada, don, duenna, grandee, hidalgo, matador with Spain, and lasso, negro, quadroon, with the Spanish colonies. We cannot mention a drosky, a rouble, a steppe, or a verst without thinking of Russia, nor such words as amazon, am- brosia, antistrophe, asphodel, episode. Hades, ichor, myriad, myth, nepenthe, panoply, strophe, tantalise, threttody, without being reminded of the glorious poetry of ancient Greece. Tales of Persian origin or accounts of travels in that country are sure to introduce us to the bazaar, the caravan, the divan ; the shah, the pasha, and the dervish will not go un- mentioned; nor will the Eastern imagery be complete without the ghoul, the houri, and the peri. It is the Malay who calls his sword a creese, and who runs amuck ; the Chinese who grows tea ; the Thibetan who acknowledges a supreme lama, ^ The spelling guelder- is due to the French spelling Gueldre. 14 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. TI. while the Tartar calls his chief lord a kha7i, and the Russian a czar"^. Bantam is in Java; gamboge is only a French spelling of Cambodia. Australia possesses the kangaroo and the wo?)ibai', the inhabitant of Tahiti tattooes himself. Guinea is on the west coast of Africa, and the Canary islands have given a name to a bird, a wine, and a dance. Stories about the North American Indians speak of the moose, the opossum^ the racoon, and the shmk ; of the warrior with his moccassi7is, tomahawk, and wampum, and his squaw in the wigwam. These instances may suffice for the present; I propose to give other examples in due course. § 12. Useful dates. The following dates are all of them more or less important in relation to the changes which have taken place in the English language. First landing of Caesar in Britain . . . B.C. 55 Agricola builds his line of forts, and reduces Britain to a Roman province a.d. 81 Christianity introduced into Britain . . . about 180 Hengest founds the kingdom of Kent . . . 449 Augustine converts ^thelberht .... 597 Northumberland submits to Ecgberht . . . 829 Ecgberht defeats the Danes .... 836 The Danes winter in Sheppey .... 855 Peace of Wedmore ; between yEIfred and Guthorm 878 Danish invasions begin again .... 980 Ascendancy of Cnut 1 01 6 Battle of Hastings ...... 1066 English proclamation of Henry HI. . . . 1258 First parliament of Edward 1 1275 Year-books of Edward I. (Reports of cases in Anglo- French) . I 292-1 306 Edward HI. invades France .... 1339-40 Pleadings first conducted in English, though recorded in Latin 1362 ' Not, however, a true Russian word ; but a Slavonic modification of Casai'. Similarly the tcnout is denoted by a word borrowed from Swedish, and allied to E. Jznqt. § 13.] HISTORICAL SURVEY. 1 5 English first taught in schools .... a.d. 1385 Wars of the Roses 1455-71 Introduction of Printing into England . . 1477 Columbus discovers San Salvador . . . 1492 Modern stage of English begins .... about 1500 Ariosto publishes his Orlando Furioso. (Beginning of Italian influence) 1 516 Tyndale's New Testament first printed . . 1525 Sir John Cheke teaches Greek at Cambridge . 1540 The Netherlanders resist Spain .... 1566 Battle of Ivry. (Beginning of frequent borrowings in French from Spanish) 1590 Authorised version of the Bible .... 161 1 First folio edition of Shakespeare . . . 1625 Civil War 1642-9 Proceedings at law recorded in English . . 1730 Clive gains the battle of Plassey .... 1757 Captain Cook's discoveries in the Pacific Ocean 1769 Goethe's 'Sorrows of Werter ' translated into English 1779 Carlyle translates Goethe's 'Wilhelm Meister ' . 1824 § 13. Historical Survey. A few remarks will make clear the bearings of these events upon our language. When Julius Caesar arrived in Britain, the inhabitants of the south were speaking a Celtic dialect, but the reduction of the island to a Roman province under Agricola gradually in- troduced a knowledge of Latin, which led in its turn to a knowledge of Christianity. After the Romans withdrew from the island, it fell an easy prey to English invaders, who founded in it various kingdoms, the oldest of which was that of Kent. Ecgberht's acquisition of Northumberland brought the whole of England under one ruler ; whilst the mission of St. Augustine brought in Christianity amongst the pagan English. Ecgberht's defeat of the Danes only marks the beginning of a long struggle of two centuries \ Their in- cursions still continued, so that in 855 they spent the whole ^ The Danes, in small numberS; had invaded England even eadier, in 787 and 832 ; see Morris, Eng. Accidence, § 23. 1 6 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. II. winter in Kent, instead of retreating homeward for that season, as they had been wont to do. The peace of Wed- more brought with it some cessation, but at the close of the tenth century we find them again aggressive, until a Danish kingdom was at last established under Cnut. Thus we already see that there must have been a considerable fusion of English with Latin and Scandinavian before the Norman conquest, whilst a few terms had probably been borrowed from the vanquished Britons, who spoke Cekic dialects. Edward the Confessor's relations with Normandy first in- troduced a slight acquaintance with French, and the battle of Hastings rendered that language and Latin almost para- mount for a time. But English remained so much the language of the people that the knowledge of it was never lost, and on one solitary occasion Henry III actually issued a proclamation in the native language, on the i8th of October, i258\ Throughout his reign and that of Edward I all the Statutes and Reports of cases in the law-courts were in French or Latin ; but there was always a succession of various literary works in English ^. The wars of Edward III brought us into closer relation with French as spoken in France, which by this time differed considerably from the Anglo-French into which the original Norman-French had passed, along a path of its own. Trevisa, an English writer born in Cornwall, records the interesting fact that, in the year 1385, children left off translating Latin into Anglo- French, of which many of them scarcely knew a word, and were wisely allowed by their masters to express themselves ^ Edited by A. J. Ellis, in the 'Transactions of the Philological Society.* Another copy of it was edited by myself for the same society in 1882. ^ This succession of English writings may most easily be seen by consulting, in order, the four following works in the Clarendon Press Series : viz. Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Reader ; ' Specimens of English from 1150 to 1300,' ed. Morris; 'Specimens of English from 1298 to 1393/ ed. Morris and Skeat; 'Specimens of English from 1394 to 1579,' ed. Skeat. §14.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. I7 in their native tongue \ This circumstance, together with the permitted use of English in the law-courts, marks the period when, after a long struggle, English had completed its ascendancy over Anglo-French, though not without borrowing from the latter a large number of words. Down to the time of the Wars of the Roses we find three distinct and well-marked literary dialects of English, the Northern, Midland, and Southern ; but the result of that struggle gave the ascendancy to the Midland dialect, which then became the standard literary dialect and has ever since so remained. The introduction of printing gradually brought about an enormous difference in the principle of spelling words. Before that date, none but phonetic spelling was in use, every word being written as pronounced by the scribe, and sometimes according to a rule of his own, thus producing considerable variety. This variety was gradually lessened, till at last it became uniform ; but this gain in uniformity to the eye was accompanied by a far greater loss, viz. the absence of phonetic truth in representing the sounds, so that the un- phonetic and indeed unsystematic spelling of modern English is truly deplorable. § 14. Modern Period. The discovery of America gave an enormous impetus to foreign commerce and travel, not only opening out a new world, but making us better acquainted with distant regions of the old world also. Tyndale's New Testament marks the period of a great reformation in religion, and of a large advance towards freedom of thought. The teaching of Greek had much influence upon the revival of 'classical' learning. The marriage of Henry II of France with Catharine de Medici made Italian popular at the French court; whilst Wyatt and Surrey again introduced among us the study of Italian, which had fallen into neglect since the days of Chaucer ^ For this curious passage, see 'Specimens of English, 1 298-1393, p. 241. Or see p. 31 of the present volume. VOL. I. C 1 8 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. and Lydgate ^. The revolt of the Netherlands against Spain induced many English volunteers to serve in the Low Countries against the Spaniards, and brought us into closer contact both with Dutch and Spanish; the latter also became partially known in France during the wars of Henry IV (of Navarre). Our sailors frequently obtained some knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese, besides gain- ing words from the new lands which they visited. The influence of the Authorised Version of 1611 and of the plays of Shakespeare requires no comment. It is remarkable that great changes in English pronunciation seem to have taken place about the time of the Civil War ^ ; but some obscurity still rests upon this difficult subject. In 1730 a national reproach was taken away by the tardy confession that Eng- lish was a fit language in which to record proceedings at law. The victories of Clive opened up to us the great resources of India; and the discoveries of Captain Cook largely extended both our geographical knowledge and our territory. Perhaps the most remarkable fact of all is the almost total ignorance of the German language among Eng- lishmen down to 1824; even to this moment the marked neglect of German in our English schools proves an amazing lack of wisdom on the part of parents and teachers. Still there has been a great advance of late years towards a more general admission of its value ; and this hopeful sign of progress bids us not to despair of the coming of a time when not only German, but even English itself, will be considered worthy of careful and scientific study in our schools and colleges. ^ These authors were acquainted with Italian literature, but they in- troduced into English no Italian words. ^ Some very important changes took place still earlier, soon after 1500- CHAPTER III. The Native element : Dialects of Middle English. § 15. It is worth while to consider whether there is any test whereby words of native Enghsh origin may be known from others. It is here that even a small knowledge of grammar is of great service. With all our word-borrowings nearly the whole framework of our grammar was English at the beginning, and has so remained ever since. Borrowed words have usually been made to conform to English gram- mar, irrespective of their source. Thus the Latin plural of zndex is indices, but the use of the form indices is not to be commended. The English plural indexes is much better, and will sooner or later prevail. For a list of pure English words, see Morris, Enghsh Accidence, § 31. It may suffice to say here that all the commonest prepositions, conjunc- tions, and adverbs of time and place belong to this class ; all strong, auxiliary, and defective verbs; all pronouns and demonstrative adjectives ; adjectives that form their degrees of comparison irregularly ; most substantives ending in -dom, -hood, and -ship \ all the cardinal numerals except million, billion. Sec. ; all the ordinal numerals except second^ millionth^ billionth, &c. ; and finally, a large number of substantives expressing the most homely, famiHar, and necessary ideas. It is quite easy to form sentences that shall contain no word that is not purely English; see e.g. the first four verses of St. John's Gospel in the Authorised Version. Pure English words are often characterised by strength, pith, and brevity, c 2 20 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. being frequently monosyllabic ^ They form, in fact, the backbone of the language, and give it vitality. Words from other languages are annexed and, as it were, subjugated, being usually made to conform to the native words in their inflexions and grammatical use^. This is remark- ably exemplified in the case of borrowed verbs, which (with the exception of the Scandinavian take, rive, thrive) invariably form the past tense in -ed, -d, or -/. Thus the F. clai?)i and Lat. adapt make the past tense claim-ed, adapt-ed; and the verb to boycott (see sect. 6) makes the past tense hoycott-ed. § 16. By way of further example, I here repeat (but in modern spelling) the quotation from Shakespeare already given at p. i, and print in italics all the words that may be considered as purely English. * Tut {?), she''s a lajnb, a dove, a fool to ril tell you, sir Lucentio ; when the priest Should ask, if Katharine should be his wife, Aye, by Gog's woun's, quoth he, a?td swore so loud, That all <2-mazed the priest let fall his book, And, as he stooped again to take it up. This mad-brained bride-groom took him such a cuff, That down fell priest and book, a7td book ajtd priest; Now take them up, quoth he, if any list? This result is not a little remarkable, but might perhaps have been expected, when the force of the passage is con- sidered. As for the words left in roman type, it may be remarked that fool, sir, are French ; priest is a Latin word (of Greek origin), borrowed in the Anglo-Saxon period; aye, take (pt. t. took), cuff, are Scandinavian ; a-?nazed is a ^ The chief exceptions are commonly French; as air, hour ; fruit, grain, grape, juice ; beast, vein, chair, fork, dress, robe, cap, boot, &c. Some are Scandinavian. See Morris, Eng. Accidence, § 31. ^ For a list of some foreign words which keep their original plurals, see Morris, Eng. Accidence, § 84. § 17.] CHANGES IN PRONUNCIATION 21 hybrid word, the root being Scandinavian, while the prefix a- is EngHsh; Lucentio is an Itahan name of Latin origin, whilst Katharine was formed from a Greek adjective. § 17. Changes in pronunciation. The difference be- tween the above passage in its original spelling, and the same in modern English, is so slight as to cause but little trouble to any one who tries to read the former. But there is really a concealed difference between the two of the most starding character ; one which hundreds of readers w^ould never suspect, and which many who are ignorant of phonetics wull hardly credit. The researches of Mr. Ellis ^ have proved, past all controversy, that the pronunciation of words in the time of Shakespeare differed so widely from that now in use, that Shakespeare himself, if he could now be heard, would scarcely receive a patient hearing, but would probably be at once condemned as speaking a kind of foreign language, or, at least, a kind of bad broad Scotch. Such is the prejudice due to mere custom, that scarcely one of his hearers would care to consider the question — is our modern pronunciation, after all, a real improvement.? But the scientific student of language knows perfectly well that the difference is really a source of trouble to us. We have, in fact, so modified and altered the old vowel-sounds, that modern spelling, as com- pared with the sound of the words, is a mere chaos of con- fusion. The vowel-sounds expressed by our written symbols now differ from those of every nation in Europe, however closely they once agreed, as they certainly did, with the continental system. A single example will illustrate this. We now pronounce tea so as to rime with he, zve, she; but no other nation ventures on a pronunciation so extra- ordinary. The F. the", G. and Du. thee, Swed. and Dan. /e, are all ahke pronounced as an E. tay, riming with day, fay, gay. It is not long ago since we said toy ourselves ; as is ^ ' Early English Pronunciation,' by A. J. Ellis. 22 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. witnessed by the famous lines of Pope ^ I have frequently met with people who were entirely unaware that the third line of Cowper's poem of Alexander Selkirk, ending in sea^ gives a perfect rime to surveys and that the same pronun- ciation of sea (as say) reappears in the third line of his hymn beginning with the words — *God moves in a mysterious way.' Sea^ hi fact, was in Middle English spelt see^ and was pro- nounced with the ee like a in Ma?y ; not far removed from the ee in the Dutch zee, G. See. The A. S. sd"^, though dif- ferently spelt, was pronounced just the same. Whence we deduce the perplexing result, that the A. S. scb, M. E.^ see, ex- pressed precisely the same sound by different symbols; whilst Tudor-English and Modern English express, on the contrary, different sounds by the same spelling sea. This ought to shew that some study of Middle-English and Anglo-Saxon pro- nunciation should precede all our attempts to trace back- wards the etymology of English words; otherwise we, literally, cannot pretend to say that we know ivhat word it is that we are talking about. For the real word is, of course, the uttered sound, not the written symbol by which it is truly (or falsely) represented. § IS. Since, however, it is only with the written symbols that I can easily deal in a book like the present, I propose to trace chiefly the variations in spelling from time to time ; and in quoting words from foreign languages, I shall quote them as they are written, without at the same time indicating their pronunciation. It may, nevertheless, be clearly understood, that the difficulty of ascertaining the pronunciation is far ^ ' Here thou, great Anna, whom three realms obey, Dost sometimes counsel take — and sometimes tea^ Rape of the Lock, iii. 8 (1712). ^ A. S.= Anglo-Saxon, the dialect of Wessex before the Conquest. 2 M.E. = Middle English; from about a.d. i 100 to 1500. § 19.] MIDDLE-ENGLISH VOWELS. 2^ greater in the case of English than of any other language, especially in the case of the vowels. Nearly all the con- tinental languages, including Latin — the usual Southern- English pronunciation of which is simply execrable — agree in a uniform system of simple vowels, and usually employ the symbols a, e, z, o, u, to represent (nearly) the sounds heard in E. daa, dat'f, heet, hoat^ hoot. The fact that old French words were introduced freely and in great number into Middle English without any change of spellings is quite enough to shew that the pronunciation of M. E. did not materially diifer from that of Anglo-French ; for the spelling at that date was still phonetic. This enables us to say, definitely, that, in the time of Chaucer, the symbols a^ e, i, o, u had their modern (and ancient) continental values^. § 19. Middle-English Vowels. The student who has as yet made no special study of Middle English may, at any rate, gain some clear notion of it by making this his starting- point. That is, he may take the words baa^ bait, beet, boat, boot as mnemonics for remembering the sounds indicated by a, e, z', 0, u ; and he should at once learn these five words by heart. This will give him the sounds of the long vowels ; and some idea of the short ones may be gained by an attempt to shorten these sounds respectively. Thus the M. E. cat, but, were pronounced like caat, boot, but with the vowels somewhat shortened. There are plenty of Northern Englishmen who pronounce them so still ; for the speech of the North is much more archaic, in many respects, than the clipped, affected, and finical pronunciation of the South- erner, who has done his worst, only too successfully, in his attempts to ruin our pronunciation. From what has been here said, it will be manifest that, ^ It is quite certain that Celtic, English, and French scribes all ob- tained their symbols from the Latin alphabet ; and employed them, at the first, with nearly the same powers. Our insular position has altered this. 24 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. if we wish to choose good symbols for the representa- tion of sounds, and especially if we wish them to be in the least degree understood by foreigners, such symbols as ai, ee, oa, 00 (in bait, beet, boat, boot) are the worst possible to take. It is owing to this consideration that Mr. Ellis has founded the alphabet which he calls palcEotype, upon the old'^ or foreign values of the vowel-symbols; and Mr. Sweet has similarly constructed the alphabet which he calls Romic'^. As the subject presents some difficulty, I shall not now further pursue it ; but I must remind the reader that he will never clearly understand what Middle English was like, unless he will at least take the trouble to read some passages of Chaucer with attention. If he will do this, he will find the selections in the Clarendon Press Series of great use. The best and clearest explanation of the pronunciation of Chaucer's English is that by Mr. Ellis, which will be found near the beginning of the introduction to my edition of Chaucer's ' Man of Law's Tale.' § 20. Chaucer's spelling. Midland Dialect. In order to exemplify the spelliftg of Chaucer's time, consider the following passage from the Man of Law's Tale, lines 281- 387. * Alias! vn-to the Barbre nacioun I moste gon, sin that it is your wille ; But Crist, that starf for our sauacioun, So yeue me grace, his hastes to fulfille ; I, wrecche womman, no fors though I spille. Wommen ar born to thraldom and penance, And to ben vnder mannes gouernance.' In modern English this would be spelt as follows : — * Alas ! unto the Barbar ^ nation I must go, since that it is your will ; ^ PalcEO-type, i. e. old type, old symbol. See Ellis's Early English Pronunciation. ^ Romic, i. e. according with the Romati values of the symbols. See Sweet's Handbook of Phonetics. ^ Barbarian. §20.] A PASSAGE FROM CHAUCER. 25 But Christ, that starved^ for our salvation, So give me grace "^^ his hests to fulfil ; I, wretch^ woman, no force* though I spill ^; Women are born to thraldom and penance, And to be under man's governance.' The reader will at once perceive that one of two alter- natives must be true. Either Chaucer had no ear for melody, and wrote very bad poetry; or else his English must have materially differed in accent and pronunciation from that now in use. The former of these alternatives is not found to be true. A careful examination of Chaucer's metre shews that he had an unusually delicate ear for melody, and that his versification exhibits surprising regularity. There is also reason to believe that poetry, at least, was then pronounced with an utterance more deliberate and measured than we should now use. The word na-ci-oim had three full syllables, and sa-va-ci-oun had four. But the most remarkable points are (i) that the old plural in -es (now -s) formed a distinct syllable, as in the dissyllabic hesi-es; (2) that the same is true of the genitive singular, as mann-es ; and (3) that in many instances the final -e also formed a distinct and separate syllable. Hence there are two syllables in mos/-e, will-e, wrecch-e, spill-e] three syllables m/id-fill-e, pen-dn-ce] and four in gov-er-ndn-ce. Observe also the secondary accent on the final syllables of nd-ci-oun^ sa-vd- ci-otm; and on the penultimate syllable of gov-er-ndn-ce. Lastly, note that the accent oi pen-dn-ce was, at that date, on the latter part of the word, not (as now) at the beginning ^ If the reader will now take the trouble to read the above passage aloud rather slowly, at the same time bearing in ^ Died. ^ I. e. may He give me such grace. 3 Wretched. * It is no matter. ^ Perish. * English has a way of tJwozving back the accent nearer the beginning of the word. Thus the Ital. balcone has actually, in modern English, become balcony, though first introduced as balcony. We even have antic as a variant of antique ; and August as well as angust. 26 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. mind the above hints, he will, even with the modern (very wretched) pronunciation, gain a faint notion of its melody. § 21. Another lesson may be drawn from the same passage, by printing it so as to shew, by the use of italics, the words of native origin. With this understanding, it appears as follows : — ' Alias ! vn-to the Barbre nacioun / moste ^on, shi that it is your iville ; But Crist, that starf for our sauacioun, So yeiie vie grace, his hestes to fulfille; /, wrecche wojuman^ no fors though I spille ; Woim7ie7i ar born to thral-dom and penance, And to ben vnder mannes gouernance.' Here once more there is a remarkable preponderance of true English words, which may be thus grammatically distributed. Definite article : the. Pronouns : /, me^ it, his ; our., your-, that, no. Substantives : wille, womman ; genitive, viaiines ; plural, hestes, wommcn. Adjective: wrecche. Auxiliary and anomalous verbs : 7}iosfe ; ben, is, ar. Strong verbs : starf, yeue, born. Weak verbs : g07i, fulfille, spille. Adverb : so. Prepositions : unto, for, to, U7ider. Conjunctions : sin, that, but, though, and. Of the remaining words, one is of hybrid formation, viz. thral-dovi \ its first syllable is Scandinavian, but the suffix is English. Bai'bre and Crist are French spellings of words which are ultimately Greek. The re- maining words are all French; nacioim, savacioun, grace, fors, penance, governance, being substantives, while alias I is an interjection. All these French words are of Latin origin. The remarks in § 15 lead us to expect, in general, that words of foreign origin are likely to be substantives, adjectives, adverbs, or weak verbs. We may indeed go a little further, and expect the weak verbs to be of Scandinavian, French, or Latin origin ; whilst words from remoter languages are com- monly mere names, that is, nouns substantive. § 22. Changes in spelling. As regards the spelling of § 22.] THE THREE MAIN DIALECTS. 2J the English words in this passage, we may first remark that the use of v for initial u in v7i-to, vnder, has merely a sort of ornamental value, and is not otherwise significant. It lasted for many centuries; indeed, we have already seen the spelling vp for up (twice) in the extract from Shakespeare on p. I. This use is not found in Anglo-Saxon, the MSS. of which have the same spellings of u?i-to, under, up, as we use now. The word moste is not only dissyllabic (as already noted), but is remarkable for having the o long. The A. S. word was moste (= most-e), also dissyllabic, where the accent denotes the length of the vowel. We thus see the word's history clearly enough. It was at first mosie, the past tense of an obsolete present vi6t\ but the present being lost, the same form was used for both present and past. Then the final e dropped off, giving most, riming with host) next the vowel-sound altered till it rimed with roost \ after which, the vowel-sound was shortened, and altered in character by what Mr. Sweet calls ' unrounding,' till it rimed with rust, as at present. These changes were slow and regular, and can be explained by analogy with other words. This is indeed the chief object of this present work, viz. to exhibit so many examples of regular changes in the vowel-sounds as to enable the student to observe some of the phonetic laws for himself, or at least to understand them clearly. And it may be remarked, by the way, that the comparative lateness of the discovery of printing was in one respect a great gain, since we now have an abundance of MSS. written before that date, in which the spelling v/as free and phonetic. In fact, the Englishman who hastily rushes to the silly conclusion that Chaucer's IMSS. are remarkable for their 'bad spelling' will some day discover, if he cares to take the pains and happens to be open to conviction ^ that the spelling of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries is, in general, fairly good. As a . ^ Our very familiarity with modem English is a source of much foolish prejudice. aS MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. guide to the sounds of words, it is vastly superior to that of the present day, which is utterly untrustworthy as indicating the sounds which the symbols mean. It is not for us moderns to talk of ' bad spelling.' § 23. The fact that ivill-e is, in Chaucer, dissyllabic, is due to the fact that the A. S. willa was the same. Here again, the word's history is easy. The A. S. form was will-a ; the final a was weakened or dulled into an obscure sound denoted by a final -e ; after which this light syllable dropped ofi", giving the modern will\ just as the A. S. spill-e is now spilL The word starf is interesting gram- matically. The ]M. E. infinitive slerven (usually written sieruen ^) meant to die. The verb was a strong one, forming its past tense as starf ^ and its past participle as storven or y-storven (written storuen, y-storuen), often shortened to storv-e or y-storv-e by dropping the final n. But in course of time the true past tense and past participle were lost sight of, and sterven became the modern weak starve, pt. t. and pp. starved. At the same time, the general sense of the word was narrowed, so that it no longer means to die in any Planner^ but only to die by famine-, or more frequently takes the causal sense, to make to die by famine. These curious changes in the form and sense of words are full of interest to the student of language. Of the remaining words in this passage, I shall say no more at present. § 24. The three main Dialects. In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, and in the former part of the fifteenth century, there were three distinct Hterary dialects, the North- ern, Midland, and Southern. Roughly speaking, the Hum- ber and the Thames formed a part of the boundary-lines between them. The Northern dialect occupied the land to the north of the Humber, including a considerable part of Scotland, and extending as far north as Aberdeen, of which ^ The symbol u is sounded as v when a vowel succeeds it. § 25-] THE SOUTHERN DIALECT, 29 town John Barbour, author of the poem of ' The Bruce/ was a native. The Southern dialect occupied the country to the south of the Thames ; and the Midland dialect, the district between the other two \ These are only the main divisions ; sub-dialects are found which frequently combine some of the characteristics of hvo of the above dialects. The Mid- land district contained the very important city of London, built on the north side of the Thames; and Chaucer, as a Londoner, employed this dialect. It is a curious reflec- tion that, if London had been built on the other side of the river ^, the speech of the British empire and of the greater part of North America would probably have been very different from what it is. It might have abounded with Southern forms, and we might all have been saying vox for fox'y as indeed, curiously enough, we actually say vixen instead oi fixen. § 25. The Southern Dialect. By way of exemplifying this Southern dialect, and illustrating the whole question of dialects still further, I now quote a part of the famous pas- sage from the translation of Higden's Polychronicon made by John of Trevisa, a Cornishman, in 1387 ^ * As hyt ys yknowe houj * meny maner people bu}) ^ in ])is ylond, |)er bu)) also of so meny people longages and tonges ; no|)eles Walschmen and Scottes, \dX bu]) no5t ymelled wi|) o|;er nacions, holde|) wel nyj here furste longage and speche, bote-5ef* Scottes, |)at were som tyme confederat and wonede ^ For more exact information, see Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skeat ; introd. sect. 6. 2 This supposition is merely made for the sake of illustration. Practi- cally, it is absurd. No sane men would have placed a town on the less convenient side of a river. ^ See Morris and Skeat, ' Specimens of English,' pt. ii, p. 240. The date shews that Trevisa was precisely Chaucer's contemporary. In translating from Higden, he adds several remarks of his own. * The symbol ^ (except when initial) indicates a guttural sound, and is now written gh, though the true sound is lost. As an initial letter, it means _j/; 'Osxyx'h )ef=^yef. ^ The symbol/ is now supplanted by th ; read buth, this. 30 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. wij) J)e Pictes, drawe somwhat after here speche. Bote J)e Flemmynges, l^at wone|> in j^e west syde of Wales, habbej) yleft here strange speche, and speke|> Saxonlych ynovv. Also Eng- lysch men, J)ey5 hy hadde fram ^e begynnyng ]?re maner speche, SouJ)eron, Nor|)eron, and Myddel speche (in J)e myddel of |)e lond) as hy come of \x& maner people of Germania ; no]?eles, by commyxstion and mellyng, furst wi)) Danes and afterward wi|> Normans, in menye \^ contray-longage ys apeyred, and som vsej) strange wlaffyng, chyteryng, harryng and garryng, grisbittyng. pis apeyryng of ))e bur])-tonge ys by-cause of twey |)inges : — on ys, for chyldern in scole, asenes ^ \^ vsage and manere of al o])er nacions, bu]) compelled for to leue here oune longage, and for to construe here lessons and here J)inges a Freynsch, and habbe}), su))the \^ Normans come furst in-to Engelond. Also, gentil-men children bu]> ytaust for to speke Freynsch fram tyme \2X a bu|> yrokked in here cradel, and connej) speke and playe wi]) a child hys brouch ; and oplondysch men wol lykne ham-sylf to gentil-men, and fondej? wi]) gret bysynes for to speke Freynsch, for to be more ytold of.' § 26. In modern English, this will run as follows : — *As it is known how many manner (of) people be in this island^, there be also, of so many people, languages and tongues. None-the-less, Welshmen and Scots, that be not mixed ^ with other nations, hold [i.e. preserve] well nigh their* first language and speech, but-if [i. e. except that the] Scots, that were (at) sometime confederate and dwelf"^ with the Picts, draw somewhat after their speech. But the Flemings, that dwell * in the west side of Wales'"', have left their strange speech, and speak Saxon-ly ^ Here ^ begins the main part of the word, a- being a mere prefix. It therefore represents _y. Read a-yenes. 2 The modern s in island is due to confusion with F. isle. The right spelling is rather i-land; so that Trevisa's j/?^^ is well enough, 2 Lit. ' melled,' or meddled. * Here for their is Southern ; from A. S. hira, of them, gen. pi. of h^, he: ^ From A. S. wtmian, to dwell ; the pp. wuned is the M. E. woned, mod. E. wojtt. ^ This is an interesting notice of the colony of Flemish weavers in Wales. § 26.] THE SOUTHERN DIALECT. 3I enough. Also Englishmen, though they ^ had from the begin- ning three manners (of) speech, Southern, Northern, and Middle-speech (in the middle of the land), as they came of three manners (of) people of Germany — none-the-less, by com- mixture and mingling, first with Danes and afterward with Normans, in many (of them) the country-language is impaired^ ; and some use strange babbling, chattering, growling and snarl- ing, (and) gnashing (of teeth). This impairing of the birth- tongue is because of two things : — one is, for (i. e. because) children in school, against the usage and manner of all other nations, be compelled for to leave their own language, and for to construe their lessons and their things in French, and have (done so), since the Normans came first into England. Also, gentlemen's children be taught for to speak French from (the) time that they be rocked in their cradle, and can speak and play with a child's ^ brooch ; and uplandish men * will (i. e. desire to) liken themselves to gentlemen, and try ^ with great business (i.e. diligence) for to speak French, for to be moore told of (i.e. held in higher estimation).' The remainder of the passage is also of such importance that I here subjoin the general sense of it in modern English ^ * This predilection for French was commor^ before the first pestilence of 1349, but was afterwards somewhat changed. For John Cornwall, a master of grammar, changed the mode of teaching in his grammar-school, and substituted English for French construing ; and Richard Pencrich learnt that kind of teaching from him, and other men from Pencrich ; so that now, in the year of our Lord 1385, in all the grammar-schools of England, the children leave French and construe and learn in English, whereby they have an advantage in one way and a disadvantage in another. The advantage is, that they learn * A. S. hi, hig, they ; pi. of he, he. ' A-peired and im-paired merely differ in the prefix. ' Lit. child his, which is an idiom not foimd earlier than the twelfth century. The A. S. is cildes, mod. E. child's. * I. e. country people. ^ A.Si.fandian, to endeavour, try; orig. to try icy find, as it is a de- rivative oifindan, to find. " For the original, see Specimens of English, I-J98-1393, p. 241. 32 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. I If. their grammar in less time than they used to do; the disad- vantage, that now children from the grammar-school know no more French than does their left heel, which is a loss to them if they have to cross the sea and travel in strange lands, and in many other cases. Moreover gentlemen have now much left off teaching their children French . . . Also, as regards the afore- said Saxon tongue that is divided into three and has remained here and there with a few country people ^, it is a great wonder ; for men of the east agree more in pronunciation with men of the west, being as it were under the same part of heaven "^^ than men of the north with men of the south. Hence it is that the Mercians, that are men of the Middle of England, being as it were partners with the extremities, better understand the side- languages. Northern and Southern, than Northern and Southern understand each other. All the language of the Northumbrians, and especially at York, is so sharp, sHtting, grating, and unshapen, that we Southerners can scarcely understand that language ^ I believe it is because they are nigh to strangers and aliens that speak strangely, and also because the kings of England always dwell far from that country. For they turn rather towards the South country ; and, if they go northwards, go with a great army. The reasons why they live more in the South than in the North may be, that there is better cornland there, and more people ; also nobler cities, and more profitable havens.' § 27. This passage contains many points of interest. By Welshmen and Scots, Trevisa means, of course, those who retained the old Celtic dialects. The remark that English- men came of three kinds of people of Teutonic race, may be true. In the North, the Angles prevailed ; in the Midland district, the Angles and Saxons ^ ; in the South, the Saxons and Jutes. There were also certainly a considerable number ^ This statement is Higden's ; it is certainly too strongly put. ^ I. e. under the same parallel of latitude. ^ This is Trevisa's own statement; men dislike any dialect that is unfamiliar to their own ears. * Or, possibly, the Frisians ; we should then have three chief races, Angles, Frisians, and Saxons, the Jutes being limited to Kent and the Isle of Wight. . § 2 7.] THE SOUTHERN DIALECT. 33 of Frisians, but it is hard to say in what part they were located; they were probably distributed over the Midland and Southern rather than the Northern part of the island. Trevisa also distinctly recognises the mixture of English with Scandinavian and French, and bears witness to the great, but unsuccessful, efforts made to replace English by French ; the latter being in especial favour with the upper classes ^ As regards the linguistic points of the passage itself, it may first be remarked that the grammatical inflexions in Southern English are more numerous and elaborate than in the Midland, whilst in the Northern dialect, on the contrary, they are fewer and simpler. In this respect, modern English shews more of the Northern than the Southern manner. Especial characteristics of the Southern dialects are the use y of bup^ a variety of heth, i. e. be ; the use of the suffix -eth {-ep) in the plural of the present indicative, as in holdep^ wonep, ^ habbep] the frequent use of the prefixjj/- before past participles, as in y-knowe, y-melled'^, etc. We should also notice the U use of hy (A. S. hig) as the plural of he^ where modern English employs the Northern they^ which is of Scandinavian origin ; also the curious use of a, once with the sense of ' in,' as in a Fr^nsch, and once with the sense of ' they,' as in pat a hup yrokked. One more remark of great importance may be made here, viz. that it is the Southern dialect which agrees more closely than either of the others with what is called u^ Anglo-Saxon. Turning to the consideration of the vocabu- lary, we notice that the French words in this passage are rather numerous, viz. maner^ people^ longage, y-melled (where the prefix J/- is the A. S. ge-\ nacions^ strange^ mell-yng (with an 4 ^ Anglo-French was the court-language. I suppose that, even down to nearly the end of the fourteenth century, many of the nobles habitually spoke nothing else. * The Midland dialect sometimes employs this prefix, and sometimes drops it. The Northern dialect, like modem English, drops it always. But in Barnes's (modem) Dorsetshire poems, we find a-zetit for sent (M. Y^.y-sent), a-goiie iox gone. VOL. I. D 34 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. E. suffix), co7itray^ apeyr-ed, apeyr-yng (both with E. suffixes), vs-eth (with E. suffix), cause, vsage, lessons, gejittl, brouch. As Trevisa is translating from the Latin, he keeps several of the Latin words of his original ; these are confederal, commyx- stioun, scole, cof?ipelled, construe ; see the original Latin in the note to Specimens of English, p. 344. The word rokked is Scandinavian. Cradel is found in A. S. as cradol, but is probably of Celtic origin. The remaining words are English. § 28. The Worthern Dialect. It has just been remarked that the Northern dialect dispenses with inflexional suffixes more than either of the others. This it did at so early a period that poems in this dialect often present a curiously modern appearance, and would do so to a still greater extent if it were not for the frequent introduction of Scandinavian words, many of which are now obsolete in Our modern literary language. In other words, the difference between the Northern English of the Middle period and the English of the present day lies rather in the vocabulary and in the pronunciation than in the grammar. Barbour's Bruce is as old as the poetry of Chaucer, but has a more modern ap- pearance^. By way of exhibiting a short specimen of the Northern dialect, I here quote Hampole's description of heaven, written about 1340^. 'Alle maner of ioyes er in that stede, Thare es ay lyfe with-outen dede ; Thare es yhowthe ay with-outen elde, Thare es alkyn welth ay to welde ; Thare es rest ay, with-outen trauayle ; Thare es alle gudes that neuer sal fayle ; Thare es pese ay, with-outen stryf ; Thare es alle manere of lykyng of lyfe ; ^ It was written in 1375. Unluckily, the MSS. are a century later; but this is not the real cause of the difference. On the other hand, the extract from Trevisa has a more archaic appearance, and this may be taken as a general rule. That is, Northern poems look later, and Southern writings earlier, than they really are. ^ See Specimens of English, 1 298-1 393, p. 124. § 28.] THE NORTHERN DIALECT. '^^^ Thare es, with-outen myrknes, lyght ; Thare es ay day and neuer nyght ; Thare es ay somer fulle bryght to se, And neuer mare wynter in that contre.' Here it should be particularly noted that the scribe's spelling is somewhat faulty^; he probably added a final e to many words from habit, but they are not to he pronounced, so that lyfe, in 1. 8, is a m.ere monosyllable, and rimes with the word stryf, which is correctly written. In modern English, the passage is as follows : — * All manner of joys are in that stead ; There is aye life without(en) death ^ ; There is youth ay without(en) eld^, There is all-kind wealth aye to wield. There is rest aye, without travail ; There is all goods that never shall fail ; There is peace aye, without(en) strife; There is all manner of liking * of life ; There is, without(en) murkness ^, light ; There is aye day and never night. There is aye summer full bright to see, And nevermore winter in that country.' * I subjoin a more phonetic spelling of the above passage : — Al maner of ioys er in that sted, Thar es ay lyf with-outen ded ; Thar es youth ay with-outen eld, Thar es alkin welth ay to weld. Thar es rest ay, with-outen trauail ; Thar es al guds that neuer sal fail; Thar es pees ay, with-outen stryf ; Thar es al maner of lyjcing of lyf; Thar es, with-outen mirknes, lyght ; Thar es ay day and neuer nyght ; Thar es ay somer ful bryght to se, And neuer mar winter in that contre. ' Ded is still a provincial English form of death ; it answers, not to A.S. dedQ {death), but to the Dan. and Swed. dbd. ^ Eld, old age, used by Shakespeare and Spenser. * Pleasure ; lyking of lyfe, pleasure in life. ^ Darkness ; we still use the adj. tnurky, and the sb. murki-ness. D 2 ^6 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS. [Chap. III. The great characteristic of this dialect is the absence of final e as an inflexion in the spoken language, at least in the fourteenth century. The words which exhibit the final e should rather have been written Al, skd, Thar, lyf, ded, youth, eld, weld, traiiayl,fayl, pees, ??iaiier, ly/,/ul, mar. A characteristic form is sal, for shall; this is never found except in Northern works. Another characteristic mark of this dialect is the use of a for long o, as in mar, more. As regards the grammar, there is Httle to call for remark beyond the use of es (is) for er (are) before alle gudes ; this is really due to the use of the preceding word Thare (there), just as Shakespeare has, 'There is no more such masters/ Cym- beline, iv. 2. 371 ; see Abbott's Shakesp. Gram. 3rd ed. §335. As regards the vocabulary, the French words are maner, ioyes, trauayle, fayle, pese, contre, all of which are of Latin origin. Stryf (O. Fr. estrtf) is a French form of a Scandinavian word (Icel. slri9). The forms er (are), es (is), dede (death), ay (aye), sal (shall), are specifically Anglian or Scandinavian, as distinct from Anglo-Saxon. The rest are ordinary English. § 29. East-Midland Dialect of Robert of Brunne. Now that the three main dialects have been thus illustrated, it is worth while to add one more example, which in some respects comes even nearer to modern English than does the language of Chaucer, though written before he was born. We have already seen that modern English belongs to the Midland dialect, and has a somewhat closer affinity with Northern than Southern. We find, further, that it is fairly represented in the dialect employed by Robert Mannyng, of Brunne (Bourn), in Lincolnshire, who translated William of Wadyngton's 'Le Manuel des Pechiez' into English in 1303, with the title of ' Handlyng Synne^' He tells a story about Pers (or Piers) the usurer, who never gave away * See Specimens of English, 1 298-1393, p. 51. § 29.] THE EAST-MIDLAND DIALECT. 37 anything in charity. One day he was standing near his door, when an ass came to it, laden with loaves of bread. At the same time a beggar approached him : — ' He sagh Pers come ^ ther-with-al ; The pore^ thoght, now ask I shal. " I ask thee sum good, pur charite, Pers, yif thy wille be." Pers stood and loked on him Felunlich ^, with y-en * grim. He stouped down to seke a stoon, But, as hap was, than fond he noon'. For the stoon he took a loof. And at the pore man hit droof. The pore man hent hit vp belyue ^- And was therof ful ferly'^ blythe. To his felaws* fast he ran, With the loof, this pore man. " Lo ! " he seide, " what I haue Of Pers yift ^ ; so God me saue ! " — " Nay," they swore by her ^^ thrift, Pers yaue neuer swich a yift^^. — He seid, ^ye shal weil vnderstonde That I hit had at Pers honde ; That dar I swere on the halidom^^ Heer before yow echoon ^^." ' Of this passage it is hardly necessary to give a modern English rendering, although we have now traced some English words back to the very beginning of the fourteenth century. As regards the grammar, we may chiefly notice the grammatical use of the final -e. Thus com-e is short for com-en (A. S. cum-an), the infinitive mood of the verb. The ^ I mark with two dots such final ^'s as are to be distinctly pronounced. I also amend the faulty spelling of the MS. ^ The poor one (understand mail). ^ Felon-ly, angrily, * Eyne, i. e. eyes. ^ Then found he none. ® Caught it up quickly. ' Wonderfully. ** Fellows, companions. ^ Gift. *° Their. ^^ Gave never such a gift. ^' Holy relics. ^ Each one. 38 MIDDLE-ENGLISH DIALECTS'. [Chap. III. por-e has a final -e, because the adjective is what is called definite, that is, is used with the definite article preceding it. An adjective is also definite, if preceded by a demonstrative or possessive pronoun ; hence this por-e likewise. Will-e is from A. S. will-a, as has been explained once before (p. 28). The formj^'-m (dissyllabic) answers to the A. S. eag-an, eyne; for which we now use eyes. In the seventh line, to seke is a gerund, and should take the final -e ; but it happens to be elided before the following vowel. Belyv-e stands for A. S. he lif-e, lit. by fife, but here meaning ^with life,' in a lively way, quickly. Blyth-e is from the A. S. dissyllabic blid-e {bliih-e). Seid-e is the past tense of a weak verb (A. S. scBgd-e), and is dissyllabic ; but the final -e, in such a case, is often dropped, as in seid four lines below. Swor-e is the pt. t. pi. of a strong verb (A. S. swor-eii). Vnderstond-e is an infin. mood (A. S. under stand- an). Hond-e is a dat. case (A. S. hond-e, hand-e, dat. of hond or hand). Befor-e is short for be/or -en (A. S. befor-aii). All the grammatical forms, in fact, are easily explained from Anglo-Saxon. As regards the vocabulary, the French words are few, viz. Pers (from Lat. Petrus, originally Greek); the ^di]. pore (O. F. povre)] the phrase pur charite {pour chai'ite), for charity ; the sb. felun in felmt-lich', and the verb save. Five words are Scandinavian, viz. hap, took, felaws, thrift, and halidom. The rest are English. § 30. East-Midland different from West-Midland. We have thus seen that the standard literary language agrees more closely with the Old Midland dialect than with either the Northern or the Southern. It is worth enquiring if we can find out any limits of it as we pass from East to West. This is a more difficult question; yet we find that the Midland dialect can be subdivided into East- Midland and West-Midland, and that it is the former of these that comes nearest to our current speech. It is not easy to define the limits of these dialects, but perhaps we § 30.J THE EAST-MIDLAND DIALECT. 39 may say that the West-I\Iidland included Shropshire, Staf- fordshire, a part of Derbyshire, Cheshire, and South Lan- cashire \ As concerning the area from which the chief characteristics of our modern hterary language are drawn, we can hardly do more than define it as one of irregular shape, bounded more or less exactly by the German Ocean, the Humber, the Trent (?), the Severn (?), and the Thames ; and we can only assign to the dialect the general name of East-Midland. It is tolerably certain that it contained numer- ous subdivisions, so that it can hardly be said to present any perfectly uniform type, until the time came when it at last began to supersede the others and to spread beyond its original borders. We can, however, safely draw these con- clusions, viz. (i) that it contained fewer Scandinavian words than the Northern dialect, but more than did the Southern ; (2) that its grammar was somewhat more complex than that of the Northern dialect, but much less so than that of the Southern; and (3) that, as Trevisa says, it was tolerably intelligible to men of all parts of England. These facts would be quite sufficient to suggest the probability of its ultimate ascendancy, and the matter was entirely settled by the importance of London as the centre of traffic and the seat of government. To which considerations we may perhaps add yet another, that both the universities of Oxford and Cambridge lie within the Midland area. ^ Introd. to Allit. Poems, ed. Morris, where West-Midland is used to signify the dialect which Gamett called Mercian. CHAPTER IV. The Native Element : the oldest dialects. § 31. In the last Chapter specimens have been given of the three principal dialects of the Middle-English, and one of these, that from Robert of Brunne, takes us back almost to the beginning of the fourteenth century. We now proceed to push back our enquiries a little further. There are sufficient specimens to enable us to do this during the thirteenth century and a little earlier^, but at the earliest period the extant monuments of the language relate almost exclusively to one dialect only, the Southern; whereas we should be extremely glad of more information concerning the Midland dialect. For the period before 1200, we still find traces of the same three dialects, but (especially before 1 100) they are called by different names. The Northern, Midland, and Southern, as found in the earliest period, are called Northumbrian, Mercian, and Wessex or Anglo-Saxon'^. It is a common mistake to suppose that the terms ' Anglo- Saxon * and ' Old English ' (or ' Oldest English ') are con- vertible terms ; for ' Anglo-Saxon ' only accounts for a third part of Old English. Yet the mistake does not lead to much confusion in practice, owing to the unfortunate and deplorable scantiness of the materials representing the other two dialects. We can only deal with what we happen to possess ; so that, ^ The Middle English of the period from 1150 to 1300 is sometimes called Early English, a name which is convenient, when required. 2 I here omit, for the sake of clearness, the Kentish variety of Southern English ; though its forms are fairly well marked. § 32.] OLD NORTHERN AND OLD MERCLAN. 41 in the absence of works written in Northumbrian and Mercian, we are very thankful to accept such evidence as can be obtained from the very considerable remains of the Wessex dialect ^ that have come down to us. It will clear the way for future consideration to enumerate the sources of our information. § 32. Old Northern Dialect : Old Mercian. The old Northumbrian literature must, at one time, have been con- siderable. The great historian Beda usually wrote in Latin, but we are told that he was ' doctus in nostris carminibus,' i. e. learned in our native songs, and five lines have been preserved of a poem written by him in the Northumbrian dialect ^ He also tells us the famous story of Caedmon, a monk of Whitby, who composed, in that dialect, a long poem concerning many events recorded in the Old and New Testaments, beginning with the history of the Creation. Of this poem only the first nine hues have been preserved^,, although there is a later poem, also frequently attributed to Caedmon *, upon similar subjects. These thirteen lines form, unfortunately, the sum total of the remains of the Old North- umbrian poetry, with the exception of the ' Leiden Riddle,' printed by I\Ir. Sweet in his Oldest English Texts, p. 149, and the Northumbrian Runic Inscription upon the Ruthwell Cross, printed in the same, p. 125. The incursions and ^ To which we may add the extant remains of Kentish. The Old Northumbrian was the dialect of the Angles, and was thus a kind of ancient Danish, The Wessex dialect was the dialect of the Saxons. It is well known that great numbers of Frisians accompanied the Saxons ; and I throw out the suggestion, for what it is worth, that the Mercian dialect was partly of Old Frisian origin. ^ See the edition, by Mayor and Lumby, of Books III and IV of Beda's Ecclesiastical History, p. 177; Earle, A. S. Literature, p. no; Sweet, Oldest Eng. Texts, p. 149. ^ Earle, A. S. Literature, p. loi ; Sweet (as above). * It is, however, a different version, with a different, though similar, beginning. It is only necessary to say here, that it is not in the Northumbrian, but the Wessex dialect. See Earle, A. S. Lit., p, iii. 42, THE OLDEST DIALECTS. [Chap. IV. ravages of the Danes swept it all away, so that king Alfred feelingly deplores the almost total decay of learning in England caused by their devastations^. Fortunately, how- ever, we possess somewhat more of the old Northumbrian prose. The famous copy of the four Latin Gospels, known sometimes as the Lindisfarne MS., sometimes as the Durham book ^, contains Northumbrian glosses, or explanations of the Latin words, throughout. The MS. known as the Durham Ritual, edited by Stevenson for the Surtees Society in 1840, also abounds in Northumbrian glosses of the Latin prayers contained in it ". Another copy of the Latin Gospels, known as the Rushworth MS., is also glossed throughout I In this copy, the glosses or explanations are in the Northumbrian dialect throughout the Gospels of St. Mark*, St. Luke, and St. John^, but the glosses upon the words of St. Matthew's Gospel are in the Mercian or Midland dialect, and were formerly supposed to furnish the only extant specimen of this dialect before the Norman conquest. But in Mr. Sweet's Oldest English Texts, published for the Early English Text Society in 1885, we find some additional and highly im- portant examples of Mercian, the principal being (i) the ' Vespasian Psalter and Hymns,' i. e. a copy of a Latin Psalter and Hymns with Mercian glosses, extant in MS. ^ See Earle, A.S. Literature, p. 190. ^ See the Northumbrian and A. S. Gospels, s}Tioptically arranged, published by the Pitt Press, ed. Kemble and Skeat. (The Gospel of St. Matthew is now being reprinted.) The Lindisfarne MS. is in the British Museum, marked ' MS. Cotton, Nero, D. 4.' The Rushworth MS. is in the Bodleian Library. ^ The glosses are not very correctly printed. See my Collation of the Durham Ritual, published for the Philological Society in 1 879, Appendix, p. 51*. * The glosses to St. Mark, chap, i, and chap, ii, verses 1-15 are some- times said to be Mercian, but this is a mistake. The handwriting changes in the middle of v. 15 of St. Mark, chap, ii ; but the dialect changes at the very beginning of that gospel. 5 Excepting, strangely enough, the glosses to the first three verses of chap, xviii, which are Mercian. § 33.] OLD MERCIAN. 43 Cotton, Vespasian A. i, in the British Museum, and (2) the 'Corpus Glossary,' i.e. a collection of Latin words with Mercian glosses extant in MS. No. 144 in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. These scanty remains are all that we possess of the Northumbrian and Mercian dialects, and are not such as to give us much help. We can never judge of a dialect so well from mere glosses as we can from a connected and original composition. What we most desire, viz. a fair specimen of what the Mercian dialect was like before the conquest, is precisely the thing which is almost unattainable. Being thus deprived of the very great help which might have been obtained from fuller information concerning the Mercian and Northumbrian dialects, we are almost entirely thrown back upon the extant specimens of the Southern, or Wessex dialect, usually called ' Anglo-Saxon ^.' Fortunately, these are abundant, or we should be badly off indeed. For specimens of this dialect, see Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer and Anglo- Saxon Reader. § 33. Modern Literary English derived from Old Mercian. It ought, then, to be carefully borne in mind, that, when we say a word is 'derived' from the Anglo- Saxon, we commonly mean that it is derived from an Old Mercian form, which in some cases probably coincided with the recorded A. S. form, but in other cases certainly did not. This is an obscure point, especially as the Mercian glosses which we possess do not always exhibit the dialect very distinctly, but rather shew some slight variations from the Wessex (A. S.) dialect. Still the following table (compiled solely from the Mercian glosses upon a Latin text of St. Matthew's Gospel) may be of some slight interest, as furnish- ^ Some call it ' Old English ' ; but ' Anglo-Saxon ' is best retained as being generally understood. Besides, it has a special teclmical mean- ing, viz. the old southern dialect of Wessex. It does not in the least follow that the people of ancient England, or even of the South of it, ought to be called ' Anglo-Saxons.' They should be called ' English.' 44 THE OLDEST DIALECTS. [Chap. IV. jng examples in which the modern English form seems closer to the Mercian than to the A. S. type. Modern. 0. Mercian. Wessex (A.S.). all. all, 5. IS ^ eall. are. arun, 19. 28. {not used). betwixt. betwix, 27. 56. betweox. cheek. ceke, 5. 39. ceace. cold. cald, 10. 42 ^ ceald. eke. ek, 5. 39. eac. eleven. enlefan, 28. 16. endlufon. eye. ege, 5. 29. ^age. falleth. falle|>, 10. 29. feallej). fell,//, t.pl. fellun, 7. 25. feollon. fee. feh, 27. 6. feoh. -fold («jz>2 tenfold), -fald, 19. 29. -feald. gall, sb. galla, 27. 34. gealla. half, sb. half, 20. 23. healf. halt, adj. halt, II. 5. healt. heard, pt. L (ge)herde, 2. 3. (ge)hierde. lie (tell lies). ligan, 5. II. leogan. light, sb. . liht, 5. 16. leoht. light, adj. liht, II. 30. leoht. narrow. naru, 7. 14. nearu. old. ^ld^9. 16. eald. sheep. seep, 25. 32. sceap. shoes. scoas, 10. 10. sc6os, scf. silver. sylfur, 10. 9. seolfor. slept,//. /.//. sleptun, 13. 25. slepon [strong form) . sold, pp. said, 10. 19. seald. spit, V. spittan, 27. 30. sp^tan. wall. wall, 21. 33. weall. yard (rod). ierd, 10. 10. gyrd. yare (ready). iara, 22. 4. gearo. yoke. ioc, II. 29. geoc. youth. iugu^, 19. 20*. geogu^S. •^ The references are to the Chapters and Verses of St. Matthew's Gospel (Rushworth Gloss). 2 The scribe has miswritten galdes for caldes, an obvious blunder; the Lindisfarne MS. has cald. ^ The accent is marked in the MS., though the vowel was not originally long. * Several of these Mercian forms agree nearly with 0. Frisian. Cf. § 34.] BROKEN VOWELS. 45 § 34. Anglo-Saxon * broken ' vowels. Even a glance at this comparative table will reveal a peculiarity of the Wessex dialect which properly belongs neither to the Mer- cian dialect^ nor to modern English. This is the use of ea for a before the letters /, r, h, x. The symbol ea denotes that the vowel was, to speak technically, ' broken/ i. e. was resolved into the diphthong e-a, the two vowels being pro- nounced in rapid succession^. Hence such forms as eall, ceald, /eallej?, -feald, gealla, heal/, healt, nearu, eald, seald, weall, gearo, where the Old Mercian dialect preserved the old vowel a in its purity, and the modern English has partly done the same, though with the slight change of cald, -/aid, aid, salde, to cold, /old, old, sold. In all these words the Southern * breaking ' is due to the influence of the follow- ing / or r. Similarly, we notice the Southern use of the 'broken' sound eo, substituted for i, in the words hetweox, seol/or, where modern English has kept the original sound. Still more marked and curious are the cases in which the Southern dialect has ea, e'o, diphthongs in which the former element is long^. These would require fuller explanation, which I pass over for the present. It is sufficient to notice that our standard modern English follows the Mercian dialect here also, and knows nothing of ' broken ' vowels in such instances as those above *. O. Fr. alle, all ; keke, cheek ; elleva, eleven ; falla, to fall ; -fald, -fold ; half; halt ; herde, heard ; licht, adj. light ; liaga, to lie ; aid, old ; selover, silver, silver ; wal, wall ; ierde, a rod. ^ The scribe of the Rushworth glosses sofjietimes inconsistently writes ea for a ; he doubtless knew that the Southern scribes used the symbol, and needlessly followed their example. ' For an account of A. S. pronunciation, see Sweet's A. S. Primer, or A. S. Reader. 3 In my Etym. Diet., I have unfortunately placed the accent, or mark of length, upon the latter element. This was the method formerly in vogue, but it is probably less correct. * But they are found in the dialects. Barnes, in his Dorsetshire poems, writes medke for make, sheddy for shady, leddy for lady, &c. 46 THE OLDEST DIALECTS. [Chap. IV. § 35. Chronology. The necessity of paying due regard to chronology is just as great when we deal with Anglo- Saxon writings as in any other case. Strange mistakes have arisen from neglect of it. Our materials are abundant, and some of them are of very early date. We have MSS. con- taining Latin words, with 'glosses' or explanations in Anglo- Saxon, going back at least to the eighth century. We have MSS. of the time of Alfred, who died in 901, and many homilies by -^Ifric, which, in round numbers, may be dated a Httle earlier than the year 1000. Other late A. S. MSS. were certainly not written till after the Conquest. One copy of the celebrated A. S. Chronicle records events of the year 1154. It is obvious that MSS. ranging over three and a half centuries ought not to be treated as if they were all contemporaneous. Some change in the language might be expected to take place during that time, and such is found to be the case. Curiously enough, the Anglo-Saxon of the dictionaries is generally given according to the spelling of the later period, i. e. of the eleventh century or the latter part of the tenth, merely because the MSS. of that period were most accessible and first received attention. This stage of the language was taken as the standard, and any- thing that differed from it was looked upon as ' dialectal.' A curious example of this occurs in Dr. Bosworth's edition of ^Elfred's translation of Orosius, the preface to which exhibits much painstaking and care. The editor gives an accurate description of the two extant MSS., one of which, called the Lauderdale MS., is proved by him to be consider- ably older than the other, or Cotton MS. He next proceeds to prove that the Lauderdale MS. is the original, and the Cotton MS. simply a late copy of it. He truly says : ' It is not only the antiquity of the Lauderdale MS. for which it is distinguished, but for its use of accents, its grammatical forms, and important readings. ... It is more accurate than the Cotton MS., in distinguishing the termination of -an and -on § 36.1 ANGLO-SAXON {WESSEX DIALECT). 47 both in nouns and verbs. In the Cotton MS., there is great confusion in these terminations ; whilst in the Lauder- dale MS., they are generally correct.' He even goes so far as to say that ' there are so many instances of great careless- ness in the scribe of the Cotton MS. as to lead a casual observer to say, it is the work of an illiterate scribe.' After this explanation, it is clear that, in editing the work, the correct course would have been to take the older MS. as the basis of the text. Curiously enough, this was not done, the reason for the other course being thus assigned. ' The Cotton MS. was made the basis of the text, as its style and orthography have more the appearance of pure West-Saxon^ than the Lauderdale, which, though older than the Cotton, has a more northerly aspect.' Mr. Sweet, however, has since edited the earlier MS. for the Early English Text Society, and we now know that the peculiar spellings of the Lauder- dale MS. are due solely to its superior antiquity^. § 36. Specimen of Anglo-Saxon. A simple specimen of late Anglo-Saxon is here subjoined. It is taken from an A. S. version of St. Matthew (xiii. 3-8), made in the tenth century, as extant in MS. Corp. Chr. Coll., No. 140. * S6})lice ' lit code se s^dere his s^d to s^wenne. And \i. \i. he seow, sume hig feollon wi|) weg, and fuglas comun and ^ton \-k. Sojjlice sume feollon on st^nihte, \'kx hit naefde micle eor])an, and hrcedlice up sprungon, for ])dm |)e hig naefdon ]>^re eor|)an ^ I. e. the West-Saxon of the dictionaries. I owe so much to the bounty of Dr. Bosworth that I wish to clear him from blame in this matter. Writing in 1859, more than a quarter of a century ago, he had not sufficient confidence to make what would then have been condemned as an innovation. His arguments really go to shew that he would have preferred the bolder course. ^ Mr. Sweet has lately published some ' Extracts from Alfred's Orosius,' in a very cheap form ; so that the spelling of this famous MS. can be easily studied. ^ The \ denotes M, as in M. E. The accent indicates that the vowel is long ; thus 6 would be marked orn-as-= thorns^ at once shew that the modern English plural commonly ends in -s because a considerable number of A. S. plurals ended in -as. This -as was weakened to -es, as in the M. 'E./oul-'e's, thorn-es, and ^ Compare Sweet, A. S. Primer, p. 62 ; where the spelling is some- what normalised. - M. E. yede, went ; now obsolete. ^ The trae modern equivalent is sew, the verb being once strong. In Cambridgeshire, they say ' I sezu the field,' and ' I mew the grass.' * Lit. rathly ; from rath, soon, whence rather, sooner. ' Compare E. wort. ® Lit. growth ; allied to wax, i. e. grow. § 37-] ANGLO-SAXON {iVESSEX DIALECT). 49 then these dissyllabic words were crushed into monosyllables, with loss of the indistinct sound denoted by e. Leaving such things to the grammarian, we may turn to the vocabu- lary, and the first word tells us two facts. The first is, that the adverbial suffix -ly was once spelt -lic-e (two syllables), an extension of -lie, which is nothing but an unaccented form of the adj. lic^ like; so that sooth-ly is sooth-like, i.e. in a manner like sooth or truth. The second is of far greater importance, because it concerns phonology. It is, that the A. S. long ^ (as in sod) came to be written 00 (as in sooth), the doubhng denoting length. After this, a change came over i\ie pronu7iciatio7t, but the jy»2<5d?/ remained the same ; the result is, that 00 no longer denotes the sound of oa in boat, but the sound of 00 in boot, or ou in soup. This latter sound is strictly represented, according to the Italian method, by long u, or H, whereas the original sound is strictly represented by o. We see, then, that as far as the written syfnbol is concerned, the A. S. 6 has (at least in this instance) been replaced by 00, whilst the sound indicated has shifted from to u. The period at which this shifting took place seems to have been between 1550 and 1650; see Sweet, English Sounds, p. 56. If the reader follows this explanation, which is not difficult, let him at once learn this example by heart, and treasure it up. Whoever knows this fact, has laid hold of a great general principle, some of the bearings of which will be shewn in the next Chapter. ^ Pronounced nearly as oa in boat, but without any after-sound of u ; exactly as oh in G. Sohn. VOL. I. CHAPTER V. English Long Vowels. § 38. Returning to the consideration of the comparison of A. S. sod^ with E. sooth, the first question we naturally ask is, whether this is an isolated instance of a changed pronuncia- tion, or are there other words in the same predicament.? We find that it is no isolated instance, but only a particular example of a general law. If we look to the older forms of such words as cool, stool, tool, tooth, goose, soon, moon, noon, broom, doom, gloom, brood, mood, rood, and even look (in which the vowel has been shortened), we shall find that the M. E. scribes wrote these words sometimes with a double o, but sometimes also with a single one; in the latter case, they meant the long sound all the same, but this sound was to them a long o, not a long u. Strange as it may seem, it is certain that many millions of Englishmen have for years accepted the symbol oo (plainly a long , adj., wroth, but also wrath ; and simi- larly cldp, cloth, in which the M. E. sound of o has been preserved; Id^, loath; Idd-ian^, to loathe; cldd-ian, to clothe. drds, arose ; dds, those ; gdst, ghost (in which the intro- duction of the h is quite unmeaning). A very curious and difficult word is hds, M. E. hoos, also hoors, now written hoarse \ as far as the modern Southern E. sound is con- cerned, the r is not trilled, and the vowel hardly differs, if at all, from that which we have already found in cloth, from A. S. cldd^. It probably retains very nearly the M. E. sound. prdiv-an, to throw ; sdw-an, to sow ; mdw-an, to mow ; crdw-an, to crow; cndw-an, to know; bldw-an, to blow. In all these the A. S. w accounts for the modern spelling, but the w is nearly lost, being represented by a faint after-sound of u. So also in sndw, snow; sdwel, sdwl, soul. An ex- ceptional word IS _pdw-an, to thaw (instead oi thow^); here ^ It appears as ge-ddl. The A. S. prefix ge- is all-abundant, and makes no difference to the word. ^ The A. S. ge-, as occurring here before a, represents the sound of mod. ^. y\ at any rate, it did so in late A. S. ^ I keep 'S to represent the mod. E. th in clothe, whilst \ represents the mod. E, th in cloth. A. S. uses both symbols confusedly. * The sound varies. I here give my own pronunciation, which is like that of horse. Many people sound the oa in hoarse as a diphthong. ^ Thow, says Dr. I'eile, is the pronunciation in North Cumberland, where it rimes with snow. ^6 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. [Chap. V. the dw has preserved the M. E. sound, like that of au in naught. Compare naught, cloth, wrath, above. hid/, loaf {h being dropped) ; drdf, drove (the final f in A. S. (and in Mercian ?) being probably pronounced as v). A most important word is an, M. E. oon (riming at first with dawn, later with bone), but now riming with bun. In the fifteenth century, a parasitic w sprang up before the initial vowel, which by that time may have become like o in bone ; this would produce a form woon : then the w modified the long into long u, after which the u was shortened and ' unrounded \' giving the curious E. one, in which the initial w is only written by comic writers, who (correctly enough) write wtm. The spelling won is found as early as in Guy of Warwick, ed. Zupitza, note to 1. 7927. The word is doubly interesting, because the compounds on-ly, al-one, l-one (short for al-one), l-one-ly (short for al-one-ly), at-one, all preserve the sound into which it would have passed according to the usual rule. Besides this, the A. S. an, when used as the indefinite article, soon lost its length of vowel, and became an with short a. Hence our modern an, or (with' loss of final n) a. An-on is short for an-oon. N-one, short for ne ofie, not one, has follow^ed the fortunes of one, on account of its obvious connection with it. Other examples are scan, shone, past tense ^; stdn, stone; grdn-ian, to groan; ban, bone. ham, home ; lam, loam ; fdm, foam ; clam, prov. E. cloam, used in Devonshire to mean earthenware. lag, Idh, low (the final guttural being dropped) ; fdg, fdh, foe ; dag, ddh, dough : so dg-an, to own ; dg-en, own (i. e. one's own). ^ ' Rounding is a contraction of the mouth-cavity by lateral com- pression of the cheek-passage and narrowing of the lip-aperture ' ; Sweet, Phonetics, § 36. Utirounding means the relaxation of the muscular effort required for roundittg. ^ Properly shoan ; but often shortened to shon. § 43.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG E. 57 dcy oak ; strdc-iait, to stroke ; spdc-a, spoke of a wheel ; tdc-eTi, token. rdd, road ; Idd, lode (a vein of ore, course); wdd, woad; gad, goad ; tdd, toad ; dbdd, abode. But brdd, M. E. brood, has absolutely retained its M.E. vowel-sound, and is spelt broad, because that sound was represented by oa in Eliza- bethan English \ The A. S. suffix -had became M. E. -hood, -hod, which, owing to its non-accented position in compound words, has been shifted and shortened into E. -hood, as in man-hood, child-hood, maiden-hood. The O. Friesic form of this suffix was -hed, and in the Laud MS. of the A. S. Chronicle, under the year 1070 (ed. Earle, p. 209, 1. 6 from bottom) it appears as -hed; this accounts for the variant -head, as in Godhead, maidenhead. dt-e^ an oat, pi. dt-an, oats ; wrdt, wrote ; gat, goat ; hdt, boat. But hat, M.E. hoot (pronounced as haughi- in haught-y), has been 'widened' to hot; and ic wdt, M.E. / woot (pron. want), has been similarly altered to / wot. rap, rope ; sdp-e, soap ; grdp-ian, to -grope ; pdp-a, the pope. In the last case, the A.S. word is merely borrowed from the Lat. papa, a word of Greek origin, signifying 'father.' Here the very vowel-sound and spelling of the mod. E. word are quite sufficient to prove, without recourse to history, that the word was borrowed from Latin before the Conquest. Otherwise, we should have borrowed it from the F. pape, and w^e should all be saying pape, as if it rimed with ape. Compare pap-al, pap-ist, pap-acy, all words of F. origin. § 43. The A.S. 6 (long e). The A.S. /had the sound of Ital. long e, or the French e in bete, or nearly that of ai in bait) the M.E. usually preserved this sound; it has since shifted into the sound of ee in beet ^ ^ ' In one word, the M. E. 00 \^ = aw in awe\ has been preserved up to the present day, viz. in the adj. brbbd;'' Sv^eet, Eng. Sounds, p. 61. ^ See Sweet's Hist, of Eng. Sounds, p. 61. 58 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. [Chap. V. Examples. he\ he ; de, thee ; we, we ; me, me ; ge\ ye. The A.S. he'h presents some diffculty; in M.E., the final guttural was sometimes kept, and sometimes lost ; the vowel- sound was sometimes kept, and sometimes shifted; and hence such varying forms as hegh, heigh, hey, hy. The shifted form prevailed, becoming at last hy (pronounced as E. he\ out of which was regularly developed a mod. E. hy (riming with hy). But we still preserve in our spelling a reminiscence of the final guttural, and spell the word high. In just the same way the A.S. n^h is our nigh. her, here; ge-he'r-an, to hear; wer-ig, weary. The pt. t. ge-hir-dey lit. heared, is shortened to heard; such examples as this, in which the shortening is obvious, are of some value. he'l, heel ; stel, steel ; fel-an, to feel. ie'p, teeth. ge-lef-an, to be-lieve ^ ; slef-e, sleeve; the A.S. (and Mercian ?)/" between the two vowels being probably sounded as V. scene, adj., E. shee?i, lit. showy, but now used as a sb. ^ ; we'n-an, to ween ; gren-e, green ; cen-e, keen ; cwen, queen, quean. But ten has preserved its long vowel only in the compounds thir-tee?i, four- teen, &c. ; when used alone it is shortened to ten. se'fu-an, to seem ; de'm-an, to deem ; tem-an, to teem. eg-e (Mercian eg-e, § 33) is an occasional form of A.S. e'age, eye. Strictly, the word belongs to the group containing the long diphthong e'a. This ege became M.E. eye, egh-e, ey-e, the symbol 5 (when not initial) being used to represent a gh or y. But the vowel-sound was frequently shifted ; Chaucer constantly uses the dissyllabic formj/- being due to F. gripper^ a word of Teutonic origin. The w^ords of Latin origin above mentioned, viz. mile, shrive, shrine, wine, pirn (tree), are of importance, as proving that the A. S. i was really the Latin long i, and therefore pro- nounced as mod. E. ee. § 45. The A. S. 6 (long o). The A. S. 6 was sounded as oa in boat, and usually preserved the same sound in ]\LE. But in the modern period the sound was shifted, having been ' moved up to the high position ^ ' of long u. Examples. sc6, shoe ; do, I do ; to, too, to. toh, tough. Here the final guttural has been changed to/; whilst the vowel-sound has been shortened and ' unrounded^.' The spelling with ou indicates that the A. S. 6 had been regularly reduced to the sound of ou in you before the shortening and ' unrounding ' took place. mor, moor. But in swor, swore; flor, floor, the long o has been preserved, though altered in quality by the following r. * * A Dich, or dike ' ; Minsheu's Diet., ed 1627. ^ Sweet, Hist, of Eng. Sounds, p. 56. The date assigned for the change is a.d. 1550-1650. 2 See note above, viz. p. 56, note i. § 45-1 THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG 0. 6^ sfol, Stool j col, cool ; /ol, tool. sod', sooth ; /dd, tooth ; o3^er, M. E. aether, other, first be- came what we should now write oother, after which the long u was shortened and 'unrounded/ giving E. other. So also hrodor is brother. The modern spelling is consistent, after a sort ; for if it be once accepted as a rule that oo shall stand for the sound of long u, it ought to follow that o may reason- ably represent short u. Cf. doth, son, govern, &c. gos, goose; hMt gosling has been shortened io gosling, bdsm, bosom, in which the former o has at present a variable pro- nunciation; in Ogilvie's Dictionary it is marked as having the sound of 00 in boot, whilst in Webster, it is marked as having the sound of oo mfoot. The longer sound is in accordance with the rule ; the shorter is that which I am accustomed to hear, hrost, roost, sb., h being lost. In blostma, blosma, blossom, the o has been shortened without shifting to u. In moste, I must, the ^/-sound has been modified precisely as in other, brother, above; the only difference is that it is now spelt phonetically. row-an, to row ; hlow-an, to low, as a cow ; flow-an, to flow; gr6w-an, to grow; bl6w-an, to blow, or flourish as a flower. In all these the w is preserved to the eye, and the attentive ear will detect a slight after-sound oiu. hof, hoof; be-hof-ian, to behove, which preserves its long ; glof, glove, with the same changes as in other, brother. s6n-a, soon ; non, noon (from Lat. nona) ; mSn-a, moon ; mon-ad, month, with the same changes as in brother ; Mon- an-dcog, Monday, like the preceding ; ge-don, don, done, pp., like the same. To these add spon, a chip, E. spoon. glom, gloom ; dom, doom ; brom, broom ; bl6m-a, bloom. Also gom-a, pi. gom-an, the gums, parallel to moste, must. slSh, slew (M. E. slow); wog-ian, to woo; drog, drew (M. E. drow). But ge-nog is mod. E. e-nough, just as toh (already explained) is now tough. The word boh took the form bough even in M.E., and occurs, e.g. in Chaucer, 64 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. [Chap. V. Cant. Tales, I. 1982. This M. E. ou had the French sound of ou in soup ; and the result of this early shifting was that the sound shifted yet once more in the modern period, thus becoming E. dough (see § 46), in which the final guttural sound, though preserved to the eye, is entirely lost to the ear. wdc, woke, has preserved the long <^; in every other in- stance, words in -oc now end in -00k ; and curiously enough, all of them are now pronounced with the short 00 oifoot^ not the long 00 of hoot. Hence hroc, a rook ; loc-ian, to look ; scoc, shook; coc, a cook; hoc, book; hroc, brook; hoc ^2, hook; /oj'soc, forsook. No such form as A. S. croc for ' crook ' has as yet been found, but it is highly probable that it existed ; of. Icel. krokr, Swed. krok. Similarly, the Icel. tok has given the M. E. took. fdd-a, food ; 7?i6d^ mood ; hrod, brood. But the old «-sound has been shortened in stod, stood ; god, good; and still further changed^ m flod, flood; 77i6dor, mother; hlod, blood. The history of the A. S. rod is curious; it not only produced, according to rule, the mod. E. rood'^, but also the mod. E. rod, in which the is shortened from an older (M. E.) pro- nunciation such as raud (riming with gaud) ^. fot, foot ; hot, boot, i. e. advantage, profit *. § 46. The A. S. u (long u). The A. S. long u answers exactly to the Lat. u in the words mul, a mule, borrowed from Lat. viulus, and viur, a wall, borrowed from Lat. murus^. ^ ' In modem English, we have a very anomalous case of unrounding of the back- vowel ti, but [riming with foot\ becoming bdt [riming with cut\ ' ; Sweet, Hist. Eng. Sounds, p. 43. At the same time, the vowel has been ' lowered from high to mid.' ^ J^ood in rood-loft and rood (of land) are the same word. ^ The lengthened sound of E. short is heard in the not uncommon use of dawg for dog. * Mr. Sweet adds hwop-an, to whoop. But the A. S. hwopan means ' to threaten.' The w in -whoop belongs to Tudor English. The M. E. form is hoiipen, from F. hojiper. ^ Observe that A. S. mtil (from miilus) would have become mowl in mod. E. But mule was re-borrowed from French at a later period. § 46.