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p the Library of
p"^ fC. Putnam
Tcsenleil by
^ard K. Putnam
Cfaventon (ptt99 l^eviee
PRINCIPLES
OF
ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY
SKEAT
VOL. I.
Bonbon
HENRY FROWDE
OxpoEo UNivBBsrnr Press Wassuousb
Amsn Coiner. £.C.
sia Fourth Avekl'e
Cfaren5on ^tt99 ^ttUe
PRINCIPLES
OF
ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY
BY THE
REV. WALTER W. SKEAT, Litt.D.
LL.D. £din., M.A. Oxon
£iri/i£ioM and BosuHtrth Professor «(f Anglo-Saxon
in the University of Ceunbridgt
FIRST SERIES
THE ITATIVE EIiEMENT
SECOND AND REVISED EDITION
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, Muso^hUus
. *. ■ • • *. •. - ^ *> : t\ :.\ *'
©xfotb
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1892
/C7/
\:^'-:^'5
565372
PRINTED AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
BY HORACE HART, PRINTBR TO THE UNIVERSITY
• «
• «
• «
• •
«
t
• • •
• ••
• •
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
-M-
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
have 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 well 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 marked 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. Vli
paratively unimportant sound-shillings pecuKar 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 Vemer'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 English 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 modem 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 w^orks 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 day,
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 list of compound words is appended, ex-
plaining all those, of common occiurence, 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 list 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 jost as good a word as the long and clomsy word
Scandinavian ; see note to p. 454.
BOOKS CONSULTED. 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; 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 which I have used; they are not edways
the latest,)
Angua: Zeitschrift fUr englische Philologie, Halle, 1878-
1886.
Bahdrr, K. von: Die Verhalahstracta in den germanischtn
Sprachm. Halle, 1880.
Brugmann, K. : Grundriss der vergleichmden Grammaiik der
X PREFACE.
tndogermam'schen 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-Saxon Literature. London (S. P. C. K.),
1884.
Ellis, A. J. : Early English Pronunciation. Parts I — IH.
London, 1869, 1870. (The tract on Glossic is pre-
fixed to Part III ; it was also published separately.)
FiCK, A. : Vergleichendes Worterbuch der indogermanischen
Sprachen. Dritte Auflage. GSttingen, 1874-6.
Helfenstein, J. : -4 Comparative Grammar of the Teutonic
Languages. London, 1870.
Koch, C. F. : Historische Grammatik der englischen Sprache.
3 vols. Weimar, 1863 ; and Cassel, 1865-8.
Kluge, F. : Nominate Stammbildungslehre der attgermanischen
Dialicte. Halle, 1886.
Kluge, F. : Etymologise hes Worterbuch der deutschen Sprache.
Strassburg, 1883.
Loth, J. : Etymologische angelsccchsisch-englische Grammatik.
Elberfeld, 1870.
Maetzner, Professor: An 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, from 1 150 /(? 1300.
(Part L) Oxford, 1885.
Morris and Skeat: Specimens of Early English, from 1298
^^ 1393- (Part n.) Oxford, 1873.
Muller, F. Max: Lectures on the Science of Language.
2 vols. Eighth edition. London, 1875.
BOOKS CONSULTED. XI
MuLLKR, IwAN : Hatidbuch der Klassischen Alter turns- Wissen-
scha/t. Fflnfter Halbband. Nordlingen, 1886.
Peile, J. : Introduction to Greek and Latin Etymology. Second
edition. London, 1872.
Peile, J.: Primer 0/ Philology, London, 1877.
Rhys, J.: lectures on Welsh Philology. Second edition.
London, 1879.
Sayce, a. H. : Introduction to the Science of Language.
2 vols. London, 1880.
Schade, O.: Altdeutsches Worterduch; Halle, 1872-82.
SiEYERS, "E.: An Old English Grammar, translated by A. S.
Cook. Boston, 1885. (A most useful book.)
Skeat, W. W.: An Etymological Dictionary 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 English Literature ; from 1394
to 1579. (P^rt IIL) Oxford, 1879.
Skeat, W. W. : The Gospel of St, Mark in Gothic. Oxford,
1882.
Skeat, W. W. : The Gospels in the Anglo-Saxon and North-
umbrian {and Mercian") Versions. 4 vols. Cambridge,
1871-1887.
Strong, H. A., and Meyer, K. ; Outlines of a History of the
German Language, London, 1886.
Sweet, 1A,: 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.
xii PREFACE.
Sweet, H.: An Icelandic Primer, 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. a 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. — Modem 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
'i a later form than.' (Compare its ordinary algebraical
meaning of ' is less than ').
> is to be read as * produces,' or * becomes,' or * is the
origin 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.'
• ••
ABBREVIATIONS, ETC. xiil
D signifies ' a stem of the same form as,' or ' the verbal
stem which appears in.' It denotes parallelism of form.
Hence > .. is to be read as * produces by mutation.'
< .. is to be read as ' is derived by mutation from.'
< 11 is to be read as 'is derived from the verbal stem
which appears in.'
< .. 0 is to be read as Ms 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.
-%/ 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 (^ in the case of <f) really marks
vowel-length ; thus A. S. <f = Lat. a.
The pronunciation of the long vowels, <f , /, /, 6^ H, is given
at p. 52 ; of j/, at p. 66 ; of ^, at p. 67 ; of /a, /o, at p. 68; of
the short vowels a, ^, 1*, 0^ «, 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.
POSTSCRIPT IN THE SECOND
EDITION
-M-
In the Second Edition, my work has been principally
confined to making such corrections as have been pointed
out to me, and many more which have occurred to myself.
A considerable time has been spent in the endeavour to
insure a higher degree of accuracy, but only the careful
reader will find much difference. The results of such toil
arc not very visible.
Substantially, the book remains the same in form; but,
after § 458, I have added a few sections at the end of the
book in the hope of satisfying, to some extent, the wishes of
those who have asked me for further remarks upon short
vowels, in addition to the Note at p. 71.
The simplest clue to our changes in pronunciation is to be
obtained from the comparison of pp. 340, 341 with pp. 336,
337-
I have introduced the symbol * A.F.' to denote * Anglo-
French,' i. e. the Norman dialect of French as developed in
England.
This symbol is commonly used in the ' Second Series ' of
the present work (alluded to at page v of the Preface to the
First Edition), which was published in 1891, and concerns
the ' Foreign Element ' of our language.
Cambridge,
March 26, 189a.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
■♦♦-
PACK
Preface v
Chapter L — Introductory. § 1. A passage from Shakespeare
quoted. § 2. English literature and the English language.
S S. Vocabulary of Modem English. § 4. Composite nature
of that vocabulary i
Chapter n. — The Sources of the English Language.
§ 5. Necessity of observing chronology. § 6. Additions to the
Vocabulary of the Engli^ language. § 7. Changes in the
language are ceaseless but silent. § 8. Sources of the Elnglish
language. $ 9. Enumeration of these sources. Native English ;
Celtic ; Latin ; Scandinavian ; Dutch ; Greek ; French ; Hebrew ;
Arabic. Modem stage of the language. Additions from Spanish,
Italian, German, Russian, Turkish, &c. § 10. The Modem
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. i 13. Historical Survey ; shewing the influence of
historical events upon the Engli^ language. $ 14. The same
continued during the Modem 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. § 17. Changes in pro-
nunciation much greater than the changes in our spelling seem
to indicate. Necessity for examining the old forms of words.
i 18. Variations in spelling from time to time. Values of a, e,
i, 0, and m 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.
PACE
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.
% 28. History of some of these words. % 24. The three main
Dialects; Northern, Southern and Midland. % 25. The
Southern Dialect. Passlige 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 fix)m the Handlyng Synne,
written by Robert of Brunne. Peculiarities of the Elast-Midland
Dialect. Its strong resemblance to the standard literary English.
§ SO. Difference between East- Midland and West- Midland.
Area over which these dialects extend . . . 19
Ik
Chapter IV. — The Native Element : the oldest dialects.
§ 81- 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.' § 82. Remains of the Old
Northumbrian dialect. Remains of the Old Mercian dialect ;
and of the Wessex dialect. % 88. 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. § 85. Chronology of A.S. writings and
manuscripts. The Lauderdale MS. of iElfred*s translation of
Orosius older than the Cotton MS. of the same. § 86. Specimen
of * Anglo-Saxon,* i. e. of the Wessex dialect ; St. Matt. xiii. 3-8.
§ 87. Useful lessons in English grammar, etymology, and
pronunciation to be leamt from the above extract . . 40
Chapter V.— English Long Vowels. § 88. Change of pro-
nunciation of the A.S. 6 in sMi to the modem English 00 in
sooth. The same change exemplified in other words. % 89.
General shifting of vowel-sounds. The A.S. vowels d, /, /, 6, ti
have been replaced by the modem E. oa, ee, f, oo^ ou. The A.S.
bdtj bitCy bitan, bSt, d-biitan have become boat, beet, bite, boot,
a-bout, § 40. English should be traced downwards as well
TABLE OF COlfTEffTS. xv'i
u upwards. The former method shews Ihc [me process of the
derelopnicnt. The A. S, vowels / and fJ have become, pbo-
neticaUy, ai (mod. E, f) and au (E, tw). The A. S. ^, le, //, ^fl.
ie.i have become, phonelicallj, i (E. ;f). The A. S. li has
become o ; and 6 ba« beconie a. % II. The vowcl-aoundB are
affected by the consonant that followt (or sometimes, that
precedes) them. Special influence of the conionant r. § 42.
HiAor; of the A. S. d. Examples : nf, a roe ; twi, two ; lihle,
onght; 4r, oar; dn, one; -hiJ (snffix), -hood; &c. { 43.
The A.S./. Euunples: M, he; k/h, high: itfr, here: fg',
ere ; iM-, rick ; &c i 44. The A. S. /. Kiamples : hi, by ;
Uta, hnc; wif-nun, women; -Ik (safitx), ~1y; &c. % 45.
TTir A.S. if. Examples: «rf, shoe; mir, moor; jTprfr, awore ;
Sitr, other; mSsti, must; behiJiaH, behove; gimau. gums;
rid, rood, rod : ic i 46. The A. S. U. Examples ; *i/,
how; sdr, sou; eMe, could; nlni, room; nSh, rough; &c.
\ 47. The A. .S. y (/i) ; how pronoonced. Confused with A. S,
/. Esamples: kwy, why; hyr, han-./yH, filth; 4c. S 48.
The A.S. it, ia, io\ usually become E. tt. Examples: i«,
lea ; koiAg, whey ; &c. { 40. The A. S. Ai ; usually written
aiinmod.E, { 60. TheA.S.t'a: usnally written win mod. E.
i 61, Summary of results of Chapter V. Eiceptioaal inilaaces
of the development of A. S. A, i, I, S. il, aod >. Note on the
Short Vowels ji
I Chapter VI.— teutonic Languages cognate with English.
f 6% Valtie of the vowels in tracing the history of etymologies.
f 63. English is not derived from German, f 5J. Source of
thb common error; confuEted ideas as to the meaning of
' German.' t G5. The Teutonic Group ofLanguoges. Modem
Gemuui a badgnideto English etymology. Eastern and Western
TeDtonic { 66. East Teutonic : Gothic, Swedish. Danish,
Icelandic Great value of Icelandic for English etymology.
( 67. West Teutonic : Anglo-Saxon, Old Friesie, Old Saxon,
Dntcb, German. Old, Middle, and modem High German.
I C8, Teutonic types. Meaning □( a ' type ' ; and of the terms
' base ■ and ' stem.' The mod. E. bill is nearer to the Tentooic
type than the equivalent C. biissen. i fi. Tectonic dental
wnmds. German has changed Teut. d into I; Tent, initial /
into I, medial / into it, and final I into t. Is, is, s ; and Tent, fi
iMod. t eo. Change of Teut. i^ to G./. Examples. {61.
Change of Teut. / lo G. i («, medially; i. It. ii, s, finally).
~ mplci. i 62. Cbuigc of Teat. M to G. d. Eaamples.
The forms I'ater nnd ifiiUira.K ateeptional. S 83. Teutonic |
labial Hiundi. Geimon has initial pffoip; and tarns Tetit. I
fiDiil/ into/. Examples. ( 64. TeDlonic/'remuni u G.f, ]
though Boractiroes written c. Teut. o appears asG.b. { 66.
Teulonic guttural souods. Teul. g, i, h ficqueully remain un-
changed in Germuii or final libecumes G. ch. | 66. English
and German comparfd. Double changes in some wards. E.
Ihorft-^G. Dotf. The Towcl-changes rctjuire eiplanation u
well as the consonantal changes. A.S. if=G. u. A.S./ft (E,
faei)-^G. Fust. 5 67. Paucity of English words borrowed
from German. List of E. words borrowed from German j
all in the iDodem period. { 68. Sound -shifting, ^\l]at |
is meant by "ci^Qale' words. j Hi). E. foot 'cognate'
with Goth. fetHi. Gothic, Swedish, Danish, and Dutch, all
resemble English in their use of consonants : whilst German |
differs from them all. { 70. Resolti of \\ 64-69. English not
boiTowed from German (with a few exceptions). German is not
the sole Teutonic langua|;e, not ont easiest guide. We should
rather consult Gothic, Old Frieslc, &c. German it distmguished
from other Tcutoniclanguages by certain consonantal shirtings.
PiimiliTe Teutonic ' types ' can be constructed. All tlic Teutonic
languages are Bister-langnages. { 71. The A.S. if — Teat, ai
(rarely t). A. S. itAn (stone) = TeaL staino (or stainai. A.S.
Ai^ (boat) -Teut. BiTO (or bAta). { 72- ThcA.S.^commonly
arises by mulalion from Teut. 0. A. S. /// [feet) - Teul. fOti ;
where A. S. ^ is dne to i-mntation of i. % 7S. The A. S. f -
Tent.l. A.S. *Tirt'/(while)-TeuL HwtLO. \ 74.TheA.S.rf '
-Tent. 0. or Tout, fi; or is due to loss of win d« (for an). A. S.
itil (Blonl) = TeoL stOlo. A.S. spin (spoon) - Teut. spBni.
A.S./<Wi:ioolh)-Teul.TANTHO. ( 76. The A. S. rf = TeuU 0 ;
or is due to loss of n in A. S. an •= Teut. ON. A. S. nd (now)
- TcuL nO. a. S. Ml/9 - Tent, montho. % 78. The A. S. y
commonly arises by mutation from Teut. H (or AU, or EU)
S 77. The A.S. / - Tent. KM. A.S. hiap (heap) = TeuL
HAtiPO. S 78. TheA.S.A'- Teul. EU. A. S. iVc/"(!ieO = Teut.
LEUBO (or LEUVO). { 7M. The A. S. li commonly arises from an j
i-mulalion or<{. { SO. Resnlte of Chapter VI. Table of eqnivs- i
lent long vowels in English, A. S., Dn., G., Dan., Swod., Intl., J
Golh., and general Teutonic
CllAtTCR Vll.—Cl.ASSICAt.LANCUACES COGNATE Win
Grimm's Law. { St. How to compare Latin forms with I
English. The Lat. paltr i» cognate with E. father. \ B2.
TABLE OF CONTENT.';.
EiaraplM of E. words borrowed from Latin before the Conquest.
f 83. Words cognate with native E. words may often be found
in Greek, Sanskrit, Sm:. Modern comparative philology com-
menced ID the year 1784. Sanskrit not a molber- language, bnt
a siiler-langnage. The same is true of other 'Aryan ' langnageB.
. The Aryan family of languages t alio called Indo-European
1 group. The Iranian gionp.
or Indo'Cennanic. The Indini
The Lettic, Slavonic, Hellenic, Itnlic, Keltic, and Tcutonii
groups, { 85. The three 'sets' of Aryan langtmges; Classical,
Low German, and High Gemnm. Classical pilar, rariip, fater.
Sec i 88. Grimm's Law : as it relates to the dental series of
letters DH, D. T. The memorial word ash ; chanpng to SHA,
and HAS. (I) Sanskrit DK, D, T ; {1) English D, T, TH ; (3)
Old High German T,TH.D. 5 87. MeaningofthesymholsDH,
D, T. TH as applied to various langtiages. Examples of classical
(Initial and medial) DH ; of classical (initial and medial i T : and
of clasaical D. S 88. Exceptions to Grimm's -Law. Skt.
Urd/ar, A.S. /infOor, G. Bruder ; as compared with Skt. fi far,
A. S. fader, G. Voter. The exceptions can be explained by
Venier's Law. { 89. Grimm's Law ; as it relates to the labial
and gnttoral series of letters, BH, B, P, PH ; and GH, G, K. KH.
Exunples of the shiAing of classical BH, B, and P ; and of clas-
sical GH. G, and K. \ 90. Needless complication of Grimm's
Law due to the attempt to drag in the Old High Gernum forms.
f Bl. ampler form of Grimm's Law ; by omission of the Old
High German forms. In thu series DH , D, T, TH, each ■ classical '
Ijrmbol is ihifted to the 'Low German 'aomid denoted by the
cymbal which ne)it follows it. | !J2. Difficulty of inclnding
the Old High German sound-shiflings under Grimm's Law.
Valne of Grimm's Law. ; ya. The Arjon type of a word ; re-
statement of the simplified form of Grimm's Law. Re-statement
of Grimm's Law, as applied to the dental series of symbols DH,
D, T, TH 9
It VIII.— Simplified Form of G
The dental, labial, and guttural
; Law. % 31.
of consonants mast be
treated separately. Aryan and Teatonic. Old High German
excluded. h 'ih. Dental Series. Aryan D: Skt. d\ Gk. S;
Ul. d. I. Aryan T : Skt f, /* ; Gk. x ; Lai. /. Aryan DH :
Skt. (/A, d; Ck. $, t; Lat./tiDitUllyJ,rf,/. (medially): Slav.,
Lilh., Irish d. S96. Teut. T (Aryan D) ; Goth./; Dan. rf
(when final). Teut. TH {Aryan T) : Goth. Ik ; A. S. p, B : Icel,
>,8;D«i. andSwed. I.d; Du. d. Teut. d (Aryan DH): Goih,
XX TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
d. % 97. Meaning of the symbols > and <. The series DH >
D >T >TH is equivalent toD < DH; T< D; TH< T. % 98.
Labial Series. BH > B > P > PH. Difficulties relating to the
Teutonic /. § 99. Aryan B : Skt. b; Gk. jS; Lat b, Aryan
P : Skt. /, ph ; Gk. » ; Lat., Slav., Lith. /. 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, b). BH > B > P >PH (F) isthesameasB<BH ; P < B ;
F < P. § 101. Guttural Scries. GH > 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. § 108. Aryan G (palatal) : Skt./ ; Lith.
£; Slav. « ; Gk. 7 ; Lat. ^> Teut. K. Aryan Gw (velar) : {a)
Skt. gj ; Gk. 7; Lat. ^> Teut. K. {b) Skt. g,j; Gk. fi ; Lat.
b,v> Teut. Q (K, KW). % 104. Aryan K (palatal) : Skt f ;
Lith. ss ; Gk. « ; Lat c > Teut GH ; Goth. h. Aryan Q (velar) :
Skt kf ch ; Gk. «, t, «• ; Lat. c, quy v ; Lith. k > Teut. KHw
(Hw) ; Goth. hw,f^ h. % 105. Aryan GH (palatal) : Skt h\ Gk.
X; Lat h,f{£)\ Lith. 2 > Teut G. Aryan GHw (velar) : Skt.
gh, h ; Gk. x. ^1 ^ ; Lat. g, 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 ; Lat. genus, Gk. yhos ;
Skt. j'an (to beget). § 109. Examples from Scandinavian.
$ 110. Teut K > E. ch, E. chin ; Lat gena, Gk. 7cVv$. Jill.
Teut K ; final. E. eke ; Lat. augere ; and other examples.
% 112. Teut KH (h) < Aryan K. Examples. E, horny Lat.
comu. § 118. Teut g < Aryan GH. Examples. E. go// ;
Latyir/; Gk. x^M- § l^^- Teut. Q < Aryan Gw. Examples.
E. fueen ; Gk. yw^ ; Ski. jani, § 116. Teut Hw < Aryan Q.
Examples. E. who; Lat. gui; Skt. kas. § 116. Teut. Gw,
g < Aryan GHw. Examples. § 117. Teut T < Aryan D.
Examples. E. tame ; Lat. dotnare ; Skt. dam, % 118. Teut th
< Aryan T. Examples. E. thin ; Lat. tenuis ; Skt. tanu.
% 119. Teut. D < Aryan DH. Examples. E. dare ; Gk. Bapativ.
§ 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.
wrfip; Skt. pitar, % 122. Teut B < Aryan BH. E. brother;
LtLt. /rater ; Skt. bhrdtar 115
I
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CUAPTER DC— Consonantal Shifting : Vebnbr's L\w. \ 1-28.
Difficalties about Ctimtn's Lew, as origioally explained. The
ihifiing I from Low lo High Gennan! much later in time
thui the First Shifting (from Aryan to TEiilonii:). Probable date
of the Second Sbiltlng. ; 124. In what sense 'Law' is to be
3d. The vagueness of popular DOtJons on this point,
{ 12B. Sonnd-shiding not confined to Teutonic ; diffi^lty of
opUiniag its origin. § 128. Anomalies enplained by Vcmcr's
{ 127. Veraer's Law discoTercd in 1875. Stsletnenl
of the Law. Peculiarities of Arjran and Teutonic accent. { 12g.
Law, OS stated in Ihe original Gennan : with a transla-
t S l)i9. Examples. Gk. KK\nit does not answer to
I A. S. km. bat lo A. S. hliid {E. Imd) ; this is due to the accent
bong upon the second syllable. Change of s to t, and afterwards
IlO r. Caaial verb) accented on the suilii. Eiplanation of the
equivalent fomu rear aad raise. % 130. Points in A. S. gram-
mal- ciplained by Vemer's Law. Why the A. S. siilSan (to cut ),
pt (. itidC. makes Ihe pt. t. pi. snidan, and the pp. sniilen (imtead
cSmiSen and sniStn). Why mod, E. comparative adjectives end
m -ir. S 131. Vcdic Accentuation ; how connected with Anglo-
Saxon spellings. | IS'2, General Results ; in a slightly diflerent
fiinn. § 183, Examples. Shiftings of guttural, dental, and
labial consonanls. The occurrence of r for s in English, E.
kart'C. Hasc. Tex votAs lore, better, forlorn, fmre . 14
—Vowel-Gradation, % 134. Meaning of gradation :
drink, drank, drunien. Found also in Greek and Latin.
i 135, Modem English gradation very imperfect. Confusion of
past lenses with past participles. Strong verbs often become
weak; the converse seen in the case of luear. f 133. Necessity
of considering the M, E. and A, S. forms of E, verbs. The
Seven Conjugations ; fall, shake, bear, give, rfn'ik. drive, cheese.
Memorial couplet, { 137. Reduplicating Verbs : the verb /all.
No real gradation here. ( 139. The fonr principal stems of
A.S. Verbs: (l) the present stem; (a^ the iirsl prcterit-stcm ;
(3) the second pretcril-slcm ; £4) the past participial-stem.
Steins of /a//: (.t)/eall-ai*; t.j)/Mi: {i)/Ml-cn; U) feall-en.
(189. Principal E. verbs of the /a/Z-conjugation, { 1*0. The
verb thate. Stem-vowels : a, 6, i, a. Mod. E, Stem-vowels ;
a. ee, 00, a. Eiaraple : shake, shock, shook, shaken. \ 141.
Principal E, verbs of the Ma*^-conjugation. | 142. General
mtmblance in the conjujiatioas of hear, give, and drink ; Teul.
■lem^Towels: e ii), a, e. a \u) ; or else e 1.1), a, e, e (i) ; or else
xxii TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PACK
e (f), a, u, 0 (i/). General formula : E, A, o. Compare Gk.
rpi^tiVf Irptupw, rirpo^, 5 143. The verb It^ar. Stem- vowels :
e (0 a, <k (i), c (u) ; Teut E, a, fi (=A), o. $ 144. Verbs of
the ^ar-conjugation. § 145. The verb ^iw. Stem-vowels : e
(Of ^t <* (<^)f ^ (**)• § 146. Verbs of the ^W-conjugation.
i 147. The verb drink. Stem-vowels : e (eo, i), a {ea^ a\ «, o {u),
§ 148. Verbs of the <friif>&-conjngation. § 149. The verb
dfivf. Stem-vowels : /, J, i, i ; Gothic «, a«, » {ai)j i (at).
i 160. Verbs of the drivg-conjagaLtion, § 151. The verb choose.
Stem-vowels : /o (t/), /a, f<, o ; Gothic ftf, af<, u {au), u {au),
§ 152. Verbs of the r^^j^-conjugation. § 158. Table of stems
of the seven conjugations {Jail, shake, bear, give, drink, drive^
choose) in Teutonic, Gothic, A. S., E., Du., G., Icel., Swed., and
Danish. § 154. Comparative Table of Vowel-Sounds, as de-
duced from the gradation seen in strong verbal stems. § 155.
Remarks on the Table. Teut. A may be lengthened to A (be-
coming d, i). Teut. E may be graded to A, or o. Teut t may
be graded to Ai or i. Teut. EU may be graded to au or u.
The E-group : E, A, o. The i-group : 1, I, ai. The u-group :
EU, u, au. Values of Teut. a, 6, &c., in various Teut. lan-
guages. § 156. Various values of Teut. long i. § 157.
Equivalents of A. S. d in other Teut. languages. § 158.
Equivalents of A. S. i in other Teut. languages. § 159. The
same of A. S. /. § 160. The same of A. S. 6, % 161. The same
of A. S. i/. § 162. The same of A. S. y, § 163. The same of
A. S. S. § 164. The same of A. S. ia, % 165. The
same of A. S. io, % 166. Necessity of observing equivalence
of vowel-sounds. § 167. Practical application of gradation in
comparative philology. % 168. Four words containing A. S. ^ :
goose, tooth, other, sooth. The Skt. word sat I ; E. suttee, § 169.
Derivatives can be formed from any of the verbal stems. % 170.
This result much neglected. § 171. Derivatives from verbs of
the ya//-conjugation. § 172. Derivatives from stems of verbs
like shake, § 173. ^^ar-conjugation : derivatives from stems.
§ 174. C7iW-conjugation : derivatives from stems. § 175.
ZVi'#f^-conjugation : derivatives from stems. § 176. Drive-
conjugation : derivatives from stems. § 177. Choose-Qon^Mg^'
tion : derivatives from stems. §178. Brief Summary of Results.
Table of vowel -gradation . . . . . . . 156
Chapter XI.— Vowel-Mutation. § 179. • A man said to Gold-
burh, buy a whole goose and a cow cheap * ; explanation of this
memorial sentence. § 180. Mutation of ea to ie {y) ; of eo to
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
* nme : and of .^ to U (y). % 181. \-m
vowels: a,a,u; d,i,ii-, ea, w; ^a. h. Mnlnled vowels : i,y,
ji ^.^t y i '' \j>) ; lt{i)- h 182. Meaning of • concealed' mu-
Ution. % 18S. A mnlated to E. f \U. o routstcd to Y.
I 185. u mntoted to v. { 186. Long a. mutated to long Jt.
% 187. Long o mnlaled to long e. % 183. Long u mutated to
long Y. i J83. Long KA rontateil to long IE (y). % laO. U-
mntation. { 191. Examples of A. S. malations. Meaning of
the symboU > and < in combination with the symbol (..].
{i) mann > -. mcnn. {i) gold > . . gyldtii. {i)6urh> ..lyrig.
l4)A'f/>-.W/<in. {.i,)ffSs>..gii. (6-)cii>..f^. (?)f/a/i>
.. defim, lypan. % 192. Examples of mutation in modem
Eoglilb. A > . . E. { 193. O > . . V. \ 1»1. (!>..¥.
\ 19B, A>..A. I 198. 0> ..i, t 197. 0>..*. S 198.
■A>.,y;EO>..Y. h 199. Recapitulation of einmplcs of
matatioQ in modeni English. \ 200. A vowel may be aifected
both bf gradation and (anbseqaently) by mutation . . 191
I Chapter XII. — Prefixes and Si;bstaktival Supfiies. % 201.
PrelixM : A-, afttr-, an-, ann-, at-, be-, c-, 1-, tdii-, emb-,for- (1),
far- (»)i fire-, /oriA-i/rv-, gain-, im-, in-, l-, mid-, mil-, n- (1),
*- C*). "- (3), "- (4), '/; off: ™-, «■; O^-. mier-, C, th»vugk.,
to- ll), le- i,l), twi-, un- (t). Xfl- (1), un- (i), under-, Hf-.tDOH;
uiilh-, y-. i 202. Subslantival Suffixes: -dom, -heiid, -head,
-Uek, -ledgi. -red (.\\ -red {i),-rii, -skip. i 203. Suffixes ex-
pressive of diminution; -c, -el, -en, -iHi', -ling, -tin . . 11
~ Chaftek XIII.— Substantival Suffixes («
Aiym snffines : -o, -A, -I, -n, -10, -lA, -wo,
-10, -LO, -NU, -Nl, -NU, -TO, -TI,-TU, -TER (-TOB),-TEO, -ONT, -ES
l-os), -KO, The Aryan -TO may become Teot. -TO, -THO, or -no
(-TA, -THA, or -DA). { 206. Aryan -o ; fern. -A. Examples of
Modem English words whicb once contained this sulEx : mosc.
dajt ; ncut. deer ■ fern, haif, &c. % 20H. Tent, suffix -an \ fern.
■fiN ( = -AN). Examples : masc., bear, brw, baum, cave, drop,
gali, ihani, imekt, ifark, slate, ten'/; cent., ear; fem., craw,
Jfy, kiarl, tangae, vieii ; ashes. % 207. Aryan ^I. Examples:
:. hip ; fem. juttn ; &c. { 308. Aryan -v. Examples :
; fem. chin; So. { 209. Aryan ■lo ; Gothic -ja;
A.S. -t. Examples: end, herd (shepherd), flic Aryan -lA.
Examples: bridge, erii, edp, &c., all feminine. | 210. Tcul.
-YAK. Examples : masc ibb, &c. ; fem. eU, &c Teut. -Ina ;
Examples : main, sb., swine. \ 211. Aryan -WO.
linsud).
-WA, -MO,
xxiv TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PACE
Examples : bale, cud, nualy tar, glee, knee, tree, straw, lee; also
dew, low, snow, % 212. Aryan -wA ; feminine. Examples : claw,
gear, mead, shade, shadow, sinew,stow, § 218. Teutonic -wan.
Examples : swallow^ arrow, barrow, sparrow, yarrow, widow,
§ 214. Aryan -MO Examples : beam, bosom, bottom^ doom, dream,
fathom, film, foam, gleam, gloom, haulm, helm, holm, loam, lime,
qualm, scam, slime, steam, storm, stream, swarm^ team; also
room, boom, § 215. Aryan -Ml. Example: home. § 216.
Aryan -MON (-men). Examples: barm, besom, bloom, name,
time ; also blossom. § 217. Aryan -RO ; Goth. -RA. Examples :
masc. acre, beaver, finger, floor, hammer, otter, steer, summer,
tear, thunder; also anger x fem. feather, liver, tinder; neut
bower, lair^ leather, timber, 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: buried, riddle, shuttle.
§ 221. Aryan suffix -NO. Examples : beacon, oveth raven, token,
weapon ; bairn, blain, brain, com, horn, loan, rain, stone, thane,
wain, yam ; game, roe. Aryan suffix -Ni. Exx. sokcn, em
(eagle). Arj-an suffix -NU. Exx. quern, son, thorn. § 222.