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG U. 6^ Examples of these words are given by Grein and Ett- miiller. The history of the A.S. u (sounded as oo in booi) is parallel to that of the A.S. i. Just as the latter was developed into Ital. ai^ mod. E. long z, so the former was developed into Ital. au, mod. E. ou in bout. Moreover, the change took place much about the same time, viz. in a.d. i 550-1 650. To this may be added, that just as a final long i is orna- mentally written as j/, as in by^ my^ thy, (fee, so likewise the final ou is often ornamentally written ow, as in cow^ how, now, and in a few words the same spelling prevails even when the sound is not final, as in owl, shower, town. Examples, hu, how ; du, thou ; nu, now ; cu, cow ; bru, brow. ur-e, our ; sur, sour ; scur, shower ; bur, bower. In neah-ge-bur, neigh-bour, the u has simply lost its accent and length, and the sound has become indefinite \ Hl-e, owl ; ful, foul. Slid, south ; mud, mouth ; tmcUd, uncouth, which has pre- served its old sound. In cud-e, the u has been preserved, but has been shortened ; the mod. E. is coud (riming with good), always carefully misspelt could, in order to satisfy the eye that is accustomed to ivould and should. hus, house ; lus, louse ; mus, mouse ; pusend, thousand. dim, down ; iwi, town ; brun, brown. rum, room, has preserved its old sound, but is now a sb. ; originally, it was an adj., meaning ' spacious ' or * roomy.' bug-an, to bow; ruh, rug, rough, has changed its final guttural to f, whilst the vowel was first shortened to the sound of 00 in/oot, and then altered by ' unrounding.' bruc-an, to brook ; this word, being mostly used in poetry, has kept its old sound, but in a shortened form. ^ Mr. Sweet derives E. boor from A. S. ge-biir, with the same sense. But boor is a purely modem word, borrowed from Du. bocr. The A. S. biir would have become bower, as in fact (in another sense) it did. VOL. I. F 66 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. [Chap. V. hlud, loud; scrud, shroud. a/, out; clut, clout; d-bui-an, about; prut, proud (with change of / to d). § 47. The A. S. y (long y). Now that examples have been given of the A. S. long vowels a, e, i, 6, u, it is worth while to explain the long vowel denoted in A. S. byj/. This is nothing but a lengthened form of the A. S. vowel denoted by J'. The Romans adopted this letter from the Greek Y, in order to represent the sound of the Greek u iy) in words borrowed from that language. The Latin had originally neither the symbol nor the sound ; hence the very spelling of such words as abyss, anodyne, apocalypse, asylum, &c., at once reveals their Greek origin. It is further believed that the sound of the Greek v (and therefore of the Latin and A. S.jj') was that of the German ii in iibel. Hence also, the sound of A. S. / was that of the long German ii in Gemuth^ griin. There can hardly be a doubt as to this fact, yet we are, practically, independent of it as far as modern English is concerned. For it is quite certain that this sound was lost at rather an early period, and that long y and long i were confused, and merged into the common sound correctly denoted by the latter symbol. That is, the sound of y' was identified with that of M. E. i, the sound now denoted by ee in beet. Hence the symbols i and y became convertible, and the M. E. bt was often written by, as at present ; and con- versely, the word pryde was often written pride. The history of J/ since the Middle-English period is precisely the same as that of i, already explained in § 44 ^ Examples, hwy, why; cy, ky^, the old plural of cow, whence the mod. E. ki-ne, by the addition of the same plural- sufiix as that seen in ey-ne, the old form of eyes. ^ We find confusion of y with i even in Icelandic. Thus Icel. fyrir was often written yfrz'r; setfyj-ir in the Icel. Dictionary. ^ We find Kie for ' cows ' in Golding's translation of Ovid, fol. 26, 1. 23 (1603). Bums has kye in The Twa Dogs, 1. 5 from end. § 48.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG ^. 6"] hyr, hire, sb. ; /yr, fire. ge-/yl-an, to file ^ an old word now only used with the unnecessary addition of the French prefix de-, and therefore spelt defile. In the A. S. /yB, filth, the / has been simply shortened from the old /-sound, without diphthongisation. kyi^, a hithe, or haven. lys, lice, pi. of lus, louse ; fuys, mice, pi. of fnus, mouse. But the old z-sound has been simply shortened in fyst^ fist ; wysc-an, to wish. hyd, hide, i. e. skin ; hyd-an, to hide ; biyd^ bride ; pryt-e, pride. § 48. The A. S. 8e, ^a, ^o. Other long sounds are de- noted in A. S. by d, ea, eo. The examination of these may be deferred for the present, especially as they may be studied in Mr. Sweet's book. It is, however, worth observing that there are a large number of instances in which all three sounds answer to mod. E. ee. The A. S. (s was pronounced like the long or drawled sound of a in 7?ian ; or, according to Sievers, like the G. long a. The following are regular examples : — sc^, sea ; far^ fear ; rdr-aji^, to rear ; bc^r, bier. (eI, eel ; ttkbI, meal ; hckl-an^ to heal ; ddl-an, to deal. hdp, heath ; hd^-en, heathen ; scdj?, sheath ; wrdp, wreath. t^s-an, to tease ; tces-el, tces-l^ a teasle. c^/-en, even, evening ; M/-an, to leave. hl(£n-e^ \t2in, adj.; clcen-e, clean; mdn-an^ to mean; ge- mcBTi-e, mean, adj., in the sense of ' common ' or ' vile.' [hwc^g, whey ; hndg-an, to neigh ; grdg, gray, grey ; cldg, ^ 'For Bangud's Issue haue I fiPd my Minde ; ' Macb. iii. i. 65 (ed. 1623). 'Their moumefull charett, filed with rusty blood;' Spenser, F.Q.i. 5.32. 2 Mr. Sweet distinguishes between the close and open sounds of fee ; /reo, free ; gk'o, glee ; I'c beo, I be ; beo, a bee. hleor, a cheek, whence was formed the E. verb to leer ; de'or, deer ; deor-e, dear ; dre'or-ig^ dreary ; be'or^ beer. hwM, wheel ; r/(?/, keel of a ship. se'od-an, to seethe. fre'os-a7i, to freeze ; pre'ost, priest. cne'ow, cne'o, knee ; tre'ow, tre'o, tree. /<:- is the base, /?>«'- is the stem, and -s is the case-ending denoting the nominative case. These may not be the best terms, but I find them useful. ^ Called base in the passage here quoted. (I have since found it con- venient to reverse the use of stein and base as formerly given by me.) * Such is the account usually given in Gothic grammars. The de- clension might more exactly be called the O-declension, and the stem described as fisko. Cf. the nom. ^\.fiskd-s {=^Jisko-es). 8o TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. word is FOTU, which may be taken as the primitive Teutonic type of the word foot. A large collection of Teutonic types, both of substantives and verbs, is given in the very valuable work of Fick, entitled ' Vergleichendes Worterbuch der Indogermanischen Sprachen.' This book is especially ser- viceable to the student of Teutonic philology. Generally speaking, the English forms are tolerably close to these archaic types, whilst the modern German frequently deviates from them in some remarkable way. It follows from this, as a matter of course, that whilst it is contrary to all true principles to derive one modern Teutonic language from another, it would practically cause less error to derive Ger- man from English than conversely. Those who think it praiseworthy to derive bite from the German beisseji^ would do much better if they were to say that the German beissen is from the E. bite ; and if they were to take into account an older form of English, and so derive the G. beissen from the A. S. bztan, they would do better still. In fact, Fick actually gives BiTAN ^ as the Teutonic type of the infinitive mood of this verb. § 59. Teutonic dental sounds. The phonetic changes by which German is distinguished from English were at the outset few, but afterwards became even more numerous than they are now. Modern German has given up a few of the old distinctions, thus practically returning, in such respects, to the ancient type. It will therefore be simpler to leave out of sight, for the present, such distinctions as no longer exist in spelling, and to give examples only of such as still remain. The most important of these changes are exhibited in ^ I feel obliged to continue to protest against this childish error be- cause I find, by experience, that it is deeply rooted, widely spread, and extremely mischievous. ^ The circumflex over the I denotes length, i. e. it has precisely the same value as the accent over z in M^a/z. § 62.] TEUTONIC DENTAL SOUNDS. 8 1 such words as begin ^, in English, with the dental sounds d, t, or Ih". In such words, it is the English which pre- serves the original Teutonic dentals, and the German which has changed them into something else. Thus German has changed d into / ; / into z (if / be initial ; otherwise it gener- ally employs ss medially, and z, iz, ss or s finally, making four varieties of the changed /) ; and th into d. § 60. Teutonic d becomes German t. Initially ; as in E. deaths G. Tod. Medially; as in E. idle^ G. eitel. Finally; as E. bed, G. Beit; E. red, G. roth^. In further illustration of these changes, see the numerous examples collected in Appendix A. § 61. Teutonic t becomes German z, initially; or ss, medially ; or z, tz, ss, or s finally. Initially ; E, tame, G. zahm (pronounced tsaam). Medially; E. water, G. Wasser ; E. nettle, G. Nessel. Finally (chiefly after /, r) ; E. salt, G. Salz ; E. heart, G. Herz ; or (chiefly after a short vowel), E. net, G. Netz ; or (chiefly after a long vowel), E. white, G. weiss ; or (rarely) E. that, G. das. But the final / is not changed when preceded by E. gh, /, or s; as in E. fight, Qf,fccht-en ; Y.. oft, Q. oft', E. guest, G. Gast, Initial / remains when followed by r ; as in E. tread, G. treten. For further examples see Appendix A. § 62. Teutonic th becomes German d. Initially ; E. thank, G. dank-en. MedmWy ; II. feather, G. I'eder. Finally; E. path, G. Pfad. But O. H. G. dusunt, answering to E. thousand, is now tausend. It is amusing to find that beginners frequently found their ideas of the resemblance of English to German upon the word butter, G. Butter; but it happens that this is a non-Teutonic word, being of Greek origin. '^ Similar changes often take place when the dental letter is not initial ; see examples. ^ This is a simple sound, awkwardly denoted by the use of two symbols. ^ The G. th is (now, at any rate) nothing but a t, and is so pronoimced. Modem German spelling-reformers write rot for roth, very sensibly. VOL. I. G 82 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. Further illustrations will be found in Appendix A. The remarkable exceptions to the general law which are pre- sented by the Y.. father and mother (G. Vater^ Mutter) are discussed below in Chapter IX, § 63. Teutonic labial sounds. The changes in the dental letters d, t, th, which distinguish German from English spelling, are thus seen to be tolerably regular and complete. Less complete are the changes in the labial letters, viz. b,p^ f {v). For a Teutonic d, the O. H. G. often has p, as in pruoder, brother; but this distinction is not made in the modern language. German often turns p into pf, as in E. path, G. Pfad; E. apple, G. Apfel; but most English words beginning with p, and most German words beginning with pf, are non-Teutonic. The most regular change is in the substitution of Germany for the Teutonic p final. Examples: deep, tie/; heap, Hauf-e ; leap, lauf-en'^; sharp, schar/ ; sheep, Schaf; sleep, v., schlaf-en , thorp, Dor/; up, au/ Occasionally the/" is doubled ; as in hope, hoff-en ; ship, Schiff. § 64. The Teutonic / when initial, usually remains as / in German. The Old High German frequently has v for initial y and a few archaic forms still preserve this peculiarity of spelling, though the v is pronounced precisely as E. / Examples : father, Vater ; fee, Vieh. The English / when final, usually represents a Teutonic v^ and appears as G. 3 ; as in E. dea/ G. tauh. See Appendix A. § 65. Teutonic guttural sounds. The Teut. guttural sounds g, k, h usually appear unchanged in modern German. The O. H. G. has k for g, as in kaiis, cognate with E. goose ; but this distinction is no longer made. The M. E. (obsolete) guttural sound still represented hy gh in our modern spelling answers to G. ch ; as E. light, s., G. Ltcht. We may notice * The M. E. lepen, A. S. hUapan, often means ' to run,' like the G. Imifen. § 66.'] ENGLISH AND GERMAN. 83 some instances in which Teut. final k becomes G. ch\ as in E. break, G. hrech-en ; see Appendix A. § QQ. English and German. It will probably have been observed that, in some words, two changes have taken place. Thus, in the word thorp., the initial ih has become d in German, whilst the final p has become f\ the German form being Dorf. But, as these changes are in accordance with rule, no difficulty arises. There is a matter of more importance, viz. the question of vowel-sounds, upon which I have already endeavoured to lay much stress. It is easy to see the relation between thorp and Dorf^ because the identity of the vowel-sounds is obvious. But let it be noted that, in every pair of equivalent English and German words quoted above, it is absolutely essential that the original identity of the vowel-sounds must be capable of being estabUshed^ If, for example, the G. Fuss is really equivalent to the E. foot, it is not enough to say that the change from / to ss is regular ; we must further investigate the meaning of the G. long u. By tracing the word backwards, the O. H. G. forms are found to be fuoz^, fuaz^ foaz^ fSz, so that the vowel was once a long o] and as the A. S. fox: foot \?, fot, the vowel- sounds are equivalent. In precisely the same way it may be shewn that E. do = A. S. do7t, whilst O. H. G. shews the changed or ' shifted ' form ton, also written toan, tuan, tuon, mod. G. thun ; and again, that an original Teutonic long is the vowel-sound common to the following pairs of words, viz. E. blood, G. Bliit\ E. brood, G. Brut; E. hood, G. Hut\ E. rood, G. Ruth-e', ^./other^, G. Ftider; see § 74. In all ^ There are some exceptions, due to what is called vowel -gradation. But there are rules in this case also. The subject will be resumed when vowel-gradation has been explained. ^ Notice the final z, which is the ?nost regular German substitution for E. t. The G. z is, in fact, sounded as ts, and is nothing but a kind of t to which a parasitic sibilant sound has been added. ^ The mod. Y.. /other is almost obsolete; however the may now be sounded, it was once long, the A. S. form htmg foSer. • G 2 84 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. Other similar cases, certain relations between E. and G. vowel- sounds can be established by investigating the sounds in A. S. and O. H. G. When this has been done, so that the ultimate and original identity of the E. foot with G. Fuss has been fully demonstrated, we can then say that either of these words is COGNATE^ with the other, i. e. ultimately identical, or at least very closely related, at a remote (and indeed a pre- historic) period. This is a point which must be very clearly understood before any true ideas as to the relationship of words can be formed. If we say that the E. foot is derived from the G. Fuss (as is actually said by many), we are then talking nonsense, and contradicting all history; if we say that the G. Fuss is derived from the Y^.foot (as is never said by any, because Enghshmen dare not say so, and Germans know better), we are talking a trifle more sensibly, and con- tradicting history a little less. We must, however, use neither phrase ; we must drop the term ' derived ' altogether, and employ the term ' cognate/ It follows that English and Ger- man are sister-languages, as they are rightly called. Though originally of twin birth, time has treated them differently; we might say that English has preserved the features of the mother more exactly than German has done. Similar re- marks apply to all the other languages of the Teutonic group. They are all sisters ; but the features of German are more altered than those of the rest. Such cognation or sisterly relationship is a totally different thing from derivation ; for the latter term impHes an actual borrowing. § 67. English words borrowed from German. It is true, however, that English has actually borrowed a few words from German in quite modern times. This is altogether a different matter, and in such cases the word * derived ' can be correctly employed. As this matter is one of considerable interest, and it will greatly clear up the whole * A term of Lat. origin, meaning * co-bom/ or sprung from the same source : related as brothers or sisters are. § 68.] COGNATE WORDS. 85 matter to shew the nature of these borrowed or derived words, I here subjoin the whole list of E. words directly derived from German, copied from my Etymological Dictionary. The list is as follows : — Bismuth^ camellia, Dutch, feldspar, /uchsia,/ugl£ma7t,gfieiss, hock (wine), huzzah, landau, maulstick, ineerschaum^, mesmerise (with French suffix), plunder, poodle, quartz, shale, swindler, trull, wacke, waltz, wheedle (?), zinc. To these may be added veneer, a French word in a Germanised form ; and a few Dutch words, viz. dollar, rix-dollar, etch, wiseacre, borrowed by Dutch from German. This is a very remarkable list, as the words are all of modern date. No less than five of them, feldspar, gneiss, quartz, shale, wacke, are terms of modern geology ; bismuth, zinc, are metals ; hock, landau, are mere place-names ; camellia, fuchsia, mesmerise, are from personal names. There is not a single word in the whole of the English language that can be shewn to have been borrowed directly from German before a. d. 1550. There are, however, some which have been borrowed indirectly, through French, from various German dialects ; this is merely because several French words are of Frankish or old Danish origin, having been imported into France by Teutonic invaders and conquerors, as will be duly explained when we come to treat of French. The real use of the cognate German forms is that they help us in the construction or investigation of primitive Teutonic types and ' bases.' § 68. Cognate words. The occurrence of consonantal changes in German words, whereby they exhibit deviation from the Teutonic types, is called shifting, or in German, Lautverschiebwig (sound-shifting). Thus, in the Teut. type ^ Pronounced meershum, with ec as in beet (Ogilvie) ; whereas the G. ee resembles ai in bait. The fact, that we can thus alter a German sound almost at once, helps us to understand that we have altered Middle English sounds in the course of centuries. 86 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. FOTU, 'E./ooi, the / has, in German, shifted to z, later ss ; the German word being Fuss. As the Enghsh so frequently preserves the Teutonic consonant intact, it is in this respect more primitive than German. But we cannot say that German words are ' derived ' from English, because it often happens, on the contrary, that modern German preserves the original vowel-sound intact, where the English has altered it. Thus the E. heap {A. S. heap) answers to a Teutonic type HAUPO (Fick, iii. 77), O. H. G. kauf, houfe, mod. G. Hau/e; and in many other cases the German vowel-sound is more primitive than the English. By such considerations the true sisterly relationship of English to German is fully established ; i. e. we can only, in general, consider pairs of related words as being cognate. § 69. In precisely the same way, we can only say that the 'E./oot and Goihicfolus are cognate ; we must not talk about English words as being ' derived ' from Gothic. Yet Gothic is so archaic, that it often preserves the original Teutonic type correctly, as in this very word fotu-s, where s is merely the suffix peculiar to the nominative case. It must also be remembered that modern German is the only Teutonic language which shews a shifting of consonants (such as d, t, th, &c.) from the original Teutonic type. The other Teutonic languages commonly resemble both English and Gothic in their use of consonants ; the chief exceptions being that, in Danish, a final k, t, p^f, are commonly ' voiced,'^ and appear as g, d, b, and v ^ ; whilst initial ih commonly appears as / in Danish and Swedish, and as d in Dutch ^ Hence most other Teutonic languages present, to the eye, a more familiar appearance than German does. Yet few notice this, because they seldom make the comparison till they have partially ^ Consonants are either 'voiceless,' as k, t,p,f, &c. ; or ' voiced.' The meaning of this distinction will be explained hereafter. ^ As in E. book, foot, deep, deaf; Dan. bog, fod, dyb, dov. E. thorn \ Swed. tome ; Dan. torn ; Du. doom. § 71.] TEUTONIC A I. 87 learnt German, and at the same time neglected the rest. If an Englishman were to learn Dutch or Danish fir si, he would find either of them easier than German, as he could more often guess at the meanings of the words. Surely the Dutch and Danish daad are more like our deed than is the G. ThaL § 70. If the reader will kindly refer to the beginning of this Chapter, he will see (§ 53) that the original question with which we started was this, viz. What can we find out about the A. S. a, or about any other of the A. S. long vowel- sounds? This problem has not been lost sight of for a moment, but it was absolutely necessary to consider other questions by the way. We have now considered these sufficiently to enable us to proceed with it. By way of digression, in sections 54-69, we have seen (i) that English is not derived from German except in a few modern in- stances of word-borrowing ; (2) that German is neither the sole other Teutonic language, nor our easiest guide ; {3) that we ought rather to consult, first of all, such languages as the extinct Gothic, the monuments of Old Friesic and Old Saxon, and the modern or old forms of Dutch, Icelandic, Swedish, Danish ; (4) that German is distinguished from all the rest by certain curious consonantal shiftings, which have been sufficiently exemplified; (5) that, from a comparison of all the Teutonic languages, primitive Teutonic types of words can be, and have been, deduced ; and (6) that the relation of English to all the other Teutonic languages is, speaking generally, that of a sister to sisters ; English being a language which, so to speak, has fairly well preserved many of the more striking features of the primitive Teutonic mother- tongue. We now proceed to consider the value of the A. S. long a, or a. § 71. A. S. a = Teut. ai (rarely e). [a) To take a special instance, the E. stone answers to A. S stdn ; see § 42. Other forms are these : Goth, stain-s, nom. ; Du. steen ; Icel. steinri ; Dan. ste?i ; Swed. sten ; G. Stein. From 88 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. a comparison of all these forms, and consideration of a large number of other A. S. words containing the same symbol ^, and by calling in the aid of phonology \ it has been con- cluded that the primitive Teut. sound was that of Ital. a followed by Ital. z', thus producing the diphthong ai, the sound of which is not very far removed from that of mod. E. long z*, as heard in line^ mine, thine \ though perhaps the <2A-sound should be heard a little more clearly. The primi- tive Teutonic type is staino, it being a masculine substantive of the 6>-declension ; cf. Fick. iii. 347. Judging from this example, we should expect to find, at least in many cases, that the A. S. a corresponds to Goth, ai^ Du. ee, Icel. ei, Dan. e (long), Swed. e (long), G. ei\ and we shall find that these equivalent vowels occur, in the various languages, with sur- prising regularity. I give half-a-dozen examples : — 1. E. whole, A. S. M/, Goth, hails'^, Du. heel, Icel. heill, Swed. hel, Dan. heel^ G. heil : Teut. type hailo (Fick, "i- 57)'- 2. Y..dole, A. S. ddl, Goth, dail-s"^, Du. deel, Icel. deila, Swed. del, Dan. deel, G. Theil: Teut. type dailo (id. iii. 142). 3. E. oath, A. S. djj, Goth, aith-s ^, Du. eed, Icel. ei^r, Swed. ed, Dan. ed, G. Eid : Teut. type aitho (id. iii. 4). 4. E. hot, M. E. hoot, A. S. hat, Goth, (missing), Du. heet, Icel. heitr, Swed. hef, Dan. hed, G. heiss. Here, though the Gothic is missing, it would clearly have been '^haii-s : Teut. type HAiTO (id. iii. 75). 5. E. I wot, M.E. wool, A. S. wdt, Goth, wait, Du. meet, ^ Phonology deals with the history of the sotmds which, in each lan- guage, the written symbols denote. It is all-important, but it is easier to deal, in an elementary treatise, with the written symbols. ^ The -s is merely the nom. case suffix. ^ Fick gives the types in the forms haila, daila, &c. ; but the final vowel of the Teut. type is now usually taken to be O ; see Sievers. Hence the types should rather be written as HAILO, DAILO, aitho, haito, wait, raipo, § 72.] TEUTONIC LONG E. 89 Icel. veit^ Swed. vet, Dan. veed, G. weiss: Teut type wait (id. iii. 304). 6. E. rope, A. S. rap, Goth, rai'p (in the comp. skauda-raip, a shoe-tie, latchet of a shoe), Du. reep, Icel. reip, Swed. r^/*, Dan. r^4 G. Reif (a hoop, ring, sometimes a rope) : Teut. type RAiPO (id. iii. 247). It is easy to see from these examples that the Teutonic vowel-sounds can often be exactly analysed, and we are generally able to account for any slight deviation from regularity. Thus the E. home, A. S. ham, Goth, haims, should answer to Dan. hem or heem ; but the Dan. form is hjem, where the j is plainly an insertion, indicating a parasitic sound of short z introduced before the long e. {d) Teut. §. But there are other cases in which the sounds corresponding to A. S. a are so different that the original Teu- tonic sound cannot have been ai. Such a case is seen in E. doaf, A. S. Mf (no Gothic form), Du. doot, Icel. dd/r, Swed. ddf, Dan. daad (the G. Boot being borrowed from Dutch) : Teut. type BATO (Fick, iii. 200), though it should rather be written as BETo; cf. Sievers, O. E. Grammar, § 57, where he instances A. S. mdgas, pi. kinsmen, as compared with Icel. mdg-r, Swed. 7?idg, Dan. maag, Goth. megs. Here the A. S. a answers to Teut. e (long e) ; but the history of this word is obscure, its origin being quite unknown. But certainly the 7?iosf usual original value of A. S. a is Teut. ai. § 72. A. S. 6 commonly arises from Teut. 6 (long o), unless it is due to contraction. {a) Certain A. S. words containing long e require individual investigation ; the long e seeming to arise from contraction. Thus E. we=K. S. we', answers to Goth, wei's, a fuller form. (3) In other cases, / occurs as a variety of a more usual e'a ; as in heh, high, usually he'ah ; ne'h, nigh, usually niah ; such words are best considered together with those that contain e'a. {c) Putting such special instances aside, the A. S. / most 90 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. frequently arises from a changed form of original 6, as in_/^?, feet, pi. oi fot, foot. This peculiar change is due to what is specifically called mutation (in German umlaut), a subject of such importance that it will be specially considered after- wards. By way of example, we may notice f^t (as above), pi. oi fot, foot; /^, teeth, pi. of tod, tooth; ges, geese, pi. of gos, goose; dem-an, to deem, derived from the sb. dd?n, doom; hled-an, to bleed, from the sb. blod, blood; gle'd, gleed, a glowing coal, from the verb glowan, to glow. Similar examples are rather numerous. Comparing the E. feet with other languages, we find that Gothic and Dutch keep the ^- vowel unchanged, as in Goth, /otjus, pi. o^/otus; Du. voeten, pi. of voet. But Icel. fotr has pi. fcEtr (written ior/cetr); Swed./i?/ has pi. /o//^r; Dan. y^^ has ^\. fodder', G. Fuss has pi. Filsse. Hence, in this instance, A. S. e is equivalent to Icel. ce (os), Swed. and Dan. o, G. u, mutations respectively of Icel. o, Swed. and Dan. o, G. u. § 73. A.S. i=:Teut. i; unless it is due to contraction. (a) The A. S. z is commonly an original sound, represent- ing ee in 5eet. In Gothic, it is written ei, but the same sound is meant. Dutch denotes the long z by zj; mod. German denotes it by ei; but English, Dutch, and German have all altered the original sound, with the same final result. That is to say, the Du. tj and G. ei are now sounded like E. z in mz7e, but the original sound was like the A. S. z in mzt, i. e. as in E. meal. This parallel development of sound in three separate languages is curious and interesting. Meanwhile, the Scandinavian languages have preserved the old sound ; the Icel. z, Swed. and Dan. long z being still pronounced as ee in deet. Three examples may suffice. I. E. wki'/e, A. S. /izt'zl, Goth, hweila, Du. wijl, Icel. hvzla (only in the special sense of rest, or a bed), Swed. hvila (rest), Dan. hvile (rest), G. weile (O. H. G. hwila) ; Teut. type hwilo (Fick, iii. 75). § 74-] TEUTONIC LONG 0. 9I 2. E. writhe, A. S. wrf^a?i, (not in Gothic,) Icel. ri^a (initial id being lost), Swed. vrida, Dan. vride (not in Dutch or German) ; Teut. type wr!than (Fick, iii. 309). 3. E. rhyme, which should be spelt rime, A. S. rim, Du. rij77i, Icel. rima, Swed. rim, Dan. riim, G. Reijii ; Teut. type RIMO. (^) An interesting instance in which long / arises from contraction is seen in Y.. five, A. '^.fife,fif, Du. vijf. Com- paring this with G./ilnf, O. H. G. fin/, Goth, fi??!/, we see that a hquid has been lost. In consequence of this loss, the short i, as seen in O. H. G. fijif, Goth. fi?}if, has been lengthened by what has been called the principle of com- pensation ; the length of the vowel-sound making up, as it were, for the loss of the consonant. It is a general rule that simple contraction commonly produces long vowels. Such contraction may arise either from the loss of a consonant, or by the contraction of a diphthong into a pure long vowel. § 74. A. S. 6 = Teut. 6 (long o) or e (long e) ; or is due to loss of n in on (for an). {a). The A. S. 6 commonly represents an original Teutonic 6, which appears in Gothic as ^ in Dutch as oe, in Icelandic as 6, in Swedish and Danish as 0, and in German as long u (sometimes written uh). Three examples may suffice. Com- pare § 45. 1. E. stool, A. S. stol, Goth, stol-s, Du. stoel, Icel. stoll, Swed. and Dan. stol, G. Stuhl (O. H. G.. stuol, stual) : Teut. type st6lo (Fick, iii. 341). 2. E. hoof, A. S. hd/ijioi in Gothic), Du. hoef, Icel. ho/r, Swed. ho/, Dan. hov, G. Hu/\ Teut. type hofo (id. iii. 80). 3. E. brother, A. S. brodor, Goth, brothar, Du. broeder, Icel. brodir, Swed. and Dan. broder, G. Bruder : Teut. type BROTHAR (id. iii. 204). {h) A. S. 6, before a following 7i, sometimes stands for ^ The Gothic needs no accent, as (like the Goth, e) it is alivays long. 92 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Chap. VI. West-Teut. a, or general Teut. e ; see Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 68. For the values of Teut. e in different languages, see § 71 w- 1. E. spoon, A. S. spon (properly a chip of wood), Du. spaan^ Icel. spdnn, spSnn, Swed. span, Dan. spaan, G. Span (with long a), Spahn (a chip, splinter): Teut. type speni (Fick, iii. 352). 2. In the pp. of the verb to do, the A. S. don, done, answers to Du. ge-daan, G. ge-than, where the original West-Teut. vowel was plainly a (from common Teut. e). (c) A. S. 6 also results from the lengthening of a short 0, by compensation for the loss of ;z in the combination on, originally an. This happens when the an is followed by s or p (th). Thus gos, a goose, is for "^gons, a changed form of gans'^, as shewn by Du. and G. ga7is, a goose; Teut. type GANSi (Fick, iii. 99). So also top, a tooth, is for "^tojip, changed form of tanth ; cf. Du., Swed., Dan. tand; Teut. type tanthu (id. iii. 113). And thirdly, E. other, A. S. o^er, is for '^onder, changed form of andtr, as shewn by Goth, anthar, Du. and G. ander: Teut. t}^e antharo (id. i. 16). § 75. A. S. u=Teut. u (long u); or is due to loss of n in un. {a) The A. S. H answers to Goth., Du., Swed., Dan., and G. u, Icel. u] all long. See § 46. Example : E. now, A. S. nit, Goth, nu, Du. nu, Icel. 7iil, Swed. and Dan. nu, G. nun (from O. H. G. nu) : Teut. nu. {b) We find also Du. ui, Dan. uu, G. au. Example : 'E.foul, A. S.ful, Goth, fuls, Du. vuil, lce\. full, Swed. /ul, Ba.n. /uul, G./aul: Teut. fulo (Fick, iii. 186). {c) The A. S. u also arises from loss of n in zm followed by ^ or /^; compare the loss of n in on {=an) in § 74. Thus E. us, A.S. us, is for "^uns, as shewn by Goth, and G. uns, Du. ons. Also E. mouth, A. S. muff, is for '^munth, as ^ A. S. an is constantly replaced by 07i ; we often find lond for /a«<5 (O. H. G. liup\. Teut. tj-pe leubo (Fick, iii. 278). Y.. freeze, K.^. fr/os-an, Du. vriez-en, lct\. frj6s-a, Swed. frys-a, Dan. frys-e, G. fn'er-en : Teut. type freus-an (Fick, iii. 192). § 79. A. S. 86 commonly arises from a mutation of A. S. a. ((2). This will be more fully treated of hereafter ; it may suffice to say here that A. S. hdlan, to heal, is a derivative of hdl, whole ; and that examples of this mutation, or modifica- tion of vowel, are numerous. ((5). In some cases, a appears instead of a, even though the ordinary rules for vowel-mutation do not apply. Thus E. sea, A. S. sd, answers to Goth, saiws, sea ; though the Coth. ai commonly appears as A. S. a. Sievers (Gram. § 90) thinks that the mutation here points to the fact that smws must, originally, have belonged to the z-declension. ^ See Kltige, Etymologisches Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 1883. 2 Dan kiob is for Jzbb ; the prefixed i is due to a parasitic i slipped in before the 0. Cf. Dan. hjei7i, p. 89. ^ There are various (somewhat troublesome) exceptions. 8o.] TABLE OF RESULTS. 95 § 80. Results. As the results above arrived at with regard to the long vowels in the Teutonic languages will often be found to be useful, I here subjoin a table exhibiting the various forms of some of the viost characteristic words. It must not be considered as exhaustive, nor as exhibiting all the possible varieties ; it merely exemplifies such varieties as are viost common. Special words often present peculiarities which require special treatment. I quote Low-German forms first, then the High-German, next, the Scandinavian and Gothic, and lastly the Teutonic types in capital letters. In giving these examples, I have re-arranged the order of the vowel-sounds. Hitherto, I have treated of a, /, z, 6, ii,y in alphabetical order, adding ea, eo, a at the end. A more scientific order is obtained by taking them in four groups : (i) d (= Teut. /), 6 (= Teut. /); (2) i (= Teut. i\ d (= Teut. ai, strengthening off), (b (modification of ^ = ai\, (3) ^ (= Teut. 0), /(modification of ^); (4) ^ (= Teut. ii), eo (= Teut. eti)^ ea (= Teut. aii)^ y (modification of z/, /c, ^d). I use < to denote * derived from,' and .. to denote ' mutation ' ; so that < . . denotes ' derived by mutation from.' All the vowels cited are long. A.S. «' = E. ^'=E. /-I. d = K\. CB<. . AI. English ... boat moon zvhile whole heal Anglo-Saxon bat niona hivil hdl h(£lan Dutch boot maan wijl heel heelen German . . . Mond Weile heil heilen Danish baad maane hvile heel hele Swedish ... bat mane hvila hel hela Icelandic ... bdtr 7ndni hvila heill heila Gothic mena hivcila hails hailjan Teutonic. B^TO MENO HWILQ HAILO HAILIAN 96 TEUTONIC LANGUAGES, [Chap. VI. J =6. /< . . 6. li^t. ^<..tl. English ... Anglo-Saxon Dutch foot fot voet voeten mouse mus muis ?mce mys muizen German . . . Euss Eiisse Maus Mdtise Danish fod ■ fodder muus mutis Swedish . . . Icelandic . . . Gothic Teutonic. fot fStr fotus FOTU fotter fcetr fotjus 7JIUS mus Mfisi moss myss /^-EU. ea = A\J. English lief streajn Anglo-Saxon . . . Uof stream Dutch lief stroom German lieb Strom Danish Strom Swedish Iff Strom Icelandic Ifnfr straumr Gothic Teutonic.. ... hubs LEUBO STRAUMO GENERAL TABLE OF LONG VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. Teutonic .. t I AI 6 EU AU English 00 i ea 00 ee ou i ie ea Anglo-Saxon a 6 i d ck 6 i tc y eo ia Dutch 00 aa I] ee ee oe oe Ul Ul ie 00 German a ei ei ei u a au dti ie Danish aa aa i ee e tm uu V Swedish ... a a i e e d ti ju d Icelandic . . . a a i ei ei 6 ce ti y f'l au Gothic '■ ^ ei at at ti u tu au Note. — It must be remembered that the modem English spelling is very variable. Thus Teut. eu is also E. ee in deep, A.S. deop. The above table only tells us what correspondences we should, in general, expect. ST/ • Los Arig-fci CHAPTER VII. Classical Languages cognate with English : Grimm's Law. § 81. Latin forms compared with English. If any Englishman were asked the question, whence are the words paternal^ maternal^ and fraternal derived, he would probably at once reply — from Latin. As a fact, it is more likely that they were derived from French, and that the spelling was modified (from -el to -aT) to suit the Latin spelling of the originals, viz., paternalist maternalis^ fraternalis. Be this as it may, the answer is sufficiently correct ; for the French words, in their turn, are of Latin origin, and the ultimate result is the same either way. We should further be told, that these adjectival formations are due to the Latin substan- tives pater, father, mater, mother, and/ra/^r, brother. On this result, however, we may found a new enquiry, viz. how comes it ihsX father, mother, brother have so curious a re- semblance (yet wuth a certain difference) to pater, viater, f rater ? Are we to say that father is derived from the Lat. pater ? Such a belief was no doubt once common ; indeed it was only a century ago, in 1783, that Mr. Lemon wrote a Dictionary to prove that all English is derived from Greek. But there is some hope that such a fancy as that of deriving father from pater is fast becoming obsolete. If we compare the words a little carefully, we can hardly help being struck with something strongly resembling the consonantal shifting which we observed above in considering the spelling of German. In § 63, we found that the E. p is sometimes shifted, in German, to f; so that E. sharp is cognate with VOL. I. H 98 GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VII. G. scharf: but here we have an apparent shifting from a Latin p to an Yu.f. In § 64, we find that an E. f may answer to G. h, so that E. half is cognate with G. halh ; but, on com- paring Lat. frater with E. brother^ we have an apparent shifting from a Latin f to an E. b. In all three cases, viz. Lat. pater^ mater, frater, as compared with 'K. father, mother, brother, there is the same apparent shifting from / to th^. In the case of EngHsh and German, we found that the languages are cognate ; are we to conclude, as before, that, in the case of such words as are not absolutely derived from Latin, English and Latin are cognate languages, with certain fundamental differences of spelling due to sound-shifting? A comparison of a large number of native English words with their corresponding Latin equivalents proves, beyond all doubt, that such a statement of the case is the true one ^, and that English is allied to Latin, as it is to German, in a sisterly relation. This proposition only holds, of course, with respect to the true native part of the language, so that it is neces- sary, in instituting the comparison, to choose such English words as are of proved antiquity, and can be found in Anglo-Saxon forms. § 82. Early borrowings from Latin. We know, how- ever, from history, that the introduction of Christianity into England brought with it a knowledge of Latin, so that even in the earliest historical times, words began to be borrowed from that language by the English. But pure English words frequently have equivalents in nearly all the Teutonic lan- guages, and can usually be thus known ; and a comparison of such words with their equivalents (if any) in Latin soon ^ Curiously, it is only apparent in the case oi father, mother i^K.'&, feeder., moder), where the shifting is really to d. The third case (A. S. bro^or) is right enough. ^ There is, however, a fundamental difference in the nattire of the shifting. The O. H. German usually exhibits sounds shifted from Low German ; but the Low German sounds are shifted, not from Latin or Greek, but from the original Aryan speech. § 83.] COGNATE WORDS, 99 shews us, clearly enough, that the consonantal shifting which marks off English from Latin is viuch vioj-e regularly and fully carried out than it is between English and German. There is found to be a fairly complete shifting, not only of the dental letters, as before, and (partially) of the labial letters, but of the guttural letters as well. This circumstance in itself provides us with a partial test for telling whether an English word is really of Latin origin or not. When such is the case, there is no sound-shifting ; but when the words are only cognate, we can often at once observe it^. Paternal is (ultimately) derived from pater, but father is cognate with it. Or, to take a few examples of words found in Anglo-Saxon, our candle (A. S. candeT) is from Lat. candela, a candle, because a Latin c would be shifted in cognate words ; our dish (A. S. disc) is from Lat. discus, because d would else be shifted ; and even in other cases, we can often tell these borrowed words by the ve?y close resemblance they have to their Latin originals. In practice, there is seldom any difficulty in detecting these borrowings at once. § 83. Greek, Sanskrit, and other languages. If we next extend the area of our enquiries over a wider field, we shall find, in like manner, that E. father is cognate with Gk. iraTTjp, and that the Greek language (as far as it is original) is cognate both with English and Latin. The same is true of Sanskrit, in which the vocative case of the word for father is pilar ^, the connection of which with Gk. Trarrjp and Lat. pater cannot be doubted. It is certain that no event has given such an impetus and such certainty to the study ^ Not always, because several Latin letters, viz. /, pi, n, r, s, v, never shift at all. Again, a few borrowed words, such as hemp, were borrowed at so early a period that they actually exhibit sound-shifting. ^ The nominative case drops r, and lengthens the vowel, thus pro- ducing pita. Sanskrit substantives are quoted, in my Dictionary, in the forms called bases. These bases are theoretical forms, on which the mode of declension depends. The ' base ' of pita is pitxi, or pitx, the final letter being a vocal r. H 2 lOO GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VII. of philology as the discovery of the relation which exists between Sanskrit and such languages as Greek and Latin. This discovery is just a century old. See the account of San- skrit philology given in Max Miiller's fourth lecture on the Science of Language, where we find, at p. i8i of the eighth edition, the statement that ' the history of what may be called European Sanskrit philology dates from the founda- tion of the Asiatic Society at Calcutta, in 1784.' When the true relation of Sanskrit to other languages was once under- stood, it was not long before it was perceived that the number of languages with which it is cognate is considerable. It so happens that Sanskrit often exhibits extremely ar- chaic forms ^ ; hence the mistake was at first made — (and it is often made still by those who have not studied the subject with sufficient care) — of supposing that Greek, Latin, and other languages are derived from it ; which would deprive all such languages of much of their individual peculiarities of form and grammar. This is now understood not to be the case. Sanskrit is at most only an elder sister ^ among the sister languages; and we also know that the languages which obviously stand in a sisterly relation to it are those which have been called the Indian, Iranian, Lettic, Slavonic, Hellenic, Italic, and Keltic groups, or ' branches,' of lan- guages ^ none of which exhibit any marked consonantal shifting ; but it also stands in the same relation to the Teu- tonic group of languages (spoken of in the last chapter). The only diff'erence between the Teutonic languages and the rest is that all of them (except modern German) exhibit a ^ Sanskrit exhibits an extremely regular system of formation and inflection, of which other languages seem to leave only traces. But this regularity is sometimes late, and due to analogic influence. ^ Greek really shews an older vowel-system, a fact which is now be- coming better understood. ^ Morris, Hist. Outlines of E. Accidence, § 12. Sievers calls them the Indian, Iranian, Baltic, Slavonic, Greek, Albanian (mentioned by Morris imder Hellenic), Italic, and Celtic groups ; and adds Armenian. §84.] THE ARYAN LANGUAGES. lOI shifting of some of the original consonants, whilst the modern German partially exhibits a double or repeated shifting. We have already seen that the shifting seen in German consonants as compared with English is no bar to their being considered as sister languages ; and just in the same way, the shifting seen in English as compared with Latin, Greek, &c., is no bar to their having a similar relation. § 84. Aryan family of languages. The whole set of languages which are thus found to have a sisterly relation to each other are usually called Aryan, or languages of the Aryan family. Another name is Indo-European, because they contain the most remarkable languages of India and Europe ; but this is a clumsy name on account of its length. Aryan is much better, because there is no doubt as to its conventional meaning, and it is sufficiently brief. A third name is Indo-Germanic, but this has led to much misunder- standing, and indeed inadequately substitutes Germany for nearly all Europe. It is a name which does not mislead students who clearly understand it, but it feeds the English popular mind with false notions, and is probably in part responsible for the silly notion about the derivation of English from German. It originated, of course, in Germany. If the study of comparative philology had been pushed forward in England as it has been in Germany, some English teacher might have spoken of the Indo-English family of languages. Fortunately, no one has ventured on this, and the time for coining such a word has passed by; meanwhile, the term Aryan suffices for all needs. Among the Aryan languages, we m.ay mention some of the best known. The Indian group contains Sanskrit, now a dead language; modern dialects, sprung from dialectal forms of it, such as Hindi, Bengali, and even much of the true Gipsy speech ; and others \ The Iranian group contains modern Persian (i.e. as ^ See Morris's Accidence for the full list ; also Peile's Primer of Philology, chap. iii. I02 GRIMM'S LAW, [Chap. VII. far as it is original, for nearly half the language is borrowed from Arabic, which is a Semitic or non-hxyzxi language) ; the so-called Zend, or language of the old Persian sacred writings; the language in which the very interesting cuneiform inscrip- tions are written ; and others. Of the Leitic or Baltic group, the most interesting is the Lithuanian, spoken in parts of Eastern Prussia, and remarkable for extremely archaic forms. The Slavonic group contains Russian, Polish, Bohemian, Servian, &c.; the most important, from a purely philological point of view, being the Old Bulgarian, or as it is sometimes called, Church-Slavonic, being the language 'into which Cyrillus and Methodius translated the Bible, in the middle of the ninth century \' The Hellenic group contains various forms of Greek. In the Italic group, the most famous language is the widely known Latin, which is not even yet extinct it its fixed literary form ; but beyond this, it is famous as being the main source of the so-called Romance lan- guages, viz. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Proven9al, the Roumansch of the canton Orisons in Switzerland, and the Wallachian of Wallachia and Moldavia. These Ro- mance languages are, in fact, totally different in character from English, in that they are really derived languages, bor- rowing ALL their words from something else, and chiefly, as has been said, from Latin. English, on the other hand, with all its borrowings, has a native unborrowed core, and has only borrowed words in order to amplify its vocabulary. Next, the Keltic group contains Welsh, Cornish (now extinct), Breton, Irish, Gaelic, and IManx; of these, the most im- portant, philologically, is the Old Irish. Lastly, the Teu- tonic group contains English, Dutch, German, &c., in the Westei'n division, and Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Gothic in the Eastern ; as already explained. § 85. The three sets. Inasmuch as the Teutonic lan- guages alone exhibit consonantal shifting, it will be found ^ Max Miiller, Lectures, Sth ed., i. 227. §85.] THE THREE SETS. IO3 extremely convenient to use some common name for all the languages of the Aryan family that lie outside the Teutonic group. A very convenient name is * the classical languages/ because the term classical is naturally associated by us with Greek and Latin, and perhaps I may add with Sanskrit. I shall, accordingly, henceforth use the term ' classical ' in this sense, to denote all the Aryan languages except those of the Teutonic group. I shall also teinporarily divide all the Aryan languages into three new sets, for the sole and special purpose of examining the phenomena of consonantal shifting more exactly. These sets are : (i) the classical languages; (2) the Low German, Scandinavian, and Gothic languages, of which English may here be taken as the type, both from its in- trinsic importance and because it is the one which we most wish to discuss ; and (3) the High German language, in a class by itself, though it has no real claim to such a position. Before proceeding to discuss this shifting, it may be as well to point out three examples in which the ' classical' languages all keep, in reality, to the same unshifted sounds. Thus, for father we find the Sanskrit pilar (base pih *), Old Persian pilar"^, Gk. irarrip, 'LdX. pater, Old Irish afhir,athair^', but the word is lost in Russian and Lithuanian. Again, for brother we find the Skt. bhrdtar *, O. Pers. brdtar *, mod Pers. birddar, * Sansknt not only possesses a symbol for the consonant r, but also a pair of symbols for the short and long vocalic r. These are denoted in Benfey's Dictionary by ri and ri. In my Dictionary, I have denoted them by rz and r/, putting the r in Roman type. But it is now usual to print r (vk^ithout i) for the short sound, and to put an accent above it to represent the long one. 2 Mod. Fers. pillar, with i weakened to d. This is a case of weakening, not of shifting in the particular sense to which I now wish to confine it. ^ The Old Irish drops the initial p\ the //^ ( = / + li) is very different from the English th, and is really a / that has been afterwards aspirated, so that there is no real shifting. In Irish characters, it is written as a dotted t ; we might print it aiir, aiair. * In these words the aspirated l>h has been weakened to b, or, as some think, an original b has been aspirated so as to produce bh ; it is not a ' shifting ' in the narrow sense in which I am now using the word. 104 GRIMM'S LAW, [Chap. VII. Gk. 4>pdTT]p, Lat. /ra/er, Old Slavonic bratru'^^ Russian brate'^, Polish brat, Old Irish brdthir {brdiir\ Lithuanian brotelis, contracted into brolis. So also mother corresponds to Skt. mdtar, Zend mdtar (mod. Pers. mddar, with d weakened from /), Gk. /xT^rj/p, Lat. mater. Church Slavonic mati, Russ. mate, Lithuanian mote (rarely motere), Irish ma- thair (where the th is an aspirated or dotted /). Whilst we are discussing these three words, it may be interesting to shew the forms which they assumed in the unoriginal languages which we term Romance. The Latin accusatives^ patrevi, matre^n, fratrem, became respectively Ital. padre, madre, /rate (now only used in the sense oi friar, the word for brother being the diminutive form fratello) ; Span, padre, madre, fraite (only in the sense o^ /riar)^ ; Port, pai, ?nat, frade (only in the sense oi friar)) Yiench per e, mere, fr ere) O. Proven9al/az>'^, maire,fratre ox fr aire (friar); Roumansch frer (brother), Wallachian /rate (brother) ^. § 86. Grimm's Law : the dental series. We are now in a position for clearly understanding what is meant by the famous scheme of consonantal shifting, or regular interchange of consonants, which goes by the name of ' Grimm's Law ' ; though I suppose that the first person to draw attention to it was Erasmus Rask, the celebrated Danish philologist. The English reader will find a full explanation of the law in Max Miiller's Lectures on the Science of Language, Series II, Lect. V. I here give a similar explanation in slightly different words, as far as relates to the de7ital series of E. letters, viz. d, t, and th. First of all, let us divide the ^ See note 4, p. 103. ^ We must take the accusative as the Romance type, as will be seen hereafter. ^ The Span, for ' brother' is herma7to, from 'L2X.ger??ianus. The word fraile stands for an older fi-aire, derived from the Lat. accusative fratrcm, by loss of t. * The Roumansch has bap, 77iamma, for father zxid. mother ; the Walla- chian has tate, ?name. § 86.] TRIPLE SOUND-SHIFTING. I05 Aryan languages into three sets or groups: (i) the 'clas- sical' languages, as defined above; (2) the Low German; (3) the Old High German, being the oldest form of the present German. Next, let us provisionally call the sounds denoted by dh"^ in Sanskrit, 6 in Greek, and th in Eng- lish by the name of Aspirates; the sound denoted by to the sound of th in ihin^ and S to the sound of th in thine. The original Teutonic th was probably f) only, ^ There is also a (rarer) Skt. th, which need not be considered in the present connection. § 87.1 THE SYMBOLS DH, D, T, TH. 107 which is still the only sound used in Icelandic when occurring at the beginning of a word. In English, the original f) has given way to "S initially in the case of a few words in very common use, viz. in all words etymologically connected with the (as thai^ this, fhey, them, there, thence, thWier, &c.) or with thou (as thee, thine, thy). In the middle of a word, )? has been weakened to 'S between two vowels; compare breath with breathe (M. E. bretheii). Smooth is only an apparent exception, for the M. E. form was smooth-e, which was dissyllabic. It is also important to observe that the Old High German sound of aspirated / was not th (or ]?), but ts, which was denoted by the symbol z', the German z is pronounced as is still ^ Hence we may otherwise express the law as follows. DH (Skt dh, Gk. Q, l^zX.fid, b)). D (Skt., Lat. d, Gk. 5). D (A. S. d). T (A. S. t\ T (G. t). TH (O.H.G. z, G. z, ss). T (Skt., Lat. /, Gk. t). TH (A. S. J> (0), E. tJi). T (G. /). A few examples will be interesting, and are here given; beginning from DH. Initial DH; Skt. duhitar {^Mt for '^ dhughitery , daughter; Gk. 6vydTT]p; E. daughter', G. Tochter. Skt. dhd, to put, place, Gk. rl-6r]-ixi (for * ei-erj-fMc), I put; E. do; O.H.G. tuon, M. H. G. tun, mod. G. thun (with th sounded as /), or tun (in reformed spelling). Skt. di'h (put for * dhi'gh) to smear, Gk. diyydueiv, to touch, handle, \.'3X. finger e, to mould; Goth, deigan, to mould, knead, whence daigs, dough, E. dough ; G. Teig, dough. ^ So also in O. French, the word avez was once pronounced avcts, which at once explains its derivation from the Lat. habctis, by loss of It and i. The O. 'F.Jiz, son, is now wxiXien Jilz, to preserve the old soimd; and assez is, in English, asseis. ^ When an asterisk is prefixed to any word, it means that its form is theoretical. I08 GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VII. Medial DH ; Skt. rudht'ra, blood, Gk. i-pvBpos, red, Lat. ruber {= ^ rudher), Irish ruadh; E. red, Du. rood, Dan. and Swed. rod, Goth, rauds ; O. H. G. I'ot, mod. G. roih (with th sounded as /), or roi (in reformed spelling). Initial T ; Skt. iva??i (thou), Gk. rv (Attic a-v), Lat. iu, Irish iu, Welsh //; A. S. ^u, E. thou, Icel. /«, Goth, thw, G. du. Skt. /rz*5 three, Gk. rpelf, Lat. /r^j, Russian /rz, O. Irish tri] A. S. /r/^, E. three, Icel. /;7>, Goth, threis] G. <^r^z'. Medial T ; Skt. antara, other ; Lithuanian afiiras, Lat. (2//^r (for "^anter); Goth, anthar, A.S. ^^, and again from p iof, the aspirated form of p. But the example is somewhat unsatisfactory, because the Teutonic forms are merely borrowed from Latin, which again is borrowed from Greek. The chief point here gained is the observation that the law of sound-shifting may even ^ The Gk. (p answers to Sk. bh in general. 1 1 GRIMM S LA W. [Chap. VII . apply to the case of a borrowed word, but only if that word was borrowed at an extremely early period. Such cases are very rare. The reason for choosing this example is that there does not appear to be any other satisfactory instance in which a ' classical ' B is shifted to a Low German P. GH ^. Gk. xh^^ a goose ; Lat. anser (the initial guttural being wholly lost) ; E. goose^ A. S. gos (for "^ gojis), Du. gans^ Icel. gas (for * gans) ; O. H. G. gans, occasionally cans ; G. Gans. Here the shifting from GH to Low German G is regular ; but the O. H. G. cans is an occasional form, and there is 7io regular second shifting to German K. The E.^ is, in fact, also a German g ; cf. E. go^ good, goat, with G. gehen, gut, Geiss. K. Gk. Kapdia, heart ; Lat. cor (stem cordi-), O. Irish cride ; E. heart, A. S. heorte ; O. H. G. herzd, G. Herz. Here the shifting from K to KH (weakened to h) is regular ; but there never was at a?zy time a seco?id shi/tmg to a German G. G. Gk. yev-os, race, Lat. geji-us ; E. kin, A. S. cyjin, race, tribe, Icel. kyn, Goth, hmi] O. H. G. chumii, khtmni, kunni, race. Here the shifting from G to Low German K is regular ; but the apparent shifting to O. H. German KH {kh, ch) is delusive. This, again, is a mere occasional form ; and, as a fact, there is in general no secofid shifting. The E. k is also a German k ; cf. E. king, kiss, cow, with G. Konig, Kuss, Kuh. § 90. Needless complication of Grimm's Law. The net result is, therefore, that the second shifting breaks down, for practical purposes, even in the specially selected instances, and in two cases (see under P and K above) there is absolutely no trace of it. If to these two cases we add those in which occasional O. High German forms have to be selected (see under BH, GH, G) in order to make the law operate, we may say that it practically breaks down, as far as High German is concerned, vi\ five cases out of nine. If to ^ Gk. X answers to Skt. gh for the present purpose. §91.1 NEEDLESS COMPLICATION. Ill this we again add die case (noticed under B above) of which there is but one good example, these _^z'(? cases are increased to six. In other words, Grimm's law is only useful, as far as the High German is concerned, in the case of the dental series of letters DH, D, T, and TH. It was quite a mistake to force it beyond its true value, merely in order to drag in the Old High German forms. Such an attempt greatly limits the choice of examples, which have to be selected with a special view to the Old High German, without any real gain ^. It is not only simpler, but what is of more conse- quence, much more accurate, to leave the High German forms out of sight, and to confine our attention to the other Teutonic forms. This would enable the Law to be stated much more simply, for we have already seen that the shiftings from the 'classical* forms to Low-German are carried out with sufficient regularity. Even the case noticed above, under B, only breaks down for mere lack of examples ; there is nothing to contradict it. There is no example, for instance, of a word containing a Latin or Greek h in which the corresponding letter of the cognate native EngHsh word is also h. § 91. Simpler form of Grimm's Law. It would seem to follow that, if we omit the High-German forms, we may state Grimm's Law by simply saying that in the series DH, D, T, TH, a classical DH corresponds to a Low German D, a classical D to a Low German T, and lastly a classical T to a Low German TH. This we can easily remember by writing down the symbols DH, D, T, TH, in succession, and saying that the sound denoted by each ' classical ' symbol (whether DH, D, or T) is shifted^ in ' Low German,' to the sou7id dejioted by the symbol which next follows it. ^ * That the O. H. G. shifting is historical and recent was, it is true, admitted by Grimm, btit he liked to lose sight of the fact whenever he wanted to magnify the law. . His framework is much too big for the facts.'— H. C. G, Brandt, in Amer. Journal of Philology, i. 153. IIQ, GRIMM' S LAW. [Chap. VII. This is true, and is well worth remembering; but when we come to apply similar methods to the labial and guttural series, certain difficulties occur, especially in the latter case. In other words, Grimm's Law requires to be simplified, and re-stated, with necessary corrections. The endeavour to do this will occupy the next chapter. § 92. Old High German: value of Grimm's Law. We may, however, with respect to the Old High German, say that the shifting which it exhibits took place, as far as it was carried out, in the same direction as the former shifting, but not to the same extent. It was obviously a much later development, due to similar causes, whatever they may have been. The old theory, that the imperfect Old High German shifting took place simultaneously with the more complete shifting seen in Low German, is no longer tenable, and it is not easy to see how it arose, except from an exaggerated idea of the value of the Old High German forms. It is not only inexplicable, but can be disproved. Yet even in its old and imperfect form, the statement known as Grimm's Law is of the highest value, and has been the real basis of all later improvements and discoveries. We must remember that the great object of applying it is to enable us to detect the cognation or sisterly relationship of words. We see, for example, that the 'L2X.frater can very well be the same word as the E. brother, because, although it looks unlike it at first sight, it really corresponds to it, letter for letter, all the way through. The Lat./" answers to the symbol BH, which shifts regularly into E. b. The Lat. a is long, answering to Teu- tonic long 0, Goth, long o, i. e. the A. S. 6 in brodor. The symbol T (Lat. /) shifts regularly to A. S. f>, afterwards weakened to S, E. th. Lastly, the suffix -ter is found in a varying form -tor at a very early period ; and the common Aryan suffix -ter becomes -ter in Latin, and -der, -^or, in A. S. There is not only an enormous gain in detecting these real equalities which are concealed under apparent dif- §93-] THE ARYAN TYPE. II3 ferences, but we also get rid of the absurdity of deriving native English words from Latin or Greek, and we at once put them on their true level as being equally from the same ultimate Aryan type. § 93. The Aryan type : simpler form of Grimm's Law, re-stated. We must pause for a moment, to con- sider what this Aryan type was like. In trying to gain an idea of the Aryan type or original form of each word, we need not consider the Old High German, which may well be, and in fact was, a mere development from an archaic Teutonic type which exhibited only Low German charac- teristics. We then have to consider whether the ' classical ' or the Low German consonants approach more nearly to those of the parent speech. For it is obvious that a word like brother may have originated in two ways ; either the original type was Teutonic, viz. brather, and the classical type bhrater was developed from it; or the case was reversed. In the former case, the Aryan type resembled brather ; in the latter case, it resembled bhrater. The latter theory is the one universally adopted ^ Perhaps the decision in this direction was at first due to an innate respect for such languages as Greek and Latin, and, in particular, to the notion that Sanskrit is the language which approaches most nearly to the Aryan type, though this position may be more fairly claimed, in many respects, for Greek. But the decision really rests upon other grounds, viz. that the 'classical' languages are far more numerous and more divergent than the Teutonic languages; and it is far easier to suppose that the shifting took place with respect to a single group which was spread over a small area, than with respect to all the other groups of the whole family. It is from such considerations that we may more safely accept the guidance of the 'classical' than of the ^ There is yet a third theory, which may be the true one, viz. that the oldest form was B rater ; but I shall not here discuss it. VOL. I. • I 114 GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VII. Low German types in estimating the forms of the original Aryan parent speech. It may therefore be safely assumed that the 'classicar type is also the Aryan type, or comes most near it, and that the Low German or Teutonic ^ types are formed, by a tolerably regular shifting, not really from the ' classical ' type, but from the original Aryan which the latter exactly, or nearly, represents. All that is now needed, is to read ' Aryan ' in place of ' Classical languages ' in § 86 ; and we may also, if we please, substitute ' Teutonic ' for ' Low German' without any fear of error, merely remembering that the High German forms can be obtained from the general Teutonic forms whenever they are wanted. We can then state the Law thus, nearly as in § 91, with respect to the dental letters, and it will be shev/n hereafter to be equally true (with necessary modifications) for the labial and guttural series. Write down the symbols DH, D, T, TH in suc- cession. It is found that the Aryan sound corre- sponding to each of these symbols (except the last), is shifted, in cognate Teutonic words, to the sound corresponding to the symbol which next succeeds it. This is the law of consonantal shifting, as regards the letters in the dental series. The extension of the Law to the labial and guttural series of consonants will be considered in the next Chapter. * Henceforth, I assume the Low German type to be identical with the Teutonic ; and regard the O. H. German as a development from it. CHAPTER VIII. Simplified Form of Grimm's Law. § 94. In order to treat the facts correctly, it will be neces- sary to consider the dental^ the labial^ and the guttural sets of letters separately; and to take them, for the present, in this order. At the end of the last Chapter we obtained the following statement, which may conveniently be here repeated. Write down the symbols DH, D, T, TH, in succession. It is found that the Aryan sound corresponding to each of these symbols (except the last), is shifted, in cognate Teutonic words, to the sound corresponding to the symbol which next succeeds it. Teutonic is here used in the sense of original Teutonic, to the exclusion of High German forms \ I now propose to look at this Law a little more closely, explaining the varying values (if any) of the symbols, giving numerous examples, and noting ex- ceptions. § 95. Aryan : Dentals. The Aryan Dental Sounds are DH, D, T. It is here most convenient to consider them in the order D, T, DH ; and I shall accordingly do so. D. The Skt. d \% 2, stable sound; so also is the Gk. h. In Latin, d is common, but occasionally D appears as /. Thus lacrima, a tear, was once dacrima, according to Festus, and is cognate with Gk. fia^pv, E. tear; li?igua^ a tongue, was ^ As to the unoriginal character of the Old High German second consonantal shifting, see Chapter IX, § 123. T 1 6 GRIMM'S la W. [Chap. VIII. once dingua, and is cognate with E. tongue ; ol-ere, to smell, is allied to od-or, smell \ T. The Skt. / is sometimes aspirated after s, and appears as th, as in sthag, to cover, Gk. a-rey-eiv ; sthd^ to stand, Lat. sid-7'e. The Gk. t is stable ; so is Lat. / (usually). DH. The Skt. has dh. If a verbal root begins with dh and ends with another aspirated letter, bolh of these letters appear in the simple, not in the aspirated form. Thus the Skt. dih/ to smear, stands for ^dhi'gh. We find other occa- sional instances in which Skt. dh appears as d, as in dvdra^ a door, put for '^dhvdra ; cf. Gk. 6vpa. The Gk. dh is B. But Gk. allows of only o?ie aspirate in a syllable ; hence we find rpixos for * Bpixos. The Latin dh appears initially asy^ but medially as d or b. Thus Gk. Ovpa^ a door, is allied to Lat. Y>^./or-es, doors, the cognate E. word being door. Gk. i-pvd-p6s, E. red, is in Lat. 7'uber (for ^'rudher). Gk. ovBap, E. udder, is in Lat. uber (for "^udher)] whilst E. widow, L. uidua, answers to Skt. vidhdva. The Aryan DH regularly appears as d in Slavonic, Lithu- anian, and O. Irish, as in Russ. dvere, O. Irish dorus, a door, Lith. dwys, pi. doors ^ ; cf. Gk. 6vpa. §96. Teutonic: Dentals. T (Aryan D) ; Gothic / (regu- larly) ; and so in A. S., Icel, Swed., Dutch ; but in Danish it is weakened (when final) to d, as in/od, foot. TH (Aryan T) appears as th in Gothic^; written/ or ^in ^ I do not give all the values of these Aryan symbols, but only those necessary for the present purpose ; thus a d may appear in Latin as r, but not in words cognate with English. For fuller particulars, see Iwan Miiller, Handbuch der Klassischen Altertums-Wissenschaft, Band II; Nordlingen, 1885. * This change is practically a shifting, and gives the same result. But it differs in this respect, viz. that the Slavonic (and other) races were content to confuse Aryan DH with Aryan D, The Teutonic races were not contented to do so, but distinguished the real D from T. ^ German editors often write ]> for Goth. th. § 9S.] THE LABIAL SERIES. II7 A. S. The Icel. initial p is sounded as th in thin^ but the medial d as th in thine. In Danish and Swedish the initial th {p) is sounded as /, and the medial th {3) as d, owing to a difficulty in pronouncing th at all ; for a similar reason, Dutch invariably substitutes d', cf. E. three with Dan. and Swed. t7'e, Du. dn'e ; and E. brother with Icel. brodir^ Swed. and Dan. broder, Du. breeder. When the Aryan T appears (contrary to the rule) as Goth, d^ this phenomenon can be accounted for by Verner's Law ; see Chap. IX. For ex- ample, L2it. /rater =Goih. brothar, E. brother, regularly; but on the other hand, Lat. pater =Goth./ader (not yhther), A.S. fcEder (not "^/cE^er), M. Y.. fader, the ioxixi father being modern. An Aryan ST remains st in Teutonic ; unless the s is lost, when the T may shift to th. D (Aryan DH) appears as Gothic, &c., d, regularly. § 97. Numerous examples of English words w^hich are cognate with words in other Aryan languages are given further on. In giving these it is convenient to reverse the order above, i. e. to give the English words before the others ; so that instead of saying that the Aryan D becomes a Teutonic T, we say that the Teut. T answers to an Aryan D, which is of course the same thing. It is only a question of con- venience. Similarly Teut. TH answers to Aryan T, and Teut. D to Aryan DH. Taking > as the symbol for 'becomes' or 'passes into,' and < as the symbol for * results from,' we see that the series DH>D>T>TH is the same as D < DH ; T < D ; TH < T. And again, these three com- parisons may be taken in the order TB>P>PH(=F) is the same as B^^/- z;^r^5 Welsh pedwar ; Goth, fidwor^ A. S. feower^ E. y^z/r. The Skt. has the root rz^f^^, to shine, corresponding to Aryan REUQ ^ ; but other languages keep the k^ as in Gk. Xev/co's, white, Lat. luc-ere^ to shine; this k becomes Goth, h regularly; hence Goth, liuh-ts, A. S. leoh-t, E. h'gir-t (where -/ is suffixed). In this case the Skt. alone has preserved a trace of q ; in all the other languages it is k. § 105. Aryan GH (palatal). This is represented in Skt. by h, in Gk. by x ; in Latin it is h ox f initially, and h (which often drops out) medially, or g (after a consonant). The Lith. is g. By regular shifting, it becomes G in Teutonic. Examples: Gk. x^'M^^'j winter, answers to Lat. hiems; Skt. havcisa, swan, answers to Gk. xh^i goose, Lat. aftser (for *hanser), Lith. zasis, Russ. gus\ A. S. gos, E. goose. Gk. X0X17, gall, is Lat. yi'/, E. gall. Skt. agha, sin, is allied to Gk. ax-o^, anguish, Lat. ang-or\ and to Goth, agis, fear, ^ See Root No. 311 in List of Aryan Roots, in my Etym. Diet, p. 741- 124 GRIMM'S LAW, [Chap. VIIL Icel. agi^ whence the mod. E. awe, a word of Scandinavian origin. Aryan GHw (velar). This is represented by Skt. gh or h, Gk. X (occasionally 6, ), and Lith. g. Latin is very variable, shewing g, /z,/* initially, and gu, v medially. Thus Lat. grains is allied to Gk. x^h^i I rejoice ; Lat. hostis, a stranger, enemy, is allied to A. S. gcEst, stranger, E. guest. \a2X. forimis, warm, to Skt. gharma, warmth. Lat. angids^ a snake, is allied to Lithuan. angis, Gk. %x^^^ Skt. ahi, a snake. Lat. leu-is^ light, is for "^lehuis, Gk. i-\axvs', and hreu-is^ short, for '^hrehu-is^ Gk. I3pax-vs. The Teutonic shifts, regularly, to G. § 106. Grimm's Law : Guttural Series. It follows from the above explanation that the guttural series G, K, GH, really splits into a doiidk set, viz. G, K, GH (palatal), and Gw, Q, GHw (velar). Hence the Law in § loi above, which is true if G, K, GH are palatal, requires to be supplemented by the following. Write down the following series of velar letters, viz. GHw, Gw, Q, K:Hw( = Hw); then the Aryan sound corresponding to each of these symbols (except the last) is shifted, in cognate Teutonic words, to the sound corresponding to the symbol which next succeeds it. Numerous examples are given below, where the E. forms come Jirs/. These are given by the double set of formula Kr], jaw, yo/x^os, a peg. E. and A. S. corn ; Russ. zern-o, corn ; Lat. gran-um. ■ E. crane, A. S. rr(2«, Welsh garan, Gk. yepav-os, a crane, Lithuan. garn-ys''-, a stork, gerwe, a crane, Lat. ^rz^;^/« ; Lat. ^^«z<;, Gk. yow, Skt. /awzif, knee. E. cleave, to split, A. S. cle'of-an, G. klieb-en, Teut. base KLUB (Kluge) ; Gk. y\v(p-eiv, to hollow out, engrave, Lat. glub-ere, to peel. § 109. As the Scandinavian languages are closely alHed to English, we naturally find that words of Scandinavian origin can be classed with English as regards their initial letters. Thus E. cast, Icel. and Swed. kast-a, Dan. kast-e, orig. to throw up into a heap (cf. E. cast up a mound), from Icel. kos, a pile, heap, is allied to Lat. ger-ere, to carry, bring, ^ I suppose that g appears instead of z in Lithuanian because the word is imitative. Imitative words frequently shew exceptional forms. ^ ' Als far as catal, the lang symmyris day, Had in thar pastur eyt and knyp away.' (1513). G. Douglas; Prol. to xii bk. of Virgil, 1. 94. 128 GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VIII. whence Lat. ag-ger, a mound, a heap brought together. Ger-ere = '^ ges-ere, as shewn by the pt. t. ges-si, supine ges-him. § 110. K > CH. Examples in which the A. S. c (before e or z) becomes E. ch. E. chew, A. S. ceow-an, G. kau-en ; Russ. jev-ate^ O. Slav. ziv-ait, to chew. E. chin, A. S. cin, Icel. ki7i7i, G. Ki7tn ; Lat. gen-a, cheek, Gk. yiv-vsy chin, jaw. E. choose, A. S. ceos-an, Goth, kms-an ; Gk. yev-oiiai, I taste ; Lat. gus-tus, taste ; Skt. /aj-^ (for ^^W), to enjoy, rehsh. § 111. Final K. In all the above examples the Teut. K occurs at the begifim'ng of the words. It will be useful to add examples in which it occurs at, or near, the e7id of words. As before, I give only selected examples, and I find myself compelled to give them as briefly as possible. Fuller particulars can frequently be obtained by looking out the words in my Etymological Dictionary ; on which account, it is not necessary to give all the cognate words, nor full details. The order of the examples is the same as that in Pick's Worterbuch. Medially and finally. E. eke, to augment, A. S. eac-an, Goth, auk-an; Lithuan. aug-ii, to grow; Lat. aug-ere, to increase. The mod. E. / is A. S. ic, Goth, ik ; Lat. eg-o, Gk. ey-w, ly-(i>v ; but the Skt. is aha77i (as if for * aghaj7i). E. rook (bird), A. S. hrSc, i. e. ' croaker ' ; Goth. }iruk-ja77, to crow as a cock ; Gk. Kpavy-rj, a screaming \ cf. Skt. kj'Uf, to cry out. E. thatch, s., A. S. pccc ; Lat. teg-ere, to cover, Gk. uriy-^Lv, Skt. sthag. The Aryan roots teg and steg, to cover, are merely variant forms. ^ Here sound-shifting occurs tjuice, both at the begiimmg and the end cf the word ; so also in thatch, think, &c. § III.] EXAMPLES. 129 E. think^ A. S. penc-an^ from panc^ a thought ; O. Lat. iong-ere, to think. E. thick ; O. Irish h'g-e, Irish tigh-e, thickness, fatness. E. bake, A. S. bac-an, pt. t. boc ; cf. Gk. (f>o)y-€tv, to roast. E. 3f^^/z, derived from A. S. boc, beech ; Lat. fdg-us, Gk. E. (5r^^/(', A. S. brec-an, pt. t. ^r('f, A. S. wac-an ; Lat. ueg-ere, to arouse ; uig-il, wakeful. E. wink-le, a shell-fish, winch, a crank ; Lithuan. wing-e, a bend. E. z£;^r/^, A. S. z£;^^r, A. S. he'ap^ heap, crowd ; Russ. kup-a, heap, crowd ; Lith. kup-a, heap, crowd ; Lith. kaup-as, heap. E. 2£;^(?, A. S. hwd ; Lat. ^z/z', Lith. and Skt. ka-s, who. E. wheeze, A. S. hwe's-an ; Lat. quer-i (pp. ques-tus), to complain ; Skt. f z^^j, to breathe hard. E. ze'/«/^, A. S. hwil; allied to Lat. qui-es, rest; cf. Gk. Kel-fiai, I lie still, Skt. p', to lie still. Medially. E. /ighl, s., A. S. koh/, Goth, /z'z^/^-^//z, brightness; Lat. iuc-ere, to shine, Gk. XevK-os, white ; Skt. ruch, to shine. 134 Grimm's law. [chap. vm. § 116. Teut. Gw, G (Goth, g) < Aryan GHw (Skt. gh, h, Gk. x, 5 Q, Lat. g^ h,/igu, v), Lith. and Slav. g). See § 105. Medially. E. nm7, A. S. ncog-el; Russ. nog-ote, Lith. nag-as ; Skt. nakh-a (for * nagh-a). E. j//7f, A. S. stig-el, from siig-an, to climb ; cf. Gk. (TTeix-fiv, to go, Skt. j"//^/^, to ascend. § 117. Teut. T (/) < Aryan D (Skt. d, Gk. 8, Lat. d, /). Initially. E. /00/k, A. S. /d3^ (for "^ tpjt^), Goth, tunthus; Lat. ace. dent-em. E. /(2/?z^ ; Lat. dom-are, Gk. ha\i.-av, Skt. ^<2Z72, to tame. E. timber^ Goth, tiin-r-jan, to build ; cf. Gk. defi-eiv, to build. E. /mr, s., Goth, /^^r ; Lat. /acn'ma, O. Lat. dacn'ma, Gk. daKpv. E. /^^r, v., Goth, ga-tair-an ; Russ. c^/r-(2, a rent ; Lithuan. dir-ti, Gk. dep-ei.v, to flay ; Pers. dar-zdan, to tear. E. /r^^, Goth. /;7z/; Gk. SpC-s-, O. Irish ^<2zr, Welsh derw, oak ; Russ. drev-o, tree. E. /(9Z£;;?, A. S. fun, an enclosure ; O. Irish dun, a walled town, Welsh dm (whence din-as, a town). E. He, tow, v., tug ; cf. Lat. duc-ere, to draw. E. tongue ; Lat. ling-ua, O. Lat. ding-ua. E. /f;^, Goth, taihun ; Lat. decern, Gk. Se/ca, Skt. da^an. E. /^, prep. ; Russ. c^(9, O. Irish cff?, to. E. trea-d, tra-mp ; cf. Gk. 8pd-mi, Skt. cVa, to run. E. /z£;^, A. S. twd; Lat. ^z/^, Gk. dvo, Russ. and Skt. <2'<:, s.; Lat. teg-ere, to cover; Gk. ri-y-os^ roof, (TTey-(iv, to cover. Cf. E. tegument. E. //zzw/^ ; cf. O. Lat. tong-ere, to think. E. MzVz ; Lat. ten-uis, Russ. tonku, Skt. tan-u, thin. E. ihun-der ; Lat. ton-are, to thunder. E. //^(?r« ; Russ. /mz2(f; Skt. bandh (for * bha7idh), to bind; Pers. bandan, to bind ; Aryan bhendh. E. r^^; Gk. i-pv6-p6s, Lat. rz^3--^, from. E. over, A.S. ^r, Goth, ifar ; Skt. /^/>^n', above. E. reave, be-reave, A.S. re'af tan, to strip, plunder; allied to Lat. ru{iri)p-ere, pt. t. rz^/>-z*, to break ; Skt. lup (for * rup^, to break, spoil. Our E. loot, plunder, is a Hindi word of Skt. origin, from Skt. lotra, lopira, plunder, a derivative of lup, to break, also to spoil. E. shave, A.S. sceaf-an, Goth, skab-aii) Lith. skap-oti, to shave, cut ; Gk. aKdn-Teiv, to cut a trench, dig. See remarks at the end of § 120. § 122. Teut. B (b) < Aryan BH (Skt. bh, Gk. , Lat./ h, b ; Pers., Slav., Irish <5). 140 GRIMM'S LAW. [Chap. VIIL " Initial. E. lane, A.S. han-a, a murderer ; cf. Gk. <^6v-oiy death, murder ; O. Irish hen-aim, I strike. E. heech, hook, A.S. hoc, beech ; \u2i\..fag-us, Gk. (f)T]y-6s. E. 3^//-^r (comparative); Goth. <$^/-j, good ; Skt. M^^-r^,. excellent. E. hind; Skt. handh (for '''' hha7idh), to bind, Pers. batid-an, to bind. E. hear, v. ; Lat. fer-re, Gk. (pep-eiv, Skt. h/iar, to bear ; Pers. hur-dan, to carry; O. Irish her-i?n, I bear. E. brother ; 'L?i\..f rater, Gk. ^parr^p, Skt. bhrdtar, Russ. (5r^/', O. Irish hrdthir, Pers. hirddar. E. ^d?r^, v.; IjdX./or-are, to bore, Pers. hur-idan, to cut. E. <5z'/^; l^'Sit. fi{ii)d-ere, pt. t fid-i, Skt. 3/zz'^, to cleave. E. heaver ; Lithuan. hehrus, Russ. (5c(5r', Lat. j'f(5fr. E. ^^zr^y^ (tree), Mercian hirce, A. S. <5^^r^ ; Russ. hereza ; Skt. hlmrja, a kind of birch-tree. E. he, A. S. ^/^z^* (■j= '^hhiig, for ^hhnig), to enjoy. Cf. 'E. fruit, from the French. E. 3/oze;, (as wind) ; Lat. fla-re. E. (5/^f/l', A. S. hlcEc, orig. sense ' burnt ' or ' scorched by fire ' ; Lat. flag-rare, to burn ; Gk, cpXey-eiv, to burn ; Skt. hharg-as, light, brightness. Cf. E. flagrant. E. Uow (as a flower) ; Lat. flo-s, a flower, flo-r-ere, to flourish ; O. Irish hld-the, bloom, hidth, a flower. Final and Medial. The Teut. final h, preserved in Gothic, is weakened to v (written/*) in Anglo-Saxon. In a few words, such as turf, the v is strengthened to f by its position. This A.S./" usually becomes ve in modern English. §122.] EXAMPLES. 