Teut. suBix -nan. Exx. haven, sun, teen. § 223. Aryan suffix
-TO. (a) E. suffix 'th ; birth, broth, 8cc. (b) E. suffix -/, after
/» ^^f Wj ''> -f ; as theft, light, brunt, hart, frost, (c) E. suBix d;
gold, blade, blood, &c. § 224. Aryan suffix -TI. {a) E. suffix
'th ; as birth, {b) E. suffix -/ ; flight, gift, thirst, &c. {c) E.
suffix -d; deed, glede, mind, &c. § 225. Aryan suffix -TU. {a)
E. suffix -th ; as death, {b) E. suffix •/ ; loft, lust, {c) E. suffix
•d ; flood, shield, wold. % 226. Suffixes augmented by adding
-n ; food, maiden. % 227. Aryan suffix -ter (-tor). \jo.\..f rater.
{a) Goth, 'thar ; brother, {b) Goth, -dar ; father, mother, {c)
E. -tcr; daughter, sister. § 228. Aryan suffix -TRO: Teut.
suffix -THRO, -THLO. (o) The form -thro; rudder, lather,
murder, leather, {b) The form -Oro; bladder, adder, fodder,
ladder, weather, {c) The form -tro ; halter, laughter, slaughter,
foster, bluster, {d) SvL^x-s-tro', bolster, holster, {e) Suffix -pio ;
needle, {f) Suffix -tilo', spittle, {g) Suffix -flo; bristle, throstle.
(h) A. S. suffix 'Id ; A. S. bold, whence E. build; threshold.
§ 229. Aryan suffix -ONT (-ENT, -NT). Present Participles.
Hence errafid,fieftd, friend, tidings, wind,youth. §280. Aryan
suffix -OS, -ES. Lat. opus, gen. operis, {a) £. hcite, awe, lamb, &c.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I
s.»<iffii J, -K, -jr; adu, ai. Miss, tavei. {c) E. soiBi-r: tar
(of Goml, childrm. \ 231. (a) Sn^ -s-LA ; komet, ouul. (&) Suflix
-[^Si burial, riddit, shullU. | 232. E.snffix-iMJj; for -«-«-j.
i 938. Aryan saffix -(Ot^e; sophiit, denlisl, jiarisi ; karvtsi,
lamest. E, inirdi in -si ; twisl, tnul, iasi, wrist, rust, griti,
1 284. Teot. snSii -s-ti ; fist, listen. { 2SG. Tcut. luHix -s-tu ;
«<»'. { 236. Teut. Enflix -s-t-man ; blessem. % 28T. Tcut.
nifiiK-sKA; tusk. Husk. f 238. A. S. suffix -es-tran j E. suflU
-stcr ; sfiinstcr, songster, &c. { 239- E. soffix -£r, expccsaii);
Ihe »Kenl. { 340. Aryan aofBx -ko ; Git. -not, Lai. -cui :
Uoth, -ha-, -ga i My, honey, ivy, sally. E. -k ; folk, ha-ot.
ieiea,yglk,silk. S 211- Teut. iuSfi:i-ga,-an'ga,-iii'sa,'un-ga.
{a) A.S. anfti.t -in^; patninymio and diminalivil. {ii A. ^.
(aSiK-HfT^; Ihc siMuiUetl 'veibal' subitBiitive. How to parse
■ for breaking a window '....... it,
Chapter XIV. — Adjectival, Adverbial, and Verbal
Suffixes. { 1i1. The suffixes -/asl, -fold, -ful, -less, -Hit or
■ly, -some, -iBard, --wart, .wise. f 218. Aryan -O ; blind, blari.
ileal), &c. i 2 j4, Aryan -t ; mtaa. i 34B. Aryan -u ; ^aiii,
AarJ. i 24B. Aryan -lo ; Gk. -lo-i ; dear, free, mid, nna,
wild; also (wiih mntatioa} heta, rwttl. } 247. Tcul. -I-na ;
Goth, -o'na; A.S. im; E. -in, -»; beecA-eii, gald-en. Sec.
i 248. Aryan -WO ; call-atii, fall-tmi, mell-om, narr-atti, sall-mv,
yitl-aw. Also friu. High, raw, slma, Irtii, yare. % 249. At^an
-Mo;nw-M. S2B0. Tcot. -MA-Ni^rz-m-of^, *iW-w-«/. St.:
far-m-er. % 261. Aryan -RO; bitter, fair, stipp-er-y. Aryan
-U); A.S. -<j/, -^/; britl'lt, cB-il, fick-U, id-U, little, miei-le :
rvteMtll,ai-l,/m-J. { SS2. Aryan -no; brtmi-n, tv-in, fain,
giv-tn, heath-en, grce-n, tea-n, sler-n; east-em, ScQ. i 268.
Aryan -Tii; pp. suffix, (a) E.-I6 -.uncoa-tA, nBr-lh,sBu-tk;faur-th,
Ac. («) E. -/; cleft, rtft, &c. ; set, hurt, &c j deft, left, soft,
sviif-l ; brigh-t, ligk-t, righ-l, sligk-l, siraigh-l, tigh-l ; sal-t,
svar-l, lar-f, tas-t, vres-t ; was-te. (c) E. -d; bal-d, btl-d, eol-d,
dea-d, loud, nak-ed. i !fi4. Aryan -TrR ; B-lher, viht-lker,
ti-thtr, nei-tAer. {266.Ar>'an -ost,-ent; (cf.§ 219). (258.
A17WI -KO ; Golb. -ha ; might-y, man-y ; ius-y, crafi-y, ditt-y,
daaght-y, dust-y,foam-y, heav-y, wear-y ; an-y ; lill-y. % 2B7.
Ajyan -ISKO, -SKO ; A.S. -isc, E. -isit, -sA, -^rh ; heathen-ish.
-iiA, Dan-isA, Fren-cA, fVel-sA, Brit-isA, Ac: fre-sA,
marsh, ra-sA, Aryan -is-xo, whence the E. superl. -ttl.
t 258, Adverrial Suffixes ; -fy, -meal, -ward, -taards, -laay,
e. \ 253. SufliMS, -J, -le, -« ; else, needs, onte, luiice.
XXVi TABLE OF CONTENTS.
rAGB
Saf&c -er\ ev-er, ncO'er^ yest^tr-day. Suffix -om ; whil-om^ seld-
om. Saffix -l-ingy -Uong ; head-l-ong^ dark-l-ing. % 260.
Verbal Suffixes. Saffixes -en, -»; fatt-erty length-en, &c. ;
glist-enf op-en ; daw-n, drow-n, faw-n^ lear-n, ott^n. § 261.
Saffix -k ; kar-k, lur^ky scul-ky smir-k^ stal-k, wal-k. % 262.
Saffix -/f, -/; babb-Uy rumb-le, &c. ; dragg^le^dazz-U, &c. ; draw-l,
meiU'ly wau-l. Saffix -er ; glimm-ery JltUt-ery glitt-er, welt-er, Cf.
zX^ocrumb-Uyknee'lfBLQ, KUo gird-l€,fett-er, $ 268. Suffix -f«;
cUan-sey rinse ; clasp, grasp; lisp 261
Chapter XV. — Derivations from Roots. $ 264. 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 £. 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, loud, lumber, client, glory ^
slave, are all from the same root. § 271. The root GHEU, to
pour ; whence GHEUD and GHEUS. Hence are chyme, chyle,
alchemy ?, chemist ?, fuse, con-found, re-fund, fut-ile, con-fute,
re-fute, foison, found ; gut, in-got ; geys-ir, gush; Bill-i-ter
Lane. § 272. The root sek, to cut, with its derivatives ;
sec-ant, seg-ment, bisect, insect, scion, sickle, &c. § 278. The
root skad, to cut ; sched-ule, shing-le, scait-er, shatt-er. % 274.
The root skid, to cut; schism, schist, zest, squill, abscind ;
shed, shide, shecUh, skid ; cces-ura, circum-cise, &c. ; chis-el,
sciss-ors. § 275. The root skap, kap, to cut ; apo-cope, syn-
cope, comma, cap-on; shape, shave, shaft, seed), 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. § 2/8. 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, sculpture, 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 .... 280
Chapter XVI.— Modern English Spelling. § 282. Arch-
bishop Trench's remarks on * etymological * spelling. Fallacy
of the argument. Neglect of phonetic considerations. % 288.
History the only true guide to spelling; importance of pho-
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
I
( 284. AccooDl of tbe symbols employed in Eaglish.
The Celli« niphnbel. The Anglo-Saxon alphabet. % 286.
Value of ihe A,S. symbols ; especittUy olc,S,gc,f. r, s. Double
valoes of/and s. { 288, The A.S. vowel-system; use of
■cceni to denote vowel-length. The A.S- syslem of writing was
inKnded to be pnrely phonetic. § 287. A.D. :ifc>-:3oo. Changes
iDapelllng; new use of^; \a<: al t, j, gh ; u hg a consonant, ii as
a Towet ; introdactioo of rA. jr^,^ as a consonant, jru, Wi ; new
me of ^, R- Disappearance of if, ta, to. iDtrodudion of ihe
Anglo'Ficocb system of spelling ; the English language ts re-
tpelt by scribes accustomed to Anglo-French. Hence qu, c as f ,
u and y as consonaDts, ay, ey, v, je, ch, i as j, Sic Change of
A.S. i Ui oa, DO. i 2S8. Symbols io use about ijoo; ih (or
ht), fh, fch, th, itih ; ai, ay, ou, OTf, ea, ti, ty, ee, it, oa, oi, oy,
m, Hi,cu,eui; it, ^tk, it. § 28a. a. d. 1300-1400. Further
etuuges in EpcUing ; use of gh, aa, te, oo, y for long 1' ; French
ta. \ 290. About A.D. 140a. Spelting of Chaucer (Elleamere
MS.; see Affen'dix A). \ 291. List of Symbols in 1400;
voweU; diphthongs j consonants; digraphs; doubled letters ;
Uform diginpbs; initial and linal combinailons. \ l"^'!.
Changes since a. d. 1400 ; loss of the final -c in the spoken lan-
guage. { 293. History of the spelling of the words bam, statu \
ihcwing how the final e (mute'i came to be used lo indicate Ihe
length of the preceding vowel. History of Ihe s|)elltng of the
French word (otK-, with a similaj result. \ 294. Origin of Ihe
Bpelliogi ride, vihitt. Ml. i 296. Spelling of wocds derived
from French. Use of gr for/, and of « for s. { 296. History of
ihc plural suEbi -ei, both in Knglish 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 managt,
malini, bigol, mtlal, coteur, busy, canon. Sec The spelling
tffil^ratf. U% of g£e for final Jj. Doubling of r and of final s.
i 2118. A.D. l4<x>-i50O. Caxton's spelling in 1471. Use of
idle linal -e in impossible places. { 299. Caxlon's use of vowels,
diphthongs, and consonanis. Origin of the symbol _/'. Use a(v
coEuonant, 3 confused with t. Caxtou's use of digraphs, and of
y for [1. ExplanalioD of initial ^. liiform digiaphs ; origin of
tcA ; disuse of titi. Initial combinations. i 300. Review,
shewing that the old spelling was meant to be phonetic. Con-
fiisioa between Ihe close and open 0, and the close and open e.
Aoglo-French words introduced in the Anglo-French spelling.
Borrowing of French words from the French of Paris. { 301.
of Printing. Origin of the Tudor-Englisli ofl lo denote
TABLE OF CQtfTBNTS.
open n, «nd ea to denote open t. Other changea. § 802. Effect
of (he loss or final I. Origin of 6nal Af, bt, es, gs. &c ( 303.
Revival of teaming, Attempt to be consciouslf ctTmolDgical.
Different treatment of native words and ofthoie of Latin or Greek
origin. Tbe new spellings doubt, dtbt, fitfll, viiltiaii, adtnmfi.
Innovations in spelling ma^e on a false prindpte. % 30t. Stu-
pidity of the pedaniic method. Blunders of the pedants; lylvau,
sljile. tire, Syren; verba in -iat ; anturism ; seeitt ; tengtu.
i 306. Changes made since the time of Shaltespeare. Elrror in
writing havt for kav, and stiff for ilif. Uniform spelling (about
1690]. Marked and violent changes in pronunciation; abate,
btil. Results, i 306. Summnry of the preceding investigation 194
Chapter XVII.— Phonetic Spelling. { 807. Unsailsfixcioiy
characler of the so-cn!led ' etymological * spelling. Absurdity of
the spellings uyihe, le'igue, lievt, rhyme, seeiU. % 308. The
'glossic' system of Mr. Alexander J. Ellis! useful for repre- I
tenting Eogliah duilecls. { 309. Outline of the ' glossic' syitem, '
iti applied to ordinary English. \ 310. The 'romic' system of |
Mc. H. Sweet. Advantages of this system. Vowels as rejae-
senlcd by Mr. Sweet. % 311. ConsommU as represented by
Mr. Sweet. | 312. Specimen of 'romic' spelling, with tome
modi li cations. { 313. Utility of the ' romic'spellingeiemplilied.
List of the chief vowel-sounds and diphthongal sounds in Anglo-
Saxon, Middle English, and Modem English, as eihibited in twenty-
eight characteristic words, t 314. Some other sounds, found in
Tudor- English. { SIB. Great value of the works by Ellis and
Sweet. Note: vaiioua modifications of the 'romic' system;
with illustrations 3
Chaptek XVHI.— English Consonants. \ 316. Ctassifieation
ofconsunnnU ; gutturals, dentals, labials, &c. | 317. Voicelesi
and voiced consonants. Why k is voiceless, but g is voiced.
Why 1 li voiceless, but i is voiced. Voiceless letter* : *, ek, I,
lA(intAiH),fi,/,s, ih,wh. Voiced letters : ^,/rf, M [in than),
i, V, s, tA, ic. i 318. Importance of the above distinclloa. ]
Affinity of voiceless consonants for other snch, and of voiced Gi
sonants for other such, lllusliationi. { Sll>. Voie«d conso- J
Hants are nearer than the others to the nature of vowela. ]
Liability of Toiceless Ictten (o become voiced. { 320. Snbstlta-
tioo of one voiceless (or voiced] letter for anothrr of like kind,
niustrations. { 3il. Origin of consonaolai changes. Ecuoomy j
of efl^oit. External ioflnenoe, due to mental assodttioo.
TABLE OF COm-ENTS.
I
amplet of this. S 822. Fnncipol methods b; which conso-
noDtal chsBge is eflected in English. % S2S. Eximplex of
pnlitnlUation (* > ch)\ voicing (4 > g); vocalisation {g> y\\
uumilatitHi (*rf > hi) ; substitution (*>'): metathesis (j* >
ki\ \ abbreviation [A. S. fvgal > E. ftnuC) \ unvoicing (rf > () ;
addition (exccesccnt /, &c} ; symbol -change [i > k)\ Ta»-
apprehension (i > :) : doubling of consononM ; consonantal infla-
CDce iVr > a/-;: conHueoce. % tik. ExamplEa of palatalisation.
{ 82G. History orK. A'>i-i ; iaitiall;, as in ikaff, ihaT--a-omaH,
iharl6<k. Sic. ; finally, as in (Kit, itetA, ietuh. &c i SStl. kt
> M. E. etfi > E. /f* ; ns m itleh, fiUch, Uch, Sk. % 327-
Voicing; A > f A >/; as in a-jar. jcrwl, jolt. % 328. k^ g\
dig, tfrig. Iriggtr. Final k lost ; sigh, barley. I, every. \ 829.
Substimtioii ; i > I; ast, afrieai, iai, male, mile. i> f > /•;
bitter, i SSO. sk>^ lA; ashes, ash, dish, fish, &c. loitially, as
in shake, shame. Sk > ks = i; bjij, yex, ax, &c. i 831.
/Ciu •• evi > gu. Kn > ^ or n ; knavi, knead, &c. ; gnarled,
gnash, gtmv, nibble, naf. % 832. Ilisloiy of H. When
sounded iniEially; misuse at h. hi > I; hn > n; hr > r; ta
in ladder, nap, ralhir, &c. } SS3. Final h, now gh ; horeugk,
tmgk, &C. The combination mgh eiplaliied. f 884. Final
kl;Bai' ghl. j 886. Loss of A ; finally, as in /«, /«; medi-
ally, in Ireul. not; initially, in it. Loss of K.&. h\ car (of com),
St, tear, t., iVelsH. % 836. Nju > idA; vih (or w, in TuAit,
vh^li, ToAortleierry. % 337. Uiiitoiy of G; gear, get, giddy,
Ac Ge> y; as in yt, yea, yes; also in yard, yare. Sec. Gi
>j', aiin yard (rod), yearn, Slc Mid, E. ). A.S. ge- > y-
on'-. K.&. gi > e \a e-HOHgh. Glostia if. ilek. inele. 5 838.
Final and medial g: g > gA, in neigh ; g > y oi i, in day,
gray, key, ail, Main, &c. ; g>vi oi mir, in h<nsi,fe^vl. &c, and in
mtm^e, &c.: g^f, in dwarf; g is lost in steward, nine, tile.
Ng> nge in //fl^, stingy; g ii Irst in /rti^. I 339. Double^;
A.S, f^> M. E. ^ or ggt > E. dgi, in bridge, edge ; is vocal-
iicd in Jii}-, /iV, ju^. Cgox g final preserved in Scand. word^
as in egg, v., egg. s, { 310. History of T. 7" > rf, in fireud,
pride, ilod; I > lA, in swarlAy. lath. 7"lost in ami/, *fi/, last,
ode. Set:. t 341. Excrescent /, after n or s. Disoimilated gemi.
nation. En.; against, amidst, Ac; antnt. j S-12. History of
TH. Voiceless th (>) ; voiced lA f 5j ; S > d, in afford, burden,
etutd, &c. : [i > /, in iofii/, nostril, &c. ; Mi > ss, in *Aj/,
lissom. TA lost, in nwriAtji, um', &c., and in whittle, whack.
I 843, History of D, Venier"s Law, D>V>; hither, thither,
(/ > /, in abbel, tvHlifisA, tilt (of cait) ; went, built, &c. ;
XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PACE
% 844. Loss of dy as in answer , gospel, Excroscent d; after n^ in
bound (to go), dwindle ; after I, in alders elder ; ds> ss^hxi bless ,
gossip, % 846. History of N. A^ > m, in hemPf wimberry.
Sec. ; n^l, mjlannel, periwinkle (fish). § 846. N lost in A. S. ;
also lost in spider ^ Thursday \ and in inflexions. Initial n
lost in adder ^ auger \ an- lost in drake, % 847. Intrusive n\
newty nuncle, nightingale ; bittern, metrien, stubborn. Nd> nn,
in winmrw. § 848. History of P. /* > b, pebble, dribble,
wabble, cobweb. P >/ (v), in knave. Excrescent p after m, as in
empty. § 849. Hbtory of F. Often sounded as v. Use of ^.
E> V initially, in vane, vat, vinewed, vixen ; finally, in lives,
calves, calve. F lost in hcut, hath, hctd, head, lord^ lady. Fm >
mm, in lemman^ Lammas, woman. § 850. History of B. B
> /, in gossip, unkempt. Excrescent b, after m ; in embers, &c.
% 851. History of M. ^lost mfive, ousel, soft; m > m in ant,
Hants, aunt. $852. History of Y. Arjran Y preserved in ^^,
yea, yes, year, &c. § 858. History of R. .^ > /, in smoulder \
rr > dd, in paddock', r lost in speak, speech \ r intrusive in
bridegroom, hoarse, surf. Metathesis of r, as in bird, bum, &c.
% 854. History of L. L lost in each, which, stuh, as, England \
not sounded in ccUf\ It > //, in totter. § 855. History of W.
A. S. -we > 'Onv, in arrow. A. S. -w absorbed in tree, knee. W
lost in oou, cud, lark, aught, soul; and in initial wl, thw, tiv,
sw. Hw > wh. Wr. II> wh, in whole, whoop. § 866.
History of S. .S" written ce, finally ; J > r, in cinder ; s > sc,
in scythe ; x > i) in adze, bedizen, with which cf. rise, besom.
Voicing of s. S > sh, in gush ; s > ch, in linch-pin, hench-
man. § 857. S > r, by Vemer*s Law, as in are, were, lorn, &c.
$ 858. .S lost, finally, in burial, riddle, pea. Origin of j in
skates, bodice, eaves. % 859. 5]^ > /, in paddle (small Fpade).
S intrusive, in island. S prefixed in squeeze. S <, f,\xi sneeze ;
lost in neeze. % 860. History of SK. Sk (sc) > sh, in shame,
shine ; exceptions. The word schooner. St > ss, in blossom.
Sec Metadiesis of sk and sp, § 861. Table of Principal Con-
sonantal Changes 344
Chapter XIX.— Various Changes in the Forms of Words ;
Phonology. $ 862. PalaUlisation ; Voicing of voiceless
letters ; Vocalisation of voiced letters ; Assimilation ; Substi-
tution ; Metathesis. § 868. Abbreviation. Aphesis defined.
Loss of initial consonants, as in nip, nibble, Sec § 864. Loss
of medial consonants, as in drown, ear, Sec. § 865. Loss of
final consonants, as in barley, every, Sec Loss of final n,
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
espccull)' in inflexions. Loss of Imal w in ^ee. ince; loss of
final I in burial, &c. 5 368. Syncope; 05 in e'er for evtr.
Lou of medial ;. as in nail. Loss of a medml vowel, as in ada,
ant. Sec Examples of violent contiactioa. Vowel -shortening.
f 36i, Apocope. Loss of genders in English. Final a lost, in
ait. t^w, s. : linal t lost, in crmtr, atd; final e lost in heal, t/d;
7U, TBeedi final se lost in aJnn; final en
lost in lenl, kindred; &c. { 868. Unvoicing of voiced con-
, as in lUtbot, vani (mole], gassif, purse. $ 36'J.
Addition. Vowel-inieitioD ; whisper, besom, &c The E. snfliK
•yer, -ier, in bmir^er, krtaier, &c. Origin of the snffii -icr.
Inseition of e before ?c, as in vutltirm. Addition of inorganic
mute e. f S|0. Consonantal insertions. H wrongly prefixed,
u in yelltno-hammer. Wrong insertion of A, in ■whdk, rhyme ;
•nd of n, in newl. N snfliieti, as in bittern. }' prtlised, in
ytm, feu. R insertri, in bridegroom, hoarse, saif, swarlhi. I.
inwtted in could. W inserted, in Tnkole, whoop, woof. S in-
tmed in is/and. Excrescent letteii. {' Sii. Graphic changes ;
f>t;eek->lih;i-:^gA;cio>fu;hw>wh;Scc. i 372.
Misuse of s^mbiils. List of symbols that sre mo^t often
confateil. § 373. Errors of editors and of early printers.
The word o-aiiry. The ' phrase ' chei yn a tyde. Ghost-words
(see foot-note). { 374. Doabling of consonants to denote
•oweUshortcning. Needless use of t in acbnowlcdgi: needless
doobliog of/in afford, affright. \ 375. Vowe!-changes due lo
coBBonanlal infloence. Effect of h. \ 376. The same ; effccl
of;. ( 377. The same; effect of norm. % 37S. The same;
effect of nd in lengthening /. Effect of m. S 879. EfFecl of m
or n Dpon ■ preceding 0. % 380. Eflect of tul in len{[l)icQing u,
I SSL Effect of r on the preceding vowel. Loss of trill of r.
Er>ar; eiamples. { 382. Effect of / upon a preceding
»owcl. 5 888. Effect of v, lai, and qu opon a following
vowel; ag> atp. % 384. Change of mi to h; and of iu< to
rtc, ) 885. Confluence of forms. Detinilion of ' eonflnence.'
Examples ', three words spelt sound ; barse and hais ; vri/i and
vhe/i; Se. | 886. Hon
phanei defmed. Examples
Hoc
ographs and t
: all, ail; bear.
|;CBiUTKIt XX.— DovBLBTS AND COMPOUNDS. f 889. Dimor-
phun. Definition of doablets. { 390. Donblets sometimes
0 a differcoce of dialect, as ridge, rig; or 10 borrowed
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
words from nbroad, as in the case aX dak, a doublet of thalch,
S 391. One of Ihc pair may be Scondinavian, as in the cue of
•lale. dtrablcl of •lell. See- S SH2. One of the pair may be
French or Latin ; examples. Both forms may be Latin ; «xsm-
pies. i 893. Compound Words, { Sdl. Sobstantive com-
pounds. Adjective Compoands. Verbal Compoupds. f 335.
List of Compounds, of native origin, in which the origin has
been more or less obscured, $ S'Jfi. Telrified forms. { 897.
Hybrid forms ^
Chapter XXL— Earlv Words of Latin okigin. { SBB.
I-atin of the First Period. Ck/itir. Sircit,vHi!l. fVim.vici,
port, fuel, mile, piiu, v. i 833. Latin of the Second Period.
Words snch as A,S. lonrt are not to be included. Two sets of
sach words. $ 400. List of Words of pure Latin origin, found
in Anglo-Saxon, and still in use; inclnding those of the First
Period. | 401. List of unoHginnl Latin words found in Anglo-
Jiuion, and still in use. S 402, Classification of Words '
in the two preceding Lists. S 40S. Kemaiks. Notice of some-
Latin words found in Anglo-Saxon that have been supplanted bf->
French forms .......
I
CHAPTER XXII.— The Celtic element. { *04. Difficnl^
the subject Welsh has fTequeiilly borrowed words from Middb
English. { 40S. Most Celtic words have been l>oiTowed
a late period. i 406. Words of Irish origin. ({ 407-409.
Words of Scotch-Gaelic origin, §410. Words of Welsh ori^
i 411, Words possibly of early Celtic origin. } 412. Anglo-
.Seion words of Celtic origin 4^
Chaptkr XXIIL— The Scandinavian or Scanman element,
! 413. Period of the boirowing of Scandian words. f 414.
Language of the Norlhirien. Scandian defined. { 41fi. Ice- I
londic ; its archaic form. It may be taken as the best type v
Scandian. } 41B. The leel, long rt > E. long 0; as in UfJL I
Exaoiples. { 417. The Icel. long f > E. tt ; at in knttl, />v.I
i 418. The IccL long i > E. te, as in Ueth ; or f, as in gr,'
Examples, { 419. The Icel. long 0 > E. m, as in hlaem, I
roul, iKmf, tivm : Or E. 0, u in hawlint : or eu, as in bem (of s-J
shipl./i/nB^i, slffuek. { 420. The Icel. long h > E. i»
tioeth, droefi, inet, foaA; or E, pu, as in teunif (ready',, r
cmurr, &C. i 421. Icelandic vowel- maladon. ( 422, Th* |
IceL long > > £. f; atin fii, mire, ihy, liy. snitt, v.
Id- ^^
i
at ^^I
TABLE OF CONTENTS,
, In siiiHly,
The led. lone it > E. m, bs in scr-ram
t; ot E. 1, as ia tidtr-dtuh, fry (spawn), slyi at E.. ai, in
Mil/. { 42t. The Icel. an: whence E. leete, tfeef, s., gavky,
ftisltr. \i'i&. Thelcel. fi>E. HI, as in ^uV; or ta,vaiattJc,
^tuaiy; or aim grvin. ! 420. The Icel. ^ appears in ^^«> ;
cf. also Jif, v., sUep, v., /»yi/, s. { 427. The Iccl. jJ, JA ; cf.
E. jfuaiiHg, mnt, \ J28. Mutaiion ; u > . . ^, m in be(k, drigs,
gtd, ken; »> . .y, whence drip, filly, Jlil, lift; u'> . .y, whence
slatH. U-moution of a; bark (of a tree), brituiM, lidge.
% 429. Gradation. Verbal derivatives Tonncd by gradation.
Strong verbs of Scand. origin ; fiiHg, rive, take, thrive. Other
verbs of Scand. origin. The pp. rotlen. { 4S0. Aryan tnRixes
eseniplified in wonls of Scond. origin. ! 4S1. The sufhxed -(
of [he neuter gender : alhwart, Kant, l/rwarl. left, toOHt, -might.
f 1S3. The BQf&E -1:6 in l-ast, iujt. The luffix -ler in lis-ter.
The »ufBx 'jl in /ruit, tryst. \ 433, Verbal snffiies ; -en, -«, as
in batten. fawn; -b, aa in luth; -eh, iafileh; -le or -el, as in
*""£''. grmiei; •/. as ia *h«/; -fr, as in bhmder; -u, as in
w. The verb ^//. i 43*. Palntalbation rare in Seand.
it; st it aftxa preserved. Final g is also commonly pre-
•erved ; large numlier of Scand, words ending ia g, gg, or con-
'''"'''S SS' '^<-* ^^- 'SS- Filial ik > sh, as in dash ; -sk remains
1 wAiit, task, bust; final s > sb. \a gush, fiush. h 436.
Voicing of voicelessletterB. Various examples. $430. Vocalis-
■liOD of voiced letlere ; fmiia, haw (of a ship), jniVi, haw [hill),
hai, adj., lira) (flame), r»e\ flaw, fraught. § 437. AsaimiU-
ion ; brad, gad, s., ill, edd, &C. % 438. SnbEliHition ; * > /,
IS in no/^ ; i > M, in gush. Tlic word slidge. { 4SS). Mcta-
^Ik^i J!'"/! liirl- % 440. Coatraction. Loss of initial letter,
II in let; ata medial letter, as in bask, whirl; of a final letter,
u ianx (of » fiih), $ 441. Unvoicing of voiced consonants ;
Mint, shunt. j 442. Additions; excrescent b and n. The
words whisi and windlass. § 443. Urapbic changes. Peca-
Utiities of Icelandic spelling. S 444. Misuse of / tor /
( 445. Vowel-changes dne to consonantal iiiflnenuc or other
ie. Vowel-lengthening, Change of «i to in; hinge, fling.
i 440. List of Componnd Words, of Scandian origin, in which
the origin has been more or less obscnted. Nole on words bor-
rowed from modem Icelandic, Swedish, Danish, and Norwegian 453
HAFTsa XXIV.— The Old Friesic and Old Dutch ele-
ment, i 447. Scarcity of Information. { 448. Borrowings
n Dutch have taltcn place at various d
XXXIV TABLE OF CONTENTS,
FACE
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 op the English Accent. $ 458.
Shortening of long vowels often due to accent. $ 454. Rule i.
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; {b) words augmented by composition,
the vowel being followed by two or more consonants ; (r) 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. Dtinstdn
are short in modem English.) % 456. Kt^e 3. In dissyllabic
words, the vowel of the unaccented syllable, if short, may dis-
appear; hence * crushed forms,' such as hem for heron ; lone for
ctlone. % 457. Rule 4. In trisyllabic words, the middle (un-
accented) vowel or syllable may disappear; hence 'crushed
forms,' such as fortnight for fourteen-night, § 458. Effect of
emphasis; differentiation oito and too ; ^and off. Loss of ^ in
unemphatic it. Voicing of final s in plurals of substantives, &c.
§ 459. Syllabic division ; vowel-lengthening. § 460. Free and
enclosed vowels. §461. Short accented vowels. § 462. Vowel-
lengthening. § 468. Lengthening of e and 0. § 464. Words in
//, Id, nd. § 465. Lengthening of a, ^, 1, 0^ u. § 466. Length-
ening of vowels in A. S. monosyllabic nouns. Formulae for close
and open long e and 0 in Middle- English 491
Notes 507
Appendix A. Further Illustrations of §§ 60-65 509
Appendix B. Specimens of Spelling 515
Index of English Words 519
General Index of Principal Matters Discussed . 545
T i _si«-:w7i.;-u ■■-.-.:£. —^ .- -..'•--
ERRATA.