141 E. carve^ A.S. ceorf-an^ G. kerh-en ; Gk. ypd(f)-eiv, to scratch, grave, inscribe, write \ Cf. O. Irish cerd-aim, I cut. E. ca/f; Gk. ^p€(f>-os (for *yp€ Gw>Q>KHw(Hw); GH >G >K >KH(H) ; DH>D> T>TH; andBH>B>P>PH(F). Let it be noted that the symbol > means ' older than ' or ' passes into,' in accord- ance with its algebraical value of ' greater than.' § 124. The real discovery made by Rask and Grimm was, briefly, this. They practically said — ' It is not enough to ob- serve that the Latin ires corresponds to E. three^ or the Latin tu to the English thou ; these are only special instances of a great general law, that a Latin initial / corresponds to an English initial ///, whatever the word may be ; and, similarly, for other letters.' This grand generalisation was an enormous advance, because it sowed the notion that languages have laws, and that there is regular correspondence between such of them as are related. Possibly they may have regarded rather the letters or symbols than the sounds for which they stood ; and, in fact, this is the easiest way of beginning, and the only way that can be perfectly explained to the eye. At the same time, the true philologist must really deal with the sounds themselves, and it only is by a recognition of this all- important truth that most modern advances in the science of Swedish, and Norwegian . . . have really kept to the original form of Germanic speech, whilst High German has separated itself from this common foundation.' — Scherer, Hist. Germ, Lit., i. 35. § 12 5-] GRIMM'S LAW. 1 45 languages have been made. The symbol is a mere make- shift; the sound is subject to real physiological laws which are of primary importance, and frequently, or as some would say, invariably, act with surprising regularity \ The best plan is to regard the formulae of sound-shifting, in § 107, as fur- nishing a convenient empirical rule, which should, in every case of word-comparison, be carefully considered. The facts themselves are nearly two thousand years old, and Grimm's Law only formulates them conveniently. I have already observed that ' the popular notions about Grimm's Law are extremely vague. Many imagine that Grimm made the law not many years ago, since which time Latin and Anglo-Saxon have been bound to obey it. But the word law is then strangely misapprehended j it is "only a law in the sense of an observed fact. Latin and Anglo-Saxon were thus differen- tiated in times preceding the earliest record of the latter, and the difference might have been observed in the eighth century^ if any one had had the \vits to observe it. When the differ- ence has been once perceived, and all other A. S. and Latin equivalent words are seen to follow it, we cannot consent to establish an exception to the rule in order to compare a single (supposed) pair of words [such as E. care, A. S. cearu, and Lat. cura, O. Latin coira\ which did not agree in the vowel-sound, and did not originally mean the same thing ^.' § 125. It is extremely important to observe here that, after all, several of the above supposed shiftings are not really confined to the Teutonic branch of languages. Take, for example, the word brother, Skt. bhrdtar. Here the Aryan BH is only kept in the Skt. bhrdtar, Gk. ^parrip, and the Lat. * Exceptions are regarded as due to the external influence of forms which seem to be in the same category. Thus A. S. tv&re is now wert, because we already had art, sJialt, ivilt. ^ Some of the spellings in yElfred's translation of Orosius are not a little remarkable. He writes GaG, DH>D, and BH>B are natural simplifications which can surprise nobody. For whatever sounds were denoted by GH, DH, BH, it is fair to suppose that they were more difficult of utterance than the sounds denoted by G, D, and B only. Further, the Teutonic symbol KH merely meant h, so that the formula K > KH really represents a change from k to h, and of these two sounds k requires the greater effort. There is, no doubt, some difficulty about such changes as G>K, D>T^; but they were probably due to a striving after distinctness, in order to separate the original G and D from the degraded instances of GH and DH. They are not more won- derful than the Highlander's pronunciation of ve7y good as fery coot. Without pursuing this subject further, I will merely observe that, in Anglo-Saxon, the Greeks are called Crecas quite as often as they are called Grecas. The Gothic bishop Wulfila called them Krekos. § 126. Verner's Law. Notwithstanding all exceptions, some of which are real and some apparent, the Teutonic- sound-shiftings exhibit, upon the whole, a surprising regu- larity; and every anomaly deserves careful consideration, because we may possibly learn from it some useful lesson. ^ I do not here include the change denoted by B > P, which is, in any case, very rare. § 127.] EFFECT OF ACCENT, 1 47 It was just by taking this scientific view that the remarkable law called * Verner's Law * was discovered, which I now pro- ceed to explain and illustrate. The particular anomaly which it explains is well exemplified by comparing the Lat. pater, lyiaier^f rater, Skt. patar, vidtar, bhrdtar, with their Teu- tonic equivalents. In modern English we h.2ive father, mother, brother, because constant association has given the words the same ending -ther, but this is not the case in Anglo-Saxon, nor even in Middle English \ The Chaucer MSS. have fader, moder, brother, in agreement with A. S. fader, modor^ brodor, O. Friesic feder, moder, brother, O. Saxon fadar, modar, brothar, Gothic fadar, brothar (the Gothic word for * mother ' being aithei). I may add, on the authority of Dr. Peile, whose assistance in describing Verner's Law I thank- fully acknowledge, that the dialect of S.W. Cumberland still employs the words fader, mudder, brother, in accordance with Anglo-Saxon. It is quite certain that the true Teutonic types of these three words are fader, moder, brother, whilst the true Aryan types are pater, mater, bhrater. The last of these shews the shifting T > TH, whilst the two former shew T > D. Here is something wortK investigation. There should be some reason for this ; and the problem is, to discover it. § 127. Various answers might be suggested, but the true reason was given by Karl Verner, of Copenhagen, in July, 1875, and was published in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, vol. xxiii. p. 97 (1877). Perhaps the first thought that might occur to any one who takes up the problem would be this, viz. that the Lat. pater differs from f rater in having a short vowel in the former syllable, whilst the a mf rater is long. Unluckily, this breaks down at once, because the a in viater is long^ which Hnks it with the wrong word. Verner shews that no cause which commonly operates in language is capable of causing these variations except one — and that is accent. If ^ It is not easy to find examples oi father, viother before 1500. Let the reader try. L 2 148 VERNER'S law. [Chap. IX. we turn to Gk., we find the words to be Tiar^p, vh^w, (jipdrnp (with long a), which still links fJi,T]Tr]p with (jypaTrjp, not with Trarrip ; but the fact is, that the Greek does not in this instance represent the original Aryan accent, though it is often a good guide. Sanskrit, on the contrary, gives the facts rightly, and solves the difficulty. In Sanskrit, the true old nominatives were piia'7'^ mdta'r, bhrd'tar (first a long), where the dot after a vowel denotes that it was accented. That is to say, pitar and mdtar were accented on the latter syllable, but bhrdtar upon the /oi'mer. Hence we deduce this tentative or pro- visional rule : — If the Aryan K, T, or P immediately follows the position of the accent, it shifts regularly to the Low German h, th, or f ; but if it precedes the position of the accent, it becomes (as it were by a double shift- ing) g, d, or b. To this it must be added, by way of necessary explanation, that the Aryan and Sanskrit (and indeed the Greek) accent was at first, at least predominantly, an accent of pitch, and concerned the tone of the voice, having nothing to do with the length or ' quantity ' of a syllable, nor yet with stress, as in modern English. Verner thinks that the Teutonic accent was one of stress also, not of pitch only; so that the stress falling upon the vowel of an accented syllable preserved the con- sonant which followed it from further change beyond its first shifting. Otherwise, the consonant following an unaccented syllable suffered further change. Thus the Teutonic bro'- THER, accented on i\\e/or7ner syllable, kept its th unchanged; but the Teutonic fathe-r, accented (in the earliest period) on the latter syllable, suffered a further change of th to D, thus becoming fader. § 128. Vomer's Law (in the original German). I ought to say that I have only stated Verner's Law, as given above, in a popular way. His own words shall now be given. * Indogerm. k, t,p, gingen erst iiberall in h, th,/ uhtr] die so § 129.] EXAMPLES. 1 49 enstandenen fricativae nebst der vom Indogermanischen ererbten tonlosen fricativa s wurden weiter inlautend bei tonenden nachbarschaft selbst tonend, erhielten sich aber als tonlose im nachlaute betonter Silben.' I. e. ' The Aryan k, /, /), first of all shifted into h, th, and /; the fricatives thus produced (together with the voiceless fricative j when in- herited from the Aryan) afterwards became, when medial and in voiced company, themselves voiced [i. e. changed to g, d, b, z\ ; but remained unchanged when following an accented syllable.' It may be added that the z, thus produced from J, further changed into r in Anglo-Saxon. It is also worth observing in this place, that it is precisely because Verner's Law explains the change oi s io z as well as the change of X', /, and p to g, d, and b, that his explanation has been ac- cepted without question. § 129. Examples. The use of the Law consists in its wide application, and the proof of it lies in the fact that it explains a large number of anomalies that had frequently been noticed, and had never before received any satisfactory explanation. It has already been shewn to explain the differ- ence in form between the A. S. brodor^ brother, and the A. S. feeder, modor, in which the d has been further weakened to d, owing to the fact that the original Teutonic accent fell upon the latter syllable of those words, whereas in the case of brodor, it fell upon the former syllable. But it explains a great deal more than this. For example, the Skt. a'ntara, other, was accented on the first syllable ; hence the Teutonic form was a'nthero, with the same accent, whence A. S. oder"^, E. other, with th for /, and no further change. On the other hand, the Skt. anta'r, within, was accented on the latter syllable ; hence the Teut. form was first anthe'r and ' The A. S. form was, originally, "^ anther \ but, as A. S. changes an into on, it became '^ onthcr; and again, because A. S. drops n before th, it became oQer, the vowel being lengthened to compensate for the loss of ;/. Cf. t65, tooth, for '^tatid, Lat. dcnt-em. 150 VERNER'S LAW. [Chap. IX. secondly ande'r, whence the A. S. under, E. uiider, with a slight change of sense. (The G. unter is still often used precisely like the Lat. inter ^ Grimm's Law would have made the Teut. form anther. Once more, the Skt. gruta' (Gk. kKvtU), heard, from gru, to hear, was accented on the latter syllable ; the corresponding Teut. form was first hlutha*, and secondly HLUDA', whence A.S. hlud, E. loud. Grimm's Law would have made it louth. Yet again; the Skt. sphdtr {-=.sphdti, for "^ spdti), signifying 'increase,' was accented on the latter syllable ; the corresponding Teutonic word was first spothi*, and secondly spodi", which (by a rule of vowel-change to be explained hereafter) became the A. S. spe'd, E. speed. Grimm's Law would have made it speeth. On the other hand, the Skt. drya, venerable, honourable, gives a sb. drya'-td, honourable- ness, accented on the secojid syllable, i. e. the accent just pre- cedes the suffix -ta. Hence the corresponding suffix in Teutonic was -tha, which usually suffered no further change. This is the suffix so common in English, as in weal-th, heal-th, streng-th, &c. To take another instance, we may exemplify the curious change o{ s Xo z and r, as to which Grimm's Law says nothing ; in fact, it only occurs where s has been voiced to z in consequence of a following accent. Sanskrit causal verbs are formed by adding the suffix -aya, as in bhar-aya, to cause to bear, from bhi, to bear. This suffix is an accented one, having an accent on the former a. The corresponding suffix in Teutonic is -ja7i or -I'an, which also originally took the accent, so that causal verbs in Teu- tonic were at first accented on the suffix, not on the root. Hence, from the verb rise, A. S. ris-afi ^ was formed a causal verb "^rds-iafi, in which, by Verner's Law, the s became first z and afterwards r ; in fact, we meet with it only in the con- tracted form rdr-afi, mod. E. rear. Here Verner's Law at ^ The mark over the / denotes IciigtJi only. It has nothing to do with the peculiar Teutonic accent here discussed. So also in the case of rds-iau, &c., the mark still denotes vowel-length only. § 130.] ANGLO-SAXON GRAMMAR. 151 once explains how the E. verb to rear is the correct causal form of the verb to rise ; i. e. the original sense of rear was simply ' to make to rise/ and the form is quite correct. But there is a still more striking fact yet to come. This is, that the Icelandic often preserves j unchanged, and does not always shift it to r\ Hence, the Icelandic causal verb of ris-a, to rise, happens to be reis-a ^, a form which has actually been borrowed by English, and is still in common use as raise (pronounced raiz). In other words, Verner's Law not only accounts for the variation in form between rear and raise^ but enables us to trace them to the same Teutonic form RAisjAN ; in fact, it tells us all we want to know. Instances might be multiplied almost indefinitely; it is suf- ficient to say that Verner's Law is most admirable and satisfactory, because it fully explains so many cases in which Grimm's Law seems to fail. § 130. Points in A. S. Grammar. There are some points in A. S. grammar which Verner's Law explains, and which are too important to be passed over. Thus, among the verbs of the ' drive - conjugation ' (see Sweet's A. S. Grammar) is the verb snid-an, to cut (G. schneiden). The past tense singular is ic sndd, I cut, but the past tense plural is we' snid-on, we cut, and the pp. is snid-en ; where snid-on, snid-en^ shew a weakening of d to d. The explanation is the same as before, viz. that the original accent fell on i\iQ former syllable of snid-an and on the only remaining syllable of sndd, but on the latter syllable of s7iidon and sniden. Turning to Sanskrit, this is at once verified. The Skt. bhid^ to break or cleave, has the pt. t. bt-bhe-d-a with accent on the root ; whilst the first person plural of the same tense is bi-bhid-i?na' , with the accent on the last syllable. The pp. is bhin-na', also accented on the final vowel. Precisely in the same way, the * Thus Icel. kjosa, to choose, has both kosinn and kjorinii in the pp. ^ The Icel. s, both in visa and rcisa, is pronounced as j-, not z\ so that it could not pass into r. ^52 VERNER'S LAW. [Chap. IX. verb ceosan, to choose, has for the first person singular of the past tense the form teas ; but the plural suffered change, first into * ciizon^ and secondly into curojt, which is the only form found. We can now easily foretell that the pp. was not cosen, but coren, as was in fact the case ; the modern E. has restored the s (by ' form-association ' with the infinitive choose), so that we now have chosen. This remarkable r is still preserved in the word forloi-n, which has been isolated from the verb to which it belongs. It was once a pp., answering to A. ^.for- loren, pp. oi/or-leosan, where y^r- is an intensive prefix, and le'osa7i is closely connected with (but not quite the same word as) our verb to lose. Hence /or- loni meant, originally, utterly lost, left quite destitute. Some other facts which Verner's Law explains, may be also mentioned here. The Gothic infinitive of the verb ' to slay ' is slahan., contracted in A. S. to sledn ; the A. S. pt. t. (i p. s.) is sloh (with>^^), but the plural is slogan, and the pp. slagen (with g), E. slain. Lastly, the Greek accents suffice to help us to the form of the A. S. com- parative. Gk. has r]hv^, sweet, but in the comparative the accent is thrown back (where it can be) upon the root, as seen in the neuter 17^401' (cf the superlative rj^iaTos) ; and, in correspondence with this, we find the Gothic comparative from the base bat- (good) is not hat-vsa (with s\ but ba't-iza (with z). Consequently, the A. S. turns the Teutonic suffix -izo into -ira, -era, -ra, as in bet-ra, E. hett-er ; and generally, all our mod. E. comparatives end in -er, whilst the superlatives end in -est, because the j is protected from change by the following /. Cf Goth, hat-ist-s, best, Gk. rjd-iaT-os, sweetest. § 131. Vedic Accentuation. It is a singular result of Verner's Law, that a knowledge of the A. S. conjugational forms will sometimes enable us to give a good guess as to the accentuation of a Sanskrit word in the Rig- Veda ! Let us try an example. We find, in A. S., that the verb lid-an, to * Misprinted slog in the Grammar in Sweet's A. S. Reader; but the Glossary to the same gives references to sloh. § 133.J EXAMPLES. 153 travel, makes the past tense lad, pi. lid-on, pp. lid-en ; and we further find that the past tense of the subjunctive mood takes the form lid-e, pi. lid-on. We should therefore expect that, in the corresponding Sanskrit tenses, the accent falls on the suffix rather than on the root-syllable ; accordingly, we find that, in the first person plural of the second preterite, the accent falls on the last syllable, as in bihhidima\ we clove (§ 130); and in the perfect potential tense, the accent falls upon the suffix -yam, as in bibhidyd'm, pf. potent, of bhid, to cleave. § 132. General Results! The following are the general results given by Verner, with reference to the above Law. They merely state it in a different form. 1. Even after the occurrence of the first consonantal shifting, the Teutonic languages preserved the original Aryan accentuation. 2. But in these languages, accent was no longer a mere pitch or tone of the voice, but actual stress, perhaps accom- panied by pitch. 3. Whenever k, /, p appear in Teutonic sometimes as h, ih, /, and sometimes as g, d, b, such variation is due to the old Aryan accentuation. ' 4. Whenever s appears in Teutonic sometimes as s and sometimes as z (or r), such variation is due to the same cause. W^e thus see that Verner's Law goes farther than Grimm's, and explains cases in which the latter seems to fail. We may also notice that Sanskrit preserves the original Aryan accentuation, which Greek frequently fails to do. It is also noteworthy that Gothic has frequendy levelled, or rendered uniform, its shifted forms, being in this respect a less faithful representative of the original Teutonic than either Anglo- Saxon or Icelandic. § 133. Examples. A few examples are added, by way of illustration. 154 VERNER's LAW. [Chap. IX. Gutturals. We find g for h in the A. S. pt. t. pi. slog-on, from slea7i (Goth, slah-mi), to slay ; whilst the pt. t. sing, is sloh, regularly. So also in the pt. t. pi. pw6g-on of pwean (Goth, thwah-an), to wash ; whilst the pt. t. sing, is pwok (Matt, xxvii. 24). So, too, in the pp. of these verbs, we find slag-en^ pwag-en^ not '^ slah-en^ '^pwah-en. Dentals. Examples of d for th {p) are more numerous and important. Thus, the Skt. txtiya, third, is accented on the second, not the first syllable ; hence the Goth, form is not "^pripja, but pridja, with which cf. A. S. pridd-a, M. E. thrid, mod. E. third. This change does not apply to the other ordinal numbers on account of their peculiar forms ; thus we find A. S. fi/i-a, fifth, j-zaY-(2^ sixth, endlyft-a, eleventh, twelft-a, twelfth, all with voiceless / on account of the pre- ceding voiceless_/or s. Such pronunciations 2iS fi/t and sixt may still be heard in provincial English. Seveftth, eighth, ninth, are in A. S. seofopa^ eahtopa, nigopa, where the original accent just preceded the p', whilst fourth, A. S. fe'orpa, was conformed to the analogy of the prevalent form in -pa. The d for th in hard is explained by the accent of the Gk. Kpar-vs. E. -hood, common as a suffix, is the A. S. had, Goth, haid-us, cognate with Skt. ketw, ' a distinguishing mark,' with the accent on the u. E. and A. S. U7ider, Goth. iindar, is cognate with Skt. anta'r, within; whilst E. other, Goth. anthar, on the contrary, is cognate with Skt. a'7itara, other, with the accent on the first syllable. The Skt. pp. suffix -ta was accented, and for the same reason E. past participial forms end in d, not th ; examples are E. lou-d, A. S. hlu-d, cognate with Gk. xXv-rof, renowned, Skt. gru-ta-, heard ; E. ol-d, A. S. eal-d, cognate with Lat. al-tus, pp. of al-ere, to nourish ; E. dea-d, A. S. de'a-d, Goth, dau-th-s, whilst the allied sb. is dea-th, A. S. de'a-d, Goth, dauth-us ; E. nak-ed, A. S. nac-od, Goth, nakw-aths ; and generally, the E. pp. ends in -d or -ed, whilst the Goth. pp. invariably ends in -th-s. So, too, in the case of causal verbs, the primitive accent on the causal suffix § 133-1 CHANGE 01' S TO R. 155 (A. S. -ia7i, in contracted form -ati) leads us to expect d in place of th. Hence we have E. lead^ vb., A. S. Idd-an { = '^Idd- I'ati), causal of lid-aii, to travel ; E. send, A. S. send-an, Goth. sand-ja7i, a causal verb allied to Goth, sinth-s^ a journey. Note also the A. S. pt. s. cwcrp, quoth, pi. cwdd-on ; and the A. S. pp. sod-en, E. sodd-en, from the infin. se'od-an, E. seethe. Labials. A good example occurs in E. severi, of which the Goth, form is sibun, not 'f'sifun', cognate with Vedic Skt. sapta-n, Gk. k-nra. It is remarkable, however, that the Teut. b always appears as_/ in A. S. at the end of a syllable (where it was not sounded as/^ but as v). See § 122. The letter r for s. E. hare, A. S. har-a (for *haz-a), G. Has-e ; cognate with Skt. (;ag-a' (for gas-a'^, a hare. E. lore, A. S. Idr, together with the causal verb leer -an, to teach, shew ;- for s ; cf the Goth, lais-jan, to teach, connected with the pt. s. lais, I have learnt, of which the infin. *lis-an does not appear. So also in the case of all comparatives of adjectives, already mentioned ; as in E. bett-er, A. S. bet-ra, cognate with Goth, bat-iza, better. The A. S. pp. coren, chosen, from ceos-an, to choose, is mentioned above ; as also the old pp. for-lorn. Another interesting example occurs in the A. S. ^^./roren, for which mod. E. has substituted /r^0^«, as being more easily associated with the infin. freeze. But country people still complain of ' beingy^'^r/z,' and we have the authority of Milton for the form frore, which is merely the A. ^./roren with the loss of final n. ' The parching air Burns /rare, and cold performs th' effect of fire.' Par. Lost, ii. 594-5. CHAPTER X. Vowel-Gradation. § 134. One of the most important matters in etymology is the consideration of the relationship of some of the older vowel-somids, which are to a certain extent connected by what is known as ' gradation/ or in German, ahlaut. Such a connection is especially noticeable in the case of the strong verbs, which form the past tense and past participle by means of such gradation or vowel-change. Thus the past tense of drink is drank, and the past participle is drunken ; we have here an alteration from / to a^ and again to u. It is ob- viously highly important that we should investigate to what extent such alterations are regular, and are capable of being tabulated. It may be noted, by the way, that similar altera- tions in the vowel-sounds are found in other Aryan languages, and are not confined to Teutonic only. Thus, in Greek, we find that the verb XeU-^Lv, to leave, makes the perfect tense Xe-XoLTT-a, and the second aorist e-Xnr-ov ; that is, there is a gradation from et to oi, and again to i. Neither is this gradation confined to the verb; it appears also in various derivatives; thus we have the sb. Xfi^is [=z*X€tn-Tis), a leaving; the adj. \onr-6s, remaining; and numerous com- pounds beginning with Xtrro-, as in Xino-ypufxixaros, wanting a letter, whence E. lipogram. In Latin we h2LVQ fid-ere [ = */eid-ere), to trust; in connection with which are the adj. fid-US, trusty, the sb. fid-es, faith, and the sb. foed-us (^ = '^/oid-us), a compact, treaty. These shew a gradation § 135-] GRADATION IN MODERN ENGIISH. 1 57 from z {ei) to oe ipi), and again to i. These are merely given as further illustrations ; in the present chapter I shall only discuss gradation as it affects the Teutonic languages, especially Anglo-Saxon and Gothic. § 135. IModern English is but an unsafe guide to gradation. A considerable number of the strong verbs, which were once perfectly regular, may now fitly be named ' irregular,' al- though that name is chiefly used to conceal the ignorance of grammarians w'ho are unable to understand the laws of gradation. These ' irregularities ' have mostly been intro- duced by confusing the form of the past participle with that of the past tense, and so making one form do duty for both. To make the confusion worse, we find instances in which the form of the past tense has been altered to agree with that of the past participle, besides the instances in which the process has been reversed ; and a third set of instances in which a verb has been associated with another which originally belonged to a different conjugation, or with an allied weak verb, or has been altered from a strong verb to a w^eak one. Thus the verb to bear has the pt. t. bare, and the pp. born, borne. But the pt. t. bare is obsolescent, and is comm.only replaced by bore, in which the is borrowed from the pp. The A. S. stand-an, to stand, had the pt. t. stod, and the pp. standen ; but the form siandeji has disappeared, and the pt. t. stood is also used in the pp. Such a form as spoken shews great confusion ; the A. S. verb was sprec-an, pt. t. sprcEc, pp. sprecen, which should have given in modern English, with the loss of r, an infin. speak, with the pt. t. spake, and a pp. *speke7i; but it was naturally associated with the verb to break, of which the true pt. t. was brake, and the pp. broken. The result was the use of spoken, as associated with broken ; moreover, the past tenses spake and brake have become archaic, and are usually supplanted by spoke and brolie ; where the of broke is borrowed from the true form of its pp. ; but that of spoke from 2^ false form. The verb to 158 VO WEL- GRADA TION, [Chap. X. hold made the pt. t. held, and the pp. hold-en, but the latter has been supplanted by the pt. t. ' He was held down ' is, historically, a shamefully incorrect form ; but it is now con- sidered good grammar, and we must not now say anything else ^. Again, the old strong intrajisitive verb lo wake made the pt. t. wohe, so that it was correct to say / woke ; but it was confused with the derived weak transitive verb to wake, so that we may now hear ' I woke him up ' instead of ' I waked him up,' which was the original phrase. Conversely, we find ' I waked ' used intransitively. Many verbs, such as creep, weep, sleep, which were once strong, are now weak. There is even one remarkable instance in which a weak verb has become strong, viz. the verb to wear, pt. t. wore, pp. worn ; simply by association with bear, bore, born. The M. E. weren, to wear, is invariably weak, with a pt. t. werede or wered, and a pp. wered. ' Of fustian he ivered a gipoun.' Chaucer, Prolog, to C. 7"., 75. § 136. It follows from this that the modern English strong verbs cannot be properly understood without comparing them with the Middle English and A. S. forms ; and it is absolutely necessary to the understanding of gradation that we should further consult the Gothic and other Teutonic forms, as well as the Anglo-Saxon. The Middle English and A. S. forms will be found in Morris, Hist. OutHnes of E. Gramm., pp. 285-307, and need not be further discussed here. Our present object is to discover the original Teu- tonic vowel-gradation, and for this purpose w^e must compare with one another the oldest known forms of the verbs in the various Teutonic languages. The result is that we can clearly distinguish seven forms of conjugation; and, as the order of them is indifferent, I shall here keep to that \vhich I ^ Held occurs in our Bibles as a pp. only thrice (Ps. xxxii. 9, Sol. Song vii. 5, Rom. vii. 6) ; but Jiohien occurs eleven times. § 137.] REDUPLICATING VERBS. 159 have already given in the Introduction to Morris's Specimens of English from 1150 to 1300, p. Ixvii (2nd ed.). The seven conjugations are exemplified in modern English by the verbs fall, shake, bear, give, drink, drive, and choose ; which may be remembered by aid of the following doggerel couplet — * If e'er thou fall, the shake with patience bear ; Give ; seldom drink ; drive slowly ; choose with care.' The investigation of the modes of conjugation of these seven verbs will now occupy our attention. § 137. Reduplicating Verbs : the Verb 'to fall.' Verbs of the 'fair conjugation differ from all the rest in their mode of conjugation. They do not really exhibit gradation at all, but the past tense was originally formed by reduplica- tion, and the vowel of the pp. was never altered. We still have the "^i^. fall-en from fall, blow-n from blow, grow-n from grow, hew-n from hew, and the obsolescent hold-ejt from hold. The word fall can be traced back to an Aryan root SPAL, as seen in the Skt. sphal (for '^ spal), to tremble; Gk. (T(pdK\-€tv (for *o-7raXX-6iz'), to trip up, cause to fall ; whence, by loss of initial s, we have the Lat. fall-ere, to deceive, orig. to trip up, and the E. fall. Both English and Latin words begin with the same letter f, because of the lost s of the root ; the IjsX.fallere (for "^sfallere) being due to a change of sp to sf (as in Gk. aiv to a(p) ; whilst f is the regular Teutonic substitution for Aryan/ by Grimm's Law. Now the 'L?!. fall-ere makes the pt. t.fe-fell-i by reduplication ; and, in precisely the same way, the Gothic verb hald-an, to hold, makes the pt. t. in the form hai-hald^\ i.e. the initial letter of the verb is repeated, followed by the diphthong ai. So also we have Goih..falth-an, to fold, pt. t. fai-falth ; hait-an, to call, pt. t. hai-hait ; laik-an, to skip, pt. t. lai-laik. In a ^ The Goth. /a/I-au, to fall, does not happen to occur; if it did, its past tense would htfai-falL l60 VOWEL-GRADATION, [Chap. X. few cases, the Gothic exhibits a vowel-change from e to o as well as reduplication, as in let-aii, to let, pt. t. lai-lot ; red-an, to provide for, pt. t. rai-roth. Anglo-Saxon exhibits but very few examples of reduplication ; the principal being heht, Goth, hai-haii, pt. t. of hdt-an, to call; reord, Goth. rai-roth, pt. t. of rdd-an, to advise ; leolc, Goth, lai-laik, pt. t. of ldc-a?i, to skip ; and the disfigured forms leort, Goth, lai-lot, pt. t. of IcBt-an, to let ; and on-dreord, pt. t. of on-drdd-an, to dread. More commonly, the contraction leads to a com- plete confusion of the reduplicating with the radical syllable, and the product retains a long vowel or diphthong, which is most commonly eo] thus, corresponding to the Goth, hai- hald, we have A. S. Mold, whence E. held. Similarly, corre- sponding to the theoretical Goth, ^fai-fall, we have A. ^./eoll, E. fell. For further particulars, see Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 395, &c. § 138. It is found that the A. S. strong verbs \i2iwe/our principal steins, to which all other forms may be referred^. These are: (i) \h!^ present-stem, to which belong all the forms of the present tense. [It agrees with that of the infinitive mood, which I give instead, as it makes no difference for our pur- pose.] (2) \h^ first preterit-stem, to which belong only the ist and 3rd persons of the singular of the preterit indicative. [The 1ST PERS. SING. OF THE PAST TENSE is the form which I here select.] (3) the second preterit-stem, comprising the 2nd person indicative and the pi. indicative of the same tense, and the whole preterit optative or subjunctive. [I here select the 1ST PERS. PL. OF THE PAST TENSE as the representative form.] (4) the stein of the past participle. In the verb fall these four stems are, in their A. S. forms, 1 I copy this account from Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 379. §140.] THE VERB ' FALL! i6i as follows: \xSxi. feall-an (O. Mercian /"^//-^«) ; ist pt. s. feoll\ ist i^l.'^X. feoll-on\ ^^^. feall-en. It will be observed that the first and fourth of these stems are identical, if we neglect the suffixes ; and that the same is true of the second and third. The mode of formation of these stems needs no further explanation in this case. Full lists of the Principal Stems (or Parts) of the strong verbs will be found further on (§ 153); P- 167. § 139. The following are the principal mod. E. verbs which once belonged to the y^z/Z-conjugation ; together with some weak verbs derived from obsolete strong verbs of that conjugation. Here belong : (a) verbs still strong, as behold^ fall, hm^g (intransitive), hold, let\ beat; blow (as wind), blow (as a flower), crow'^, grow, know, throw : (b) go, pp. gone, the old pt. t. being lost ; (c) verbs now weak (though hezvn, moivn and sown appear as past participles) : dread, fold, ivell, wield; walk ; leap, sleep, weep ; flow, glow, low (as a cow), mow, row, sow ; thaw, heiv, swoop, wheeze : {d) weak verbs formed from old strong verbs : ble^id, dye, read, shed, sweep, span. Explanation of the anomahes found in modern English must be sought elsewhere ; thus the verb to hang now makes the pt. t. hung, instead of M. E. heng. The forms mew, sew (for mowed, sowed) are still in use in the East Anglian dialect, and probably in other forms of provincial speech. Finally, the _/iz//-conjugation does not at all help us in the matter of vowel-gradation, but is described here for the sake of completeness. § 140. The verb ' to shake.' The second, or shake- conjugation, is the simplest of all. There are but two forms of the stem, as the pp. resembles the infinitive mood (as in the case above), whilst the vowel of the past tense remains unchanged throughout. The vowel of the first stem is a, * The pp. craivin occurs in (J. Douglas, tr. of Virgil, prol. to Book vii. 1. 114. VOL. I. M l6z VOWEL-GRADATION. [Chap. X. whilst that of the second is 6. This 6 is merely due to the lengthening of a ; cf. E. uiodor with Lat. mater. In Gothic, the vowel is the same. Hence the stem-vowels are : a, 6, 6, a ; and such verbs are still sometimes found in mod. E., with 00 (=z, viz. begin, run (Lowl, Sc. rin), spin, ivin ; hind, find, grind, wifid; cling, ring, sing, sling, spring, sting, swing, wring', drink, shrijtk, sink, slink, stink', also fight, swim : (<:) the following weak verbs, some of which have obsolescent strong past participles, viz. braid, burn, hurst, carve (pp. carveti), cli7?ib (occasional pt. t. clomb), delve, help (pp. holpen), melt (pp. molten), mour7i, spurn, starve, thrash, yell, yield. The verb worth, as in ' wo worth the day ! ' belongs here. The verb to cringe seems to be a secondary form from A. S. cringan. Quench is a secondary form from A. S. cwi?ic-ajt, to become extinguished. Other secondary forms are bulge, drettch, stint, stunt, swallow, throng, warp ^ § 149. The verb 'to drive.' We now come to a new gradation; where the Goth, has the stem-vowels ei, ai,i{ai), i {ai) ; and the A. S. has the invariable set i, a, i, i. The Gothic substitution of ai for i is merely due to the presence of r, h, or hw, immediately succeeding the stem-vowel. The Goth, ei is merely the way of denoting the long i (i). The * It is worth while to add here that we find a variation of vowels in reduplicated words, as they are called; such as chit-chat, dilly- dally, ding-dong (for *ding-da7ig), crinkle-cranklc, pit-pat, &c. In many of these the root-vowel is a, weakened to i in the former syl- lable. It is a meaningless copy of the principle of gradation, and of late date. 1 6 6 VO IVEL- GRAB A TION, [Chap. X . A. S. a answers to a Teutonic ai. Hence the common Teutonic form appears equally from either set, and is to be written i, ai, i, i. We thus learn that there are two gradations of i. It can either be strengthened to ai, or weakened to i (short). This corresponds to the gradation observed in the Gk. XeiTT-eiv, pt. t. Xe-Xot7ra, 2nd aor. k'-Xin-ov ; and in the Lat. fid-ere, to trust, with its derivatives y^f^-z/j { = '^foid-us), a compact, and ftd-es, faith. Gothic examples are : dreib-an, to drive, pt. t. draib, pi. drib-um, pp. drib-ans', ga-teih-an, to point out, pt. t. ga-iaih, pi. ga-iazh-um, pp. ga-taih-atts. In A. S. we have drif-an^ to drive ; pt. t. drdf, pi. drif-on, pp. drif-en. § 150. Examples in mod. E. include : {a) verbs still strong or partially strong, as abide^ arise, bide, bile, cleave (to adhere), drive, ride, rise, shine, shrive, slide, smite, stride, strike, writhe, write', to which add rive, thrive, of Scand. origin, and strive, originally a weak verb ; (<5) weak verbs, as glide, gripe, reap, sigh, slit, spew, twit. Though w^e find chode in Gen. xxxi. 36, the A. S. cid-an, to chide, is a weak verb, pt. t. cidde. The frequent occurrence of long i in the infinitive will be observed. § 151. The verb ' to choose.' This also introduces a new gradation. Gothic has the stem-vowels iu, au, u {au), u iau) ; where the substitution of au for u is merely due to the effect of the stem-vowel being followed by r, h, or hw. A. S. has the stem-vowels ^0 (u), e'a, u, 0. The A. S. eo, e'a, invariably represent the Goth, iu, au respectively ; and both sets of stem-vowels answer to an original Teutonic set expressed by eu, au, u, u. We hence learn that the Teut. stem-vowel eu can be strengthened, on the one hand, to au, and w^eakened, on the other, to u. This closely resembles the Greek gradation eu, ov, v, as seen in l\^v(jo\i.ai, I shall go, perf. dXf}\ov6a, 2nd aor. rjKvQov. Examples in Gothic are : kius-an, to choose, pt. t. haus, pi. kus-um, pp. kus-ans ; tiuh-an, to pull, pt. t. tauh, pi. tauh-um, pp. tauh-ans. In,Anglo-Saxon : ceos-an. § J 53-1 TABLES OF STEMS. 167 to choose, pt. t. ceas, pi. ciir-on (for '^cuz-on), pp. cor-en (for *coz-€7i), as shewn in § 130; also hiig-an, to bow, pt. t. beah, pi. hug-on, pp. bog-en. § 152. Examples in mod. E. include : {a) verbs which still shew strong forms, as choose, cleave (to ?,'\^\\\), fly, freeze, seethe, shoot ; {b) verbs now weak, as brew, chew, creep, flee, lie (to tell lies), reek, rue (all with orig. e'o in the first stem) ; and bow, brook, crowd, shove, suck, sup (with u in the first stem) ; to which we may add bereave, dive, drip, float, lock, lose, slip, smoke, tug, as being secondary forms immediately derived from strong forms. The A. S. beod-an, to offer, command, is represented, as to its meaning, by mod. E. bid', but the mode of conjugating this mod. E. verb has been borrowed from that really belong- ing to the old verb bid, to beg, pray, which belongs to the ^/w-conjugation ; see § 146. § 153. I now give the four stems of the seven conjugations in various Teutonic languages, as they afford much help in comparing the vowels of one language with those of another. The four stems exhibit respectively, the infinitive ; the past tense, i person singular', the past tense, 1 person plural, and the past participle, as already said. FALL - conjugation. Infin. Past sing. Past plur. Past part. Teutonic FALI.-AN FE-FALL FE-FALL-UM FALL-ANO Gothic 1 ... hald-nn hai-hald hai-hald-um hald-ans Anglo-Saxon English Dutch feall-an fall vall-en f'oll fell viel feoll-on fell vlel-cn feall-en fall-en ge-vall-en German Icelandic Swedish ... Danish fall-en fall-a fall-a fald-e fiel fell foil faldt fiel-en fell-um fdll-o faldt-e ge-fall-en fall-inn fall-en fald-et ' Gothic has not the verb ' to fall ' ; I substitute for it hald-an, to hold, which belongs to this conjugation. i68 VO WEL- GRAB A TION. 2. SHAKE- conjugation. [Chap. X. hifin. Past sing. Past phir. Past part. Teutonic... SKAK-AN sk6k SKOKUM SKAK-ANO Gothic 1 ... far-ail for for-2im far-ans Anglo-Saxon scac-an scSc scoc-on scac-en English shake shook shook shak-en Dutch 1 ... var-en voer voe7--en ge-var-eji German^ ... fahr-en ftihr fuhr-en ge-fahr-en Icelandic ... skak-a sUk sk6k-u?7i skek-imi Swedish 1 ... far-a for for-o far-en Danish 1 ... far- en foer foer-c far-et 3. BEAR - conjugation. Infin. Past sing. Past plnr. Past pai-t. Teutonic... BER-AN BAR BER-UM BOR-ANO Gothic- ... bair-an bar ber-^tm baur-a7is Anglo-Saxon ber-an beer b or E. {2) The Teut. E may be ' graded ' to A on the one hand, and O on the other. (3) The Teut. I may be graded by being strengthened to A I, or weakened to I. (4) The Teut. EU may be graded by being strengthened to AU, or weakened to U. ' Substituted for the values in the tables ; see the remarks above. ^ A. S. eo, ea commonly become E. long e. §155-1 TE UTONIC VO IV ELS. 1 7 1 We thus form four groups of sounds which are related by gradation. In cases 2, 3, and 4, we may collect them as follows : — The E-group ; E, A, O. The I-group ; I, I, AI. The U-group ; EU, U, AU. I here call the second the I-group because all the varieties contain I ; and for the same reason I call the last the U-group ; but the true starting-points are 1 and EU. We may also note some of the results as follows. Teut. A : remains as a usually ; A. S. also has ea (before /, r, h, or after g^ c, sc) ; also cc ; also (chiefly before m and n). See Sievers, O. E. Gram. §§ 49-84, throughout. Teut. 0, for A; here Gothic has long 0, to which answers A. S. d, E. 00. Teut. E, for A : here Gothic has long e, to which answers A. S. (E, commonly E. ee. Teut. E : regularly weakened to / in Gothic, except before r, h, hw, when it appears as a short ai. In A. S. it often remains as e ; or becomes i (chiefly before m and n) ; or eo (before /, r, h). Teut. O : becomes u in Gothic, except before r, h, hiv, when it appears as au. A. S. has o^ occasionally u ; the latter especially before ;// and 7t. Teut. I : usually remains i in the Teutonic languages. Teut. I : Goth. et\ Du. tj\ G. et] the rest, z. Teut. AI: Goth, at; A. S. « ; Icel. ei; E. (commonly) 0; G. et, ie\ the rest, e. Teut. U : Goth., Swed., Dan. u ; A. S. and Icel. «, ; Du. and G. 0. Teut. EU : Goth, hi ; A. S. eo (and u) ; Icel. jo ; Swed. jti ; Dan. y\ G., Du. ie\ E. long ^^ * E. choose is an exceptional form ; the right vowel is ee, as in the verbs cleave (for *cleeve), creep, freeze, seethe. The M. E. form is ches-en (with the former e long). I'JI VOWEL- GRADATION. [Chap. X. Teut. AU: Goth., Icel. au; A. S. ea; G., Du. 5] Swed., Dan. long o. Lastly, if the Table in § 154 be compared with that in § 80, p. 96, which was obtained from different considerations, the results will be found to agree in all essential particulars. § 156. We are now able to compare some at least of the vowel-sounds in different languages. By way of examples, we may take the following. The Teutonic long i was pronounced like ee in beet. This sound is still preserved in Icelandic, Swedish, and Danish. It was also so pronounced in A. S. and M. E. But in E., Dutch, and German, it has suffered a precisely similar alteration. It has been moved on, as if by a new gradation, from I to AI; so that the Du. ij, G. ei, and E. long i are all now sounded precisely alike, i. e. as z in bite ^. Or again, we may consider the A. S. a, whence came the E. in stotie, and compare it with other lan- guages. The A. S. a has not always the same value, but most often it has the value indicated in § 155, i.e. it answers to Teut. AI. We should expect this to answer to Du. long e, and accordingly we find the Du. steen answering to A. S. stdn and E. sto7i€. In conj. 6, stem 2, the G. corresponding sound would seem to be ze, but the fact is that the G. trieb (drove) is a modern form ; the O. H. G. was drezb or trezb, and the M. H. G. was treib. Hence the G. ez is the right equivalent of A. S. a, as in G. Steift, a stone. Having obtained this result, we are prepared to find other similar examples, of which a few may be cited. E. boize, A. S. bdzz, Du. been, bone, leg, shank ; G. Bern, a leg. E. whole, A. S. hdl, Du. heel, G. heil. E. oath, A. S. dj?, Du. eed, G. £zd. E. oak, A. S. dc, Du. eek, G. Eich-e. E. soap, A. 6. sdp-e, Du. zeep^ * The inter??iediafe sound between t {ce in beet) and ai {i in bite) is ei {a in 7tame). This is supposed to have been the sound of E. i in the time of Shakespeare. Observe that German actually retains the archaic spell- ing Wein, corresponding to a time when that word was pronounced like E. vein. § 158.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG A. 1 73 G. Seif-e. It is not to be concluded that the A. S. ^ answers to Du. ee, and G. ei in all cases, for there are numerous special instances to the contrary, but we see here quite sufficient regularity to shew what we may often expect, and we can also see that differences of vowel-sound in the modern forms of related languages may easily arise from the same original sound in the common Teutonic type. § 157. As I have already, in Chapter V, explained the A. S. long vowel-sounds at some length, it may be interesting to compare them, as we can now more easily do, with their German and Teutonic equivalents. For this purpose I shall say a few words upon each sound, without giving every detail, beginning with § 42. The A. S. a (long a). In many cases this answers to Teut. AI, G. ei, as explained in § 156. Examples : iwd, two, G. zwei) hdl, whole, G. heil; ddl, dole, G. Thetl] dp, oath, G. Eid; cldj?, cloth, G. Kleid (a dress); IdJ^, loath, G. leid (troublesome); gdst, ghost, G. Getst] has, hoarse, G. heis-er ; an, one, G. ein ; sidn, stone, G. Stein ; bdn, bone, G. Bein (leg) ; hdjn, home, G. Heim ; ddh, dough, G. Teig, &c. But there is a second value of the German equivalent, which is less common, viz. eh] as in rd, roe, G. Reh] sld, sloe, G. Schleh-e; zvd, woe, G. We/i; gd, go, G. geh-e; id, toe, G. Zeh-e) Idr, lore, G. Lehr-e\ sdr, sore, allied to G. sehr, sorely, very; mdr-e, more, G. viehr. This sound is, in general, merely another development of the same Teut. AI, and either occurs at the end of a syllable, or is due to the influence of a following >^ or r ; thus A. S. rd is also spelt rdh ; and A. S. sld is a contracted form for '^sldh- e ; see further in Kluge's Etym. G. Diet. § 158. The A. S. 6 (long e). This most often arises from a mutation of 6, as explained in Chap. XL Thus Y.. feet, K.^./e't, is the pi. oi foot, k.S.foot] cf. G. Fuss, foot, pi. Fusse. Hence we shall often find that the corresponding G. sound is long ii. Examples : A. ^.fil-an, to feel, G.fiihl-en ; 174 ^0 WEL- GRAB A TION. [Chap. X. gren-e, green, G. griin ; cen-e, keen, bold, G. kuk?i ; /led-an, to heed, G. M/-en ; dred-an, to breed, G. briit-en, to hatch ; swei-e, sweet, G. suss; grei-aii, to greet, G. gruss-en. But there are several examples in which the A. S. / has another origin ; thus he% high, is a shorter form of heah, high, and corresponds, regularly, to G. hoch. § 159. The A. S. i (long i). This commonly answers to G. ei] see § 156. Examples : A. S. M, by, G. bei; ir-en, iron, G. Eis-en', hwil, while, G. Weil-e, &c. It is very easy to multiply examples. § 160. The A. S. 6 (long o). This commonly answers to Teut. 6; see the pt. t oi shake in § 153. The A. S./ar-an, to go, makes the pt. t./or] with which cf. G./uhr; so that A. S. 6 commonly =G. long u or uh. Examples : sco, shoe, G. Schuh ; don, to do, G. thu7t ; to, too, G. zu ; swor, swore, G. schwur; flor, floor, G. Flur; stol, stool, G. Sfuhl; hof, hoof, G. Huf\ blod, blood, G. Blut] brod, brood, G. Brut; hod, hood, G. Hut; rod, rood, G. Ruth-e, &c. The G. kiihl, cool, M. H. G. kiiele, is allied to an unmodified form kuol, appearing in M. H. G. kuol-haus, a cooling house ; and this latter agrees exactly with A. S. col, cool. Two important examples occur in A. S. broker, brother, G. Bruder ; and modor, mother, G. Mutter. It is surprising to find that this G. long u, answering to a Teut. long 0, was really A in the Aryan parent-speech. We thus get the remarkable variety of long vowels seen in Lat. mater, Doric Gk. [i-arrip, Attic \t.y\ry]p, A. S. modor, O. H. G. muotar (G. Mutter) ; or again, in 'L2ii./agus, Gk. (t^rjyos, A. S. boc, G. Buche, a beech-tree. § 161. The A. S. u (long n). It was shewn in § 46 that the A. S. u has been developed into the modern diphthong ou, as in hus, a house, just as the A. S. z has been altered to the modern diphthongal long i. Both of these changes have taken place in German also ^ Just as the O. H. G. win is ^ The reason, in both langxtages, is the same. I have already given it. See p. 53, note 2, §164] THE ANGLOS A XOiV LONG Y. 1 75 now Wein (E. wine), so the O. H. G. hus is now Hatis (E. house). Examples: bru, brow, G. Augen-braue; sur, sour, G, satier ; _/«/, foul, G. /aid, corrupt ; hus, house, G. Haus ; liis, louse, G. Laus ; ;7^z^^, mouse, G. Maus, &c. But there are cases in which German has preserved the u unchanged ; as in M, thou, G. du ; nii, now, G. nun ; cu, cow, G. Kuh. Such instances are useful, as they enable the Englishman to realise what the original A. S. u was like, especially when it is remembered that coo (cow), noo (now), moos (mouse), hoos (house) are quite common words in provincial English. § 162. The A. S. y (long y). As found in A. S. mys, pi. of mus^ mouse, it answers to G. du in Mduse, mice. The A. S. fyB, filth, may be compared with G. Fdulniss, rotten- ness. Much the same sound appears in hyr^ hire, G. Heuer ; fyr, fire, G. Feuer. But in G. Haut^ hide, A. S. hyd, and Braui, bride, A. S. hryd^ the G. au has suffered no modi- fication. § 163. The A. S. se. It appears from the 3rd stem of the conjugation of the verb to bear (§ 153) that the A. S. d answers regularly, in some cases, to G. long a. Examples : dl, eel, G. Aal) viceI, meal, repast, G. Mahl; cefen, evening, G. Abend; sprdc, speech, G. Sprach-e; s ^^^> ^^^- ^^h-u (for ""bhdgh'u), arm. Pers. bdztl, arm. § 168. The A. S. 6 does not always arise from Teut. 6; and we may here conveniently discuss four words of special interest in which the A. S. 6 arises from the loss of n in the combination on, the being lengthened by compensation to make up, as it were, for the loss of the consonant, because a greater stress is thus thrown upon it. Again, on is a frequent A. S. and M. E. substitution for an earlier an, owing to the A. S. habit of changing a into before nasals. Modern English has the later form bo?id as well as band^. Hence ~E. goose, A. S. gos, stands for '^gons^'^gans\ cf. G. Gans, a goose, Lat. ans-er (for '^hans-er^=-^gha7is-er), Gk. xh^ (fo'* *xai'S'), Skt. hams-a, a swan. So also E. tooth, A. S. to^, is for '^tond^'^tand; cf. Lat. ace, dejit-em, Gk. ace. o-Soir-a, Skt. dant-a, tooth. E. other, A. S. defer, stands for "^onder^i "^ander-, Goth, anthar, other, Skt. antara. Lastly, E. sooth, A. S. sod, is for ^sond=^^sa7td; cf Dan. sand, true, Icel. sann-r, true (put for ""sand-r, by assimilation) ; Teut. santho, true, answering to Aryan sent-. The Aryan sent- meant ' being,' or ' existent,' or ' actual,' whence the sense of ' true ' easily resulted ; it appears in the Lat. ace. ab-sent-em, being away, prce-sent-em, being near at hand ; and it is clear that this SENT- is short for es-ent-, which is nothing but a pre- sent participial form from the Aryan root es, to be, as seen in Skt. as, to be, Lat. esse. It is not probable that such an abstract sense as ' be ' was the original sense of this root ; it most likely meant to ' breathe ' ; as seen in the Skt. as-u, vital breath, life. Thus sooth is simply ' that which lives,' hence a reality or truth. The corresponding word in Skt. is sant, which, as Benfey explains at p. 63 (s. v. as), is properly the ^ Band first occurs in the Ormulum, and is of Scand. origin; not English (A. S.), as wrongly marked in my Dictionary. §169.] PRACTICAL APPLICATION. 1 79 pres. part, of as, to be, but meant also right, virtuous, steady, venerable, excellent. The feminine form was reduced to sati, with the sense of ' a virtuous wife ' ; and this term was after- wards applied to a widow who immolated herself on the funeral pile of her husband. This is the word which we usually write suitee, and incorrectly apply to the burning of a widow. The Skt. short a being sounded as the E. u in mud, we have turned sati into suttee, just as we write jungle, punchy pundit, bungalow, thug, Punjaub, for the same reason. One of the most interesting facts in philology is the bringing together of many words which at first sight look unrelated ; and it can be shewn that the same root es, to live, is the ultimate source of all the words following, viz. am, art, is, sooth, sin (English); essence, entity, absent, present (Latin); eu- (prefix), [palcB)-onto-logy (Greek); and sutt-ee (Sanskrit). § 169. But the most important apphcation of the principle of gradation is the following. We see that each strong verb possesses four stems, some of which are often much alike. Thus, omitting sufiixes, the stems of scac-an, to shake, are (i) scac- (2) scoc- (3) scoc- (4) scac-, yielding only two varieties, viz. scac-, scoc-. It is found that derived words, chiefly sub- stantives (sometimes adjectives), do not always preserve the primitive stem {scac^, but are sometimes formed from the variant (sc6c-\ Thus the mod. E. shape, sb., agrees with the stem scap- of scap-an, to shape ; but the A. S. scop, a poet, lit. a shaper of song, agrees with the stem scop^ seen in the pt. t. sing, of the same verb. It is, however, not correct to say that scop, a poet, is derived from the pt. t. scop ; we may only say that it is derived from that strengthened form of the base which appears in the past tense. It is precisely the same case as occurs with respect to the Gk. Xeln-eiv, to leave, perf. Xe'-XotTT-a (§ 134). We find the adj. Xoin-os, remaining; not formed from the perf. Xe-XoLn-a, but exhibiting the same gradation as that which appears in Xe-Xoin-a. If now we employ the symbol < to signify * derived from,' and the N 2 l8o VOWEL-GRADATION. [Chap. X. symbol || to signify ' a base with the same gradation as,' we may, with perfect correctness, express the etymology of scop, a poet, by writing scop, sb. < || scop, pt. t. of Scdp-an, to shape. This is sometimes loosely expressed by omitting the symbol il, but it must always be understood) so that if at any time, for the sake of brevity, I should speak of scop, a poet, as being ' derived from the pt. t. of scap-an' this is only to be regarded as a loose and inaccurate way of saying that it is ' derived from a base with the same gradation as scop! And this is all that is meant when E. sbs. are said to be derived from forms of the past tenses and past participles of strong verbs. § 170. The result of the last section is important, because most English grammars neglect it. Instances are given in Loth's Angelsachsischenghsche Grammatik, but they are taken from Anglo-Saxon, and do not clearly bring out the survival of the principle in the modern language. As this point has been so much neglected, I have endeavoured to collect such examples of gradation as I have observed in modern English, and now subjoin them ; but I do not suppose that the list is complete. § 171. /"(^//-conjugation. There are no examples of derivatives from a secondary stem, because the past tense is formed by reduplication, not by gradation. The verb to fell is derived, not by gradation, but by mutation, as will be shewn hereafter (§ 192 |3). From the primary stem we have such substantives as fall, hold, span, &c. ; where the derivation is obvious. § 172. 6'>^(2>^^-conjugation. There are no modern examples of derivatives from the second stem, except in the case of soke, soken, A. S. soc, s6c-n < \\ soc, pt. t. of sac-an, to contend; and in the doubtful case ol groove, K.^. grof i^^) < II ^''(^/^ pt- t. of graf-an, to grave, cut. But I believe it will be found that the A. S. grq/'is unauthorised and imaginary; that groove is a word of la:e introduction into English, being unknown in the M. E. period ; and that it was merely § 1 74.] EXAMPLES. 181 borrowed from Du. groeve \ Nevertheless, the principle still applies; for Du. groeve is derived from the stem seen in groef, pt. t. of Du. graven, to grave. § 173. -5^^r-conjugation. The stems are (i) her- (2) bcEr- (3) bcEr- (4) bor-, as seen in ber-an, to bear ; or (i) nim- (2) na7?i- (3) nd??i- (4) niim-\ as seen in nim-aji, to take. The following are derivatives from the 2nd stem : E. bair-n (child), A.S. bear-n < \\ beer [ = *bar), pt. t. of ber-an, to bear. Also E. bar-?n, A. S. bear-m, the lap ; from the same. E. share, as m. ploughshare, A. S. scear [=^*sca?-) < |1 sccer (for ^'scar), pt. t. of scer-an, scier-an, to shear. E. qiiaUm, A.S. civeal-ni {^"^cwal-m), pestilence, death < II A. S. cwceI {^''cwal), pt. t. of A.S. cwel-an, to die, which is now spelt quail. From the 3rd stem : bier, A. S. bdr < \\ bdr-on, pt. t. pi. of ber-an, to bear. From the 4th stem : bur -den, bur -then, A. S. byr-d'en, a load < (by mutation) || bor-en, pp. oi ber-an, to bear (§ 193). Similarly bir-th, A. S. ge-byr-d. E. hole, A. S. hoi, a hollow, cave < |1 hol-en, pp. of A. S. hel-an, to hide. E. score, A. S. j"rc?r, a score, i. e. twenty < Ij scor-en, pp. of scer-an, to shear, cut. We may also note here that nim-h-le and numb are both from A. S. nim-a7i, to take; the latter adj. was actually formed from the pp. nui7i-en. § 174. The ^/z'^-conjugation. From the 2nd stem : lay, v., A. S. lecg-a?t < (by mutation) II IcEg (^=*lag), pt. t. of licg-an, to lie (§192 a). E. set, A. S. seit-an < (by mutaUon) || scbI (=*sal), pt. t. of sitt-an, to sit (§192 a). Likewise E. sett-le, a bench. E. trade (not found in A. S.) < 1| treed { — '' trad), pt. t. of tred-an, to tread. ^ ' Groepe, or Groeve, a Furrow'; Hexham's Du. Diet. 1658. I know of no authority iox groove as an E. word older than Skinner (1671). 1 8 2 VO WEL- GRAB A TION. [Chap. X. E. wain, A. S. wag-n < \\ wceg, pt. t. of weg-an, to carry. E. wreck, M. E. wrak, that which is driven ashore < 1| A. S. wrcEc {=.*wrac), pt. t. of wrec-an, to drive (to wreak). Also E. wretch, A. S. wrcBc-ca, likewise < || wrcBc. From the 3rd stem : E. speech, A. S. spcBc-e, older form sprdc-e < \\ sprdc-on, pt. t. pi. of sprec-an, to speak. So also the Scand. word seat (Icel. sceH) is to be compared with A. S. sdt-on, pt. t. pi. of sitt-an, to sit. From the 4th stem : E. lai-r, A. S. leg-er < \\ leg-en, pp. of licg-an, to lie. E. bead, A. S. bed^ a prayer < |1 bed-en, pp. of bidd-an, to pray. The same principle is applicable to Scand. words also. Thus E. law, A. S. lag-u, borrowed from Icel. lag, order, pi. log (with sing, sense) law < || Icel. Id (for ^lag), pt. t. of liggja, to lie ; the ' law ' is ' that which lies ' or is setded. § 175. The ^r;«^-conjugation. From the 2nd stem : E. bend, v., A. S. bend-an, to fasten a string on a bow, and so to bend it, from A. S. bend, a band, which is derived (by mutation) from a base parallel with band, pt. t. of bind-an (§192 a). E. cram, A. S. cramm-ian < || cramm, pt. t. oi crimm-an, to cram. E. drench, A. S. drenc-an < (by mutation) H dranc, pt. t. of drinc-an, to drink (§192 a). E. malt, A. S. mealt, steeped grain < || mmlt, pt. of melt-an, to melt, hence to steep, soften. (We may observe that the A. S. pp. molten is still in use.) E. quench, A. S. cwenc-an < (by mutation) ij cwanc, pt. t. of cwinc-an, to become extinguished. E. song, M. E. song, sang, A. S. sang < || sang, pt. t. of sing-an, to sing. So also singe, A. S. seng-an (to make to sing), to scorch (alluding to the singing noise made by burning logs), derived by mutation from the same stem sa7ig (§192 /3). E. stench, A. S. stenc < (by mutation) || sianc, pt. t. of stinc-an, to stink. § 176.] EXAMPLES, 1 83 E. thong, A. S. pwang < || *J^wang, pt. t. of '^pwing-atiy only found in O. Fries, thwing-a, O. Sax. thwing-an, to con- strain, compress. E. throng, M. E. throng, thrang, A. S. prang < || prang, pt. t. oi pring-an, to crowd. E. wander, A. S. wand-r-ian, frequentative verb < || wand, pt. t. of wind-an, to wind, turn about. So also E. wand, originally a pliant rod, that could be wound or woven ; and even 'E.weftd, to go, formed by mutation (192 a). E, -ward as a suffix (in to-ward, &.C.), A. S. -weard (Goth. -wairth-s) < || A. S. wearp, pt. t. of weorp-an, to become, orig. to be turned to. E. warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, A. S. wearp < || wearp, pt. t. of weorp-an, to cast, throw, throw across. , E. wrang-le, frequentative from the stem wrang, pt. t. of wring-an, to twist, strain, wring. So also wrong, adj., A. S. wrang, i. e. perverse, from the same stem. We may also note that E. swam-p is allied to swamm, pt. t. of swimm-an, to swim. Similarly the Scand. word stang, a pole, stake (Icel. stang-r) is to be compared with A. S. stang, pt. t. of sti7ig-an, to sting, poke. From the 3rd stem : E. borough, A.SJiirk, burg < || burg-on, pt. t. pi. of beorg-an, to keep, protect. From the 4th stem : E. borroiv, A. S. borg-ian, verb formed from borh, borg, s., a pledge < || borg-en, pp. of beorg-an, to keep. So also bury, A. S. byrg-an, formed by mutation from the same stem (§ 193). E. bund-le < || bund-en, pp. of bind-an, to bind. E. crumb, A. S. crum-a < \\ crumm-en, pp. of crimm-an, to cram, squeeze. E. drunk-ard < || drunc-en, pt. t. of dri7ic-an, to drink. § 176. The fi^rz'w-conjugation. From the ist stem ; E. chine, a fissure in a sea-cliff, A. S. cin-u, a fissure < || cin-an, to split, crack. 1 84 VO WEL- GRAB A TION. [Chap. X. E. ripe, A. S. rip-e, adj. < || rip-an, to reap. Hence ripe is ' fit for reaping/ E. stirrup, A. S. s tig-rap, lit. rope to climb or mount by < II stig-an, to climb. E. sty, A. S. stig-o, a pen for cattle ; from the same. From the 2nd stem : E. abode, M. E. abood < \\ A.S. d-bdd, pt. t. of dbid-an, to abide. E. dough, A. S. ddh < \\ ''ddk, pt. t. of ''^dig-an, to knead, only found in the cognate Goth, deig-an, to knead. E. drove, A. S. drdf < || A. S. drd/, pt. t. of drif-an, to drive. E. grope, A. S. grdp-ian, weak verb < || grdp, pt. t. of grip-an, to gripe, seize. E. loan, A. S. Id-n (a rare form) < || Idh, pt. t. of lih-an, to lend ; the -n is a suffix, and the h is dropped. E. lode, a course, A. S. lad < || lad, pt. t. of lid-an, to travel, go. Here the change from final d to final d is due to Verner's Law ; the pt. t. pi. of lid-an is lid-ofi, and the pp. lid-en] § 130. E. lore, learning, A. S. Idr < || ""las (not found), cognate with Goth, lais, I have found out, pt. t. of *leis-an, to track, find out ; see p. 155. See Lore and Learn in my Etym. Diet. E. road, A. S. rdd < \\ rdd, pt. t. of rid-an, to ride. E. slope answers to an A. S. ^sldp < \\ slap, pt. t. of slip-an, to slip. E. Shrove (in Shrove-Tuesday) < || E. shrove, pt. t. of shrive, A. S. serif- an. E. stroke, A. S. strdc-ian, weak verb < || strdc, pt. t. of stric-an, to strike. E. wroth, adj., A. S. wrdd, i. e. perverse < || wrdd, pt. t. of ivrid-an, to writhe, turn about. We have at least two Scandinavian words with a corre- sponding stem-vowel. These are bait, Icel. beit-a < |1 belt, pt. t. of bita, to bite ; and raid, Icel. reid < || reid, pt. t. of rid-a, to ride. We may also add bleak, gleam, leave, le7id, ready, § 176.] EXAMPLES. 1 85 rear^ v., stair, weak, wreath, all formed by mutation. See the next Chapter (§ 195). From the 4th stem : E. hit, A. S. bit-a, sb. < || A. S. hit-en, pp. of Ut-an, to bite. E. drif-t < II A. S. drif-en, pp. of dnf-a7i, to drive. (The suffixed / will be explained hereafter.) E. grip, sb., A. S. grip-e ^ < || grip-en, pp. of grip-an, to gripe, grasp. E. lid, sb., A. S. hlid < \\ hlid-en, pp. of hlid-an, to cover. E. slit, sb. (whence M. E. slit-ten, verb), A. S. slit-e, sb. < II slit-en, pp. of slit-an, to rend. E. whit-tle, to pare with a knife, from A. S. pwit-el, a knife < I| piuit-en, pp. oi pwit-an, to cut. E. writ, A. S. [ge)-writ < \\ writ-en, pp. of writ-an, to write. Besides these obvious derivatives, we find others, such as these : — E. chin-k, formed with suffix k from a base chin- < || cin-eUy pp. of mi-an, to split, crack. E. cliff, A. S. clif, properly a ' steep,' or a place to climb up ; the same as Icel. klif, a cHff < || Icel. '^klif-inn (obsolete), pp. of klif-a, to climb. E. dwin-d-le, formed (with excrescent d) from '^dwin-le, a regular frequentative verb < || dwin-en, pp. of dwin-an, to decrease, dwindle, languish. E. slip, weak verb, M. E. slip-pen < \\ slip-en, pp. of slip-an, to slip (strong verb). E. shrif-t, A. S. scrif-t < \\ scrif-en, pp. of scrif-an, to shrive ^. E. stile (to climb over), in which the i has been lengthened after loss of g, M. E. stiyel, A. S. stig-el < \\ stig-en, pp. of stig-an, to climb. ^ Curiously enough, grip as a verb is late, borrowed from F. gripper. - Not really a Teutonic word ; but borrowed from Lat. scribere. J 86 VOWEL-GRADATION. [Chap. X. E. Strid, a striding-place, a well-known place in the valley of the Wharfe < || slrid-en, pp. of strid-an, to stride, stride across. Similarly, the Scand. thrif-t is to be compared with thriv-en, pp. of thrive ; and wick-et, a French word of Scand. origin, is to be compared with Icel. vik-inn, pp. of vik-ja, to turn. See also wick-et, witch-elm in my Etym. Diet. It is also highly probable that the syllable -dige in A. S. hldf-dige, a lady, is from the same stem as ^dig-en, pp. of ^digan = Goth, deigan, to knead ; and that the original sense of our lady is, consequently, ' a kneader of bread.' § 177. The ^/^^(?>s-^-conjugation. From the ist stem we may note the following. E. dreary, A. S. dre'or-ig, of which the orig. sense was gory, dripping with blood, put for ^dreos-ig (cf. Verner's Law) < || dre'os-an, to drip. E. crowd, s., is best explained by supposing (with Strat- mann) that the A. S. infinitive (which does not occur) was '^crud-an, to push, not ^creod-an, as usually assumed; the pt. t. is found as crcad. In fact, Chaucer has the verb croud-en, to push, and the Dutch form is kruijen, formerly kruid-en, which answers to '^crud-an just as the Du. huig-en does to A. S. hiig-an\ whereas, on the other hand, the Du. for choose (A. S. ceos-an) is kiez-en, with a very different vowel, and an A. S. "^creodan would answer to a Du. ^krieden, of which no one has ever heard. E. dove, A. S. diif-a, lit. ' a diver ' < || dUf-an, to dive. E. lout, s., a clumsy, slouching fellow < || A. S. Mt-an, to stoop ; the change from A. S. u to E. ou being regular (§ 46). The sb. cripple, formerly creepW^, one vv'ho creeps about, is a derivative of the verb to creep. From the 2nd stem: E. bread, M. E. breed, A. S. bre'a-d (where ^ is a suffix) < || breaw, pt. t. of briow-an, to brew, * 'In them that bee lame or crcepelles'' ; (1577) J. Frampton, Joyfull Newes out of the newe founde Worlde ; fol. 52, back. See p. 59, note 3. § 177.] EXAMPLES. 1 87 hence, to ferment ; the orig. sense being ' that which is fermented.' Observe that the vowel in breads though now short, was long in M. E. E. -less, the commonest suffix in English, also has a shortened vowel. It answers to M. E. -lees, A. S. -leas < II Was, pt. t. of leos-an^ to lose. The suffix -less means ' deprived of.' The A. S. leas was also used as an adj., with the sense of 'false'; hence E. leas-mg (A. S. leas-wtg) in the sense of 'falsehood.' The adj. loose is Scandinavian, from Icel. lauss, loose, cognate with A. S. leas, loose, false. E. neat, cattle, A. S. neat < || neat, pt. t. of neot-an, to use, employ. Hence the sense is ' used,' domestic. E. reave (commoner in be-reave), A. S. reaf-ian, to strip of clothes, despoil, from r^af, s., clothes, spoil < || re'af, pt. t. of re'of-an, to deprive, take away. E. red, M. E. reed, A. S. re'ad < || read, pt. t. of r/od-an, to redden. E. reek, s., A. S. r/r, another form of reac, smoke < || reac, pt. t. of re'oc-an, to exhale. The original Teut. AU is still seen in the cognate G. Ranch, smoke; § 164. E. sheaf, A. S. sce'af < || sce'af, pt. t. of scuf-an, to shove, push together. E. sheet, A. S. sce't-e, scyt-e, a sheet, allied to sc^at, a corner, fold, corner of a sail, sheet or rope fastened to a corner of a sail < II sceat, pt. t. of sce'ot-an, to shoot, hence, to project. E. throe, A. S. prea < \\ pre'aw, pt. t. of preow-an, to suffer. The vowel in E. throe may have been influenced by the Icel. form prd. From the 3rd stem : E. gut, A.S. gutt, properly ' a channel' < II gut-on, pt. pi. of geot-a?i, to pour. E. sud-s, pi. < II sud-on, pt. pi. of seo^-an, to seethe, boil. E. tug, weak verb < || tug-on, pt. pi. of te'o-n, to draw, pull. From the 4th stem : E. bode, A. S. bod-ian, to announce < II bod-en, pp. of beod-an, to command. 1 8 8 VO WEL- GRAB A TION. [Chap. X. E. how, a weapon, A. S. hog-a < || dog-en, pp. of bug-an^ to bend, bow. E. bro-ih, A. S. bro-cf (where -^ is a suffix), put for '^brow-d < II brow-en, pp. of breow-an, to brew. E. drop, A. S. drop-a, s. < jj drop-en, pp. of dreop-an, to drop, drip. E. ^rci^j-, A. S. dros, sediment, that which falls down < \\ dros-en, pp. of dreos-an, to fall, drip down. Y.. float, v., A. ^. flot-ian < \\ flot-en, pp. oi fle'ot-an, to float. 'E.. frost, A. S._/r(?j"-/ (/ suffixed) < || yros-en, orig. form of froz-en, pp. oi freos-an, to freeze. E. in-got, a mass of metal poured into a mould, from i7i and ^0/ < I! got-en, pp. oi geot-an, to pour. E. /(?r>^, s., A. S. loc-a, a lock < || loc-en, pp. of luc-an, to lock, fasten. E. lose, v., M. E. losien, A. S. los-ian, orig. to become loose < II ^los-e7i, orig. form of lor-en, pp. of leos-a?i, to lose, which became M. E. /^j-^;/, and is obsolete. E. lot, s., A. S. hlot < II hlot-en, pp. of hUot-an, to choose by lots, assign. E. shot, s. < II scot-en, pp. of sce'ot-an, to shoot. Also j-r^/, in scot-free, which is a doublet of j-z^c)/, and perhaps a Scand. form. Cf. Icel. skot-inn, pp. of skjota, to shoot. E. j/^cz'^, A. S. scof-ian, weak verb < || scof-en, pp. of scuf-an, to push. Hence shov-el. E. ^/(^Z, A. S. slop-pe < slop-en, pp. of slup-an, to dissolve, let slip. 6'/i9/ was especially used of the droppings of a cow. E. smoke, s., A. S. smoc-a < || smoc-en, pp. of sme'oc-an, to smoke. E. j-cq', wet or sodden turf, hence soft turf < !| sod-en, pp. of seod-an, to seethe ; cf. sodden. We have preserved two old past participles, viz. rotten, Icel. rot-inn, 2^\^ for -lorn, A. S.for-loren ; both belong to strong verbs of the ri^^(?.r^-conjugation. Shuffle, scuffle are Scand. words, allied to shove. Some derivatives are formed by § 178.] SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 189 mutation, as britt-le, dive, drip, &c., which will be explained hereafter ; see pp. 204, 208, 203. The verb to shut and the sb. shutt-le were also formed by mutation from the 3rd stem {scut-on) o{ sc^ot-an, to shoot; see p. 204, note i. Brief Summary of Results. § 178. The chief results of §§ 153, 154 may also be ar- ranged as follows : — There are 4 principal gradations ; A, (for A), as seen in shake, pt. t. shook, with the variation E (for A) seen in the pt. t. pi. of bear, viz. Goth, ber-um, A. S. bcEr-on ; E, A, O, as seen in bear (A. S. ber-an, 'L,2X.fer-re), pt. t. bare, pp. bor-n, &c. ; I, AI, I, as seen in drive (A. S. drif-an), pt. t. drove (Goth, draib), pp. driv-en ; EU, AU, U, as seen in choose (A. S. ce'os-an, Goth, kius-an), pt. t. chose (Goth, kaus), pp. chosen (Goth, kus-ans), &c. They may be thus arranged, so as to shew the oldest forms (including the Old High German) : — Teutonic. Gothic. A.-Saxon. Icelandic. 0. H. German. A 6 ... 1: - a 6 ... a 6 ... a a no ... a E A j at a ail \ i u e ce e a u e a i u ■ eo ea \ i a u 1 AI I ei ai i i a i i ei i i ei i EU AU U iu au u \ eo ea u \u jo au u [■ ill ou < io 6 \_u CHAPTER XI. Vowel-Mutation. § 179. ' A man said to Goldbiirh, buy a whole goose and a cow cheap.' This is my memorial sentence, for remembering the principal contents of the present chapter. I may remark that Goldburh is a real name ; it is the name of the heroine in the old English romance of Havelok, which belongs to the reign of Edward I. I shall now discuss each of the words printed in italics in the above sentence. We find, in Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Grammar, the following facts. 1. The pi. oi matifi, a man, is 7nenn, men. 2. From gold, s. gold, is formed the adj. gylden, golden, and the verb gyldan, to gild. 3. Burh, a borough, town, makes the plural hyrig, towns. The dat. sing, is also hyrig. 4. From hdl, adj., whole, is formed the derived verb hdlan, to heal, lit. to make whole. 5. GSs, goose, makes the pi. g^s, geese. 6. Cu, a cow, makes the pi. cy, cows ; hence, by the way, mod. E. ki-ne, which stands for ki-e7i (like eyne, eyes, for ey-en). Here ki- = A. S. cy, and -en is a pi. suffix (A. S. -afi) ; so that kz-ne (^z=h'-en) is a double plural ^. 7. Ceap, a bargain, whence our cheap is derived, produces a derivative verb ciepan, cypan, to buy. This verb was some- times written cepan, whence our keep. See Cheap, Keep, in my Etym. Diet. ^ The pi. kye occurs in Northern English ; it is spelt kie in Golding's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, fol. 26 (1603); cf. p. 66, note. § i8i.] CONCEALED MUTATION. I91 § 180. To these results we may add one more, viz. that just as in the 7th example we see ^a changed to ie, or y [y being a later spelling), so we find examples in which the unaccented ea changes to the unaccented le ovy. Even ^0 changes like ea, and eo like ea. These facts can easily be remembered in connection with example 7. Thus avealm, death, gives the verb d-cwiel??i-an, d-cwylm-an, to kill ; ste'or, a steer, ox, gives the derivative stien'c, styric, a stirk ; and heorie, heart, gives the verb hiertan, hyrtan, to hearten or encourage. § 181. I-mutation. If we now tabulate the above results, and call the secondary or derived vowels the mutations of their respective primary vowels, we obtain the following arrangement, where vowels in the row marked (A) are the primary, and those in the row marked (B) are the derived vowels. (A) a o u I d 6 11 i ea, eo I ^a, 60 (B) e y y | ee ^ y | ie, y | ie, y This vowel-mutation, y^h\ch frequently takes place in forming derivatives from older words, is called, in German, iwilaut. If we were to enquire thoroughly into all the cases in which mutation occurs, we should find that m every case the primary vowel is influenced by the occurrence of an i or u (rarely 0) in the next syllable. T his re fers only to the primary Jjormol the word, and cannot always be detected in the known foDiia-XL[.^_glo^Sa^on|_JoiiJt not unfrequently happens that the z', after having produced a mutation of the preceding vowel, drops out of sight, and is lost^ This will be understood by considering a few instances ; but, before giving these, it is necessary to halt by the way, in order to mention that, in all the examples already cited, the effect is produced by i, not by u. The cases in which u produces any ^ This is called * concealed mutation,' or concealed umlaut. It is very common. ig2 VO WEL-MUTA TION. [Chap. XI . effect are, comparatively, so few that I leave them out of sight here. The prmciple of mutation is the thing to be first acquired ; after that, all is easy. § 182. Concealed mutation. An easy example of con- cealed mutation occurs in the word French. Fj'ench is short for Frankish. But the a in F)'a?ikish, being followed by an z in the next syllable, ' is modified in the direction of i, the result being a new vowel intermediate to the other two/ as Mr. Sweet puts it in his A. S. Reader, p. xix. There is, in fact, a tendency to turn Frankish into Frenkish, and we actually find, accordingly, that Frencisc is the A. S. form of the word. This Frenkish (A. S. Frencisc) was afterwards shortened to French, as we now have it ; so that the z', after modifying the a to an e, has disappeared ; that is, the cause of the mutation has been concealed. On the same principle we can now explain all the above results in order, which we will proceed to do. § 183. A>E. We found (i) that the pi. of man is men ; or, in A. S., that the pi. of majin is menu. The Icel. pi. is also vmin. This particular word is of anomalous declension, so that the process is the less clear. Gothic, which is re- markable for never exhibiting mutation, makes the nom. pi. both mans and mannans ; and it is probable that the latter form was shortened to *?}ianna, and afterwards the final vowel weakened, thus giving '^mamii, which would be regu- larly changed into menn in Icel. and A. S. O. Friesic, O. Saxon, and O. H. G. have the unchanged plural man (the same as the singular), which would result from the pi. man-s, by loss of s. We can see the result more clearly in the dative singular ; for it happens that the A. S. dat. sing, takes the form menn as well as the nom. plural ; whereas the Icel. dat. sing, is majini, thus affording formal proof that men7i < "^memii^ manni. §184(2). 0>Y. The adjectival suffix -en is written -eins in Gothic, which has gulth, gold, gulth-eins, golden. § 185.] MUTATION OF TO V. 1 93 Now ei is merely the Goth, way of writing z (long z) ; so that gold-en may be equated to '^gold-in. The i (like z') produces a mutation of toj/, so that *gold-in became gyld-en quite regularly \ Similarly, we can explain the verh gild; for the regular A. S. infin. suffix of causal verbs (whereby verbs are formed from pre-existent substantives) is -tan, so that from lu/-tc, s.,love, is formed the verb luf-ian, to love, &c. Hence the sb. gold gave rise to the causal verb '^gold-ian, to gild, which regularly became ^/^-«;z by mutation and subsequent loss of i. This process is extremely common in causal verbs ; we constantly find that -ian is shortened to -an after mutation has taken place. Modern English has substituted golden for gi'lden "^^hut retains the old mutation in the verb lo gi'ld, the form of which is now explained. § 185 (3). U>Y, Burk, town, makes the pi. djTig. As the I is here retained, the cause of the mutation is obvious. I may mention, by the way, some curious results. The dat. sing., like the nom. pi., is also hyrig) so that the A. S. for 'at the town ' was cet pare by rig, the word btirh being feminine, and requiring the fern, form of the def. article. In later English, this gradually became at ther bury, or (by assimila- tion of th to /) at ter bury, a form which at once explains the surname Atterbury (i.e. at the town). The name was borne by a bishop of Rochester, who attained to some fame in the reigns of Anne and George I. Curiously enough, the fact of the word borough being of the feminine gender was often (and at last entirely) lost sight of, whilst the true form of the dative was likewise forgotten. Hence borough was treated as an unchangeable neuter, and the very same phrase also appeared as at ten borough, where ten represents the A. S. ^ Strictly, it became ^/c/-m, but final -en is used for -in in A. S., the suffix -in being disliked ; see Sievers, O.E. Gram., § 69. ^ M. E. gildcn \ thus St. Chrysostom is called ' lohn Gildcn-moth^ or Golden Mouth ; Specimens of English, 1 298-1 393, ed. Morris and Skeat, p. 69, 1. 8. VOL. I. O 194 VOWEL-MUTATION. [Chap. XI. pdm, the dat. neuter of the def. article. This has given us the well-known name Attenhnrough. Further, it was not un- common to use place-names in the dative or locative case, and, in some instances, the prep. cEt (E. ai), which governs a dative, was expressly introduced ; see note to sect. iv. 1. 99 in Sweet's A. S. Reader, 4th ed. This at once explains the use of the dative form Bury as a place-name ; though we also find the nominative Burgh, Borough (as in Borough Fen, Cambs.), and Brough (in Westmoreland). § 186 (4)7'^">T6ng ^. The verb to heal is easily ex- plained. From the adj. hdl, whole, was made the causal verb '^hdl-ian, whence (by mutation and loss of z') the form hc^l-an, M. E. hel-en, E. heal. The original form of the causal verb is quite certain in this case ; for Gothic always employs the form hail-jan {=zhail-ian) from the adj. hails, whole. In Gothic, the letter usually printed / is really an English jK ; and j/ is the semi- vowel corresponding to i, as shewn in § 129; p. 150. § 187 (5). > E. The mod. E. goose, A. S. gos, answers to a Teut. type gans ^ ; see Kluge's Worterbuch, s. v. Gans. But its declension followed that of the feminine 'z-stems,' and its plural nom. was originally *gosis, which became ^gen's by mutation, and was then shortened to ge's"^. Similarly, the dat. sing, ^gosi became ^ge'si by mutation, and was shortened to ge's likewise. The word /oot, A. S./ot, answers to a Teut. type FOT, of the masculine gender ; see Kluge, s. v. Fuss. In Gothic it followed the z^-declension, but in A. S. it adhered to the consonantal declension (as in Greek and Latin); hence the nom. pi. ybtis and the dat. sing, ysti both produced the form/"//. It is curious, however, that the nom. pi. sometimes * Not GANSI, as in Fick, iii. 99 ; for this stem would have caused vowel-change even in the nom. sing. ^ On ' the treatment of terminal consonants and vowels ' in the Teut. languages (G. auslaiitgesetz), cf Strong and Meyer's Hist, of the German Language, p. 61 ; the account there given is, however, incomplete, and refers to Gothic only. See Sievers, O. E. Gram., § 133 (b). § iSq.] mutation of long u, 195 follows a different declension, and appears as fofas ; whilst in M. E. we even find three forms of the plural, viz. /eef,/ote7i, 2Lnd/bUs, the two latter being of rare occurrence. Other examples appear in foolk, A. S. /od', masc, pi. /ee/A, A. S. /ed', rarely /o^ias ; and in 600k, A. S. doc, fem., pi. dec ; but this form was exchanged for that of the M, E. dokes soon after the beginning of the thirteenth century. § 188 (6). Long U > long Y. The E. ?nouse, A. S. mus, answers to a Teut. fem. base mus^; see Kluge, s. v. Maus. It belongs to the consonantal declension ; the A. S. plural was originally "^musis, which passed into the form ^mysis by mutation, and was then shortened to mys. Other examples occur in E. louse, A. S. luSf and in E. cow, A. S. cu, both of which are feminine; the pi. forms being lys, cy. Of these, the former is E. Hce\ the latter is the (occasional) Tudor E. and prov. E. kie or kye, afterwards lengthened to ki-ne, by analogy with ey-7te and shoo-n, the old plurals of eye and shoe. On the other hand, our house, A. S. hus, was a neuter noun; and, having a long root-syllable, remained unchanged in the plural ; see Siev.ers, O. E. Gr. § 238 ; p. 117, 1. 4. That is, the pi. was hus, now extended to hous-es in order to make it conform to the general rule ^ This is why we never use the plural hice (!). § 189 (7). Long EA > long IE (Y). The explanation of ciep-an, to buy, is precisely similar to that of hdl-an, to heal ; i. e. the mutation is concealed. The sb. ceap produced the derived verb "^ce'ap-ian, after which the i caused mutation and then vanished. The other examples are of precisely the same character. In siyr-ic, stirk, from steor, the i is visible. The sb. cwealm, death, produced a verb '^ cwealm-ian, passing ^ Not MtJSi, as in Fick, iii. 241 ; for this stem would have caused mutation even in the nom. sing. ^ Note the prov. E. hoiis-en, so often commended as 'a true old Anglo-Saxon form ' by those who know no better. It is only an early Southern E form, never foimd before the Conquest. 2 196 VO WEL-MUTA TION. [Chap. X I . into civielman or cwylman, to kill ; and the sb. heort-e, heart, produced the verb '^heort-ian, passing into hiertan or hyrtan, to encourage. § 190. U-mTitation. I have now gone through the examples represented by the memorial sentence in § 179, adding a few more by the way. It now chiefly remains to add that the principle of mutation is extremely common in A. S., and may also be due, though rarely, to the occurrence of ti, or even 0, in the following syllable, as well as to the occurrence of /. Striking examples are seen in the A. S. meoliic, milk, seolfor, silver ; words in which the eo seems to be due to zz-mutation rather than to a mere ' breaking ' of i into eo before a following /; see Sievers, O. E. Gram., §§ 39, 107. In the former case, meol-iic stands for viil-uc^ (cf. Goth, mil-uk-s, milk) ; and the eo is technically described as being ' a ^^-mutation of z',' because the u has turned t into eo. In the second case, the mutation is concealed ; seolfor is contracted for '^seol{p)for or '^seol{u)for, and eo is, as before, a z/-mutation of i\ the Gothic form being siluhr, O. Sax. siluhar. These forms are of some interest, because the vowel i in the mod. E. words 7nilk and silver shews that they belong rather to the Mercian than to the Wessex dialect. The form silofer occurs once, and sylfor twice in A. S. poetry, but seolfor is the usual form. The O. Mercian sylfur has been already noticed ; see § 33. The Northum- brian form is sulfer (Matt. x. 9). § 191. Examples. I now give several examples of all the above z-mutations in A. S., reserving for the present such as are still retained in the modern language. These are of such importance that they will be noticed separately in § 192. (i) A > E. A. S. lang, long ; compar. letig-ra (for *lang-ira=z*lang-iza)', Goth, comparatives end in -z'za; cf. § 130. A.S. s/rang, strong; compar. streng-ra, stronger. Also, from A. S. lang, the verb leng-an {=*lang-ian), to prolong. From A. S. la?id, land, the verb lend-an {^^land-iaii)^ to § 191.] EXAMPLES, 1 97 land. From A. S. nam-a, a name, the verb nemn-aii ( = *7tamn- ian)^ to name. The strong verb ' to heave/ with pt. t. hof, has the weak infinitive hebbaii {=:^ha/-iafi), instead of the regular ^haf-an, which is not found ; see Sweet, A. S. Reader, p. Ixx \ Similarly, the strong verb ' to swear/ with pt. t. swor, has the weak infinitive swerian {^"^ swar-iari) instead of '^swaran, which is not found ; id., p. Ixxi. In order to save space, and for the greater clearness, I shall use (as before) the symbol > to mean ' produces,' and the symbol < to mean ' is produced, or derived, from.' I also use two dots ( .. ) as the sign of ' mutation,' so that > .. will mean 'produces by mutation/ and < .. will mean 'is derived by mutaUon.' My reason for the use of this symbol is that, in German, mutation is denoted by two dots over a vowel; for example, the pi. of Mann (man) is Mariner, where a is the modified form of a. In accordance with this notation, A.S. swerian < .. "^"swar-mn', and again, A.S. leng-ra < . . "^lang-ira, compar. of la7ig. (2) O > Y. A. S. gold > .. gy Id-en (for "^go/d-m, as ex- plained above). So also A.S. ^orn, horn > .. hyrn-ed, horned. A.S. slorm, stovm > .. s/yr??i-an, to storm, assail. A.S. /brm-a, first > .. fyrm-est {^■='^for7n-ist\ first; really a double superlative (E. foremost). A. S. /olg-ian, to follow, often appears in the mutated ioircifylgian. A. S. cor- \\ cor-cn^ pp. oi ce'os-an, to choose > .. cyr-e^ choice. A. S. god, god> ., gyd-en { = '^gyd-i7t), goddess; cf. G. G'6it-i7i, goddess, &c. (3) U > Y. A. S. burh, borough > .. byn'g, plural. A. S. wurc (also weorc), work > .. wyrca7i { = '^wurc-ia7i), to work. A. S. wull^ wool > . . wyll-en, woollen. A. S. wiilf, a wolf > .. wylf-en^ a she-wolf; this is not in the dictionaries, but appears in the following curious gloss: 'Bellona, i. furia, dea belli, mater Martis, wylfe7i ' ; where ' i.' is the usual con- ^ Note the form hcbban, not hcfan ; the doubling of the b is due to the contraction ensuing the loss of i. Observe, too, that A. S. puts bb io\ ff\ Sweet, A. S. Reader, p. xxviii. 198 VO WEL'MUTA TION. [Chap. XI . • traction for td est, that is to say\ A. S. hu7igor, hunger > .. hyngrian, to hunger. A. S. munuc, monk (merely borrowed from Lat. monachus) > .. myiiicen, a nun; whence the sur- name Minchin. (4) Long A > long M. A. S. hdl, whole > .. hdl-an, to heal ; as in § 186. A. S. Mr, lore > .. Icsr-an, to teach. A. S. stdti, stone > . . stdn-en, made of stone ; also stdn-an, v., to stone. A. S. dc, oak > . . (ic-e7t, oaken. A. S. brad, broad > .. hr long E. A.S. gos, goose, ^\. ges \ so also i6d^ pi. ted; fot, ^\.fet. The A. S. hoc, book, makes the pi. he'c, as if=E. '^beetz\ but the M. E. pi. was bofi-es, now books. A.S. bot, advantage, E. boot > .. be^-an {='^bot-2an, Goth. boijan), to profit ; Lowl. Sc. beet, to profit, amend — hence, to add fuel to fire. Burns uses it metaphorically in his Epistle to Davie, st. 8 : — ' It warms me, it charms me, To mention but her name ; It heats me, it beets me, And sets me a' on flame ! ' (6) Long U > long Y. A. S. <:^, cow, pi. cy, ki-ne ; as in § 188. So also cud, pp. known > .. cyd-an {=*cud-ian), M. E. kythen, to make known, shew, display. *For gentil herte kytheth gentilesse.' Chaucer, Squ. Tale, 483. A. S. tUn, enclosure, town > .. iyn-an {='^ tUn-ian), to en- close ; M. E. tynen. Thus, in the Promptorium Parvulorum, written in 1440, we find: ^ Tynyd, or hedgydde, Septus J A. S. scriid, a shroud > .. saydafi {■='^scrud-ian), to clothe, cover up. (7). EA > IE (Y). A. S. ceap, a bargain (our cheap) > .. ciep-an, cyp-an, to buy (our keep), in § 189. A. S. de'ad, dead > .. dyd-an { = '^dead-ia?i), to make dead, kill. A. S. s^ani, ^ See Wriglit's Vocab., ed. Wiilcker, col. 194. § 192.] EXAMPLES. 1 99 a horse-load > .. sym-an [^*sea7?i-ian), to load a horse. A. S. dream^]Q)y > .. drym-an, to rejoice. K.^.nead, need > .. nyd-an, to compel. § 192. It remains to give examples of the z-mutation in modern English, in which it is by no means uncommon, though our grammars usually say but little about it. I. (a). A > .. E. In the following words, the Gothic form at once shews that the A. S. e is an z-mutation of a. E. ail, A. S. egl-an ; Goth, agljan, occurring in the comp. us-agljan, to trouble exceedingly ; allied to E. awe, from Icel. agi, fear (Goth, agis, fear). In E. bar-ley, the former syllable = A. S. here, barley ; Goth, baris, barley. (Mod. E. puts ar for er.) E. bed, A. S. bed; Goth. badi. E. bellows, pi. of bellow, M. E. below, belu, beli, A. S. belg, a bag ; Goth, balgs (stem balgi-), a wine-skin. E. bend, v., A. S. bendan, orig. to string a bow, fasten a band to it, from A. S. bend, a band (Goth, bandi, a band). E. berry, A. S. berige (= ^bazige)\ cf. Goth, basi, a berry. E. better, A. S. betra {■=* batira) ; Goth, batiza, better. E. best, A. S. betst {=''batist); Goth, batists, best. E. drench, A. S. drencan (^=^*dratician), to give to drink; Goth, draggkjan, to give to drink (where ggk = ngk, by an imitation of Greek spelling). E. ell, A. S. ehi (short for ^elin = *alin) ; Icel. alin, Goth. aleina, a cubit. E. ^/j(?, A. S. elks', allied to Goth, alja, except; cf. Lat. alias, otherwise. E. end, A. S. ejide ; cf. Goth, andi-laus, endless. Y..fen, A. S./efin ; Goi\\. fani, mud. E. guest, A. S. gest, also ^^sj/ ; Goth, gasts (stem gasti-), a guest, gasti-gods, good to guests, hospitable. E. /z^//, A. S. hel, hell; Goth, z^^^'^, hell. E. hen, A. S. ^d7z;z (originally ""henjd, see Sievers, O. Eng. 200 VOWEL-MUTATION. [Chap. XI. Grammar, ed. Cook, §§ 256, 258), and so fern, of A. S. hana, Goth, hana, a cock. E. ken, to know, M. E. ketinen, to make known, Icel. ke7ina, Goth. kannjaJt, to make known. E. kettle, A. S. cetel] Goth, katils ; not a Teut. word, but borrowed from Lat. catillus, dimin. of catinus, a bowl. E. lay, v., A. S. lecgan {j=^'^lag-ia7i)\ Goth, lagjan. Here eg is merely a way of writing gg ; and the gemination ^ or doubling of the g is due to the contraction ; (ygg < gi). E. let, v., to hinder, delay, A. S. lettafi ( = *latian), to make late ; Goth, latjaft, to be late, tarry, from the adj. lat-s (A. S. Icet), late, slow. The double / is due to contraction; (tKti). E. meat, A. S. mete; Goth, mats (stem mati-), meat ; mati- balgs, a meat-bag. E. me?'e, a lake, A. S. mere ; Goth. ma?'ei, sea. E. ;z^^, A. S. ;z^/, 7teti; Goth. ;z^//. E. j^;z^, A. S. sendan { = '' sa?tdia7t) ; Goth, sandjan. E. J^/, A. S. settaTi [^"^ sat-ianY ; Goth, satjan, E. j/^^//, A. S. j-f^//; cf. Goth, skalja, a tile. E. stead, a place, A. S. 'stede ; Goth, j/^/^j, pi. stadeis (stem E. swear, A. S. siver-ian, a strong verb with a weak in- finitive ; but the Goth, infin. is sivaran. E. twelve, A. S. twel/e, twelf', Goth, twalif. E. ze'mr, to wear clothes, A. S. werian {=^'^wazian)', Goth. wasjan, to clothe. E. z£;^(/, A. S. weddia7i, v., from ze'f^, s., a pledge ; Goth. wadi, a pledge. E. zi;f;z(/, A. S. wenda7i {j=^'^wa7idia7i), to turn; Goth. wa7idja7i, to turn. (/3). Besides the above words, in which the true origin of the e is so clearly shewn by the Gothic forms, there are many ^ Gemination is common in A. S. in words of this sort. Thus hehban = *heffan<'^hajia7i (see § 191), so ihziji'>bb. So also^2>r^; ci'>cc; li > //; mi > mm, &c. § 192.] EXAMPLES. 201 Others, some of which are explained in my Dictionary. Thus blend answers to A. S. blendan^ to blind; but as hlendan i^-=*bland-ia?t) is really the causal verb due to bland-an, to mix, the two were confused, and the secondary verb took the sense of 'blend.' Bejich, A. S. bejic [ = '^' ba?ik-i) is a derivative of bank. Divell, A. S. dwellan {=z^'dwalian), is a derivative from the base dival- occurring in Goth, dwal-s, foolish ; it meant originally to lead into error, then to hinder, delay, and intransitively, to remain. E. edge, A. S. ecg (for *aggi), is cognate \vith Lat. aa'-es, and answ-ers to a Teut. form agjo (Fick, iii. lo). E. English obviously stands for Aitgle-ish; the A. S. form is E7iglisc or ^nglisc, derived from Angle, pi. the Angles. Fell, K.^. fell-an, is a causal verb {=-'^/all-ian), due to the strong VQvh/eall-an (for ^/all-an), to fall. Fresh, A. S./e}-sc, stands for A. S. '^'far-isc, i. e. full of movement, flowing, as applied to water that always flows, and is never stagnant; formed ir om far-an, to go, move, with the common suffix -isc (E. -tsh). Hedge, A. S. hecge (see Supplement to Diet.), stands for *hag-jo, from the older form hag-a, a hedge, which is the mod. E. haw, of. edge, A. S. ecg (for *agjo), just above. E. length, A. S. leiigd, answers to a Teut. form langitho (Fick, iii. 265) ; from lang, long ; so also Icel. lengd, length, from langr. E. nettle, A. S. netele, is cognate with O. H. G. nezild (Schade), from a Teut. type hnatilo, dimin. of hnatjo, a nettle (O. H. G. nazzd) ; Fick, iii. 81. E. penny, A. S. pening, older form pending, is probably a derivative from the base pand, as seen in Du. paiid, a pledge, G. Pfand, which is (I think) non- Teutonic, being borrowed from Lat. panniis, orig. a cloth. E. quell, A. S. cwellan {^"cwal-ian), to kill < .. || cwcel {^=z'^cwal), pt. t. of cwel-an, to die ; where the symbol < .. || means ' derived, by mutation, from the same base as that seen in cwcbV . E. quench, A. S. cweiican {^'^cwanc-iaii), to extinguish < .. || cwanc, pt. t. of cwinc-an, to go out, be extinguished. E. say, M. E. sey-en, A. S. secgan { = '^ sag-ia7i)\ 202 VOWEL-MUTATION, [Chap. XI. cf. Icel. segja, to say ; the original a appears in the sb. saw, i.e. a saying, A. S. sag-u. E. sedge, A. S. secg {r=i'^sagj6)\ lit. ' cutter/ i. e. sword-grass or sword-plant, from its shape ; the original a appears in A. S. sag-a, E. saw (cutting instru- ment). E. sell, A. S. sella7i { = '^sal-ia?i) ; the orig. a appears in Icel. sal-a, E. sale. E. singe, put for '^senge, M. E. seng-en, A. S. sefig-an, lit. to make to sing, from the hissing of a burning log, &c. ; the orig. a appears in A. S. sang, later form song, E. so7ig. Chaucer has senge for sitige ; C. T. 5931. E. stench, A. S. slenc, a strong smell, the stem being stan-ci- (see Sievers, O. E. Gram, ed. Cook, § 266) ; < .. || sianc, pt. t. of stinc-an, E. stink. E. step, v., A. S. stepp-an {^'^ stap-ian) ; from the strong verb stap-an, to go, advance. E. strength, A. S. strengdu {^-^^ strangicfu) ; from Strang, E. strong. So also E. string, A. S. streng-e, a. tightly twisted cord ; from the same A. S. Strang. E. tell, A. S. tellan {=*tal-ian) ; from A. S. tal-u, a number, a narrative, E. tale. E. unkempt, i. e. unkemb'd, uncombed; from A. S. cemb-an, to comb < .. camb, E. co7nb. E. web, A. S. webb {=''zva/-jo), since bb results from the doubling of / (Sweet, A. S. Reader, p. xxviii) < .. II wccf =.(^waf), pt. t. of wef-aft, to weave. E. Welsh, A. S. wel-isc, foreign < .. A.S. weal-h { = '^wal-h), a foreigner; the mod. E. Wales properly means the people rather than the country, being merely a pi. sb. meaning 'foreigners'; A.S. weal-as. E. wretch, A. S. wrecca, lit. an exile, outcast {z^'^wrac-jd) < .. || wrcEc {='^wrac), pt. t. of the strong verb wrec-an, to drive, urge, drive out. Cf E. wrack, from the same root. § 193. 0> .. Y. I now give some examples of the second z-mutation ; from Xoy. 2. (a). E. gild, v., K.^. gyld-an < .. gold, gold; this has been already given. Similarly, we have the following : — E. bight, a coil of rope, a bay, A. S. byht, a bay, lit. 'bend' < .. II bog-en, pp. of bug-an, to bow, bend. E. birth, Icel. burdr, A. S. ge-byr-d< .. \\ bor-eji, pp. of beran, to bear; so § 194.] EXAMPLES. 203 also E. burden, A. S. hyr-d-en. E. build, A. S. byld-an< .. A. S. bold, a building, dwelling. E. bury, A.S. byrg-an, byrig-an< .. II borg-en, pp. oibeorgan, to hide. E. drip, a Scand. word, Dan. dryppe, to drip < .. || Icel. drop-id, pp. of drjUp-a, strong verb, to drop ; cf. A. S. drop-en, pp. of the strong verb dreop-an, to drop, drip. E. drizzle, a frequentative form from a base drys- < .. II "^dros-en, orig. form of dror-en, pp. of dreosan, to fall in drops. 'E. filly, a Scand. word, Icel.^^'<2< .. led. foli, a foal ; cf. A. S. /ola, a foal. E. first, A. ^.Jyrst {='^/or-ist) < .. A.S. /br-e, before, in front. E. kernel, A.S. cyrn-el { = '^corn-ild)< ..corn, E. corn; the sense is 'a little grain.' E. kiss, v., A. S. cyssan {=*coss-iaii), from coss^ s., a kiss. E. knit, A. S. cnytta?i iy-='^cnot-ia7i), from cnot-ta, a knot. E. /z/?, a Scand. word, Icel. lypta (pronounced ly/ta) ^, put for '^ lopi-ia=z^ lo/t-ia ; from the sb. lopt (pronounced lo/t), air; thus ' to lift 'is 'to raise in the air ' ; cf. E. lo/t-y, a-lo/t, also from Icel. lopt, E. vix-en, M. E. vixen, fixen, a she-fox, K.S.fyx-en {■=*/ox-i?t) < ..fox, E./ox; precisely parallel to A. S. gyd-en, a goddess, fern, of god, and to wylf-en, fern. oiwolf; § 191 (3). (^). The same mutation is remarkably exhibited in four words borrowed from Latin. Thus Lat. coquiiia, a kitchen > .. A. S. cycen (for *coc-in), E. kitchen. Lat. molina, a mill > .. A. S. ?jiylen, myln, M. E. iniln, E. mill. Lat. moneta, a mint > . . mynet, E. mi7it ; cf. E. mon-ey (F. 7nonnaie) from the same Lat. word. Lat. monasterium, a .monastery, was short- ened to '^motiister> .. A. S. mynster, E. minster. § 194. U > .. Y. Third mutation; from u Xoy. 3. (a). There are two good examples that can be illus- trated by Gothic. E. kin, A. S. cyn; Goth. kuni. E.fill, v., K.S.fyllan { = '^/ull-iafi) ; Goih. fu I Ij an, to fill. In the re- markable verb to fulfil, the second syllable naturally takes ^ There is no written 7? in O. Icelandic ; it is denoted always by the Latin symbol// (cf. Lat. scriptus), but it is pronounced//. 204 vow EL- MUTATION. [Chap. XI. the mutated form, the sense being ' to fill full/ though, in composition, the order of the elements is reversed. (/3). E. hrittle, M. E. brutel, answering to A. S. ""hrytel (not found) < .. II brut-on, pt. t. pi. of hreola7t^ to break up; of. A. S. hryttan {^"^ brut-tan), to break, a secondary weak verb. E. ding-y, i.e. soiled with dung; we find the A. S. verb ge- dyng-an, to manure, in JElfred, tr. of Orosius, i. 3 ; < .. A.S. dimg, E, dimg \\ A. S. duftg-en, pp. of ding-an, to throw away. E. list, v., as in the phr. it listeth, A. S. lyst-an {='^lust-ia?i), to desire < . . A. S. lust, desire, pleasure. E. pindar, also pinner, an impounder; from K.S. py?idan [=.'^pund-ia?t), to impound < . . pund, a pound, enclosure. E. shut, M. E. shut ten, shitien, A. S. scyttan, to shut, to fasten a door with a bolt that is shot across < .. || scut-on, pp. t. pi. oi sceotan, to shoot \ E. stint, properly ' to shorten ' ; of. A. S. styntan, occurring in the qoycv^. for-styntan, to make dull < .. A. S. stunt, stupid. The peculiar sense occurs in the related Scand. words, such as Icel. stytta (put for "^stynta), to shorten, stuttr (put for "^'stuntr), short, stunted. There is a further trace of the A. S. verb styntan in the gloss : ' Hebetat, styntid ' i^for styntiS); Wright's Vocab., ed. Wiilcker, 25. 28. Y.. think, to seem, as it occurs in the phr. methinhs, i. e. it seems to me, A. S. me' pynced, from pyncan ( = "^pimc-ian), to seem ; cf. Goth, thugkjan, i. e. "^thimkjan, G. diinken, to seem ; whence it appears that the base of this verb is punc-. It happens that we also find A. S. pane, thought, Goth, thagks (i. e. ^thank-s), remembrance ; from the Teut. base thank, to intend, think (Fick, iii. 128). Fick explains the base punc- as due to a Teut. thonk-jo, which is possible ; but it is ex- tremely likely that there really was once a strong verb '^pincan, pt. t. '^panc, pp. "^puncen, as suggested by Ettmiiller. E. thrill, M. E. thrillen, thirlen, A. S. pyrlian, pyrelian, to pierce; a verb formed from ^r J, s., a hole. Further, >^r^/ * Or else, from the base seen in A. S. scot-en, pp. of the same verb ; see the last section. It makes no difference. § 195-1 EXAMPLES. 205 Stands for "^pyrh-el (as shewn by the cognate M. H. G. durchel, pierced) < .. A. S./7<;r/^, prep., Y.. through. Thus ^ z. ihirV was a hole through a thing ; whence the verb thirl, thrill, to pierce. E. trivi, properly to set firm, make stable, as in ' to trim a boat'; A. S. trymman, tryniian, to make firm< .. trum, firm, strong. E. winsome, A. S. zvynsum, i. e. pleasant, from ivyn, zty?m, joy, a fem. sb., put for "^wunni (see G. Wonne in Kluge)< .. || wunn-en, pp. oiwinnan, to win, gain. See also Listen in my Dictionary. (y). There are two good examples of words borrowed from Latin. Thus Lat. uncial .. A. ^.ynce, E. inch. IL. puteus, a well, pit> .. A. S. "^puti (for ""pute-), pyt, E. pit. § 195. A> ..^. Fourth z-mutation. 4. (a). The following examples are well illustrated by the Gothic spelling ; we must remember that the A. S= a com- monly represents Teut. AI (Goth, ai) ; § 71. E. heal, A. S. hctlan {=.^hdl-ia7i), Goth, hailjan, to heal< .. A. S. hdl, Goth. hails, M.E. hool, E. whole. E. rear, A. S. rdran { = '^rdz-ian), Goth, raisj'an, to raise, cause to rise ; where r stands for s (with a 0-sound), by Verner's Law. We should also particularly note the doublet raise, which is a Scand. form, Icel. reis-a. And just as Icel. reis-a < .. || Icel. reis, pt. t. of ris-a, to rise, so likewise A. S. r&r-a7K .. || A. S. rds, pt. t. of ris-an, to rise. Shortly, rear and raise are both causal forms of rise', but one is English, the other Scandinavian. (jS). E. any, M.E. ani, A. S. dii-ig (with long d)< .. A. S. dn, E. one. E. hleak, orig. ' pale,' A. S. blmc < . . || bide, pt. t. of blic-an, to shine, look bright or white. E. bread-th, in which the final -th is late ; the M. E. form is brede, breede, A. S. brced-u. This is one of the substantives of which Sievers remarks (see brddu in the Index to his O. E. Gram- mar) that ' they have taken the nom. sing, ending from the ^-declension,' though they properly ' belong to the weak de- clension, since they correspond to Goth, weak sbs. in -ei' i.e. -/. Hence brdd-u is for '^brcEd-i< .. A. S. brad, broad. And, 206 VOWEL-MUTATION. [Chap. XI. in fact, we find Goth, braid-ei, breadth, which is the very cognate form required. E. feud, enmity, is a remarkably erroneous form. The mod. E. form should have been */eed or '^/ead, but it has been curiously confused with the totally different word feud, a fief, which is of French origin. The M. E. form is fede or feid in the Northern dialect (see Jamie- son's Scot. Diet.), answering to the Dan. /eide, a quarrel, feud. The corresponding A. S. word K^fdh-de, enmity< .. fdh, fa, hostile, E. foe. E. heat, A. S. hatu, is precisely parallel in form to A. S. brddu, breadth, explained above. Hence the cz is an z-mutation of a ; from A. S. hat, M. E. hoot, E. hot. E. hest, a command, M. E. hest, has a final ex- crescent /; cf. ivhils-t, &c. ; -the A. S. form is hds, just as hehcBS is the A. S. form of E. behest. The form hces is diffi- cult, but probably stands for '^hcES-si, which again stands for '^hdt-tiio.i. bliss, A.S. bliss, bli(fs, from blide, blithe^). The word is certainly formed, by mutation, from the verb hdtan, Goth. haitan, to command. Curiously enough, the Goth, form of the sb. is haiti, which presents no difficulty. E. lead, v., A. S. Iddan [ = '' Idd-ian) < ..lad, a course, 'E. lode. E. leave, v., A.S. M/an, to leave behind < ..Id/, a heritage, that which remains. E. lend, with excrescent d and shortened vowel, M. E. lenen, A.S. lcEnan< ..Idn, E. loa?t. E. stair, A.S. st(Eg-er [ = ^stcEg-ir ?)< .. stdh, stag, pt. t. of stig-an, to climb. E. sweat, v., M. E. sweten, A.S. swcstan { = * swat-tan) < .. swat, s.j sweat. E. thread, A. S. /?rcEd (for *J?rd-di)< ..prd- w-an, to throw, to twist. The word to throw formerly had precisely the sense 'to twist,' like its Lat. equivalent forquere; cf. throwster in Halliwell, explained as ' one who throws or winds silk or thread.' Cf. also G. Draht, thread, from drehen, to turn, twist. E. wreath, A. S. wrdd { = '^wrddi), a twisted band, fillet < .. || wrdd, pt. t. of wrid-an, to writhe, twist. Wrest and wrestle are similar formations from the same root. ^ See Bahder, Die Verbalabstracta, 1880, p. 65. § 196.] EXAMPLES. . 207 § 196. 6 > .. E. Fifth 2-mutation. 5. (a). We have already noted the plurals feet^ geese, teeth, from foot, goose, tooth. A fourth such word is A. S. brodor, brother, which made the pi. brocfru, but the dat. sing, bre'der. The Icel. brodir made the pi. brocdr, now written brcE^r, where the os answers precisely to A. S. /, being the i- mutation of 0. Hence the pi. brether was introduced into Northern English and even into the Midland dialect, and, finally, with the addition of the characteristic pi. suffix -en, into the Southern dialect. We find brethre, Ormulum, 8269 ; brether, Rob. of Brunne, tr. of Langtoft, p. 51 ; brether-en, Layamon, i. 90. (/3). In the five following examples, the Gothic form shews clearly what was the orig. A. S. form. E. deem, A. S. de'm-an {=.'^ dom-iaii), Goth, domjan, to deem, judge ; from A. S. dom, Goth, dom-s, judgment, opinion, E. doom. E../eed, A. ^./e'dan {=.'^f6d-ian), Go\h. /odjan, to feed; from A. S./6d-a, 'E./ood. E. meet, A. S. met-an {=^*m6t-iari), Goth, motjan, in the comp. ga-motjan, to meet ; from A. S. mot, ge-mot, a meeting, assembly, preserved in the E. phr. ' a moot point,' i. e. a point for discussion in an assembly. E. seeli, A. S. s^can [=.^soc-ia7i), Goth, sokjan, to seek < || A. S. soc (Goth, sok), pt. t. of sacan, to contend, dispute ; whence also sake and soke or soke7i. E. weep, A. S. wep-afi (=^w6p- ian), Goth, wopjan \ from the A. S. sb. wop, a clamour, outcry. (y). E. beech, A. S. be'ce ; beechen, adj., A. S. be'c-en [=^'^be'c-in) < ..boc, a beech-tree. It thus appears that the true word for ' beech ' was boc, now only used in the sense of book ; hence the adj. be'c-en, beechen, as well as a new form be'ce, beech. E. bleed, A. S. ble'd-an [■='^bl6d-ia7i), from blod, blood. E. btess, A. S. ble'tsian, Northern form bloedsia (=A. S. "^ ble'd-sian) ; also from bldd, blood. The suffix is the same as in clean-se, A. S. cicen-sian, from cldn-e, clean ; and the orig. sense of bless was to purify a sacred place 20 8 VO WEL-MUTA TION. [Chap. XI . or altar with sprinkled blood \ E. breeds A. S. bred-an {^ — "^brod-iaii), from hrod, E. brood. E. glede, a live coal A.'^.gled {^'^glS-di, ?>eQ Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 269); from glo-wan, E. glow; where the w is lost, as in thread from throw in § 195. E. green, A. S. gr/n-e, O. H. G. gruom, Teut. GRONjo (Fick, iii. 112); derived from A. S. gro-wan, allied to Icel. gro-a, E. grow. Green is the colour of grow- ing herbs. E. keel, to cool, as used in Shakespeare, A. S. ce'l-an { = '^' col-tan) ', from col, cool. E. speed, A. S. j/)/^ {=sp6-di, Fick, iii. 355), success ; from A. S. sp6-wa7i, to succeed, prosper. Cf. the remarkable cognate Skt. sphiti, prosperity, sphdti, increase, from sphdy, to enlarge. E. steed, A. S. steda {^'^stod-joT), a stud-horse, stallion, war-horse; from A. S. stod, M. E. stood, now spelt and pronounced as stud. § 197. U > .. Y. Sixth z-mutation. (a). An excellent example is seen in the E. hide, a skin, A. S. hyd. This hyd clearly stands for '^hiidi, because it is, by Grimm's and Verner's Laws, the precise equivalent of Lat. cutis (stem cuti-), a hide. The plurals mice, lice, ki-ne, from mouse, louse, cow, have been discussed above ; see § 188. (/3). The E. de-file is a strange compound with a F, prefix ; the true old word is simply file, as used by Shakespeare, Macb. iii. i. 65, and by Spenser, F. Q. iii. i. 62. The A. S. form \'s> fyl-an {=*/iil-ian) < ../HI, foul; so that //^ = to make foul. So also the sh. filth, A. S. ^/^ (cf. O.H.G. fididd) < ../til, 'E./oul. E. dive, A. S. dy/an {='^du/-ian), a weak verb derived from the strong verb dii/-a?t, -to dive; whence also dii/-a, E. dove. Properly, dive is a causal form. E. kith, A. S. cycf, knowledge, acquaintance, relationship {=.^'cu7i-di)\ cf. Goth, kunthi, knowledge; < .. A. S. ciid i^'^cund), known; with which cf. Goth, kwtths, pp. known. In the mod. E. kith, the i has been shortened. E. pride, A. S. pryt-e ; from prut, E. proud. E. wish, v., A. S. ^ This etymology is due to Mr. Sweet (Anglia, iii. i. 156.). § 199.] MUTATION OF EA TO V. 209 wyscan {=^'^wiisc-ia7i) < .. wtisc, a wish, s. ; it is obvious that the mod. E. has really preserved the form of the verb only, though wiiss, on the contrary, occurs in Lowland Scotch both as s. and v. To the above examples we may add the prov. E. rimer, common as the name of a tool for enlarging screw-holes in metal (see Halliwell). It simply means 'roomer/ being derived from K.^.rym-an {^^ru??i- ia?i)^ to enlarge, from the adj. ru?7i, large, room-y. §198. EA > ..Y; EO > ..Y. This is true, whatever be the length) i.e. ea >y, e'a > y\ eo >y, and eo >y. In early MSS., the y is written z'e. We take all these together, as the seventh z-mutation. Examples in mod. E. are rare. (a). The mod. E. elder, eldesl, correspond to A. S. yldra ( = yid-i'ra), yldesl { = yidisla), < .. eald, E. old. The sb. eld=A. S.yld-u, old age. (/3). E. work, v., A. S. wyrcan i^-='^weorc-ian) < .. weorc, E. work, s. Mod. E. confuses the eo and j/, so that this cannot fairly be instanced. (-y). In the same way, E. steeple, a high tower, is from steep, high; but the A. S. form stypel is formed by z-mutation from ste'ap, steep. So E. teem, v., M. E. temen, is from team, M. E. tern, teem, a family ; but the A. S. verb tym-ian is formed by z-mutation from the sb. te'am. (S). We may instance also Icel. dypd, depth ^ < .. Icel. djYipr=K. S. de'op, deep. Modern EngHsh imitates this in forming depth from deep. So also theft from thief', A. S. piefde, theft < . .pe'of a thief. The clearest example is E. stirk, a bullock, A. S. styr-ic, formed with suffix -c and vowel-mutation from A. S. ste'or, an ox, a steer. § 199. Mutation in Modern English. By way of re- capitulation, I here collect those instances in which the vowel-mutation has been clearly preserved even in modern English. The explanations of the words have been already given above. ^ For ^dJiip-itSo'y cf. Teut. langitho, length, at p. 201. VOL. I. P 2 1 VO WEL'MUTA TION. [Chap. X I. 1. {a) man, pi. men ; compare hank, bench', saw (a cutter), compared with sedge. (d) Substantives derived from ad- jectives, as: ^oftg, length) strong, strength^. ( an apron ; a nauger > an auger ; a nora7ige > a7i orange ; a nouch > an ouch ; a manpire > an umpire : hence the curious forms adder, apro7i, auger, orange, ouch., and U7npire\ all of which have lost an initial 71. N- (2). In the case of nuncle, the n is due to the final letter of the first possessive pronoun ; so that my 7iuncle < myn uncle, mine uncle. We even find the form nauni, from mine aunt. N- (3). In the word 7t-07tce, which only occurs in the phrase for the 7i07ice, we have the M. E. for the 7i07ies, miswritten for for then 07ies, for the once. Here then is the dat. case of the def. article, A. S. dam, later forms ^an, than, the7i. N- (4)5 negative prefix. A. S. 71-, prefix, short for 7ie, not. Cf. Goth. 7ii, Russ. 7ie, Irish ni, Lat. 7ie, not ; Skt. 71a, not. It occurs in 7i-aught, n-ay, n-either, 71-ever, n-ill (for 7ie will), 71-0, 7i-07ie, 7i-or, 7i-ot (short for 7i-aught). See Un- (i) ; p. 217. Of", Off-. The prep, of is invariably written off in com- position, except in the case of off all, where the use of off would have brought three _/*'s together. On- ; A. S. on, prep., E. 071 ; in composition. Or-, in or-deal, or-is. The prefix is A. S. or-, cognate with Du. oor-, G. ur-, Goth, ur- or us-. It is therefore only another form of A- (4). Or-deal, A. S. ordel, orddl, is cog- nate with Du. oordeel^ G. urtheil, judgment ; -deal is the same as E. deal, a portion. The word meant ' that which is dealt § 201.] ENGLISH PREFIXES. %\*J out/ hence, a decision. Oris"\'s> pi. of ort^ cognate with or borrowed from Mid. Du. oor-ete, a piece left uneaten, from Du. el-e7i, to eat. Out-, A. S. lit ; the prep, out in composition. Over-, A. S. o/er ; the prep, over in composition. T-, in t-wi't, A. S. cst'Wita?i, to t^^•it, reproach. Thus /- is short for at-, which is the same as at, prep. ; see At- in Mur- ray's Dictionary. Thorough.-, in thorough-fare ; the same as through. To- (i), in to-day, to-morrow, merely the prep, to, A. S. to, to, as to, for. To- (2), intensive prefix ; obsolete, except in the pt. t. to- brake. Judges ix. 53. A. S. to-, apart, asunder, in twain; cognate with O. Fries, to-, te-, O. H. G. za-, ze-, zi-, all with the sense of ' asunder '; closely related to O. H. G. za-r-, ze-r-, zi-r-, G. ze-r-, prefix ; cf. also Goth, twis-, as in twis-standan, to separate oneself from. Twi-, as in iwi-light, A. S. twi-, lit. ' double/ hence ' doubtful,' allied to E. two. Cognate with Icel. tvi-, Du. twee-, G. zwie-, which are allied, respectively, to Icel. tveir, Du. twee, and G. zwei, two. XJn- (i), negative prefix ; A.S. un-, from Aryan n- (sonant), negative prefix. Cf. Du. on-, Icel. 6-, u-, Dan. u-, Swed. 0-, Goth, un-, G. un-, W. an-, Lat. i7i-, Gk. av-, d, Zend, ana-, Pers. nd-, Skt. an-. See N- (4) ; p. 216. Un- (2), verbal prefix ; A. S. un-, also on-, short ioxorid- = A.S. ajtd-; cf. Du. ont-, G. ent-, Gk. dm. It is therefore ultimately the same as an- in answer, and a- in a-long. See An- above ; p. 214. Un- (3), in un-til, un-to. The prefix is equivalent to the O. Fries, and O. Sax. ujid, up to, as far as to, Goth, tind^ up to, unto. The A. S. (Wessex) spelling of this prefix is 6d. Under- ; the prep, under in composition. Up- ; the prep, up in composition. Wan-, in wan-ton ; see Waiiton in my Dictionary. 21 8 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XII. With-, against ; the prep, with in composition. The A. S. wid commonly means ' against ' ; this sense is retained in the phrase ' to fight with one.' Hence withstand. Y-, prefix ; as in the archaic words y-clept, named, jy-wis, certainly. M.E.y-, i-; A.S.ge-; cognate with Du. ^^-, G. ge-, Goth. ga-. This prefix, once very common, made very litde difference to the sense ; sometimes it has a collective force. It was, perhaps, originally emphatic. .See A- (6) and E-. § 202. Substantival Suffixes. The substantival suffixes of E. origin are of three kinds, viz. (i) those like -do??i, -ship, where the A. S. suffix was also an intelligible word ; (2) suffixes expressive of diminution ; and (3) suffixes consisting of only one or two letters, such as -??i in doo-m, -th in leng-th ; some of these being double or compound. (i) In the first class we have only the following : -dom, -hood (also -head), -lock (also -ledge)'^, -red, -ric, -ship (also -scape, which is Dutch). See Koch, Eng. Gram. iii. 102 ; Sweet, A. S. Reader, p. Ixxxi. To these should be added A. S. ldd\ see under -hood below. The -craft \xi priest-craft, &c., can hardly be regarded as a mere suffix. -dom. A. S. -dom, the same as A. S. dovi, judgment, E. doom. Cognate with Icel. -domr, Dan. and Swed. -dom, as in lct\.J)rcEl-d6mr, Dan. trccl-dom, Swed. trdl-dom, thraldom; Du. -dom, G. -thum, as in Du. heilig-dom, G. Heilig-thum, sanctuary, relic. It occurs {a) in pure E. words, as birth-dom, earl-dom, free-dom, heatheji-dom, king-dom, sheriff-dom, wis- dom : {b) in words of Scand. origin, as hali-dom, thral-dom : (c) in words in which the first element is foreign, as : Christen- dom, duke-doTJi, martyr-dom, peer -dom, pope-dom, prince-dom, serf -dom. New words, 2iS flu?ikey-dom, can be coined. -hood, -head. A. S. -hdd, Friesic -hed; cf. § 42. The A. S. hdd meant sex, degree, rank, order, condition, state, nature, form; so that man-hood means ' man's estate'; &c, ^ The suffix -71CSS (^ = -n-ess) does not belong to this class. See § 232. § 202.] SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES, 219 Cognate with Du. -heid, Dan. -hed^ Swed. -het, G. -heit^ appearing respectively in Du. vrijheid, Dan. fri-hed, Swed. frt-het, G. Frei-heit, freedom ; where the Swed. form looks as if it were merely borrowed from German, as perhaps the Dan. form was also. Cf. also Goth, haidus, manner, way; further related to Skt. kelu, a sign by which a thing is known, from kil, to perceive, know. It occurs {a) in pure E. words, as broiher-hood, child-hood, knight-hood, likeli-hood, maiden-hood, man-hood, neighbour-hood, sister-hood, widow-hood, wife-hood^ woman-hood, and is spelt -head in God-head, maiden-head: (b) in words in which the first element is foreign, as m false- hood^ priest-hood. In boy-hood, the word boy is Friesian; it is not found in A. S. The form live-li-hmd is corrupt ; here -li-hood has been substituted for M. E. -lode, and the real suffix is A. S. -lad, as in lif-ldd, provisions to Hve by. This A. S. lad is the same as mod. E. lode ; see Lode in my Etym. Diet. -lock, -ledge. Only in wed-lock, know-ledge ; the former of which has the pure E. suffix, from M.E. -lok, shortened from M. E. lok = A. S. Idc^ whilst the latter exhibits the cognate Scand. form, Icel. -leikr. The A. S. lac is probably preserved in the mod. E. slang term lark, sport^; it meant 'play, contest, gift, offering,' but was also used to form abstract nouns, as in re'af-ldc, robbery, wroht-ldc, accusation, wed-ldc, later wed- lac, matrimony, the wedded state. The cognate Icel. leikr ^ Swed. lek, play, is also freely used as a suffix, as in Icel. kcBrleikr, Swed. kdrlek, love. There was also a corresponding A. S. verbal suffix -Icecan i^-^^-ldcian), as in A. S. neah-lcecan, M. E. neh-lechen, to draw nigh, approach ; and it is not un- likely that the form of the suffix -leche in M. E. know-leche^ knowledge, was really influenced by this A. S. verbal form. It makes no great difference. -red (1)5 A. S. -rdden-, only in hat-red, kin-d-red. In the latter word the middle d is excrescent, the M. E. form being ^ It should rather have given us a mod. E. lokc ; the common North- em laik, a sport, is from the Icel. leikr. 220 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XII, h'n-rede, answering to an A. S. "^cyn-rdden^ not found. So also hat-red, M. E. hat-reden, answers to A. S. '^hete-rdden^ also not found. We find, however, A. S. freond-rddetiy friendship, shewing that the suffix, like -ship, signifies ' state ' or 'condition,' originally ^readiness.' It even occurs as a separate word, meaning ' condition, rule ' ; and is allied to Goth, ga-r aid-ems, an ordinance, rule, G. he-reit, ready, and E. ready. Curiously enough, it is related to the verb to ride, not, as might at first be supposed, to the verb to read. -red (2), in hund-red. The suffix in hwidred, A. S. hund- red, is not the same as the above. It appears also in Icel. hund-rad, O. Sax. hunde-rod, O. H. G. hunde-rit, G. hunde-rt. In this case the suffix -7'ed means tale, number, or more literally, ' reckoning ' ; so that hund-red means * a hundred by reckoning,' the A. S. hund (cognate with Lat. cent-u7}i) meaning a hundred, even when used without the suffix. Cf. Goth, ga-rath-jan, to reckon, to number. -ric, in bishop-ric. From A.S. ric-e, Goth, reik-i^ dominion; allied to Lat. reg-mwi, kingdom. -ship, A. S. -scipe, originally ' shape, form, mode,' from scepp-an [=^'^scap-iaji), to shape, make. Cognate with Icel. 'skapr, Dan. -skab, Swed. -skap, Du. -schap, G. -schaft, as seen in A. ^./reond-scipe, Vi2,ii. frcend-skab, ^w^^. frdnd-skap^ Du. vriend-schap, G./reund-scha/t, i. e. friend-ship', for which the Icel. word is vin-skapr. See Weigand, Etym. G. Diet., ii. 540. The suffix is used [a) in pure English words, some of which are in early use, as : /rieftd-ship, hard-ship, lord- ship, ioivn-ship, worship {=worth-ship); others in later use, as : horse7nan-ship, king-ship, lady-ship^ sheriff-ship, son-ship, steward-ship, ward-ship', {b) with Scand. words, 2iS fellow- ship : {c) with French words, as : clerk-ship, court-ship, &c. The word latid-scape, originally also land-skip, was borrowed from Du. landschap in the 1 7th century. § 203. (2). Suffixes expressive of diminution. The chief diminutive A. S. suffixes are -c, -el, -en, -ing^ which may § 203.] DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES. 221 be combined, giving the secondary forms, such as -k-in, -l-ing, -c (probably from Teut. -ko). The word hull does not appear in A. S., though we find Icel. hoh\ a bull ; but we find A. S. bull-u-c ^ E. bull-o-ck. It is usual to regard the suffix -ock as indivisible, but I would rather regard the suffix as double or compound, and due to some such form as a Teut. double suffix -wo-ko ; or otherwise, the -o- (A. S. -u-) may have arisen from the ending of a stem in some word of this class ^. This -o-ck no doubt came to be regarded as indivisible, and was used to form diminutives ; hence hill-ock, a small hill ; humm-ock, a small hump or heap ; rudd-ock, the litde red bird, the redbreast ; laver-ock, little lark, from A. S. Idiverce, Id/erce, a lark. There is an equivalent diminutive suffix in Irish, spelt -og (also perhaps for -o-g), whence our shamr-ock, Irish seamr-og, dimin. of seamar, trefoil. Cf. A. S. malt-uc, mett-uc^ W. mal-og, a matl-ock, where the W. word may be of A. S. origin. The origin of hadd-ock is doubtful. The word hammock is W. Indian, so that it is of entirely dif- ferent formation. Originally hamaca, it came to be spelt as now by association with words ending in -ock. Padd-ock, a toad, is a dimin. formation from Icel. padda, a toad. It is some- times said to mean ' a large toad,' but this is a mere matter of usage. Padd-ock, a small enclosure, is a corruption of parr-ock, as is curiously proved by the fact that Paddock Wood, in Kent, not far from Tonbridge, was formerly called Parrocks (see Archaeologia Cantiana, xiii. 128; Hasted's Kent, V. 286). This is the K.'^. pear rue ^ a paddock; from sparr-an, later parr-en (with loss of s), to enclose. In the word stir-k we have the simple suffix -k. It is the dimin. oi steer, A. S. ste'or) whence A. S. slyri'-c, a stirk. ^ Not dzd/uca, as usually given ; the dat. case dit/h/re occuis in the Liber Scintillarum, sect. 54. 2 Cf. O. Sax. -e/i-zi, a horse, stem *eh-wo, cognate ^vith Lat. eq-inis, stem *EQ-wo-, 222 DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES, [Chap. XII. -el, or rather -e-l^ where the -/ answers to the Aryan suffix -LO. See § 21,?. Thus E. bramble (with excrescent b\ A. S. brem-el, is formed (with z-mutation) from A, S. brom, broom (Kluge, s.v. Brom-beere) ; giving brem-el < '^bromi-l (see Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 265). Similarly, E. hov-el is a dimin. of A. S. hof, a house. E. kern-el^ A. S. cyrn-el, is a dimin. of A. S. corn^ a corn, a grain. E. nav-el, A. S. na/e-la, is a dimin. of E. nave, A. S. na/a, the boss of a wheel. E. padd-le, a little spade, formerly spaddle, is a dimin. of spade. E. runn-el, a rivulet, A. S. ryn-el, is a diminutive of r>^;2^, a course < . . || ronn-en, pp. of rinnan, to run. Other diminutive forms are ax-le, bund-le, m'pp-le, nozz-le, pimp-le^ spang-le, spark-le. In the word cock-er-el^ a little cock, the suffix is the Aryan -ro-lo. So also in pik-er-el, a young pike ; mong-r-el, a puppy of mixed breed, from A. S. mang {ge-??iang), a mixture \ -en, or rather -e-n (Teut. -ya-na ?). In the word maid-en, diminutive oimaid, the cognate O. H. G. magat-in or meged-in, dimin. of O. H. G. magad, a maid, shews that the suffix answers to a Teut. -in^ which Schleicher (Compend. § 223) shews to be a compound suffix. A similar suffix is used to form Gothic feminines ending in -ein-s (stem -ei-ni). It is also diminutival in E. chick-en, on which see the note in the Supplement to my Dictionary, 2nd ed. In E. kttf-en, M. E. kit-oiin, the suffix w^as originally French, and therefore this word does not exhibit the A. S. -en, but the Anglo- French -oMi (Lat. ace. -onerri) \ the change from -oiin to -en being, however, due to association with diminutives in -en. -ing, i. e. -i-n-g, is due to a Teutonic compound suffix ; see § 241. It was chiefly used in A. S. to form patrony- mics, as in ccpel-ing^ son of a noble, from cEpele, noble. * Kett-le, scutt-Ie, are also diminutives, but are both borrowed from Latin, viz. from cat-illus, dimin. of catinus, a bowl, and scut-ella, dimin. of scutra, a tray. § 203.] DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES. 22^ It does not seem to be now used as a mere diminutive, except when -/- precedes. See below. -1-ing, is compounded of the suffixes -/ {-el) and -zng, and was early used to form diminutives. Examples are : cod- ling, duck-ling, gos-ling, star-ling, as diminutives of cod, duck, goose, and of prov. E. stare, A. S. steer, a starling. Many of these forms acquired a depreciatory sense, as : fop-ling, lord- ling, strip-ling, wit-ling, world-ling. Some are related to the primary words indirectly, as : nest-ling, a small bird in a nest ; sap-ling, a young tree full of sap ; strip-ling, a lad as thin as a strip ; year-ling, a creature a year old. Some are from adjectives, as: dar-ling {=.dear-ling\ fat-ling, first- ling, young-ling. Some from verbs, as: change-ling, found- ling, hire-ling, nurs-ling, shave-ling, siarve-ling, suck-ling^ yean-ling. Ster-ling is a Latinised form of Easter-ling ; see my Dictionary. Scant-ling does not properly belong here, being of F. origin (F. eschantillon). -kin, i. e. -k-in or -k-i-n, seems to be a treble suffix. The cognate O. H. G. -kin or -chi7t, as in wibe-kin, wibe-cMn, dimin. of wib, a woman, shews that the i was once long; moreover, -in appears to be a double suffix, as said above, in discussing -en. The suffix -kin is not found in A. S., nor is it, in general, old; in many words it is due to the borrowing of Middle Du. words ending in -ken. Per- haps it first appears in names, as Mal-kin, i. e. little Maid or Maud, i. e. Matilda ; whence E. gri-malkin, a cat, with the word gray (or perhaps F. gris, with the same sense) prefixed. The words lamh-kin, pip-kin (dimin. of pipe), thumh-kin (a thumb-screw) are probably of native formation. Gris-kin originally meant, not the spine of a hog, but a little pig; the base is Norse, from Icel. griss, a pig. E. sis-kin, a song-bird, is from Dan. sis-gen [=*sis- ken), a little chirper ; cf. Swed. dial, sis-a, to make a noise like a wood-grouse. In nap-kin, the E. suffix is added to the F. nappe, O. F. nape, a cloth, from Lat. viappa, a cloth. 224 DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES. The following words are all probably Dutch, although the Mid. Du. suffix -ken, once common, has been replaced, in the modern Du. language, by -je or -tje or -etje or -pje (after tri)^ which is now widely used. Bump-kin, Mid. Du. hoom-ken, a little tree, thick piece of wood, hence a block-head, dimin. of boom, a tree, cognate with E. beam. Bus-kin (for ^brus-kin or '^burs-kin). Mid. Du. broosken, a buskin, perhaps the same as Mid. Du. borseken, a little purse, dimin. of O. F. borse, a purse. Cana-kin (Shak.), Mid. Du. kanne-ken, explained by Hexham as ' a small Canne, Pot, or Cruse,' dimin. of Du. kanne, a can. Cat-kin^ a spike of flowers resembling a cat's tail, Mid. Du. katk-ken, a kitten, dimin. of Du. kalie^ a cat. Dodkin (ob- solete), a little doit, dimin. of Du. duit, a doit. Fir-kin, the fourth part of a barrel ; from Du. vier, four. Jer-kin, dimin, of Du. //irr/', a frock (Sewel). Kilder-kin, formerly kinder-kin ^ from Mid. Du. kinde-kin, a little child, also, the eighth part of a vat, because it is a small part of the vat; dimin. of Du. kind, a child. Manni-kin, Mid. Du. manne-ken, a little man, dimin. of Du. man, a man. Mini-kin, a term of endearment, Mid. Du. minne-ken, my love, dimin. of Du. mifine, love. To the above words in -kin we may add prov. E. bul-chin, a bull-calf, dimin. of E. bull, and equivalent to bull-ock. ^ Spelt kindejidnd (with excrescent d at the end) in Peele's play of Edward I, ed. Dyce, 1883, P- SSS? note. CHAPTER XIII. Substantival Suffixes {continued). § 204. (3). Excluding the suffixes already explained in the last Chapter, the principal substantival suffixes are due to certain original Aryan suffixes which may be arranged in the following order, viz. -0, -a, -i, -u, -10, -ia, -wo, -wa, -mo, -MON, -RO, -LO, -NO, -NI, -NU, -TO, -TI, -TU, -TER (or -TOR), -TRO, -ont, -es (or -os), -KO ; or else, to combinations of these. The Aryan languages delight in the use of com- pound suffixes, sometimes double, sometimes treble, and occasionally even still more complex. I shall consider these Aryan suffixes in the above order, and discuss compound suffixes (such as Teut. -ma-n) under the first element (such as -mo). These Aryan suffixes often appear in a slightly different form in Teutonic ; thus -to becomes -tho or -tha (by Grimm's Law), or even -do or -da (by Verner's Law). § 205. Aryan suflB.x -O ; fem. -A. This suffix invariably disappears in modern English, and need not be discussed at length, though a large number of sbs. originally belonged to this class. It occurs as -a (fem. -6) in Gothic, in the stems of Goth. sbs. of the A-declension, as it is called; see my Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic, p. xxxvii. It answers to the Gk. -o- in ivy-6-v^ a yoke, and to the Lat. -u- (formerly -^-) in lug-u-m. Thus E. fish, Goth, fisk-s, has for its stem fiska, appearing in the dat. pi. fiska-m. E. half, Goth, halba, has the stem HALBO, dat. pi. halho-vi^ where -6 is a long vowel, and an- VOL. I. Q 226 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. swers to Aryan -a. E. ship, Goth, ship, has the stem SKiPA ; dat. pi. sh'pa-m. Of these words, both in A. S. and Gothic, Jish is masculine, half is feminine, and ship is neuter. Modern English has given up all idea of distin- guishing genders in this \vay\ The following is a brief list of some of the substantives of this class. Cf. Sievers, O. E. Gr. §§ 239, 251. (a). Masculine : E. day, A. S. dirg^ Goth. dags. E. dough, A. S. ddh, Goth, dai'gs. "E. fish, A. ^.fisc, Goth, fisks. E. hound, A. S. hund, Goth, himds. E. loaf, A. S. hidf, Goth. hlaibs. E. oath, A. S. dp, Goth, aiths. E. shoe, A. S. scoh, Goth, skohs. E. sleep, A. S. j/^/), Goth. sJeps. E. z^;^, A. S. weg, Goth, zf^z^j. E. zw^ A. S. ivulf, Goth, wulfs. ih). Neuter : E. dee?-, A. S. de'or, Goth. o'zV/.r. E. grass, A. S. ^r^j-, Goth. gras. E., A. S., holi, a wood. E., A. S., Goth, lafid. E. j>^;j!), A. S. scip, Goth. j^z)5. E. sore, s., A. S. j(2r, Goth. sair. 'K. year, A. S. ^/^^r, Goth. y^. § 223. Aryan sufiSx -TO. This highly important suffix, usually the mark of the past participle passive, as in E. stree-l, borrowed from the Lat. slrata (i.e. slrata m'a, paved way), appears under various forms in the Teutonic languages. We may especially note it in the suffix -th-s (stem -tha) of the past participles of Gothic weak verbs, as in lag-i-lh-s, E. lai-d, pp. of lag-j-a?i, to lay. It is remarkable that Home Tooke, in his celebrated derivation of truth from troweth (as being ' that which a man troweth ') should have overlooked the Gothic pp. form in -th-s. Derivation from the third person singular of the present tense is extremely clumsy. In the suffixes of E. sbs. it occurs in three forms, viz. -th, -t, and -d. These will be considered separately. {a) E. sufl3.x -th. Some words are of verbal origin, as : — hir-th'^ from hear \ bro-th from hrew (A. S. breow-an, pp. brow-eii) ; ear-th from ear, to till (obsolete) ; grow-th ; steal-th; til-th; tro-th'^ from trow. Ru-th, allied to the verb rue, is a Scand. form; Icel. hrygg-d. Mon-th is from the sb. moo7i. Weal-th is a mere extension from M. E. wele, ^ Usually gebyrd in A. S. The form heorQ is extremely rare, but we find, '■ Piierpcrhim, hyse-beorS'; Wright's Vocab., ed: \Yulcker, col, 528, 1. 7, where /yj^^boy, and hyse-bcorQ ^ho-^-hu'Ca., child-birth. ^ Some regard tro-th as a mere variant of tni-ih, from true, adj. But see troivwpe in the Ormulum, 1. 1350. §2 23".] ARYAN SUFFIX -TO. 241 E. weal. When the suffix is added to adjectives, we find that an z-mutation of the preceding vowel takes place ; this is because it answers to the stem -i-tha of the Gothic past participles of the causal verbs in -jan ; cf. lag-ith-s, pp. of lag-j-an, to lay, cited above. Hence we can explain the vowel-changes in the following forms, some of which are, how- ever, not of early formation. Examples : bread-th < broad 'y filth < foul ; heal-th < whole ; leng-th < long ; mir-ih < merr-y ; streng-th < strong. By analogy with these, we have warm-th from warm, without mutation ; slo-th < sloiu ; tru-th < true ; so also wid-th from wide, dear-ih from dear, dep-th < deep ; with an inevitable shortening of the vowel. Ki-th, A. S. cy-dde < .. A. S. cu-3^, known, which is for *cun-ff, pp. of cunn-an, to know, with vowel-shortening. In the word you-th, the suffix has a different origin ; it is discussed below, on p. 251. {b) E. suffix -/. The suffix appears as -/aftery, gh, n, r, s\ merely because/"/, ^>^/, nt, rt, st are easier final sounds thanyM^ ghih, 7ith, rth, sth. This is best seen in the words drough-t, formerly M. E. drouhthe, A. S. drug-a-^e, drought, from drug- tan, to be dry ; heigh-t, formerly high-th ; thef-t, from thef-th, A. S.pie/-de< ..pe'of, a thief. In some instances the original Aryan -to remains as -/, after y ^^, n, r, or s. Examples are: wef-t, Teut. wef-ta (Fick, iii. 289), from A. S. wef-an, to weave ; together with such formations as drif-t from drive (A. S. drif-an, pp. dnf-eii) ; shrif-t, from shrive ; rif-t, a word of Scand. origin, Icel. rip-t, from rive (Icel. rif-a, pp. rif-imi), E. ligh-t, s., takes the mutated voweP of the verb lyht-an, to shine = */(f'^/2/-z'(rz;z; from the sb. leoh-t, which corresponds to Goth, liuh-ath, neut. (stem liuh-a-tha), from the Teut. base LEUH = Aryan root REUQ, to shine. In the E. kfiigh-t, A. S. cnih-t, the -/ is certainly a suffix, but the word is of obscure origin ; the most likely supposition is that it is a derivative of ^ But a far simpler solution is to derive it, not from the A. S. form, but from the O. Mercian liht (§ 33). VOL. I. • R 24^ SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. A. S. cyn, kin, with an adj. suffix -iht^, as seen in A. S. stdn- iht, stony; if so, then cniht (for *cyn-iht), is allied to cyn^ just as the Gk. yi/-)7(noy, legitimate, is to yeV-os, kin. Cra/-i, A. S. crcsf-t, orig. 'power,' is from the Teut. base KRAP, to force together (Fick, iii. 49), whence also E. cra-m-p. Ha/-f, A. S. hcef-t, the handle by which a thing is seized or held, from A. S. hcEb-ban{= ^haf-ian), to have, hold. Sha/-t, A. S. sceaf-i, a smoothed pole or rod, from sca/-an, pp. scaf-en, to shave. Boiigh-t, s., in the special sense of a fold (also spelt bout), is of Scand. origin ; Dan. bug-t, Icel. bug-^, a bend, coil ; from the verb to bow (Goth, biug-an). Of this high-t is a mere variant, answering in form to A. S. byh-t ( = '^btig-ti), from the same root. Though- f, A. S. poh-t, allied to Icel. pot-ti, p6t-tr (i. e. *p6h-ti, '^poh-tr), thought, is derived from penc-an, to think, pp. poh-t, ge-poh-t. Similarly we have draugh-t (also draf-t, a phonetic spelling) from draw, A. S. drag-an ; iveigh-t, from zvet'gh ; he/-t, a Ijieaving, from heave; and several others, for which see sections 224, 225. Brun-t is rather an obscure word, but is of Scand. origin, and allied to Dan. bryn-de, heat, passion ; the -/ is a suffix, and the original verb is seen in Goth, brinn-an, to burn (pp. brunn-ans). E. har-t, A. S. heor-o-f, is cognate with O. H. G. hir-u-z, Teut. HER-u-TA (Fick, iii. 67). This form stands for her- wo-TA, where her-wo- is cognate with Lat. cer-uu-s, a hart, stag. Thus the suffix is really a double one, and the sense is the 'horned' animal; cf. Gk. K€p-a-os, horned, Kep-as, a horn, and E. hor-71. Of similar formation, but more obscure, are E. gann-e-t, A. S. gan-o-t, cognate with O. H. G. gan-a-zo, a gander, allied to gan-der and goose ; and E. horn-e-t, A. S. hyrn-e-f, cognate with O. H. G. horn-i-z, horn-u-z, named from its humming noise. The dimin. suffix -et is usually French, being rare in native English. E. Eas-t, A. S. e'as-t, the east, was evolved from the Teut. adv. aus-ta-na, from * A double suffix, viz. -ih-t ; cf. Lat. utn-ec-tus, moist, from um-ere. §224.] ARYAN SUFFIX 'TO. 343 the east ; see Fick, iii. 8, and osteri in Kluge. Thus -/ is a suffix, and the base aus- is the same as in Lat. aiir-ora < "^aus-osa, dawn ; cf. Skt. ush-as, dawn; from Aryan V US, to shine, burn, E. fros-t, A. S. fros-t (usually spelt forst) < || A. S. ^/7'os-en, orig. form o{fror-en, pp. oifre'os-an^ to freeze. (r) E. suflQ.x -d. The Aryan suffix -ta often appears as -d in English, whilst the Gothic has -th ^ Thus E. gol-d answers to Goth, gul-th ; and E. bloo-d to Goth, blo-ih. The same remark applies to the Aryan suffixes -ti and -tu, discussed below. Examples are : E. bla-de, A. S. blcB-d (with short ce), cognate with Icel. bla-cf, G. Bla-tt\ see Fick, iii. 219, and Blatt in Kluge. E. blood, A. S. bl6-d{Qyo\h. bIo-th\ from blo-wan, to blow, flourish ; blood being taken as the symbol of blooming or flourishing life. E. bran-d, A. S. bran-d, lit. a burning, hence (i) a fire-brand, (2) a bright sword, from the Teut. stem brann, to burn. E. brea-d, A. S. brea-d, cognate with Icel. brau-^, bread, lit. that which is brewed or fermented, from A. S. breow-an, pt. t. brea-zv, to brew. E. gol-d, A. S. gol-d (Goth, giil-th), from the same root 2.?>yell-ow and glo-w, viz. Aryan GHAR, to shine. E. hea-d, M. E. heued (= heved), A. S. heaf-o-d, Goth, haub-i-th. E. moo-d, A. S. f}i6-d, Goth. 7?iod-s (stem ??io-da), Teut. m6-da (Fick, iii. 242), probably connected with Gk. fxal-ofiai, I seek after. E. threa-d, A. S. prd-d, cognate with Icel. prd-dr, G. drah-t, O. H. G. drd-t, from the same base as A. S. pro-w-an, to throw, also to twist (Lat. torqu-ere) ; so that threa-d is that which is twisted. Similarly we may explain E. broo-d, A. S. Iro-d, from a Teut. base bro, to heat ; cf. G. bruh-eft, M. H. G. brii-en, to scald. E. soun-d, A. S. stm-d, (i) a swimming, power to swim, (2) a strait of the sea ; probably for *swom-da (Fick, iii. 362) < || *swom-a-na, pp. from the base swem, to swim. War-d, A. S. wear-d, a guard ; from >/ WAR, to defend. § 224. Aryan -TI. This suffix only appears in English ^ Cf. Verner's Law; see § 129. R 2 244 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. as -//z, -/, and -d\ but -th is exceptional. See Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 269. Compare § 223. {a) E. suffix -th. As to the word bi'r-lh, the usual A. S. form i?>ge-byr-d=z '^ge-bor-di < . . \\ge-bor-en, pp. of ber-an, to bear; but see p. 240, note i. O. Friesic has both berthe and berde. Grow-th is of Scand. origin, from Icel. gro-di) but the true stem of this word is gro-than, so that the suffix is -THA-N. {b) E. suffix -/. E. fligh-t, A.S. flyh-t {=yuh-h\ allied to G. Fluch-t < . . \\Jiug-on, pt. t. pi. oifleog-an, to flee, fly. Gif-t, A. S. gif-t, Icel. gif-t, Teut. gef-ti (Fick, iii. 100), from gief-an, to give, pt. t. geaf (for '^gaf). Gues-t, A. S. ges-t, gccs-f, Goth, gas-l-s (stem gasti), a stranger, hence a guest; cognate with Lat. hos-ti-s, an enemy, a stranger. Migh-t, A. S. miht, mehi, also meaht, Goth. mah-t-s (stem mahti), from the verb seen in E. may, Goth. mag-an. Nigh-t, A. S. nihf, neht, Goth, nah-t-s (stem nahti), cognate with Lat. 7iox (stem nocti) ; cf. Skt. nak-ia, night ; all from the Aryan -/ NEK, to fail, disappear ; from the failure of light. Pligh-t^, obligation, A. S.plih-f, danger, risk, connected with the strong verb plion, pt. t. pleah, to risk. Shif-t, s., a change, is from the Icel. skip-it (i. e. "^skif-ii)^ a division, ex- change; the A. S. has only the verb scif-tan, to divide ; cf. Icel. sMf-a, to divide, s1iif-a, s., a slice, prov.E. shive, a slice. Sigh-i, A. S. siJi-i, ge-sih-i, more commonly ge-sih-d, ge-sieh-^; cf. seg-e7i, pp. of seoji, to see. [Here the e in seg-en produced ^ge-seh-cf, whence ge-sieh-d by the breaking of e before h ; and hence again ge-sih-d, the change from ie to i being due to ' palatal ' mutation ; see this explained in Sievers, O. E. Gram. § loi.] Sieigh-t, cunning, is of Scand. origin; from Icel. siceg-d, cunning, a sb. formed from the ^ Only in certain senses, and nearly obsolete as a sb. ; the derived verb to plight is common. Plight, condition, is a totally different word, and should be spelt plite, as in M, E., being really of F. origin, from Lat. plicita, fern. pp. oi plic-are^ to fold. §2 25.J ARYAN SUFFIX -TU. 2,4^ adj. sl(Eg-r, whence E. sly. Thirs-i, A. S. pyrs-t (= '^purs-ti) ; cf. Goth. J?aurs-ans, pp. of J>airs-aii, to be dry. Wi'gh-t, a creature, man, doublet of whi-i, a thing, both from A. S. wih-t, a wight, also a whit, Goth, waih-t-s (stem waih-ti), Teut. WEH-Ti (Fick, iii. 282). Wrigh-t, a workman, A. S. wyrh-t-a, is a derivative of wyrh-t, ge-ivyrh-t, a deed; this ze^;r^-/ = Teut. worh-ti, a deed (Fick, iii. 293); cf Goth. fra-waurh-i-s (stem fra-waurh-ti), evil-doing; from the same root as E. work. (c) E. suffix -d. Bee-d, A. S. dce-d, Goth, de-d-s (stem dedi= '^dddi), Teut. da-di (Fick, iii. 152); the verb being A. S. dd-7i, E. do. Gle-de, a glowing coal, A. S. g/e-d, formed with z-mutation from g/o-w-an, to glow. Mi'n-d, A. S. ge-myn-d^ formed with z-mutation from mun-an, to think, ge-miin-an, to remember; cf. Lat. mens (stem men-ti). Nee-d, A. S. 7ie-d, 7iea-d, Goth. 7iau-ths (stem nau-thi)', cf. O. H. G. niu-wan^ 7iii-a7i^ to crush. See-d, A. S. scB-d, Icel. scB-di\ cf. Goth. 7?ia7ta-seth-s (stem mana-se-di), the seed or race of man, the world; Teut. sa-di (Fick, iii. 312); the verb is A. S. sd-iv-a7i, E. sow. Spee-d, A. S. spe-d, success, haste ; sp/-d = ^spo-di, from sp6-w-a7t, to succeed. Siea-d, a place, A. S. ste-de, Goth, sta-th-s (stem sta-thi), a place, lit. * standing, ' from >/ STA, to stand. Stu-d^ A. S. sto-d, orig. a herd of horses, Teut. st6-di (Fick, iii. 341); from Teut. base STo, strengthened form of a/ STA, to stand. Stee-d, A. S. sie-d-a^ a stud-horse, is derived from A. S. stdd by- mutation ; i. e. steda = *s/dd-ja, with suffix -Ja = -io. § 225. Aryan -TU. («) There is one clear example of the suffix -ih in English, from Teut. -thu. This is E. dea-th, A. S. dea-d^ Goth, dau-thu-s, death (stem daii-ihii) ; from the Teut. base dau, to die (Fick, iii. 143). (3) E. suffix -/. Lof-t is of Scand. origin; from Icel. lopt{= ""lo/t), the air; Goth, luf-tu-s; root unknown. Ltts-t, A. S. his-t, pleasure; Goth, his-tu-s, pleasure; root un- certain ; cf. Skt. lash, to desire, las, to sport. 24^ SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. (r) E. suffix -d/. Floo-d, K.^.flo-d; Goih. Jlo-du-s ; from Jl6-w-a7i, to flow. Shiel-d, A. S. scil-d^ scel-d] Goth, skil-du-s ; root uncertain. Wol-d, weal-d^ A. S. weal-d^ O. Sax. wal-d, 2i. wood; cf. Icel. vdllr (= ^wal-dus), a field. The o in the form ze;^/<^ is due to the influence of the preceding w\ the M. E. forms are both wold and wald. § 226. The Aryan suffixes -ta, -ti, discussed above, can be followed by other suffixes; thus 'E./oo-d, A. S.y"^-(/^(stem fo-da-n) had originally a suffixed -n ; cf. Goth, fo-dei-n-s (stem /o-dei-7ii), food, feeding ; from the Aryan V PA, to feed. E. mai-d-en^ A. S. mag-d-en, cognate with O. H. G. mag- a-t 1-71, answers to a Goth. ^?7iag-a-dei-7ij a dimin. form from Goth. 7}iag-a-th-s, fem. (stem mag-a-thi), a maiden, allied to Goi\\. 77iag-us (stem mag-ti), a boy; the sense of mag-US is * growing lad/ from the verb appearing in E. may. The Mod. E. maid is merely a contracted form of 7naide7i ; the M. E. short form for ' maiden ' is may, A. S. vidg ; whilst the A. S. form answering to Goth, magaths is mcBgd or mcEged\ all from the same root. On the other hand, the suffix -TO occurs in combination with, and following, the suffix -(i)s. This double suffix -(i)s-to appears as E. -st ; and is discussed below; see § 233, p. 254. § 227. Aryan -TER (-TOR). This suffix is found in such words as Lat. fra-ter, Skt. bhrd-tar, brother; and answers to Gothic -thar, -dar, and -tar. Of these three Gothic forms, the change to -dar is due to Verner's Law ; whilst the preservation of the form -tar is due to the oc- currence of a foregoing h or s. {a) Goth. -//lar. Bro-ther, A. S. hrS-dor, Goth, bro-thar, Teut. BRO-THAR (Fick, iii. 204); usually referred to Aryan V BHER, to bear, as meaning one who bears, i. e. carries, aids, or supports the younger children. {b) Goth. -dar. Fa-ther, M. 'E./a-der, A. ^./cE-der, Goth. fa-dar^ as if from a a/PA, but the sense is doubtful. Mo-ther, M. E. ?7io-der, A. S. mo-dor, Teut. m6-dar (Fick, iii. 242); §2 28.] ARYAN SUFFIX -TRO, 247 as if from an Aryan \/MA; but here again the original sense is uncertain. {c) Daugh-ter, A. S. doh-tor, Goth, dauh-tar^ cognate with Gk. Ovy-d-rrjp, Skt. duh-i-tar ; usually explained as ' milker ' of the cows ; cf. Skt. duh (for '^dhugK), to milk. But this is a mere guess. The word sis-fer (really si's-t-er) is excep- tional ; it is a Scand. form, from Icel. sys-i-ir, allied to A. S. sweos-i-or, Goth, swis-l-ar] the Teut. form is swes-t-ar (F. iii. 360), but the / is a Teut. insertion, due to form- association, as it does not appear in Skt. svas-v, nor in Lat. sor-or=:'^sos-oj\ § 228. Aryan -TRO. Upon this suffix, which usually denotes an agent or implement, Sievers has written an excellent article in Paul und Braune's Beitrage zur Ge- schichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur, vol. v. p. 519. By Grimm's Law, the Aryan T is represented in Teutonic by TH. Hence Sievers discusses the following Teutonic equivalent stem-suffixes, viz. (i) -thro-; (2) -thlo-, where / is substituted for r. Each of these may be further sub- divided. Thus -THRO- either remains {a) as -J^ro- (with p — th in thin); or {b) becomes -^ro- (with i$=ih in Ihtnej in consequence of Verner's Law) ; or {c) appears as -iro-, when it follows such letters as/", h, s; or i^d) appears as -tro- when the suffix -s- (Aryan -es- .?) precedes it. Again, -THLO- appears (e) as -J?lo- ; or {/) as -^lo- ; or {g) as -tlo- afteryor j-; or (/i) especially in Anglo-Saxon, assumes the transposed form -Id. We have thus eight cases to consider, which will be taken separately. ia) The form -J^ro-. The mod. E. rudder is IVL E. roder, more commonly roiher, A. S. ro-der^ orig. a paddle, an instru- ment to row with ; from ro-w-cm, to row. La-iher answers to A. S. lea-dor, lather, soap ^ cognate with Icel. lau-^r, foam, soap; from Teut. base lau, to wash; cf. Lat. lau-are, to wash. Mur-der, also written mur-iher, A. S. mor-dor, Goth. * *Nitrum, leatSor'' \ Wright's Voc. ed. Wiilcker, col. 456, 1. 14. 248 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. maur-thr (stem maiir-ihra), Teut. mor-thro (Sievers) ; from \/MAR, to grind, kill, die. Here also probably belongs lea-iher, A. S. le-der, G. le-der^ Teut. le-thra (Fick, iii. 278); but the root is unknown, so that the right division may be LETH-RA. (^) The form -dro-. After an (originally) unaccented syllable ending in a vowel or /, this becomes Goth, -dr-, A. S. -dr-. E. bladder answers to A. S. blcE-dre (Wright's Voc. ed. Wulcker, col. 201, 1. 42, col. 160, 1. 3), allied to Icel. bla-dra ; from the root of A. S. bid-wan, to blow, i. e. to puff out. Adder, ]\I. E. nadder, A. S. ncE-dre, Goth, nadrs (stem na-dra), Teut. na-dra (Fick, iii. 156). Fodder, A. S. Jo-dor, Teut. f6-dra, may similarly be derived directly from \/PA, to feed ; but was rather perhaps formed with suffix -ra from the Teutonic root fod ( = fo-th) appearing in Goth, fod-jan, to feed; see Osthoflf, Forschungen, i. 146; it makes little ultimate difference. Ladder, M.E. laddre, from A. S. hlcs-der; cf. G. lei-ler; lit. 'that which leans'; from Teut. base hli, to lean, Aryan \/KLI, to lean, whence also Gk. Kkl-fxa^, a ladder (Kluge). Wea-lher, A. S. we-der, Teut. WE-DRA (Fick, iii. 307) ; prob. from V WE, to blow; cf. Goth, wai-an, to blow. Whether shoulder belongs here is doubtful ; wonder is probably to be divided as wo7id-er, and has accordingly a different suffix. See § 217. {c) The form -tro-. Hal-ter (for '^half-ter), A. S. half-tre^ cognate with G. Half-ter, O. H. G. half-tra ; which Kluge rightly connects with E. helve, A. S. hiel/, a handle. Laugh- ter, A. S. hleh-lor, hleah-lor ; from the verb to laugh, A. S. f\lehh-an. Slaugh-ter, a Scand. form, from Icel. sld-tr, con- fused with A. S. sleah-t, with the same sense ; the latter is derived from the base slah- of the contracted verb sledn, to slay. Fos-ter, verb, A. '^./Sstriaii, is from the A. S. sh. fos-ter, nourishment ; the suffix is really a double one, as fos-ter =■ fo-s-ler) from \/PA, to feed. Bliis-tcr, prob. of Scand. origin ; cf Icel. blds-tr, a blast of wind, from blds-a, to blow. §2 28.] ARYAN SUFFIX -TRO. 249 In the word Eas-i-er, A. S. eas-t-or, Sievers regards the / as inserted; cf. Lithuan. ausz-ra, dawn. In any case, it is closely related to eas-i, A. S. eas-t. {d) Double sufiB-X -s-tro-. Whether we should regard the -s- as due to the Aryan -es-, or rather consider it, with Sievers^, as an inserted letter, I cannot say. Examples are: — bol-s-te?', A. S. bol-s-ter, cognate with G. Pol-s-ter ; and hol-s-ler, borrowed from Du. hol-s-ler^ a pistol-case, cognate with A. S. heol-s-ior, a hiding-place ; cf. Goth, huli-s-tr, a veil, from hiilj-an, to cover. See § 238. «. {e) The form -J?lo-. Nee-dle is from A. S. nd-dl^ cognate with Goth. ne-ihla\ Teut. ne-thla (F. iii. 156), from the >v/ NE, to bind, sew ; cf. Lat. ne-re^ G. ndh-en, to sew. This seems to be the sole example. (y^) The form -dio-. Spittle is a word which has been changed in form, owing to a connection with the secondary and late verb spit. The M.E. form was spo-til, answering exactly to A. S. spd-tl { = *spai-&lo-), from spi-w-an, pt. t. spd-w, to spit, mod. E. spew. The secondary verb spd-t-an became M.E. speten^ spettefi, and was confused with spitten^ which is a Mercian form, appearing as spiitan in Matt, xxvii. 30- (§ 33-) (^) The form -tlo-. Of this there is no certain example in English ; brist-le is from A. S. byrst, a bristle, Thros-t-le a thrush, has an inserted /, which we do not sound; the A. S. forms are both /r^>f-/^ and /r^^j--/-/^ ; the relation of the former to thrush^ A. ^. prys-ce { = '^pros-c-id) is obvious. {h) The A. S. transposed form -Id (for -dl). This transposition is precisely like that seen in the Shakespearian form neeld for needle^ a form which also occurs in P. Plow- man, C. XX. 56. An equally clear case is seen in the A. S. spdld, spittle (Elene, 1. 300) ; usually spelt spdtl. Hence A. S. bo-ld, a building, stands for bo-dl { = ^' bo-dlo-^ ; from the Aryan \/BHU, to dwell, live, be. This sb. is obsolete, but we still ^ He refers to Osthoff, in Kiihn's Zeitschrift, vol. xxiii. p. 313. :Z50 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XTII. use the derived verb byld-aji [^"^ bold-ia?i), to build. Curiously enough, the A. S. also has bo-tl, a dwelling, a house, which Sievers regards as a 'hardened' form of bo-dl; hence, prob- ably, Booth in Cumberland and Lancashire, and Bottle Field in Warwickshire. Another example, according to Sievers, is thresh-o-td, which he refers to a form ^ presk-o-dlo-, whence A. S. $resc-o-ld, lce\. J^resk-o-ldr ] and he regards all the other forms, such as A. S. dresc-wald. mod. Icel. presk- joldr.prepskjbldr, as due to popular etymology. Cf. O. H. G. dri9c-u-Jli, a threshold (Schade). Sievers adds that the E. adj. level is from the rare A. S. Iccfelde, even, for '^lafi-dlo-, allied to Goth, lofa, the palm of the hand. But it may rather be French ; for we have yet to find an example of M. E. level used as an adjective. The sb. level is certainly French, and of Latin origin. § 229. Aryan suffix -ONT (-ENT, -NT). This is the suffix so common in present participles, as in the Gk. acc» TVTTT-oiT-a, and in the Lat. am-aiit-, mo?i-ent-, reg-efit-, aud-i- ent-, from am-are, to love, mon-ere, to advise, reg-ere, to rule, aud-ire, to hear. The Gothic usually has -a?id-, as in bair- and-s, bearing (stem bai'r-ajid-a) ; also -o?id- { — ay-and-), as m/rij-07id-s,\ovmg; mfin./rijon; cf. §263. Hence the A. S. -ejid-e, as in bind-end-e, binding ; Northern M. E. -and^ Mid- land M. E. -end-e, Southern ]\L E. -ind-e, afterwards corrupted (about A.D. 1300) into -ing-e, mod. E. -ing. Thus, in ]\LE. we get North, bind-and^ Midland bind-ende^ hind-end, Southern hind-inde, bi?id-i?ige, bind-iiig. In A. S. we have several sbs. in -end, -7id, which were originally present participles. Only a few are now in use, viz., €rrand,fiend, friend^ tidifigs, wind; to which we may add sooth, already explained in § 168 ; and perhaps youth. Err-and, M. E. er-end-e, A. S. ^r-e7id-e, or cer-end-e, a message (stem * dr-efid-jd), orig. perhaps 'a * prescold (not fierscold, as misprinted in my Dictionary) is the form in Deut. vi. 9; in Exod. xii. 22, it \% perxold, i.e. percsold. Wright's Vocabularies give the ioxxn.'i, percswold, perscwald, preoxwold, prexwold. § 2 30.] A/?VAJ\r SUFFIX -ONT. 25 £ going,' but the root is uncertain \ Fiend, M. E. fend, A. S. fe'ond, an enemy, orig. the pres. part, of the contracted verb fe'on, to hate; Goi\\.Jij-and-s, an enemy, pres. part, oi fi-j-an^ to hate ; from Aryan V PI, to hate. Friend, M. E. frend, A. S. fr/oftd, a friend, orig. pres. part, of fre'on, to love ; Goth, frij-ofid-s, orig. pres. part, of fri-j-on, to love ; from Aryan \/ PRI, to love. Tid-ing-s, a pi. form due to M. E. (Southern) tid-ind-e, (Midland) tith-end-e; a Scand. form, from Icel. tid-ind-i, neut. pi., tidings, pres. part, of "^iid-a, to happen, cognate with A, S. tid-an, to happen ; from the sb. which appears in Icel. /z^, A. S. tid, E. tide. Wind, A. S. ivi-nd, cognate with Lat. ue-nt-us, wind ; orig. sense ' blow- ing ' ; from Aryan \/ WE, to blow ; cf. Skt. vd, to blow, Goth, wai-afi, to blow, and Lithuan. we-jas,vf'mdi. To these Koch adds, perhaps rightly, the word you-th, A. S. geo-gud, originally ^f^^z/^ with two suppressed «'s, and therefore for ^geong-und, cognate with O. H. G. jug-und, jung-und, G, Jug-end (stem yung-und-zi, as Kluge has it). Koch also adds the sb. even or eve, in the sense of ' evening,' on the strength of the G. cognate form Ab-end; but the etymology of the word is very doubtful. It is perhaps worth while to note here that the suffix in morn-ing, even-ing, has nothing to do with the present par- ticiple of mod. E. verbs, but is discussed below, in § 241. § 230. Aryan -OS, -ES. This appears in Skt. ap-as, work, Lat. op-us {r:^'^op-os), gen. op-er-is (=*op-es-is); Gk. yeVof, gen. y(v-e{(r)-os. In Teutonic it is sometimes joined with some other suffix ; thus, with added -a, it produces -es-a, weakened to -is-a, as in /ia/-is (stem hat-is-a), hate. In English it sometimes (a) disappears, or (/>) appears as -s, or {c) as r. ^ Usually written arende, with long cb ; so Sievers and Grein ; Heyne gives the O. Sax. drundi, O. H. G. drunti. But Fick and Schade con- sider the first vowel as short. The Icelandic forms are erendi, iirendi, eyrendi. 25a SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. {a) It disappears. Thus hate, s. M. E. hat-e (dissyllabic), keeps the vowel of the A. S. verb hat-i-an ; the A. S. sb. is het-e, with i- mutation of a, originally '^hat-iz (Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 263, note 4), Goth, hat-is (stem hat-is-a). Awe is of Scand. origin ; from Icel. ag-i, cognate wdth A. S. eg-e, originally ^ag-iz (Sievers, as above), Goth, ag-is (stem ag-is-a). The simple suffix became -az in the Teut. lamb- AZ, and was lost in the A. S. lamh, E. lamb ; see Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 290. Here belong also, according to Sievers, the words bread, calf, share (in plough- share), (b) It appears as -s, -ze, -x. Ad-ze, M. E. ad-se, ad-es-e, A. S. ad-es-a ; origin unknown. Ax, badly spelt axe, A. S. CBX, eax, Northumbrian ac-es-a, Goth, akw-iz-i, allied to Gk. a^-i-vx], an axe, o^-vs, sharp ; origin uncertain. Bliss, A. S. blid-s, blid-s, and, by assimilation, blis-s; from bli^, blicf-e, blithe ; so that bliss is ' blitheness.' A. S. bM-s is cognate with O. Sax. blid-s-ea { = '^blid-s-jd), and is therefore to be classed with -jd- stems, the suffix being double (Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 258). Eave-s, A. S. ef-es, fem. (gen. ef-es-e), corresponds to Goth, ub-iz-wa, a porch, hall, orig. a project- ing shelter, from the Teut. prep, uf (Goth, uf, allied to E. up)', cf. G. ob-dach, a shelter, ob-en, above, E. {ab)-ove\ the suffix being double. {c) It appears as -r in E. ea-r (of corn) ; G. dh-re, Goth. ah-s, Lat. ac-us, gen. ac-er-is. Also in cild-r-u, pi. of A. S. cild] cf. mod. E. child-r-en] see Sievers, O. E. Gr. §§ 289, 290. § 231. We have thus already had examples of the double suffixes -Es-o, -ES-iA, -ES-wo. We also find the suffixes -is and -Lo in combination, producing both -is-lo, weakened to Teut. -s-LA, and -lo-s, weakened to Teut. -l-s. {a) -s-LA. Hou-sel, A. S, htl-s-l (for ""hun-s-l), Goth, hwi- s-l (stem hun-s-la), a sacrifice, holy rite. Ou-sel, A. S. 6-s-le (for '^am-s-le), cognate with G. Am-se-l, O. H. G. am-sa-la; root uncertain. Koch also refers hither E. ax-le {=*ac-sle), but the s may be an extension of the root. § 232.] ENGLISH SUFFIX -NESS. 253 (<5) -L-s. The remarkable words burial, riddle, shultle (see § 219), have lost a final s ; they are, respectively, cor- ruptions of buriels, riddles, shuttles', it is obvious that the s was mistaken for the plural suffix, and was accordingly purposely dropped. Burial, M. E. hiriel, huriel, huriels, A. S. hyrg-el-s, a burying-place, from byrg-an, to bury. Riddle, M. E. red-el-s, A. S. rced-el-se, rdd-el-s, an ambiguous speech ; from r&d-an, to explain ; we still say ' to read a riddle' Shuttle, M. E. schitel, A. S. scyt-el-s < ..\\ scot-en, pp. of sce'ot-an, to shoot. Of this word skittle is a mere variant, being a Scand. form; but the final -.$• does not appear in Dan. skyttel, a shuttle, Icel. skutill, an implement shot forth, harpoon, bolt. Koch adds three more examples, viz. bridle, girdle, stickle (a spine, as in stickle-back) ; but, as a fact, all of these have double forms in A. S., viz. A. S. brid-el as well as brid-el-s, gyrd-el as well as gyrd-el-s, and stic-el as well as stic-el-s; there is therefore no need to consider them here, and they have already been mentioned in § 2 1 7. § 232. E. sufi8.x -7iess. This is not a simple suffix, like -hood, -ship, but a compound, to be divided as -n-es-s. The -n- originally belonged to a substantival stem, so that the true suffix is rather -es-s, Gothic -as-su-, supposed to stand for -ES-TU-, by assimilation; cf. § 235. In the Lord's prayer, the petition •' Thy kingdom come ' is, in Gothic — kwimai thiudinassus iheins. Here the word thiudinassus, kingdom, is formed with the suffix -as-su-s from the stem thiudiii^= thiud-an-, i. e. king ; cf. thiudan-s, a king, thiudan-on, to rule, ihiudan-gardi, kingdom. So also leikin-assus, healing, leikin- on, to heal; drauhtin-assus, warfare, drauhtiii-on, to war. We find no trace of n in ufar-assus, superfluity, tifar- ass-jan, to abound; from ufar, over, above. The Goth. -n-assus, -assus, is masculine ; but the corresponding A. S. -n-is (also -Ji-ys, -n-es, -n-ess) is feminine. It is mostly used for forming abstract substantives, expressive of quality, fiom adjectives ; as hdlig-nis, holi-ness, from hdlig, holy. Hence 254 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. E. glad-ness, inad-ness, sad-ness, and a large number of similar substantives. It can be added to adjectives of French and Latin origin with equal readiness; hence rigid-ness, sordid-ness, etc. The whole number of derivatives contain- ing this suffix considerably exceeds a thousand ^ § 233. Aryan -(i)s-to. This is common in E. words of Gk. origin, as in soph-ist, F. soph-is te, Lat. soph-is-ta, Gk. (Tocf)-ia--Tr]s (stem ^crocp-ia-Ta), allied to (To(f)-6s, wise; and hence, in the form -is/, it can be used generally, as in dent-ist, flor-ist, from the Lat. stems dent-^ flor-. It appears as -est in the native word harv-est, A. S. hcErf-est, from -J KARP, to pluck ; cf. Lat. carp-ere. So also earn-est, orig. a sb., as in the phrase 'in earnest'; A. S. eorn-osi, eorn-est, cognate with G. Ern-st] from a base arn, extended from the a/ AR, to raise, excite. Hence, probably, we may explain some words with the suffix -st (•= -s-t), as, e. g. twi-st. Twi-st, A. S. twi-st, a rope ; from hvi-, double, as in hvi-feald, twy-fold, two-fold, allied to twd, two ; cf. Skt. dvi, two. Trust, of Scand. origin; Icel. trau-st, trust; cf. Goth, trau-an, to believe; allied to true, trow. Try-st, iri-st, allied to trust ; probably due to the mutated form in Icel. ireysta, v. (= ""traust-ja), to rely upon, from trau-st, trust. In some other words, the origin of the s may be different ; thus Fick (iii. 87) refers E. las-t, a burden, load, as in 'a last of herrings,' A. S. hlcrs-t, neut. (stem hlas-td) to the base HLATH, to lade, whence A. S. hlad-an, Goth, hlath-an ; in which case A. S. hlcEs-t stands for '^hlccd-t, as being easier to pronounce. Cf. A. S. bliss, blids, as forms of bliss. Similarly, we may explain wris-t, A. S. wris-t, fem. (stem wris-td), as put for *wri^-t; from the base wrid-, as seen in wrid-en, pp. of wrid-an, to writhe. So also rus-t, A. S. rus-t (stem rus-td) ; put for '^rud-t < || rud-on, pt. pi. of reod-an, to be * Compare the article on the suffix -nis in Weigand's Etym. German Dictionary ; and see Kluge, s. v. dienen. § 2 37-] TEUTONIC SUFFIX -SKA. 1^^ red; cf. E. rudd-y, A. S. rud-u, s., redness; and see G. Rosi in Kluge. Gris-t, A. S. gn's-f, corn to be ground, is clearly connected with grind-an, to grind, and may stand for *gn'd-t. § 234. Teutonic -s-ti. Here we may place fisl, h'st'eji). Fist is A. S.fy-st {= Ytis/i), allied to G. Fau-sf, which Fick refers to Teut. fonsti, and connects with Russ. piaste, fist, Old Slavonic p§s{i, fist, where the vowel § denotes that n has been lost; see Schmidt, Vocalismus, i. 167, where it is shewn (i) that this is correct, and (2) that it is an argument against connecting fist with Lat. pugniis, as is usually done ^ The verb to listen, M. E. liist-n-en, is derived from M. E. lust-en, A. S. hlyst-an^ to listen, by the insertion of -n- (cf. Goth. full-7i-an, to become full). This verb hlyst-an is from the sb. hlyst, hearing (= "^hlu-s-ti), Teut. hlusti, hearing (Fick, iii. 90) ; which again is from Teut. hleu = Aryan V KLEU, to hear. § 235. Teutonic -s-tu. This appears in E. ?}ii-st, vapour, A. S. 7ni-st, gloom, fog ; cognate with G. Mi-st, Goth. viaih-s-tu-s, dung; from Aryan a/ MEIGH, to sprinkle, whence Lat. ming-ere. See also § 232. § 236. Teut. suffix -s-t-man. This appears in E. blosso?n, A. S. bl6-s-t-ma (stem blo-s-t-man), a blossom ; from bl6-w-an, to blow. Without the -s-t, we have Icel. blo-?n, Goth, blo-nia (stem bid vimi), a bloom; § 211. § 237. Teut. -ska. This appears in tu-sl<, A. S. tii-sc, or, by metathesis, tux. This A. S. tu-sc is almost certainly, as Eumuller says, put for ""twi-sc, and meant originally double tooth, molar tooth, from A. S. tivi-, double. Cf A. S. ge-twi-s-an, twins. Genesis xxxviii. 27 ; O. H. G. zwi-s, twice, zwi-sk, zivi-ski, double. I would also refer hither E. hu-sk, M. E. hu-ske, as it has almost certainly lost an /, and stands for *hul-sk ; cf. A. S. hul-u, a husk, prov. E. hull, a ^ This would require a Teut. form- fuh-sti ; see Kluge, who takes the opposite view, connecting \\.\v\ih.pugnus, but not with Rnss. piasie. 2^6 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. husk or shell ; G. Hul-se, O. H. G. hul-sa, M. H. G. (Ale- mannic) hul-s-che, a husk (Schade) ; and cf. E. holl-ow < |I A. S. hol-en, pp. of hel-an, to hide, cover. §238. A. S. -es-tran; cf. § 228 {d). This appears in A. S. -es-tre, a common fern, suffix, as in bcEc-es-tre (stem hcEc-es-iraii), a female baker, M. E. bak-s-ter, preserved in the name Baxter ; webb-es-ire, M. E. web-s-ter, preserved in the name Webster. Only one of these words, viz. spm-s-ter, still retains the sense of the feminine gender ; the restriction of the suffix to the feminine was early lost, so that songster, for example, has now the precise sense of sing-er. But the A. S. sang-er-e, a singer, was masculine ; whilst sang-es-tre, a songster, was feminine. There are numerous examples in Wright's Vocabularies, ed. Wiilcker, coll. 308-312. Thus we find : ' Cantor, sangere : Ca?itrix, sangystre : Fidicen, fidelere [fiddler]; Fidicina, fij^elestre [fiddlester] : Sartor, seamere : Sartrix, seamestre ' : etc. Hence our sempster or seamster is A. S. se'am-es-tre, from seam, a seam, a sowing. The fem. sense is now so far lost that the F. fem. suffix -ess has been added to songster and seamster or sempster, pro- ducing the forms song-str-ess, seam-str-ess, semp-str-ess. In M. E, -ster was freely added to bases not found in A. S. ; hence huckster, properly the fem. of huck-er (now spelt hawker)', see Huckster in my Etym. Diet. In Tudor-English the suffix was rather widely used ; hence teat?ister, tapster, and obsolete words such as drugster, maltster, whipster^ etc. In some words it expressed something of contempt, possibly owing to the influence of the Lat. poetaster \ hencQ fibster, gamester, punster, rhymester, trickster ; see IMorris, Hist. Outhnes of E. Accidence, p. 90 \ § 239. E. suflax -er. This very common suffix, as in fish-er, usually expresses the agent, and is much used in » The suffix -ist-er, as in chor-ist-er, is of different origin ; for here the -cr is additional. Cotgrave explains F. cJioristc by *a Chorist, a singing man in a Queer.' Cf. § 233. § 240.] ARYAN SUFFIX 'KO. 2^1 substantives derived from verbs. The A. S. form is -er-e, as in boc-er-e, a scribe, lit. ' book-er ' ; the corresponding Gothic word is hok-ar-ei-s { = ''bok-ar-ji-s, stem bok-ar-jd)] see St. Mark in Gothic, ed. Skeat, Introd. § i6. Thus the Goth, suffix is -ar-ja, but the A. S. suffix may have been slightly different. Such is the view taken by Ten Brink (Anglia, V. i) ; he argues that the A. S. form was -er-e (with long e), answering to Teut. -dr-ja (with long a)\ and I think his arguments must be admitted. E. -er has also been explained by supposing that -ar is here a shortened form of -tar (see Koch, E. Gram. vol. iii. p. 76); which does not seem at all likely. It is needless to give examples of the use of this suffix. § 240. Aryan -KO. This is very common in Gk. in the nominative form -/cos, and in Latin as -cus ; as in Xoyi-xo?, whence E. logi-c ; pau-cus, cognate with 'K./ew. In Gothic it usually appears as -ha or -ga, but always after a vowel ; the vowel is commonly due to the stem of the sb., as in slaina-ha-, stem of staina-h-s, stony, from staina-^ stem of stains, a stone ; handu-ga-, stem of handu-g-s, handy, clever, wise. These are adjectives (see § 256); in substan- tives, the simple suffix is rare, but occurs perhaps in siir-k, already discussed in § 203 above. Other examples are the following : — E. -y, -ey ; A. S. -ig, -h. Bod-y, A. S. bod-ig ; cf. O. H. G. pot-ah. Hon-ey, A. S. hun-ig ; cf. Icel. hu7i-an-g. Iv-y, A. S. if-ig. Sall-y, Sall-ow, a willow-tree, A. S. seal-h, stem ^sal-go ', cf. Lat. sal-i-x, gen. sal-i-cis'^. Here also belongs the diminutival suffix -y^ as in Bett-y ; and the -ie in lass-i'e. We also find examples of a Teut. suffix -ka, as already noted in § 203. Such are the following : — E. -k ; A. S. -c. Fol-k, A. S. /oi-c, Teut. fol-ka (F. iii. 189); cf Lithuan. pui-ka-s, a crowd, Russ. pol-k\ an army; 1 An E. -ow answers to A. S. nom. -k in/arr-ow, from A. S./ear/i, a j)ig; furr-ow, A.S. /nrA; marr-ozu, A.S. mearh. But in these three words the A.S. -h is radical, not a suffix. VOL. I. S 258 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. root uncertain. Haw-k, A. S. haf-oc ; cf. Icel. hau-k-r, O. H. G. hab-uh ; lit. ' the seizer ' ; from V KAP, to seize, hold. Wel-k, Wi'l-k, a shell-fish, usually misspelt whelk, A. S. wil-oc, later wel-oc; named from its spiral shell; from ■v/WER, to turn, wind. Fol-k, Fel-k, A. S geol-ec-a, the yellow part, from geol-Uy yellow. Stl-k, A. S. seol-c, is merely a borrowed word, obtained from Slavonic traders ; it is the Slavonic form of the Lat. Seri-ciwi, the material obtained from the Seres ; but the suffix is the Aryan -ko. § 241. The Teut. suffix -ga is common in combination with a preceding -an-, or more usually -in-, or -un-, of doubtful origin. Of -an-ga there is but one example, viz. in the Goth, hals-ag-ga {^bals-an-gd), a doubtful word in Mark ix. 42 ; but the suffixes -in-ga and -un-ga (origin- ally -in-go, -im-go in the case oi feininine substantives) are very common in A. S. in the forms -ing, -ung. (a). A. S. suffix -ing. This was in common use to form patronymics, of which a striking example occurs in the Northumbrian version of Luke iii. 24-38, where 'the son of Judah ' is expressed by ioda-ing, ' the son of Zorobabel ' by sorohabel-ing, etc. Hence were formed a large number of tribal names, such as Scyldingas, the Scyldings, Scylfingas, the Scylfings, both mentioned in the poem of Beowulf. Hence also are derived many place-names, as, e.g. Barking, in Essex, from the tribe of Barkmgs, A. S. Beorcingas ; Buckingham, ivom. the A. S. Buccinga-hdm, i.e. home of the Buckings, where -a is the suffix of the genitive plural ; Nott- ingham, from the A. S. Snolinga-hdm, i.e. home of the Snot- ings or sons of Snot, the ' wise ' man ; cf. A. S. snot-or, Goth. snut-r-s, wise. In composition with -/-, it appears as -ling, already discussed as being a diminutival suffix in § 203. With- out the -/-, it has a diminutival or depreciatory force in lord- ing, lit. a little lord. Farth-i7ig, A. '^.feord-ing,ferd-i7ig, also found as feord-l-ing, means a fourth part of a penny ; from feorp-a, orig. feorp-a, fourth, from feower, four. Herr-ing, §241.] ANGLO-SAXON SUFFIX -UNG. 259 A. S. hcEr-mg, the fish that comes in shoals or armies, from her-e (stem har-ja), an army, host. K-ing, short for kin-ing, A. S. cyn-ing, sometimes explained as the ' son of the tribe,' chosen of the tribe, otherwise ' the man of high rank ' (Kluge) ; in either case, the derivation of cyji-ing from A. S. cyn^ tribe, race, stock, whence also cyn-e, royal, is indubitable. Penny, A. S. pen-ig, fuller form pen-ing ; oldest A. S. form pend-ing\ formed by z-mutation ixom. pafid-, the same as Du. pand, G. P/and, a pledge. Rid-ing^ as the name of one of the three divisions of Yorkshire, is for '^thrid-iJig (i.e. North- riding for North-thriding) ; of Scand. origin ; from Icel. pridj- ung-r, the third part; from/rz'^/, third. Shill-ing, A.S.sci/i- i?ig; cf. Goth, skill-igg-s {^= skill-ing-s). Whit-ing, a fish named from the whiteness of the flesh. We may add the obso- lete word cEthel-ing, A. S. cepel-ing, a prince; from cEp>ele, noble- {b) A. S. suffix -ung. This is extremely common in sbs. derived from verbs, as in clckns-ung, a cleans-ing, from cIceus- ian, to cleanse ; georn-ung, a yearn-ing, from georn-ian, to yearn. The suffix -ung simply takes the place of the infinitive suffix -an or -ian. Even in A. S. this suffix frequently appears as -ing ; as in leorn-ing, learn-ing, also spelt leoryi-uiig ; fylg- ing, a follow-ing, from fylg-an, to follow. In mod. E. the spelling -ing for this suffix is universal, and extremely com- mon. Unfortunately, it has been confused with the ending of the present participle, so that many sentences are now- difficult to parse. Thus the phrase ' he is gone hunting ' was formerly ' he is gone a-hunting,' where a represents the A. S. prep, on, and hunt-ing is for the A. S. hunt-unge, dat. of huniung, a substantive of verbal origin. In ^Ifric's Colloquy, we have the Lat. heri fui in venatione\ above this is the A. S. gloss — gyrstan dag ic wces on hunhinge, ' yesterday I was a- hunting\' These words in -ing are now used with an ellipsis of a following of, which gives the sb. all the appearance of ^ Or otherwise — ic was on hujitade. There was a sb. huulad, with the same sense and force as hunttmg. 26o SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIII. being part of the verb itself. Thus ' he was seen killing flies' is to be explained by comparison with 'he amused himself by killing flies,' i.e. by the killing of flies; so that it really stands for ' he was seen in the {act of) killing of flies.' There is an instructive sentence in Bacon's third Essay which should be particularly considered. 