Page 103, last line of text. Shift the former * so as to follow
hirddar
136, 1. 16. For *dhugitar read *dhugiier
164, 1. 9. For parasitl read parasitic
187, I. 16. Insert comma after rSodan
189, 1. 9. Insert comma after shook
338, note a, last line. For ewans ' read *w9ns*
385, L 8 from bottom. Omit one of the commas after (L^aa
440, I. 10 from bottom. For r^trf read r^iwrp
n
n
»»
»
n
>»
ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY.
-M-
CHAPTER I.
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 purj)ose, I open
Booth's reprint of the celebrated * First Folio' edition of
Shakespeare's plays, first printed in 1623. ^^ ^Acius Tertia
of The Taming of the Shrew, Gremio thus speaks of
Petruchio : —
Tut, (he's a Lambe, a Doue, a foole to him :
He tell you fir Lucentio ; when the Priefl
Shoulde aske if Katherine fhould be his wife,
I> hy goggs woones quoth he, and fwore so loud.
That all amaz'd the Priefl let fall the booke,
And as he (loop'd againe to take it vp.
This mad-brain'd bridegroome tooke him such a cuffe,
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
spelling 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 peculiar 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
TOL. I. B
2 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.
§ 8. With a view to limiting the field of observation and
erquiry 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 sach grossly false statements concerning
English so confidently attered by supposed *■ scholars ' that any hint of
contradiction was hopeless. Nothing was left bat to listen in silent
shame.
i 4.] COMPOSITE NATURE OF ENGLISH. 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
band, 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 Grammalik,' 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 M^tzner, contains a great d^al of valuable information
about the vocabulary as well as the grammar. To these
three books I shall have occasion to refer particularly, and
I have frequently drawn upon them for illustrative examples.
§ 4. The most remarkable point about the vocabulary of
modem English is its composite nature. Certainly no
language was ever composed of such numerous and such
B 2
INTRODUCTORY.
diverse elements. The sentiment of the old Roman — ' homo
sum: humani nihil a me alienum puto^' — has been fully
accepted 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 modem 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, Heauiantimorumenos, i. i. 25.
CHAPTER II.
The Sources of the English Language.
§ 6. Chronology. In considering the various sources
from which the vocabulary of modem English has been
drawn, our most important help is chronology, 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
surloitif under the spelling sirloin, refers us to the 5th sense
of sir J 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
entitled by King James the First.' Not the slightest evidence
is offered of this historical event, nor is any hint given as to
the author who is responsible for such a statement. But in
an accoimt of some expenses of the Ironmongers' Company,
in the time of Henry K/, quoted by Wedgwood from the
Athenaeum of Dec. 28, 1867, we find the entry — 'A surloyn
beeff, vii d! Thus chronology at once tells us that the word
was in use at least a century before King James I was born,
and effectually disposes of this idle and mischievous invention.
6 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chap. II.
In fact, our loin is merely borrowed from the French lot^e
(formerly also spelt logne\ and our surloin from the French
surlonge^. In Littr^*s French Dictionary is a quotation
shewing that surlange 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. AdditionB 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 outlawry 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. jwr,
above, and O. F. tognt, tonge, the loin. Again, the F. sur is from
Lat. super^ above ; and longe represents a Lat. fern. adj. lumbea, fonned
from lumbusy 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 Etymological Dictionary, both of
which are published by the Clarendon Press.
§ 70 ADDITIONS TO THE VOCABULARY. ^
them, nobody is to sell them anything, nobody is to buy
anything of them/ Further, the people who acted against
Captain Boycott were called Boycotters^ and the Echo news-
paper of Dec. 7, 1880, even ventured to speak of *the latest
victim of Bqycottism \' 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 vulgus (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 Shad weirs Squire of Alsatia, 4to., 1688, the word
is spelt mobile 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 mobile in Act i. sc. i, whilst in Act iii.
sc. 3 it is shortened to mob. In 1692, he again uses mob^ in
his preface to Cleomenes. I have given, in my Dictionary,
examples from the Hatton Correspondence, of the use of
mobile in 1690, but mob in 1695. We shall not be likely to
find many examples of the use of mob before 1688, nor of
mobile 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 boycoU^ they are so curious as to
force themselves upon our attention, the novelty soon wears
oflf, 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 the New £. Dictionary.
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 must 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 ^x 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 which this work was commenced.
§ 8. Sources of the Language. Before we can discuss
the etymology of any word employed in modem 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 iksiry i. e. essence or * the philosopher's
stone/ is not a true Arabic word, but borrowed from the
Greek f iz/w^v, dry or dried up, a term applied to the residuum
left in a retort*. Archbishop Trench gives a long list of
words which have found their way into English from various
sources ', but I have since given a fuller and more exact list
in the Appendix to my Dictionary *. In the attempt to setde
this question of * distribution ' of our words according to the
languages whence they are derived, we always receive great
* Trench ; * Elnglish 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,
§ 39-
* * Distribution of Words/ at p. 747 of the larger edition, or p. 603
of the Concise edition.
19-1
SOmCES OF ENGUSH.
chronology and history. Hence the following
* Canons for Etymology ' are of pritnary irnjicirtu,nce. Before
attempting an etymology, ascertain the earliest form
ftnd 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 borrowinga are due to
actual contact. We may be sure, for cxnniplc, that we did
not take ihe word iltxir dircclly 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
r English may t>e thus enumerated'. Taking Engli-ih to
?£.iliJlie Jiaiivii-ipeech . of 4lie- Law-German conqHerera
[^England, ilie earhe.sl acceaaious lo the language, after
ts. 450^wete due lo borrowings from. the. Celtic- inluibitanta
Latin occupies the curious position of a lan-
tge which has lent us words at many different dates, from
a period preceding historical record' doivn to modern times.
Many Scandinavian words were introiluced at an early date,
chiefly before the Norman Conquest in io66, although most
of ihem 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 reign of Edward III and Elizabeth. A con-
KiiJerable number of words have been borrowed from Greek,
iny of which belong purely to science or Uteraiure rather
^ For foller details, see Mortis, EliigUsh Accidence, cb. iii.
P SeiremI Latin words were known lo the Teutonic tribes tierore the
n of England. Such words are tamp, cJitrt, mil, fin,
y (c«nifi, Csesar, mile, pine, i.e. puoishment, street); 'DI»leclB and
■ liloric Foirns of Old EnElish,' by H. Sweet ; Phil. Sec. Traits.,
. ^ P' 543- Some, such as /art (harbour), wa/l, &c, may have been
nit from Ihe Britons.
10 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 commonly refer to ecclesiastical affairs or to the art
of medicine. 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,
Vrlien thou taught'st Cambridge, and King Edward, Greek.*
MiltOD ; Sonnet vi.
Ro.1
MODERN STAGE OF ENGLISIT.
finitely called ils modem 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 widi Spanish and Portuguese, owing to
the stimulus thus given to foreign travel and trade, and the
increased facihiies for them. At the same time, the French
language began to borrow largely from Italian, especially
during (he reigns of Francis 1 (i5i5-r547) and Henry II
(1547-1559); and we frequently borrowed Italian words,
not only indirectly, through the French, but directly also.
^yatt and Surrey studied and imitated Italian, and already
1545 we find Ascham, in his Preface to ToxopMus, com-
aining that many English writers use ' straunge wordes, as
I, French, and Italian' ; see Arber's reprint, p. 18 '. The
d of the sixteenth century, and the century succeeding it,
e our travellers familiar with such foreign languages as
German *, 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
^Montments of Asia, Africa, and America, the remoter parts of
^^HBrope, and the distant islands of Polynesia, We have also
^Bnrowed Spanish words indirectly, through the medium of
^ffCTch, from the time of Henry IV of France (1589-1610};
and even directly, from a somewhat earlier date. It may
be remarked that the influence of French upon English has
» lasted for more than five centuries.
I { 10. The Uodero Period begins about 1600. It
rill thus appear that a tolerably distinct, though arbitrary,
5 of separation may I>e drawn by taking the dale 1500'
n essay on 'The InfTnence of Italian upon Engliih UlCTaturc,*
IJ. Rom Murray: 1SS6.
T* The nnmber of wordi direclly derived from Gennrui Is vfty smnll.
^considerable number were derived from Old or Middle High German
\ the medium of French. The commoii popalar delusion about
t' derivation' of English from German is refuted below.
* Some prefer In lake the date 14S5, i. e. the dale of the b'
I a SOURCES OF ENGUSH. [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 modern 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 the date of the commencement of the modem period.
Nothing is gained by it Tlie discovery of America did not take place
till 1493, and the very year 1500 is famous for the discovery of BcazU.
§ u.] FOREIGN WORDS FOR FOREIGN THINGS. 1 3
of history and geography will often indicate the true source,
by telling us something about the thing 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 geysir suggests
Icelandic, and meerschaum 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, soprano, trio, are of course
Italian ; and so are canto, cicerone, doge, incognito, intaglio,
lavoy 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, threnody, 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
^t ghoul, the houri, and iht 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. [Chaf. II.
while the Tartar calls his chief lord a khan^ and the Russian
a czar ^ Bantam is in Java ; gamboge is only a French
spelling of Cambodia. Australia possesses the kangaroo and
the wombat; 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. Stones about
the North American Indians speak of the moose^ the opossum^
the racoon^ and the skunk ; of the warrior with his moccassinSy
tomahawky 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 Cassar 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 itthelberht .... 597
Northumberland submits to Ecgberht . . . 829
Ecgberht defeats the Danes .... 836
The Danes winter in Sheppey .... 855
Peace of Wedmore ; between yElfred and Guthorm 878
Danish invasions begin again .... 980
Ascendancy of Cnut 1016
Battle of Hastings 1066
English proclamation of Henry III. . . . 1258
First parliament of Edward 1 1275
Year-books of Edward I. (Reports of cases in Anglo-
French) I 292- I 306
Edward III. 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
Casar. Similarly the kn<mt is denoted by a word borrowed from Swedish,
and allied to E knot.
§ 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
Modem stage of English begins .... about 1500
Ariosto publishes his Orlando Furioso. (Beginning
of Italian influence) 15 16
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 . . . 1623
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
dear 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 earlier, in
787 and 832 ; see Morris, Eng. Accidence, § 23.
1 6 SOURCES OF ENGLISH. [Chaf. 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 Celtic 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 188 a.
' 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
1 1 50 to 1300/ ed. Morris ; 'Specimens of English from 1298 to 1393/
ed. Morris and Skeat; 'Specimens of English from 1394 to 1579/
de. Skeat.
§ 14.] HISTORICAL SUMMARY. \^
•
in iheir 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 modem English
is truly deplorable.
§ 14. Modem 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.
Tjmdale'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 Fi*ance 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 cnrioiis passage, see Specimens of English, 1298-1393,
p. 241. Or see p. 31 of the present voliune.
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 i6i i 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 g^reat
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
Englishmen 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, unless we credit Chaucer with
introducing ducat,
' Some very important changes took place still earlier, soon after
1500. •
CHAPTER III.
The Native element: Dialects op Middle English.
§ 15. It is worth while to consider whether there is any
test whereby words of native English origin may be known
from others. It is here that even a small knowledge of
grammar is of great service. With all our word-borrowing,
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
index 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, English 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^
HUion, &c. ; all the ordinal numerals except second, millionth,
billionth, &c.; and finally, a large number of substantives
expressing the most homely, familiar, 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
ao MIDDLE' ENGUSff 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, -<f, or -/. Thus the
F. claim and Lat. adapt make the past tense claim-edy
adapt'ed\ and the verb to boycott (see sect 6) makes the
past tense bqycott-ed,
§ 16. By way of further example, I here repeat (but in
modem 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 {f)y sh^s a lamb, a dove, a fool to him :
Pit tell you, sir Lucentio ; when tlie priest
Should ask, if Katharine should be his wife,
Aye, by Gog's wounds, quoth he, and swore so loud,
That all a-mazed the priest let fall his book.
And, as he stoop' d again to take // up.
This mad'brcUned bride-groom took him such a cuff,
That down fell priest and book, and book and 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 tj'pe, 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-mazed is a
* The chief exceptions are commonly French ; as air^ hour ; fruity
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. Aoddence, % 84.
CHANGES m PnONUNCIATlOS.
wbrid word, the r
It being
Scandinavian, while the prefix
I Italian name of Latin origi
is Knglish ; Lucmlio i
»fhilst Katharine may be considered as Greek,
S 17. Changes in pronnnoiation. The di0^crence 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
really a conctaled difference between the two of the most
irtling character; one which hundreds of readers would
suspect, and which many who are ignorant of phonetics
will 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 happier habit P 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 oW vowel-sounds, that modem speUing. as com-
pared with the sound of the words, is a mere chaos of con-
fusion. The vowel-sounds expressed by our written symbols
BOW differ from those of every nation in Europe, however
■ly they once agreed, as they certainly did, with the
Ltinental system. A single example will illustrate this.
pronounce Ita so as to rime with hr, wc, she;
It DO other nation ventures on a pronunciation s
The F. thi, G. and Du. Ihee, Swed. and Dan. te,
iroach more nearly to an E. lay, riming with day. fay,
long ago since we said lay ourselves; as is
by A. J. Ellii.
22 MIDDLE'ENGUSH DIALECTS. [Chap, IIL
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 survey \ 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.*
Sedy in fact, was in Middle English spelt see^ and was pro-
nounced with the ee like a in Mary ; 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. si, M. E. see ', ex-
pressed precisely the same sound by diflferent symbols ; whilst
Tudor-English and Modem 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-
Svards the etymology of English words ; otherwise we, literally,
cannot pretend to say that we know what 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.
§ 18. 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 (171 2).
* A. S. B Anglo-Saxon, the dialect of Wessex before the Conquest.
' M.£. B Middle English; from about a.d. tioo to 1500.
MIDDLE-ENGLISH VOIVELS.
»3
greater in the case of English ihan of any oiher language,
especially in the case of the vowels. Nearly all the con-
tinenta] languages, including Latin — the usual Southern-
English pronunciation of whicli is simply execrable — agree
in a uniform system of simple vowels, and usually employ
the symbols a, e, t, o, u. to represent (nearly) the sounds
heard in E. baa, bail, bed, hat, bool. The fact that old
French words were introduced freely and in great number
into MidtUe English without any cliange of spelling, is quiie
enough to shew that the pronunciation of M. E. did not
materiaUy differ from that of Anglo-French ; for the spelling
at that date was still phonetic. This enables us lo say,
definitely, that, in the time of Chaucer, the symbols a, e, i, o, u
had ihcir modem (and ancient) continental values'.
$ 10. Middle- English Vowels, The student who has
as yet made no special stuily of Middle English may, at any
rale, gain some clear notion of it by making this his starting-
point. That is, he may take the words baa, bail, btet, boat,
boot as mnemonics for remembering the sounds indicated by
a, e, i, o, u; and lie should at once learn these five words by
hean. This will give him, approximately, the sounds of
the long vowels ; and some idea of (he short ones may
be gained by an attempt to shorten them. Thus the
, M. E. cat, but, were pronounced like caat, boot, but with ihe
I vowels somewhat shortened. There are plenty of Northern
I Englishmen who pronounce them so still ; for the speech of
the North is much more archaic, in many respects, than the
I dipped, affected, and finical pronunciation of the Soatb-
, who has done his worst, only too successfully, in his
I attempts to ruin our pronunciation.
From what has been here said, it will be manifest that,
it quite certain that Celtic, EnE'ish, and FreDch scribe* nil ob-
I l^ned their symbols from the Lalin alphnbEt ; and employed them, at
I Ihe first, with nearly the same powers. Our insular position has altered
I our proQunciatiou, and renileicd their valnca nncerUiin.
24 MIDDLE^ENGLlSff DIALECTS. [Chap. III.
if we wish to choose good S3anbo1s for the representa-
tion of sounds, and especially if we wish them to be in the
least degree understood by foreigners, such S3anbols as at, ee,
oa^ 00 (in bait, beei, boat, boot) are the worst possible to take.