'Concerning the Meanes of procuring Unity ; Men must beware, that in the Procuring, or Muniting, of Religious Unity, they doe not Dissolve and Deface the Lawes of Charity, and of humane Society.' Here it is clear that ' the Meanes of procuring Unity ' is precisely the same thing as ' the Meanes of the pro- curing ^Religious Unity.' CoiiStc^tniXy, procurmg is just as much a substantive as the word procuration, which might be substituted for it, in the fuller form of the phrase, without making any difl'erence. In fact, these words in -ing had pre- cisely the force of Lat. w^ords in -atio, w-hen formed from verbs. Nowadays, the phrase ' he was punished for the breaking of a window' has become ' ... for breaking a window' ; whence, by the substitution of an active past participle for the supposed 2iC\.\ve present participle, has arisen the extraordinary phrase ' he was punished for having broken a window.' This phrase is now an ac- cepted one, so that the grammarians, in despair, have invented for words thus used the term gerund, under the impression that to give a thing a vague name is the same thing as clearly ex- plaining it ^ This term, however, should only be employed for convenience, with the express understanding that it refers to a modern usage which has arisen from a succession of blunders. It is unnecessary to give further examples of this common suffix, which can be added, in modern English, to any verb whatever. 1 Thus I read in a recent book, that ' the gerund in -ing must be dis- tinguished from the verbal noun in -ing,^ &c. The fact is, that the difference is purely one of modem usage ; etymologically, it makes no difference whatever. Moreover, the so-called ' verbal noun ' is only * verbal ' in the sense of being dej'ived from a verb ; just as in the case of steal-th from steal. CHAPTER XIV. Adjectival, Adverbial, and Verbal Suffixes. § 242. The easiest adjectival suffixes are those which can be traced as having been independent words. These are -fast, -fold, -ful, -less, -like or -ly, -some, -ward, -wart, -wise. -fast, A. S. foist, the same as fast when used indepen- dently. It occurs only in shame-fast, M. E. scham-fast, A. S. sceam-fcEst, now corrupted into shame-faced ; and in stead- fast, s ted-fast, M. E. stedefast, A. S. stede-fcest-e, firm or fast in its stead or place. -fold, A. S. feald] as in two-fold, three-fold, mani-fold. -ful, A. S. -ful, i. e. full ; as in dreadful, heed-ful, need-ful, etc. It is freely added to sbs. of F. origin, as grace-ful, grate-ful, &c. -less, M. E. -lees, A. S. -le'as ; this, the commonest of all adjectival suffixes, can be added to almost every sb. in the language ; as cap-less, hat-less, coat-less, wig-less. The A. S. leas properly means ' loose ' or ' free from ' ; it is merely another form of loose, which is the Scand. form, being bor- rowed from Icel. lauss, loose. This Icel. word is likewise in very common use as a suffix ; as in Icel. vit-lauss, wit-less. The suffix -less has no connection whatever with the com- parative adjective less. -like or -ly. The form -like only occurs in words of modern formation, as court-like, saint-like, which may also be court-ly, saint-ly. In all older forms, it appears as 262 ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIV. -ly\ a shortened form of -like, A. S. -lie, formerly -lie ; as in gdsl-lie, ghost-ly, eorp-lic, earth-ly. Ghast-ly, M. E. gast- ly, i. e. terrible, is formed from A. S. gcEst-an, to terrify. -some, M. E. -sum, -so??i, A. S. -sti??i ; cognate with Icel. -samr, G. -sam, and orig. the same word as E. same. See Weigand's Etym. Germ. Diet., s.v. -sam. Hence win-some, A. S. wyn-sum, delightful, from wyn, joy ; lis-som, short for lithe-some, etc. Added to sbs. of F. origin in meiile-some, noisome, quarrelsome, toilsome. In the word bux-o?n, M. E. huhsuvi^ from A. S. bug-a7i, to bow, bend, we have the same suffix ; the orig. sense was yielding, pliant, obedient, a sense which occurs as late as in Milton, who twice speaks of ' the hiixoin air'; P. L. ii. 842, v. 270. -ward, A. S. -weard, i. e. turned towards, inclined ; ex- pressive of the direction in which a thing tends to go. The Gothic form is -wairths, as in and-wairths, present ; from wairth-an, to be turned to, to become ^. The A. S. form is parallel to the pt. t. weard of the corresponding A. S. verb weord-afi. Thus to-war d is ' turned to' ; fro-war d is ' turned from' ; way-ivard is short for away-ward, i. e. ' turned away'; for-ward, i.e. 'turned to the fore'; back-ward, 'turned to the back.' Awk-ivard is ' turned aside,' hence perverse, clumsy ; from I\I. E. auk, transverse, strange, a form con- tracted from Icel. afiig-r, ofug-r, going the wrong way; just as haivk is formed from A. S. hafoc. -wart. Only in stal-wart, a corrupt form of stal-ivorih. The suffix is A. S. weord, worth, worthy ; see Stalwart in my Etym. Diet. -wise, A. S. wis. Occurs in weather-wise, i. e. knowing as to the weather. M. E. also had right-wis, wrong-wis. The latter is obsolete ; the former (A. S. riht-wis, lit. knowing as to right) is now corrupted to righteous. § 243. Other adjectival suffixes agree more or less with ^ Cognate with Lat. ucrt-crc, to turn, uci-t-i, to be turned, to become. So also Lat. ziers-us, towards, is allied to E. •toaf-d. § 246.] A/^VAJV SUFFIX -10. 263 the substantival suffixes explained in the last Chapter. Such are the following. Aryan -O. Very common, but lost in mod. E. Thus E. blind, A. S. blind, answers to Goth. bli7id-s, stem blind-a. Koch instances black, bleak, blind, broad, cool, dark, deaf, deep, dumb, full, glad, good, great, grim, high, hoar, hot, lief, loath, red, rough, short, sick, stiff, white, whole, wise, worth, young; and some others. Here belongs loose, from Icel. lauss, stem laus-a. See Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 293. Few, slow, do not belong here; see § 248. § 244. Aryan -I. Examples are scarce. We may refer hither the following. Mean, in the sense of common or vile, A. S. ge-mcBn-e ; cognate wdth G. ge-mein, O. H. G. gi-?}iein-i, Goth. ga-mai?i-s (stem ga-main-i). Whether this is related to Lat. com-mun-i-s, common, is still disputed ; but the re- lationship is probably real. § 245. Aryan -U. The chief examples are quick, A. S. cwic-u, cwic ; and hard, A. S. heard, cognate with Goth. hard-u-s, and allied to Gk. KpaT-v-s, strong. § 246. Aryan -10. Cf. Gk. ay-w-i, holy. Lost in mod. E., but sometimes appears as -e in A. S. and even in M. E. This suffix sometimes causes z-mutation of the preceding vowel. Without mutation are the following. Dear, A. S. de'or-e ; cf. O. H. G. tiur-i, whence G. theuer ; Teut. deur-ya (Fick, iii. 146). Free, K.S. freo, f?io; Goih. frei-s (stem fri-ja) ; originally ' at Hberty,' ' acting at pleasure,' and allied to SVi.pri-ya, beloved, agreeable ; from v/PRI, to love. Mid, A. S. mid, Goth, midjis ; Teut. med-ya. New, A. S. niw-e, Goth, niu-ji-s (stem niu-ja) ; derived from Goth, nu, A. S. nil, E. now. Wild, A. S. wild, Goth, wiith-ei-s (stem wilth-ja)^ The following exhibit mutation. Keen, A. S. cen-e\ = ^c6n- jo-\ cognate with G. kiihn, O.Vl.Q. chuon-i^, Teut. k6n-ya (Fick, iii. 41); perhaps allied to can. Siveet, A. S. swe't-e 1 Hence O. H. G. Chuon-rat, Kuoji-rdt, keen (in) counsel ; appearing in English as Conrad. 264 ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIV. {^z=^'szi'6f-Jo-)\ Teut. sw6t-ya (Fick, iii. 361); this appears to be a later formation from an older swotu, cognate with Lat. suduis (for "^ swad-uis), Gk. r]h-v-s, Skt. svdd-u, sweet ; so that it was originally a 7/-stem. Cf. Goth, hard-ja-na as the ace. masc. of hard-u-s, hard. § 247. Teutonic -i-na. This answers to Goth, -ei-na, as in silubr - ei-na- ^ stem of siluhr-ei-n-s, silver-n, from silubr, silver ; and to A. S. -en, E. -en, -n. This suffix sometimes causes z-mutation of the preceding vowel, as seen in beech-en, A. S. be'c-en, from boc, a beech-tree ; and in A. S. gyld-en, golden, from gold, gold. The latter has been displaced by gold-en ; and the suffix is much commoner in Early English than in A. S. Hence we commonly find no mutation of the vowel. Examples are : ash-en^ made of ash ; birch-eti ; braz-en, made of brass ; flax-en ; gold-en ; hemp-eji ; lead-eti ; oak-en ; oat-en ; silk-en ; wax-en ; wheat-en', wood-en] wool-l-en. So also leather-n, silver-n, the latter of which is almost ob- solete. Asp-en (properly an adjective, as when we speak of ■' the aspen-tree ') is now practically used as a sb. ; the old sb. cBsp or (Eps, an ' asp,' from which it is derived, being now almost forgotten. Lifi-en was also originally an adjective only, from A. S. lin, flax ; not a native word, but merely borrowed from Lat. lin-um. Tre-en or treen was once used as an adj. from tree, chiefly with the sense of ' wooden \' Glas-en, made of glass, has long been out of use. Ehn-en, from elm, is still in use in our dialects. The words ev-en, heath-en, do not belong here; see § 252. With this suffix cf. Lat. -inus, as in can-ifius, E, can-ine. § 248. Aryan -WO. In § 212 we have seen that -wa answers to E. -ow in mead-ow, shad-ow. Similarly we can explain call-ow, A. S. cal-u (stem cal-wo-) ; fall-ow, A. S. feal-u (stem feal-wo- < /al-wo-) ; mell-ow, with / for r, O. Mercian mer-we, tender , Matt. xxiv. 32 ; narr-ow, A. S. near-u ; sall-ow, A. S. sal-u ; yell-ow, A. S. geol-u. See Sievers, ^ Spenser has 'treen mould,' i.e. shape of trees; F. Q. i. 7. 26. §251.] ARYAN SUFFIX -RO. 265 O. E. Gram. § 300. Here also belong the following. Few^ A. S. pi. fea-we. Nigh, M. E. neh, A. S. ?teh^ neah, allied to Goth, iieh-wa, adv., nigh. Raw, A. S. hreaiv, pi. hrea-we. Slow, A. S. slaw, pi. sld-we. True, A. S. treo-we, Teut. tre- WA (F. iii. 124). Yare, ready, used by Shakespeare, A. S. gear-u (stem gear-ivo- < gar-wo-) ; whence probably the sb. yarr-ow, milfoil, with the sense of ' dressing ' for wounds, for which it was a famous remedy. Its Lat. name is Achillea^ because Achilles healed with it the wound of Telephos; Cockayne, A. S. Leechdoms, i. 195. § 249. Aryan -MO. A clear example of this occurs in E. war-m, A. S. wear-ni, Teut. war-ma (F. iii. 292); prob- ably from a root war, to boil, and not allied to Gk. dep-fios. Cf Russ. var-iie, to boil. The z?z is a suffix in A. S. ru-m, spacious, whence E. roomy. § 250. Teutonic -ma-n. This is only found in old super- latives, such as A. S. for-ina (stem for-man\ first, the su- perlative from for-e, fore ; cognate with Lat. pri-mu-s, first. To this superlative -rna it was not uncommon to add the additional suffix -est (Goth. -ist-s)'^\ this produced the suffix -m-est, which was afterwards supposed to stand for most, and was accordingly so re-spelt. This is the history of our fore- m-ost, A. S. for-m-est, also more correctly fyr-m-est, with z-mutation of loy. So also hind-m-ost, Goth. hindu-m-ist-s\ in-m-ost, from A. S. inne-771-est, most inward ; oui-m-ost, from A. S. uie-m-est, most outward. With the suffix -er for -est, we get the curious word for-m-er, where the -m- marks a superlative, and the -er a comparative form. § 251. Aryan -RO and -LO. There are not many traces of the former. The clearest example is bitt-er, M. E. bit-er, A. S. hit-er, bit-or < || bt't-en, pp. of bit-an, to bite ; cf. Goth, bait-r-s (stem bait-ra), bitter < || bait, pt. t. of Goth. beit-an, to bite. Fai-r, A. S. fcEg-r, fcvg-er ; Goth, fag-r-s ^ Aryan suffix -is-TO, weakened form of -YOS-TO, -yons-to, where YONS is the (Arj'an) comparative suffix; Gk. -la-To-s. 266 ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIV. (stem fag-ra), fit, suitable; from \/PAK, to fasten, fit. Slipp-er-y is formed by adding -y to A. S. slip-or, slippery ; from the verb to slip. -LO. There was a rather numerous class of A. S. adjec- tives in -ol, -el, of which few survive. Sweet, in his A. S. Reader, instances het-ol, violent, from het-e, hate; 2in^ J?anc-ol, thoughtful, from J?a7ic, thought. Britt-le, INI. E. brii-el, brot-el, brut-el < II b7'oi-en, pp. of A. S. bre'ot-an, to break. Spenser uses brick-le^ F. Q. iv. lo. 39, with a like sense; from A. S. brec-an, to break. Ev-il, A.S.j/'-el; Goth, ub-i-l-s (stem ub-i-la); root unknown. Fick-le, A. S. fic-ol, deceitful; from fie, s., fraud; cf. /dc-ii, deceit. Id-le, A. S. id-el, empty, vain ; cf. G. eit-el, vain. Litt-le, A. S. lyt-el, con- nected with lyt, adv., Httle; here lyt=''luti-, and there is a connection with Goth, liut-s, deceitful; see Fick, iii. 276. Mick-le, great, A. S. myc-el, viic-el] Goth, mik-i-l-s, allied to Gk. base /ify-a-Xo-, great. But the most extraordinary word with this suffix is the M. E. rak-el, rash, wild, a word of Scand. origin, answering to Icel. reik-all, adj., vagabond, from reik-a, to wander about. This word was strangely transformed into rake-hell in the i6th century (see Trench and Nares), and has since been politely shortened so as to produce the mod. E. sb. a rake, i. e. a dissolute man. The verb to ail, A. S. eg-l-a?i, to trouble, to pain, is derived from A. S. eg-le, troublesome, allied to Goth, ag-lu-s, difficult, hard ; so that the final / is really an adjectival suffix ; from a/AGH, to choke, pain. So also in the case oi fou-l, A. S. fu-l\ from ^ PU, to stink. § 252. Aryan -NO. E. brow-n, A. S. brii-7i ; cognate with G. brau-n, Lithuanian bru-7ia-s, brown; and allied to ^\i. ba-bhru, tawny \- see Fick, iii. 218. Ev-e7i, A. S, ef-n, Goth. ib-7i-s (stem ib-na) ; probably related to Goth, ib-uks, backwards. Fai-71, A. S. /cBg-e7i ; cf. Icel. /eg-i7i7i, glad, ^ Not to be connected with the verb to btirn, as suggested in my Die* tionary. §253.] ARYAN SUFFIX -TO. 267 joyful. We may here notice that the Icel. -in7i is the usual suffix of the pp. of strong verbs, as in gef-imi, E. giv-en^ Goth, gib-an-s (stem gib-a-7ia-) ; so that the adj. suffix is here of the same form as that of the strong pp. The Teut. form oi fain is fag-i-na (Fick, iii. 169), as if it were a pp. from the Teut. base FAH, to fit, suit ; \/PAK, to fit. The same pp. suffix occurs in op-en^ A. S. op-en, Icel. op-inn ; and in rott-en, borrowed from the Icel. rot-imi, the pp. of a lost verb. Cf. § 260. Heath-eji, orig. one who dwelt on a heath, but ex- tended (like the Lat. paganus, a villager, afterwards a pagan) to denote one who is uninstructed in the Christian religion ; A. S. h(Ed-e7i^ from hdd, a heath. Cf. Goth. haith-7to, a heathen woman; hailh-i, heath. G7'ee-7i, A. S. gre-n-e {^■=i'^gr6-7i-jo-), cognate with Icel. grcenn, G. grun, answers to Teut. gr6-n-ya (Fick, iii. 112); so that the suffix is really double. It is closely allied to the verb to gj'ow. Lea-n^ slender, A. S. hld-ne [='^hld-7i-jo), slender, frail ; orig. ' leaning,' as if wanting support ; allied to hldnan, to lean. Ste7'-7i, severe, A. S. styr-ne {=^'^stur7i-joT). With regard to the words east-em, west-em, north-ern, south-em, we must compare the O. H. G. forms, such as norda-rdni, north-ern. Fick (iii. 251) supposes that the O. H. G. suffix -roni is a derivative from rann, the 2nd stem of G. renn-en, Goth, rinn-an (pt. t. 7'ann), to run. If so, north- em means ' running from the north,' i. e. coming from the north, said of the wind. Otherwise, we should have to suppose that it is a compound suffix. This point still remains unsettled. § 253. Aryan -TO. This is the usual suffix of the Lat. pp., as in strd-tus, pp. of ster-n-ere, to lay; and, as already said in § 223, it occurs as -d in E. lai-d, pp. of lay, and as -th- in Goth, lag-i-th-s, laid, pp. of lag-j-an, to lay. It is very familiar in the form -ed, used as the pp. suffix of numerous weak verbs, as lov-ed, pp. of love ; also as -/, as in bur7i-t, pp. of burn. It deserves to be particularly noticed 268 ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIV. that the presence of the -e- in -ed{ = -e-d) is really due, for the most part, to the causal verb-suffix which appears in Gothic as -j-, and occasionally in A. S. as -i- ; thus E. hate, inf. =: A. S. hal-i-an, Goth, hat-j-an ; and the pp. hat-e-d = A. S. hat-o-d, Goth, hat-i-th-s. It will thus be seen that the pp. suffix (when written -ed) is properly -d only ; the preced- ing -e belongs to the verbal stem, just like the -i- in the case of E. tac-i-t, borrowed from Lat. tac-i-tus, pp. of tac-e-re. The Aryan -TO appears in E. as -ih, -/, and -d. (a). The form -th. This is rare, but occurs in un-cou-th, orig. unknown, strange ; from A. S. cu-d, known, Goth. ku?i- ih-s, pp. of kunn-an, to know. Bo-ih is a Scand. form, from Icel. hd-dir, both ; the A. S. form drops the suffix, appearing as hd in the feminine and neuter, but as beg-e?i in the mascu- line. Gothic has both bai, the shorter form, and baj-o-lh-s, the longer one ; cf. G. bei-de. Nor-ih, A. S. 7ior-d, may be allied to Gk. i/ep-rf-/3oy, lower, as suggested by Kluge, who also cites the Umbrian ner-tro, on the left hand. The con- nection, in the latter case at least, is the more probable, because the Skt. dakshma means 'on the right,' also 'on the south,' to a man looking eastward. Sou-th, A. S. sH-^ (= *sun-^) ; cf O. H. G, sun-d, south ; allied to E. sun, as being the sunny quarter. The suffix -th also occurs in most of the mod. E. ordinal numbers, as four-th, fif-th, six-th, seven-th, &c. ; but note A. ^. fif-ta, six-ta, where the -/ is due to the preceding/" or X. Hence the Lowl. Scji/t, sixt\ cf. Lat. sex-tu-s. (b). The form -t. We may particularly note this in past participles, chiefly when preceded by /", gh, /, n, p, s ; as in cle/-t (from cleave), ref-t (from reave) ; bough-t, brough-t, sough-f, taugh-t, wrough-t] fel-t, spil-t \ burn-t, mean-f, pen-t; kep-t, slep-t, swep-t, wep-t; bles-t, los-t, wis-t. When the verb ends in / or in ^ preceded by another consonant, the pp. is often contracted; as in set, hurt, cast, built (for builded), leftt, seyit, spe?it. In adjectives, it appears after _/, §253.] ARYAN SUFFIX -TO. 269 gh, I (in salt), r, and s. Def-t, M. E. def-t, fitting, becom- ing, mild, daf-t, innocent (whence prov. E. daf-t, foolish); allied to A. S. ge-daf-en, fit, ge-def-e, suitable, Goth, ga-dof-s, ga-dob-s, fitting, ga-dab-an, to happen, befit. Le/-t, with reference to the hand, A. S. lef-t, as a gloss to Lat. inanis (Mone, Quellen, i. 443); the same MS. has senne for syn?ie, so that left is for */^// (= *hip-ti), Mid. Du. lu/-t, from the a/RUP, to break, whence also E. lop and lib^. Soft, A. S. softe, adv., softly ; allied to G. sanf-t, soft, O. H. G. samfto, adv., softly. Sivif-t, A. S. suuf-t, orig. turning quickly, allied to E. swiv-el. Brigh-t, A. S. beorh-t, Goth, bairh-t-s (Teut. berh-ta), lit. lighted up ; from \/BHARK, to shine. Li'gh-t, as opposed to heavy, O. Mercian li/i-t (see § 33), A. S. leo/i-t; allied to Gk. e-\ax-vs, Skt. lag/i-u, light. Righ-t, A. S. rih-t, Goth, raih-t-s (stem raih-ta-), Teut. reh-ta (F. iii. 248); cognate with Lat. rec-tu-s. Sligh-t, not found in A. S., but of Frisian origin ; O. Fris. sliuch-t, Mid. Du. slich-t, even, flat, Du. slech-t, slight, simple, vile ; Teut. sleh-ta, which per- haps originally meant ' smitten,' from slah, to slay, smite (F. iii. 358); but this is doubtful. Straigh-t, A. S. streh-t, stretched tight, pp. of strecc-an, to stretch. Tigh-t, prov. E. thite (more correctly), M. E. tiyt, also thyh-t (more correctly) ; of Scand. origin, from Icel. J)ett-r {= '^peht-r), water-tight; allied to G. dich-t\ perhaps also to Lat. tec-tus, covered. Sal-t, A. S. seal-t, lit. salted ; cf. Lat. sal-su-s, salted, from sal, salt. Swar-t, A. S. swear-t, black, Goth, sivar-t-s (stem swar- ta) ; orig. ' burnt ' ; from a/ SWER, to glow. Tar-t, acrid, A. S. iear-t\ perhaps < || tcBr, pt. t. ol ter-an, to tear. Eas-t, A. S. eas-t \ cf. Lat. aur-ora (= '^aus-osa), Skt. ush-as, dawn. Wes-t, A. S. wes-t; cf Lat. ues-per, evening. See also won-t in my Dictionary. The word waste, A. S. w^s-te [ = '^w6s-t-ja), exhibits the ' This etymology was discovered by Mr. Sweet, who published it in Anglia, iii. 155 (tS8o). 370 ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Chap. XIV. double suffix -t-ya ; it is related to Lat. Jias-tus, vast, but is not borrowed from it. {c). The form-^. We have already noticed the -e-d of the pp. A remarkable example appears in E. bal-d, of which the M. E. form was ball-ed, lit. ' marked with a white patch ' (cf. pie-bald, skew-bald); the Welsh bal means 'having a white streak on the forehead/ said of a horse, and cf. Gk. f^^- x^^'^^^ perf. pass. Ke-xv-fj-ai, to pour, ;ti;-fios', x'^-^os, juice. From these sbs. the words chyme and chyle have been imported into mod. English. The same root is most likely the source of al-che-my, of which Dr. Murray says, in the New E. Diet., that it is ' adopted from the O. Fr. alquimie, alguemie, alkemie, an adaptation of Mid. Latin alchimia (Prov. alkimia, Span, alquimia, Ital. alchimid), adopted from the Arab, al-kimm, i.e. al^ the, kimid, appar- ently adopted from the Gk. xw'^^^ XW^'^'^^ found (circa 300) in the Decree of Diocletian against " the old writings of the § 271.] THE ROOT GHEU. 287 Egyptians, which treat of the xw'^^ (transmutation) of gold and silver"; hence the word is explained by most as "Egyptian art," and identified with x*?/*'"; Gk. form (in Plutarch) of the native name of Egypt (land of Khem or Kha??ie, hieroglyphic Khnii, '- black earth," in contrast to the desert sand). If so, it v/as afterwards etymologically confused with the Hke- sounding Gk. x^f^^^^, pouring, infusion, from x'"-, perfect stem of x^-^^^> to pour (cf. x'^-M^^-, juice, sap), which seemed to explain its meaning ; hence the Renascence spelling alchymia and chymistry. Mahn (Etymol. Untersuchungen, 69) however concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gk. xvn^ia was probably the original, being first applied to pharma- ceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or infusions of plants ; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt \ and spelt x7Mfta, x'7A'tct, as in Diocletian's decree. From the Alexandrians the art and name were adopted by the Arabs, whence they returned to Europe by the way of Spain.' If then we assign alchemy to this root, we must of course also refer hither the words alchemist, alchymist, chemist, and chymtsf. In Latin we have the extended root GHEUD in the verb fundere, to pour, pt. l.fud-i, ^^./u-su?n (for ''fud-smji) ; hence numerous borrowed E. words, such as fuse, con-fuse^ dif-fuse^ ef-fuse, ill-fuse, refuse, fus-ion, suffus-ion, transfuse (from the supine); confoimd, refujid [ixova the infinitive) ;_/?//- z7f, confute, refute (cf. the O. Lat. pp. fii-tus = ^fud-tus as well Sisfu-sus); also fusil, in the sense of easily molten ; foison, plenty, O. F. foison, abundance, from Lat. ace. fusionem, pouring out, profusion. See Concise Etym. Diet. p. 166, * I have little doubt that Mahn is right.^ Medieval etymologists delighted in startling and far-fetched associations, which had all the air of profound learning. The derivation from Gk. was too simple to please them ; but the association of the word with Egypt was just what they desired. 288 ARYAN ROOTS. [Chap. XV. col. 2. The 1^2^. /under e also appears as Y./ondre, whence ~E./otmd, in the sense ' to cast metals'/ and the derived sb. font, fount, an assortment of types, as well 2l's> found-ry . This Lat. root GHEUD answers to Teut. GEUT, appearing in Goth, giut-an, A. S. geot-an, to pour, a verb of the choose- conjugation, with the 3rd stem gut- and the 4th stem got-. A derivative of the 3rd stem is gut, and of the 4th stem in-got, as already shewn (§ 177). The root GHEUS occurs in the Icel. gj6s-a, to pour, having for its 2nd stem gaus, its 3rd stem gus-, and its 4th gos-. From the 2nd stem is formed, by the usual ^-mutation of Icel. au to ey, the weak verb geys-a, to gush, and the sb. geys-ir, a ' gusher,' a hot spring. From the 3rd stem is formed the Icel. weak verb gus-a, to gush, borrowed by us in the form gush. It de- serves to be added that the A. S. geot-an, to pour, became M. Y.yet-en, to pour, to fuse metals ; whence the sb. yet-ere, a fuser of metals, used by Wyclif in Jerem. vi. 29, where the A. V. \i2i?, founder (actually from the same root). ' From this word yeter was formed the compound belle-yeter, i. e. bell- founder, a word duly recorded in the Promptorium Parvu- lorum, MTitten a. d. 1440, and edited by Mr. Way for the Camden Society. At p. 538 of this edition, Mr. Way has duly noted that the term belle-yeter still survives in Billiter Lane, London, as being the locality where foundries were anciently established. In this case the ye has become i, and we note, as a final result, that nothing is now left but this short vowel i of the root GHEU from which we started \' If we now collect all the results, we see that the root GHEU has given us, through the Greek, the words chyme, chyle, and probably alchemy, chemist or chymist, chemistry, and chemical', that the root GHEUD has given us, through the Latin and ^ On the Study of Anglo-Saxon, by W. W. Skeat; in Macmillan's Magazine, Feb. 1879, P- 3°8. Stowe derives Billiter from a Mr. Bell- zetar, who once resided there. It comes to the same thing, as he was named from his trade ; zelar = )etar, founder. § 272.] THE ROOT SEK, 289 Frenchj^^j-^ with its derivatives ; also found with its deriva- tives ; confound, refund, futile, confute, refute, fusil, foison ; that the Teut. root GEUT has given us E. gut and i7tgot, and even the -it-er in Billiter Lane; and that the root GHEUS has given us the Scand. words gush and geysir. As before, we should particularly notice the extraordinary variation in form in the case of such words as chyme, fuse, and gut, though the student who knows Grimm's Law can at once see that they begin with equivalent letters. Cf. § 105, p. 123. § 272. The above examples must suffice to exemplify the manner in which words can be traced back to roots, or derived from them. I shall conclude this chapter with some remarks on the prolific root SEK, to cut, as well as upon several other roots which seem to have a similar meaning, viz. the roots SKAD, SKID, SKAP, SKER, SKARP, SKALP, SKUR, and SKRU. The root SEK, to cut, is well seen in the Lat. sec-are, to cut, sec-uris, an axe, sec-ula, a sickle, seg-mentum (for "^secrmentum), a segment, a piece cut off; perhaps also ser-ra, a saw (if put for '^sec-era), may be from this root. The following words of Latin origin, and containing this root, have been imported into English: sec-ant, co-sec-ant, sec-tor, seg-ment, bisect, dissect, intersect, trisect', and, through the medium of French, insect, sci-on (a cutting, slip of a plant), sect-ion. The word sickle, though found in A. S. as sic-ol, is merely borrowed from the Lat sec-ula ; see Concise Etym. Diet., p. 421. The word serrated (from Lat. serra) may also belong here. Some explain sax-um { = '^ sac- sum) as a sharp stone (cf. A. S. seax, a knife) ; if so, we may add the words saxifrage, a French form, and sass-afras, which is Spanish. The root SEK is not confined to Latin ; it occurs also in Russ. siek-ira, an axe, Lith. syk-is, a blow ; whilst in Teutonic it takes the form SEG, whence O. H. G. seg-ansa, M. H. G. seg-ense, now contracted to G. Sense, a scythe ; as well as the following (which are of especial interest), VOL. I. U 290 ARYAN ROOTS. [Chap. XV, viz. A. S. sag-u, E. saw ; A. S. side, older form sig-de \ a sithe, now absurdly spelt scythe ; and A. S. secg { — ''sag-jd), a sword, hence sword-grass, E. sedge. § 273. The root SKAD, to cut, cleave, scatter (Teut. SKAT) appears in Skt. skhad (for ""skad), to cut, Gk. o-Ka^eiu ( = *(rKdB- yeiv), to slit, cut open, or lance a vein; o-x^^-v, a slice, hence a tablet, whence was borrowed Lat. sched-a, with its dimin. sched-ula, O. F. schedule, cedule, E. schedule ; also Lat. scand-ula (with inserted ?z), a thin piece of wood, afterwards weakened to scindula, and borrowed by E. in the corrupt form shingle, meaning a wooden tile. The Teut. SKAT appears in the E. frequentative verb scait-er, to disperse, with its variant shati-er, § 274. The root SKID, to cut, divide, occurs in the Gk. (Txi^iLv {='^axi^jyeLv), Lat. scind-ere \ whence (from Greek) the borrowed words schism, schist, zest (F. zest, zesie = Lat. schistus), squill (Gk. o-KiXka, Lat. scilla, squilla, F. squille) ; and (from Latin) ab-scind, rescind, abscissa. In close con- nection with these we have the native E. words shed, shide, sheath, sheathe, and the Scand. word skid', but it is difficult to tell whether we are to refer these to an Aryan base SKIDH (Fick, i. 815) or to an Aryan SKIT, which may be regarded as a variant of SKID (see Kluge). Either from SKID or SKIDH we have Lat cced-ere, to cut, with loss of initial s ^ ; ccES-ura, circum-cise, and (through the French) de-cide, co7i-cise, in-cise, pre-cise, ex-cis-ion, and the suffix -cide in homi-cide, parri-cide, &c. ; also chis-el and sciss-ors (for cis-ors, M. E. cis-oures), the last word being misspelt owing to a false etymology from Lat. scindere. § 275. The root SKAP, shortened in Greek to KAP or 1 The form sigQe is vouched for by the still earlier spelling sigdi{ = si^i), which is found in the Epinal Gloss, ed. Sweet, p. 9, col. 29, where the Lat. fakes {sic) is glossed by uudubil, sigdi, riftr, i.e. a wood-bill, scythe, or sickle. ^ Latin and Greek often drop an initial s in such compounds as sk and sp, whereas Teutonic commonly retains it. § 2 78.] THE ROOTS SKER AND SKARP. 29 T KOP, to cut, appears in Gk. Koir-reiv, to cut, whence the Greek words apo-cope, syn-cope, comma, and (through Latin) cap-on. Also perhaps in A. S. sceap-an, scap-an, E. shape, which seems to keep the Aryan p, if such a result be pos- sible. Also (with irregular weakening of p to Teut. b), E. shave, shaf-t, scab, shabb-y, " And lastly, perhaps (with loss of J"), E. chop, chap (to spht open), chip, and the Scand. chump. § 276. The root SKER, to cut, shear, clip, appears in A. S. scer-a?i (pt. t. sccbt), E. shear, with the allied words share, shire, shore, shor-t, shir-t, shar-d, sher-d, score, and the Scand. words scar or scaur, skerry, skir-t. The phrase sheer off is borrowed from Dutch; cf. E. 'cut away.' Our scarify (F. scarifier) is from the Lat. scarificare; but this is only a loan-word from Gk. aKap-i(j)dofxai, I scarify, scratch. It is also possible that character (from Gk. xap-ao-o""»', to furrow, scratch) may be from this root; perhaps also cuir-ass, O. F. cuirace. Low Lat. coratia, from Lat. cor-ium (for "^skor- ium, cf. Lith. skur-a, hide, skin, leather) ; as well as scourge. § 277. The root SKER appears also as SKEL, to cleave, with the common change of r to l; cf. Lith. ske'l-ti, to cleave, Icel. skil-ja, to divide. Hence the native E. words scale, shell, the Scand. words scall, skull, skill, and the mod. E. shale, borrowed from G. Schale, a shell, husk, hence a thin stratum. § 278. The root SKARP also seems to have borne the sense of to cut, or pierce. Hence we may perhaps derive the Gk. aKopn-ios, a scorpion, stinging insect, whence E. scorp-ion (through French and Latin) ; also the A. S. scearp, E. sharp. Scarp, counier-scarp, and e-scarp-ment are F. words of Teutonic origin. From the same root are E. scarf and Scand. skarf; also, with shifting of r, E. scrape, and the Scand. scrap, a small portion, and scrip, a wallet. The initial s is lost in Lat. carp-ere, to pluck, Lith. kerp-u, I shear (infin. kirp-ti) ; hence E. ex-cerp-t, and u 2 292 ARYAN ROOTS. [Chap. XV. (through the French) s-car-ce. The root KARP (which thus results from the loss of s) appears as HARF in Teutonic ; whence A. S. harf-est, E. harv-est, that which is cut or cropped. § 279. The root SKARP also appears as SKALP, with change of r to l, as in Lat. scalp-ere, to cut, whence the borrowed Lat. word scalp-el; closely allied is the Lat. sculp-ere, to carve, cut out, whence (through French) E. sculp-ture^. Moreover, just as from the root SKEL, in the sense to divide, to split, we have the words shell and skull, so from SKALP we have the words scallop and scalp. The spelling scallop is due to the O. F. escalope, a F. adapt- ation of Middle Du. schelpe, a shell. The E. shelf, a thin board, also belongs here. § 280. Another root with a like sense appears in the form SKUR, as seen in Skt. kshur (for *shir), to cut, Gk. (TKvp-ov, chippings of stone, ^vp-6v, a razor; here perhaps belongs Lat. cur-tus (for '^skur-lus}), cut short, whence E. curt. We also find a root which takes the form SKRU, as in Lat. scru-pulus, a small sharp stone, whence (through the French) the E. scru-ple ; also in Lat. scru-ia, pi., broken pieces, whence scrut-ari, to search minutely (as if amongst broken pieces), and E. scru-iiny. The same root SKRU, to cut, has given us the E. words shrou-d, orig. a strip, shred of cloth, shre-d, scree-d', and finally, the word scro-ll, signifying ' small shred,' a French diminutive from the Middle Dutch spelling of shred. § 281. A review of the preceding sections (272-280) will shew how prolific in derivatives has been the root SEK, to cut, with the somewhat similar roots bearing a like sig- nification. Further information concerning such of the words as are not fully explained here is given in my Etymo- logical Dictionary. I hope that sufficient examples have ^ The Gk. y\v(p-fiv, to cut, is generally supposed to be cognate with Lat. sculp-ere. Hence E. hiero-glyph-ic. § 28t.] ARYAN roots. 293 been given to illustrate the method of tracing modern E. words to their roots. The general process may be described as follows: — Trace the word back to its oldest spelling; strip off the affixes, whether prefixed or suffixed ; examine the vowel-sound and see whether it has been, or could be, affected by mutation or gradation or both; compare the parallel forms in other Teutonic languages, which should also be stripped of affixes. Hence the Teutonic base or root-form can usually be at once perceived, and by the assistance of Grimm's Law (and of Verner's Law, if ne- cessary) the corresponding Aryan root-form can be inferred, and should be compared with the known Aryan roots as given in the Supplement to my Dictionary, or by Fick, Vanicek, and others; though it must be remembered that the vowel-sounds in these lists are frequently incorrectly given, and should be corrected by comparison with such works as Brugmann's Grundriss der vergleichenden Gram- matik der indogermanischen Sprachen, in which the latest results of a closer investigation of the vowel-sounds are accurately given. A complete list of the Roots and Verb- forms of the Sanskrit Language, by Professor Whitney, has lately been published. CHAPTER XVI. Modern English Spelling. § 282, The subject of modern English spelling has been to some extent considered in Lect. VIII. of Archbishop Trench's well-known and, in the main, excellent work entitled ' English Past and Present.' But a perusal of that chapter will shew that it merely discusses certain spellings from a supposed ' etymological ' point of view, and does not at all attempt to deal with the only question of real importance, viz. what is the true history of our spelling, and how came we to spell words as we do. I make particular reference to this chapter, because I believe that it has unfortunately done more harm than good, as it is altogether founded on a false principle, such as no scientific etymologist would endorse, in the present state of our knowledge. This false principle is, that our spelling ought to be such as to guide the ordinary reader to the etymology of the word, because there is ' a multitude of persons, neither accomplished scholars on the one side, nor yet wholly with- out the knowledge of all languages save their own ^ on the other ; and it is- of great value that these should have all helps enabling them to recognise the words which they are using, whence they came, to what words in other languages they are nearly related, and what is their properest and ^ But this is just what Englishmen commonly do not know ; they know the original forms of the foreign elements of English far better than they know those of the native core of it. MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. 295 Strictest meaning.' This specious argument has imposed upon many, and will no doubt long continue to do so ; but if it be at all carefully examined, it will be found to amount to no more than this, that we ought to spell words derived from Latin and Greek as nearly as possible like the Latin and Greek words from which they are borrowed; and it will be found that most of the examples of the words discussed are taken from those languages. No doubt Latin and Greek form an important element in the English language; but it may be replied that these are commonly the words which are least altered by pronunciation, and would be least affected by phonetic spelling. However, the real point is this, that the most important elements of our language are neither Latin nor Greek, but English, Scandi- navian, and French. The English and Scandinavian elements are very carefully kept out of sight by Trench, except in a very few instances ; and the French element is treated very briefly and unsatisfactorily; indeed, a careful treatment of it would have told the other way. Now, if we are to spell modern English words so as to insinuate their derivation from Latin and Greek, much more ought we to spell them so as to point out their descent from native English, Scandinavian, and Old French. Yet this is a matter quite ignored by the general public, for the simple reason that they are commonly very ignorant of Early English, Icelandic, and Anglo-French, and so care absolutely nothing about the matter so far as these languages are concerned. Even Latin and Greek they know only by sight, not by sound \ and there are probably many worthy people who believe that •the modern English pronunciation of Latin accurately repro- duces the sounds used by Vergil and Horace. Yet if the argument for 'etymological' spelling is to be used at all, it must apply with far greater force to the words which form the backbone of the language than to such as have merely been borrowed in order to augment its vocabulary. 2g6 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. § 283. But the truth is, that no one can possibly be in a position to judge as to the extent to which our spelling ought to be conformed (if at all) to that of Greek and Latin — for this is what the supporters of the (so-called) etymological spelling really mean — until he has first made himself ac- quainted with the history of our spelling and of our language. The plain question is simply this — how came we to spell as we do, and how is it that the written symbol so frequently gives a totally false impression of the true sound of the spoken word.? Until this question has been more or less considered, it is impossible to concede that a student can know what he is talking about, or can have any right to be heard. It is surely a national disgrace to us, to find that the wildest arguments concerning English spelling and etymology are constantly being used even by well-educated persons, whose ignorance of Early English pronunciation and of modern English phonetics is so complete, that they have no suspicion whatever of the amazing worthlessness of their ludicrous utterances. If a slight popular account, such as is here offered, may tend to modify some of the common current errors, this chapter will serve a useful purpose. I cannot find that any writers have handled this question generally, excepting Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sweet ^; and ex- cellent as their books are, they are intended rather for the more advanced student than for the beginner. For this reason, I here attempt to give a general idea of this diflicult subject, though conscious that the details are so numerous 1 It is really a gross misnomer to call that spelling ' etymological ' which merely imitates the spelling of a dead language. Every student is (or should be) aware that the only true ' etymological ' spelling is one which \% phonetic. It is the sound of the spoken word which has to be accounted for ; and all symbols which disguise this sound are faulty and worthless. If our old writers had not used a phonetic system, we should have no true data to go by. 2 On Early English Pronunciation, by A. J. Ellis ; Triibner and Co. The History of English Sounds, by H. Sweet ; Triibner and Co. A Handbook of Phonetics, by H. Sweet ; Clarendon Press. § 284.] ANGLO-SAXON ALPHABET. 297 and important that any mere sketch must be more or less a failure. It will, however, be easy to shew that, as a matter of history, the notion of so-called ' etymological ' spelling is a purely modern one, a thing never dreamt of in the earlier periods, but the fond invention of meddling pedants who frequently made ludicrous mistakes in their needless zeal. § 284. To understand our modern spelling, we must begin at the very beginning, and shortly consider the history of the symbols which have been used in English from time to time. The characters employed by the ancient Britons were those of the Roman alphabet. There may have been more than one school of writing, and some at least of the British scribes modified a few of the Roman characters in a way peculiarly their own. These modified characters have continued in use, in writing and printing Irish, to the present day; such books as O' Reilly's Irish Dictionary or any modern Irish Grammar will shew what this modified alphabet is like. When the English conquerors of Britain took to writing, they naturally adopted, in the main, the same alphabet, which may be de- scribed as a Roman alphabet with certain Celtic and English modifications. In the time of Elizabeth, an Anglo-Saxon sermon by ^Ifric was printed by John Daye in 1567, in types imitating the characters used in Anglo-Saxon MSS., and I here give the modern Irish alphabet and the Anglo-Saxon alphabet as usually represented by such printed types ; they are near enough to the manuscript forms to give a sufficient notion of the manner in which the Roman alphabet was treated. Irish printed alphabet. — A "bCb^yj^^-"^^^^ Op.RSCll...Abc6ey5lii.l7n]iop.|t"pcu... Anglo-Saxon alphabet.— i^ BEDeFCpIKLODN 0P.R8TUXYZ {also) pDpiE. abcbepghiklm n o p . p j' [also written f) c u x y z {also) f) 'S p 3e. The only noticeable points in the Irish alphabet are : the absence of k, q, w, x^ y, and 0; the peculiar forms of the capitals, especially G and T; and the peculiar forms of the small 298 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. letters d^f, g, and especially r, s, and /. The Roman r is exaggerated, and the s much disguised ^ In the A. S. alphabet, the capitals C and G are squared; and the peculiar Celtic modifications of the small letters are clearly seen. There are also three additional consonantal symbols, viz. p and D (]? and '6), both used to denote //z ; and P (p), used to denote w'^. The letter ]:>, as shewn by its ruder form on Runic monuments, is merely a Roman D with the straight side- stroke prolonged both upwards and downwards. It was formerly called thorn, by association with the initial sound of that word, and is still conveniently called ' the thorn-letter.' The letter D (S), sometimes named elh, is merely 'a crossed D,' i. e. a modification of D made by adding a cross-stroke. The MSS. use these symbols for the sounds of M in ihin and ih in thine indifierently, though it would have been a considerable gain if they had been used regularly. The symbol M (ae) was used in Anglo-Saxon to denote the peculiar sound of a as heard in the mod. E. cat, apple. It may be observed that the I was not dotted in either alphabet ; but, on the other hand, a dot is commonly added over the A. S. y. The numerous vowel-sounds in A. S. were provided for by the use of accents for marking long vowels^, and by combining vowel- symbols to represent diphthongs. In most modern editions of A.S. MSS., the old modified forms of the Roman letters are very sensibly replaced by the Roman letters themselves, as represented by modern types ; we are thus enabled to print Anglo-Saxon in the ordinary type, by merely adding to ^ Nine additional symbols in the Irish alphabet are gained by placing a dot over each of the characters for b, c, d,f, g, m, p, s, t. ^ I identify this letter, as every one else does, w^ith the Runic letter called wen, which also denoted w. I further identify it, as some do, with the Gothic letter for w. And I believe, as perhaps no one else does, that it is merely a form of the Greek T (capital u). ^ In A. S. MSS. the accents are freely omitted wherever the length of the vowel is obvious to a person well acquainted with the language, which was the case with those for whom the early scribes wrote. The later MSS. insert them more frequently, to prevent ambiguity. § 285.1 ANGLO-SAXON SOUNDS. ^99 the alphabet the consonantal symbols }? and ^\ Some editors retain the A. S. p in place of w, a practice altogether to be condemned. It only makes the words harder to read, and introduces innumerable misprints of p for J? or p, and of j? for p or />, without any advantage whatever. German editors replace ze; by z^, a practice which no Englishman can well approve. § 285. The values of the A. S. symbols may be briefly stated thus. The consonants b, d, h, k"^, /, vi, n, p, /, w, x, had their present values, and are, in fact, the only really stable symbols in English spelling, excepting such groups of symbols as bl, br, cl, cr, dr, fl, fr, gl, gr, pi, pr, and the like, which denote combinations of sounds such as cannot easily alter. C was hard (like k) in all positions, but was liable to be followed by an intrusive short vowel, written e ; hence such forms as ceaf (for *caf), scedn (for scdii), producing the mod. E. chaff, shone, instead of ^kaff, '^skone. Cf. Du. kaf, G. Kaff, chaff; Icel. skein, shone. Similarly, g was properly hard, but was also Hable to be followed by the same intrusive sound, likewise written e ; the resulting ge, at first sounded nearly as gy in the occasional old-fashioned London usage of gyarden for garden, soon passed into_>/; cf. A. '^. geard, 'E. yard] Icel. gardr, pro v. Y.. garth. In some words, as geoc, 2,yoke, the^^ seems to have been sounded as y from the very first, i^ is assumed by Mr. Swec<: (A. S. Reader, p. xxviii) to have been uniformly sounded as v ^. This may have been true (as it still is) of the ^ We also require the long vowels, viz. d, e, i, 6, tl, y, c^. Many printing-presses pretend to be able to print Anglo-Saxon, because they have such useless types as the old-fashioned forms of r, s, t, &c. ; but they lack such indispensable letters as y and ce, and print y and (Z instead, as if it made no sort of difference ! ^ A'is not common ; yet it is found occasionally in MSS. of very early date. After iioo it is common enough in certain words. The sound is always hard, as now, ^ At p. xiv we are told it was /before hard consonants, as in oft. 300 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. Wessex dialect commonly called Anglo-Saxon, but cannot have been universally the case in Mercian and Anglian, as numerous English words still have the sound of_/, especially initially; yet there can be no doubt that the sound of v was common in all Old English, and that there was only the one symbol f to represent the sounds of both f and v. 7^ between two vowels was probably sounded as v, even in Mercian ; cf. A. S. (and Mercian) /^with E. life, and A. S. dat. on life (lit. in life) with E. a-live. The sound now denoted by qu was written cw, as in cwe'n, a queen. R differed very greatly from the mod. E. r in being fully trilled, not only in such words as nearu, E. narrow ; from, E. from ; riht, E. right, where it is still trilled, but in all other cases. In many words, such as hern, a barn, earm, an arm, the modern English has utterly lost the true trilled sound; though, strange to say, there are thousands who imagine that they pronounce this r when they only give the sound of the aa in baa to the preceding vowel, which is a very different matter^. S is assumed by Mr. Sweet (A. S. Reader, p. xv) to have had the sound oi z, except in words like Strang, strong,yfej"/, fast; here again I suppose that this statement refers only to the Wessex dialect (in which it is z still), and not to the Mercian and Anglian dialects, in which initial s was one of the com- monest of sounds ; yet even in these it must often have passed into the sound of z between two vowels and finally ; cf. A. S. fre'osan with mod. Y.. freeze, and A. S. is with mod. E. iz (as it is invariably pronounced). On the other hand, the Mercian (and A. S.) is is the mod. E. ice, and I find it difficult to believe that, in this word, the s was ever pronounced like z even in the Wessex dialect. I suppose that the sound of z was common in all Old English, although there was, prac- ' An Englishman associates the sound of barn with the written appearance of the word, and calls it * pronouncing the r ' when he pro- nounces the word like the German BaJin. He should ask an Italian to pronounce the word, if he wants to hear the trill. § 286,1 ANGLO-SAXON SPELLING. 30I tically, but one symbol [s) to denote both s and z\ This is in some measure the case still ; for, though we find that ce (as in twice) and c (as in city) are used to denote the true sound of s, the symbol s is itself still used with a double meaning (as in sin, rise). Unfortunately, the admission of z into our writing has been very grudgingly allowed ; so that whilst z is one of the commonest of sounds, the eye sees the symbol but seldom. Shakespeare was for once mistaken in calling z an ' unnecessary ' letter ; for it might have been used very freely in our spelling with very great advantage. § 286. The A. S. vowel-system was fairly complete, the whole number of symbols being eighteen, viz. a, e, i, 0, u,y (at first written ie), a, e\ i, 6, H, y (at first written ie), ce, ea, eo, d^, ea, eo. For a full account of them, see Sweet's A. S. Reader. We may say that the A. S. alphabet was, on the whole, nearly sufficient for representing all the words of the language by purely phonetic methods. There was a guttural sound like that of the G. ch ; but this was sufficiently pro- vided for by using the symbol h with this power in every position except initially, where, not being wanted for this purpose, it could be used for the initial aspirate. The chief defects of the alphabet were the double use of/" (for the sounds of _/ and v), the double use of s (for the sounds of s and z) ; and the ambiguous use of f), tS for the sounds of th in thin and th in tlune. Even these defects were much lessened in practice by the position of the symbols in the words. Briefly, we may fairly call the A. S. system a purely phonetic system, and may assign to most of the symbols their usual Latin values, so that the vowels a, e, i, 0, u (all of which were lengthened when accented) had the same values as in modern Italian ; whilst^/ had the sound of the G. u in ubel^ and ea, eo, ea, /o were diphthongs whose component parts were pronounced as written. The most characteristic Old ^ The A.S. symbol z is very rare, and was probably sounded as ts ; it occurs in names such as Nazareth, Zabulon, &c. 302 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. English sounds are those of the diphthongs just mentioned ; of a in cat^ written cp. ; the guttural h, as in riht, mod. E. right (where the guttural is still preserved to the eye) ; the varying th, denoted uncertainly by \ and S ; and the familiar modern E. w'^. One result of the A. S. phonetic spelling is, that it is not uniform, being found to vary from time to time and in different places, owing to varieties of pronunciation ; but it is usually intelligible and faithful, and in the truest sense ' etymological,' precisely because it is phonetic. When a word like episcopus was borrowed from Latin, and popularly pro- nounced as biscop, it was spelt as pronounced ; there was no thought of turning it into piscop or episcop merely to insinuate that it was borrowed from Latin, and that the scribe knew it to be so borrowed. There was then no attempt on the part of pedants to mark the supposed derivation of a word by conforming the spelling of a word to that of its presumed original. § 287. A.D. 1150-1300. As time wore on, some of the sounds slowly changed, but fortunately the spelling changed with them in many important particulars. We may notice the growing confusion, in the latest Anglo-Saxon, between the use of the symbols i and y, so that the word him is often badly spelt hym, whilst, on the other hand, we find ci7iing for cym'ng, a king. The sounds denoted by those symbols were be- coming difficult to distinguish. Sufficient examples of the spelling of the period from 1150 to 1300 may be found in Morris's Specimens of Early English, Part I, 2nd edition. The alphabet is discussed at p. xix of the Introduction, and the phonology at pp. xxv-xxxi. As regards the alphabet, we may notice (i) the increasing use of k, especially to denote ^ This sound was common in early Latin, being written ti, as in tiinum, whence E. wme. But the Latin z<-consonant had already become v before the earliest period of written English, and hence the use of the rune wen for the sound of w. Such Latin words as wall, wine, wick may have been learnt on the continent or from the Britons ; the w shews their antiquity. See Chapter XXI. § 287.1 ANGLO-FRENCH SPELLING. 303 the hard sound of c before e and z", where there might other- wise be some doubt as to the sound, because the French scribes understood c before e and i to have the sound of s ; (2) the 'use of the symbol 5* to denote the sound oi y at the beginning of a word (as in yz^ye) or of the guttural h {or gk) in the middle of a word (as in h'^/=l?g/i/); (3) the use of gk for the A. S. /i when guttural ; and (4) the introduction of u as a conso7ianial symbol to denote v, this %i being distin^ guished from the vowel u chiefly by its occurrence between two vowelS; the latter of which is commonly e. The converse use of V for the vowel u (chiefly initially, as in vp for uf) is also found, but was silly and needless^. By way of exam- ples, we may note (i) the spellings ke7ie^ mod. E. keen, for A. S. ce'ne, and kin for A. S. cyn ; (2) 5^, mod. E.j^f, for A. S. ge, and //;/ for A. S. liht', (3) light as an alternative for li^t, for A. S. liht, as before ; (4) eue, euere, mod. E. eve, ever, for A. S, (xfen^ cEfre. We must also particularly notice that the A. S. c and sc now become ch and sch (new symbols), especially before e and z';*and that the symbol j^ begins to be used for the consonant j/, though it is also a vowel. The A. S. hi, hn, hr, become merely I, n, r ; cw is replaced by kw and qu, the latter being a French symbol which soon prevailed over kw entirely ; hw is written ivh ; f) is preferred to tS initially ; and the initial ge- (prefix) becomes i-. Exam- ples of these changes may be seen in chert, mod. E. churl, for A. S. ceorl, and child for A. S. cild; scheden, mod. E. shed, for A. S. sce'adan, and* schinen, E. shine, for A. S. scinan ; yonge, E. young, for A. S. geong ; lauerd, E. lord, for A. S. hldford ; note, E. nut, for A. S. hnut; renden, E. rend, for A. S. hrendan ; kwene, later que7ie, E. queen, for A. S. cwen ; whi, E. why, for ^ This symbol is merely a peculiar form of g, very like the A. S. g. A new (French) form of ^ was used for g itself. ^ The symbol p* (A.S- w) disappears about A. d. 1280; it occurs about five times in Havelok the Dane. It was replaced at first by uu, but afterwards by w (a French symbol) as at present. This change in nb way concerned the pronunciation. 304 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. A. S. hwy\ pah, E. though (with initial ]?), wi^, E. with (with final S) ; i-boreii, E. 3^?^;^, for K.S.geboreti. The vowel-scheme of this period is too complex to be discussed here ; but we may particularly note the disappearance of ce, the place of which was supplied hy e or a] the disappearance, in the thirteenth century, of ea and eo, whether long or short ; and the sudden disappearance of accentual marks, so that it is not always easy to tell whethe!" the vowel is long or short. We have also to remember that we have now to deal with three written dialects. This is also the period when French words began to be in- troduced, with the same spelling and pronunciation as that which they had in the Anglo-French MSS. of the same time ; and it must be particularly noticed that the sounds of the French vowels did not then differ materially from the sounds of the corresponding English vowels, so that the French words required no violent alteration to adapt them for English use. The spelling still remained fairly phonetic and therefore etymological ; it is occasionally ambiguous, but not so to any great or important extent. For a careful discussion of the pronunciation of two 'important works of this period, viz. the Ancren Riwle and the Ormulum, see Sweet's First Middle English Primer. We must particularly remember that, in this thirteenth century and in the century succeeding it, the English language was practically re-spelt according to the Anglo-French method by scribes who were, familiar with Anglo-French. This is clearly shewn by the use of qu for cw, as in queue (queen) for A. S. cwen ; of c with the sound of s before e and z\ as in certain, cite (city) ; of u and y as consonants, as in euere (ever),^/^ (ye); of ^ and ey for ai and ei occasionally, as in day for dai, from A. S. dcEg, they or pey for pei, from Icel. peir, they ; of the symbols v, w, and ch ; of i with the sound ofy (as in ioie, joy), &c. These scribes also replaced the * Anglo-Saxon ' or Celtic forms of d,/, g, r, s, and / by letters of a continental type; but they retained f (as a form of s) together with s. One vowel-change is too remarkable to §288.] THE THIRTEENTH CENTURY. 305 be passed over, viz. the disappearance of the A. S. a, i. e. long a, owing to the change of sound from aa in baa to that of oa in hroad, which was denoted by changing the A. S. spelling brad into the new spellings broad'^, brood. Conse- quently, as Mr. Sweet remarks, the true a (long a) ' occurs only in French words, as in dame, lady, dame, blam-en, to blame ' ; which were of course pronounced with the French sound of a. § 288. We are now in a position to give some account of the symbols in use at the end of the thirteenth century. Omitting the capital letters, which are sufficiently familiar, the list of symbols is as follows : abedefghM-k 1 mnopqurs {also f)tuvwxyz {very rare) ; also ]) { — th)^ and ^ {= y initially, ^/^ medially and finally, and sometimes z finally). The two last characters were inherited from the older period ; the rest of the letters may be considered as Anglo-French forms of the Roman letters, and the whole system of spelling had become French rather than Enghsh. We shall not, however, have the complete list of sound-symbols till we add the compound symbols following, viz. ch (rarely written he) ng ph sch. (also sh) th wh. Of these, ch was pronounced as now, i.e. as ch in choose, and mostly represents an A. S. c (usually when fol- lowed by e or i or y), or else it represents an O. F. ch as in change; sch is the modern sh in shall; th was coming into use as an alternative for f) ; and wh replaced the A. S. hw. There is no j, but the symbol i represented both t and j. We must also consider the long vowels and diphthongs. The former were at first not distinguished to the eye from the short ones; the latter were ai (or ay) au (or aw) ea ' This spelling did not last long, but soon gave way to brood ; the modern broad is due to a subsequent revival of the symbol oa, which is almost, perhaps quite, unknown in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. ^ An aspirate initially ; otherwise a guttural, later ^/^. ^ The symbol disappears soon after a.d. 1250, except perhaps in rare instances. . VOL. I. X 306 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. ei (or ey) eo ie oa oi (or oy) ou ui, for the pronunciation of which see Sweet, First Middle Eng. Primer, p. 2. Some- times we find eu (or ew). When the hard c is doubled, it is written kk; a double ch is written cch^\ a double s is sometimes written sc (as in blesced), but the same symbol, viz. sc^ could be used for sk or even for sh. § 289. A. D. 1300-1400. Passing on to the fourteenth century, the reader will find sufficient examples of the spell- ing in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skeat, Part II ; or in the extracts from Chaucer published by the Clarendon Press ^. I shall here describe the spelling found in my edition of the Man of Lawes Tale, which, though occasion- ally normalised, is strictly founded on that of the excellent Ellesmere MS., written about a.d. 1400. The consonants are much the same as in the thirteenth century. The symbol f» remains in occasional use, but /h is very commonly used instead. A new symbol gh, still in use, is employed for the guttural sound written h in A. S. But the vowel- symbols are somewhat altered ; the old ea ^ oa ^, disappear, ui is rare, and the system of doubling the vowels, to indicate length, begins to prevail, giving us aa, ee, 00 ; and sometimes y for the long i. Eo is hardly ever used, except in peopel, more commonly pepel (people), or even poeple. The reader is particularly referred to the description of Chaucer's pro- nunciation by Mr. Ellis, reprinted (by his kind permission) in the Introduction to my edition of Chaucer's Man of Lawes Tale, 2nd ed., 1879, p. x. ^ An expressive symbol ; for the sound is really that of a final or iinplosive sound, followed by the true ch or explosive sound ; as in fcC'Chen^ to fetch. ^ In Morris's edition of the Prologue, the symbols v and j are intro- duced with their modern values ; the MSS. have only u for v (also v for u) and i. ^ Ea is sometimes written in ease, please, but ese (or eese^) and plesc are commoner. In the fifteenth century ea remained scarce, but was afterwards revived. * Oa quite disappears, but was revived in the sixteenth centur)'. §291.] THE FOURTEENTH CENTURY. 307 § 290. The preceding account may suffice to give some idea of the earlier modes of spelling ; but now that we have reached the close of the fourteenth century, it is worth while to examine the symbols carefully, because we are fast approaching the period when modern English spelling was practically formed and fixed. The spelling of the Man of Lawes Tale does not essentially differ from that of the present day, in spite of the vast changes that have come over our pronunciation. The principal difference is, after all, due to the loss of the final e in the spoken word. Since the year 1400, the form of the words to the eye has not greatly changed, though the sounds intended are very different. This -statement may seem a little startling at first ^, but a careful examination will shew that much of the apparent strangeness of Chaucer's language, is due to changes in grammar and vocabulary rather than to any sweeping changes in the system of spelling then in vogue. 1 shall now give a complete list of all the symbols in use about a.d. 1400. A specimen of the spelling of this period will be found in the Appendix. See also pp. 24, 29, 34, 37. § 291. The vowels are : a e i o u (also written v. initially) y (for z', especially when long) w (for u, rare) aa (rare) ee 00. Diphthongs : ai, or ay an, or aw ea (very rare) ei, or ey eo (rare) eu, or ew ie oe (very rare) oi, or oy ou, or ow ue ^ ui, or uy. Consonants : b c d f g h i (or capital I, for j)^ k 1 m n p qu r s (or f) t V (or u, for v) w x y (or 5) z. Digraphs, &c. : ch gh, or 5 gu (in guerdon, i. e. gw) ng ph sch, sometimes sh th, or J) wh. Doubled letters : bb cc dd ff gg kk (for ^ Englishmen are so dependent upon the look of a word to the eye, that even a few comparatively slight changes in spelling fill them with amazement. However, we may notice the symbols ea and oa in parti- cular, as belonging to Tudor-English, not to Chaucerian spelling. ^ Mr. Ellis omits tie (as in due) ; also id, uy (as \i\ fruit, frityt). ^ Also g, if followed by e or i, is used to denote y. Indeed, when the sound ofy ends a word, it always appears as ge. X 2 3o8 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. cc or kU) rarely ck 11 mm nn pp rr ss (or fs) tt. Biform digraphs, &c. : cch (for chch) ssh (for shsh or simple sJi) J)J) J)th or even tth or thth. Initial combin- ations : bl br el (or kl) cr (or kr) dr dw fl. fn (rare) fr gl gn gr kn pi pr ps sc (or sk) si (also written scl) sm sn sp squ st sw scr (or skr) schr (or shr) spl spr str tr tw thr (or ))r) thw wl (rare) wr. Final combinations ^ : et ds fs ft gn ght (or 5!) lb Id If Ik Im In Ip Is It 1th lue (= Iv) mb mp nee neh nd ngs ngth nk ns nt nth ps pt pth rb re ree reh rd rf rk rl rid rm rn rnd rp rs rseh rst rt rth rue (= rv) sk sp st ts xt. Also ge (fory); gge (foryy) ; nge (for 7y)\ rgh, in thurgh, through; mpne, in sokmpne, solemn. § 292. The reader will at once recognise, in the above list, a large number of familiar symbols which are still in use. The French influence is by this time paramount, as may be seen by comparing the spelling of Middle-English of the fourteenth century with that of the Anglo-French ^ of the same period, as exhibited in the Liber Albus or the Liber Custumarum or the Statutes of the Realm. In order to complete the history of our written forms, all that remains is to notice the principal alterations that have been made in the above list of symbols since a.d. 1400, and to account for omissions from or additions to it. The first point to be noticed is the extraordinary loss (in pronunciation) of the final -e, which in so many cases denoted an inflexion of declension or of conjugation in the spoken language. This loss took place early in the fifteenth century in the Midland ^ These combinations close a word or syllable, as actie), act-ion. Modern English has bs, in slabs, and other combinations not used in 1400. I omit bn in Ab-ner, and the like, where the symbols belong to different syllables. ^ The term ' Anglo-French ' is absolutely necessary ; it denotes the later form of the Norman-French introduced at the Conquest ; for this dialect, as adopted in England, had a different development from that of the French of Normandy. § 293.] HISTOR V OF THE FINAL E, 309 dialect, but had already taken place in the Northern dialect in the fourteenth. The result was not a little remarkable, and is of supreme importance in explaining the spelling of modern English. I will therefore endeavour to explain it carefully. § 293. Let us examine, for example, the history of the words hone^ stone, cone ; the last of which is not of English, but of Greek origin. The A. S. for ho7ie is bdii (pronounced baan), and for sione is stdn (pronounced siaan, with aa as in baa). But these forms were only used in the nominative and accusative singular ; the genitives singular were bdn-es, stdn-es, and the datives bdn-e\ stdn-e; all four forms being dissyllabic. The pi. nom. and ace. was stdn-as. In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the sound of a changed "to that of oa in broad, denoted (imperfectly) by 00, thus giving the forms boon, stoon (pron. bawn, siawn). The gen. and dat. sing, should have been written boones, stoones, boone, stoone, but it was felt that it was sufficient to write but one 0, because the reader would unconsciously dwell upon it, and mentally divide the words as bo-nes, sio-nes, bo-ne, sto-ne (all dissyllabic), and would thus preserve the length of the vowel. Moreover, in such familiar words, the scribes did not scruple to write bon^ ston, with a single 0, even in the nom. and ace, trusting that they would easily be recognised, and pronounced with a long vowel. Hence we find the following forms : Sing. nom. and ace. boon, bon, stoon, ston; gen. bones, stones'^', dat. bone, stone; PI. nom. and ace. bones, stones, forms which were early extended to include the gen. and dat. pi. also. The same forms continued in use in the fourteenth century, but there was a tendency to drop the e in the dat. sing. The dat. sing., be it remembered, was then of considerable importance, because it was almost invariably employed after ^ The two dots over the e point out that -es and -^are distinct syllables. If this be forgotten, the whole of the account is ruined. Any one accustomed to mod. German will easily remember this. 31 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. certain prepositions, such as at, be (by), for, from, in, of, on. to. Amongst these, the prep, of was in very frequent use, because it was used to translate the French de', whence (in addition to stojiei) a new form sprang up to translate the French de la pier re, viz. of the stone) and this phrase was possibly regarded even then, as it is always regarded now% as a form of the genitive case, though it is none the less, grammatically, a dative. It is now easy to see what happened. The nominatives boon, stooti, or bo7i, ston, were confused with the datives bo7ie', stone, often pronounced bon , ston\ by the loss of final /(nom.) in 1. 432 of the Northern poem by Ham- pole, called the Pricke of Conscience, written about a.d. 1340; see p. 34, line 25. Hence arose, as a matter of course and by mere accident, without any premeditation, the modern English device of writing bone, stone, where the final e is associated with the notion that the preceding vowel is long; so that we nov/ actually regard this ^ as ^ means for in- ^ The best MS. of Barbour's Bruce, written out by a Scotchman in 1487, abounds with examples of the mute final -e. § 294.] HISTORY OF THE FINAL E. 311 dicating the length of the preceding vowel'^ ! The clumsiness of this device must have struck every one who has ever thought of it, and it certainly would never have been con- sciously invented by any sane being. It is the greatest stumbling-block in the way of reformed spelling. It is very remarkable, too, that a very similar, but not exactly equivalent, result has come about in French, a language which abounds with words ending in -e. The French final e was formerly always pronounced, but is now silent. It was from French that we borrowed the word cone (for which see Cotgrave's F. Dictionary) ; and, finding that its spelling was exactly in accordance with our own system of spelling bone and stone^ we naturally adopted it as ii was. The F. cone (now cone) represents an O. F. con-e (dissyllabic), where the final -e represents the -um in the Lat. ace. co?i-um (nom. con-iis = Gk. K(ov-os), just as the same Lat. suffix is represented by -0 in the Span, and Ital. cono. So also we write alo7ie, a/one, /one, zone, crone, drone, &c. ; and we even still write one, none, gone (A. S. an, nan, gd?t), because the vowels in those words were once long, and they all once rimed with bo7ie. § 294. The loss of the final -e as an inflexion was universal, and took place not only in substantives, but in adjectives and verbs also. Thus the A. S. infinitive rzd-afi became M.E. rid-en, or (by loss of -n) rid-'e, and is now ride. The A. S. hwit (white) was also used in the definite'^ form hwit-a, whence the M. E. double form whyt and whyt-e, the latter being preferred in the modern while. On the other hand, the A. S. infinitive lell-an became M. E. lell-en, lell-e^ ^ If the vowel is short, or if the length of the vowel is otherwise obvious, the e usually disappears in modem English, because its utter uselessness is then apparent. We find, in Shakespeare (First Folio) such spellings as cheere, speatie, bcstirre, toppe, roome, keepe, i7iarre, cabinet selfe (Temp. Act i. Sc. i). We also find take, care, fate, rope, &c., as now. ^ The definite form of the adjective was always used when the definite article or a possessive pronoun preceded it. 312 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. but in the fifteenth century telle (with e mute) ; this mute e is now dropped, being completely useless, but the double / remains. The fate of the M. E. inflexional suffix -en was the same as that of the final -e, on account of the falling away of the n in nearly all cases. There is a trace of it still in a few words, viz. ox-en, brether-en, childr-en, ki-ne (with e added 'to denote long if. § 295. It is necessary to discuss somewhat further the spelling of w^ords borrowed from French. The word cone^ mentioned above, was not borrowed at a very early time. But we find in Chaucer such words as age, chance, charge, clause^ cure, dame, grace, 7iice, ou?ice, place, table, te??iple, all of which were originally dissyllabic. These are still spelt the same as ever, though they are now all monosyllabic except the two last. Indeed, it has become a rule in modern English that the sound of final j may not be denoted by 7", but must be written ge ! Similarly, ce is now the most acceptable way of representing the sound of a final s ; so much so, indeed, that we have actually extended this French fashion to pure English words, and now write mice, twice, where the scribes of the fourteenth century wrote mys, twyes (dissyllabic); cf § 297. Verbs such as the F. grant-er, dress-er, were conformed to E. grammar, and became grant- en, grant-e, dress-en, dress-e; XdXev grante^dresse (monosyllabic); and finally grant, dress, as now. § 296. The M. E. pi. suffix -es (A. S. -as) is also deserving of attention. In Chaucer it forms a separate syllable, so that bon-es, ston-es, were dissyllabic ; at the same time, the suffix had become less emphatic and distinct, so that the original A. S. suffix -as (originally pronounced with s) passed into M.E. -^j- (with dull e, and s as z). The forms bones, stones, were retained, even after the words had become mono- ^ Englishmen find it difficult to realize that the old language was highly inflexional ; yet it remains so, provincially, to this day, as in the Shropshire phrase — ' I dar' say yo' getten more than yo' desarven.' §297-] 'etymological' spelling, 313 syllables, because some method had to be employed for pointing out the length of the vowels. So also we now write cares, ga?nes, which are of English origin, and ctcres, flames, coties, which are French. So also cares, cures are used in the third person singular of the verb. The plurals ages, chances, charges, clauses, graces, ounces, places, tables, temples are still dissyllabic, and unaltered save in the vowel- sounds. It is remarkable in how many of such plurals s has the sound of z. We find the j-sound in mod. E. cake, pi. cakes ; also in flock (M. E. flok), pi. flocks (M. E. flokkes), where the e has been purposely cut out, lest the word should appear to be dissyllabic. All the above examples are characteristic of large classes of words. As to the suffix -ed, little need be said ; it was long retained as a distinct syllable in numerous cases where the e is now silent. — ^ § 297. One consequence of the use of the e in stones to denote the long vowel was to disturb the spelling of many Middle-English words in w^hich a short vowel was followed by a single consonant and e, such as manere, matere, biter, toteren, coper, gotere or gutere. The simplest expedient for remedying this defect was to double the consonant, according to the analogy of mann-es, genitive of man. Hence the modern forms manner, matter, bitter, totter, copper, gutter. Such doubling was less necessary when the vowel was not e ; so that the old forms manage, matins^, bigot, metaP, colour, busy, canon, are still in use. This new distinction caused much confusion, so that the rule was not consistently carried out. Thus the word tolerate (consistently with folly, jolly, for M. Y..folye, ioly) was spelt toller ate by Sir Thomas More, Sir Thomas Elyot, and Udall (see the examphs in Richard- son's Dictionary) ; but when the mania for ' etymological ' spelling set in, in the middle of the sixteenth century, the ^ The spelling mattins is a comparatively modern innovation, by confusion M^ith the Ital. mattino. Historically, the word is French ; Cotgrave has : ' Matins, Matins, Morning Praier.' ^ Actually also spelt mettle, when used in a metaphorical sense. 314 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. spelling was altered back again to tolerate, lest readers should be too dense to detect the connection of tollerate with the Latin tolerare. And when once the attempt was thus made to supplant phonetic by ' etymological ' spelling, all chance of consistency was at an end, and the phonetic system was doomed, except in so far as words of obscure etymology were allowed to be conformed to phonetic rules \ Whilst I am speaking of doubled letters, I may remark that modern English has a ridiculous prejudice against writing jj and vv^ the reason for which I shall give presently. Jj has been provided for by writing dge (!), which arose out of the final M. E. gge (see end of § 291); but we have no way of shewing that lever does not rime to sever. 'As to r, it is often doubled in modern English where it was once single. Thus M. E. Marie is now Mary, but M. E. marieji is marry. M. E. mery is now merry, though we retain M. E. very. M. E. mirour is now mirror, and M. E. uiorwe is morrow. M. E. sorwe is sorrow ; and, by confusion with this word, the A. S. sdr-ig is now sorjy, though closely allied to the adj. sdr, sore, and therefore an altered form oi sor-y. A final s is now doubled when it is desired to shew that it is not sounded as z ; hence M. E. glas, blis, dros are now glass, bliss, dross, and all words that once ended in -les and -nes now end in -less and -ness. Another common device "^ for shewing that s is not sounded as z, is to write ce, as in mice, twice, &c., already alluded to. So also peace for M. E. pees. In fact, English abounds with such 'phonetic' devices; no one objects to them as long as they are allowed to remain sporadic, irregular, and inconsistent. ^ This is what most people mean by ' etymological ' spelling, viz. to spell a word in a Latin or Greek fashion where the etymology is easy enough, and needs no pointing out ; and to spell it as it happens to be spelt in Tudor- English where the etymology is hard. - Yet a third (!) method is to write se, as in Aorse (M. E. /i07's), goose (M. E. goes), house (M. E. hous). But nose is the true M. E. form ; therefore the s in it means z. §299.] THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 315 § 298. A. D. 1400-1500. The most weighty points in the history of spelling in the fifteenth century were the total loss of the inflectional -e and the partial loss of -en, the frequent reduction of the inflectional -es to the simple sound of s (or 2), and the occasional doubling of letters to denote the shortness of the preceding vowel. We have now to examine in detail the changes made in the symbols em- ployed, a list of which has been given in § 291. To limit the enquiry, I confine my remarks chiefly to the spellings found in a bock of the highest importance for our purpose, viz. Caxton's translation of ' Le Recueil des Histoires de Troye,' a sufficient extract from which is given in my Specimens of English, Part III, pp. 89-95 ; or the reader may turn to the sample of it given in the Appendix to the present volume. The date is a.d, 1471. We may first of all remark the retention of the old inflectional -e in places where it was required by the grammar of the preceding century, though it was no longer sounded in the fifteenth. Examples are : wente, 3rd p. s. pt. t. ; kynge, dat. ; alle^ pi. ; come, gerund ; paye, infinitive ; whefe, dat., &c. On the other hand, we find said. 3rd p. s. pt. t. (not sai'de); shold (not sholde) ; gold, dat. i^ot golde) ; and so on. Further confusion appears in the use of final -e in wholly impossible places, as in ra7me (1. 29) for ra?i\/oule (1. 33) iox foul; seite, pp. (1. 42) for set, &c. This error is found at a still earlier date in Northern writings. Final -e is used to denote a long vowel, as in fere, fear (1. 19), drede, dread (1. 19), better spelt _/^^r, dreed\ also in blame (1. 21), a French spelling of a French word. We still find -es as a plural ending, as in Grekes, wordes, &c. ; and such a spelling as meruayllis (marvels, 43) shews that this suffix still lingered as a separate syllable; indeed we even find ^wound-es wyde' in Spenser, F.Q. i. 5. 17, though this form was then archaic. § 299. Recurring to the symbols in § 291, we may re- mark the following principal variations. 3l6 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. Vowels. The use oiy for i has, at this date, become com- mon, as in kynge, sayd, coimceyll, certayn, wylhout, &c. ; in many instances, mod. E. has returned to the use of i. W (for u) disappears. Aa, ee, oo remain ; as in maad, preest, oost (host). Diphthongs. We find said, sayd; frawde (lo)^, deftiaunded (64); peas (5, but ea is rare) ; counceill (15), parceyue (73) ; slewe (155, M.E. sleiv-e) ; ioye (128, M.E. ioy-'e) ; foiile (33), fowle {%^; yssue (73); conduyte (172). The symbol ie is rare, but is found even in Chaucer (C. T., Group B, 300) in the word fiers, which has lasted down to modern times as fierce. The vaodQin field is /eld, both in Caxton (93) and in Chaucer. The symbol eo is found in the fourteenth century in the word people, which was also sometimes written poeple, and we needlessly retain the former spelling to this day. The original intention of the symbol was, probably, to express the F. eu in peuple, as the word was written people in Anglo-French "^ ; but the M. E. form is commonly peple, and the modern form ought to be peeple. Caxton has peple (29). Finally, the F. etc appears in fureur, fury (184). Consonants. We still find y^ written /(9>'^ or ioye (12S). But in the course of the fifteenth century, the symbol J was invented, though it was not employed as at present till much latere It simply arose from the habit of writing a long down-stroke to the last i in such numbers as ii, Hi, vii, m'ii, which were commonly written i)\ iij, vij\ viij, so that the tail of the letter was at first a mere flourish. It was a happy thought to employ the new symbol thus formed for an old sound that had no special symbol allotted to it. Returning to Caxton, we proceed to note that v begins to be used as 1 The numbers refer to the lines in the extract from Caxton. 2 Statutes of the Realm, i. 197 ; Liber Custumarum, pp. 81, 84, 687. We also find M.Y.. peuple, P. Plowman, C. xii. 21. ^ It is not employed in the 1623 edition of Shakespeare. It came into use about 1630, and was extremely common in 1660. §299.] THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 317 at present, not only initially, as in Chaucer, but even in the middle of a word, as in mynerve (Minerva, 38), proverhe (100), resseyvc (139), evyllys (141)- It is remarkable that the great advantage of this plan was not more quickly per- ceived ; but the restriction of v to the sound of the con- sonant was much delayed by the habit of using v initially with the double value, as in vp [= up), vyce [= vicey. The symbol 5 went out of use in the fifteenth century, because its form had become indistinguishable from that of z. Indeed, we still write capercailzie for capercaily ( = capercailye) ; and the proper names Dalziel, Menzies, for Dafy'el, Me?i'^ies^. The place of 5 was supplied hy y initially, and hy gh medially, as mye, light, formerly y, li^t. Digraphs. Gu (^= grv) remains in guerdon) the gu in guess, guest, is of later date. Sch becomes sh in the South, though sch was still used in Scotland, and occurs in the ^ Great awkwardness was caused by the persistent use of u for the consonant-sound, because the practice was always to take care that it was used betzveejt two vowels, as in enel or euil {qyIV) ; and, as the latter of these vowels was usually an e, every word that ended with the simple sound of V was spelt so as to end with the compound symbol tie. Even when V came into regular use for the sound of the consonant, the final v (by an intensely stupid conservatism) was still written ve, a practice which has lasted even to this day ; so that there is a law in modem English that the symbol v must not end a word, and we all have to write have, give, serve, &c., instead of hav, giv, serv ; which leaves us powerless to distinguish between the short i in the verb to live and the long i in alive. By writing the former as liv, the distinction might have been made. Hence also another absurd rule in modern English, viz. that V must never be doubled. We write lever, with a long e, rightly, but we must not dare to write ewer. The reason, of course, is this ; that if the old u or zie had been doubled, the word would have been written etiuer or eueuer, which was felt to be a little too clumsy. No reform in modern spelling is so much needed as the use of the simple v for hav, liv, giv, and the power either to double the v in ewer, sewer, clevver, &c., or else to double the e in lecver, which would be a great deal better. T recommend this change very strongly. ^ Bp. Percy prints an old Ballad with z throughout. ' Quhy dois zour brand sae drop wi' bluid, Edward, Edward ? ' It shews great stupidity, zs your would have been quite correct. 31 8 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [Chap. XVI. MSS. of Dunbar and Gawain Douglas. The symbol ]? fell into disuse, because its form had gradually become identical with that of y ; but printers long continued to print y% y^ i^ — \^, \^) instead of the and that, whenever they found that there was insufficient space for the words in full. Some modern ' comic ' writers seem to fancy that the was actually pronounced ?Lsye, and that 2isyat ! Doubled letter's. For cc or kk, the symbol ck, which is somewhat rare in the fourteenth century \ was increasingly used, so that at the present day it has completely superseded kk. It may be noticed here that, even in early MSS., a capital F was written like ff, a fact which has been so ill understood that we actually find, at the present day, such names as Ffinch, Ffoulkes, and Ffrench (all in the Clergy List), where it is obvious that the ff has been mistaken for Ff, which is absurd ^. Biform digraphs, &c. The origin of the modern E. tch for cch (= chcJi) is curious. It is due to the constant con- fusion in MSS. of the fifteenth century between the letters c and /, which are frequently indistinguishable ; so that cch came to be misread as tch. Tyrwhitt actually prints wretche, fetche in his edition of the Cant. Tales, 11. 7645-6 ; yet all the Six-text MSS. have either wrecche,fecche, or wreche,/eche. It is just this manipulation of MSS. which makes it so diffi- cult for a reader to form just ideas. Everything has to be tested, when (as in many old, and some modern editions) editors cannot be trusted, and frequendy conceive it to be their first duty to misrepresent the spellings of their MS. authorities. However, the result is, that tch is now the accepted way of writing cch (= chch), and this fact is of considerable importance in etymology. In words containing tch, the / is unoriginal, and as the cch is due to an older cc, we shall expect to find that the A. S. forms ^ ' Myne faire lockes ' ; P. Plowman, C. xvi. 8. a Initial/"-/^; therefore /X"-j57(!). § 300.] ANGLO-FRENCH SPELLING. 319 are wrecca,/ecca?i^^ as is the case. As to ssh, Caxton has abasshid (= abashshid, 1. 52), but both sch and ssh finally gave way to sh, which is now never doubled. So also, when J? was disused, the compound forms Ith and thlh soon gave way to th, which is now never doubled ^. Initial combinations. These are little altered ; for ex- amples, see the Glossary to Specimens of Eng., pt. iii. But, as the initial li was less used, except before ^ for / was carried to excess. (7) After A.D. 1500, a new system of so-called 'etymo- logical ' spelling arose, which was only applied to a portion of the language. French words were often ignorantly altered, in order to render their Latin origin more obvious to the eye. The open and close sounds of long were distinguished by writing oa (or oe, if final) and 00 ; the open and close sounds of long e were distinguished by writing ea and ee. New final combinations are found, of which bs, cs, ds,/s'^, gs, ms, and bt are the most remarkable. (8) English spelling, after 1500, was governed by two con- flicting principles, viz. the pho?ietic, which chiefly concerned popular words (i.e. the oldest and commonest words in popular use), and the so-called ' etymological,' which chiefly concerned learned words (i. e. words derived from Greek and Latin). The former appealed to the ear, the latter to the eye. Neither of these principles was consistently carried out, and the ignorant meddlesomeness of the latter introduced many false forms. (9) The changes in spelling since 1600 are comparatively trifling, and are chiefly due to the printers, who aimed at producing a complete uniformity of spelling, which was prac- tically accomplished shortly before 1700. The modern use of i and u as vowels, and that of / and v as consonants, are real improvements. (10) The changes in pronunciation since 1600 are great, especially in the vowel-sounds ; as shewn by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sweet. Practically, we retain a Tudor system of symbols with a Victorian pronunciation, for which it is ill fitted. ^ Ds,fs, though found in M.E., were by no means common ; see p. 323. § 3o6.] SUMMARY OF RESULTS. 333 (11) The net result is that, in order to understand modern English spelling, every word must be examined separately, and its whole history traced. We must know all its changes, both .in form and sound, before we can fully explain it. The commonest mistake is that of supposing Latin and Greek words to have been introduced into the language directly, in cases where history tells us that they really came to us through the Old French, and should be allowed, even upon * etymological ' grounds, to retain their Old French spelling. (12) The shortest description of modern spelling is to say that, speaking generally, it represents a Victorian pronunciation of * popular ' words by means of symbols imperfectly adapted to an Eliza- bethan pronunciation ; the symbols themselves being mainly due to the Anglo-French scribes of the Plantagenet period, whose system was meant to be phonetic. It also aims at suggesting to the eye the original forms of * learned' words. It is thus governed by two conflicting principles, neither of which, even in its own domain, is consistently carried out. CHAPTER XVII. Phonetic Spelling. § 307. The preceding investigation shews that modern Eng- lish spelling is, from a purely phonetic point of view, extremely unsatisfactory. Whether a phonetic spelling should be adopted for ordinary use, is simply a question of convenience, and should be so regarded. Those who cannot deny that our spelling is phonetically bad, usually take up the position that it is ' etymological.' A sufficient investigation of the facts will enable an unbiassed mind to see that it is, even from this point of view, almost equally unsatisfactory. Many spellings, such as scythe^ tongue^ sieve, rhyme, scent are simply indefensible ; the more nearly phonetic spellings sithe, tung, sive, rime, sent are at the same time truer to the original form, which is what is meant by 'etymological,' as the epithet is commonly used. The only argument of any weight and force is that the introduction of a new system will, at the out- set, be attended with grave inconvenience ; which no one denies. For all that, the experiment must some day be made in good earnest. § 308. Meanwhile, it is daily becoming more impossible to explain pronunciation on paper without having recourse to some well-devised system of phonetic spelling. The ' glossic ' system of Mr. Ellis has the advantage — if it be one — of appealing to the eye. It uses symbols as we are ac- customed to use them ; and it has actually been applied, with considerable success, to the description of the sounds used in 309'] THE ' GLOSSIC SYSTEM. ?>?>5 provincial English dialects. See, e.g., Miss Jackson's Shrop- shire Glossary, and many of the publications of the English Dialect Society. For English dialectal purposes, numerous symbols are required ; but a small number suffice for repre- senting the sounds of the ordinary literary dialect. I now quote p. 9 of Mr. Ellis's tract on Glossic entire. It can be learnt very quickly, and is quite sufficient to exemplify the author's principle. § 309. 'GLOSSIC, A NEW SYSTEM OF SPELLING, INTENDED TO BE USED CON- CURRENTLY WITH THE EXISTING ENGLISH ORTHOGRAPHY IN ORDER TO REMEDY SOME OF ITS DEFECTS, WITHOUT CHANGING ITS FORM, OR DETRACTING FROM ITS VALUE. KEY TO ENGLISH GLOSSIC. Always pronounce English Glossic characters as the LARGE CAPITAL letters are sounded iti the following words, which are all in the usual spelli7ig, except the three underlined^ meant for iooi, then, rouge. bEEt bAIt bAA cAUl cOAl cOOl knIt nEt ■ gnAt nOt nUt fUQt HEIGHT fOIl fOUl fEUd Yea Way WHey Hay Pea Bee Toe Doe CHeSt Jest Keep Gape Fie Vie THin DHen Seal Zeal ruSH rouZHe eaR R'ing eaRR'ing Lay May Nay siNG Mark emphasis by (•) before a word. Pronounce el, em, en, er, ej, a, ob- scurely, after the stress syllable. When three or more letters come to- gether of which the two Jirst may form a digraph, read them as such. Letters retain their usual names, and alphabetical arrangement. Words in customary or NOMIC spell- ing occurring among GLOSSIC, and conversely, should be underlined with a wavy line --, and printed with spaist leterz, or else in a dif event teip, as in these instances. R is vocal when no vowel follows, and modifies the preceding vowel form- ing diphthongs, as in pEER, pAIR, bOAR, bOOR, hERb. Use R for R' and RR for RR', when a vowel follows, except in elementary books, where r is retained. Separate th, dh, sh, zh, ng by a hyphen (-) when necessary. Read a stress on the first syllable when not otherwise directed. Mark stress by (•) after a long vowel or ei, 01, ou, eu^ and after the first consonant following a short vowel. Spesimen ov Ingglish Glosik. Dhi eer rikwei'rz much training, bifoa'r it iz aibl too apree'shiait mi- neu"t shaidz ov sound, dhoa it redili dis- krim'inaits brand diferensez. Too meet dhis difikelti Glosik haz been diveided intoo "too paarts, Ingglish and Euni- ver'sel. Dhi ferst iz adap'ted faur reiting our risee'vd moad ov speech az wel az dhi autherz ov proanoun'- sing diksheneriz euzheueli kontemplait. Dhus, dhi foar difthongz ei, oi, on, cu, aar striktli konven'shenel seinz, and pai noa heed too dhi grait varei'iti oy waiz in which at leest sum ov dhem ^^6 PHONETIC SPELLING. [Chap. XVIL aar habit "eueli proanou'nst. Agai'n, ^^r, dhi dubling ov dhi r in dhi "too laast air, oar, oor, aar stil ritn widh ee, werdz sikeu'rring dhi voakel karakter ai, oa, 00, auldhoa' an aten"tiv Hsner ov dhi ferst r, and dhi tril ov dhi wii redili rekogneiz a mineu't aulte- sekend, and dhus disting"g\vishing rai'shen in dheir soundz. Too fasil'itait dheez soundz from dhoaz herd in her'- reiting wee mai euz el, em, en, ej\ a, itig, okur'ens. Konsid"erabl ekspee'r- when not under dhi stres, faur dhoaz riens sujes'ts dhiz az a konvee'nient obskeu'r soundz which aar soa preva- praktikel aurthoa'ipi. But faur dhi lent in speech, dhoa reprobaited bei reprizentai'shen ov deialekts, wee re- aurthoa'ipists, and singk dhi disting'k- kwei'r a much strikter noatai'shen, and shen bitwee"n i, and ee, under dhi saim faur aurthoaep"ikel diskrip'shen, aur serkemstensez. Aulsoa dhi sounds in seientifik foanetik diskush'en, sum- defer, occur, deferring, occur- thing stil moar painfuoli mineu't. Too ring may bee aulwaiz ritn with er, fernish dhis iz dhi aim ov Euniver'sel dhus difer', oker', difer'ring, oker'rmg, Glosik.' § 310. This system is open to one grave objection. The symbols are only intelligible to Englishmen living at the close of the nineteenth century. The sounds indicated are slowly but surely shifting, and some of them may be con- siderably changed in the course of another fifty years. On this account, it is far better to allow the symbols a, e, t, o, u to have their ordinary continental values, because the sounds so denoted are of a much more stable character. This is the principle adopted by Mr. Ellis in his ' palaeotype/ and by Mr. Sweet in his ' romic ' system. Believing the latter to be the best suited for common purposes, I now give Mr. Sweet's scheme, from his Handbook of Phonetics, p. 109. 'The following list shews the correspondence of the Broad- Romic ^ letters, with examples : — aa as in f<2ther. as )5 m^n. ae 5) \iah. ai » fly. ao )> iaW. au » now. e )J head, ready. ei 5> iazl 9 >» hud, hetter. 93 )> hzrd. i )) f/ll. ii, iy 55 f^d. 1 By ' Broad-Romic ' is meant a system for common use ; another system, much more minute in character, is called ' Narrow-Romic' §3io.] ' ROMIC' SPELLING, 337 o as in fcjlly. oi „ hoy. ou „ n^. u „ iuSS.. uu, uw „ loo\^ The reader should observe the descriptive character of the symbols. The «, f, z", 0, u have the continental values ; aa is used for the a m/ather^ because it is really long. The_>/ in fiy, or z in flight, is really a diphthong, compounded of (continental) a and i; by sounding <2, z', in rapid succession, this will be perceived \ So also the ow in now or ou in house is really a diphthong, compounded of a and u, as is well shewn in the German Haus. The sound of ai m/ail is just that of (continental) close e followed by t; by pronouncing it slowly, the glide from e to i will be detected. Our in no is really ou, i.e. an with an after-sound of u. In order to de- tect this after-sound, we should allow the no to be emphatic, and to end a sentence. Thus, in reply to the question — * are phonetics valueless V the answer is — ' no! The symbol CB is probably the best for the peculiar sound of a in man, apple, hat ; and is adopted also by Mr. Ellis in his ' palseo- type.' Ao, ae are more arbitrary, but are convenient as representing the ' open * and e with tolerable exactness ; and ae comes very near the sound of long cb, i.e. of the a in man when lengthened. But the most difficult vowel-sound to represent is, unfortunately, one that is extremely common in spoken English, viz. the quite obscure sound heard in 'bz^d/ 'better/ unemphatic *th^,' unemphatic *^nd,' un- emphatic * a' ' ^bout,' &c. This is denoted by a turned e (o). Owing to the absence of trill in the English r, we actually use the sound of this obscure vowel instead of a final r in such words as hair, rare, tear, &c. (unless the next word begins with a vowel) ; hence these words must be denoted by — hae9, raea, tii9. We also actually use the lengthened ^ Compare G. Hain, a grove. VOL. I. Z S3^ PHONETIC SPELLING. [Chap. XVIK sound of this obscure vowel in bird, turn, &c., which must be written — baad, t99n. § 311. As to the consonants, Mr. Sweet uses b, d,/, g (hard),/, k, /, ?n, n, />, r (if really trilled), s, /, v, w, x, y, z, with their usual values. Also sh with its usual value, and zh (as in glossic) for the sound of z in azure or of ge in rouge. Also ih for the th in Mm ; and dh for the M in thine, just as in glossic. Of wh in z£;>^^/, Mr. Sweet says : ' I may note that my wh is an artificial sound for the natural w of South English '\ Qu is denoted by kw, as in glossic. All these can be very easily remembered, and cause no difficulty. The following are peculiar : — e denotes the ch in change. H denotes the aspirate, but at the beginning of a word ' h * can be used instead, and is more convenient. q denotes the ng in sing. § 312. The use of c for ch, and of q for ng are refine- ments that perplex the beginner, and I therefore beg leave, for the present, to neglect these two symbols, which I be- lieve to be unnecessary ; Mr. Sweet also joins words together, or separates syllables, just as we do in rapid speech. This also is a most perplexing (and, in my experience, a most disheartening) refinement, because it needlessly destroys all hope of rendering his system intelligible to the inexperienced'^. I shall therefore take upon myself to write out the well- known poem by Campbell, entitled ' Hohenlinden,' in a way of my own, closely agreeing with the above system, but simplified, as far as possible, in accordance with more com- mon methods. I write it as I pronounce it myself collo- quially, that is, suppressing the ^in and in unaccented positions (unless a vowel follows), and the like. I omit the marking 1 This use of w for wk in wAaf, when, why is usual in London ; and the more is the pity. ^ It is also needless, because hyphens can be used instead. For * come up at once,' Mr. Sweet writes ' kama'pat 'wans ' ; but * kam-a*p-at •wans ' is much clearer. §312.] ' ROMIC' SPELLING. 339 of the accents, pauses, and the like, because the poem is very familiar, and my chief object is really to shew the vowel- sounds. on Lindan, wen dha san w3z lou, aol bladles lei dh'9ntrodn snou, 9n' daak 3z wint3 woz dha flou 9v Ais9, rouling rsepidli. hot Lindsn sac anadha sait wen dh3 dr9m biit, 9t ded 9v nait, k9maanding fai99z 9v deth t9 lait dh9 daaknes 9v (h)99^ siin9ri. bai taoch 9n' tr9mpit faast 9reid, iich hoa9sm9n druu (h)iz baetl-bleid, 9n' fyuuri9s evri chaaj9 neid 1:9 join dh9 dredfaP rev9lri. dhen shuk dh9 hilz, wi' th9nd9 rivn, dhen r9sht dh9 stiid, t9 bsetl drivn, 9n' laud9 dh9n dh9 boults 9v hevn faa flassht dh9 red aatil9ri. b9t red9 yet dh^t lait sh9l glou on Lind9nz hilz 9v steined snou 9n' bl9di9 yet dh9 tor9nt^ flou 9v Ais9, rouling raepidli. tiz maon, b9t skae9s yon lev9l s9n k9n pii9s dh9 wao-klaudz, rouling d9n, wae9 fyuuri9s Frsenk 9n' fai9ri H9n shaut in dhae9 S9lf9r9s kasn9pi. dhe kombcet * diipnz. on yii breiv, (h)uu r9sh tu glaori ao9 dh9 greiv, weiv, Myuunik, aol dhai baen99z weiv, 9n' chaaj widh aol dhai chiv9lri. fyuu, fyuu sh9l paat wae9 meni miit ; dh9 snou sh9l bii dhae9 wainding-shiit ; 9nd evre t99f b9niith dhae9 flit sh9l bii 9 soulj99z sep9lk9. * I am afraid I hardly sound the h here. 2 I believe I really say * dretfal,' because df is unpronounceable, if said rapidly. 3 Very nearly ' taorant.' * Perhaps I ought to say ' kambaet ' ; but I do not. Z 2 340 PHONETIC SPELLING. [Chap. XVII. § 313. My chief object in introducing the above speci- men, is to enable me to give the results of the investigations of the preceding chapter, so as to shew the extraordinary- changes that have taken place in the pronunciation of our vowels. I here mainly follow Mr. Sweet's History of English Sounds, p. dd. The ' Old-English ' are the usual A. S. forms and sounds ; the ' Middle-English ' are Chaucerian. The reader is particularly requested to take notice that the words in italics represent actual spellings, i. e. \hQ forms ; whilst the words in Roman letters represent the pronunciations according to the above scheme, i. e. the sounds. OLD ENGLISH. mann (man). sect (saet). heard (heard) ^ nama (nama). 5 ende (ende). helpan (helpan). seofon (seovon). mete (mete). stelan (stelan), lo SOS (sae). d in sup-press, sup-planf^. ^ Unless we consider sup as really the older form of sub, preserved in such words only. Compare nip-er. 348 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. It actually changes still further in suc-cour, suf-fer, sug-gesi, sum-mon, all of which may be included in the principle of assimtlah'on, to be spoken of more at length hereafter. § 319. It is also worth while to notice that the voiced consonants approach more nearly than the others to the nature of vowels, and are more easily combined with them. Hence it is that a single voiceless letter between two vowels is liable to become voiced ; a peculiarity which is chiefly seen in the case of s, as in busy (A. S. bysi'g), dizzy (A. S. dysig\ freeze (A. '^./reosan), rise (A. S. risan). Similarly we have g iov c {=k) in sugar, from F. sucre, and m. flagon, from O.Y. flacon. Such a change is due to the assimilating effect of the adjoining voiced sounds, and may be called voicing. § 320. Another peculiarity is that a voiceless consonant may take the place of another voiceless consonant, or a voiced one of a voiced one. This is a case of actual substitution, and is usually due to imperfect imitation of the sound. A child learning to speak often uses / for k, saying tat for cat\ or f for the voiceless th, saying /rough for through. A foreigner who finds a difficulty in the E. th, is likely to put s for the voiceless sound, and z for the voiced one, saying sank for thank, and zis for this. Even g for d is not uncommon ; children are very likely to say goggie, if you ask them to say doggie] and we find Shakespeare using goggs wouns for Gods wounds', see p. i. We constantly meet with b for v in representations of a negro dialect, as in lib, hab, for live, have. I think it may be laid down as a general rule in most languages that a voiceless consonant is usually supplanted by another voiceless consonant, or by its own corresponding voiced sound. The chief exception is when complete as- similation comes into play, as in the case of of-fer, from the Latin ob d.nd/erre; and I think such a change may fairly and easily be explained as due to a double change, viz. first from ' Captain Cook tells us that, in the South Seas, he was often called Too-te (dissyllabic). §321.] ECONOMY OF EFFORT. 349 oh-ferre to '^op-ferre, and secondly from "^ op-ferre io of-ferre. Both of these changes are perfectly natural ; almost, in fact, inevitable. Similarly, the intermediate form between Lat. ob- currere and oc-currere may have been * op-currere ; whereas, on the other hand, the change from ad-gredi to ag-gredi could be made at once. § 321. Consonantal changes are mostly due to the effects upon the consonants of the sounds (whether consonantal or vocal) which either immediately precede or follow them. The general principle which regulates change is simply this — that certain combinations, being thought to be difficult or being disliked as harsh, are so altered as to be more easily uttered or to give a more pleasing effect to the ear. Some of the changes are arbitrary, in so far as certain peoples seem to have a peculiar liking for certain sounds and a dislike for others ; but by far the greater number of changes are due to what has been called * laziness,' or the desire to economise the effort of talking ^. All such changes as involve economy of effort are strictly due to the action of the vocal organs, and are to be explained physiologically ; and the result is that the laws which govern such changes are extremely regular in all languages, admitting of no variation, or at most of very little. Whenever any consonantal change seems to contradict natural laws, we may always suspect that it is due to external influence, the chief of which is a desire to conform the word to other words with which it is wrongly (or sometimes rightly) supposed to be connected. As an instance of lazi- ness or economy of effort, we may observe that the super- lative formed from the comparative better ought, of course, to be bet-est] but it was very soon shortened by dropping the second e. The resulting form betst was slill so troublesome, that best was gladly accepted as a substitute for it. On the other ^ The 'liking' and 'disliking' are not really distinct from the desire for economy of effort. In each case, the more troublesome sound (to the speaker) is * disliked,' and (unconsciously) avoided. 350 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. hand, there was a Middle-English verb to abye, to atone for, as in the phrase — ' They shall aby bitterly the coming of such a guest' {Thersiies, in Dodsley's Old Plays, ed. Hazlitt, i. 406). This was confused with the verb abide, by a false association, and hence we find in Shakespeare's Jul. Ccesar, iii. 2. 119 — 'If it be found so, some will deere abide it/ In this case, we have no economy, but an increase of effort, caused by sounding a useless d\ and the explanation is, of course, that the increase of effort is due to the external influence of an ideal association, which led the speaker to think that the d was essential. Nearly all changes can be explained by one or other of these two principles, which should never be lost sight of. The true student of etymology expects to be able to explain all changes in a word's form by help either of ecojiomy of effort or of mental association, the former cause being physiological, the latter psychological. I would merely add the caution that there are special cases that can be explained by neither of these ; we must allow for the effect of national habits, which may cause us to prefer certain sounds to others ; and for the influence of the eye upon the ear, which has caused us to pronounce the / m fault, inserted by pedants into the older ioYvafaut, as has been already explained. Hence, in applying the first prin- ciple of economy of effort, we must allow for the influence of national habits ; and, in applying the second principle of external influence, we must extend it so as to include all kinds of mental association with respect to the forms of words. § 322. The following are the principal methods by which consonantal change is effected in English. Changes in Sound, independent of the Symbols. 1. Palatalisation. 2. Voicing of voiceless letters. 3. Vocalisation of voiced letters. §323-] CONSONANTAL CHANGES. 35 1 4. Assimilation, producing combinations of voiceless letters, voiced letters, or doubled letters. 5. Substitution of one voiceless consonant for another ; or of one voiced consonant for another. 6. Metathesis ; or change of place of adjacent consonants. 7. Abbreviation of various kinds ; including aphaeresis, aphesis, &c. 8. Change of voiced letters to voiceless. 9. Insertion of 'excrescent* letters, chiefly in accented syllables ; and other additions. , Changes in the Symbols employed, or due to them. 10. Mere change of symbol, the sound meant being the same. 11. Symbol-change causing misapprehension; misuse of symbols. 12. Doubling of consonantal symbols; often due to ac- centual stress. To these we must add, in connection with the subject : 13. Vowel-changes due to consonantal influence. 14. Confluence of forms, sometimes accidental, but some- times caused by the influence of one word upon another like it, i. e. by form-association. § 323. It is absolutely necessary to give at least one example in each case, for clearness, before proceeding further. 1. Palatalisation, k > ch. The guttural k, as in A. S. cild (pron. kild) passes into the palatal ch in E. child. 2. Voicing, k > g; t > d. The voiceless k in A. S. die, 2l dike, is voiced to g in the derived E. dig. A. S. prilt > E. proud. 3. Vocalisation, g > y- The voiced g in A. S. dcEg has been vocalised, and now forms a component of the diphthong in E. day. ^^2 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. 4. Assimilation, kd>kt\ gs > gz', /m > mm. The word looked is pronounced lookt^ by assimilation of kd to kt, where ^ and / are both voiceless. Dogs is pronounced dogz, by assimilation of gs to gz^ where g and z are both voiced. The A. S. hldfmcesse is now Lammas, with the double m for 5. Substitution. k> t\ th {dh) > d. The M. E. dakke is mod. E. 5at, the winged mammal. We have the form murder as well as the older murther (= 7nurdher). 6. Metathesis, sk > ks ; ps > j/*. As an example of metathesis^ or change of place, take the familiar word ax (aks^ for ask ; also M. E. clapsen > E. clasp. 7. Abbreviation. The A. S. fugol has become E. y^z^;/. The Lat. episcopus has become E. bishop. The Gk. iXerjixo- avvT] became A. S. celmesse, and is now alms. 8. Unvoicing, d > t. The A. S. rz/^f/(? is now cuttle-fish. Examples of this character are very rare. 9. Addition. Excrescent/) after 7n, &c. A. S. CBmtig is E. em-p-iy. 10. Symbol-change. A. S. c in ^« is now k in /^z«. A. S. cw is E. ^^z^. 11. Misapprehension. 5 > 2. Caper caly is now <:(2/ ar ', very common. M. E. heruest is now harvest. 14. Confluence. A. S. /ugol 2.nd. A. S. /ul S-ie now /owl and /i?z^/, sounded alike. A. S. ^^^r^ and A. S. ^r^?^ are now hothyard. 324. From what has preceded, the following examples will be readily understood. I cite only words of English origin, or words of Latin origin found in A. S., though many of the above changes may be illustrated much more copiously by words of French or Latin origin. §325.] HISTORY OF K. 353 Palatalisation. So called because it causes the formation of the ' palatal ' letters ch, j\ s/i, zh (as in azure). The letters k and g are liable to be followed by what has been called a parasitic y, introduced between the k or g and the vowel-sound. Good examples are seen in the occasional vulgar English pronunciation of kind as kyhid, and oi garden as gyarden. This ky is intermediate between k and ch, and the result of the introduction of the j/ is the ultimate passage of k into ch altogether. Similarly g passes through gy into y or / This is extremely common in Anglo-Saxon, in which dialect the parasitic vowel was e, which produced the same result. Thus the Latin calc-em was borrowed in the A. S. form cealc, whence E. chalk ; and the A. S. geard (for * gard) is now yard, whereas the cognate Icel. gardr is preserved provincially in the form garth. The A. S. brycge (pronounced bryg-gd, with y like G. it) became M. E. brigge (pronounced brij-jo or brij-p), mod. E. bridge (pron. brijj or brij). It is worth notice that English abounds with palatal- isation in other instances besides those arising from ki, ke and gi, ge. Thus the A. S. see produces E. sh, as in A. S. scac-an, later form sceac-an, E. shake ; to which we may add nearly all words that now begin with sh. Further, //and jz'pass into ch, sh, so that the E. question, nation, pension are practically pronounced as romic kweschn, neishm, penshm. Di, zi pass into j and zh respectively ; as in modulation {modyulation), often turned into mojulation ; and A. S. grasian, E. graze, gives the sb. grazier (pronounced greizha). § 325. History of K. The following are examples: k > ch ; only when followed by e or i. A. S. ceaf (Dutch kaf), E. chaff^. A. S. cealc (borrowed from Lat. calc-em), E. chalk. A. S. cierr, a turn ; hence E. chare, a turn of work, and char-woman. A. S. cerlic ; E. charlock. A. S. ^ The A. S. c, copied from Lat. c, had the sound of X'. VOL. I. A a 354 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. cear-ig, full of care, E. chary ; but the substantive care preserves the /^-sound. A. S. ceace, or rather cece'-, E. cheek. A. S. cese (borrowed from Lat. caseus) ; E. cheese. A. S. ce'owan ; E. chew. A. S. cicen ; E. chicken. A. S. cid-an ; E. chide. A. S. cild; E. child. A. S. ciele, cyle ; E. r-^z7/. A. S. cin ; E. chiji. A. S. ciii-a?i, to split, pp. cin-en ; whence E. <:>^z>z-/^ and prov. E. chiiie (a small ravine). A. S. c^osan, M. E. chesen ; cf. E. choose ^. A. S. (r(?cr/ ; E. churl. k > ch, at the end of a syllable ; this sometimes takes place in verbs, even when a follows in the A. S. form, because the final -ati passed into -en. A. S. cEc-e, s., M. E. ach-e, later ache, which in mod. E. should have been pronounced as eich {ei as ey in they), but is always sounded as eik, by confusion with the verb, for which the pro- nunciation eik is correct. The hardening of the ch to k was also partly due, in my view, to a pedantic derivation of the sb. from the Gk. axos, with which it has no connection whatever. See Murray's Dictionary, where the author observes that ' the " O. P." rioters, ignorant of the Shak- sperian distinction of ake [verb] and ache [substantive], ridiculed the stage-pronunciation of the sb. by giving it to the vb. in "John Kemble's head ailches!' ' A. S. bece'^; E. beech. A. S. bene (gen. benc-e, dat. benc-e) ^ ; E. bench. A. S. sec-an, E. seek; with a by-form se'ce-an, whence (with prefix be-) E. beseech. A. S. birce ; E. birch. A. S. bl&c-an, later blckc-en ; E. bleach. A. S. blenc-an, to deceive ; M. E. blefich-en, to turn aside ; E. blench. A..S. broc, pi. brec, i.e. breek-s, properly a double plural ; now breech-es. A. S. die, ^ The mod. E. choose answers to an A. S. ceSsan, in which the accent has been shifted from the e to the o, because the e seemed to belong to the c. ^ ' Fagus, bece ' ; see my Supplement. " In Middle English, the forms of the nominative, dative, and accusa- tive were all confused together. A large number of mod. E. (so-called) nominatives are due to old genitives or datives. Thus bench is gen. or dat. ; the nom. form should be benk. §326.] HISTORY OF K. ^iSS E. dike\ gen. dic-es or dic-e^ M.E. diche\ E. ditch. Here the i is shortened, as in lie, rice, below : it should be spelt dich. A. S. fijic (gen. finc-es, dat. finc-e), E. ^^ztr-^. A. S. /.c^r-^, E. /f^^Ti^. A. S. lie, a corpse (dat. //c-^); whence E. lich-gate. A. S. mearc (gen. mearc-e) ; E. march, a boundary, frontier. A. S. cwenc-an, later civenc-en ; E. quench. A. S. rcBc-an, also rcEce-an ; E. reach. A. S. rzf^ ; E. r/f-^. A. S. jze;z7<: ; M. E. jz£;z7/^, jz^^z^ZC' ; whence jz£;?' M. E. cch > E. tch. Written cc in A. S. In some cases the kk is preserved, but written ck ; e. g. thick, from A. S. picc-e. But there are several examples of palatalisation. A. S. bicc-e; E. bitch. A. S. flicc-e ; E. y?// ch > j. Sometimes, after k passed into ch (as above), it is further changed to/, which is the voiced sound corresponding to ch (§ 317). Thus the M. E. knowleche is due to adding the Scand. suffix -leche (Icel. -leiki) to E. know ; this word is now pronounced 7tolej or noulej (§ 310). The M. E. on char, E. a-jar, means ' on the turn ' ; from A. S. cierr, cyrr, a turn. Hence we are enabled to explain some difficult words beginning with / A. S. ceafl, the jaw, became M. E. chattel (= chavel), con- tracted to chaule, chowl, later jolle ; E. jowl, jole ; indeed, we actually find the Norfolk jig-hy-jole for cheek-hy -chowl (Halliwell). So also jing-le seems to be the frequentative form of chink. See also Jolt in my Dictionary. Sometimes k is weakened to s (written ce). Thus the Lat. ace. princi-pem becomes F. prince, by dropping the last syllable. In the same way we may explain E. prance as a weakened form {voir prank. §328. k>g. This is simply a case of 'voicing'; yet examples are rare. Flagon and sugar have been noticed above ; § 319. Hence we can explain E. dig, M.E. digg-en= dikien, from A. S. dic-ian, to make a dike ; from die, a dike. Spi'ig answers to an unauthorised A. S. "^ spree, Icel. sprek. So also the Du. word irekker was adopted into English as tricker, but is now trigger. Final k lost. A.S. sic-an became M.E. sigh-en, whence E. sigh. It was probably first weakened to "^sig-an; see examples of g >gh below. The gh is now mute. This is a case of extreme weakening ; k >g >gh, and then drops. So also A.S. hoer-lic became barli'i, in the Ormulum, and is now barley ; here y represents 5 to the eye, but is really ^ In Wright's Vocab., ed. Wlilcker, p. 628, we have the line — ' Attra- mentorium [glossed blacche-pot\, sunt attromenta [glossed blacche], sed atrum [glossed blacke'].' §330-1 HISTORY OF SK, o^^"] mute. I may observe that (as Dr. Murray shews) h(xr-Uc-=- b(£r-lic, i.e. 'that which is like bear,' where bear is the Lowl. Sc. word representing A. S. bere, barley. [Not -lie for le'ae, a leek, plant, as in my Dictionary.] The final c {=^k) is also lost in /, A. S. le ; in ev&ry, from A. S. cE/re, ever, and ceIc, each ; and in all words ending in -ly, A. S. -h'c, older -lie. § 329. Substitution. k>t. This substitution is seen in the common provincial form ast for ask. ' I asl your pardon, ma'am/ says Mrs. Gamp (Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xxv). The Shakesperian word aprieock (Rich. II. iii. 4. 29) is now apri- cot. Similarly, M.E. bakke is now bat, in the sense of a flying mammal. The A. S. ge-mac-a has become mod. E. 7nate ; a result which is curiously confirmed by the fact that our modern inmate was formerly ijimake \ Milt, the soft roe of fishes, is a substitution for milk^ Swed. 7Jif6lke; this was probably due to association with milt, spleen (A. S. milt), which is quite a different word. k>p. The Lat. loeusta became A.S. lopusf^, later altered to loppestre ; whence E. lobster. § 330. sk>sh. Precisely as k becomes ch, so sk becomes sh, formerly written sch ; this result is really due to palatal- isation (§ 324); and is commonly due to the occurrence of f in obhque cases (§ 325). Thus A.S. asc-an, pi., is mod. E. ash-es, by substituting the suffix -es for ^en (= -an). So also A. S. cEsc, M.E. asch, E. ash (tree). A. S. disc, borrowed from Lat. discus; E. dish. A. S.fisc; ^. fish. A.S.ficSsc, M.E. Jiesch ; E. fies/i. A. S. /ersc, M. E. fersch, and (by m eta- thesis) _/r^j^^; Y.. fresh. So also A. S. mersc, hiesce, per scan ^ wascan, wyscan', E. marsh, nesh, thresh, wash, wish. The common A. S. suffix -isc is E. -ish. Initially, A. S. sc often became see ; thus scac-an is also sceac-an, whence Y.. shake (§ 324). Similarly scamu, sceamw, Y^.shaine, &c, ^ I have unfortunately lost the reference for this form ; but I can guarantee its correctness. ^ See Lobster in my amended Supplement to Etym. Diet. 358 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. IJCVIII. The general rule is that the A.S. sc almost invariably be- comes E. sh\ and, consequently, that most E. words beginning with sc or sk are not of A. S., but of Scandinavian origin. But sk is also liable to be affected by subslitution, being interchangeable with ks or x ; as in A. S. ascian, to ask, also spelt axian, whence prov. E. ax^ in the same sense. Hence A. S. mi'scan became I\I. E. mixe?i, E. mix ; A. S. '^I's- cian became M. E. yxe7i, yxeit, E. yex, to hiccough. Ks is spelt X in A. S., and generally remains so, as in ax, fox, ox, six, wax (to grow), wax (a substance); A. S cbx {eax),fox, ox, six, weaxan^, weax. § 331. History of KW, KN, GN. cw>qii. This is merely a graphic change ; the pronunciation did not alter. Cf. A. S. cwen, E. queen, &c. kn > gn or n. The A. S. C7i remains as kn (but pronounced as 71), in cna/a, C7iedan, cTieow, C7tylla7i, cTiif, cniht, C7iytta7i, c7iol, cnotia, C7idwa7t ; E. knave, knead, knee, knell, knife, knight, k7iit, k7ioll, hlot^ k7iow. But the word gna7'led stands for '^k7iarled, being related to M. E. knar7'e, a knot in wood ; the Shakespearian word gnarl, to snarl, is for "^knarl, being allied XoV>M.knorre7i, G. k7iur7'e7i, to growl; 2ind. g7tash is for ^knash, cf Dan. hiaske. In g7iat, A. S. gncEt, the g7i seems original ; in g7iaiv, A. S. g7iaga7i, it is merely the prefix ge-, which dis- appears in G. nagen. The difficulty of sounding k and g before n has led to their total suppression in mod. E. ; they only appear to the eye, and might as well be dropped. In fact, this has happened in a few words ; 7iip was formerly k7iip, and nibble is its frequentative. The nap on cloth was formerly nappe, and denoted the little knots or k7iops on the cloth, which were nipped off in the process which produced the nap. There is very little trace of this in A. S., but we find the gloss ' uellere, h7ioppia77i (sic) ' in Wright's ^ The forms zveaxan, weax are A.S. (Wessex) ; we find Northumbrian 2V(Pxas, Mercian wcExap, they grow, Matt. vi. 28 ; and Mercian wcex, vja,x, Vespasian Psalter, 57. 9. §332.] HISTORY OF IT. 359 Vocab. ed. Wulcker, 480. 23. Here hjioppiam is of course a scribal error for hiioppian or cnoppian^ to pluck off the knops on cloth. § 332. History of H. It will be convenient to consider the aspirate {1i) next, because of its answering to the Aryan k. We find that it is generally retained, initially, in EngHsh words, as hot^ hill, him, but dropped in words of F. origin, as heir, honest, honour, hostler {ostler), hotel, humble, humour. But the fact is that many F. words have been conformed to the native usage, and few knowingly say 'abit, 'aughty, 'earse, 'erb, 'eritage, 'ideous, 'omage, 'orrible, and the like ; although some of these are not particularly uncommon. Even 'umble is disliked, and some fairly sound the h (rather than_>/) in humour, human, humid.' It is to be noted also, that the spelling (of some at least of these words) without initial h in INIiddle English is not at all common; 07ieste and onoure being rarely found ^. The only words in which the spelling, without h is really com- mon in M. E. are abit, eir, eritage, ost, ostel, osteler ; for habit, heir, &c., to which we must add the native word //, from A. S. hit. Still, we may certainly conclude that the F. h was weaker than the English, and was hardly sounded. It is notorious that Londoners often say air for hair, and conversely hair for air ; and it has often been a source of wonder why those who can readily sound h should so frequently do so in the wrong place. The habit is very old; for, in the Romance of Havelok (temp. Edward I), we find is for his, epen for hepen, i.e. hence; and conversely he7ide f(#f ende (end), and herles for erles (earls) ; see the Glos- sary. As I have nowhere seen an explanation of this phe- nomenon, I venture to offer one. I\Iy theory is that, the English h being strong, and the French h weak, the lower * Probably we have come to sound the 1i in many of these words from seeing it so commonly written. 360 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. classes discovered that the letter h was not much patronised by their French-speaking masters. And, as ' Jack would be a gentleman, if he could speak French/ they attempted to imitate this peculiarity by suppressing the h where they were accustomed to sound it. But, nature being too strong for them, they were driven to preserve their h from destruction by sounding it in words which had no right to it; and hence the confused result. I am the more incHned to think this explanation correct, because it will also explain the confused use of V for iv. Here also the w was one of the commonest of English sounds, whilst in French it was somewhat rare \ On the other hand, initial v was so common in French, that the E. word wine-yai'd (A. S. win-gear d) was actually turned into vine-yard, and so remains. The lower classes tried to supplant w by v, the result being that they also turned v into w. The chief wonder is that the conflict of tongues did not produce even greater confusion, especially when we consider that the French was mainly of Latin, not of Teutonic origin. lil>l; lin>ii; hr>r. In A.S. we frequently find initial hi, hi, and hr. The initial h is always lost in later M. E. and in mod. E. ; but it is very necessary to know which words once had it, because the h will answer, etymologically, to an Aryan k. Thus A. S. hlud, E. loud, is cognate with Gk. kKvxo^, renowned, Skt. <^ruta, heard. The Ust of ^/-words contains : ladder, lad€, ladk^ lady, Lammas, lank, lapwing, last (of herrings), laugh, lean, v. and adj., leap, lid, link (of a chain), list (to hearken), listen, loaf, lord, lot, loud^. The ^/^-words are : nap (to slumber), nap (of cloth), neck, neigh, ^ Not quite unknown to the Anglo-French dialect, which had warantir, to warrant, &c., such words being mostly of Teutonic origin. Wivern is an exception to this rule, being from Lat. tdpera. ^ A. S. also has wl ; as in wlisp, stammering, whence E. lisp. So also wrap is M. E. wrappen, also ivlappen ; whence E. lap, to wrap up. Luke-zvarm is difficult ; it seems to be due to A. S. fileo, shelter, v/armth, confused with wlac, tepid. §333-1 HISTORY OF H. 36 1 7iesh, nettle {h lost in A. S.), 7tit, nod, nut', to which may be added the Scand. words neif, nigg-ard (with F. suffix). The ^r-words are : rail (a night - dress), ramsons, rath, rather, rattle, raven, raw, reach or retch (to try to vomit), rear- mouse, reed, reel (for yarn), rend, rick, rid, riddle (sieve), ridge, rime (hoarfrost), rind, ring, s., ring (a bell), v., rink^ ripple (on water), roof, rook (bird), roost, rue (to be sorry for), rumpk, rung', to which may be added the Scand. words rap, to seize hastily, rape (a division of Sussex), rifle (to plunder), rouse, ruck (a fold), ruck (a small heap), rush, v., ruth. § 333. Final h. The A. S. final h had the sound of the G. final ch. This sound was written gh in M. E., and still remains in writing, though always either mute or sounded as f. The final gh is mute in borough, bough, dough, plough, slough {mire), thorough, though, through; high, nigh, thigh. It is sounded as / in chough, cough, enough, hough, laugh, rough, tough, trough. The puzzling combina- tion ough is due to the merging into one of three distinct forms, viz. -ugh (descending from A. S. -uK), -ogh (A. S. -dH), -oogh (A. S. -oJi), whilst at the same time the loss of the gh has affected the quality of the preceding vowel, by the prin- ciple of compensation. Regularly, we should have had thrugh, A. S. "" pruh {k>r fiurh), but it has been lengthened to through, as if from A. S. '^pruh ; or else thurgh, A. S. purh, but it has been altered to thor{pu)gh. Again, we should have had dogh, A. S. ddh ; the spelling dough is simply absurd and unjustifiable ; and the same remark applies to the mod. E. though, put for M. E. thogh, K.^.pedh. Again, the A.S. b6h,pl6h, sl6h, should have become boogh, ploogh, sloogh, but the 00 has been further changed to ou, so that these spellings are regular \ The A. S. u in riih, i. e. rough, answers to M. E. ou (long «), ^ That is, they have come about regularly ; but, as the gh is now lost, they have really come to be boii, plou, slou, pronounced as romic bau^ plan, slau. 362 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. but the u has been shortened, though the spelHng has been retained. Each word must, in fact, be investigated separately. Hiccough is a spelling due to popular etymology ; it should rather be hickup, as pronounced. Clough is an error for clouf, or rather cluf; from Icel. kloji. For neigh, weigh, see § 338. § 334. Final ht. The A. S. ht final answers to Aryan kt ; cf A. S. riht with Lat. rectus. It is now written ght, and is common; as in light, might, night, A. S. le'oht (Mercian liht), viiht, niht. In the combination -ought there is the same confusion as that noticed above (§ 333). Thus A. S. s6hte should have become sooght, but the vowel-sound has been altered, and the symbol ou is a very bad representative of the modern sound. On the other hand, in the A. S. J?oht, the is short ; which should have given E. thoght. Two sounds have been merged in one, and the symbol which represents both is not correct for either of them. We may also note that delight, sprightly, 3je miswritten for delite, spritely ; both words being of French origin. § 335. Loss of h. In some cases, h disappears from sight altogether; whether finally, as iny^^, A. S./eoh, lea, A. S. le'ah, roe, A. S. rah] medially, as in trout, A. S. truht, borrowed from Lat. tructa, and not, short for nought., A. S. ndht) or initially, as in it, A. S. hit, and in the combinations hi, hn, hr (see § 332). In some cases, the h has already disappeared even in A. S. ; both finally, as in shoe, A. S. sceo, Goth, skoh-s ; and medially, as in ear (of corn), A. S. ear, Northumbrian eher (Matt. xii. i), Goth, ahs; see, A. S. se'on, Goth, saikw-an', slay, A. S. sle'an, Goth, slahan ; tear, sb., A. S. te'ar, Goth. tagr (for '^tahi') ; Welsh, A. S. welisc (for '^ivelhisc), a deriva- tive from wealh, a foreigner. § 336. Hw > wh. A. S. hw is now written wh ; as in hwd, hwcBt, E. who, what, &c. There are cases in which wh is miswritten for w ; as in E. whit, put for wiht, A. S. wiht, and a doublet of ivight, so that the h is in the wrong place ; ivhelk, a mollusc, which the lower orders correctly call wilk, §337-1 HISTORY OF G. ofi'^ from A. S. wiloc ; whortleberry^ better wirtleherry, from A. S. wyrtil in the compound plant-name biscop-wyrtil. § 337. History of G. Initial g. The various fortunes of the A. S. g may be treated more briefly. Numerous ex- amples can be added from my Dictionary, and the tracing of consonantal changes seldom causes much trouble, when once we know the regular changes to which they are liable. The A. S. g often remains, initially, as a hard g, even be- fore the vowels e and i (jf), as in A. '^.gear-we, f. pi., whence E. gear ; A. S.gt/-an, to get ; A. S. gi'dig, g?yt, gy/dan, [on)gmnan, gyrdan, gifan, E. giddy, gift, gild, {be)gin, gird, give. This hard g is sometimes absurdly written gh, as in ghastly, ghost, A. S. gdstlic, gdst ; or else gu, as in guest, guild, guilt, A. S. gast, gild, gylt. ge > y. A. S. ge- (initial) has two distinct values ; some- times it represents the Goth./ (=j^), but in other words the e has crept in, much as in the case of the prov. E. gyarden for garden, cit^d above. In both cases it becomes E._y. Exx. : (i) Goth, jus, A. S. ge, E. ye ; Goth, ja, A. S. ge'a, E. yea ; A. S. gese, E. yes ^ ; Goth. Jer, A. S. gear, E. year ; A. S. git (G. Jetz-t), E. yet ; Goth. Jains, A. S. geon, E. yon ; Goth. Juggs (:=*ju77gs), A.S.geong, 'E. young. Also (2) A.S. geard (Icel.gar^r), 'E.yard, an enclosed space ; and in like manner E.yare, yarn, yell, yellow, Yule, from K.'^. gearo, gearn, gellan, geolo, geol. Gi has the same fate, as in 'E.yard (rod), yearn (to long for), yeast, yelp, yesterday , yet, yex, yield, from A. S. gierd, giernan or gyrnan, gist, gilpan, giestra, git or get, giscian, gieldan or gyldan. E. yawn, represents a fusion of two A. S. forms, geonian and gdnian. In Middle English, this y ( = A. S. ge, gi, gy) is very often written 5. The common prefix ge- has almost entirely disappeared ; we can trace it in the 2iVQh?ac yivis, yclept, yede, A.S.gewis, ge- * Explained by me from A. S. gt'a sy, yea, let it be (so). But it may be for gc'a (or ^e) swd, i. e. yea, so j as suggested by Kluge. 3<54 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVII I. cleopod, pp., ge-eodcy and in the middle syllable of hand-y-work^ A. S. hand-ge-weorc, and hajid-i-crafi. Similarly, it is best to explain yea7i from A. S. ge-eacm'an, with loss of c ; see also my explanation oi yearn (2), to grieve. It appears as e- in e-nough, from A. S. ge-noh ; and as g- in g-?iaw, A. S. gnagan (for '^ge-nageri). The initial ^ has disappeared in z/J from A. S. ^z/"^ ; itch, A. S. giccan ; -/f/f, A. S. ^/(T^/, iri the com- pound I'c-icle, A. S. is-gicel. § 338. Final and medial g. The A. S. g is seldom preserved medially or finally. If changed, the formulae are : g > gh (silent) \ g > y (vocal) ox i ; g > w (vocal) or ow ; S >J {^^)'} £' >/> or it disappears. Exx. : A. S. twig, E. twig, where the preservation of g is probably due to the shortening of the long vowel. A. S. hndg-an, E. neigh ; A. S. weg-an, E. weigh. A. S. dcTg, E. day ; A. S. grkg, E. gray ; A. S. ccBge, E. key, &c. The A. S. suffix -ig — E. -y, as in hdl-ig, hol-y, &c. A. S. eg/an, E. aii; A. S. d/egen, E. dlain ; so also in E. drain, /ain, /air, hail, s., lair, maiden, main (i. e. strength), mullein, nail, rail (a night-dress), rain, sail, snail, stair, stile, tail, thane (for '^theiii), twain, upbraid, wain. A. S. bug-an, v., to bow, bog-a, s., a 3(?ze;; A.S. /ugol, E./owl; A.S. maga, E. ;7Z<2Z£; ; A. S. c^^z;^, E. owe ; A. S. jz/^z/t, E. sow (pig) ; so also in dawn, draw, mow (heap of corn), own, saw, shaw. A. S. galga, E. gallow{s) ; A. S. morgen, M. E. morwen, short- ened to morwe, E. morrow; so also in borrow, hallow, swal- low, V. A. S. ^ze;^;^, E. , we find it changed to / in A. S. he'hpa^ M.E. he^pe, also hi^te^ later highth (Milton), now height-, A. S. nospyrl, M. E. nosepirl, now nostril ; A. S. gesihp, later gesiht, siht, now sight; A.S. stcelwyrp, M.E. stalworth, now stalwart) A. S.piefpe, E. //z^/^ It is also explained below (§ 343), that /^ can change into ^, by Verner's Law, in the conjugation of verbs, so that a verb whose primary stem ends in th can have other stems ending in d. This accounts for the derivation of suds from the verb to seethe (pp. soddefi), and of lead, v., and lode from A. S. lid-an, to travel. The voiced th {dh) in bathe, breathe, loathe, sheathe, soothe, wreathe, is derived, by voicing, from the voiceless th in bath, breath, loath, sheath, sooth, wreath. The reason why the th in these verbs is voiced is very simple, viz. because, in the M. E. forms, it came between two vowels, whereas in the substantives the th was final. Cf. INI. E. breden, to breathe, with IM. E. brep, breath. Assimilation of th to s takes place in bliss, put for A. S. blips, older form blid-s, happiness, derived from blide, blithe, happy; and in lissom, put for lith-some, i. e. lithe-some. Loss of th. Finally, th is lost in difficult combinations, as in worship for worthship ; wrist for *writhst, from wrid-an, to ^ Koch adds E. deck, from K.S. peccan, to thatch. But this is quite wrong, (i) because deck is a late importation from Dutch, and (2) because the voiceless th (J)) can only change into / in English. Equally absurd is his derivation of A. S. diuerg, a dwarf, ixora pzveorh, perverse. § 344.] HISTOR Y OF D. 369 twist; Norfolk^ Norman^ Norway^ Norwich^ all derivatives from North ; and in clothes^ commonly pronounced as the ' romic ' clouz, on account of the difficult combination dz. So also K.'^. pwitel is E. whittle) and thwack is commonly whack, often pronounced as ' romic ' waek. § 343. History of D. We learn, from Verner's Law, that in many cases a th is changed into d. The fact that the A. S. pt. t. of weordan, to become, was weard in the ist and 3rd persons singular, wurd-e in the 2nd person, and wurd-on in the plural, caused confusion between d and the voiced th in M. E. Again, an A. S. d often answers to Icel. 'S. Hence it is not surprising to find that the A. S. hider, pider, hwider, /cEder, modor (Icel. he^ra, padra . . .fadir, modir) are now hither, thither, ivhither , father , mother \ So also A. S. weder (Icel. vedr^, is E. weather \ M. E. tedder is now tether (cf. Icel. tjodr) ; A. S. gadrian is now gather ; A. S. to-gcedre is now together. E. sward, as in greensward, A. S. sweard, also appears provincially as swarth, Icel. svordr. E. yard, from A. S. geard, also appears as garth, from Icel. gardr. D becomes / in E. abbot, from A. S. abbod; but here the influence of the Lat. ace. form abbat-em is obvious. A. S. cudele is now cuttle-fish (cf. G. kuttelfisch) ; but the origin of the word is obscure. A. S. teld, M. E. teld, telt, is now tilt (of a cart) ; so also the Icel. tjald is accompanied by Dan. telt, Swed. tdlt. The final -ed of the pp. is often pronounced as / (§ 318); hence we have wojit for won-ed, A. S. wun-od, pp. oiwunian, to accustom; whence even wont-ed [z^won-ed- ed), with reduplicated suffix. Note also such forms as built, girt, sent, kep-t, lef-t, bles-t ; and the entire disappearance of -ed after / and d, as in aghast, led. Final -d stands for -ed in bal-d,M.^.ball-ed. § 344. Loss of d. D disappears in a few words ; as in ^ But father and mother may have been due to association with brother; for they are still pronounced with d in West Cumberland, where the Norse influence is very strong. VOL. I. B b 370 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. answer ^gospel, ivoodbine, A. S. andswerian, godspel, wudubind) wanion, formerly wa?tiand ; hne, a prong of a fork, A. S. tind; lime (tree), A.S. lind [see p. 371); also in upholsterer, formerly upholdster ; and in bandog, formerly band-dog. Excrescent d (cf § 341). Excrescent d appears after n at the close of an accented syllable, as in boim-d in the sense of ' prepared to go/ M. E. boun, Icel. buinii, prepared, pp. of bHa ; dwin-d-le, frequentative of A. S. dwin-an, to dwindle ; gan-d-er, A. S. gandra, earlier form ganra ; hind, a peasant, M. E. hine, from A. S. hina, really the gen. pi. of Mwa, a domestic ; kin-d-red, M. E. kinrede, A. S. cy7i-r&den ; len-d, M. E. len-en, A. S. Idn-aji ; roun-d, to whisper, A. S. rwi-ian', spin-d-le, M. E. spinel, A. S. spinl ; ihun-d-er, A. S. pun-or ; and perhaps scoun-d-rel. In /on-d, the suffix is that of the pp. (Conversely, in some words, the combination nd is pronounced as ?i ; as in groundsel, handsome, handkerchief. Lastly, dn is pronounced as n in Wednesday.) Excrescent d also appears after /in al-d-er (tree), A. S. <2/r ; el-d-er (tree), A. S. eller-n ; and in such forms as alderfirst, i. e. first of all, where al-d-er is for M. E. alter, A. S. eal-ra, gen. pi. of eat. Iron-mould was formerly yron-mole, as in Lyly's Euphues, p. 39 ; the -d may be due to -ed, as if for mot-ed, i. e. stained, from mote, A. S. mat, a spot. New- fangte-d was formerly newe-fafig-el, i. e. prompt to catch at new things, as in Chaucer, C. T. 10932. Assimilation of ^ to j appears in bless, A. S. btedsian, orig. to consecrate by blood ; from blod, blood, with the ordinary mutation from 6 to /. Also m gossip, M. 'E.godsib. § 345. History of N. The most remarkable facts about the letter n are the frequent loss of it in all positions, and the occasional insertion of it at the beginning or end of a word ; as shewn below. If it changes, it changes to m ; very rarely to / or r. It changes to m before p or b; as in A. S. henep, E. hemp ; A. S. win-berige, E. wijtberry, wimberry. A. S. hwin-an, to §346.] HISTORY OF N. 37 1 whine, has formed a frequentative ivhivimer, noted by Jamie- son as a word in use in Roxburghshire, mod. E. whimper (with excrescent/). At the end of words we find the same change; thus A. S. holegn, holen, M. E. holiii, became, by loss of n, holly ; but also, by contraction, hobn ; so that holm-oak means ' holly-oak.' A. S. lind, a lime-tree, became line (Tempest, v. lo), by vowel-lengthening (§378) and subsequent loss of d, and is now lime. M. E. bren-stoon, burning stone, is now brimstone. A. S. snacc, a boat, is the same word as Du. smak, whence we have borrowed E. smack. N is now / in flannel, ioYmeYly flannen (Welsh gwlanen). In one word, n has become r ; A. S. pinewincla, a small mollusc, is the prov. E. peniwinkle, E. periwinkle, by confluence with the name of a flower. § 346. Loss of n. N is lost in A. S. before s and th ; as in A. S. cUde, gos, Me, muB, oder, tod, unciid, us, E. cou(l)d, goose, lithe, mouth, other, tooth, uncouth, us ; cf. Goth, kuntha, G. gans, G. lind, Goth, munths, anthar, tunthus, kunths (known), uns or unsis. So also A. S. te'oda, M. E. tethe, tithe, E. tithe, is for ""teonda, i. e. tenth. N is lost, finally, in A. S. drosn, also dros, E. dross ; A. S. eln, E. ell ; A. S, elboga (for '^elnboga = lcQ\. alnbogi), E. elbow; A. S. c^/en, E. even, i.e. evening, also eve ; A. S. gamen, holegn, myln (borrowed from Lat. molina), misteltdn, solcen (only found in the compounds d-solcen, be-solcen), E. game, holly, mill, mistletoe, sulky. iV" is also lost, medially, in spider, M. E. spither, put for ""spin-ther, i. e. spinner ; Thursday, A. S. punres-dcrg, the day of Thun- der ; A. S. angncvgl, E. agnail. Similarly four teen-night has \)ecovcit/orte7iight, and finTiWy fortnight ; O. Mercian enlefan, A. S. €n{d)lufon (with excrescent d, cf. Goth, ainlif), M. E. enleuen, is now eleven. But the most frequent loss of n is in inflexions, where it has totally disappeared in the majority of cases. Thus the infinitive of all A. S. verbs ended in -an, becoming M. E. -en, -e, mod. E. mute e or lost. Similarly A. S. beforan is now before; so also in the case of beneath Bb 2 372 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. beside, within, about, without; and in Monday, Sunday , yester- day, A. S. monan-dceg, sunnan-dcEg, gistran-dcpg. Initially, it is lost in adder, auger, A. S. ncEdre, nafe-gdr (lit. nave-borer). Also in aught, when popularly used for naught, as in the phrase ' carry aught ' in arithmetic. This peculiarity is due to a confusion in the use of the definite article, so that an adder, an auger, were wrongly used instead of a nadder, a nauger. It must be remembered that an was formerly used before consonants as well as vowels^; hence we can account for E. drake by supposing that the Scand. form andrake (Swed. anddrake, O. Icel. andriki) was misunderstood as an drake, thus causing the loss of an. §347. Intrusive n. Owing to the uncertainty above mentioned, the opposite mistake arose of prefixing n to words which began with a vowel. Thus A. S. efete became ewt, and an ewt was misapprehended as a newt; whence E. newt. Similarly a7i awl was sometimes thought to stand for a nawl ; hence the not unfrequent use of nawl or nail in the sense of ' awl.' Such forms as nass for ass, nei'^ for ei^ (an Q%^, &c., are occasionally found. Nuncle, naunt, probably arose from mine uncle, mine aunt, misapprehended as my nuncle, my naunt. An intrusion of n also occurs by putting ng (org, as nightingale for ^nihtigale, M. E. nightegale. At the end of words we find an excrescent n after r ; as in M. E. bitour, E. hitter-n, M. E. inarter, later marter-n, now marten, both words of French origin. Hence we can understand E. stubhor-71, M. E. stihor, which may also have arisen from misapprehending M. E. stihor-nesse as "^'stiborn-nesse. Assimilation of nd to nn is seen in E. winnow, M. E. wind- ewen, A. S. windwian, to expose to wind. § 348. History of P. P is changed to its voiced equiva- * Layamon's Brut begins with the -words An preost, written a prest in the second and later MS. In 1. 113 of the Ormulum, we find a7i duhhtig wif, a dotighty wife. Still later, we find on littel quite, a little while. Sir Gawayn, 1. 30 (about A.D. 1360 or later). § 349-] HISTOR V OF F. 373 lent, viz. <5, in a few cases. A. S. loppestre is now lobster ; A. S. papol is now pebble ; dribble is the frequentative of drip ; wabble, to reel, orig. to flutter, is the frequentative of whap, to strike, to flutter ; the M. E. attorcop or cop, a spider, has given us cop-web^ now cobweb ; and kjiop has become knob. P has become^/, and afterwards v in A. S. cnapa, later form cna/a, E. knave. Excrescent p occurs after m in empty, A. S. cemtig ; glimpse, M. E. glimsen ; and sempster for seams ter^. § 349. History of F. The Anglo-Saxon (Southern) / had the sound of z^, even initially (as in modern Southern dialects), and in all positions except in such words as o/t, cefter. The Mercian _/ must have been the same as the mod. E. initially, and also kept that sound in some words, both medially and finally, viz. in words such as deaf, loaf, staff, cliff, offer, where the f is sometimes doubled. This sys- tem of denoting the voiceless sound by doubling the letter is found in A. S., in the word offrian, to offer, borrowed from Lat. offer r e ; the true A. S. double/ (or rather double v) changing into bb, as in habban, to have, infin., as com- pared with he hafB (= havd), he has. But a single f between two vowels was doubtless sounded as v, even in Mercian, and in modern English is always so written ; it was early written u by the Anglo-French scribes. The form off, being emphatic, is stiU pronounced withy^ but the unem- phatic of is pronounced ov, even in the compounds hereof thereof, whereof In some M. E. MSS. we even find such words 2i?. frovi needlessly spelt ffrom, as e.g. in the MS. of Richard the Redeless ; but I think we never find ff for the sound of z' I This distinction is perfectly observed in mod. Welsh, where _^=/^ and/=z;. We have only four words in which/* has become v initially; these are vane, vat, vinewed, * We may add whhnper, the equivalent of Lowland Scotch 7vhi??imer, frequentative from a base whim, with the same sense as whine (§ 345). 2 The capital F is also written _^ as said above. 374 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. and vixen, A. S. /ana, feet, finege, "^fyxen (fern. oifoxY. Life represents a nom. case lif, but the M. E. pi. was liues^ E. lives. Calf gives both the pi. calves, and the derivative verb to calve. Belief gives the derivative verb believe. Cases in which the medial _/" has become v are, of course, extremely common ; in fact, they run through the whole language. Examples are seen in the plurals leaves, lives, loaves, thieves, &c. ; in the verbs behave, behove, calve, carve, cleave, crave, grave, halve, have, heave, live, love, &c., M. E. hauen (with prefix be-\ behouen, caluen, &c. ; also in cove, five, glove, &c., A. S. c6fa,fif, glof &c. ; and in anvil, clover, ever, evil, harvest, haven, hovel, liver, navel, raven, &c. The f is preserved in fifth, fifty, tvDelfth, and the like, by the voiceless th or /. F is miswritten^^ in dough (§ 333). F has remarkably disappeared in the following cases: A. S. hcEfst, hcefd, hafde, E. hast, hath (also has^, had', A. S. heafod, M. E. heiied, heed, E. head; A. S. hldford, M. E. lauerd, 'E.lord; A. S. hldfdige, E. lady"". K.S. efete became M. E. ewt, our newt. Both / and /"are ignored in the mod. E. halfpenny. Assimilation has taken place, oi fm to mm, in leman or lemman, A. S. le'ofman, i.e. 'dear one'; Lammas, A. S. hldfmcBsse, i. e. loaf-mass ; and in woman. The last remark- able form arose thus : the A. S. wifman, pi, ivfmen, became Early E. wimman, pi. wimmen. The pi. form is still strictly preserved in our pronunciation, though persistently misspelt women ; the singular has been changed from wiman to woman by the influence of the w, which tends to turn i into 0, and into u ; cf. Goth, kwiman with the modern E. coine. * Though A. S. fyxe7i does not occur, we find A. S. fern, fyxe, which only differs in the suffix ; see Index to Sweet's Oldest Eng. Texts. Fixsen occurs as a surname. Vat was re-imported from Dutch. "^ Hawk is often added ; but it is more likely that ha7vk represents Icel. haukr than the A. S. tiafoc. Indeed, the latter form appears to be the original of havoc. §352.] HISTORY OF Y. '^^^ Very similar is the change ixovcvfn to mn, later m, as in A. S. sicEfn, sle/n, later stemn, whence mod. E. stem (of a tree). § 350. History of B. B is sometimes changed to voice- less p, as in gossip, M. E. gossib or godsib, i. e. * related in God/ said of a sponsor in baptism. So also unkempt^un- kembed, i. e. uncombed ; from A. S. camb, a comb, with mutation o^ a io e] see p. 202. Excrescent b is common after m, as in em-b-ers, M. E. emeres, A. S. cemyrian ; gam-b-le, from game ; bram-b-le, M. E. brembil, K. '^. bre?nel ; mm-b-Ie, M. E. nimel, ready to seize, from A. S. nim-an, to seize, take ; slu??i-b-er, M. E. slumeren, A. S. slumerian ; ti7?i-b-er, A. S. timber, but cf. Swed. timmer, timber, and Goth, timrjan, to build. Similarly, 7;z3 appears for ;;z7;2 (or even vi) in ao accented syllable, as in lamb, A. S. lamb (Du. and Dan. lam, Swed. and G. lamm) ; so also in ^/z';7z^, co7?ib, crumb, dumb ; to which we may add limb, A. S. lim, and thumb, A. S. /2^W(2 ; but this final b is np longer sounded. Thim-b-le is a derivative of thumb ; and crum-b-le of crumb, from A. S. crum-a. Humble-bee = hummle-bee ; where huvimle is the frequentative of >^«/;/. Numb is from M. E. num-eft, nom-en, A. S. num-en, deprived of sensation, pp. of nim-an, to seize, take, catch ; cf. Icel. mim-inn, bereft, pp. of nema, to take. § 351. History of M. The letter m is lost before/" and s, even in A.S., in a few words, Viz./if, 'K.five, Goth. Jim/ (where the 7?i is itself a substitution for Aryan N) ; osle, E. ousel, cognate with G. amsel; softe, E. soft, cognate with G. sanft, O. H. G. samfto (adverb). M becomes ti before /, as in A. S. cEmete, E. emmet, or by contraction ant. So also we have Hants for Hamtonshire, otherwise called Hampshire, where the p is excrescent. Cf. aunt (through the French) from Lat. amita. § 352. History of Y. The original Aryan Y is repre- sented in A. S. by ge only in a very few words, s'vL.ye, yea, yes, year, yore, yet, yoke, yon, young, youth ; myou,your, the g ^^6 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII.' was dropped, viz. in A. S. eow, e&wer. In other cases y corresponds to an Aryan G. See § 337. § 353. History of R. In most Aryan languages, r has a tendency to turn into /. Hence we can explain E. smoulder, from M. E. smolder, a stifling smoke, as being a variant of M. E. smorther, with the same sense ; from A. S. s??ior-ian, to stifle. The M. E. smorther is now smother, so that smoulder and smother are doublets. Rr has become dd in A. S. pearruc, M. E. parrok, an enclosure, now paddock. In fact, the railway-station now called Paddock Wood is in the old manor of Par rocks ; Archseologia Cantiana, xiii. 128; Hasted's Hist, of Kent, 8vo., V. 286. a. porridge hors, hoos, A. S. has. Sur/\\2iS formerly suffe, probably from A. S. swSgan, to make a rushing noise or ' sough.' As to the pronunciation of r, see § 310. Metathesis is not infrequent in words containing the letter r, which is liable to shift its place. Thus we have bird, from A. S. bridd ; burn, from A. S. brinnan ; bright, from Mercian berht (A. S. beorht) ; cress, from A. S. ccerse ; fresh, from A. S. fersc , fright, from A. S.fyrhtd; nostril, for ^nosthril^^nos- thirl, A. S. nospyrl ; through, from A. S. purh, cf E. thorough ; Wright, from A. S. wyrhta; wrought, A. S. worhte; third ^ov thrid, from three ; thirteen, thirty, for thritteen, thritty. Cf. also A. S. gcers or grcBS, grass ; A. S. irnan or rinnan, to run ; E. thirl or /y^r///, to pierce ; M. E. burd, a bride ; E. frith as a variant oi firth, from Icel. /;or<^r. § 354. History of L. L has disappeared from each, which (Scotch ilk, whilk), such, A. S. celc, hwilc, swylc ; also from as, M. E. als, alse, also, A. S. eal-swd, a doublet of also. England is for Eng{le)-land, A. S. Engle-lond, jEnglaland, the §355-] HISTORY OF W, 377 land of the Angles. L is not sounded in calf, half, calve, halve, folk, yolk, talk, walk, qualm, &c. ; nor in would, should^ The spelling of would and should has brought about the intrusive / in could for coud. Assimilation of // to // has taken place in totter, prov. E. loiter^ A. S. tealtrian. § 355. History of W. The A. S. suffix -wa or -we is now written -ow, as in cerwe {cerewe), spear wa, now arrow, sparrow. The A. S. final w is absorbed ; so that treow is tree, cneow is knee, gleow is glee^ tre'owe is true, eow is you, hiw is hue, &c. It is preserved to the eye in ewe, new, yew, snow, &€., but is vocalised in pronunciation. W has disappeared from A. S. wos, E. ooze ; A. S. cwidu, later cudu, E. cud ; feoiver, 'K.four ; Idwerce, E. lark (bird) ; dwiht, ndwiht, E. aught, naught', sdwel (Goth, saiwald), E. soul. It also occasionally drops in certain combinations, as ivl. thiv, tw, sw. Thus lisp is from A. S. wlisp, adj., stam- mering ; thong, from A.S.pzmng; tusk, from A. S. tusc\ also tux, twux (for "^twisc); such, from M. E. swiche, A. S. j-ze^/f ; 6-(9, ^Z5-(9, from A. S. swd, ealswd ; and sultry is for sweltry. Also in answer and sword, where it is only present to the eye. -5'?>/fr is not derived from A. S. sweostor, but from the cognate Icel. systir (Goth, swistar). Hw is now written wh, reduced in pronunciation to a mere w in Southern English ; the w is silent in who, A. S. hivd, but the h remains. See § 336. Wr is still written, but the iv is silent, viz. in write, wrong, &c. To this rule there is one exception, the written w being now dropped in A. S. wrot-an, to root or rout up, as a pig does with his snout. The Promptorium Parvulorum has : ' Wrotyn, as swyne ; Verror! Root, sb., is of Scand. origin. At the beginning of the sixteenth century a habit arose of prefixing w to h, when the vowel followed it, in certain words. Thus M. E. hool became whole, and M. E. hoot ^ The spelling tusc occurs in the Erfurt Glossary, 1. 487. 378 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVUI. became whote or whot\ in which cases the w was slightly sounded ^ The iv in whole and whot has again dropped in pronunciation, but it is kept to the eye in the former of these words ; whereas whot is now hot. So also hoop (F. houper) became whoop; we must not make the mis- take of confusing this word with A. S. wop, sb., an outcry, the derived verb from which is wepan. our weep. The w in woof is also unoriginal, and will be explained below ; §37o> P- 395- § 356. History of S. Owing to the frequent change of the sound of final j to z, the Anglo-French scribes intro- duced the use of ce to denote a final s that had preserved its sound ; in imitation of the F. spellings pejiance, price, &c. Hence we find A. S. flys, h, lys, mys, mmsian, dnes, answering to E. fleece, ice, lice, mice, mince, once ; and the M. E. hennes, sithens, themies, thries, trewes, twit's, whennes^ answering to E. hence, since, thence, thrice, truce, twice, whence. Owing to a supposed etymology from F. cendre, we find A. S. sinder, scoria, slag (Icel. sindr, Swed. sinder, G. sinter), spelt cinder, as at present. The correct spelling sinder occurs as early as the eighth century and as late as the sixteenth ; see my Supplement- Owing to confusion with F. words, such as science, we find sc miswritten for s in scythe, A. S. side. S becomes z medially and finally in a large number of words, a change which is sometimes indicated by writing z, and sometimes not. On the one hand we have adze, A. S. cedese ; bedizen, allied to dis- in distaff; blaze, A. S. blcEse ; dizzy, A. S. dysig ; drizzle, frequentative of A. S. dreos-an, to let fall in drops ; freeze, (pp. frozen), A. S. fre'osan; furze, K.^.fyrs; hazel, A. S. hcBsel; nozzle, from nose, A. S. nosu ; ooze, sb., wet mud, A. S, wos ; sneeze^ ^ Halliwell gives prov. E. whome for home, and tvhoard for hoard. We even find prov. E. woats or 7vuts for oats ; and v^e all say wun for §357.] HISTORY OF S. 379 for */neeze^ M. E. fnesen, A. S. fniosan (whence also neeze, by loss of _/) ; wheeze, A. S. hw/san ; wizen, from A. S. {/or)- wisnian, to dry up. So also brazen from 3r^jJ, ^/^^^ from ^Azjj", ^ra^^ from grass. On the other hand, we have arise and r?j^, A. S. drtsan, risan ; besom, A. S. <5^i-/7Z« ; bosom, A. S. (^^j-T^z ; ^i-^", A. S. losian, properly ' to become loose ' ; nose, A. S. nosu ; whose, A. S. /zze;^^ ; //^c*^^, A. S. J?ds. So also the verbs house, louse, mouse, with se as 2; from the sbs. house^ louse, mouse, with se as j. Compare with this the voicing of th between two vowels, as explained in § 342. ^S" becomes sh mgush, from Ic&X.gusa ; and ch in linch-pin, put for lins-pin, from A. S. lynis, an axle-tree. So also mod. E. henchman appears as M. E. hensman, short for hengst-man, i. e. horseman, groom. Cf. ' canterius, hengst ' in Wright's Vocabularies ; and see heyjicemann in the Promp- torium Parvulorum. § 357. S >r. There are some very interesting instances of the change ois to r, by Verner's Law. In all such cases j- took first of all the intermediate sound of z. Obvious examples occur in are, pi. of is ; were, pi. of was ; lorn, pp. of M. E. lesen, A. S. le'osan; frore, used by Milton ior frozen. Other examples are found in bare, A. S. bcEr, cognate with Lithu- anian basas, bare-footed ; berry, A. S. berige, Goth. basi\ blare (of a trumpet), from M. E. blasen, to blow loudly (cf. blas-i) ; dreary, A. S. dreor-ig, orig. dripping with gore, from dre'os-an, to drip; ear, A. S. iare, Goth, auso; hear., A. S. heran, hyran, Goth, hausjan; iron, A. S. ire?i, earlier form zsen', lore and learn, A. S. Idr and leornian, from a Teut. base leis, appearing in Goth, lais, I have found out, I know ; rear, v., A. S. rc^ran {^'^'rcEs-iari), causal verb from rise; weary, A. S. we'r-ig, from worian, to tramp over a moor, from wor, a moor = wos, mire. One very singular example of a similar change occurs in the mod. E. dare ; the A.S. form is dear, standing for dearr 380 ENGLISH CONSONANTS, [Chap. XVIII. {^■=1'^' dearz)^ cognate with Goth, dars^ I dare (cf. Gk, dapa-elv). The radical j- reappears in the pt. t. durs-t. § 358. In several words s has disappeared from the end, having been mistaken for the plural suffix, and its removal has formed a new but incorrect singular ^ A. S. byrgels, a tomb, M. E. buriels, became M. E. buriel, whence our burial, A. S. rddelse, M. E. redels, a riddle, became M. E. redel, whence our riddle. A. S. pisa, pi. pisa7i, borrowed from Lat. pisum, became M. E. pese, pi. pesen or peses, later pease, pi. peason ; then pease was taken to stand for peas, a plural; the s was cut off, and the result is E. pea. Similarly the supposed pi. skates is really a singular, being borrowed from Du. schaats, pi. schaatsen. On the other hand, the pi. bodies, in the sense of stays for women, has been turned into a singular, spelt bodice ; bracken is really a plural in -en, A. S. braccan, pi. of bracce, i. e. brake. Eaves is singular, A. S. efese ; and so is alms, A. S. cElmesse (Gk. l\^r]\io(jvvr]). § 359. The combinations si, sp, sir, spr, are extremely common, and remain unchanged. There is hardly any tendency, as in some languages, to drop the initial s. It is however lost in paddle, formerly spaddle, when used in the sense of a small spade, being in fact the diminutive form of spade ; this is due to confusion with paddle, in the sense of an implement for managing a boat. S is intrusive in island, M. E. Hand, A. S. igland, by confusion with F. isle, from Lat. instda. S is sometimes prefixed. It is common to compare melt with smelt, and to say that the s in smelt is prefixed. This is untrue; both meltan and smeltan are A. S. and general Teutonic forms ; and, if they are connected, we can more * See a list of Words corrupted through mistakes about Number, in A. S. Palmer's Folk- Etymology, 18S2, p. 592. But there are a few- errors in it, as e.g. under Iznce, supposed to be plural; lea, supposed to be a fictitious singular. § 36o.] HISTORY OF SK. 38 1 easily derive melt from smelt by supposing that the s was lost. But there is a real prefixing of j- in s-queeze, from A. S. cwisan, cwesan, to crush. This s is due to association with s-quash^ a word of F. origin, from O. F. es-qiiacher (= Lat. ex-coactare)^ in which the s represents the O. F. intensive prefix es- = Lat ex^. Several other words have been explained as containing the same intensive prefix, but I believe that most of such explanations are wrong ^. Sneeze is probably nothing more than a variant of the older fneeze, due to substitutino: the common combination s?i for the rare and difficulty^z ; whilst neeze resulted from dropping/! § 360. SK. The A. S. sc, when followed by e or i, com- monly becomes M. E. sch, E. sh ; as in A. S. sceamu, E. shame ; A. S. scinan, E. sJmte. Exceptions are mostly due to Norse influence ; as in E. skin, from Icel. skin?i. When followed by other vowels, sc also commonly becomes sh, as in A. S. scaga, E. shaw ; A. S. sculdor, E. shoulder ; A. S. scyttan, E. shut. But A. S. sccrb remains as scab, with a double form of the adjective, viz. scabby, shabby. A. S. scale is E. scale, but A. S. scell is E. shell. Sc final also becomes sh ; as in cesc, ash (tree), fisc, fish, the dative cases of these words being cEsce B,ndjisce; compare the remarks in note 3. p. 354. In the word schooner, the sch is an imitation of Dutch spelling ; but it should rather be scooner, from the prov. E. scoon, to glide over water. The late Du. word schooner is borrowed from English ^. St. Medial st may become ss^ as in blossoni, A. S. blosima', misselthrush =^ mistlethrush, the thrush that feeds on the berries of the mistletoe. In mistletoe, A. S. misteltdn^ the st is now pronounced as ss ; as also in glisten, listen, ^ Even in Italian we find the same prefix used intensively ; thus, s-gridare, to scold, is derived from gridare, to cry out, by prefixing s = Lat. ex. (The Ital. s also stands for Lat. dis-"). * The old notion of etymologising^ was to rush to conclusions by combining uncertain instances, often unrelated, under a general law. ^ Whitney, Language and the Science of Language, 1S68, p. 38. 382 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII. Mizzle, to fall in fine drops, is a frequentative formed from mist, i. e. fine rain ; it stands for ^missle = "^mistle. Metathesis occasionally takes place of final sk, which becomes x (ks), and of final ps, which becomes sp. Thus E. ask also appears as pro v. E. ax {=aks); E. wasp is prov. E. waps, from A. S. wcEps. M. E. has dapsen as well as claspen for E. clasp ; and this is an older form, being allied to clamp. Similarly grasp is probably for *grap-s, and allied to grab and gripe. Hasp is for '^' haps =: A. S. hcepse, a bolt of a door, a ' fitting ' ; allied to A. S. ge-hcrp, fit. Asp-en is an adjectival form from A. S. ceps. Lisp is from A. S. wlips, stammering. § 361. The principal results of the preceding chapter may be exhibited in the following table. It may be observed that the consonantal changes in words of French origin are of a similar character in a great many respects ; but there are a few such changes which are not here represented. These will receive attention on a future occasion. TABLE OF PRINCIPAL CONSONANTAL CHANGES. (N.B. — The italic tv and y denote vowel-sounds, forming parts of a diphthong ; the roman w and y denote consonants.) Aryan. Teutonic. A.-Saxon. Mid. English. Modern. G K c; ce c, k,g; ch.j,ce c, k, g, t ; ch, j, ce, gh K (doubled) cc cc, ck, kk ; cch ck ; tch SK SK, KS sc, see ; x sc ; sch, sh ; x sc, sk; sh; X Gw KW cw ^ qu qu K H h h ; {lost) ; gh h; {lost); gh Q HW hw wh wh, w GH G g; ge; b g; 7,5; gh,w, f; ge (j ), 1,7 g, y ; gh, w, f ; ge; i,y ... G (doubled) eg gg» gge ; 7 dge,y D T t t ; d ; (lost) t; d;{lost) T TH >.©; t,d J), th ; t, d ; {lost) th ; t, d ; {lost) DH D d d, t; {lost) d, t ; {lost) N N n; {lost) n; {lost) n ; m ; {lost) . BV P? P p; f p, b; u ( = y) p, b ; ve §36 1.] TABLE OF CONSONANTAL CHANGES. 383 Modern. f, ff; V, ve; {lost) b,p m; n y r(l);l w, ow ; {lost) s, z;sh,sc;i:^(/(?j-^) Excrescent letters : d, t, after n ; b, p, after m ; t, after s, X ; n, after r. These produce the combinations nd, nt, mb, mp, st, xt, rn, in certain cases. See §§ 341, 344, 347, 35O' RYAN. Teutonic. A.-Saxon. Mid. English, P F f f, ff; u( = v) BH B b b M M m m Y Y ge y, 5 R,L R,L r, 1 r(l); 1 W W w w; {lost) S s s; r s; r CHAPTER XIX. Various Changes in the Forms of Words. § 362. In § 322 and § 323 above, I have noted some of the principal modes in which the forms of words are affected. Some of these require further discussion and exemphfication. It is impossible to avoid some repetition, but I give old results briefly, with references to former sections. (i) Palatalisation. See this discussed in § 324. For examples, see §§ 325, 326, 330, 339. (2) Voicing of voiceless letters. Examples have already been given in §§ 318, 323, 327, 328, 340, 342, 348. Thus we have loaves as the pi. of loaf, dig from dike, know- ledge from M. E. knowleche, jowl from M. E. chattel [chavel), proud from A. S. prut, breathe from breath, &c. ; lobster from A. S. loppestre, pebble from A. S. papol, &c. (3) Vocalisation of voiced letters. This is particu- larly common in the case of g] see §338. So also w; see § 355- {4) Assimilation. This produces a grouping of voiceless letters, as in the sound lookt for looked ; or of voiced letters, as in the sound dogz for dogs; as explained in § 318. It also produces doubled letters, as in blossom (§ 340), bless (§ 344) ; bliss (§ 342) ; lemman (later leman), Lammas, woman. Early E. wiinman (§ 349). It is extremely common in Latin, as in of-ferre for ob-ferre, whence E. offer ; and is quite a distinguishing feature of Italian and Icelandic. Notable ex- amples are seen in Ital. ammirare^ to admire ; Icel. drekka, to drink. § 363.] ABBREVIATION. 385 (5) Substitution. Examples have been given of / for k (§ 329) ; of k for / (§ 340) ; of d for d (§ 342) ; of / for ]? (§ 342); and of sh and ch for s (§ 356). We may refer hither the change from s { = z) to r (§ 357). (6) Metathesis. Examples have been given of ks or x for sk, and sp for ps (§ 360) ; and of the frequent shifting of r (§ 353)' So also modern E. employs wk for A. S. /iw, and commonly has k finally for A. S. el, as in zdle, from A. S. idel; but these are merely graphic changes, appeal- ing to the eye. It is also extremely probable that the sense of M. E. h'kekn, to tickle, a frequentative verb from the base tik, to touch lightly, was influenced in sense, and confused with, the Icel. ki'/Ia, to tickle, whence prov. E. h'f/k, to tickle, and the adj. ki///e, used in the precise sense of the mod. E. ticklish. So also wallet, M. E. walet, appears to be a mere substitution for M. E. watel, formerly used in the sense of ' bag ' or ' basket ' ; as shewn in my Dictionary. Other examples of metathesis are seen in neeld for needle) in acre, an Anglo-French spelling of A.S. cecer, as may be seen by consulting the Year-books of Edward I, edited by Mr. Horwood; and in several words of French origin. § 363. (7) Abbreviation; including Aphesis, Syn- cope, and Apocope. There are many ways in which abbreviation can take place, and examples are numerous. Aphesis. The dropping of an initial letter or syllable is so common that Dr. Murray has found it convenient to invent a special name for it. He calls it aphesis (Gk. acfica-is, a letting go), and defines it thus : ' the gradual and uninten- tional loss of a short accented vowel at the beginning of a word.' A word in which aphesis occurs is called aphetic. Most of such words are, however, of French origin. Among those of English origin we may note : down, short for M. E. adoun, A. S. qf-dwie, lit. off the down or hill, and so, down- wards ; lo?ie, short for alo?ie ; wayivard, short for awayward. VOL. I. C C 386 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. To these we may add bishop, A. S. biscop, borrowed from Lat. episcopus; sterling, short for Ester ling ', and drake, short for andrake (§ 346). Initial consonants are lost in several words. Thus K has disappeared in 7iip, nibble, nap; see § 331. H has disap- peared in ail words which began in A. S. with hi, hn, and hr; see the list in § 332 ; also in A. S. hit, E. it. A. S. g, later 5, is lost in if, itch; § 337. A. S.