It is owing to this consideration that Mr. Ellis has founded
the alphabet which he calls palcsotype, upon the old^ or
foreign values of the voweI-s)anbols ; and Mr. Sweet has
similarly constructed the alphabet which he calls R(nntc\
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. Chaueer'B spelling. Midland Bialeot In order
to exemplify the spelling of Chaucer's time, consider the
following passage from the Man of Law's Tale, lines 281-
287.
* 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 hestes to fulfille ;
I, wrecche womman, no fors though I spille.
Wommen ar bom to thraldom and penance.
And to ben vnder roannes gouemance.*
In modern English this would be spelt as follows : —
'Alas! unto the Barbar' nation
I must go, since that it is your will ;
1 Palteotype, i.e. old type, old symbol. See Ellis's Early English
Pronunciation.
' Romic, i. e. according with the Roman values of the symbols. See
Sweet*s Handbook of Phonetics. * Barbarian.
i jo.l A PASSAGE FROM CHAUCER. 25
But Christ, that st^irved' for our salvation,
So give me %xaci,*, his hests to fulfil ;
1, wretch' woman, no force* though I spill';
Women are bom to thraldom and penance,
And to be under man's governance.'
The reader will at once perceive that one of two aiter-
latives musi 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 thai now in use. The former of these alternatives is not
t found tQ be true. A careful examination of Chaucer's metre
shews that he had an unusually delicate ear for melody, and
that his versification exhibits KUrprising regularity. There
IS also reason lo believe that poetry, at least, was then
pronounced with an utterance more deliberate and measured
than we should now use. The word na-ci-oun had three
kfiill syllables, and sa-va-d-oun had four. But the most
remarkable points are (i) that the pi. suffix in -m (now -s)
formed a distinct syllable, as in the dissyllabic hcsl-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 mosht, uill-e, tvrrcck-c, ipill-e; three syllables in fui-fill-c,
ptn-£n-ce ; and four in gdv-er-ndn-ce. Observe also the
secondary accent on the final syllables of nd-ci-o^n, s,i-rd-
ti-oHn; and on the penultimate syllable of gdv-cr-ndn-cf.
1 Lastly, note that the accent of pm-dn-ce was, at that date, on
I the latter part of the word, not (as now) at the beginning'.
If the reader will now lake the trouble to read the above
passage aloud rather slowly, at the same lime bearing in
le snch grace.
' Died. ' I.e. mfly He giv
• Wretched. * It U no mailer.
* English lilts a vtiy at throwing back the accent nearer the beginning
of tbe word. Thus Ibe Ital. baMne has actuailf, in modern English,
beeonc fif/i'enx, tbough Itrsl inlrudDced u batciny. We even baveiin/iV
It of anilqMt ; and August as well as angilil.
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
I moste gortj sin that it is your wille;
But Crist, that starf for our sauacioun,
So yeue nie grace, his hestes to fulfille;
/, wrecche womman^ no fors though I spille;
Wommen ar bom to thral-<^m and penance,
And to ben vnder mannes gouemance.'
Here once more there is a remarkable preponderance of true
English words, which may be thus grammatically distributed.
Definite article : the. Pronouns : /, me^ ii^ his ; our, your ;
that, no. Substantives: wi/ley womman; genitive, mannes;
plural, hestes f wommen. Adjective: wrecche. Auxiliary and
anomalous verbs : moste ; ben, is, ar. Strong verbs : starf^
yeue, born. Weak verbs : gon, fulfille, spille. Adverb : so.
Prepositions : unto, for^ to, under. Conjunctions : sin^ that^
but, though, and. Of the remaining words, one is of hybrid
formation, viz. ihraUdom ; its first syllable is Scandinavian,
but the suflftx is English. Barbre and Crist are French
spellings of words which are ultimately Greek. The re-
maining words are all French ; nacioun, savcuioun, 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
I..1
TITE THREE MAIN DIALECTS.
27
^^w at
EngliEh words in this passage, we may first remark that
use of V for initial u in vn-to, vnder, has merely a sort of
[graphic value, being used in MSS. for distinctness. ]t lasted
Ibr many centuries; indeed, we have already seen the
Bpelling vp for up (twice) in the extract from Shakespeare
on p. 1. This use is not found in Anglo-Saxon, the MSS.
of which have the same spellings of un-to, under, up, as we use
now. The word mosit is not only dissyllabic (as already
noted), but is remarkable for ha^■ing the 0 long. The A. S.
word was ni6sie ( = most-t), also dissyllabic, where the accent
denotes the length of the vowel. We thus see the word's
history clearly enough. It was at first mSile, the past tense
of an obsolete present mtSt; but the present being lost, the
same form was used for both present and past. Then the
final e dropped off, giving mosl, riming with liosi; next tlie
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 wiih rust, as
St present. These changes were slow and regular, and can be
explained by analogy with other words. This is indeed the
chid" object of this present work, viz. to exhibit so many
examples of regular changes in the vowel-sounds as to enable
i(he student to observe some of the phonetic laws for himself,
at least to understand them clearly. And it may be
ked, by the way, that the comparative lateness of the
'ffiscovery 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 was free and phonetic. In fact, the
Englishman who hastily rushes to the silly conclusion that
Chaucer's MSS. are remarkable for their 'bad sjielling' 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
of mauh (oolUh
a8 MIDDLE' EyCLISff 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
modems to talk of ' bad spelling/
§23. The fact that wtU-^ 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 oflf, giving the modem will ; just as the A. S.
spill-e is now spilL The word star/ is interesting gram-
matically. The M.E. infinitive slerven (usually written
slerum ') meant to die. The verb was a strong one, forming
its past tense as star/ and its past participle as storven or
y-storven (written storuen, jhstoruen)^ often shortened to
storv-e or y-storv-e by dropping the final n. But in course
of time the tme 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
manner y but only to die by /amine ; or more frequently takes
the causal sense, to make to die by /amine. 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 literary dialects, the North-
era, Midland, and Southern. Roughly speaking, the Hum-
ber and the Thames formed a part of the boundary-lines
between them. The Northem 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 83nnlx>l u is sonnded as v when a vowel succeeds it.^
THE SOUTHERff DIALECT.
29
I
John Barbour, author of the poem of ' The Bruce,' was
a native. The Souihern dialect occupied the country to the
soulli of the Thames; and the Midland dialect, the district
between the other two ', These are only the main divisions ;
Bub-dialecls 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,
bniU on the north side of the Thames ; and Chaucer, as
:& 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
psrt oF North America would probably have been very
diBerent from what it is. It might have abounded with
Southern forms, and we might all be now saying vox for
fox; as indeed, curiously enough, we actually say vixen
instead oifixen.
f 26. The SouthflTii 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 Comishman, in 1387',
'As hyt ys yknowe houj' meny maner people buli' in (lis
ytond, fcr bu^ also of so meny people longagcs and tonges ;
no^es Walschmen and Scottes, Jjat buji nojt ymellcd wi^.
o|Kr nacions, holde)) wcl ny; here fursle longage and speche,
boie-jef* Scoites, ^al were som lyme confederal and wonede
* For more eiact information, see Specimens of Englisb, ed. Monii
•od Sbeat; introd. sect. 6.
' 1*hii KippDiilioii \i mciely made for Ihc sake of ijlastralioa. Pncti-
c«lly, it is al'iurij. No sane men would liave placed n town on tljc loss
oonrcoient ride of a rivei.
■ See Morris and Skest, Specimens of Kngliih. pt. ii, p. 340. The
dlte shews that Trevisa was pcccisely Chaucer's conlempoiaiy. Id
ilaline from Higdeo, be adds several rcraaika of his Own.
* The lymbol ) (except when inLliBl) indicates & gulturat somid, and
w umallf writteo g^, though the true sound i> lost. As an initial
ay: \Yais jtf ^ ye/.
' The symbol/ \i dovt supplanti^d liv rh : read bulh, iMs.
3°
MIDDLB-ENCUSH DIALECTS. [Ciup. 01.
wi^ y^ Pictes, drawe somwhat after here speche. Bote |>e
Flemmynges, fat wone^ in \b west syde of Wales, habbef yleft
here strange speche, and spekej) Saxonlych ynow. Also Eng-
lysch men, jwyj hy hadde fram ("c begynnyng fre maner speche,
Sou|>eron, Nor)>eron, and Myddel speche (in |»e myddel of ^
lond) as hy come of )ire maner people of Germania ; nobles,
by commyxstion and mellyng, furst wi^ Danes and afterward
wifi Nonnans, in menye fie con tray- longage ys apeyred, and
som vse}> strange wlafljug, chyteryng, harryng and garryng,
grisbittyng.
pis apeyryng of )ie burft-tonge ys by-cause of twey Jiinges :^
on ys, for chyldem in scote, scenes' |ie vsagc and manere
of al ofier nations, buf compelled for lo leue here ounc
longage, and for lo construe here lessons and here t>inges a
Freynsch, and habbe]), sufithe f>e Normans come hirst in-to
Engtiond. Also, gentit-men children buti ytau;t for to speke
Freynsch fram tyme {>al a bufi yrokked in here cradel, and
conne)) speke and playe wi|> a child hys brouch ; and optondysch
men wol lykne ham-sylf to geatil-men, and fonde}i wi^ grvt
bysynes for to speke Freynsch, for to be more ytotd of.'
§ 36. In modern English, this will run as follows :—
'As it is known how many manner (of) peapli
island ', there be also, of so many people, languages and tongues.
None-the-less, Welshmen and Scots, thai 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)
some time confederate and dwelt" 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 Sajcon-ly
' Here j begins the main pott of the word, a- being a mere prefix. It
thcteforc reprewnti )f. Read a-yenes.
* The modem i in iilami is due to ccHihiaion with F. iiU. The right
ipelling is rnthcr i-land; lo that Tiensa'i yland is well enough.
' Ut. ' melled,' or meddled.
' Hirt far lAtir is Soulhem ; from A. S. hira, of them, gen. pL of
W, he.
» From A. S. vrnnian, to dwell : the pp. vmittd is the M. E. tmmed,
' This is an bteresthig notice of the colony of Flemish »
Wttlei.
«.l
rare sourffSfiJ^ dialect.
iough. Also Englishmen, though Chey' had from the begin-
lling three manners (of) speech, Southern, Northern, and
Middle-speech (in the middle of the land), as ihey came of
three manners (oO people of Germany— none -the-less, by com-
mixture ajid 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 birlh-
> tongue is because of two things: — one is, for (i.e. because)
•.^Idren in school, against the usage and manner of all other
IriBtions, be compelled for to leave their own language, ^wd fur
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 iheir cradle, and can speak and
play with a child's' brooch; and uplandish men* will (i.e.
dedre lo) liken themselves to gentlemen, and try ' with great
bunness \\. e. diligence) for to speak French, for Co be more
told of (i.e. held in higher estimation}.'
The lemainder of the passage is also of such importance
ihat I here subjoin the general sense of it in modem
'This predilection for French was common before the first
pestilence <if 1349, but was afterwards somewhat changed. For
John Cornwall, a roaster of grammar, changed ihe mode of
teaching in his grammar-school, and substituted English for
French construing ; and Richard Pencrich leamt that kind of
leaching 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
(Bsadvanlage in another. The advantage is, that they learn
LS. »l. hig, they; pi. ofW, he.
A-fieimfand im-faired mctely differ in the prefix.
" 'L tkild his. which is an idiom not found earlier than the twelfth
The A, S. is rildes, mod. E. chiltfs.
i. country people.
K,S./aiidian, to endeikvour, tr^; orig. lo try loJiHi/, as it is a de-
of jSliian. to find.
'le original, see Specimens of English, ligS-ljgj, p. 341.
33 MIDDLE'S If GUSIf DIALECTS, \
their grHDimar in leas time than they used to do; the diia
vantage, that now children from the grammar-school know no
more French than docs iheir left lieel, which is a loss to ihem if
they have to cross Ihe sea and travel in strange lands, and in
many other cases. Moreover gentlemen have now much left off
leaching 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 meo
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 Ihe extremities, better understand the side-
languages, Northern and Southern, than Korlbem and Soutbcm
understand each other. All the language of the Northumbrians,
and especially at York, is so sharp, slitting, grating, and
unshapen, that we Southerners can scarcely understand that
language'. 1 believe it is because they are nigh to strangers
and aliens that speak strangely, and also because the kings of
England always dwelt 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, thai there is better comland
there, and more people; also nobler cities, and more profitable
havens.'
5 27- This passage contains many points of interest. By
Welshmen and Scots, Trevisa means, of course, those who
retained tlie 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 ihe Midland
district, the Angles and Saxons ' ; in the South, the Saxons
and Jutes. There was also certainly a considerable number
' Thii Btatcmeiil is Higden's ; it i& certiialy too strDDgly puL.
* I. c. ODtlci the HUDC psniUcl »f latitude.
* This is Trevisa't own Matemeat ; meu dislike uiy diilcct that it _
nnTiiDiliir Id their own can.
* Gi, possibly, the Frisians: we ihould then bate three chief n
Anglo, Frisians, and Saxons, the Jntei being limited to Kent ai
'7■^
THE SOUTHERlf DIALECT,
33
mon
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 remarlied that the grammaiica! inflexions in Southern
English are more numerous and elaborate than in the
IHidlind, whilst in the Northern dialect, on the contrary,
ibey are fewer and simpler. In this respect, modern English
diews more of the Norihem than the Southern manner.
Especial characteristics of the Southern dialects are the use
of b^, a variety of bilh, i. e. be ; the use of the suffix -elh (■(•/)
in Uie plura] of the present indicative, as in holdep, won/f>,
habhtfi ; the frequent use of the prefix _)<- before past participles
as \a y-knerwc, y-millfd^, etc. We should also notice the
Dse of hy (A, S. hig) as the plural of he, where modern English
employs tlie Norihem ihey, which is of Scandinavian origin ;
also the curious use of a, once with the sense of ' in,' as in a
I'reynsch, and once with the sense of ' they,' as in /a/ a bup
yrokicd. One more remark of great importance may be
made here, viz. that it is [he Southern dialect which agrees
closely than either of the others with what is called
Anglo-Saxon. Turning to the consideration of the vocabu-
ce that the French words in this passage are
ler numerous, viz. mancr, people, langagt,y-nulkd (where
the prefix _>■- is the A. S. ge-\ nacions, slrangc. mrll-yng (with an
' Anglo-French was the coarl-langnage. I suppose thai, even down
to nearly ihe end of the fonrtccnth century, tasmy of the nobles habitually
Bi^wke nothing eUe.
' The Mi<Iliui<l dialect sometimes employs ihii prelix, and sometimes
The Northem dialed, lilce modem Enjilish, drops It always.
^n ID Baroes's i^modcm} Dorselsbiie poems, we iiad a-tent for leHi
34
rnDDLE'SyCUSH DIALECTS.
[CBu;n
E. suffix), conlray, aptyr-ed, aptyr-yng (both with E. suffixes']^
w-f/A(wiih E. suffix), foujf, vsag€, lessons, genlil, brouch. Aa
Trevisa is translating from the Latin, he keeps several of the
Latin words of his original; tliese are confederal, commyx-
slioun, scole, compelled, cons/rue; see the original Latin in
the nole to Specimens of English, p. 344. The word rokked
is Scandinavian. Cnidel is found in A. S. as cradol, but is
probably of Celtic origin. The remaining words are English.
§ 28. The ITorthom Dialect. It has just been remarked
that the Northern dialect dispenses with inflexional suffixes
more than eiiher of the others. This it did at so early a
period that poems in this dialed often present a curiously
modern appearance, and would do so to a still greater extent
if it were not for the frequent introduction of Scandina\-ian
words, many of which are now obsolete in our modem
literary language. In other words, the difl'erence 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 19 as
old as the poetry of Chaucer, but has a more modern ap-
pearance '. By way of exhibiting a short specimen of the
Noriliern dialect, I here quote Hampole's descripdon of
heaven written about 1340'.