>^ is lost in J?witel, E. whit- tle; and thwak is commonly whack ; § 342. A. S. « is lost in adder, auger, aught {^or naught) ; § 346. ^has disappeared from M.'E.fnesen, to sneeze, leaving the form neese, Mids. Nt. Dream, ii. i. 56. A. S. w is lost in lisp, ooze, § 355 ; and is silent in the combination wr. § 364. Medial consonants are also lost in various words. C is lost in A. S. druncnian, M. E. druncnien, druncnen, later drounen, E. drown. An original Teut. h is lost even in A. S. in ear, see, slay, tear, sb. ; § 335. Welsh, A. S. welisc, is really for * welhisc, being derived from wealh, a stranger. H is also lost in modern E. in trout, not; § 335. G often disappears from sight, becoming: first M. E. 5, and then i or jy, and so forming part of a diphthong, as in A. S. hagel, later ^^56-/, hayl, mod. E. hail; see examples in § 338, where I have also included nine, steward, tile; and lent (for lengt). T is lost in best, last, &c. ; § 340. Th is lost in ivorship, wrist, Norfolk, &c. ; §342. D,\n answer, gospel, upholsterer, bandog; § 344. N, in agnail, elbow, eleven, spider, Thursday, tithe ; and even in A. S. in could, goose, lithe, mouth, other, tooth ; § 346. An Aryan n is lost mfive; § 351. F has disappeared in hast, hath, has, had, head, lord, lady, le??ian, woman ; and has be- come m in Lammas ; § 349. M is lost, even in A. S., in ousel, ^^/^'y § 351- ^ is lost in smother, speak, speech; § 353. L, in as, each, such, which, and is often silent, as in calf, folk, walk, &c. ; § 354. PF is lost in also, aught, naught, four, lark, so, soul, thong, and is silent in answer, sword; in such (for swicli), tusk (probably for * twisc), sultry (for sweltry), cud § 365.] ^OSS OF FINAL CONSONANTS. 387 (doublet of quid), the effect of a w upon the following vowel is plainly discernible ; see § 355. § 365. Final consonants are also lost. Examples are seen in the loss of k, A. S. c, as in barley^ every, I, and all words in -ly ; also in sigh (A. S. sic-an), where the gh is silent; § 328. The A. S. h, later gh, is silent in borough, bough, &c. ; and is entirely lost in fee, lea, roe (deer), and even in A. S. seed, E. shoe. The A. S. g constantly becomes y, i. e. part of a diph- thong, as in day, gray, key, &c. ; and A. S. final -ig becomes E. -y, not only in adjectives such as holy, any, many, dizzy (A. S. hdlig, dnig, manig, dysig), but even in substantives, as body, izy, penny (A. S. bodig, ifig,penig, short for pening, pend- ing) ] § 338. Similarly, the A. S. g becomes i when not final, as in A. S. moleg?t, E. mullein. T is lost in anvil, § 340 ; and d in wanion, woodbine, line, lime, § 344. The loss of final n is quite a characteristic mark of the modern language. Not only is it lost in ell from A. S. eln, game from A. S. gamen (the full form of which is preserved as gammon), holly from A. S. holegn, mill from A. S. myln (compare the equivalent names Miller and Milner), mistletoe from A. S. misteltdn, sulky from A. S. {d)solcen, but in a large number of words which in A. S. ended in -an. This A. S. suffix {-an) usually has a grammatical value, and is found at the end of all infinitives, and at the end of many adverbs and prepositions ; but in modern English it is either lost or is re- presented only by a mute e. Thus A. S. sing-an became M.E. sing-en, sing-e, and is now sing ; and so with most other verbs. A. S. mac-ian became M. E. mak-ien, mak-en, and is now make ; but the final e is mute. Among the adverbs, it may suffice to mention A. S. dbu/an, E. above ; A. S. on-sundran, E. asunder ; A. S. (iftan, behind, E. aft; A.S. beforan, E. before; A. S. behindan, E. behind, &c. Among the prepositions we may c c 2 388 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. note A. S. heneodan, E. beneath ; A. S. wi^hinan, E. within ; A. S. on-btitan, d-btitan, E. about, &c. To these we may add A. S. bUt-an, E. but, often used as a conjunction. In all these instances, the -an was originally a case-ending of a substan- tive or adjective ; it was weakened to -e7i in M. E., and has since become mute e or has disappeared. Curious exceptions are seen in the words hence, thence, whence, since. The A. S. hifi-a?i, hence, later heon-an, became M. E. hen-en, henn-en, and (by loss of n) henn-e ; at this stage, instead of the e being lost, the commonly adverbial suffix -es was substituted for it, giving M. E. henn-es, later hens, mod. E. hen-ce. The final -ce is merely the Anglo-French scribal device for shewing that the final s was voiceless. So also we have A. S. dan-an, dan-on, M. E. thann-e, thenn-e, later thenn-es, and finally then-ce; A.S. hwan-an, hwan-on, M. E. whan-en, whann-e, later whenn-es, and finally whence. A. S. sid-ddm (i.e. ' after the,' dam being the dat. case of the definite article), became, in late A. S., sidd- an, M. E. siBen, sithen, to which the adverbial suffix. -^ (short for -es) was added, giving M. E. sithens, later sithence (Shake- speare), and, by contraction, since. The same case-ending -an has disappeared in Mojiday, A. S. mon-an dcEg, day of the moon ; Sunday, A. S. sunn-an dcBg, day of the sun. In yester-day, A. S. gistr-an dcBg, the -an is a case-ending, prob- ably a genitive; the nominative being the adjectival form gistra, which occurs in Gothic. The only traces left of the old suffix -an are in the plural nominatives ox-en, brethr-en, childr-en, shoo-n, ey-ne, ki-ne ; to which we may add brack-en, originally the plural of brake (§ 358). In one adverb, oft-en, we have the suffix -en added by analogy with other INT. E. adverbs; the A. S. form being simply oft. Cf. § 346. Other examples of the loss of final n are seen in eve, short for even, i.e.evening; my, thy, short for mine, thine; no, short for none; ago, short for agone ; el[boiv) for ein{bow) ; ember-days for embern- days, from A. S. y?nb-ren, ymb-ryne, a running round, circuit, course, hence ' season ' ; stem for stemn, A. S. stenin, ste/n. § 366.] SYNCOPE. 389 Final w has disappeared in glee, knee, tree, hue, true, you ] § 355- Final s has disappeared in burial, riddle, pea ; and in several words of French origin, as cherry, sherry, &c. ; § 358. § 366. Syncope. The term syncope is usually restricted to that peculiar form of contraction which results from the loss of letters and syllables in the middle of a word, as when we use e'er for ever, ev'ry for every. Examples of the loss of medial consonants have been given in § 364. The loss of the medial g in particular produces a very real syncope, by reducing the number of syllables in a word, the A. S. ncegel being now naz'l, &c. ; see § 338. A similar result comes from the loss of a medial vowel. Examples are : adze for adze, A. S. adesa ; ant for ami, A. S. cemelle ; church for church, A. S cyrice, later cyrce, circe \ newt iox ewt^efi^ef t, A. S. efeta ; hevip for henp, A. S. henep, hcenep ; mint for min't^ A. S. mynet, borrowed from Lat. moneta ; vionk for monk, A. S. munec, from Lat. monachus ; month for month, A. S. monap. We may add some adjectives, as bald=^l. E. ball-ed; own:=^l.'E.. owen, A.S.dgen; French for Frankish; Scotch or Scots for Scotish or Scottish ; Welsh for Wale-ish, &c. The omission of e in the pp. suffix -en is extremely common, as in thrown for throw' n, A. S. prdw-en ; born for bor'n, A. S. bor-en, &c. Syncope also gives us don for do on, dout for do out, doff for do off, dup for do up. Syncope sometimes does considerable violence to the original forms, as in these examples : either, A. S. dgder, syncopated form of oeg-hwce^er, which again is for d-ge-hwceder , and so compounded of a, aye, ge, the common prefix, and hwceffer, whether^ ; else, A. S. elles ; England, A. S. ^ngla-laiid, land of the Angles ; fort- night ioT fourteen night \ fd csle ioi fore-castle; lady, A. S. ' Cf. G.Jeder, compounded oije and wedcr ; \iQxeJe answers to A. S. a, and weder to hwader ; the ge not appearing in it. Thxisjeder is pre- cisely the equivalent of E. or ; see below. 390 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. hldfdige ; lark^ A. S. Idwerce ; last for /^/'j/, i. e. latest ; /or^, &c. It is mute in side, A. S. sid-e ; wise, sb., A. S. z£;/j"-^, &c. A. S. -we final becomes E. -ow, as in are-we, M. E. ar-we, E. arr-ow. Very often the original final -^ has left a trace in mod. E. by producing palatalisation ; as in E. wilch, from A. S. wic-ce. The final -e of the dative case is often the cause of such palataHsation ; as shewn in §§ 325, 339- {c) A. S. final -0 or -u is lost in hcet-o, E. heat ; yld-o, E. eld (old age) ; dur-u, E. door ; sun-u, E. son ; wud-u, E. z^^?^^. It is mute e in beal-u, E. <5^/(? (evil) ; f^/-«, E. <2/^, &c. It is needless to multiply instances of this character. A few other examples of apocope may be noted. A. S. * Observe how the mod. E. accented vowel is lengthened, by the principle of compensation ; it becomes of more importance and bears a greater stress. Very curious is the exceptional shortening, owing to common use, in the verb to have ; its regular form comes out in the compound be-have. 392 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. CElmesse (Gk. iXcT^noavvrj), M. E. almesse, drops -se and becomes almes ; and finally alms^ by syncope. Final -en has been lost in lent, A. S. lenct-en ; and in kindred, A. S. cyn-rdd-en, the former ^ being excrescent. Final -jx;^ is lost in gear, A. S. gear-we ; final -^z' in harbour, Icel. herber-gi ; final -?> or -z^^ in toad, A. S. /a.falloiv, nar- row, answer to A. S.fealu (definite form fealwa), and nearu (definite form nearwa). An inorganic mute e was often added by ignorant scribes in impossible places, as e.g. in makethe, but this needs no atten- tion or remark ; unless it be worth while to say that modern comic writers imagine that they can produce ' Old English ' by adding a final e at random, and thus producing such monstrous forms as hathe, dranke, wilhe, thatie, itie, and the like ; for such is English scholarship in the nineteenth century ! We do, however, find an inorganic mute e in mouse, house, louse, goose, geese, horse, worse, &c. ; this is merely an ortho- graphic device (like the -ce in mice) for shewing that the j is voiceless, and not pronounced as z. Yet the verbs to house, to louse, to mouse are spelt precisely the same ; we must look to ^ See Luuien and Louien in the glossary to Specimens of English, Part I, ed. Morris. In Chaucer, C.T. 1347, where the Ellesmere MS. has loueres, the Petworth and Lansdowne MSS. have louyers and louiers respectively. Halliwell gives lovier as a provincial E. form still in use. § 370.] CONSONANT-INSERTION, 395 the context to distinguish them. In one, none, the final e ex- presses the fact that the vowel was once long ; as in M. E. con, noon, A. S. an, nan. Sate for sat is simply a bad spelling, but is not uncommon ; similarly we have bade for bad, possibly to distinguish it, to the eye, from bad as an adjective. Perhaps it is for a like reason that we write ate (not at) for the pt. t. of eat ; some indeed write eat, but this is as confus- ing as our use of read (pronounced red) for the pt. t. of read. The A. S. infinitive is etan, pt. t. ^/, pp. eten ; M. E. eten, pt. t. eet or et, pp. eten ; so that modern E. might fairly adopt et for the past tense. - — ^ — § 370. Consonantal insertions. At the beginning of a word, we sometimes find h prefixed in a wrong place. The only fixed example in a word of native origin is yellow- hammer as the name of a bird, from A. S. amore, earliest form emer ; cf. Mid. Du. emmerick, G. emmerling, gelb-ammer, gold-ammer. H is also inserted in whelk, a mollusc, which ought rather to be wilk, and in whor tie-berry; § 336. Also in rhyme, M. E. ryme, A. S. rim, by confusion with rhythm. N is prefixed in newt', inserted before^ in nightingale, M, E. nighte- gale\ and suffixed in bittern, stubborn, and martern (now marten) ; § 347. Y is prefixed in yew, M. E. ew, A. S. iw, to indicate the sound more clearly ; so also you, your, are written for the A. S. eow, eower; but the y m. yean is best explained as representing the prefix ge- ; see § 337. i? is inserted in bridegroom, hoarse, and probably in groom and ^urf\ § 353. The spelling swarths for swaths in Twelfth Night, ii. 3. 162, is probably a mere misprint; for it is spelt swath in Troilus, V. 5. 25. L in could is an intentional misspelling, due to association with would and should', § 354. W m whole is explained in § 355, where also whoop is shewn to stand for hoop. The insertion of w in woof is very curious. The M. E. form is oof, a contraction from A. S. oivef, oweb, short for 39^ MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. on-wef or on-web, i. e. 'a web formed on ' what has been already spun ; so called because the woof or weft traverses the 'warp/ which is the name given to the parallel threads before they are crossed. It was, doubtless, felt that oo/wsls in some way connected with the verb to weave, and as the fact of its being a contraction for o-wef had been forgotten, the w was restored in the wrong place, thus producing a form woo/ to accompany weave, web, and we/t. See Sweet's Oldest English Texts, p. 523, col. 2. The s in island is due to confusion with isle. Excrescent letters. Lastly, we may note the excrescent letters, viz. d or /, after n) b ox p, after m ; / after s or jt: ; n _afte££l seeJi^4i, 344, 350, 347. § 371. (10) Graphic Changes ; changes in the symbols employed. The symbols employed to denote certain sounds have sometimes been changed from time to time, without any change in the sound represented. This is a matter of history, and need cause little difficulty. Most of such changes have already been pointed out. It will be suffi- cient to note the following. A. S. c became k before e and i in many words. M. E. cch (from A. S. cc) became E. tch, A. S. h, when not initial, became gh or 3, of which 5 is no longer used. Cw became qu. Hw became ivh. Initial y (often A. S. g) was written either j/ or 5 ; but 5 is no longer used. Initial hard^ is sometimes written gu or gh. M.E. gge (from A. S. eg or cge) is now written dge. A. S. /, d be- came p, th ; of which p is now disused. F, as in lifan, to live, became u, and finally v ; but with the restriction that the u or V must always be followed by a vowel ; hence mod. E. live for liv. When final w represented a vowel-sound, it was commonly written ow. Voiceless final s was changed to ce or se ; voiced s was sometimes, but far too seldom, altered to z. Ch, sh were introduced to denote new sounds; the latter was also written sch in M.E. See above, §§ 324-356, and see the chapter on Spelling. § 372.] MISUSE OF SYMBOLS. 397 § 372. (11) Misuse of symbols. Sometimes symbols were misunderstood and misused. Some scribes, even in the twelfth century, confused d with d, by omitting the stroke across the top of the latter. In the Royal MS. of the A. S. Gospels, the is not unlike a\ in the Lindisfarne MS. of the same, a is often like u. In the fifteenth century, c and / are not always distinguishable ; nor can e always be discerned from 0. The stroke across an f is sometimes omitted ; it then becomes a long s (f). F, wdth a longer stroke on the left, looks like b. I have seen w so written as to resemble Ik ; and a scrawled r that might almost be e, or even v. The scribe of the Vernon MS. often writes an n like u, ox 2i u like n\ most scribes make n and u precisely aHke. The thorn-letter ip) degenerated into a mere duplicate oi y\ so that the early printers employed j^'' for that, &c. They did not however pronounce \X.yat ; this folly was reserved for the nineteenth century. Three successive downstrokes may mean vi, or in, or hi, or ui, or 7ii\ four may mean mi^ or im, or nu^ or im, unless the stroke meant for i is marked by a slanting mark above, as is sometimes done. Some MSS. have a short stumpy g, very like s. The A. S. w is very Hke p. Z and 3 are often precisely alike'. We thus see that possible mistakes may arise in a great number of ways ; the table below, which groups the symbols that resemble each other together, will give some idea of this. a, u; 5, v; c, t; d, ^; e, o\ f, long s ; g, twisted s\ m, in, ni, iu, ui] n, u\ mi, im, nu, un; o,e\ p, iv; r, e, v, s, g ; long s,/; t, c\ p,y\ u, n] v,r\ w, Ik ; A. S. w, p (and even Some of these confusions have even influenced the lan- guage. We write capercailzie for capercailye ^, and then the 5 is pronounced as ; if we had written caper cailyie, this ' The abbreviation for a final et in Latin MSS. also resembled z ; hence viet, short for videlicet, is now written viz. - Formerly capercalze ; see quotation in § 407. 398 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. could not have happened. It is highly probable that our mod. E. citizen is merely a graphic error for M. E. ciiiyn, also written (probably by misunderstanding) citisen or citisein, cf. O. F. citeain, mod. F. citoyen ; i. e. the 5 means y, not z. § 373. Errors of editors and early printers. Ever since the invention of printing, innumerable mistakes have been made by printers and editors in the attempt to convert MSS. into printed books. A volume might easily be filled with specimens of blunders, many hundred of which have at various times come under my notice. The subject is a pain- ful one ; but the reader should always be on his guard as to this, remembering that most of our editors have been entirely self-taught amateurs, who had little or no previous acquaint- ance with the peculiarities of M. E. MSS., or even of the language in which they are written. As a single specimen of what can be done, I will just mention that the word dwerp, a dwarf, in William of Palerne, 1. 362, was misread by Harts- horne, and printed as owery. There is no such word in the language. Once more, as a specimen of what the scribes themselves could accomplish, take the following lines from Octovian, ed. Weber, 1743-46 : — 'Alle the baners that Crysten founde, They were abatyde [knocked down] ; There was many an hethen hounde That they chek yn a tyde.' And so Weber leaves it ; but he informs us, in his glossary, that chek means ' checked, as in the game of chess, meta- phorically, killed.' This is doubtless the sense ; but what are we to think of an editor who supposes that chek can be the third person plural of a past tense .? To return, how- ever, to the scribe ; it is clear that he had before him a copy containing a letter m, which he misread as in, and then mis- copied as yn. With this hint, we can see that he actually § 374-1 DOUBLING OF CONSONANTS. 399' wrote chekyn a tyde for chek-matyde, the very word required by the sense, the grammar, the metre, and the rime \ The general rule is that the scribes are frequently stupid, but are often right in passages where editors ' correct ' them ; the latter being, in general, much less familiar with Middle- English sounds and symbols than were the scribes who habitually used them. § 374. (12) Doubling of consonants. One form of amplification of the word is extremely common in English, viz. the doubling of a consonant after a short vowel. This is partly due to the stress of the accent. It is probable that the M. E. accent was, so to speak, more equable and less marked than the modern accent. The effect of throwing a still stronger accent on to a short vowel, is to bring out more clearly the sound of the consonant that follows it. But, whatever may be the reason, the fact is undoubted; so much so that the doubling of a consonant is now the received method of marking a vowel as short. The Ormulum, written about 1200 in the East Midland dialect, abounds with ex- amples of this method. ' The most characteristic feature of Orm's spelling is the consistency with which he has intro- duced doubled consonants to shew shortness of the preceding vowel -.' Orm gives us such spellings as patt for that, and crisstenndom for Christendom, the final in which was then long. A few instances must suffice ; I take the consonants in alphabetical order. Thus we have pebble (for '^pepple)^ A. S. papol'j chicken, A. S. cicen) fickle, A. S. ficol ', sickle, A. S. sicol; addle or addled, from A. S. adela, filth (see Murray's New E. Diet.) ; bladder, A. S. bl&dre, 2i\-id/odder , A. ^./odor, where the vowels, once long, have been shortened by the stress ; giddy, M.E. gidi; ladder, A. S. hlader", with vowel-shortening; ^ I call an unreal form, such as owery for dwerp, a ' ghost-word.' Numerous examples of ghost- words are given in my Presidential Address to the Philological Society for 1S86, printed in the Transactions. ^ Sweet, First Middle English Primer, p. 43. ^ My Dictionary gives hlceder ; but the ce was originally long, as 400 MORPHOLOGY. [Chap. XIX. riddle, A.S. rcsdelse, with vowel-shortening ; rudder, A.S. ro^er, with vowel-shortening, from row-an, to row ; saddle, A. S. sadol ; off, variant of of, A. S. of; staff, A. S. sIce/, and final ff generally ; straggle, formerly stragle, as spelt by Minsheu (1627) ; follow, M. E. folweii, A. S. fylgait ; gallowis), A. S. galga; mullein, K. S. molegn; swallow, v., A. S. swelgan; swallow, sb., A. S. sivalewe ; yellow, A. S. ^^o/z/ ; till, Icel. ///, and final // frequently ; emmet, A. S. cemette ; gammon, A. S. gamen ; stammer, from A. S. stamer, adj., stammering ; penny, M. E. /(^/zy, A. S. /^^zz^, pening, pending ; pepper, A. S. /z^^(2r^ ; dross, glass, grass, loss ; bitter, bottom, brittle, fetter, flutter, latter (i. e. later, with vowel altered), little, nettle, otter, rattle, scatter, settle, spittle, tetter ; dizzy, A. S. dysig ; drizzle, formerly drisle. A singular example appears in sorry, formed by vowel- shortening from A, S. sdr-ig, an adjective derived from sdr, a sore. People naturally connect it with sorrow, from A. S. sorh. The double c {cH) in accursed, acknowledge, is unoriginal, and due to confusion with the Lat. prefix ac- ( = ad') ; the double f in afford, affright, is also unoriginal, and due to confusion with Lat. af- ( = ad). § 375. (13) Vowel-changes due to consonantal in- fluence. The consonants which most affect adjacent vowels are h, g, n ov m, r or /, and w or wh. The effect of the old guttural h (like G. ch) upon a pre- ceding vowel is sometimes curious. It certainly tends, in some instances, to turn the vowel into the mod. E. long i. Thus A. S. meaht or mccht also appears as mehi and miht ; E might. A. S. heah, Mercian heh, gives M. E. hey or heh, proved by the cognate G. leiter, which see in Kluge. Indeed, the Gk. xXifxa^ is a related word ; from >v/kli, to lean. § 377-1 CONSONANTAL INFLUENCE. 40I but also M. E. hy or hygh ; hence E. high, though the M. E. hey is represented by heyday, i. e. * high day/ A. S. ne'ah, Mercian 7iih^ gives M. E. neh or neigh, but also 7iy or nygh ; hence E. nigh, though the M. E. neigh is preserved in neigh- hour. The A. S./eohtan, Mercian fehtan, gives M. "E./ehten, but also fihten] E. fight. A. S. reht is also spelt riht; E. right. Hence the German words macht, hoch, nach,fechten, recht, contrast ' remarkably, as to their vowels, with E. might, high, nigh, fight, right. In the A. S. fi^ah, le'ah, the h was simply dropped, leaving fiea, lea. The A. S. hlehhan, M. E. lehyn, also layn, is now laugh. § 376. The A. S. guttural g commonly coalesces with a preceding vowel so as to form a diphthong. Thus cpg be- comes ay, ai, as in dceg, E. day ; tcBgel, E. tail. Eg does the same, becoming ay, ai, as in weg, E. way, eglian, E. ail; also ei, as wegan, E. wfz^>^. /^ becomes long z if accented, as in higian, E. hie ; w?^^;?, E. ;^z«^ : or ^ if final, as in hdl-ig^ E. holy. Ug becomes ow, as in/ugol, 'E.fowl; sugu, E. sow. Fg becomes long y, as in dryge, E. dry ; so also bycgan, M.E. buggen, later ^z^^w, is now ^z£j/, pronounced as <^. A. S. c^g becomes ey or ay, ei or «/, as in edge, E. ^^ ; grdg, E. ^r^:J^ and grey ; hndgan, E. ;2^z^>^ ; stdger, E. ^/^z'r. A. S. /(>^ becomes f^ or long / {y) ; thus A. S. fle'ogan, Mercian fle'gan.fligan, appears both as flee 2indfly; A. S. Uogan, Mer- cian le'gan, ligan, is E. lie, to tell untruths. A. S. ^ag corre- sponds to Mercian ^ ; A. S. /<2^^, Mercian Ingland. § 378. The effect of nd in lengthening a preceding i is surprising. In the A. S. bindan, the i is short, just as in Du. and G. binden, Icel. and Swed. binda, Dan. binde; but in the mod. E. bi7id, the i is diphthongal. The same remark applies to the verbs Jind, grind, wind, and prov. E. tind (to kindle) ; to the sbs. hind (female stag), mind^ rind, and woodbine, ' This difficult word seems to have been confused with Icel. ynita, to niurmur, Dan. y7nte, to whisper about a thing. Still, the connection with hentan is much cleared up by Jamieson's account of hint, sb., opportunity. § 378.] CONSONANTAL INFLUENCE. 403 formerly ivoodhind; and to the adjectives blind, hind, and the adverb behind. Kind, s., M. E. kind, kund, though answering to A. S. cynd, follows the same law. In hind, s., a peasant, formed with excrescent d from M. E. hine, the long / is original ; but lime-tree is a corruption of lifie-tree = lind-tree, from A. S. lind, with short i. The original short i of find or tine, to kindle, is seen in the derivative tinder ; the original short i of the adj. hind is seen in the derivative verb hinder. We also keep the short i in cinder (A.S. sinder), kindle, kindred; and even in the sb. wijid, to avoid confusion with the verb to wind. Yet even in the last case some consider it ' correct ' to pronounce the sb. ivi7id with a long i in reading poetry. Such persons are, at any rate, consistent ; for in all other monosyllables the i (before nd) has been lengthened. It has also been seen, in the preceding section, that A. S. substitutes in (of course short) for European eji ; we can thus easily understand that the sb. mitid (for "^mefid) is cognate with Lat. ace. ment-em ; and the sb. wind (for *wend) with Lat. uent-us. This furnishes an independent proof that the i in these words was originally short ; whereas some Englishmen, who believe that the corrupt modern E. pronunciation is a sure and safe guide to the pronunciation of A. S., have actually maintained that it was long ! How soon the lengthening of the i in these words set in, we have no very sure way of ascertaining. Chaucer, C. T. 2157, rimes 7f;z^. serin ; l^zX. scrinium. Shrive^ A.S. serif an, Lat. scribere. Sickle, A.S. j/(fc/; Lat. secula. Sock, A. S. j<7rr ; Lat. soccus. Sole, of the foot, A. S. sole, Lat. >r(9/f(2. Spend, A. S. spendan ; Lat. dispendere (not expendere, as is often wrongly said). -5'/^^;^, Lat. cannabis, Gk. Kapva^is ; of Eastern origin ; cf. Skt. f^n^, hemp. /;;z/, a scion, M. E. imp, a graft, A. S. imp-an, pi., grafts, adapted from Low Lat. impotus, a graft ; from Gk. e/x^uro?, engrafted. Lily, A. S. /z//.?, Lat. lilium, Gk. \dpiov. Martyr, A. S. and L. martyr, Gk. \xdprvp, a witness. Minster, A. S. mynster, Lat. monasterium, Gk. \jLovaa-Tr\piov ; from fiovaaT^s, one who dwells alone (^oVoy), a monk. J/z>2/ (2), a plant, A. S. ;;^z>;/^, Lat. menta, Gk. /Mtv^a. Monk, A. S. munec, Lat. mo7iachus, Gk. yLiom;^os-, solitary; from /zoi/oy, alone. P^//?^ 440 EARLY LATIN WORDS. [Chap. XXI. (tree), A. S. palm, Lat. pahna ; probably borrowed from Gk. TTokd^jiT}. Paper, A. S. paper (Wright's Vocab. 523. 7), Lat. papyrus, Gk. iicmvpo^ ; of Egyptian origin. Pasch, A. S. and L. pascha, Gk. iraa-xa ', from Heb. pesakh, a passing over. Pea(cock), M. E. pekok, pokok ; the latter form is from A. S. pawe, pawa, Lat. pauo, Gk. rahs ; of Tamil origin. Pepper, A. S.ptpor, "L. piper, Gk. Trenepi; Skt. pippalL Phenix, A.S. femx,\u2X.ph(£nix^G\.(\io\vi^', of Phoenician origin. Plaster, A. S. plaster, Lat. emplastrum^ Gk. efin'XaaTpov ; from e/n-7rXao-- Toff, daubed on or over. Plum, A. S. plume^ Lat. prutium, Gk. Ttpovvov, npov/jivov. Pope, A. S. papa, L. papa, Gk. TrdTnras, father. Priest, A. S. preost ; from L. presbyter, Gk. npea-^v- repos, elder. Psalm, A.S. j-^^^/z, Mercian j<2/;;^ (O. E. Texts), L. psalmus, Gk. yj^aXpos ; from yjrdXkHv, to twitch harp-strings, to play the harp. i?(?j^, A. S. r^j-f, L. r<9j(z ; from Gk. po'Soi/, for *Fp68ov ; Arab. ward. Sack, A. S. j<2^^, L. saccus, Gk. o-nK/coy, Heb. j<2^ ; probably of Egyptian origin. School, A. S. scolu, L. schola; from Gk. o-xoXi7, rest, leisure, disputation, &c. Shoal {i), a multitude of fishes ; doublet of School. Silk, prob. from an O. Mercian form "^silc (cf. Icel. silki), answering to A. S. seolc; ultimately from Lat. Sericum, silk, neut. of Sericus, belonging to the Seres ; from Gk. 2^pey, pi. the Seres ; prob- ably of Chinese origin. Stole, A. S. stole, L. stola, Gk. oToX?7, equipment, robe, stole. Tippet, A. S. tappet, L. tapete, cloth ; Gk. TairrjT-, Stem of rdnrj^, a carpet, rug. Trout, A. S. truht, L. tructa, Gk. rpaKTTjs ; from rpcoyeij/, to gnaw. § 402. Classification of borrowed (Latin) words. It thus appears that the Latin words of the Second Period amount to upwards of one hundred and forty, of which about two-thirds are original Latin words, and about one- third are borrowed from Greek, or (through Greek) from the East. If we examine these words a litde more closely, we shall see that they can be roughly distributed into classes, as follows : — §403.] REMARKS. 44 1 (i) Words relating to ecclesiastical matters, religion, ajid the Bible : alms, altar, angel, anthem, apostle, archbishop, ark, bishop, candle, canon, Christ, church, clerk, cowl, creed, cummin, deacon, devil, disciple, font, martyr, mass, minster, monk, nun, pall, pasch, pope, priest, prime, psalm, sack (Gen. xlii), shrine, stole, temple ; most of which are rather Greek than Lati^i. (2) Useful implements, materials, and food: anchor, box, butter, chalk, cheese, chest, coop, copper, coulter, cup, dish, fan, fiddle, fork, kettle, kiln, kitchen, Hnen, mill, mint (for coins), mortar, must {iiew wine), pan, paper, pile {stake), pillow, pin, pitch, plaster, pole, post, pumice, punt, scuttle, shambles, sickle, strap, strop, tile, tun. Articles of dress : pilch, silk, sock, tippet, tunic. Weights, Measures, &c. : circle, coomb, inch, noon, penny, pound. (3) Birds : capon, culver, pea(cock), phoenix, turtle. Fishes : lobster, mussel, peri(winkle), trout. (4) Trees : box, cedar, palm, pear, pine, plum, rose, service(-tree). Plants : [balsam], beet, chervil, cole, fennel, feverfew, gladden, hemp, Hly, lin(seed), mallow, mint, mul- (berry), pea, pepper, periwinkle, plant, poppy, savine. Here belongs imp. (5) Miscellaneous : canker, castle, chapman, cheap, cook, fever, fuller, lake, mount {hilt), pit, sole (of the foot), school, shoal (of fish), verse. (6) Verbs : dight, keep, offer, shrive, spend, stop. (7) Adjective: crisp. § 403. Bemarks. The number of Latin words of the Second Period w^hich have been supplanted by French forms is probably considerable. We may notice Lat. calix, A. S. calic (E. and O. F. chalice), l^dii.ficus, A. S.fic (E. fg, O.Y.fige). Lat. lactuca, A. S. lactuce (E. lettuce, of F. origin). Lat. and A. S. ko (E. lion, F. lioii). Lat. marmor, A. S. mar- man-stdn (E. marble, O. F. marbre). Lat. metrum, A. S. 77ieter (E. and F. metre). Lat. organum, A. S. organ, very rare (E. 442 EARLY LATIN WORDS. organ, F. organe). Lat. ostrea, ostreimi, A. S. ostre (E. oyster, O. F. oistre). Lat. persicum, A. S. persicc (E. peach, O. F. pesche). Low Lat. perula, A. S. /x^r/, once only (E. /mr/, F. perk). Lat. prcEdicare, A. S. prediciaji (E. preach, O. F. precher). Lat. sanctus, A. S. j^7/<:/ (E. and F. j-a?)//). Lat. tabula, A. S. /.:^/7, a game at tables (E. and F. /^^/^). The word >^;;z;z occasionally appears as A. S. jv»z;z, ymen, but was little used ; it was revived at a later time. The history of pike is obscure ; pipe may be native English. There are also some Latin words in A. S. which are now disused altogether. One remarkable example is the Lat. margariia, a pearl, which was turned, by help of popular etymology, into the A. S. mere-gre'ot, as if it meant ' sea-grit.' It may be here observed, that Latin words were freely introduced into English at various later periods, without always passing through the medium of French. Thus cell, M, E. celle, oc- curring in the Ancren Riwle, about a.d. 1200, is perhaps directly from Lat. cella ; cubit was introduced by Wyclif into his translation of the Bible ; Spenser has rite, from Lat. ritus ; disc is used by Dryden ; and crate by Johnson. CHAPTER XXII. The Celtic Element. § 404. This is a difficult subject, and I can but treat it superficially. Owing to recent investigations, our views con- cerning Celtic words have suffered considerable change. It has been proved that, in the case of some words which were once supposed to have been borrowed from Celtic, the borrowing has been the other way. For example, our verb to hover is not derived from the Welsh hofio^ but the Welsh hofio was simply borrowed from the M. E. houen, to wait about, of which hover is the frequentative form ; whilst the M. E. hoiien is merely formed from the A. S. hof, a dwelling- place, still preserved in the diminutive hov-el. A list of some Celtic words found in English is given in Morris's Ele- mentary Lessons in Historical English Grammar, and a fuller list in Marsh's Student's Manual of the English Language, ed. Smith, 1862, p. 45. The latter is taken from a still longer list given by Mr. Garnett, in the Proceedings of the Philo- logical Society, i, 171. It is certain that these lists require careful revision, and the same may be said of the list given by myself at the end of my Etymological Dictionary. Many of the words formerly supposed to be Celtic are now known to be nothing of the kind. Thus the w^ord barrow, in the sense of ' mound,' is formed with perfect regularity from the A. S. beorg, a hill ; see all the various forms in Murray's New English Dictionary. Kiln is not from the Welsh ciliti^ but from the Lat. ctilma, which passed into A. S. in the form cylfi, with the usual mutation. Dainty is not borrowed from 444 THE CELTIC ELEMENT. [Chap. XXII. the Welsh daniaelh, but is of Old French origin, and really represents, in spite of the change of meaning, the Lat. ace. dignitatem. Daub is also pure French; O.F. dauber, ^vom. Lat. de-albare, to whiten. In my own list, I have included such words as boast, boisterous, which must certainly be struck out, along with the suggestion that barrow may be ultimately of Celtic origin. § 405. I am here principally concerned with the con- sideration of such words of Celtic origin as found their way into English before a.d. 1066. This greatly limits the in- quiry, for I think it will be found that the words borrowed in the modern period from Welsh, Scotch Gaelic, and Irish considerably exceed in number the words that truly belong to the Old Celtic element. But as it will greatly clear the way if we can say with certainty which are the Celtic words of comparatively late introduction, I shall turn aside to con- sider these first. § 406. As regards the Celtic words that are of com- paratively late introduction, it is easy to say, in many instances, from which of the Celtic languages they were borrowed. I shall therefore consider each language separately, beginning with Irish. Words of Irish origin. It is surprising how little seems to be known of the Irish language in our old authors. Indeed, allusions to Ireland, of any sort, are not at all common in our earlier literature. In the Libell of Englishe Policye, written in 1436, there is a chapter 'Of the commoditees of Ireland,' &c. ; but I find no Irish word in it. Stanyhurst's Description of Ireland was first published (as a part of Holin- shed's Chronicles), in 1586, and probably was one of the earliest books to introduce Irish words into our literature. It contains, however, but few, the chief being galloglass, glib (lock of hair), kerne, skeiti (knife), and shamrock ^, of which ^ I only give the etymologies of such words as are not in my Etymo- logical Dictionary. § 4o6.] WORDS OF IRISH ORIGIN. 445 galloglass, kerne, and skein occur also in Shakespeare. Our great dramatist also employs the words bog and brogue (wooden shoe). Spenser's View of the State of Ireland, printed in 1633, also contains galloglass, glib, kerne, skeane, and shamroke, but adds to these the words bard'^, pillion, tanist. Lough occurs in Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, bk. i. st. 44. The word fory occurs as early as 1656, but did not come into more general use till about 1680. The word orrery first occurs about 17 15. The word fun first appears in the eighteenth century. Other words are, for the most part, quite modern, and are to be found in books relating to Ireland, especially in such works as Carleton's Traits and Stories of the Irish Peasantry. On the whole, I think we may consider the following list as giving the principal Irish words that have found their way into English, viz. bard, bog, brogue, dirk (?), fun, galloglass, galore ^, glib, s., kern, lough, orrery, pillion (?) ^, rapparee, shillelagh ^, skain {skene, skein), shamrock, spalpee7i, ianist, Tory, usquebaugh^. Of these, bard, bog, brogue, and galore may perhaps be also looked upon as having claims to a Gaelic origin. Amongst the modern Irish words not given in my Dic- tionary, I may notice some which take the diminutive suffix -in, which is sometimes used as a term of endearment, or, as in the case of spalp-een, with some touch of contempt. Thus colleen is Irish cail-in, literally 'little girl,' from caile, ^ Though this word first occurs in Holland's Hotdate, and Sir John Holland was a Scotch writer, the word seems to have been regarded as Irish. Holland has : ' a bard out of Irland ' ; Shakespeare has ' a bard of Ireland' ; and Spenser uses it of Irish poets. ^ For these words, see the Supplement to my Dictionary. ^ Ultimately of Latin origin, in any case ; perhaps merely borrowed from Span, pel/on, a long robe of skins or furs, if that be an old word. * The following Old Irish forms, given by Windisch, may help : bocc, soft — brScc, %\ioe—fonn, tune, song^gall, foreigner, Sclach, a youth — cath, battle (whence E. kern is a derivative) — loch, lough — scian, knife — semar, semroc, shamrock — tdnaise, second — toracht, pursuit — sz(ce, water, bethu, life. See Irische Texte, ed. Windisch, Leipzig, 1880. 44^ THE CELTIC ELEMENT. [Chap. XXII. a girl. Mavow'neen, my darling, is compounded of 7710, my, and vihuir7ii7i (77ih^^v), a mutated form of 77iuir7i-in^ a darling ; from muir7i^ affection. Shebeen, a small public- house, is (I suppose) merely a diminutive of seapa, a shop, which can hardly be other than the English word shop trans- planted into Irish. The word shaTiiy is probably from the Irish seaii, old, and ti'gh, a house. § 407. Words of Scotch Gaelic origin. A few Gaelic words have come to us, through Lowland Scotch, at various times, but the number of these which found their way to us at an early period is extremely small. The word barmock is generally considered as Gaelic, but it occurs in an A. S. gloss, and must therefore, if Celtic, be reckoned amongst the Old Celtic words. As such, it will be reconsidered below. Barbour's Bruce contains the words bog (6. 57), crag^ glen, and loch (spelt loucJi). Crag answers to Gael, creag, a rock ; but is a general Celtic term. Beltane, an old name for the first of May, or a festival held on that day, is men- tioned, according to Jamieson, a.d. 1424, in the Acts of James I. of Scodand. It is doubtless of Gaelic origin (Gael. bealltai7in\ and we may rest assured that the first part of the word has nothing to do with Bel, or the Baal of Scripture, as was so amusingly and persistently maintained by the anti- quaries of the last century. In Leslie's History of Scotland, 1596, edited for the Scottish Text Society in 1885, I find the words capercafy, p. 39, clachan, 14, cla7i, 56, iJtch, 13, stj'afh, 12, and Galloway, 14, as the name of an ' ambUng horse.' The notice of the first of these is of some interest. ' In Rosse and Loquhaber, and vthiris places amang hilis and knowis [k7iolls] ar nocht in missing fir trie sufficient, quhair oft sittis a certane foul and verie rare called the Capej'caly to name with the vulgar peple, the horse of the forrest.' We should here note the correct spelling with the symbol 5, which should be represented in modern books hy y, not, as usually and absurdly, by z. The explanation ' horse of the §407.] WORDS OF GAELIC ORIGIN-, 447 forest ' is the literal meaning of the Gaelic name capull-coille. Clachan is the Gael, clachan, a circle of stones, hence, a rude church, and finally, a small hamlet possessing a church. Cla7i is ultimately of Latin origin (Supp. to Etym. Dictionary). Inch is the Gael, innis^ an island. Strath is a river-valley with a low, flat bottom ; Gael, srath. Duncan's Appendix Etymologise, 1595 (E. Dial. Soc.) contains the word spate as a gloss : ' Alluvio, vel -es, diluvium^ mundati'o, a spate of water ' ; also the word cratg (crag). Creel is represented in modern Gaelic only by the dimin. form craidhleag, ' a basket, a creel,' the original word being criol, the same as O. Irish criol, a coffer, a box ; the entry ' A basket and iij kreles ' occurs in the Wills and Inventories published by the Surtees Society, i. 224, under the date 1564. 'The dh in craidhleag is merely an orthographical device shew- ing that the preceding ^/ is a diphthong'; H. Mac Lean, in Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii. 44. Dunbar (see Jamieson) has the verb waicch, to drink up, whence was formed the sb. waucht, waught, a draught, as in the phrase 'a waught of ale,' and Burns's ' gudewillie waucht' i. e. draught drunk for good will \ Hence was formed, needlessly, a new verb to waucht, with the same sense, used by Gawain Douglas. I have no doubt that this wauch is precisely the E. verb to quaff, from which a new verb was formed in precisely the same way ; for Palsgrave has : * I quaught, I drinke alle out.' And I further think that these verbs wauch and quaff [=quaugh) are both due to the Gael, cuach, a cup, a bowl, variously spelt in English as quach, quaich, quaigh, quech, queff, and quaff. The last spelling is used by Smol- lett, in his Humphrey Clinker. If these be so, then quaff and quaich are both Gaelic ; and the Gael, word is itself a loan-word from the late Lat. caucus, a drinking-vessel, used by Jerome. Slogan, a war-cry, is curiously spelt ^ Some people turn it into 'gude willie-wauclit ' ; which presents us with a new word ivillie-waucht, with a sense unfathomable. 448 THE CELTIC ELEMENT. [Chap. XXII. slogorne by G. Douglas, which some writers (including Chatter- ton and Browning) have turned into shighorn, as if it were a kind of horn ! See Slughorn in Supp. to Etym. Dictionary. Besides these, we have several words which are all (pro- bably) only found in modern authors, viz. batishee'^ (also Irish), cairn, cater an (the Gaelic equivalent of the Irish kern), claymore, collie (colly) ^, cosy ^, gillie, gowan, macintosh (from a personal name) ^, philiheg {Jillibeg), ptarniigari (?), reel (a dance), spleuchan, sporran, whiskey. Moreover, we have ingle, kail, and plaid, three words which are not original Celtic, but adapted from Latin. We might further add, from Scott's Poems, the fairly familiar words coronach and corrie. Corofiach is the Gael, corraiiach, a lamentation, dirge, as at a funeral ; lit. * a howHng together,' from covih- (Lat. cum\ together, and ranaich, a howling, roaring, from the verb ran, to howl, cry, roar. Corrie is the Gael, coire, a circular hollow surrounded with hills, a mountain dell. The word airt in Burns is the Gael, aird, a height, also a quarter or point of the compass ; cf. Gael, ard, a height, O. Irish aird, a point, limit ^ The list might be slightly extended. § 408. Three w^ords demand a special notice, viz. brose, branks, and pibroch. Brose I suppose to be the Gaelic brothas (as suggested by Macleod and Dewar), the th being silent. I further suppose it to be allied to Gael, brot, broth ; but this can hardly be anything but a Gael, adaptation of the E. word broth. From which it would follow that brose is a mere adaptation from the English ; just as the O. French broues (in Roquefort), whence IM. E. brewes, is a mere adapt- ^ See the Supplement to Etym. Dictionary. 2 So also )?iacadam2se, perhaps one of the strangest compounds in any language ; for it is obviously a compound of Gaelic and Hebrew, with a French suffix, and is declined as an English verb. ^ The following Old Irish forms, given by Windisch, may help here: ^^;z, woman, side, fairy — carji, caira — cath, battle — claidcb, sword, mor, great — cuilen, whelp — aiasach, concave, hollow— ^///a, servant — fill-im, I fold, bcc, small — usee, water — aird, point, limit (as above). §409.] WORDS OF GAELIC ORIGIN. 449 ation from the O. H. G. brod, which is the cognate word to our brolh. Brajiks is certainly the same word as Gael. brangas, but when we compare this with the Du. and G. pranger, which had precisely the same sense, we can hardly doubt that the origin of the word is Teutonic. In fact, we find in Gothic the comp, verb ana-praggan {^ana-prang an), to harass, orig. to press tightly upon. As to pibroch, it is merely English in a Gaelic disguise. The Gael, words piob^ piobair, are merely the English words pipe, piper, borrowed from English in the sixteenth century. ' From the latter, by the addition of a Celtic termination, was formed the abstract noun piobaireachd-=--^v^Qr-2ige, piper-ship, piping. . . . When the Sasunnach, having forgotten his own pipership, reim- ported the art from the Gael, he brought with it the Gaelicised name piobaireachd, softened into pibroch, where the old English piper is so disguised in the Highland dress as to pass muster for a genuine Highlander \' § 409. From what precedes, we may make out the fol- lowing list of words borrowed from the Gaelic, viz. banshee (also Irish), Beltane, bog (also Irish), branks, brose, cairn, caper- cailyie, cateran, clachan, clan, claymore, collie, coronach, corrie, cosy, crag, creel, galloway (pony), gillie, glen, gowan, inch, ingle, kail, loch, macintosh, philibeg, pibroch, plaid, ptarmigan (.?), quaff, reel, slogan, spate, spleuchan, sporra7i, strath, whiskey. We may also draw two conclusions ; that the English has borrowed more freely from Gaelic than from Irish, and that the borrowing began at an earlier time. This is the natural consequence of the respective geographical positions and political relations of Scotland and Ireland to England. We should also bear in mind that clan, ingle, kail, and plaid are ultimately of Latin origin, horn planta'^, ignis, caulis, and ^ The Dialect of the Southern Counties of Scotland, by J. A. H. Murray, p. 54. Dr. Murray here mentions tartatt as being a Gaelic word, but rightly says, in the Errata, that it is French. "^ See Rhys, Lectures on Welsh Philology, -znd ed., p. 352. VOL. I. G g 450 THE CELTIC ELEMENT. [Chap. XXII. pellis ; whilst brose, pibroch^ are really of English origin, from broth and pipe\ and branks is really Northern English, borrowed probably from Holland. Hexham's O. Dutch Dictionary gives the very word : ' Een Prange, Pra?iger, ofte [or] Hah-yser, a shackle, or a neck-yron ' ; from the verb ' prangen, to oppresse, constraine, compell, or to shackle.' § 410. Words of Welsh origin. The words of com- paratively recent introduction may be considered first. Shakespeare has ca?n, crooked, awry, contrary to the pur- pose, which he may have picked up locally as a word that had strayed over the Welsh border ; from Welsh cam, with the same sense. Coble, a small fishing-boat, seems to be the W. ceubal. Clutter^ a confused heap, is apparently the W. cludair, a heap. Flannel, prov. Y..flannen, is the W. gwlanen, from gwlan, wool. Flummery is the W. llymru, llymruwd. Hawk, in the sense to force up phlegm from the throat, is the W. hochi. Coracle, cromlech, and metheglin, are well known as being of Welsh origin. In Middle English, we find the words braget, bragget, a kind of mead, W. bragod; croud, crouth, later crowd, a kind of fiddle, W. crwth. I should therefore propose to draw up the list of words of Welsh origin as follows, viz. bragget, cam, clutter (heap), coble {i), coracle, cromlech, crowd {^Ad\^, flannel, flummery, hawk (to clear the throat), kex, kibe, kick, metheglin. § 411. Setting aside the words discussed above, which may be distinctly claimed as being borrowed from Irish, Gaelic, or Welsh later than the twelfth century, it remains that we should enquire (i) whether any Celtic words are found in late English which cannot precisely be traced back definitely to any one of these languages ; and (2) whether any Celtic words can be traced in English of the earliest period. The former of these questions is one of great difficulty, and it is better to leave the question unanswered than to give un- satisfactory guesses. Amongst the words which perhaps have the most claim to be considered as Celtic, ot founded §412.] WORDS OF WELSH ORIGIN. 45 1 upon Celtic, are some of which the origin is very obscure. It may suffice to mention here the words bald, bat (thick stick), boggle, bots, brag, bran, brat, brill, brisk, bug, bump, cabin, char (fish), chert, clock (orig. a bell), cob, cobble, cock (small boat), coot, cub, Culdee, curd, cut, dad, dandriff, darn, drudge, dudgeon (ill humour), fun, gag (?), gown, gyves, jag, knag, lad, lag, lass (?), loop, lubber, mug, noggin, nook, pilchard (?), pony, puck, pug, rub, shog, skip, taper, whin. As to some of these, there does not seem to be much known. I wish to say distinctly that I feel I am here treading on dangerous and uncertain ground, and that I particularly wish to avoid expressing myself with any certainty as to most of these words. The most likely words are those which can be connected with real Old Irish words, such as those to be found in the Glossary to Windisch's Old Irish Texts. Thus bran probably meant ' refuse,' and is connected with O. Irish bre'n, stinking, foul. Brat, originally a cloak, pinafore, agrees with O. Ir. brat, a cloak. Clock \ O. Irish cloc, a bell. Cub ; O. Ir. cuib, a dog. Culdee is certainly Celtic ; from O. Ir. cele De', servant or associate of God, where De is the gen. of Dia, God. Fun ; O. Ir./onn, a tune, a song. Lag ; O. Ir. lac, lag, weak, feeble. Brill is Cornish ; cf. W. brith, spotted. § 412. I now pass on to consider the words, which, though found in A. S., are nevertheless probably of Celtic origin. Such words are but few. Amongst them are : bannock, a kind of cake, A. S; bannuc ^ ; cf. Gael, bonnach, a bannock. Brock, a badger, A. S. broc ; certainly Celtic ; Irish, Gaelic and Manx broc, Welsh and Breton broch"^. Cart, A. S. crest, O. Irish cret. Clout, A. S. clut, Ir. and Gael. clud. Combe, a hollow in a hill-side, A. S. cumb, Welsh cwm. Perhaps cradle, A. S. cradol, is also Celtic ; cf. Irish craidhal, Gael. ^ Dr. Murray quotes ^ Bucellam semiplenam, healfne bannuc' as a gloss given in Haupt's Zeitschrift, ix. 463. ^ Cognate with Gk. (pop/cos, gray. Gg 2 453 THE CELTIC ELEMENT. creathall, a cradle ; in fact, a more primitive form, without the suffix, is seen in W. C7yd, a shaking, also a cradle, O. Irish crith, a shaking ; cf. Gk. Kpa8-deiv, to quiver ; so that a cradle is named from being rocked. Crock, A. S. croc, also crocca ; Gael, crog, W. crockan, Ir. crogan, O. Ir. crocan. Down, dune A. S. diln, a hill ; O. Irish dUn, a fort (built on a hill) ; the cognate original E. word is tun, an enclosure, town. Dun, i. e. brown, A. S. dunji ; O. Ir. donn, brown (whence Don as a Celtic river-name). Slough, A. S. sloh (stem sldg-') ; per- haps Celtic ; see Etym. Dictionary. Mattock, A. S. mattuc, may also be Celtic, as we also have W. 7natog and Gael. madag] but these words look very like loan-words from English. Hence the E. words found in A. S., but of Celtic origin, are perhaps these, viz. bannock, brock, cart, clout, combe, cradle, crock, down (hill), dun, slough, I doubt if the list can be much increased. The net result is, that the Old Celtic element in English is very small, and further research tends rather to diminish than increase it. The greater part of the Celtic words in English consists of comparatively late borrowings ; and the whole sum of them is by no means large. A wild com- parison of English words with modern Celtic forms, such as is so commonly seen in many dictionaries, savours more of ignorance than of prudence. CHAPTER XXIII. The Scandinavian or Scandian Element. § 413. It has long been understood that many words found their way into literary English, and still more into several of our provincial dialects, from the language spoken by the Northmen of Scandinavia, at the time of their numerous incursions in the ninth and tenth centuries. Moreover, there were actually Danish sovereigns upon the English throne from A.D. 1016 till 1 04 1. The period when this influence was greatest may be roughly dated between 850 and 1050, or more exactly, between 950 and 1050. But it is a very remarkable fact that, speaking broadly, the words thus intro- duced made their way into literary English at a very slow rate, so that it is often difficult to find examples of their use before about the year 1200 \ Nevertheless we may rest assured, from our knowledge of the historical facts, that words of this class properly belong to the period before, rather than after i the Norman conquest. § 414. The language spoken by the Northmen was a kind of Old Danish, but has frequently been called Old Norse. As Norse properly means Norwegian, this is not a good name for it, being too limited. The same objection really applies, at the present day, to Old Danish also I It is better ^ One of the very earliest examples is the word call, borrowed from the Old Scandinavian verb kall-a. It is Englished as cealliaii in the poem on the Battle of Maldon, which is dated, in the A. S, Chronicle, in the year 993". The poem was composed just after the battle. ^ Yet the old title ' Donsk tunga,' or Danish tongue, was once used as 454 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXI I L to enlarge the title by calling it Old Scandinavian, and it is usual to drop the adjective * Old/ because it is understood that the borrowings from Scandinavian nearly all took place, as far as we can tell, at an early period. The only objection to the tide ' Scandinavian ' is its length ; on which account I shall take the liberty to shorten it to ' Scandian,' which is equally explicit^. § 415. Owing to the colonisation of Iceland by the North- men in 874-934, the Old Scandian has been fairly well pre- served in Iceland to the present day; in fact, the language has suffered so little alteration, owing to the careful culti- vation of the language and the early codification of the Icelandic law, that Scandian is almost synonymous with Ice- landic ; and it is by the help of Icelandic that we can best discover the true forms of Scandian words. Indeed, if we go so far as to say that certain English words are directly borrowed or derived from Icelandic, we usually express the fact, for philological purposes, with quite sufficient exactness, and no harm is done. I have already shewn that, owing to the scanty remains of the Old Northumbrian and Old Mercian dialects, we are constantly obliged, in practice, to speak of English words as being derived from Anglo-Saxon, i.e. from the dialect of Wessex ; whereas we know, at the same time, that the word is far more likely to have belonged to Old Mercian, or even to the Old Anglian of Northumbria (§ 31). Precisely in the same way, it is frequently convenient to speak of words as being derived from Icelandic ; and, in the absence of better materials, it is the best we can do. See p. 76. It should particularly be remarked that the Anglians a wide and general term for Scandinavian ; see Danskr in the Icelandic Dictionary. At a later period, the term employed was Normna or Norse. ^ The name ' Scandinavia ' occurs in Pliny's Natural History, bk. iv. c. 13, where it is vaguely used of an island of uncertain size. But in c. 16, he speaks of the island of ' Scandia,' which probably means pre- cisely the same country. See Lewis and Short's Latin Dictionary. § 415.1 ICELANDIC. 455 were themselves Scandians, as they came from the district of Angeln^, which lies between the towns of Flensborg and Sleswig, in the south of Jutland. The difference between the language of the Angles and of the invading Northmen must have been but slight, and there is no doubt that they could well understand one another. There is not much exaggeration in the statement in the Saga of Gunnlaugr Ormstunga, cap. 7, that there was at that time (the eleventh century) ' the same tongue in England as in Norway and Denmark.' An earlier and more important statement is that of the author of the first grammatical treatise prefixed to Snorra Edda, from about 1150: — ' Englishmen write English with Latin letters such as represent the sound correctly. . . . Following their example, since we are of one language, although the one may have changed greatly, or each of them to some extent ... I have framed an alphabet for us Ice- landers/ &c. ; Sn. Edd. ii. 12.; Dahlerup and F. Jonsson, Den forste og anden gramm. Af handling i Snorres Edda, Kjoben- havn, 1886, p. 20. Hence it is hardly possible to say, in the absence of evidence, whether a given word of Scandian origin was introduced by the Northmen or by the Angles before them. We may, however, usually attribute to the Northmen such provincial words (not found in A. S.) as occur in the modern Northumbrian and Anglian dialects, i. e. the dialects of the Lowlands of Scotland, the North of England, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Sufi"olk, and even Essex, Cambridgeshire, and counties lying still further to the west ^. I also take occasion to make here an important remark, which I do not remember to have seen hitherto elsewhere, viz. that our own Scando- EngHsh words sometimes present forms more archaic than ^ ' If you look at a map of Denmark or of Northern Germany, you will see on the Baltic Sea a little land called Angeln.'' — Freeman, Old Eng. Hist., p. I. I have looked in several maps, vi^ithout finding any such name. Only the best atlases recognise it. ^ Scandian words may also be traced in many places lying on the coast, and even up the Severn and other large rivers. 456 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. are to be found in Icelandic. Thus the word brink presents the combination nk, which has been assimilated in Icelandic into kk, the Icel. form being hrekka. Swedish and Danish have brmk, like English. We must always bear in mind the possibility of such a result. § 416. As I have considered, in Chapter V, the English long vowels, as compared with Anglo-Saxon, I shall now likewise consider the same (in words of Scandian origin), as compared with Icelandic. The Icel. a (long a). The modern Icel. a is pronounced like ow in cow, but the original pronunciation must have been the same as that of the A. S. long a, which had the sound of aa in haa. See Sweet, Icel. Primer, p. i. Consequently, it shared the fortunes of the A. S. a, and passed into the M. E. long (pronounced as oa in broad), and finally into the modern E. long o, as in stone^ bo7ie. By referring to the tables in § 8o, we see that the Icel. a commonly corresponds to the A. S. a or 6, Swed. a, Dan. aa, Goth, e, Teut. :e. Examples. E. both^ Icel. bdd-ir\ from *M, both, and peir, they ; cf. A. S. bd, M. E. bo, with the same sense. E. bore, sb., a tidal surge in a river, Icel. bdr-a, a billow caused by wind ; cf. Swed. dial. ^ bar, a mound. E. fro, Icel. frd, from ; hence the "Sid^]. fro-war d, i. e. from-ward, perverse. E. low, adj., Icel. Idg-r, where the -r is a characteristic suffix of the nom. case, like the (equivalent and older) -s so common in Gothic. E. oaf (put for '^oaf, the / being dropped as in half2,YA calf), Icel. dlf-r, an elf; Chaucer uses elv-ish with the sense of ' simple,' C. T. Group B, 1893 5 j^^^ ^^ the Icel. dlfa-legr, i. e. elf-like, means ' silly.' Similarly the Icel. bldr, livid, dark blue, became M. E. bio, livid; but is only preserved in the dialectal variant seen in Lowl. Sc. blae ; whence blae-berry, a bilberry. So also Icel. brd (cognate with E. brow) only appears in the Lowl. Sc. ^ Swedish dialectal words are taken from Rietz's Sveqltgi Dialect- Lexicon. § 4i8.] ICELANDIC LONG I, 457 brae, the brow of a hill, M. E. hro. (The latter word is not Celtic, as is wrongly said in my Dictionary.) § 417. The Icelandic 6 (long e). This vowel com- monly answers to Swed. a, Dan. ce. In modern Icelandic, a parasitic j/-sound is heard before the vowel, so that it sounds like the E. word yea : but the original vowel was free from this, and sounded like the A. S. /, or like ee in the German See. It therefore becomes ee in mod. E., just as the A. S. / does. I only know of two examples, viz. E. kneel, Dan. kncBl-e, from Dan. hicE, Icel. k7ie', knee; and E. lee, as a nautical term, from Icel. hie, lee (as in E. use), orig. ' shelter'; cf. Dan. l(E, Swed. Id, lee, A. S. hleow, a covering, protection, shelter. The A. S. word is preserved in the prov. E. lezu, shelter. § 418. The Icelandic i (long i). The mod. 'Icel. f still preserves the old sound, viz. that of the A. S. i, or ee in beet. It is also preserved in Danish and Swedish, whereas in modern Dutch and German the vowel has become a diph- thong, having the same sound as mod. E. long i in bite. But in E. words of Scandian origin it has usually shared the same fate as in native words; as might be expected. There are, however, one or two interesting exceptions, so that the examples fall into two separate sets accordingly. (a.) E. leech, as a nautical term, meaning the border or edge of a sail ; Icel. lik, also lik-sima, a leech-line ; Swed. lik, a bolt-rope ; stdende liken, the (standing) leeches. E. sleek, adj., M. E. silk ; Icel. slik-r, sleek, smooth. The E. slick is the same word, with a shortened vowel. E. shriek, M. E. schrich-en ; another form of which is screech, M. E. scrich-en ; Icel. skrikja, to titter with suppressed laughter ; Swed. skrika, to shriek. The Icel. skrcr.kja, to shriek, comes nearer in sense ; but we do not find an M. E. form "^screech- en ; and it is remarkable that Shakespeare uses scriich, though his editors often turn it into screech. (b.) E. grime, a smudge, esp. on the face (cf. ' be-grimed 458 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. with soot'); Icel. grim-a, a disguise, mask; Swed. dial. grim-a, a smut on the face ; Dan. grim, grime. E. liken ; Swed. likna, orig. to be like, resemble. E. ri/e ; Icel. rif-r, O. Swed. ny, abundant. E. rive; Icel. rif-a, Swed. ri/v-a, Dan. ri'v-e, to tear. E. snipe \ Icel. snip-a^ as in myri-snipa, a moor-snipe. E. skive, a thin slice ; Icel. skif-a, Dan. skive, Swed. skifva. E. shrike, the butcher-bird, Icel. sol-skrik-ja, a shrike, lit. ' sun-shrieker.' E. like, a dog, a low fellow ; Icel. lik, Swed. lik, a bitch. The difficult E. gibe, jibe, seems to* answer to Swed. 6\2\.gip-a {Icel. geip-a), to talk nonsense; cf. Swed. mun-gipa, the corner of the mouth ; Norweg. geip-a, to grin, make grimaces. § 419. The Icelandic 6 (long o). Pronounced as A. S. 6, or the German o in so. It would therefore regularly be- come the mod. E. oo in boot It appears as long o in Swedish and Danish. Examples. («.) E. bloom, s.; Icel. blom, bl6m-i, abloom, a flower. E. boon ; Icel. bon. E. loon, the name of a water-bird, more correctly called loom in Shetland ; Icel. I6m-r, Swed. and Dan. lom, a loon. E. root; Icel. rot, Swed. rot. E. scoop; Swed. skop-a. E. ioom, empty ; Icel. tom-r ; Swed. and Dan. torn. (b.) The long o is preserved in E. bow-line, Icel. bog-Una^, Swed. boglina, but is altered in the simple word bovo (of a ship) ; see below. (r.) The long o also becomes ou (as in cow) in English, owing to the influence of a following guttural. E. bow (of a ship) ; Icel. bog-r, Swed. ^c^, the shoulder of an animal, the bow or ' shoulder ' of a ship ; the cognate A, S. word is boh^ an arm, also the branch of a tree, which has become the mod. E. bough, with precisely the same sound, though spelt diff"erently. E. plough, A. S. ploh, very rare and only a bor- rowed word from Scandian ; Icel. plog-r, Swed. plog ; but it ^ ' The alleged O. N. boglina occurs only in ... a rimed glossary com- posed probably in Orkney, and full of foreign terms ' ; Murray's Diet. §420.1 ICELANDIC LONG U, 459 is remarkable that the Scandian word was also borrowed, and the origin of this word, so widely spread not only in the Teutonic but also in the Slavonic languages, is still undis- covered. The true A. S. word was sulh, whence prov. Southern E. zooP. E. slouch, orig. a sb. meaning ' a slouch- ing fellow ' ; Icel. sl6k-r, with the same sense ; cf. Swed. slok-a, to droop. § 420. The Icelandic li (long u). Also long u in Swedish and Danish, and still preserving the old sound. It answers to A. S. u, and should therefore pass into mod. E. ou, as it usually does. But in a few words, which I give first, the old sound is retained. {a) E. booth; Icei. bu9. E. cruse; Icel. krus. E. droop; Icel. drup-a. E. gruesome, grewsome, horrible ; cf. Pan. gru, horror. Related words are E. Friesic gru-s-en, to shudder ; G. grau-en, to shudder, grau-sam, horrible ; the last of these is formed in the same way as the E. word. Hexham's Old Du. Diet, also gives ' grouwsaem, horrible, abhominable, or detestable.' E. hoot; O. Swed. hut-a {ut en\ to hoot (one out); Swed. hut/ begone! E. pooh, interj.; Icel. pu, the same. In the words hus-band, hus-tings, both derivatives from Icel. hus, a house, the u has been shortened by the accentual stress, and then ' unrounded.' See Chap. XXV. {b.) E. boun-d, adj., ready to go (with excrescent d) ; Icel. bHinn, prepared, pp. of bi2-a. E. cow, v.; Icel. kHg-a, to tyrannise over, Dan. ku-e, to coerce. E. cower; Icel. kur-a, Dan. kur-e, to lie quiet, doze ; Swed. kur-a, to doze, roost (as birds). E. down (i), soft plumage ; Icel. dunn, Swed. dun, Dan. dun or duun. E. rouse (i), to stir up, orig. intransitive, to rush (out of covert) ; Swed. rus-a, Dan. rus-e, to rush. E rouse (2), a drinking-bout (Shakespeare) ; Swed. rus, Dan. ruus, drunkenness. Hence perhaps E. row (3), a disturbance, tip- * ' Sewlf Sule, pronounced zule [^glossic zeol or zuel], sb. a plow (the only name) ' — referring to West Devon ; Reprinted Glossaries, E. D. S., B. 6. 74. 460 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIIT. roar ; by dropping the final s, as in shay for chaise^ pea iox pease, &c. E. scout {2), to ridicule (an idea) ; Icel. skut-a, a taunt, skuf-yrcli, reproaches, lit. ' scout-words.' E. scowl ; Dan. skul-e, to scowl, cast down the eyes. E. snout; Swed. snut-a, Dan. snud-e (for ^snut-e), E. Friesic snut-a, snut; cf. G. Schnauze. E. spout (put for ''^sprout, like speak for ^spreak) ; Swed. sput-a, occasional form of sprut-a, to squirt, spout; Dan. sprud-e (for *sprut-e), to spout. E. sp7^out, really the same word ; E. Friesic sprut-en, to sprout. The Icel. spretta means both to spout or spirt, and to sprout ; cf. G. spritzen^ spriessen, both from the same root. E. out-law ; Icel. ut- Idg-i, the same. To these we may add the verb to doze, which should rather have become "^'douze; Swed. dial, dus-a, to doze, slumber, Norweg. dusa, to repose ; Icel. dura (for ^dusa), to nap, doze. Mutation. § 421. The z-mutation of A. S. vowels has already been explained in § 181; the results being that the original vowels in the row marked (A) below were changed to the secondary or mutated vowels in the row marked (B), whenever the letter i occurred in the following syllable in the original form of the derived word. (A) a o u ; a 6 li ; ea, eo ; ea, eo. (B) e y y ; ^ e y ; ie (y) ; ie (y). The z-mutations in Icelandic are very similar to these, and may be thus arranged. Cf. Sweet, Icel. Primer, p. 4. (A) a(o) o u(o) ; a 6 u ; e(ja, jo) ; au ; jii (jo). (B) e 6 y ; 86 ce y ; i ; ey ; f. The Icel. ce is always long, and its sound agreed with that of the A. S. cB. The Icel. ce, though of different origin, is frequently written ce. In the modern language, both ce and ce are sounded alike, with the diphthongal sound of E. i in bite. §423.] ICELANDIC LONG ^. 461 I shall now continue the history of the long vowel y and of the diphthongs. § 422. The Icelandic y (long y). This was sounded like A. S.y, or G. u in griin, and the same is true of the Swed. and Dan. long_y. The Swed. and Dan. long j/ still keeps its old sound, but the Icel.y is now i (E. ee in beef). Like the M. E.J/, this sound was completely confused (in English) with long i (A. S. i), and consequently becomes the mod. E. i in hite. As seen above, it properly arises from an z-mutation of long u, or oiju or jo. Examples. E. fie ! Icel. fy, Swed. and Dan. Jy ! E. mtre, Icel. myrr^ modern myri, a bog ; Swed. myr-a, Dan. myr-e, myr. E. shy, adj. ; Dan. sky^ shy ; cf. Swed. and Norweg. skygg, E. Friesic schoi (G. scheii) ; the primitive diphthong occurs in A. S. sceoh, timid, where A. S. /(?-=Icel. jo. E. sky; Icel. sky, Swed. and Dan. sky, a cloud; the primitive diphthong occurs in the O. Saxon form skio, sky; cf. also A. S. scu-a, shade. E. snite, v., to wipe the nose ; Icel. S7iyt-a, Swed. snyt-a, Dan. snyd-e (for s?tyt-e), to wipe the snout; derived by mutation from Swed. snut, snout. Thus snyt-a=^snut-ja. § 423. The Icelandic long se. This was originally sounded like A. S. d, or E. e in there'^. Consequently, it passed regularly into later E. ea or ee. The old sound is preserved in Swed. a, Dan. cb, which are corresponding letters. We may divide the examples into those which contain E. ea ; those which contain E. ee ; and those which give the sound of E. I in biie, which is the sound of mod. Icel. cb. Examples, {a) E. scream, M. E. screm-en ; Icel. skrcem-a, Swed. skrdm-e, Dan. skrcemm-e, to scare, terrify ; here the E. word has preserved the original sense of the word, viz. 'to cry aloud,' the sense 'to scare ' being secondary. E. seat; ' The Tcel. cb and ce are now confused. The Icel. ce (z-mutation of 6) was" different in origin, and equivalent to Swed. and Dan. ; in Eng- land it was identified with / (z- mutation of 6), and passed into E. ee. 462 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. Icel scBi-i, Swed. sdt-e < . . || sdi-um [i. e. derived by vowel- change from a base ^ parallel to that of sdt-u7n\, pt. t. pi. of sitja, to sit. E. squeak; Swed. sqvdk-a, to croak, E. squeal; Swed. sqvdl-a, to squeal. {b) E. sneer, M. E. sner-en, to deride ; Dan. sncerr-e, to grin like a dog, snarl. Here also we may place E. seemly, adj. ; Icel. scBmilig-r, seemly, from scBm-r, becoming, fit. But in this case the ce was originally oe ; cf. Icel. somi, honour, soma, to beseem, become; Dan. sommelig, seemly, from somme, to beseem. {c) E. eider-duck, a late word, pronounced with ei as i in biie, though some pronounce it as ee in beei] Icel. cB^r, an eider-duck. E. fry (2), the spawn of fishes, M. E./r/; Icel. JrcB,/rj6, spawn, fry, Swed. and Dan.yro, Goih.. fraiw. [In this case the word seems to have been derived through the French, as we find the Anglo-French forms frie, fry, in the Liber Albus, pp. 507, 508.] E. sly, M. E. sly, sley; Icel. slceg-r ; Swed. and Dan. slug. Here, however, the vowel is (E, and it is connected with slog-, stem of pt. pi. of sld, to strike; the orig. sense was, accordingly, dexterous with the hammer, cunning at a craft, which is the M. E. sense. Hence also E. sleight, Icel. sloeg-d, slyness, cunning, dex- terity. ( . . e. E. heck, a brook 3 Icel. bekk-r, Swed. hack ; see G. Bach in Kluge. E. dregs ; Swed. drdgg. E. ged^ a pike (fish), lce\.gedd-a, is doubtless a derivative of ^<7^^-r, a spike; the fish is called pike in English on account of its thin shape. E. keg; Icel. kaggi. E. ken, M. E. kennen, to teach, also to know; \z€i.ken7ia {QiQ\k\.kannjan), Y.. smelt \ ^w^d. S7?idlt-a, E. hinge, M. E. henge ; from Icel. heng-ja, to hang ; cf. E. hang. See § 192. o > . . y. E. drip, M. E. drypp-e?z ; Dan. drypp-e, to drip < . . II Icel. drop-id, pp. oi drjup-a, to drop, drip. Y.. filly, Icel. fyl-ja < . . fol-i, a foal, Goth.y^//-^. E. flit\ Icel. flytja, to remove, used reflexively 2i'& fly t-ja-sk, to flit < . . Wflot-inn, pp. oi fljota, to float. E. lift^ Icel. lypt-a (pronounced as lyft-d), to exalt in air < . . Icel. lopt (pron. as loff), air, Goth, luft-us. So also shirty skirt, skittish, skittles. See §193. u > . . y. E. skim, i. e. to take off scum, answers to an Icel. '^skym-ja, not found ; cf. Swed. skumm-a, Dan. skumm-e. to skim, from Swed. and Dan. skum, scum. This is a remark- able instance in which the E. form is more archaic than the known Scandian forms ^ See § 194. Other mutations have already been exemplified in the ^ Yet we have Swed. skymma, to darken, from skum, obscure. Prac- tically, these are equivalent words ; for E. sctwi, s., means a 'covering,' and Swed. sktim means ' covering,' i. e. obscuring. All from the root SKU, to cover. VOL. I. H h 456 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXTII. words S7iite, § 422, p. 461; seat, § 423 {a), p. 462; geysir, steep, tryst, § 426, p. 464. It remains to be said that there is also a ^-mutation, changing a into ; thus dag-r, a day, makes dog-um in the dative plural. In this way we may explain E. barJi (of a tree), from Icel. bork-r (stem bartz-ii) ; and E. brindled, iox- merly brt7ided, as in Shakespeare (Macb. iv, i. i), from Icel. brmd-ottr, brindled, lit. marked as with a brand ; cf. brbnd- um, dat. pi. of brand-r, a brand. E. ledge answers to Icel. logg, the ledge or rim at the bottom of a cask < . . || ^'lag (now ld\ pt. t. of liggja, to lie. § 429. Gradation. The Icelandic vowel-gradation has already been given, in § 153. Omitting conjugation i, we have (2) skak-a, to shake, pt. t. sk6k\ (3) ber-a, to bear, bar, bdr-um, hor-inn (where bar is the pt. t. s. ist person, bdrum is the pt. t. pi. ist person, and borinn is the pp.); (4) gef-a, to give, gaf, gdf-um, gef-inn ; (5) drekk-a, to drink, drakk, drukk-um, drukk-inn ; (6) drif-a, to drive, dreif, dj-if-iim, drif- inn] (7) kj6s-a, to choose, kaus, kus-um, kos-inn. More briefly : shake, a, 6 ; bear, e, a, a, o ; give, e, a, a, e ; drink, e, a, u, u ; drive, i, ei, i, i ; choose, jo, au, u, o. These gradations appear in derivatives from strong verbs, which I shall here only enumerate ; they can easily be worked out by help of my Dictionary. Some of these derivatives exhibit mutation as well. [Dregs exhibits mutation only.) 6'^a^^-conjugation : bloo-m, dregs. Cf. § 172. 6^2Z'^-conjugation : seat, wag. Cf. § 174. i)rz>z/('-conjugation : baitd, brind-ed, brind-led, bru7i-t, clain- b-er, shing-le (coarse round crunching or ' singing ' gravel), slang, stang. Cf. § 175. -Drzz'^-conjugation : bait, dirt, raid, raise, rift, sway, § 176- C^(? b; dibble, from dip ; dribble, from drip ; flabby, from flap ; gaby, hom gape ; jumble, {xovajump. See also gibe, nab, snob, siiub, squab, squabble in my Dictionary. Also k > g\ as mfog, hug, slug, smug, snug; scragg-y, probably allied to shrink; stagger, M. E. stakeren; sprag, for sprak (Merry Wives, iv. I. 84). T>d; as in scud, with its frequentative scutt-le; allied to shoot. F > v, as in rive, thrive, thrave, Icel. rif-a, prif-a, pref-i; the Icel. y being voiceless. S > z; as in craze, daze, Swed. kras-a, das-a, the Scand. s being voiceless ; ^ See the whole passage, cited in Ilalliwell's Dictionary, Introd. p. xxi, col. 2 ; and see p. 486 below. 472 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. SO also in maze^ doze. The same is true with regard also to raise, queasy, rouse; but our spelling takes no note of it. Englishmen mispronounce the Icel. geysir with the sound of 2r, and even turn the ey into E. ee ; as if it were geezer. See note i on p. 475. § 436. Vocalisation of voiced letters. See § 362 (3). The medial or final Scand. g is frequently vocalised, as in /aw?i = lct\./agna; so also in bow [oi a ship), ^«z>/, profit, how, a hill, low, adj., low, lowe, a flame, roe, spawn (Icel. hrogn). Sometimes the g has been previously voiced from k, as m flaw, Sv/ed. flaga, allied \o flake\ fraught, Dan. fragt-e, ^wedi./rakt-a. ■^= — § 437. Assimilation. See § 362 (4). This is a marked 4 ' feature of Icelandic, which has, for example, the forms -\j drekk-a, drakk, drukk-i7in, in place of our drink, drafik, dru7ik. '^ Examples are seen in brad, M. E. brad, brad, Icel. brodd-r, \ a spike, A. S. brord, Teut. brozda ; gad, a wedge of steel, a ^5^ goad, Icel. gadd-r, Goth, gazd-s, Teut. gazda ; ill, Icel. ill-r, ill-r i^ — '^yflr), cognate with K.S.y/el, whence E. evil) odd, [5 Icel. odd-i, orig. a triangle, allied to odd-r, a point, cognate with A. S. ord, Teut. uzda ; ruck, a crease, wTinkle, Icel. hrukk-a, Svved. rynk-a. Ransack is from Icel. rann-saka, to search a house, where ra7in (for "^razn = ^'rasn) is cognate with the Gothic razn, a house. The Northern Y.. force, a waterfall, is the O. \Q,€\..fors, mod. \Q.€i.foss. E. briiik, Dan. and Swed. brink, is assimilated to brekka in Icelandic. § 438. Substitution. See § 362 (5). 7^ is substituted for k in nasly, formerly 7iasky ; and in 77iill, substituted for TTiilk (cf. Swed. vij'dlke, milt), by confusion with E. 7?iilt, the spleen. Flauni answers to Swed. dial. fla7ika, to waver, to be tossed about ^. Sh is put for final s m gush, flush] § 434, p. 471. A very curious substitution is that of sledge for sleds^ a plural which was mistaken for a singular. ^ Rietz gives the example : okstokken flanklir pa vago som en span, the little boat is tossed about on the waves like a chip. § 441.] UNVOICING. 473 § 439. Metathesis. See § 362 (6). Gas-p is probably for gaps; § 433, p. 469. R is shifted in dh't, M. E. drit, Icel. driL § 440. Contraction. See § 363. Aphesis or loss of initial h occurs before / in lee; and probably in leak (cf. A.S. hlec-e, leaky) and in lurk ; before n, in neif, fist, and nigg-ard; before r, in rap, to seize hastily, rape, haste, rape, a county division in Sussex, roe, spawn, ruck, a fold, crease, ruck, a heap, ruth. Initial w is lost in rack, vapoury cloud, IceL rek^ drift, sky-rek, drifting clouds, put for * wrek ^ ; also in root, Icel. rot, if it be allied to wort. Initial th is lost in ridi?jg, by confusion between North thriding and North riding. Medial voiced /// {dJi) is lost in bask, put for '^bathsk (^badhsk). Final th is lost in quandary, a corruption of M. E. wandreth (Icel. vandrcedi). A d is lost in wall-eyed, put for wald-eyed (Icel. vald-eygdr, itself a corruption of vagl-eygr). In the Wars of Alexander, both forms occur, viz. wald-eyed ( = Icel. vald-eygdr), 1. 608, and wawil-eyed { = Icq\. vagl-eygr), 1. 1706. F is lost before / in whirl, put for '^ivhirfle, Icel. hvirfla ; and after r in wherry, answering to Icel. hverfr, easily turned, crank, unsteady (said of a boat). Doubtless more examples of various kinds of contraction might be added; and perhaps one of the most curious instances of loss of a final letter occurs in the word roe (of a fish). This is the Lowl. Sc. roun, raun, Lincolnsh. roa?i, mistaken for a plural (like shoo-n from shoe). Skinner, in 167 1, made this very mistake, for his Dictionary gives us : ' The Roan or Roes of fish, ova pisciuni! But the Icel. form is hrogn. § 441. Unvoicing of voiced consonants. See § 368. This process is rare, as the change is usually made the other way. Blunt IS used in the Ormulum, 16954, to signify dull in mind, and may be connected with Icel. blund-a^ to doze. Shunt is the M. E. shimt-en, to start aside, escape, a word so ^ Icelandic always drops w in initial wr ; Icel. reJz-a, to drive = A. S. wrec-a7i, E. wreak. 474 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. well preserved in the North of England that it has been re- vived in literary English from the language of our navvies. It is allied to Icel. skimd-a, to hasten, an extension of the verb to shun. § 442. Additions to the forms of words. See § 369. The most noticeable additions are due to the insertion of the excrescent letters b and d after m and b. Examples: lum-b-er, to rumble, Swed. dial, lojn-ra^ to resound, Swed. Ijiimm, a great noise ; stum-b-le., Swed. dial, stom-la^ Icel. stiim-ra. The history of the b in clamber and wimble is obscure. D is added after n in botm-d, i. e. ready to go, Icel. buinn ; and in boul-d-er, Swed. dial, buller-sieen, a large rolling stone, possibly from bullra, to thunder, crash. See Boulder in Murray's Diet. The n in squa-n-der seems to be an inser- tion, the Lowland Scotch word being squatter. The n in slatter-n is excrescent (after r), as in bitter-n (§ 347). The d in fofi-d is not excrescent, but a real addition, the M. E. form h&mg fomi-ed, formed as pp. oi fotm-en^ to act foolishly. Whisk contains a useless /z, and should be wisk (§ 434) ; a wish is properly a kind of wiper or brush, and ' to wisk past* contains the same metaphor as ' to brush past.' The / might seem to be intrusive in wind-l-ass, by confusion with wind- lace, a winding course ; the usual Icel. word being vind-dss (for ^'wind-dss), from vind-a, to wind, and ass, a pole. But Mr. Magnusson tells me that the Icel. form vindil-dss is also in common use, where vindil- is the stem of vifidill, a winder. Mid. Eng. also had the term windel, as iwyarn-windel, a reel for yarn ; see Prompt. Parv., p. 536. Hence windlass may be explained as put for windel-ass, where ass = Icel. ass. And in fact, I now find that the Prompt. Parv. actually has the expression ' wyndynge with wj/Jtdelas, or wyndas ' ; which may be held to setde this disputed point at last. § 443. Graphic changes. See § 371. Of course Scan- -dian words were spelt after an English fashion. The chief §443.1 GRAPHIC CHANGES. 475 exception is the modern E. word geysir \ which is spelt as in Icelandic, but pronounced as if turned into an E. geezer (§ 435). Many Icel. words begin with sk, where English uses sc and sk indiscriminately (434). A few peculiarities of Icelandic spelling may be here noticed. The vowels and diphthongs are numerous, viz. a, e, 2, 0, u,y', a, e, z, 6, y, w^here the accent denotes length ; au, €1, ey, cEy oe, o ^. The cb and (£ are both now sounded as E. 2 in di/e, and the same symbol (es) often does duty for both. In the sounds denoted by y^ and 72/, the / (E. jj/) is almost a vowel, mskingjo and 7'^ almost diphthongs, answer- ing to A. S. e'o; so also with regard to ja,Jd,ju, Jo. Initial //z is always voiceless, like E. /k in fh'n, and is denoted by J?. Medial and final /k is always voiced, like E. /h in /h's, and is denoted by ^^. V (though now sounded as E. v) had originally the sound of zo, and several E. words beginning with w are of Scandian origin, such as wag, want^ weak, wing. Similarly hv was originally sounded as A. S. hw (E. wli); so that E. whirl \?> from Icel. hvirfl-a {=hwirfl-a), they being dropped. We have needlessly turned the words tviking ■ and Walhalla into viking and valhalla ; as both words relate to very early times, the initial w is better. So also the symbol kv had originally the sound of kw, A. S. cWy E. qu\ the symbol q being hardly ever used. Thus E. queasy is from Icel. kveis [=^kweis), as in kveisa, colic. C is also disused, k being always employed for the /^-sound. Hence E. cast is from Icel. kast-a. Other particulars must be learnt from books that deal specially with the language. ^ Pronounce it as E. gay seer, trilling the r, and accenting gay ; and this will come somewhat near the right sound. ^ For the sounds of the Old Icelandic, see Sweet, Icel. Primer, and Vigfusson and Powell, Icel. Reader, p. 467.; for the modern sounds see Sweet's Handbook of Phonetics. ^ Mr. Magnusson considers the E. voiceless th as more nearly equiva- lent to Icel. ]?]?, and the E. voiced th as more like Icel. S(5. We may note that the Scand. / becomes t, and tS becomes d, in Swedish and Danish, as a general rule. Cf. A. S.ping, Swed. ting-. A, S. 7vid, Swed.md. 476 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII. § 444. Misuse of symbols See § 372. The Icelandic spelling is very good, but there is one peculiarity which does not seem to be a happy one. This is the rather frequent use of pt to represent the sound of _//, as in Icel. lopt^ pro- nounced loft (whence E. loft), and Icel. lypt-a, pronounced lyft-a (whence E. lift). This practice arose from a too close imitation of Latin spelling, in which // appears frequently, and/? not at all. Ft is now used also, and it would be well if its use were universal ; it occurs occasionally in very early MSS. § 445. Vowel- changes due to consonantal influence or other cause. See § 375. The clipping down to mono- syllables of words once dissyllabic often has the effect of lengthening a vowel. In the Icel. sala both «'s are properly short, but in the E. sale the a is now a diphthong (romic ei). So also in craze., daze, flake, gait (better gate)., hake, &c. This is even the case in haste, from O. Swed. hast-a. The Icel. e is lengthened in E. leak, Icel. lek-a ; E. neif, Icel. hnef-i, the fist ; E. thrave, Icel. pref-i, a number of sheaves. The Icel. i is lengthened in riding.