'Alle m;
Thare ■
Thare ■
Thare
Thare
ner of ioyes er in that stede,
s ay lyfe with-outen dede ;
s yhuwihe ay with-outen elde,
s alkyn welth ay to welde ;
s rest ay, witli-oulen trauayle ;
•s alle gudes that neuer sal fayle;
s pese ay, with-outen siryf;
s alle manerc of lykyng of lyfc;
' It was -iiitten ia 1375. Unluckily, the MSS. are a era
but this is not the real cause of the iliffereace. On the other hand, t
extnct from Trerisa has x more archaic ap]>earance, and this may be
taken as a general rule. That is. Nortbcm poems tuok Itttct, and
Souihetn writings eBrlicr. than they realty are,
* Sec Specimens of English, llyS'ljgj, p. I 34.
»a8.]
THE NORTHERN DIALECT.
iS
Thare es, with-outen myrknes, lyght;
Thare es ay day and neuer nyght ;
Thare es ay somer fuUe bryght to se,
And neuer mare wynter in that centre.'
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 mere monosyllable, and rimes with the
word stryf^ which is correctly written. In modem English,
the passage is as follows : —
' All manner of joys are in that stead ;
There
There
There
There
There
There
There
There
There
There
s aye life without(en) death ^;
s youth ay without(en) eld',
s all-kind wealth aye to wield,
s rest aye, without travail;
s all goods that never shall fail;
s peace aye, without(en) strife ;
s all manner of liking * of life ;
s, without(en) murkness '^, light ;
s aye day and never night,
s 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-onten ded ;
Thar es youUi ay with-onten eld,
Thar es alkin welth ay to weld.
Thar es re^t ay, with-outen tranail ;
Thar es al guds that nener sal fail;
Thar es pees ay, with-outen stryf ;
Thar es al maner of lyking 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 contr^.
' Ded is still a provincial £nglish form of death ; it answers, not to
A^. di(ai {d^aih)^ but to the Dan. and Swed. dod.
' Eldy old age, used by Shakespeare and Spebser.
• Pleasure ; lyking of lyf e, pleasure in life.
^ Darkness; we still use the adj. murky ^ and the sb. murki-ness.
D a
MIDDLB-BNGLISII DIALECTS. [Ciu
, m.
The great characteristic of lliis dialect is the absence of
finEil e as an inQexion in the spoken language, at lea
in the fourteenth century. The words which exhibit i
final e should rather have been written Al, sled, Tkar, i
did, youth, cM, weld, Iratiayijjayl, pets, maner, !y/,/ul, mar.
A characteristic form is sal, for shall; this is never found ex-
cept in Northern works. Another characteristic mark of this
dialect is the use of a for mod. long o, as in mar, more. As
regards the grammar, there is little to call for remark beyond
the use of es (is) for er (are) before alle gudes; this is realty
due to the use of the preceding word Thare (there), just as
Shakespeare has, 'Tbere is no more such masters,' Cym-
beline, iv. a. 371; see Abbott's Shakesp. Gram. 3rd ed.
As regards the vocabulary, the French words an '
, i(^es, irauayle, fayle, pese, cmiire, all of whidi 1
of Latin origin. Stry/ (O. Fr. tstrif) is a French for
of a Scandinavian word (Icel. slrfS). The forms er (are), t
(is), dede (death), ay (aye), sal (shall), are specificall)' AngliU
or Scandinavian, as distinct from Anglo-Saxon. The r
are ordinar)' English.
§ 29. East-Hidland Dialect of Bobert of Bn
Now that the three main dialects have been thus illustratM
it is worth while lo add one more example, which in s
respects comes even nearer to modern English than dot
the language of Chaucer, though written before he 1
born. We have already seen that modem English bclongsd
the Midland dialect, and lias a somewhat closer affinity \i
Northern than Southern. We find, further, that it is faa
represented in the dialect employed by Robert Mannyi
of Brunne (Bourn), in Lincolnshire, who translated Willui
of Wadyngton's " Le Manuel des Pechiei ' into English 8
1303, with the title of ' Handlyng Synne ',' He tells a star
about Pcrs {or Piers) the usurer, who never gave
' ^ce Specimens of Eoglish, I
-'393. P- 5'-
§ 29.] THE EAST-MIDLAND DIALECT, 37
an3rthing 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 hun : —
*■ He sagh Pers come * ther-with-al ;
The porg* 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 modem
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 man), ' Felon-ly, angrily.
* £yne, 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.
MIDDLE-EHGLISH DIALECTS.
por-e has a final -e, because the adjective is what
definite, that is, is used with the definite article preceding it.
An adjective is also definite, if preceded by a demonslralive
or possessive pronoun ; hence iki's por-e likewise. Witl-
from A, S. wiV-a, as has been explained once before (p. 28).
The iouay-ln (diss)'llabic) answers to the A. S. (ag-an, eyne]
for which we now use eyes. In the seventh line, to seke is
gerund, and should take the final -t; but it happens 10 be
elided before the following vowel. Belyv-e stands for A. S.
bt li/-c, lit. by life, but here meaning ' with life,' in a hvely
way, quickly. BIjihe is from the A. S, dissyllabic lii{3-<
{blith-e). Seid-e is the past tense of a weak verb (A. S.
-;), and is dissyllabic ; but the final -e, in such a case, is
often dropped, as in seid four lines below. Swor-e is the
pi. I. pi. of a strong verb (A, S. sw6r-en). Vndcrslond-e is an
infin, mood (A. S. undersiand-an). Hand-e is a dat. case
(A. S. hond-e, hand-a, dat. of fwnd or hand). Befor-t is short
for befor-m (A. S. be/or-an). 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 adj. pore (O. F. povre) ;
the phrase pur charite (pour chariU), for charily ; the sb.
ftlun in /elun-lick; and the verb save. Five words arc
Scandinavian, viz. hap, took, feltatis, thrift, and halidom.
The rest are English.
L§ 30. East-Midland different &om 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 Easi-
Midland and West-Midland, and that it is the former of
these that comes neatest to our current speech. It is not
easy to define [lie limits of these dialects, but perhaps we
'e
ig?^M^ Ssi
i 30J rHE EAST-MIDLAND DIALECT. 39
may say that the West-Midland 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 literary 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
agnify the dialect which Garoett called Mercian.
CHAPTER IV.
[ Native Element : the oldest dialects.
§ 81. In the last Chapter specimens have been g^venoftt
three principal dialecis of the Middle-English, and one «
these, that from Robert of Brunne, takes us back almost U^M
Ihc beginning of the fourteenth century. We now proceed
to push back our enquiries a little further. There are
suflicient specimens to enable us to do this during the
thirteenth century and a little earlier', but at the earliest
period the extant monuments of (he language relate almost _
exclusively to otie dialect only, the Southern ; whereas %
should be extremely glad of more information concerning
the Midland dialect. For the period before 1200, we stil
find traces of the same three dialecis, but (especially befcW
1 100) they are called by different names. The Norther
Midland, and Southern, as found in the earliest period, i
called Northumbrian, Mercian, and Wessex or .\nglo-Saxoa4
It is a common mistake to suppose that the terms 'Angltf
Saion ' and ' Old English ' (or ' Oldest English ') are cm
vertible terms ; for ' Anglo-Saxon ' only accounts for a thi
part of Old English. Yet the mistake does not lead ti
confusion in practice, owing to the unfortunate and depIoraU
scantiness of the materials representing the other two dialect^
We can only deal with what we happen to possessj_
' Tiie Middle English of the period from 1130 to tjoo U someli
colled Early Engliiih, 1 name which is convenient, when reqnited.
' I here omit, for ihesUtcof cIcsmcM, the AV«/irA VBiieCf of S(
English ; thongh iu fomu are (airly well marked.
Ijs.] OLD NORTHERN AND OLD MERCIAN. 4 1
in the absence of works written in Northumbrian and Mercian,
we are very thankful to accept such evidence as can be
obtained from ttie very considerable remains of the Wessex
dialect ' that bave 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 lime, have been con-
siderable. The great historian Beda usually wrote in Latin,
but we are told that he was ' doclus in nostris carminibus,'
learned in our native songs, and five lines have been
rrved of a poem written by him in the Northumbrian
He also tells us the famous story of Ciedmon, a
lonk of Whitby, who composed, in that dialect, a long poem
ceaiceming mmy events recorded in the Old and New
Tesiamenis. beginning with the history of the Creation. Of
this poem only the first nine lines have been preserved ',
although there is a later poem, also frequendy attributed to
Csdmon ', upon similar subjects. These thirteen lines form,
unfortunately, the sum total of the remains of the Old North-
ombriaD poetry, with the exception of the ' Leiden Riddle,'
printed by Mr. Sweet in his Oldest English Texts, p. 149,
and the Northumbrian Runic Inscription upon the Ruihwell
Cross, printed in the same, p. 125. The incursions and
|M.e. \y
I^^Tnonk
' To which Vfe rany adii Ihe extant remains of Kentish. The Old
NoitbDinbrian wns the dialect af the Angles, uid was thus a kind of
ascient Daniih. The Wessex dialect was the dinlect of the Saxons. It
fs well known that great nnmbera of Frisians accompnnied ihe Saxons ;
and I throw out the suggeslion, far what it is worth, that the Mercian
dialect was parti; of Old Frisian origin.
' See the edition, by M^yor and Lnmby, of Books in and IV of
Bedu'i Eccleaastical History, p. 177; EsrJc, A. S. Literature, p. ito;
t, Oldest Eog. Texts, p. 149.
" t, A. S. Literature, p. lot ; Sweet (as aboTc).
It is. however, a different version, with a different, though similsr.
linning. It is only necessary to uy here, that it is oot in the
" It the Wessex dialect. See Earle, A.S. Lit., p. in.
4a
THE OLDEST DIALECTS,
[CMJ.nf.
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 Lindisfarrie MS., sometimes as the Durham
book', contains Northumbrian glosses, or explanations of the
Latin words, throughout. The WS. 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 '. 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. Mattliew'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 1S85, we find some additional and highly im*
ponant examples of Mercian, the principal being (1) the
' Vespasian Psalter and H>'mns,' i. e- a copy of a Latin
Psalter and Hymns with Mercian glosses, extant in MS.
' Se« Eaile, A.S. Literature, p. 190.
' See the Noithiimbrian and A.S. Gospels, synopticallj amnged,
published by the Pitt Press, ed. Kcmble and Skeat. (The Gospd of
Sl Matthew wns reprinted in 1887.} The Lindisfame MS. is in the
British Mnscnm, marked ' MS. CottoD, Nero, D. 4.' The RoshwoiUt
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 1879, Appendix,
p. S''-
* Theglossei to St. Mark, chap. i. and chap, ii, verses t^ij an some-
times said to be Mercian, bnt this is a mistake. The hitHd'siriting
changes in the middle of v. 15 of St. Mark, chap, ii \ but the diatat
changes at the very begiiming of that gospel.
• Eicepting, strangely enough, the glosses to the lint three tctso qt,.
iO
OLD MERCIAh'.
43
{btcon, Vespasian A. i, in the British Museum, and (2) the
^rpus Glossary,' i.e. a collection or Ladn words with
tercian glosses extant in MS, No. 144 in the library of Corpus
Siristi 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 llung 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 Wessei
dialect, usually called ' Anglo-Saxon '.' Fortunately, these are
abundant, or we should be badly off indeed. For specimens
of this dialect, sec Sweet's Anglo-Saxon Primer and Anglo-
Saxon Reader.
§ 33. Modern Literary English derived from Old
Kercian. 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
MfTfJan 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
distinaly, but rather shew some slight variations from the
Weasex (A. S.) dialect. Still the following table (compiled
lely from the Mercian glosses upon a Latin text of St.
a Gospel) may be of some slight interest, as furnish-
it'OId English'; but ' Aoglo-SnxoD ' is l>est retained
■teing generally underelood. Besides, it hasa special Utknical mtaix-
'u the old aoatbem dialect of Wessex. It does not in the least
w that the ptBfh of ancient England, or even of Ihc Sooth of it,
o be calleJ ' Anglo-Sanons.' They should be called * English.'
44
THE OLDEST DIALECTS,
[Chap. IV,
ing examples in which the modem English form seems closer
to the Mercian than to the A. S. type.
Modern.
0. Mercian.
Wessex (A. S.).
all.
all, 5. 15 \
eall.
are.
arun, 19. 28.
{not used).
betwixt.
betwix, 27. 56.
betweox.
cheek.
ceke, 5. 39.
c^ace.
cold.
cald, 10. 42 '.
ceald.
eke.
ek, 5. 39.
dac.
eleven.
enldfan, 28. 16.
endlufon.
eye.
^ge, 5- 29.
dage.
falleth.
falle^, 10. 29.
fealle]y.
fell, pt /. //.
fellun, 7. 25.
fdollon.
fee.
feh, 27. 6.
feoh.
-fold {as in 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, /.
(ge)h^rde, 2. 3.
(ge)hferde.
lie (tell lies).
ligan, 5. II.
l^ogan.
light, sb.
liht, 5. 16.
l^oht.
light, cuij.
liht, II. 30.
l^oht.
narrow.
naru, 7. 14.
nearu.
old.
dld», 9. 16.
eald.
sheep.
sc^p, 25. 32.
sc^ap.
shoes.
scoas, 10. 10.
sc^os, scy.
silver.
sylfur, 10. 9.
seolfor.
slept, pt, /. //.
sleptun, 13. 25.
sl^pon {strong form).
sold, pp.
said, 10. 19.
seald.
spit, V,
spittan, 27. 30.
spsetan.
wall.
wall, 21. 33.
weall.
yard (rod).
ierd, 10. 10.
gyrd.
yare (ready).
iara, 22. 4.
gearo.
yoke.
ioc, 11.29.
geoc.
youth.
iugu%, 19. 20*.
geogu«.
* The references are to the Chapters and Verses of St Matthew*s
Gospel (^Rushworth Gloss).
' The scribe has miswritten galdes for caldeSy an obvioos blonder ;
the Lindisfame MS. has cold.
' The accent is marked in the MS., though the vowel was not
originally long.
* Several of these Mercian forms agree nearly with O. Frisian. Cf.
BROKEN X'Ott'ELS.
45
\ 34. Anglo-SazoD 'broken' vowels. Even a glance
[ at this comparative tabie will reveal a peculiarity of the
I Wessex dialect which properly belongs tieither to the RTer-
' cian dialect ' nor to modem English. This is the use of ea
1 before the letters /. r, h, x. The s)Ti)bo! 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 fonns as tall,
etalJ, /talUp, -feald, gealla, ficalf, hcall, nearu, raid, seald,
vxall, grarci, 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 ra/d, -fald,
aid, salde, to cold, -fold, old, sold. In all these words the
Southern ' breaking ' is due to the influence of ihe follow-
ing / or r. Similarly, we nolice the Southern use of the
'broken' sound eo, substituted for i, in the words dehr-wx,
Kol/br, where modern English has kept the original sound.
Still more marked and curious are the cases in which the
Southern dialect has /a, /o, diphthongs in which the former
I element is long'. These would require fuller explanation,
I vlucb I pass over for the present. It is sufficient to notice
I that our standard modern .English follows the Mercian
' dialect here also, and knows nothing of ' broken ' vowels in
such instances as those above*.
O. Ft. alii, all ; idi. chtck ; il/tva. eleven : /a/la, to fail ; -/alJ, -foW ;
it//: halt; hrrdt, beard ; h'clil, adj. light; liaga, lo lie; aid, old;
ubvrr. silver, silvet ; vjol, wall ; itrdt, a rod.
' The scribe of the Rnshworth glosses smnetimes inconsistently writea
cfl for d : he donbtlcsi knew that the Sonthera sciibes nsed the symbol,
anil needlessly followed their example.
< ' For an accoant of A.5. pronunciation, sec Sweet's A. S. Primei, oi
, A.S. Reader.
' In my Elym. Diet,, I have unfortonalcly placfd the accent, or mark
if IcBglh, Djion the lalltr clement. This was the method lormeily in
_ae, but it is probably less correct.
* Bat they aie foundin thedialects. Bsmei, in his Dorsetshirepuem?,
a medic for maie, tAtady for skady, Itadyt for lady, &c.
46
THE OLDEST DIALECTS. [Cn**. IV.