^ a third part of a county ; Icel. pridjungr, a third part. The Icel. is lengthened in hole, Icel. hol-r ; and the u has become a diphthong in clown, Icel. klunn-i. The change of en into in in hinge, M.E. henge, from Icel. heng-ja, to hang, has been already noticed in § 377. So also E. fling, M. E. fling-en, fleng-e7i^, answers to O. Swed. fleng-a, to strike, Dan. fleng-e, to slash, Icel. fleng-ja, to whip, with the notion of violent action. On confluence of forms and homonyms, see §§ 385, 386. § 446. List of Compounds, of Scandian origin, in which the origin has been more or less obscured. A list of native words of this character has already been given in § 395 ; and maybe usefully supplemented by one in which the compounds are from Scandian elements. ' ^YLtflenges to sir Florent'; Morte Arthure, ed. Brock, 2762. §446.] COMPOUND WORDS, 477 Bulwark, really bole-work^ a work made of the boles or trunks of trees. Bylaw, a town-law, municipal law, from hy, sb., in the sense of ' town ' ; of. Whit-hy^ Der-by, &c. Usually misunder- stood as being compounded with the preposition by. Fellow, lit. a partner in a ' laying together of property,' or in an association relating to ownership. Icel. fe-lag-i, a partner in a fe-lag ; from fe, property (E. fee), and lag, a laying together, an association. Fetlock, a tuft or lock of hair growing behind the pastern- joint of horses. Not, as might be supposed, a direct deriva- tive from feet, but only allied to foot in a more circuitous manner. This is proved by the occurrence of a M. H. G. vtzzeloch, cited by Kluge, s. v. Fuss (but not in Schade), sig- nifying the hinder part of a horse's foot, and of an O. Du. vi/lok, viislok, which (says Wedgwood) is given by Halma, s. V. /anon. Kluge concludes that the first syllable is due to a base/"^/- (allied io/oot), which appears in Iceh /el, a pace, step ; cf. also lce\. fit, the webbed foot of water-birds, the web or skin of the feet of animals. Indeed, we have the samey^/- in om /etl-er, which may be compared with Lat. ped-ica. Flotsam, goods lost in shipwreck, and left floating on the waves ; compounded of Icel. flot- (as seen in flol/ufidinn, found afloat), and the suffix -sam, Icel. -sam-r, the same suffix as E. -some\ see p. 262. Furlough, a military term of Swedish origin, though it may have come to us through the Du. form verlo/ It is the Swedi./dr-lo/ leave ; compounded of S wed. /"or- (=E.y^r-, prefix), and lo/ praise, also leave, permission ; cf G. Verlaub, leave. Lo/ is cognate with G. lob (and -laub in Ver-laub), and allied to E. leave and lie/ Gantlet, Gauntlet, in the phrase ' to run the gauntlet ' ; corrupted, by confluence with gauntlet, a glove, from the older form gantlope, which again is altered from Swed. gat-lopp, a 'running down the lane' formed by two files of soldiers who 478 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT, [Chap. XXIII. Strike the offender as he passes. From Swed. gata, a lane, street, and lopp, a running, which is from l'6p-a, to run (E. leap\ Thus gant-let = ' gate-leap '; taking ga/e in the sense of street, way. Greyhound ; Icel. grey-hundr. The Icel. grey is used alone in the same sense, and Icel. grey-baka means a bitch. The origin oi grey is unknown; it does not meaner ay (Icel. grdr). Handsel, Hansel, first instalment of a bargain. Icel. hand-sal, the conclusion of a bargain by shaking hands ; but literally ' hand-sale.' Harbour ; Icel. her-bergi, lit. ' army-shelter.' Husband, lit. ' dweller in a house,' and so the goodman of the house. Icel. hus-bondz, the goodman of a house, from hus, house; and bojidi—buandi, dwelling in, pres. pt. oi bua, to dwell. (In no way allied to band.) Hussif, a case for needles ; due to confusion with hussif = house- wife. But the Icel. word is simply hilst, a case. Hustings, properly Husting ; A. S. hus-ting^ borrowed from Icel. hus-ping, a council, lit. ' house-thing.' Jetsam, things thrown overboard from a wreck. Formed by adding the Icel. sufiix -sam-r to the base of F. jett-er^ to throw. See Flotsam. Jollyboat, lit. yawl-boat ; from Vi2J!\.jolle, a yawl. Keelson, a piece of timber next a ship's keel. Sw^ed. kdl-svin, lit. 'keel-swine'; probably a corruption of the Norweg. term kjdl-svil, a keelson, lit. ' keel-silP.' [I find that Koolman, in his E. Friesic Dictionary, s. v. kol-svin, gives, independently, the same solution.] Kidney, M. E. ktdfiere, kidneer ; from Icel. kvid-r, womb, belly, and nyra, a kidney. Narwhal, the sea-unicorn ; Swed. 7iar-hval, Icel. nd- hval-r, lit. ' corpse-whale ' ; from its (occasional) pallid colour. ^ Another Old Icel. name for the same was kjol-syja (or simply syja), lit. ' keel-suture ' ; from syja, to sew. §446.] COMPOUND WORDS. 479^ Quandary, perhaps the same as M. E. wandreth, evil plight, peril; Icel. vand-rcEd-i, difficulty, trouble. From Icel. vand-r, difficult ; with suffix -rcEcft ( = E. -red in hat-red). Rakehell, a dissolute man, a late corruption of M. E. rakel, rash ; Swed. dial, rakkel, Icel. reikall, vagabond. From Icel. reik-a, to wander. Now shortened to rake. Ransack ; Icel. rann-sak-a, to search a house ; from ra7m, a house (Goth, razn) and sak-, base of scck-ja, to seek, cognate with A. S. se'c-an. Riding (of Yorkshire) ; for '^thriding^ Icel. pridjung-r, a third part. Spick and Span-new, lit. ' spike-and-spoon-new,' where spike is a point, nail, and spoon is a chip ; new as a nail just made or a chip just cut. Icel. spdn-nyr, span-new, new as a chip ; from span, a chip, a spoon. Tungsten, a heavy metal. Swed. tungsten, lit. ' heavy stone ' ; Icel. pimg-r, heavy. Valhalla, better Walhall, the hall of the slain; Icel. vaiholl (gen. case valhatiar). From Icel. val-r, the slain, car nage ; holl, hall, a hall. Viking, better Wiking. Icel. viking-r, O. Icel. ""wiking-r, a creek-dweller ; from Icel. vik, O. Icel. "^wik, a creek, bay, with suffix -ing-r, belonging to. Wall-eyed, said of a horse ; Icel. valdeygdr, corruption of vagl-eygr, lit. ' beam-eyed ' ; from vagi, a beam, also a disease in the eye; and eyg-r, formed by mutation from aug-a, eye. See p. 473. Wapentake, a district ; Icel. vdpna-tak, lit. ' weapon- touching,' hence a vote of consent expressed by men touch- ing their weapons ; finally, a district governed by one elected by such a vote. Walrus ; a Dutch spelling of a Scand. word ; Du. walrus, from Dan. hval-ros, lit. whale-horse. Cf. A. S. hors-hwcel, a horse-whale, seal. The Icel. form rosm-hvalr has not been explained. 480 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. Whitlow, historically a corruption of quick-flaw, 2. flaw in the quick or sensitive part of the finger near the nail. The yNox^flaiv is Scandian ; Swed.yf^^^, a flake, crack. Cf. Icel. flaka, to gape as a wound. See § 436, p. 472. Windlass, shortened from M. E. wifidelas, Prompt. Parv., p. 529 ; from Icel. vindil-dss, more commonly vind-dss ; from vind-a, to wind, and ass, a pole, rounded beam. See p. 474. Window, i. e. ' wind-eye,' an eye or hole to admit air and light. Icel. vind-auga, a window ; from vind, wind, and auga, eye. Note on Modern Scandian Words. I may here add, by way of postscript, that the words borrowed from Scandinavian languages in the modern period, since 1500, are very few. The following list is taken from my Dictionary. From Icelandic : geysir, saga. (The latter is given in my Diet, as Scandinavian ; but is properly Icelandic.) From Swedish : dahlia, flounce, \., flounder (a fish), gantlet (in the phrase run the gantlet or gantlope), kink, slag, tung- sten ; and perhaps smelt, weld, v., and trap[-rock). From Danish : cam, floe, fog, jib, jolly-boat, siskin. From Norwegian : lemming. The Scand. words furlough, walrus have reached us through Dutch ; droll, through Dutch and French ; knout, through Russian. Several have reached us through the medium of French, viz. abet, bet, blemish, bondage, brandish, brazier, braze, bun, equip, flotsam, frisk, frown, gauntlet {^o^t), grate, v., grimace, grudge, hale or haul, v., hue (in phr. hue and cry), jib, v. (said of a hoY^e), jolly, locket, Norman, rinse, rivet, sound, v. (to plumb a depth), strife, strive, waif waive, wicket. CHAPTER XXIV. The Old Friesic and Old Dutch Element. § 447. When we consider that it has long been an admitted fact, that numerous English words were directly borrowed from Scandinavian, being brought over from Denmark in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it seems strange that so little is said in our grammars about the borrowing of English words from the Old Dutch and Old Friesic. Morris, in his His- torical Outlines of English Accidence, gives a meagre list of thirteen words borrowed from Dutch, none of them being of any great antiquity in English. Koch, in his Grammatik, iii. 150, gives a list of about forty words which he supposes to be of ' Niederdeutsch ' origin. Such a treatment of the subject is surely inadequate. It remains for me to shew that this element is of considerable importance, and should not be so lightly passed over, as if the matter were of little account. § 448. The first question is, at what period are we to date the borrowing of English words from the Netherlands ? The right answer is, that the dates are various, and the occasions may have been many. It is conceded that several sea-terms are really Dutch. Dr. Morris instances boom, cruise, sloop, yacht (Du. hoovi, kruizen, jagt, older spelling jacht) ; as well as the word schooner. But the last instance is incorrect ; the original name was scooner^, and originated in America, but ^ From prov. E. scoon, to glide over water. See the story as told in Webster's Dictionary ; a story which I once doubted, but find to be true; see Whitney, Study of Language, 186S, p. 38. Schooner has no sense in Dutch, and is known to be borrowed from us. VOL. T. I i 482 THE DUTCH ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIV. was afterwards turned into schooner because such was the Dutch spelling of the word after they had borrowed it from us ! It is just one more instance of drawing a false induction from correct premises. Because should and would are spelt with /, could is spelt so too ; and because sloop 2.ndyacht are Dutch, schoojter is supposed to be the same. But we may, I think, safely add to the list the nautical terms ahoy, aloof, avast, belay ^, caboose, hoist, hold (of a ship), hoy, hull, lash (to bind spars together), lighter (a barge), marline, moor (to fasten a boat), orlop (a kind of ship's deck), pink (fishing-boat), reef (of a sail), reef {2. rock), reeve, rover (sea-robber), to sheer off, skipper, smack (fishing-boat), splice, strand (of a rope), swab, yawl; which, with the four already mentioned, give more than thirty Dutch words in nautical affairs alone. Even pilot is nothing but Old Dutch, disguised in a French spelling^. § 449. But there is another set of words of Dutch origin, of a different kind, which must also be considered. It is from the Netherlands that some at least of the cant terms cur- rent in the time of Elizabeth were borrowed, though a very few may be of Gipsy origin, and may thus be traced to the East. When Fletcher the dramatist wrote his play of the Beggar's Bush in 1622, it is remarkable that he laid the scenes in Ghent and in the neighbourhood of Bruges, and makes Gerrard, who is disguised as the King of the Beggars, and understands a cant dialect, the father of a rich merchant of the latter town. It is clear whence Fletcher obtained the cant words which he introduces into his dialogue so copiously. They are much the same set as may be found in Awdeley's Fraternitye of Vacabondes, first printed in ^ In some senses, all obsolete, betay is a native English term. As a nautical term, it first appears in The Complaint of Scotland, ed. Murray, ch. vi. p. 41 (1549)- ^ See the note on this difficult word in the Supplement to my Dic- tionary. § 450.] THE DUTCH ELEMENT, 483 1 561, and in Harman's Caueat for Vagabones, printed in 1567; see Furnivall's edition of these books for the Early English Text Society, which contains a Glossary, and an additional list of words at p. xxii. Harrison, in his Description of England, bk. ii. c. 10 (ed. 1587), says that the trade of the vagabonds, or roving Gypsies, had begun some sixty years previously, and that their number was said to exceed ten thousand. I suppose they reached England by way of Hol- land, and picked up some Dutch by the way; though it will be found that the main portion of the cant language is nothing but depraved and debased English, coined by using words in odd senses and with slight changes, as when, e.g., food is called helly cheer, or night is called darhnans. The following are some of the old cant terms which I should .explain from Dutch. Bufe, a dog'"; from Du. ^^^^72, to bark. Bung, a purse ; Friesic pung, a purse. Kinchin, a child (Harman, p. 76) ; Du. kindekin, an infant (Hexham). Pad, a road, as in high pad, high road ; Du. pad, a path ; hence the sb. padder, a robber on the road, now called a footpad, and pad-nag, a road-horse, now shortened to pad. Prad, a horse ; Du. paard, a horse. Slates, sheets ; Du. slet., a rag, clout. Hexham, in his Old Dutch Dictionary (1658) records a vQxh facken, 'to catch or to gripe'; which suggests a plausible origin for the cant vfoxd/ake, to steal. It is to be remarked that some of the cant terms seem to be borrowed from parts of the continent still more remote than Holland ; ioT famUes, hands, is plainly Danish, from the T)2in./a??ile, to handle ; whilst nase, drunk, is precisely the High G. nass, used literally in the sense of ' wet,' but figuratively in the sense of ' drunk' ; the Low G. form being nat. § 450. There was a rather close contact between English and Dutch in the days of Elizabeth, due to the war against Spain. After Antwerp had been conquered by the Duke of Parma, ' a third of the merchants and manufacturers of the ^ The modem slang word for dog is buffer (Hotten). I i 2 484 THE DUTCH ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIV. ruined city/ says Mr. Green, ' are said to have found a refuge on the banks of the Thames.' We should particularly note such a poem as that entitled the Fruits of War, by George Gascoigne, where he describes his experiences in Holland. He and other English volunteers picked up Dutch words, and brought them home. Thus, in st. 136 of that poem, he says that he 'equyppt a Hoye' ; where hoy, a boat (Du. heu) is a word still in use. In st. 40, he uses the 2i^].f roll eke, to express cheerful or merry, which is borrowed from Du. vrolijk, spelt vrolick by Hexham ; Ben Jonson, who also had served in Holland, spells it /ropJich, as if it was hardly naturahsed, in The Case is Altered, Act. i. sc. i. In his Voyage to Holland, Gascoigne quotes several Dutch sen- tences, which he explains by means of notes. He also introduces the word pyiike, which he explains by ' a small^ bote '; this is mod. E. pink ij^u. pink). In Ben Jonson's well-know^n play of Every Man in his Humour, we may find several Dutch words. Thus he has guilder as the name of a coin, Act. iii. sc. i ; this is a sort of E. translation of Du. guide?!, lit. golden, also the name of a coin ; Hexham gives : ' een Gulden, or Carolus gulden, a Gilder, or a Charles Gilder ; ee7t Philippus gulden, a Philips Gilder.' Again, he has lance-knighls, foot-soldiers, in Act. ii. sc. 4 [or 2] ; this is merely the Du. landsknechl, which has also been taken into French (and even into English) in the form lansquenet. In Act. iii. sc. i, he has the sb. leagure, and the derivative heleag' ring ; we still use beleaguer, from the Du. belegeren, to besiege, the Du. sb. being leger, a camp. In Act. ii. sc. I, he has quacksalvers, mountebanks, from Du. kwakzalver ; the word is still common in the abbreviated form quack as applied to a physician. There are several Dutch words in Shakespeare, who quotes one word as Dutch when he says — ' lustig, as the Dutchman says '; All's Well, ii. 3. 47 ; where lustig means 'in excellent spirits.' The list of Dutch words in Shakespeare is a much § 45'.] I'HE DUTCH ELEMENT. 485 longer one than might be expected. I give it here, referring to my Dictionary for the etymologies. It runs thus : boor, brabble, burgomaster, buskm{ed), cajiakin^, cope, v., copes-mate"^, crants (Du. krans or G. Kranz\ deck (of a ship), deck, v., doit, foist, fop, frolic, fmnble, geek, a fool (Du. gek\ gilder, a coin (see p. 484), glib, adj., glib, v. (M. Du. gelubben, to castrate), groat, heyday or hoy day, used as an interjection, hogshead, hoise, now hoist, hold (of a ship), holland, hoy, hull (of a ship), yVdT, jerkin, leaguer, a camp (Du. leger), link, a torch, linstock, loiter, lop, inanakin, minikin, minx^, f?iop, mope, rant, ravel, rover, ruffle, slovenijy), snaffle, snap, snip, snuff, v., to sniff, sprat, sutler, swabber, sivitch, toy, trick, uproar, waggon^, wainscot. Many of these terms are nautical, such as deck, hoise, hold, hoy, hull, rover (sea-pirate), sprat, swabber; others are just such words as might easily be picked up by roving English volunteer soldiers, viz. boor, burgomaster, buskin, doit, fop, frolic, geek, gilder, heyday, hogs- head, jerkin, leaguer, link, linstock, loiter, lop, manakin, minx, snaffle, sutler, switch, trick, uproar, waggon ; indeed, in the case of some of these, as doit, gilder, jerkin, leaguer, link, linstock, snaffle, sutler, trick, waggon, the connection with military affairs is sufficiently obvious. For other words of (presumably) Dutch origin, see the list in my Etym. Diet., 2nd ed. 1884, p. 750; or my Concise Etym. Diet., p. 607. § 451. In the case of the majority of these words, the certainty of their being borrowed from the Low Countries is verified by their non-occurrence in Middle English. They ^ * Een kanneJien, A small Canne ; ' Hexham. * From Du. Izoopen, to barter, and M. Du. maet, a mate (Hexham). But mate is also E., though hardly so in this compound. ^ This difficult word has been at last explained by me, in the Phil. Soc. Trans. 1886. It is merely the Friesic (and Bremen) nimsk, variant of Du. mensch, a man, or (when neuter) a wench. * Waggon was re-introduced into England from abroad, long after the A. S. wiBgn had passed into E. wain. 486 THE DUTCH ELEMENT, [Chap. XXTV. nearly all belong to what I have called the modern period, viz. the period after 1500, when the introduction of new words from abroad excites no surprise. A more difficult and perhaps more important question remains, viz. as to the possible introduction of Dutch or Low German words into Middle English. We are here met by the difficulty that Old Dutch and Middle English had a strong resemblance, which may easily mislead an enquirer. Thus Mr. Blades, in his Life of Caxton, 1882, p. 2, speaks of ' the good wife of Kent, who knew what the Flemish word eyren meant, but understood not the English word eggs! But the whole point of the story depends upon the fact that the word for ' eggs ' was eggis in Northern and Midland English, but eyren in the Southern dialect ; in fact, eh'cn occurs in the Ancren Riwle, p. 66, and is formed by adding the Southern -en to the form eyr-e, resulting regularly from the A. S. pi. cegru. Mr. Blades tells us we must ' bear in mind that the inhabitants of the Weald had a strong admixture of Flemish blood in their best families, and that cloth was their chief and, probably, only manufacture.' All this may be true, only the particular anecdote which is quoted to prove it does, in effect, prove nothing of the kind. It proves, rather, that the language of the Saxons who came to England did not originally differ from the language of those of their fellows whom they left behind ; and the points we have to determine are rather, to what extent had the differentiation between these two tongues proceeded at any given date, and what evidence have we of the actual borrowing of Dutch, Friesic^ orxLow German words at various periods ? A convenient period for consideradon is that which extends over the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, when there were especially close commercial relations between the English and Flemish. The Libell of English Policye, written in 1436, speaks of the ' commoditees of Flaundres ' at some length, and reminds the Flemings that their great manufacture of cloth was de- § 451-1 THE DUTCH ELEMENT. 487 pendent upon England, as it was nearly all made of English wool, to which Spanish wool was inferior. The writer adds that merchandise from Prussia and even from Spain reached England byway of Flanders, which was indeed 'but a staple^ to other landes/ We might expect such Flemish or Dutch words as occur in Middle English to apply to various imple- ments used in such trades as weaving and brewing, and in mechanical arts, but it is very difficult to investigate these matters, since the English were already well supplied with necessary words. Still, I think the word spool is a clear instance of a borrowed word. It occurs, spelt spole, in the Promptorium Parvulorum, about 1440, and in another Vocabu- lary of the fifteenth century ; and answers to M. Du. spoele, Du. spoel; Low G. spole. The native E. word is rtell^K.^. hreol). Other old words which I regard as having been borrowed from various forms of Low German rather than as form- ing part of the stock of native English are the following : — botch, to patch, bounce, boy, brake (for flax), bulk (in the obsolete sense of trunk of the body), cough, curl, duck, v., to dive, fop, girl, groat, hawker, huckster, kails (a game), knurr or knur, a knot in wood, wooden ball, lack, s. and v., lash, to bind together, loll, loon, luck, mazer, mud, muddle, nag, a horse, nick, notch, oris, pamper, patch, plash, a pool, rabbit {f), rabble, scoff, scold, shock, a pile of sheaves, shudder, skew, slabber, slender, slight, slot, a bolt, spool, sprout, tub, tuck, v., tug, unto. All these words are, I believe, found in the Middle EngUsh period, but not earlier; and in some cases the fact of the borrowing is certain. Thus groat is Low G. groot, the E. form being great; mazer is a bowl made of the spotted wood of the maple, the M. PL G. word for 'spot' being mdse'^\ tub, Low G. tubbe, may have been 1 The very word staple is certainly Low German, slightly disguised by a French spelling. ^ It may be a Scand. word, from Icel. 7?idsurr ; but masar is also O. H. German, and maser is O. L. German. THE DUTCH ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIV. brought in by the brewing trade, together with vat (Du. vat\, hawker and hukster are certainly not native words ; kails is a Dutch game, from the Du. kegel^ a cone, a sort of ninepins. Some of these words appear in Friesic, and it is possible that they belonged to the word-stock of the Friesians who came over with the Saxons, but this will always be, in the absence of evidence, a very difficult point. The E. Friesic Dictionary by Koolman gives some help ; I note the following: — Btmwisen, to bounce, from hununs, the noise of a heavy fall; boy, a boy, nearly obsolete in Friesic ; brake, a flax-brake ; kuchen, to cough (the A. S. word is hwostaii) ; krul, a curl, krullen, to curl ; duken, to duck, bend down ; foppen, to befool (the M. E. foppe being used to mean a foolish person, see my Supplement) ; grote, grot, a groat ; Jioker, a hawker ; kegel, a kail ; ktiure, a bump ; lak^ a defect ; lasken, to lash together ; 16m, tired, slow% whence M.E. lowmish, slow, stupid, and E. loon or town (for ^lowm); Ink, luck; inudde, mud; muddelen, to muddle; orf^, ort, remnant ; plas, plasse, a plash, pool ; rabbehi, rappeln, to chatter, rappalje, a rabble ; schelden, to scold ; schiiddern, to shudder ; slabbern, sluhber7i, to slabber or slubber ; slicht, smooth, also slight; slot, a lock ; spole, spot, a spool; sprute, a sprout, bud, spruten, to sprout ; tiibbe, a tub. The difficult word touch-wood is easily explained when we find that the M. E. form was tache, tinder, or inflammable stuff, answering to E. Friesic takke, a twig, takje, a little twig. Richtofen's O. Friesic Dictionary also gives some help ; we should especially notice the following : dekka, to thatch ; fro, glad (cf Y..fro-lic); grata, a groat; luk, luck; ?ni?iska, a man, for metiska, w^hich is short for 7nanniska (cf. E. minx) ; pad, a path (cf. ^.foot-pad); skelda, to scold; skof, a scoff; slot, a lock ; snavel, mouth (cf. E. snaffle); spriita, to sprout; ond-, und-, on-, a prefix, the same as E. U7t- into un-to. ^ Koolman utterly misses the etymology ; he seems to have trusted to Jamieson's Dictionary for English, as he mentions no other authority. § 45 2. J THE DUTCH ELEMENT. 489 There is a glossary to Heyne's Kleinere altniederdeutsche Denkmaler, which gives several hints ; I note particularly the words be-scoffon, to scoff at ; scok, a shock of corn ; slot, a lock; unt, unto. The Bremen Worterbuch also throws much light upon Low German forms ; for example, it gives bunsen, to bounce, from the interj. bums, signifying the noise of a fall, shewing that the n in this word is due to putting n for m before a following s. A most useful Dictionary of Old Low German has lately appeared, by K. Schiller and A. Liibben. As a specimen of the information to be derived from it, I quote the following : — ^ Bosse, botze, boiize, Art grobes Schuhwerk'; which ex- plains E. bokh, to patch. The authors add the following curious passage : ' Nullus allutariorum ponet soleas sub calceis, quae botze dicuntur/ Again, they remark that gor, a girl (whence E. girt) is much used in dialectal speech, though it seems scarce in books. I also find hoken, to hawk about, and hokeboken, to carry on the back, which makes me think that my guess as to huckaback, viz. that it originally meant ' pedlars' ware,' may be right. Other useful entries are : knerreholt, thin oaken boards (evidently wood with knurrs or knots in it) ; lucke, luck ; masele, measles, spots ; maser, maple, ' enen masere7i kop,' a maple cup, a mazer ; mudde, mud ; ort, ort ; placke, a patch ; plasken, to plash or plunge into water ; plump, interjection, used of the noise made by King Log when he fell into the water ; plunder, booty, plunder -waare, household stuff, espe- cially bits of clothing; rabbat, a rabble, mob; schock^ a shock, or heap of corn, schocken, to put corn into shocks ; schudden, to shake, shudder ; slampampen, to live daintily (cf. E. pam- per) ; sprot, a sprat, &c. It is somewhat surprising to find in this work the phrase ut unde ut, which is precisely our out and out. We want all the light that is obtainable to guide us in this matter. § 452. After all, some of the above words may be found 49 O THE DUTCH ELEMENT. in A. S. glosses, or may occur in unpublished texts. The word dog seemed to me to be borrowed, the E. word being hound) in fact, we find Du. dog, M. Du. dogge, Swed. dogg, Dan. dogge, Low G. dogge. But in the A. S. glosses to Pru- dentius, we find : ' canum, docgena ' ; shewing that the A. S. form was docga. I have supposed the word split to be Scandian ; but the occurrence in O. Friesic of the original strong verb split-a renders it probable that split may, after all, be of A. S. or Mercian origin. The word inane is not in the A. S. dictionaries, so that I believed it to be a borrowed word from Scandinavian. But the recent publication of Mr. Sweet's Oldest English Texts shews that the A. S. form was manu, which occurs in the very old Erfurt Glossary. We must also bear in mind that the Northumbrian and Mercian of the oldest period have almost entirely perished. CHAPTER XXV. Effects of the English Accent. § 453. As much has been said, in the preceding pages, about the necessity of attending to the length of English vowel-sounds, it is incumbent upon me to add a few remarks as to the effect of accent, or stress, in altering such length. It frequently happens that, especially in compound words, a long vowel, if accented, is sooner or later shortened. The results have been given by Koch, in his Englische Gram- matik, i. 70, 71, 144, 152, 204, 205, 208-222, &c. An endea- vour on my part to state these results succinctly was made in the pages of Notes and Queries, 7th Series, i. 363, 443, 482, ii. 42 ; and was criticised by Dr. Chance in the same, ii. 90, 235. I now repeat some of these remarks, adopting at the same time some of Dr. Chance's suggestions. § 454. Rule 1. When a word (commonly a monosyl- lable) containing a medial long accented vowel is in any way lengthened, whether by the addition of a termination, or, what is perhaps more common, by the adjunction of a second vi^ord (which may be of one or two syllables), then the long vowel (provided it still retains the accent, as is usually the case) is very apt to become shortened^. For example, the ea 1 I copy the whole of this from a note by Dr. Chance, in N. and Q. 7 S. ii. 236 ; where he amends what I had said in the same, i. 363. It is almost enough to say that, ' in words of augmented length, an original long vowel is apt to be shortened by accentual stress.' It follows from this, that if a short vowel (as in A. S. hard) has been lengthened (as in E. hare), it remains short in the augmented form (as in harrier). 492 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chap. XXV. in heaih is shortened in heather (though not in heathen) ; and the A. S. goslings i. e. goose-ling, is now gosling. I add several illustrations, confining them, however, to words of native origin. Most of them are to be found in Koch's work above alluded to. [a) Words augmented by a suffix. Heather is from heath. Rummage, for room-age^ is from room. In the word throat, the vowel was originally short, A. S. prote, protu ; it remains short in ihrott-le ; cf. M. E. protlen, v., to throttle. In the word hare, A. S. hara, the vowel was also originally short ; it remains so in harrier {= har-ier). The A. S. short i, though lengthened in child, remains short in children. Long vowels are especially liable to be shortened if fol- lowed by a cluster of two or more consonants ; hence ivide gives wid-th ; broad gives bread-th (A. S. br&d-ti, M. E. bred-e)] blithe gives bliss (for '^bliths, A. S. blih). Such vowel-short- ening is especially noticeable in the past tenses of some weak verbs ; thus lead (M. E. led-en) made the M. E. pt. s. led-de, owing to the doubling of the d ; hence mod. E. led. Simi- larly y^^^(M. 'E. Jed-en) made the M. E. pt. s./ed-de, no\Y fed. Read (M. E. red-en) made the M. E. pt. s. red-de, now read (pron. as red). Hide (M. E. hid-en) made the M. E. pt. s. hid-de, now hid. Hear (M. E. her-en) made the M. E. pt. s. her -de, now heard (pron. as herd). It is not quite easy to say at what date such vowel-shortening commenced. The short vowels in the past participles led, fed, hid, Sec, may be simi- larly explained as occurring in contracted forms ; thus the pp. of A. S.fe'd-an, to feed, was originally /^'(i'-^d/, \3.ter feW, and \2.st\y fed. Vowel-shortening has sometimes attacked even the infinitive mood, as in the case of A. S. siic-an, M.E. souk- en, E. suck ; this was probably due to the fact that the pt. t. souk-ede and pp. souk-ed were contracted to suckt ^, whence the infinitive suck was easily evolved. Such a short- ^ 'I would say thou had'st suckt wisdome from thy teat'; Romeo and Juliet, i. 3. 68 (ed. 1623). § 454.] EFFECTS OF ACCENT. 495 ening was further assisted by the contraction of M. E. soukest and soukes to suck' si and sucks. (d) In compound words the effect is very marked ; in many cases the shortening is caused by the occurrence of /wo consonants after the accented vowel, as in the case of A. S. gos-Ung already mentioned. Other examples of the same kind are these, the etymologies of some of which have been already explained. Bone-fire is now bon-fire, as shewn by the quotations in Murray's Eng. Dictionary. The e in A. S. brecan, originally short, has become long in mod. E. break, but it remains short in breakfast. Craneherry is now cranberry (it need hardly be said that the e in crane is only intended to indicate vowel-length, and is not sounded) \ Fooi- hooks has h^co-m^fut locks. Goose-ling is represented by gos- ling. Husband and hustings are both derivatives from house (A. S. hiis^ M. E. hous, riming with goose) -. Housewife was shortened to hussif and even to hussy. A. S. hldf-mcesse^ lit. 'loaf-mass/ became hlamincEsse in the twelfth century, and is now lammas ; where it should be particularly noticed that the A. S. a was shortened to a before it had passed into the M. E. (?, as it did in loaf (^\. E. lof, loof) ^ Leman is properly lemman, M. E. le??iman, lefnan, leofman^ i. e. ' lief man ' ; where man is applicable to either sex. Mere-viaid has given us mermaid. Nose-thirl is now nostril, though here again the A. S. in nosu was originally short ^. Sheriff represents A. S. scir-refa, later or variant form of scir-ge-refa, a shire- reeve, so that the r was originally double. ^ It may be said that the vowel in crane was originally short, but the compound may have been formed after it had become long. The example fairly illustrates the principle at work. ^ In the M. E. Imschonde, sometimes written for husbonde, the middle e merely marks the length of the ti, and was not sounded. Hence the consonants s and b were in actual conjunction. ^ It will be long before the despisers of history can be taught to leave off deriving lainmas from laj}ib. * Marked long in my Dictionary by mistake. 494 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chap. XXV. The A. S. sie'or-bord became M. E. sierebord, later sterbord; whence, with the usual change from er to ar, came the mod. E. starboard. It meant, originally, the side of the ship on which the nmn stood who steered it. White yields the deriva- tives Whitby, Whitchurch, whitster, whitleather, and Whit- sunday (formerly accented on the first syllable) ; but in the derivative whit-ing the long i remains. The A. S. winberige^ i. e. wine-berry, has given us the modern wi??iberry (for win- berry). With such examples we may compare such names as Essex, put for Est-sex, where est is shortened from A. S. iast, east ; Sussex, put for Suthsex, where suth is shortened from A. S. sii^, south ; Suffoif^, put for Suthfolli, in the same way. {c) In other cases, a similar shortening of the vowel has taken place, where the result seems to have been produced by stress only, independently of the effect caused by clusters of consonants. An easy example is seen in heather, from heath. Similar examples are the following. The A. S. cicsceote, with long u, is now cushat (where the sh is a simple sound), but in provincial English it occurs as cow- shot (E. D. S. Glos. B. 15) \ Forehead, i.e. fore head, is often pronounced as if riming with horrid. Halyard is for hale-yard, a rope that hales the yards of a ship. Heifer is from A. S. he'ah-fore, where he'ah is E. high, and -fore is allied to Gk. 7ro/3iy. Knowledge is often pronounced so as to rime with college. Neatherd is commonly called netturd by the people ; Neatherd Moor, called Netturd Moor, lies close to East Dereham, in Norfolk. Shepherd signifies sheep-herd. Steelyard was sometimes called stilyard, and is so spelt in Blount's Glossographia (1681). Stirrup si'SiXids (or sty-rope, A. S. stig-rdp. Similarly two pence, three pence, five pefice are ^ My guess is, that the original sense was ' coo-shooter ' ; where shooter refers to swift flight. The A. S. sceota occurs in the sense of * a trout,' lit. ' a shooter,' or darter, and is equally applicable to a bird. The syllable cii may have been imitative, like the modem coo. §455-1 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. 495 familiarly called tuppence, threppence or thrippence, fippence (romic tapms, ihrepdus or thripdns^ fipdns). Trisyllabic words of the same character are seen in holiday, which is a familiar form of holy day ; in halibut or holibut, lit. * holy but ' ; and in hollyhock, which stands for holy hock, i. e. 'holy mallow." For other examples of syncope see § 366, p. 389. § 455. Rule 2. In dissyllabic compounds accented on the former syllable (as usual), the vowel in the latter syllable, if originally long, is almost invariably shortened by the want of stress. Thus, in the A. S. name Dilnstdji, which has an original long a in the second syllable, the a was shortened, giving Dunsta7i. Moreover, by Rule i above, the il was also shortened. Hence the mod. E. Dunstan, as usually pro- nounced. This name of Dunstan serves as a memorial word for remembering both rules ; we have only to remember that, in the A. S. form, both vowels were originally long. Koch gives several examples, including words of Latin and French origin. I here mention some such words, restricting the examples to words of native origin. In boat-swain^ cock-swain, the long ^/is not only shortened, but absorbed, giving the familiar hosn, cox 71. Brimstone, grindstone are frequently reduced to brimstun, grindstun (or grinstun). Foot-hooks has htcova^ futtocks. Housewife has become hussif, and even hussy. Neighbour is from A. S. n^ah- bur or neah-gebur, with long ?/. ^/2//z ; red, roth ; ride, reit-e7i ; rood, rod, Ruth-e ; seed, 6'rt(2/ ; shide (a thin slice of wood), Scheit ; shred, Schrot \ spade. Spat-en ; sward (rind of bacon), Schwart-e ; sword, Schivert ; third, d?itt-e] thread, Draht\ tide, Zeit\ tread, tret-en \ wad (wad- ding), Watt-e ; wade, .wat-en ; word, J^^<9r;^ ; through, durch ; thorp, Dorf\ thou, ^// ; though, ^i?^/^ ; thresh, dresche?i ; thread, Draht ] three, drei', throng ^ Drang ; throstle, Drossel -, thumb. ^ And generally, observe that combinations of letters, such as sp, st, fr, gr, Sec, do not shift at all. 2 E. butter and G. Butter coincide only because they are both foreign words, being of Greek origin. APPENDIX A. 505 Daum-en\ thunder, Donner ; thy, cfem^. Also: bath, Baci; both, ^eiW-e ; broth-er, Brud-er ; cloth, Kleid ; death. Tod ; feath-er, Fed-er\ foth-er (a cart-load), Fud-er\ {uYth-er,/urd-er; heath, Heid-e ; heathen, Heid-en ; leather, Led-er ; mouth, Mund\ north, Nord\ oath, £'z<:^; other, ander\ path, Pfad\ seethe, sied-en ; sheath, Scheid-e ; smith, Sdmiied ; withe (withy, willow), Weid-e. § 63. The Teutonic b, when initial, remains as such in modern German, though the O. H. G. often has p. There are a few exceptions, in w^hich p appears. (Cf. § 122, p. 140.) Examples are very numerous ; it must suffice to quote the following : bath, Bad\ bean, Bohne ; beard, Bart \ bed, Betl\ bee, Biene ; beer. Bier ; bench, Bank ; bent (grass), Binse \ berry, Bee7'e ; besom, Besen ; better, besser, &c. Exceptions are : babble, pappehi ; blare (to roar, blubber), pldrren ; bolster, Bolster \ hx^.vf\,prahlen {1). But the medial and final b, preserved in Gothic and German, is f ( = f, v) in Anglo-Saxon, and f (ff) or v (ve) in English. (Cf. p. 141) 2. {a) calf, Kalb ; deaf, taub ; (be)lief, {G)laube ^ ; half, halb ; leaf, Laub ; lief (dear), lieb ; of, off, ab ; self, selb-e ; staff. Stab ; thief, Dieb. ip) carve, kerben ; cleave (A. S. deof-an), klebeji ; dove, Taube ; drive, treiben ; even, eben ; give, geben ; grave, (7r3; silver, Silber\ nave, Nabe\ navel, Nabel ; weave, webe?!. The Teutonic p, when initial, is usually pf in German, ^ E. thousajid answers to O. H. G. (Old High German) diisunt, after- wards altered to ticsunt, G. tatisend. '■* Note that this is the only case in which the Anglo-Saxon fails to keep the original Teutonic consonant. ^ The initial G-, for 6*^-, is a mere prefix, like the bC' in be-lief^ be-lieve. 5o6 APPENDIX A. and sometimes appears as pf finally; but the regular German equivalent of Teutonic final p is f. {a) path, Pfad', pipe, s., pfeifen ; plight, v., allied to Pfiicht. ip) carp (fish), Karpfen ; crop (of a bird), Kropf; damp, s., Damp/] drop, Tropfen ; hop, hiipfen ; stamp, stamp/en ; step, stapfe7i ; swamp, Su7)ipf\ top, Zopf. {c) deep, /zV/; drip, triefen ; gripe, greifen ; harp, ^<2;/^ ; heap, iZ-^z^/"^ ; help, helfen ; hip, Hiif-te, O. H. G. //zf/"; leap, laufen (to run) ; nip, kneifen ; pipe, pfeifen ; ripe, r^^/"; sap, 6'<9//; up, auf\ warp, (^ ape, Affe ; clap, klaffen (to bark, yelp) ; gape, gaffen ; hope, /^^;z ; rap (to seize hastily), raffen ; shape, schaffen ; ship, Schiff\ weapons, Waffen, In the word lip, G. Lippe, the / is preserved, because it was originally double, as in A. S. lippa, lippe. § 64. The Teutonic initial f commonly remains as f in German; but some archaic words exhibit the O. H. G. v. {a) fall, fallen ; fallow, fahl ; far, fer?! ; fare, fahren ; fast, fest ; fathom, Faden ; feather, Feder ; feel, fiihlen ; fell (skin), Fell ; felly, Felge ; felt, i^^72' ; fern, Farn ; feud, Fehde ; field, i^^/^; fiend, Feind\ hght, fechten \ finch, Fink\ ^nd, fnden ; finger. Finger; fir, Fo/ire ; fire, Feuer ; .fish, Fisch ; fist, Faust ; lawQjfiInf; ^2iX, Flacks ] f^QSi, Floh ; f^e^^flieheft ', Heece, Fliess ; flesh, Fleisch ; flight, Flucht ; flood, 7^/z/M ; fi.y, fliegen ; foal, Fohlen ; foam, />/;;^ ; fodder. Fuller ; fold, falte?i ; follow, folge?i ; foot, T^z^j-j- ; forth, /?r/ ; foul, /^z// ; fox. Fucks ; free, yr^z ; freeze, frieren ; fresh, frisch ; friend, Freu?id ; fright, Furckt] frost. Frost] furrow, Furcke\ {\iriher,fiirder. {b) father, F«/^r ; fee, Fz>^ (cattle) ; folk, ^<9/^ ; for, -z/^^r ; for- (as a prefix), -z/^r- ; four, vier ; fowl, Fj^« ; churlf Kerl; churn, kernen. 5o8 APPENDIX A, (c) bleak, dkzch ; book, Buck ; break, brechen \ brook, v., brauchejt ; dike, Tekh ; eke, auch ; hark, horchen ; lark, Lerche ; leek, Lauch ; like, {g)leich ; -like (suffix), -//Vy^ ; make, machen\ milk. Milch ; oak, ^'z^r/?^ ; reek, rauchen ; sake, 6"(a:(r-^^ ; seek, suchen ; speak, sprechefi ; spoke, s., Speicke ; stick, sfechen ; stork, Storch ; stroke, Stretch ; wake, wachen ; weak, weich ; week, ^(9(r/^kt,Joch. (d) beech, Buche ; reach, reichen ; rich, m«r-^ ; speech, Sprache\ such, solcher; which, welcher. N. B. — In some combinations German keeps the final >^; as in E. bench, Bank] birch, Birke\ finch, 7^?';//^. Observe also such examples as E. bake, G. backen ; naked, ;2^/ ; work, Werk ; thatch, deckejt. The A. S. J/^, written sc, commonly becomes E. sh, where German has sch, e. g. ash, Esche ; ashes, Asche ; flesh, Fleisch ; fish, i^/V^y^ ; thresh, dreschen ; wash, waschen. So also initially, as in shape, schaffen ; sharp, scharf^ &c. The Teutonic initial qu is almost ignored in German ; thus E. quick is G. keck ; but we find E. quitch-grass or quick-grass represented by G. Quecke, and E. quicksilver is G. Queck- silber. The Teutonic h, when initial, remains as h in English and German, or is lost (before 1, n, r) ; medially and finally, it appears as English gh, German h or eh, or is lost. (See p. 130). {a), hail, Hagel \ hair, Haar\ &c. {b). loud (A. S. hhid), laut ; nut (A. S. hnutu), Nuss ; raven (A. S. hrcEfti)^ Babe. (c). high, hoch ; laugh, lachen ; nigh, nah ; neighbour, Nachbar\ rough, rauh ; though, doch ; through, durch ; tough, zdh. (d). eight, acht; iight,/echten ; iiight, Blucht ] fright, Furcht ; knight, lOzecht ; light, adj., /z^/i!/; might, Afacht ; night, Nacht ; plight, v., Pflicht, s. ; right, recht ; sight, {Ge)sicht ; wight, Wicht. The Anglo-Saxon initial hw (English wh) is w in German. (Seep. 133.) wharf, Werf-t; \\h?Lt, was ; wheat, Weizeii', whelp, Welf; when, wanfi; where, ?£/(? ; v^het, wetzejt ; which, welcher; while, well; whirl, s., Wirbel] whisper, wispeln\ white, weiss\ who, wer. APPENDIX B. Specimens of Spelling. The following Specimens merely give a general idea of the appearance of English writing at various periods. Much longer and more numerous extracts are required for complete illustration. (l) From the Ancren Riwle, ed. Morton, p. 384 ; Sweet's First Mid. Eng. Primer, p. 32. Date, about 1230. Dialect, Southern. (The long vowels are marked). Cf. p. 303. Seint Powel witne^ jjet alle uttre herdschipes, and alle vlesshes pTnunge, and alle llcomes swinkes, al is ase nout a^ean luue, j^et schlre^ and brihte^ ¥e heorte. 'Licomliche bisischipe is t5 lutel wur^ ; auh swote and schir heorte is god to alle J)inges ; ' (i Tim. iv. 8). 'J)auh ich kQ^e,' he sei^, 'alle monne ledene and englene; and jjauh ich dude o mine bodie alle \^ pTnen, and alle J)e passiuns |)et bodi muhte j)olien ; and |jauh ich ^eue poure men al })et ich hefde ; but 5if ich hefde luue |)er-mide to God and to alle men, in him and for him, al were aspilled ' (l Cor, xiii. 1-3). \witne\, testifies ; uttre, outward ; llcomes swinkes, toils of the body ; schtr^, purifieth ; Lfcofnliche bisischipe, Bodily diligence ; swote, sweet ; schir, pure ; ki'i^e, knew ; 7Jtonne ledene and englene, languages of men and of angels ; \olien, endure ; yuCy were to give ; hefde, had ; but ^if, unless ; aspilled, lost.] As regards the spelling, we may note k for c, as in kii^e for A. S. ci?Se ; 5 for g, as in ^if, if, A. S. gif; yue, were to give, A. S. geafe', u for E. v, A. S.yj as in luue, dat. or ace. of A. S. lufu^ love ; ch for A. S. c, as in ich, A. S. ic, I ; sch for A. S. sc, as in schir, A. S. scir, sheer, pure. Note that in the word poure, the u means v ; cf. E. pover-ty ; this word offers almost the sole exception, at least at a later period, to the rule that ti can only mean v when a vowel follows. We do, however, sometimes find cure = evre^ ever ; and neure = nevre, never. A very curious spelling occurs in the M. E. vuel (P. Plowman) ; this represents tivel, i.e. evil ; A. S.yfel, The above specimen illustrates some of the remarks on p. 303 ; but, in order to understand the whole scheme, many extracts must be consulted from many works. This is why a 5lO APPENDIX B, particular reference is made to the * Specimens of English ' in the Clarendon Press Series. (2) From Chaucer's Tale of the Man of Lawe, as given in the Ellesmere MS. Compare this with the edited text in my edition, p. i. Date of MS., about 1400. Dialect, Midland. (See p. 307.) In Surrye whilom dwelte a compaignye Of chapmen riche 1 and therto sadde and trewe That wyde where | senten hir spicerye Clothes of gold | and satyns riche of hewe Hir chaffare | was so thrifty and so newe That euery wight | hath deyntee to chaffare With hem [ and eek | to sellen hem hir ware. Now fil it that the maistres [ of that sort Han shapen hem | to Rome for to wende Were it for chapmanhode | or for disport Noon other message | wolde they thider sende But comen hem self to Rome | this is the ende And in swich place | as thoughte hem auantage For hire entente | they take hir herbergage. We may here note the equivalent use of/ and j ; there is no difference between the sound of m, prep., and the sound oiyn in saiyfis. The Corpus MS. has spicerie for spicerye. The^/z in Wight represents the A. S. h in iviht. The ey in deyntee is an Anglo-French symbol ; and so are the ai in compaignye, the final ge in message^ the ou in thought, and the ow in now. In whilom, the wh is for the A. S. hw. In riche, the ch is for the A. S. ^ in rice ; in chapme7i, it replaces the A. S. r 365. 401. by, 60, 174. bylaw, 477. byre, 418. -c {suffix), 221, cabin, 451, caboose, 482. cachinnation, 132. cackle, 132, 278. caesura, 290. cairn, 449. caldron, chaldron, 41 4 n. calf,i32, 141,-252, 407. call, 453 w, 467. callow, 264. calve, 374. cam, 450, 480. camellia, 85. can, 126. canakin, 223, 485. canary, 14. candle, 99, 434, 441. canine, 264. canker, 434, 441. canon, 439, 441. canto, 13, capercailzie, 317,352 ; capercailyie, 446, 449- capon, 291, 439, 441. caravan, 13. care, 145, 226. cart, 451, 452. carve, 127, 141, 164, 165, 406. cast, 127, 467,475. castle, 366, 434, 441. cat, 23. cateran, 448, 449. caterwaul, 278, 421. catkin, 224. catise, 34. -ce {siiffix), 274. cedar, 439, 441. cell, 442. chaff, 299, 353. chaise, 460. Chaldon, 496. chalice, 441. chalk, 353, 434, 441. changeling, 223. chaos, 131. chap, 291. chapman, 434, 441. char (fish), 451. character, 291. chare, charwoman, 353' 406. charlock, 353, 406. chary, 354. chatter, 278. cheap, 68, 94, 176, 190. 434» 441- cheapen, 276. cheek, 44. 59, 354. cheese, 354, 434, 441. chemist, 287. chert, 451. chervil, 439, 441. chest, 439, 441. Chester, 432. chew, 128, 167, 354. chicken, 222, 354. chide, 62, 166, 354. child, 303, 351, 354, 407 ; children, 252, 492. childhood, 57. chill, 354. chin, 128, 227, 354. chincough, 422. chine,i84, 354; chink, i85> 354- INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. 5^1 chip, 291. chisel, 290. chop, 291. choose, 128, 159, 166, 167, 169, 171 w, 354 ; chosen, 152. chorister, 256 7i. chough, 361. Christ, 439, 441. Christmas, 366. chuckle, 278. chump, 291. church, 355, 439, 441; kirk, 414. churl, 303, 354, 407. churlish, 272, 430. chyle, 286. chyme, 286, 289. cicerone, 13. cinder, 378, 403. circle, 435, 441. circumcise, 290. clachan,446,447, 449. clamber, 446, 469, 474- clan, 13, 446, 447, 449. clasp, 279, 352, 382. clatter, 278. claw, 231. clay, 68. claymore, 13, 448, 449. clean, 67. cleanse, 207, 279. cleave (to split), 69, 127, 141, 167; (to adhere), 166. cleft,//., 268; J-., 467. clerk, 407, 439, 441. client, 285, 286. cliff, 185. clift, cleft, 466. climb, 165, 375, 404. cling, 165. clip, 137. 4^7- cloam, 56. clock, 451. clod, clot, 366. cloth, clothe, 55 ; cloth, 173; clothes, 369- clough, 362, 374. clout, 66,451, 452. clover, 374. clown, 476. clumsy, 469. clutch, 214. clutter, 450. coal, 132. cob, 451. cobble, 451. coble, 450. cobweb, 373, 422. cock (boat), 451. cockerel, 222. cockswain, 495. codling, 223. cognate, 84 n. cold, 44, 127, 177, 270, 407, cole (plant), 435,441. collie, 448, 449. colleen, 445. comb, 126, 375, 401. combe, 451, 452. come, 132, 163 ; come, 37. comma, 291. commyxstioiin, 34. compelled, 34. concise, 290. cone, 311. confide rat, 34. confound, 287, 289. confute, 289. construe, 34. contray, 34 ; conU-e, 36. convey, convoy, 321 «. cook, 64, 435, 441. cool, 50, 54, 63, 174, 177, 263. coomb, 439, 441. coop, 435, 441. coot, 451. cope, v., 485. copes-mate, 485. copper, 313, 439, 441. coracle, 450. core, 417. corn, 127, 239. coronach, 448, 449. corrie, 448, 449. cosecant, 289. cosy, 448, 449. couch-grass, 122. cough, 361, 487, 488. couid, 65, 71,93,368, 371, 377- counterscarp, 291. courtship, 430. cove, 226, 374. cow, 65, no, 120, 122, 132, 175, 190, 195- cow, v., 459. cower, 459. cowl, 435, 441. cowslip, 422. crackle, 277. cradle, 451, 452 ; cradel, 34. craft, 242 ; -craft (jz/^), 218; crafty, 271. crag, 446, 447, 449. cram, 182. cranberry, 422, 493. crane, 127. crants, 485. crate, 442. craze, 471, 476. creed, 59, 435, 441. creel, 447, 449. creep, 69, 158, 167. creese, 13. cress, 376. crib, 229. cringe, 165, 365. cripple, 59, 186, 237. crisp, 435, 441. Crist, 26. crock, 452. cromlech, 450, crook, 64. crow, v., 55, 127, 161 ; s., 226. crowd (throng), 167, 186; (fiddle), 450; (2 words), 411. cruise, 481. crumb, 183, 375. crumble, 278, 375. cruse, 459. cub, 451. 5i8 INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS, cubit, 442. cud, 377, 409, 415; quid, 230, cuff, 20. cuirass, 291. Culdee, 451. culter, coulter, 435, 441. culver, 435, 441. cumin, 439, 441. cup, 435> 441- curd, 451. curdle, 278. curl, 487, 488. curt, 292. cushat, 494. cut, 451. cuttle-fish, 352, 369. czar, 14. dad, 451. daft, 269. daggle, 469, 470. dahlia, 480. daintiness, 430. dainty, 443, 444. dairy, 463. daisy, 422. dale, 418. Dalziel, 317. dandriff, 451. dangle, 469. Danish, 272. dapple, 469. dare, 136, 379, 380. dark, 263, 406. darken, 276. darkling, 275. darkmans, 483. darling, 223, 422, dam, 451. dash, 471. daub, 444. daughter, 107, 136, 247. Daventry, 498. dawn, 276, 364. day, 226, 304, 341, 351, 364,401; days, 499. daze, 471, 476. dazzle, 278, 469. deacon, 439, 441. dead, 154, 270. deaf, 82, 86 «, 263. deafen, 276, deal, v., 67 ; j., 415. dear, 69, 263. dearth, 241. death, 81, 154, 245. debt, 324. decide, 290. deck, z/., 368 n ; s. and v., 485, 488 ; thatch, 415, 416. ded, 35 n, 36. deed, 68, 175, 245, 340- deem, 58, 87, 90, 207, 210. deep, 69, 82, 86 «, 96;/, 137, 263. deepen, 276. deer, 69, 176, 226. defile, 67, 208. deft, 269. delf, 13. delight, 362. dell, 418 ; dale, 416, delve, 165. den, 228. dentist, 254. depth, 209, 211, 241. dervdsh, 13. desert (2 words), 411. develop, 319. devil, 439, 441. dew, 231. dibble, 469, 471. didapper, 422. die, 464, 467. dig, 351, 356. dight, 435, 441. dike, ditch, 62, 355. din, 228. dingy, 204, 210, 365. dint, dent, 402, 415. dirk, 445. dirt, 466, 473. disciple, 435, 441. dish, 99, 357, 439, 441. dissect, 289. distaff, 422. ditch, dike, 62. divan, 13. dive, 167, 189, 208, 211. dizzy, 271, 378. do, 62, 83, 107, 136, 174. dodkin, 224. doe, 54. dog, 490. doge, 13. doit, 485. dole, 55, 88, 173; deal, 415. dollar, 85. -dom {suffix), 318, 496. don, 13. Don (river), 404. -don {suffix), 496. done, 63, 92. doom, 50, 63, 136, 233. door, III, 136, 146. doubt, 324. dough, 56, 107, 136, 173, 184, 226, 361. doughty, 271. dove, 186, 208. down (hill), 65, 452, down (of birds), 459. Downham, Downton, 496. doze, 460, 472. drag, 467, 470. draggle, 278, 469, 470. drake, 372, 498. draught, draft, 242. draw, 162, 364, 409. drawl, 278. dread, 161. dream, 68, 176, 233, 340, 341- dreary, 99, 186, 379. dregs, 465, 466, 470. drench, 165, 182, 199, 210. drew, 63, dribble, 278,373,466, 469, 471. drift, 185, 241. INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. 519 drill, 415 «; thrill, 416. drink, 159, 164, 165, 169. drip, 167, 189, 203, 210,465-7. drive, 60, 159, 166, 169. drizzle, 203, 210, 378. droll, 480. drone, 136. droop, 459. drop, J-., 188, 226. drosky, 13. dross, 188, 371. drought, 241. drove, 56, 184. drown, 276, 277. drudge, 451. drugster, 256. drunkard, 183. dry, 401. duck, v., 487, 488. duckling, 223. dudgeon, 451. duenna, 13. duet, 13. dukedom, 430. dumb, 263, 375. dun, 404, 452. Dunbar, Dunham, 496. Dunstan, 495. dup, 276. durst, 380, dusty, 271. Dutch, 85. dwarf, 364. dwell, 201. dwindle, 185, 278, 370- dye, 161. -ea- (A. S. diphthong), 45 ; (for a, in dia- lects), 46 n. each, 376, 422. ear, s., 68, 175, 226, 379; (of com), 252, 362. earl, 407. earnest, s. (serious- ness), 254, 407 ; (pledge), 367. earth, 240, 407. earwig, 422. east, 68, 94, 175,242, 243, 249, 269. Easter, 68, 249. eastern, 267. Easton, 496. eat, 108, 134, 164,282. eaves, 252, 380. ebb, 229. -ed, -t {suffix), 267. edd-y, 214. edge, 201, 229, 365. eel, 67, 175. egg, -J-., 365, 366; v., 365, 470, 471- eider-duck, 462. eight, 131. eighth, 154. eighty, 366, either, 270, 422. eke, 44, 59, 128. -el {suffix), 222. elbow, 371, 422. eld (old age), 209, 229; eld, 35 «. elder, adj., 209. elder (tree), 370. eleven, 44, 371,422; eleventh, 154. elixir, 8. ell, 199, 371. Elmdon, 496. elmen, 264. else, 199, 274. ember-days, 214, 423. embers, 375. emmet, ant, 415. empty, 352, 373. -en, -n {verbal suffix) , 275 ; -en {adj. suf- fix), 222. end, 199, 227, 340. England, 376, 402. English, 201, 210, 272. enough, 63,214, 361, 364. entrance C2 words), 411. envelop, 319. -eo- (A. S. diphthong), 45- episode, 13. equip, 480. -er {suffix), 2 s^6', {adv. suffix), 274. er, 36. -em {suffix), 267. em (eagle"), 239. errand, 228, 250. es, 36. escarpment, 291. Essex, 494. -est (suffix), 273. Eston, 496. etch, 85. -ep {suffix), 33. eve, s., 303, 371 ; even, 67, 251, 371. even, adj., 266. evening, 67, 175. ever, 274, 303. every, 356, 423. evil, 266, 416. excerpt, 291. excision, 290. experience, 139. ewe, 377. eye, 44, 58, 226, 401. eyelet-hole, 431. O'^m (eggs), 366, 470, 486. fain, 266, 267, 364. fair, 265, 266, 364. fairylike, 430. fake, 483. falcon, 325 n. fall, 44, 139, i59>i6o, 161, 167. fallow, 264. falsehood, 430. fambles, 483. fan, 435, 441. fandian (A.S.), 31 «. far, 406. fare, 139, 162, 168 n, 174. Farndon, 496. farrow, 139, 257 w. 520 INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS, farthing, 258, 406, 423- -fast (suffix), 261. fasten, 276. father, 82, 97, 98, 99, 103, 108, 117, 138, 147-9, 246, 369. fathom, 138, 233. fatling, 223. fatten, 276. fault, 325. fawn, v., 276, 277, 468, 472. fayie, 36. feal,feel, 2;., 468. fear, 6*j. feather, 81, 136, 138, 236. fed,//. /, and pp., ^^2. fee, 44, 69, 82, 139, 176, 227, 362. feed, 59, 207, 211. feel, 58, 174. feet, 59, 90, 173. feign, 136. felaws, 38. feldspar, 85. fell, v., 180, 201, 210; s. (skin), 139. fell {pt. t. of fall), 160; (//.//.), 44- fellow, 477. felt, 268. felun, 38. female, 323 «. fen, 199. fend, 498. fennel, 435, 441. fetch, 318, 319. fetlock, 477. fetter, 279. feud, 206, 210. fever, 435, 441. feverfew, 435, 441. few, 139, 265. -ff {final), 329. Ffinch, 318. fibster, 256. fickle, 266. fiddle, 238, 368, 435, 441. fie, 461. field, 316. fiend, 69, 176, 250, 251. fierce, 316. fifth, fift, 268 ; fifth, 154- fifty, 60, 374. fig, 441. fight, 81, 165,401. filch, 468, 470. file, v., 67, 208. fill, s., 230 ; v., 203, 210. filly, 203, 210, 465. film, 233. filth, 67, 71,175, 208, 211, 241. finch, 355. find, 165, 402. finger, 236. fire, 67, 139, 175,340, 341- firkin, 224. first, 203, 210. firstling, 223. fish, 79, 139, 225, 226, 357, 381. fist, 67, 71,212,255. fitZ, 107 71. five, 60, 91, 374-5. flabby, 471, flag (banner), 470 ; (stone), 470. flagrant, 140. flake, 472, 476. flannel, 371, 450. flatling, 275. flavint, 472. flaw, 472. flaxen, 264. flay, 162. flea, 68, 175, 401. fledge, 466, 470. flee, 167 ; fly, 401. fleece, 378. fleet, s., 69, 135. flesh, 357. flight, 244. fling, 476-7. flit, 465-6. flitch, 355. float, 135, 167, 188. floe, 480. Jlokmel(}Ji.'E.\ 273. flood, 64, 246. floor, 62, 174, 236. florist, 254. flotilla, 13. flotsam, 477, 480. flounce, v., 480. flounder, 5., 480. flow, 63, 139, 161. flummery, 450. flush, v., 471-2. fluster, 463. flutter, 278. fly, s., 226 ; v., 167. foal, 139, 465. foam, 56, 233. foamy, 271. fodder, 248. foe, 56. %. 471, 480. foison, 287, 289. foist, 485. fold, v., 161 ; sheep- fold, 497. -fold {snfifix),j^^, 139, 261. folk, 257. fond, 3V0, 474, 497. font, fount, 288, 405, 417,435,441. food, 64, 177, 246. fool, 20. foot, 64, 74, 79, 80, 83, 84, 86, 86 ?z, 96, 109, 135, 138, 194-5 ; feet, 96. footpad, 48.3, 488. fop, 485, 487-8. foplmg, 223. for, 26, 139. for- {prefix), 215. force (waterfall), 472. fore-, 215. forecastle, 498. forefront, 430, forehead, 494, 496. foremost, 197, 265. forget, 164. fork, 436, 441. forlorn, 152, 155, 188. former, 265. INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. ^ai fors, 26. forsake, 162 ; forsook, 64. forth-, 215. fortnight, 371, 423, 498. forward, 262. foster, 248. fother, 83. foul65, 92, 139, 175, 266, 352. found, v., 288-9 ; PP'i 405. foundling, 223. foimt, 436. See font, four, 123,377. fourth, 154, 268. fowl, 237, 352, 364, 401. fox, 358. fragment, 140. fraternal, 97. fraught, 467, 472. free, 69, 176, 263. freeze, 69, 94, 139, 167, 378. French, 192, 210, 272. fresh, 201, 210, 272, 357, 376. freshen, 276. fret, 164. Friday. 426, 498. friend, 139, 250, 251. friend-ship, 220. fright, 376. frighten, 276. frisk, 480. frith, 376. fro, froward, 456 ; from, 401, 416. frolic, 484, 485, 488. from, fro, 416; from, 401. frore, from, 155, 379. frost, 188, 243. froward, 215, 262. frown, 480. fruit, 140. fry (spawn), 462. fuchsia, 85. fugleman, 85. -ful ^suffix), 261. fiilfillc, 25-6; fulfil, 203. full, 139, 263. fuller, 436, 441. fumble, 485. fun, 445, 451. furlong, 423. furlough, 477, 480. furrow, 257 «. furze, 378. fuse, v., 287, 289. fusil, 289. futile, 287, 289. futtocks, 423, 495. gabble, 469. gaby, 471. gad, .r., 472. Z^Z^ 451- gaggle, 132, 278. gain, 468, 472. gain-say, 215. gait, 476. gall, 44, 123,131,226. galloglas, 444, 445. galloway, 446, 449. gallows, 364. galore, 445. gamble, 375. gamboge, 14. game, 239, 371; gam- mon, 415. gamester, 256, gander, 370. gannet, 242. gantlet, 477, 480. garlic, 423. garth, 299, 353, 369. gasp, 467, 469, 473. gather, 369. gauntlet, 477, 480. gawky, 463. gaze, 467. gear, ^^-^i, 363. geek, 485. ged, 4^5- geese, 90. gem, 438. genially, 430. genius, 126. ge7itil, 34. get, 164, 363. geysir,i3, 288-9, 4^H, 466, 472, 475, 480. ghastly, 262,322,363. gherkin, 322. ghost, 55, 173, 322, 363. ghoul, 13, 322 «. gibe, 458, 471. giddy, 363. gift, 244, 363. giggle, 278. gild, 190, 193, 202, 210, 363, 407. gilder, 484, 485. gill (2 words), 411. gillie, 13, 448-9. gird, 363. girdle, 237, 253, 279. give, 159, 164, 168, 363- girl, 487, 489. glad, 71, 263. gladden, 276. gladen, gladden, s., 240, 436, 441. gladness, 254. glasen, 264. gleam, 68, 185, 234. glee, 69, 231, 377. gleed, glede, 59, 90, 208, 211, 245. glen, 446, 449. glib, J., 444, 445. ghb, adj., 485. glib, v., 485. glide, 62, 166. glimmer, 234, 278, 469. glimpse, 373, 469. glint, 402. glisten, 276, 381. glitter, 278, 469. gloom, 50, 63, 234. glory, 285, 286. Gloucester, 498. glove, 63, 374. glow, 161. glum, 404. gnarled, 358. gnash, 358, 471. gnat, 358. gnaw, 162, 358, 364. 522 INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. gneiss, 85. go, 54, iio, 161, 173. goad, 57. goat, 57, 110. Godhead, 57. godwit, 423. gold, 192, 243. golden, 264. gon, 26. good, 64, no, 263. goodbye, 423. goose, 50, 63, 82, 92, no, 123, 131, 178, 190, 194, 320, 371, 402. gorcrow, 423. gore, 55. gorse, 366. goshawk, 423. gosling, 63, 223, 492-3- gospel, 370, 423. gossamer, 424. gossip, 370, 375, 424. governajzce, 25, 26, gowan, 448-9. gown, 451. grace, 26. grandee, 13. grasp, 279, 382. grass, 226, 376. grate, v., 480. grave, v., 162. gray,grey,67,364,40i. graze, grasier, 353. great, 263. greedy, 68. green, 58, 174, 208, 211, 267, 340. greensward, 369. greet, 59, 174. greyhound, 478. grim, 263. grimace, 480. grimalkin, 223. grime, 457, 458. grin, 402. grind, 165, 402. grindstone, 495. grip, 62, 185 ; gripe, 62, 166. griskin, 223. gnst, 255. groan, 56. groat, 485, 487, 488. groin, 464. groom, 376. groove, 180. grope, 57, 184. ground, 405. groundsel, 370, 424. groundsill, 424. grovel, 469. grow, 62, 159, 161. growth, 240, 244. grudge, 480. gruesome, 459. grunsel, 424. guard, 417, guelder-rose, 13. guest, 81, 124, 131, 199, 244, 363. guggle, 278. guild, 363, 408. guilder, 484. guile, guise, 417. guilt, 363- guinea, 14. gums, 63. gush, 288-9,379,466, 471-2. gust, 466-7. gut, 187, 288-9. gutter, 313. gyves, 451. h {initiaV)^ sound of, 359- habbe^, 33. had, hath, hast, 374. haddock, 221. Hades, 13. haft, 242. hail, J., 237, 364. hake, 476. hale, 463 ; haul, 480. hale, whole, 416. half, 44, 225-6, 407. halfpenny, 374. halibut, 424, 495. halidom, 38. hallow, 364. halt, 44. halter, 248. halyard, 424, 494. -ham {suffix), 496. hammer, 236. hammock, 221. Hampstead, 496. Hampton, 496. hand, 227. handcuff, 424. handicap, 424. handicraft, 424. handiwork, 424. handle, 237. handsel, hansel, 478. handsome, handker- chief, 370. hand}^vork, 364, 424. hang, 161. Hants, 375. hap, 38. happen, 468. harbour, 406, 478. hard, 130, 136, 154, 263, 340. harden, 276. hards, //., 406. hare, 155, 492. harebell, 424. hark, 277. harrier, 492. harry, v., 406. hart, 130, 242, 406. harvest, 130, 254, 292, 352, 374- hasp, 382. haste, 476. hasten, 468. hate, 252. hatred, 219, 220, 496. haulm, halm, 130, 2 33-4- haven, 240, 374. haw, 201, 365 n., 409. hawk, 258, 374 «.; v., 450. hawker, 256, 487-9. hay ward, 365 n. hazel, 130, 237, 378. he, 58. head, 130, 243, 374. headlong, 275. heal, 67, 94-5, 175, 194, 205, 210. INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS, ^'^^ health, 150, 241. heap, 68, 82, 86, 94, 133, 138, 176. hear, 58, 379 ; heard, 44, 58. 492. hearken, 277. heart, 81, no, 131, 226, 406, 417. hearten, 276. hearth, 40'5. heat, 68, 206, 210, 229, heath, 67, 130, 136, heathen, (>"], 267. heathenish, 272. heather, 492. heave, 130, 162, 197. heavy, 271. heed, 59, 174, 201. hedge, 201, 365. heel, 58, 238. heft, 242. heifer, 424, 494, 496. height, 241, 368. heighten, 276. heirloom, 431. held, 158, 160. hell, 199, 229. helm, 234. help, 165, 340. helve, 248. hemlock, 424. hemp,99«,, 109,118, 370, 439, 441. hempen, 264. hen, 130, 199, 229. hence, 378. henchman, 364, 379, 425- herd (flock), 226 ; (shepherd), 227. here, 58. heriot, 425. hern, heron, 497. herring, 258, 259. hest, 206, 367 ; hestes, 25-6. hew, 133, 161; hewn, 159- heyday, 401, 425 ; hoyday, 485. Heydon, 496. hiccough, 362, 425. hid, pt. t. and pp., 492. hidalgo, 13. hide, J., 67, 130, 136, 175, 208, 212; v., 67. hie, 401. hieroglyphic, 292 n. high, 58, 89, 174, 263, 361, 401. hill, 228, 340. hillock, 221. him, 499. hind (peasant), 370, 403 ; (deer), 402 ; adj., 403. hinder, v., 403. hindmost, 265. hinge, 402, 465, 476. hint, 402. hip, 227. hire, 67, 165. hireling, 223. his, 26. hithe, 67. hither, 369. hitherward, 273. hoar, 55, 263. hoarhound, 425. hoarse, 55, 173, 376, hobble, 278. hobbyhorse, 431. hobnob, 425. hock, 85. hogshead, 485. hoise, hoist, 482, 485. hold, v., 158-9, 161 ; holden,i58-9; held, 158; holdep, 33. hold (of ship), 482, 485. hole, 181, 340. holiday, holibut, 495. holland, 13, 485. hollow, 256. holly, holm-oak, 371, 497- hollyhock, 495. holm, 234. holm-oak, 497. holster, 249. holt, 226. holy, 55, 401. home, 56, 89, 130, 173, 235. homicide, 290, Jionde, 38. honey, 257. hood, 83, 174. -hood, -head {suffix) ^ 57, 154, 218-9. hoof,63, 91, 174,177. hook, 64. hoot, 459. hope, 82. horn, 130, 239. hornet, 242. horse, 50 n. hot, 57, 88, 263, 377, 378. hough, 361. hound, 226, 405. houri, 13. house,65, 174-5, 195, 341 ; hoiisen, 195 «. housel, 252. hovel, 222, 374. hover, 443. how, 65. how (hill), 472. hoy, 484-5- huckaback, 489. huckster, 256, 487-8. hue, 60, 228, 377, 409 ; hues, 499. hue and cry, 480. hug, 470-1. hull, 482,485; (husk), 255- humble-bee, 375. humbug, 425. hummock, 221. hund-red, 122, 131, 220. hunger, 198, 237. hurdle, 237. hurtle, 278. husband, 459, 478, 493- husk, 255. hussif, hussy, 425, 478, 493, 495- hustings, 478, 493. 5^4 INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS, hnzzah, 85. hy, 33- hymn, 442. I, 26, 128,357. ice, 60, 300, 378. ichor, 13. icicle, 237, 364, 425. idle, 62, 81, 266. if, 364. ill, 472. im-bed, im-park, 215. imp, 439, 441. in, 71. in- {prefix)^ 215. inch, 205, 417, 436, 441. inch (island), 446, 447, 449- incise, 290. incognito, 13. Ind (India), 403. indexes versus indices, 19. -m^ {suffix), 222, 2i,(), 260; {pres. pt.'), 250 ; -zng (A.S. suffix), 258. ingle, 448-9- ingot, 188, 288-9. inmate, 357. inmost, 265. insect, 289. intaglio, 13. interloper, 431. intersect, 289. ioye, 36. iron, 60, 174, 238, 379- ironmonger, 425. iron-mould, 370. irrevocable, 280. is, 26, 499. -ise, -ize {suffix), 327. -ish {suffix), 271-2. island, 30;?, 380,425. -ist-er {suffix), 256 ;z. it, 26, 359, 362,^467, 499. itch, 355, 364. ivy, 257. jabber, 278, 469, 471. jag, 451- jangle, 278. jaunt, 467, 471. jeer, 485. jerkin, 224, 485. jetsam, 478. jib, v., 480. jibber, 278. jibe, 471. jmgle, 278, 356. joggle, 278. jolly, 480. jolly-boat, 478, 480. jolt, 356. jowl, jole, 356. jumble, 469, 471. jump, 471. junta, 13. justle, jostle, 278. juxtaposition, 431. -k {verbal suffix), 277. kail, 488-9. kails, 487, 488. kangaroo, 14. Katharine, 21. keel, 69, 1 76 ; v., 208, 211. keelson, 478. keen, 58, 174, 263, 303- keep, 190, 211, 436, 441. keg, 465. ken, 126, 200, 210, 465. kept, 268. kerbstone, 431. kerne, 444, 445. kernel, 203, 210, 222. kettle, 200, 436. kex, 450. l 320. spend, 438, 441, 498, spew, spue, 60, 166. spick and span-new, 479- spider, 368, 371. spikenard, 431. spille, 25, 26, 28. spilt, 268. spin, 165. spindle, 237, 370. spinster, 256. spit, v., 44. spittle, 237, 249. splay, 498. spleuchan, 448-9. splice, 482. splint, 402. split, 490. splutter, 469, spoke, J., 57. spoken, 157. spool, 487, 488, spoon, 63, 92. sporran, 448-9. sport, 498. spout, 460. sprag, adj., 471. sprat, 485, 489. sprawl, 469. sprig, 356. sprightly, 362, spring, 165. sprout, 487, 488. spurn, 165. sputter, 469. squab, 471. squabble, 469, 471. squander, 469, 474. squash, 381. squaw, 14. squeak, 462. squeal, 462, 469. squeeze, 381. squill, 290. staff, stave, 415. stag, 470. stagger, 469, 471. stair, 185, 206, 237, 364, 401. stake, 226. stalk, v., 277, stalwart, 262, 368, 428, 497. stand, v., 157, 162. stang, s., 183, 466. Stanton, 496. stanza, 13, staple, 237, 487 n. star, 406. starboard, 428, 494. starch, 355. starf, 26, 28. starknaked, 428. starling, 223. starve, 28, 165, 406. starveling, 223. stead, 137, 200, 245. steadfast, 261. steak, 464. steal, 163, 340. stealth, 240. steam, 68, 234. stee, 61 n. steed, 59, 208, 211, 245. steel, 58. steelyard, 494. steep, v., 464. steeple, 209, 211,237. steer, s., 191, 236. stem (of tree), 375. stench, 183, 202, 210. step, 138, 162, 202. stepchild, 428. steppe, 13. -ster {suffix), 256. sterling, 223, 498. stern, adj., 267. steruen, 28. steward, 60, 364, 409, 428. stick, 129, 164. stickle, 237, 253. stickleback, 428. stickler, 366. stiff, 263. stiffen, 276. stifle, 469. stile, 61, 134, 185, 238, 327,364. stiletto, 13. stilt, 467, sting, 165. stingy, 365. stink, 165. stint, 165, 204, 210. stirk, 191, 195, 209, 211, 221. stinup, 61, 184, 428 494-5- stole, 440, 441. stone, 56, 87-8, 172, 173, 239, 309. 310- 534 INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. stony, 270. stood, 64. stool, 50,63, 91, 174, 177, 238. stop, 438, 441. storm, 234. stoup, 463. stow, 232, straight, 269. straighten, 276. strand (of rope), 482. strange, 33. strap, strop, 417, 438, 441. strath, 446, 447, 449. straw, 231. stream, 68, 93, 96, 175, 234. street, 68, 432, 433, 438. strength, 150, 202, 210, 241. strengthen, 276. Strid, 186. stride, 166. strife, strive, 480. strike, 130, 166. string, 202, 227. stripling, 223. strive, 166. stroke, 57, 184. strong, 402. strop, strap, 417, 438, 441. strophe, 13. struggle, 469. stryf, 36. stubborn, 372. stud, 208, 245. stumble, 469, 474. stunt, 165. stutter, 469. sty, 61, 184, 409. such, 355, 376-7, 428. suck, 167, 492, 493. suckling, 223. suds, 187, 368. Suffolk, 494. sulky, 371. sultry, 377. summer, 236. sun, 71, 240, 404, 412-3. Sunday, 372, 426, 498. sup, 167. surd, 135. surf, 376. surloin, 5. Sussex, 494. sutler, 485, 498. suttee, 179. Sutton, 496. swa- [words beginning with), 408. swab, 482 ; swabber, 485- swagger, 469, 470. swain, 464. swallow, J,, 232 ; v., 165, 364- swamp, 183. swarm, 234. swart, 135, 269, 366; swarthy, 366. swash, 470. sway, 464, 466. swear, 162, 197, 200. sweat, v., 135, 206. swell, 165. sweep, 161. sweet, 59, 135, 174, 263-4. sweeten, 276. sweetheart, 428. swept, 268. swift, 269. swim, 165. swindler, 85. swine, 61, 230. swing, 165. swinge, 365, 402. swirl, 469. switch, 485. swivel, 237. swoop, 161, sword, 377, 406. swore, 62, 174; swore, 38. sylvan, 327. syncope, 291. syren, 327. -t (//. suffix), 268. table, 442. tadpole, 428. tag, 470. tail, 238, 364, 401. tal^ they, 33, 304, 464, 499 ; their, 464. thick, 129, 135, 355. thicken, 276. thief, 69. thigh, 361. thimble, 375. thin, 135. thine, 61. think, 129, 135, 204, 402. third, 154, 376. thirl, 205,415 ; thrill, 415- thirst, 135, 245. thirteen, 376. thistle, 237. thither, 369. thole, 135. thong, 183, 377, 402. thorn, 86«,, 135, 240. thorough, through, 361. thorough-fare, 217. thorp, 82,83, 136-7. those, 55, 379- thou, 65, 108, 135, 175, 499- though, 26, 304, 361. thought, 242, 362. thousand, 65, 81. thraldom, 26, 218. thrash, 165. thrave, 471, 476. thread, 206, 210, 243. threaten, 136, three, 69, 108, 117, 136, 176. threnody, 13. thresh, 357. threshold, 250, thrice, 274, 378. thrift, 38, 186, 467. thrill, drill, 416 ; thrill, 204-5, 210, 376. thrive, 20, 166, 467, 471. throat, 492. throe, 187. throng, 165, 183. throstle, 238, 249. throttle, 492. through, 376. throw, 55, 161, 206. throwster, 206. thumb, 375. thumbkin, 223. thunder, 135, 236, 367, 370- Thursday, 371, 426, 498. thwack, whack, 369. thwaite, 464. thwart, 467. tide, 62, 235. tidings, 250, 251. tie, 134. tight, 269, 467. tighten, 276. tike, 458. tile, 238, 364, 438, 441. tilt, s., 369. tilth, 240. timber, 134, 237,375. time, 61, 235. tind, v., 402. tinder, 237, 403. tine, s., 370. tinkle, 278. tippet, 440, 441. tipple, 469. tipsy, 469. tiro, 327. tithe, 371. titmouse, 428. titter, 278. to, 26, 62, 134, 174, 341, 415. 499; too, 62, 341,415,499. toad, 57. to-brake, 217. to-day, 217. toe, 54, 173, 340-1. toft, 468. together, 369. token, 57, 176, 239. told, 407. tolerate, 135,313,314, 324- tomahawk, 14. ton, tun, 404, 417, 438, 441- -ton {suffix), 496. tongue, 116, 134, 226, 328, 328 «, 334, 404. too ; see to. took, 38, 64. tool, 50, 63. toom, 458. tooth, 50, 63, 92, 108, 134. 136, 178, 195, 371,402. topsyturvy, 428. tornado, 13. Tory, 445. Tottenham, 496. totter, 313, 377, touch- wood, 488. tough, 62, 361. toughen, 276. touse, tease, 415. tow, 134. toward, 262. town, 65, 134. toy, 485- trade, 182. tramp, 134. trample, 278. trap-rock, 480, trauayle, 36. tread, 81, 134, 164. tree, 69,134,231,377. treen, adj., 264. trick, 485. trickster, 256. tricksy, 469. trigger, 356. trim, 205. trio, 13. trisect, 289. troth, 240. troublesome, 430. trough, 361. trout, 362, 440-1. truce, 378. true, 265, 377. trull, 85. trust, 254, 463-4, 468, truth, 241. tryst, trist, 254, 464 ; tryst, 468. tub, 487, 488. tuck, v., 487. 5?,^ Tuesday, 426, 496, tug, 134, 167, 187, 487. tumble, 278. Tun bridge, Tunstall, Tunworth, 496, tungsten, 479, 480, tunic, 438, 441. turf, 141. turtle, 438, 441. tusk, 255, 377. twain, 364. twang, 408. twelfth, 154, 374. twelve, 200. twibill, 428. twice, 274, 378, 430. twig, 364. twilight, 217, 428. twine, 61. twinge, 365, 402. twist, 254. twit, 166, 217. twitch, 355. twitter, 278. two, 54, 108, 134,173, 408. two-pence, 494, 495. tyne, 198, udder, 116, 136, 237. ugly, 470- umpire, 216. un- {prefix)^ 217. unable, 430. uncouth, 65, 71, 268, 371- ^ under, 26, 150, 154; {prefix), 217. unkempt, 202, 210, 375- unto, 26-7, 487-8. up, 27, 82, 137; {pre- fix), 217. upbraid, 364. upholsterer, 370. upper, 138. uproar, 485. urge, 129. us, 92, 371. usquebaugh, 445. INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. vain, 321 n. Valhalla, 475, 479. vane, 373. vanilla, 13. varmin, 407. 'varsity, 407. vat, 373, 374 n, 488. vault, 325 «. -ve {forfimal-v), 329. veneer, 85. verb, 417. verbal, 137. vermicelli, 13. verse, 438, 441. verst, 13, victuals, 325. viking, 474, 479. vmewed, 373, 374. vineyard, 360. vista, 13. vixen, 29, 203, 210, 239 ^» 373, 374- vnderstond-e, 38. vsage, 34. vseth, 34. wa- {words begmnhtg with), 408. wabble, 373. wacke, 85. waddle, 378. wade, 162. wag, z;., 466, 470,475. waggle, 278, 469. waggon, wain, 416, 485. waif, 480. wail, 462, 469. wain, 132, 182, 239, 364, 416, 485 n. wainscot, 485. waistcoat, 495, 496. waive, 480. wake, 129, 158, 162 ; woke, 64, 158. waken, 276. Wales, 202, walk, 161, 277, 407. wall, 44, 432-3, 438. wallet, 408, 415. wall-eyed, 473, 479. wallow, 408. walnut, 408, 428. walrus, 479, 480. waltz, 85. wampum, 14. wan, 408. wand, 183, 227. wander, 183. wanion, 370, 497. want, 408, 468, 475. wanton, 217, 408, 497. wapentake, 479. waps = wasp, 382. war, 408. warble, 278. ward, 243,408, 417. -ward {stifiix), 183, 262, 273. warlock, 408. warm, 265, 408. warmth, 241. warn, 408. warp, 165, 183, 408. warrant, 360 n. wart, 408. -wart {sufiix), 262. was, 164, 408, 499. wash, 162, 357,408. wash-'us, 495. wasp, 382, 408. wassail, 428. waste, 269, 270. watch, 355, 408. water, 81, 135, 237, 408. wattle, 237, 408,415. wauch, v., 447. waucht, s., 447. waul, 278. wax, v., 131, 162, 358 ; s., 358. waxen, 264. way, 226, 401. -way, -ways, 273, 274. wayward, 262. we, 58, 89. weak, 185, 464, 475. weaken, 276. weald, wold, 246. wealth, 150, 240. weapon, 239. INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. b?>1 wear, 158, 163, 200 ; worn, 158. weary, 58, 271, 379. weather, 248, 369. weatherwise, 262. weave, 141, 164 web, 202, 228. Webster, 256. wed, z'., 200; J., 200, 228. wedge, 228, 365. wedlock, 219, 496. Wednesday, 370, 426, 498. weed (i), 68; (2), 69. week, 226. ween, 58. weep, 59, 158, 161, 207. weet, 135. weft, 241. weigh, 164, 364, 401. weight, 242. weird, 227. weld, v., 480. well, v., 161 ; J., 229; (2 words)^ 412. wellaway, 428, 462. Welsh, 202, 210, 272, 362. welter, 278. wend, 183, 200, 210. wept, 268. were, 379. wert, 145 n. werwolf, 428. west, 269. W^eston, 496. wharf, 408. what, 134, 362, 408, 467 ; who, 362. wheat, 68. wheaten, 264. wheedle, 85. wheel, 69. wheeze, 131,161,379. whelk, 258, 362 ; (2 words), 410. whence, 378. wherry, 473. whether, 270. whey, 67. which, 355, 376, 429. while, 60, 90, 95, 133, 174, 238. whilom, 275. whilst, 367, 430. whimper, 371, 373 «. whin, 451. whipster, 256. whirl, 469, 473, 475. whisk, 471, 474. whiskey, 13, 448-9. whisper, 278. whistle, 278. whit, 362. Whitby, Whitchurch, 494. white, 62, 81, 263. whiten, 276. whither, 369. whiting, 259. whitlow, 480. whitster, whitleather, 494. Whitsunday, 494. whittle, 185, 369. who, 54, 123, 133, 377> 408. whole, 55, 88, 95, 172-3, 190, 194, 263, 377-8> 416. whoop, 64 n, 378. whortleberry, 363. whose, 379. why, 66, 303, 430. wick, 433, 438. wicket, 186, 480. wide, 62. widow, 116, 136, 232. width, 241, 492. wield, 161. wight, s., 245, 362 ; adj., 468. wigwam, 14. wife, 60. wild, 263, 407. wilderness, 429, 497, wile, 60, 417. wilk, 258, 362. will, 229. wille, 25-6, 28, 38. wimberry, 370, 494. wimble, 474. win, 165. winch, 129, 355. wind, s., 250, 251, 403; z^., 165, 402. windlass, 474, 480. window, 480. wine, 61, 62, 175, 340-1, 433,438- wing, 474. winkle, 129. winnow, 372. winsome, 205, 210, 262. winter, 237. wire, 60. -wise {sujffix), 274. wise, 60, 263 ; J., 417. -wise {suffix), 262. wiseacre, 85. wish, 67, 71, 208-9, 357- wist, 268. wit, t/., 135, 340*415; s.,22%; (wise man), 226. witch, wicked, 355. with, 304, 499. within, 372. without, 372. withstand, 218. witling, 223. wittol, witwall, 409. wivem, 360 n. wizen, 379. wo- {words beginning with), 408. woad, 57. woe, 54, 173. woke, 64, 158. wold, weald, 246,41 wolf, 123, 226. woman, 374, 429 ; women, 60. womb, 226, 408. wombat, 14, wonwian, 26. wonder, 237, 248. wonep, 33. wont, 30 n, 269 ; wonted, 369. woo, 63. wood, 409. 53^ INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. woodbine, 370,402-3, 409. wooden, 264. woodruff, 429. woodwale, 409, 429. woof, 378, 429. woollen, 264. word, 137, 417. work, s., 129, 209, 228, 406. work-'us, 495. world, 406, 429. worldling, 235. worm, 235. wormwood, 429. worship, 368. wort, root, 416. worth, v., 165 ; adj., 263 ; J., 406. wot (I), 57, 88, 135. wound,//., 405. wrack, 202. wrangle, 183. wrap, lap, 415, 416. wreak, 129, 164. wreath, 67, 185, 206, 210, 368 ; wreathe, 368. wrecche, 25, 26. wreck, 182, 210. wrench, 355. wrest, 206. wrestle, 278, 366. wretch, 182, 202, 210, 229, 278, 318, 355. wright, 245, 376. wring, 165. wrinkle, 237. wrist, 254, 368. writ, 185. write, 62, 166, 377. writhe, 60, 91, 166. wrong, 183, 402. wroth, 55, 184. wrote, 57. wrought, 268, 376. wuss (^Scotch), 209. y {letter), 66. y- {prefix), 33. yacht, 481. yard (court), 131,299, 352, 353,363.369; (rod), 44, 352-3, 363- yare, 44, 231, 265, 363- yarn, 239, 363. yarrow, 232, 265. yawl, 482. yawn, 131, 363. y-clept, 218, 363. ye, 58, 303, 363, 375- yea, yes, 363, 375. yean, 364. yeanling, 223. year, 68, 226, 363, 375 ; yore, 375. yearling, 223. yearn (to desire), 131, 363 ; (to grieve), 364- yeast, 363. yede, 48 n, 363. yell, 165, 363. yellow, 131,264,363. yellow-hammer, 429. yelp, 363- y-en (eyes), 38. yeoman, 429. yes, 363, 430- yesterday, 132, 274, 363, 372, 430- yet, 363, 375- yeue, 26. yew, 377, 409. yex, 358, 363. yield, 165, 363. y-knotoe, 33. y-melled, 33. yoke, 45, 122, 133, 226, 299, 375. yolk, 258. yon, 363, 375. yore, 55. you, 375, 377 ; your, 375. young, 263, 303, 363, 375-. youngling, 223. your, 26, 375. youth, 45, 241, 250-1, 375- Yule, 363. ywis, 218, 363. zanana, zenana, 133. zest, 290. zinc, 85. zool (plough), 459. GENERAL INDEX OF THE PRINCIPAL MATTERS DISCUSSED.' Abbreviation, including aphseresis, aphesis, &c., 351-2, 385- Accent, effects of, 491-9. Alphabet, Irish printed, 297 ; Anglo-Saxon, 297 ; changes in, 302, &c. Ancren Riwle quoted, 509. Anglo-French writing, influence of, 308. Anglo-Saxon or Wessex dialect, 45» 77 ; specimen of, 47-8. Aphesis defined, 385 ; examples of, 473- Apocope, 390. Aryan family of languages, 101-2 ; Aryan types, 113-4; dental sounds, 115; labials, 1 1 7-9 ; gutturals, 119, &c. Assimilation, 351-2, 368, 472. B, history of, 375. Celtic origin, words of, ch. xxii,, p. 443; (A.S. words), 451-2. Caxton's spelling, 315 ; quotations from, 470, 486, 511. Chaucer quoted, 24, 25, 26, 510. Chronology, use of, 5-7. Cognate words explained, 85-6. Compound words, 418-420 ; lists of obscure compounds, 420- 43O5 47<5-48o- Confluence of forms, 351-2, 409; the term defined, 409. Consonants, classification of, 344 ; changes in sound of, 350 ; changes in symbols for, 351 ; history of, 353-383 ; table of regular substitution of, 125; insertion of, 395 ; influence of, on vowels, 476. D, history of, 369. Danish language, 76 ; words bor- rowed from, 480. Dates, useful, 14. Doublets, 414-8. Doubling of consonants, 351-2, 399- , ^ Dutch language, 77 ; words of Dutch origin, 481-7. -e final, account of, 309-312. East- Midland dialect, 36-8. Editors and printers, errors of, 398. English, Vocabulary of, 2-4, 6,7; Sources of, 8-18 ; brief History of, 15-18; Dialects, 19-49; Pronunciation, 17, &c. ; modern period of, 17. Excrescent letters, 351-2, 396 ; t, 366; d, 370, 374; w, 372; p, 373; ^ 375,474- F, history of, 373. Friesic language, 481 ; Old Friesic, 77, 488 ; East Friesic, 488. G, history of, 363 ; vocalisation of, 401. Gaelic origin, words of, 446-9. German, 77-8 ; not the origin of English, 73-4 ; compared with English, 83-4, 503-8 ; list of English words borrowed from, 84-5 ; Low German, 448-490. Germanic, used to mean Teutonic, 74. 540 GENERAL INDEX OF THE Ghost-words, 399 {note). Gothic language, 75 ; Gothic stems, 79, Gradation of vowels, ch. x., p. 156; in Icelandic, 466. Graphic changes, 396, 474. Greek language, 99, 100 ; borrow- ings from, 438-440. Grimm's Law, 104 ; the sm e, simplified, 115, &c. ; examples, 126, &c. H, history of, 359. Hampole quoted, 34. Homographs, 411. Homonyms, 411-2. Homophones, 41 1-2. Hybrid words, 430-1. Icelandic language, 76, 454-5 ; words borrowed from, 480. Influence of consonants upon vowels, 351-2, 400-9. Irish origin, words of, 444-6. K, history of, 353; > ch, 354; kk > tch, 355 ; '^ >/, 356 ; >gy 356, &c. L, history of, 377 ; affects a vowel, 407. Latin forms compared with Eng- lish, 97, &c. ; early borrowings from Latin, 98, 432-442. M, history of, 375 ; affects a vowel, 401-4. Mercian dialect, 41-44; specimens of Old Mercian spelling, 44. Metathesis, 351-2, 385, 473- Milton quoted (for spelling), 512. ISIutation of vowels, ch. xi., p. 190 ; in Icelandic, 460, 465. N, history of, 370 ; affects a vowel, 401-2, 404. Northern dialect, 34-6. Northumbrian dialect, 41. Norwegian, word borrowed from, 480. P, history of, 372. Palatal and velar sounds, 1 20. Palatalisation, 350, 351, 384,469' Phonetic spelling ; glossic, 335 ; romic, 336 ; specimen of, 339 ; use of, 340, &c. Prefixes, 213-218. Pronunciation, changes in, 21, &c. R, history of, 376 ; affects a vowel, 405. Robert of Brunne quoted, 37. Roots, theory of, 280-282 ; list of fifty Aryan roots, 282-3 ; ex- amples, 283-293. S, history of, 378. Sanskrit language, 99. Saxon, Old, 77. Scandian origin, words of, ch xxiii-, P- 453- Shakespeare quoted, i, 20, 511. Sk, initial, 357, 381 ; final, 381. Sound-shifting, 85 ; triple, 105-6. Southern dialect, 29-34. Spelling, changes in, 26-28 ; ac- count of the growth of English, 294-333 ; ' etymological,' 323- 8 ; phonetic, 334-343 5 glossic, 335 ; romic, 336. Substitution of consonants, 351-2, 385, 472. Suffixes: substantival, 218-260; adjectival, 261-272 ; adverbial, 273-5; verbal, 275-9; (Scand.), 467 ; suffixed /, 467 ; verbal (Scand.), 468-9. Swedish language, 76 ; words borrowed from, 480. Symbols, change of, 351-2, 396 ; misuse of, 397-9, 476. Syncope, 389. T, history of, 366. Teutonic group of languages, 74 ; types, 78-9 ; dental sounds, 80-1 ; labial and guttural sounds, 81-2; long vowels and diphthongs, 87-95 ; table of, 95-6 ; dental sounds, 116 ; labial sounds, 119 ; guttural sounds, 119, &c. Th, history of, 367. Trevisa quoted, 29, 30. PRINCIPAL MATTERS DISCUSSED. 541 Unvoicing of voiced consonants, 351-2, 392, 473-4. Vemer's Law, 146-153. Vocabulary of English > 2-4 ; ad- ditions to the, 6, 7. Vocalisation of voiced letters, 350, 351, 384, 472. Voicing of voiceless letters, 350, 351, 384.471- Vowel-gradation, ch. x., p. 156 ; vowel-mutation, ch. xi., p. 190. Vowels in Middle-English, 25 ; long vowels discussed, 50-70 ; short vowels, 71 ; vowels in- serted, 393. W, history of, 377 ; affects a vowel, 408-9. Welsh origin, words of, 450-1. Wessex ; see Anglo-Saxon. West-Midland dialect, 38-9. Y, history of, 375. TABLES. Table of useful dates, 14; of Old Mercian words, 44 ; of long vowels, 95, 96 ; of regular substitution of consonants, 125 ; of the seven Teutonic conjugations of strong verbs, 167-9; of vowel-sounds, as deduced from verbal stems, 170; brief table of gradation, 189; of mutation, 191 ; of the principal consonantal changes, 382 ; of mutation in Icelandic, 460. THE END. \ 3193 w UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. I 3 "11 58 00420 1405