5 35. ChronolOBy. The necessity of paying due regard
10 chronology is just as great when we deal with AngJoJ
Saxon writings as in any other case. Strange mistakes hav^
arisen from neglect of it. Our materials are abundant, i
some of them are of very early date. We have MSS. i
taining Latin words, with 'glosses ' or explanations in Angl^
Saxon, going back at least to the eighth century. We havri
MSS. of the time of jElfred, who died in 901, and many
homilies by .^Ifric, which, in round numbers, may be
dated a hllle 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 tenUj, 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 iElfred's translation of Orosius, the preface to which
exhibits much painstaking and care. The editor gives an
accurate description of the two e.xiant 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
Coiton MS. simply a laU 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 tennination of -iw and -on
i 36.] ANGLO-SAX01f{WESSEX DIALECT). 47
f both in nouns and verbs. In ihe Cotton MS., there is
|rreat conrusion in these terminations ; whilst in the Lauder-
dale MS., they are generally correct.' He even goes so far
as to say thai ' there are so many instances of great careless-
ness in the scribe of the Cotton MS. as 10 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 Ihe
I basis of the test. Curiously enough, this was not done, the
r 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 Test 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-Sason is here subjoined. It is taken from an
r A. S. version of St. Matthew (xiii. 3-8), made in the tenth
■ century, as extant in MS. Corp. Chr. Coll., No. 140.
1 ' S6)ilice ' (it ^ode se sidere his sid t6 siwenne. And \& ^&
h6 B^ow, sume hig f^ollon wi^ weg, and fuglas ciSmun and 4Con
fi S6^1ice 5Umc f^ollon on sCinihte, ))4r hit nsfde micle eorf^n,
and hr^diice up sprungon, for jiEim [te htg nsfdon {i*re eorfan
I ' L e. tbe West-Saxon of the dictionarieB. I otre e
Lbounif of Dr. Bosworth that I wish to clear him from
F aiattcr. Wiiting in 1859, more thao 1 qu.irtcr of a ceuti
not tnfficientconfiilencelo make what would then havi
His
I much to Ihe
blame in this
'y ago, he hud
:en LUDdemued
argumeDts realty go to shew that he woald have
pttfcncd [he bolder courK.
* Mr, Sweet has lately published some ' Extracts from Alfred's
Orosins,' in a very cheap form ; so that [he spelling or this famous MS.
cm be easily ita<lic<l.
• 1be\ denotes /A, OS in M, E. The accent indicates that the vowel
ix long : tbns i would be mmked d, if we adopted the notation of the
o grammar.
48
THE OLDEST DIALECTS.
dj'-pan : si5|jlicc, up spniogenre sunnan, hfg jdrdwadon
forscruncon, for {>dm fie h(g nsefdon wyrtrum. S6^1ice s
f^ollon on Jiornas, and \& {lomas weoxon. and forfirysmudon \k-
Sume sd|ilice ffolltm on gdde eor|^n, and sealdon weastm, sum
hundfeaidne, sum stxtig-fcaldne, sum [)ritlig-fealdne '.'
Notwilh standing the unfamiliar and strange appearance of
ihe spelling and grammar, a large number of the words in
this passage are only old forms of words still in use. The
viorA/or/irj'smudon soon perished, and has been obsolete for
many centuries, but to most of the others there is some clue.
In very literal mo<3em English, the passage runs thus ;—
' Sootbiy, out went * the sower his seed to sow. And wh«
(hat he sowed ', some, they fell with (i. e. beside the) way, i
fowls came and ate them. Soothly, some fell on stony (places),
where it had-not (ht. naii^ae had) mickle earth, and quickly'
(they) up sprung, for that that they had-not of-the earth depth ;
soothly, up-sprung sun, they dried-away and for-shrunk (i. e.
shrunk extremely), for that that they had-not root*. Soothlyf
some fell on thorns, and the thorns waxed, and choked thcl
Some soothly fell on good earth, and produced (lit sold) fruitiy
some hundred-fold, some sixty-fold, some thirty-fold.'
§ 87. So important is Ihe study of Anglo-Saxon to s
as are interested in modern English, chat some good i
useful lesson might be learnt from nearly every word of tf
above passage. As regards our grammar, for example, i
words as yug/-as=youj/-s. porn-as=lhorn-t', at once i
tliai ihe modern English plural commonly ends in -s becaid
a considerable number of A. S. plurals ended in -&
-as was weakened to -ts, as in the M. E. foul-is, Ihom-is^ I
'Con,,
■e Swec
A.S. Primer, p. 6] ; where tbe spelling il
' M. a. yede, went ; now obsolete.
* The Inie modem eqniTBlcnt ii stai, the verb being once at
Cambridgeahire. they say ' 1 itw the field,' nnd ' 1 mmi the gr
' LiLrathly; from fU/4, won, whence »-a/*«', sooner,
* Compare E. uvrt.
* Lit. growtb ; allied to iuoj, 1, e. grow.
!■■ Am"-
§37.] ANGLO-SAXON {WESSEX 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 sufiix -ly was once spelt -Uc-e (two syllables),
an extension of -/ir, which is nothing but an unaccented
form of the adj. //r, like ; so that sooth- fy is sooth-like^ i. e. ih
a manner like sooth or truth. The second is of far greater
importance, because it concerns phonology. It is, that the
A. S. long 0 ' (as in sSf) came to be written 00 (as in sooth)^
the doubling denoting length. After this, a change came over
i!ci(t pronunciation^ but the jyzw^e?/ remained the same ; the result
is, that 00 no longer denotes the sound of oa in loat^ but the
sound of 00 in hoot^ or ou in soup^ This latter sound is strictly
represented, according to the Italian method, by long «, or «,
whereas the original sound is strictly represented by <?. We
see, then, that as far as the written symbol is concerned, the
A. S. 6 has (at least in this instance) been replaced by 00^
whilst the sound indicated has shifted from 0 to u. The period
at which this shifting took place seems to have been between
1550 ahd 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.
* Pronoimced nearly as ^ in boatf but without any after-sound of tt ;
exactly ai ^A in G. Sohn,
VOL. I.
CHAPTER V.
English Long Vowels.
§ 38. Returning to the consideration of the comparison of
A. S. s/f9 with £. 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 o) as expressing the
sound of the Italian long u, without ever stopping to wonder
how they came to employ so extraordinary a spelling I To
return to the consideration of the words cited above, it may
next be observed that the words moon and soon were formerly
dit^syllabic, written moon-e or mon-e, and soon-e or son-e;
whilst the verb look took, in the infinitive, the suffix -e, earlier
-/V«, and appeared as look-e, lok-ten. Hence, the A. S. forms
of the above words are, with perfect regularity, as follows :
cSl, st6l, tdl, t6p, g6s \ s6n-a, mSn-a, nSn *, brSm, ddm, gl6m^
* The final e in the mod. E. goose is a mere (late) orthojjraphic expe-
dient (i. e. a phonetic spelling), in order to shew that the s is hiud,
or (technically) voiceless ; if written goos^ it might be read as goo%. So
also in the case of horse^ M. E. and A. S. hors,
' The A. S. n6n is borrowed from Lat. ndna, i. e. mna hora, ninth
r»»-i
SHIFTING OF VOWEL-SOUNDS.
\
mSd. rod, l6cian. This A. S. 6 will be again discussed
hcreafwr, when some ajjparenl exceptions to the law will
receive attention {§ 45).
§ 39. Shiftmg of Towel-BOtmds. Another important
result is this. Such a change of pronunciation as that frotn
long 0 (<m in boat) to long u {00 in booi) could not lia\'e
taken place without a general shifting of pronunciation all
along the line. If in the series baa, bail, btfl, boat, boot, we
disturb one of the set, we run the risk of upsetting the whole
scheme. This is precisely what took place; the whole of
Ibe long-vowel scheme fell, as ii were, lo pieces, and was
replaced by a new scheme throughout, the net result heinjj
that the A- S. sounds of a, /, i, 6, £, (as in baa, bail, bc<t, boat,
le«f) have been replaced by the modern English sounds A^t-
TiMtA phonetically by i, i, ai, ii, au (sounded as in boat, bed, bilcy
bo0i, houf). Three of the old sounds, {, 6, H, are shifted ;
iwo of the old vowels, /, 6, are developed into diphthongs,
wliilst the remaining A. S. sounds «, r<(as in baa, bail) seem
lo disappear '. From this brief account, it will be at once
>een that the investigation of llie old sounds of modern
EngUah vowels requires great care, and must be conducted
on regular principles, each sound deserving to be studied
separately. Tltis is even the case, as we have seen, with the
long vowels, which are the easiest to trace ; the short vowels
require even more attention, and should therefore, in my
opinion, be studied afterwards, when the changes in the long
vowel-sounds have become familiar,
Kleanwhile, it will prove useful to commit to memory the
&ct that the A. 5. sounds, as occurring in baa, bait, beet, boat,
bcwr, originiUy 3 p.m., but afterwncds shifted to middaj. This diJTCS
kome Ibc bet tbat the A. S, d -^ Lat. b,
' The word tnia i> merely imilBlive, and the pure sound of the iMliui
■ is nther scarce in English, Jalkcr being the slock example of il, and
the worfs Ai/m, calm, &c., being of Fremh origio. The loiind in bait
b coinmaii, but uiswerstu A.S. a, a, ea.e, or a, not to uiy of the abovi;
■erics of A.S. long Towels.
53 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS.
boo/, have most commonly been replaced by the mode
English sounds heard in baa/, bed, bile, boot, 6ou/',
easiest way of remembering- this is by the help of simpl
examples, such as these that follow.
1. A. S. bdi (pronounced baa/), is our mod. E. boat.
2. A. S. b//-e ' (pronounced nearly as bait-ji. or as 6aU-^
wiUi quiescent r), is our mod. E. bee/.
3. A. S. bU-an (pronounced bftt-&hn), is our mod. E.i
4. A. S. b6l (pronounced nearly as boa/) is our boot, in ti
sense of advantage, as in the phrase 'to t>oot,'
5. A. S. d-b&tan (pronounced ah-boo/-dhn), is our a-Bon
All this has been learnt frotn a full consideration of tl
first word Sdp/ice of the A. S. extract in § 36 above,
may serve as a faint indication of the lessons to be obtai
from a study which has fallen into so great neglect.
§ 40. Eaglish should be traced downwardB as wdl
as upwards. Hitherto my object has been to prepare the
way by tracing English words backwards from the present
lime to the period before the Conquest, when the literary
monuments which have come dowTi to us were mosliy written
in the Southern dialect, commonly called Anglo-Saxon. This
course is a natural one to take, because we thus pass from
what is familiar lo what is less known. Yet tliis is cicariy
not the scientific course, because it reverses the order of
succession. Hence, when we have obtained the A. S. form,
we ought to return over the same ground once more, as we
can then more easily account for, or at any rate record, all
changes of pronunciation, and we are in a better position to
explain results that appear to be anomaious. This is tlie
course pursmd by Mr. Swcel, in his History of English
' This i^ereral rale bus several exceptions, ajoie of which nrc noted
below. The present BMoiuit i« mcrclj' general ot popnlnr. For scientific
details lee the aiticle by Mr. Wetlt, coltced at the end of { 40.
' This ii an excellent example, because the A. S, bfUxi not an English
word, but merely borrowed from Lat. bfta, where tile r was pronounocd
neatly as m* in bail, 01 (iitictlj) as / in F. it/, but longer.
-. ■ ^*-'-^
f 4I.] SHIFTING OF VOWEL- SOUNDS. 53
Sounds \ and I now extract several examples from his book
in order to complete the history of the English long vowels,
as we are now in a position to understand it I beg leave
also to draw attention to an admirable article ' On the
Development of Old English Long Vowels/ by B. H. Wells,
which appeared in the German periodical called 'Anglia/
vol. vii. pp. 203-219. Mr. Wells gives the results of his
investigations in the following words: — *We find that the
extreme A. S. vowels ( and H have, by a sort of guna, been
brought nearer to Ital. a, the one becoming at [mod. E. f]
and the other au [mod. E. au^ ow] '. The other long vowels
on the contrary, shew exactly the opposite tendency, for
A. S. /, Uy //, /tf, /(?, d^ have become t [mod. E. ee\^ while d
has become 0^ and J, u. Wherever, then, the vowels could
move toward the extremes of the vowel-scale [given by
Ital. u^ Of a, e, i], they did so ; where this was not possible,
they formed diphthongs. Such is the development when
undisturbed by consonantal influence.' He adds that * the
only consonants which exercise a general modifying power
are w, r, g {X)y but the mutes c, d, /, and the labials y^ m,
have a modifying influence on special vowels with which
their articulation is related. A following syllable also tends
to weaken the preceding vowel.' He proceeds to examine
these disturbing causes in careful detail.
§ 4L It is found that vowel-sounds are often aflected in
their quality by the consonant that follows them \ So much
is this the case when this consonant is r, that it alters the
quality of nearly every vowel. The vowel-sounds in da/,
^ Published for the Philological Society and for the English Dialect
Society.
' As to the nature of this change, see Ellis, On Pronunciation, i. 233 :
'In each case the change simply consists in commencing the vowel with
a sound which is too open (i.e. with the tongue not sufficiently raised,
and, as it were, correcting that error in the course of utterance.'
* Also by a ^needing consonant, chiefly in the case of w or qu.
Compare vwi , quantity ^ with can^ ran^ pan.
34
ENGLISH LONG VOWELS.
[C»».«
lift, bit respeclively, are not the same as in bar, berth, bin
This must be carefully borne in mind, and shews why Mr4|
Sweel arranges his examples according to the consona
which follows the vowel. Fortunately, r has comparatively*
Utile influence upon the long vowels, which we shall lake first.
We now proceed lo enquire into the fortunes of the A. S.
a. or long a, pronounced as an in baa. or the interjection ah !
\ 42. The A. S. & (long a). The rule is, that A. S. A
came to be wrilttn as long o in M. E,, and in mod. E. such
words are pronounced with a sound which we should now
also call long o. But this H. E. long o was probably i
intermediate sound between aa and oa, and commonly pro
nounced nearly as au tn naught, according to Mr. Sweet;
as oa in bToad. Thus A. S. bat is M. E. boot, pronounM
nearly as mod, E. bought, which gradually passed into £. boaiA
so that the order of sounds is given (nearly) by baal, bmgkt.
boat. The M, E. sound is given still more closely by the »
Examples are as follows, ra. a roe ; la, lo t sld, sloe ^
wa. woe ; na. no ; go, I go ; da, a doe ; ta, loe. In the wtw
iwS. the w was dropped, giWng the M. E. soo. so, E. jp.
there are two words tn which a ro preceded the vowel, i
cuercised a modifying influence upon it, causing it lo j
through two stages. Thus it passed into the modern long a
sound even in M. E., and instead of stopping there, it
again, because the M. E. 5 often shifted Into long »
pare M, E. cool, col {pronounced as coal) with mod. E. i
(§ 45). And further, ihe w. aAer producing this modiGc
tion, dropped out ; so thai the A. S. hwa is now 10^0 (pro
as hoo in Aan/), whilst the A. S. twA is now two (pron.asA
See Sweet, Hist. Eng. Sounds, p. 54.
The guttural sound denoted by h, and pronounced as fl
mod, G. eh in Machl, has modified A. S, ahtt into E. o^fAJ
probably by prestrving very nearly the sound which the di]^
' Tbis ioflucDce of a precediag to is discussed in { 383.
THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG A. 53
I thong bad in MiddU English. Similarly, n&hl has become
I naught or nought, whence (with a suffix -y) the word naiighl-y.
I By constitnt use, naught was often ' widened ' to not, which
us now established itself as an independent word.
hat, whole ; mdl, mole (a blemish, spot) ; da! ', tiole. Also
halig, holy ; a derivative of h&l, whole.
dr. oar ; hir, hoar ; rar-ian, lo roar ; Idr, lore ; iiir, sore ;
ir-a, gore (of a garment) ; gedra ', yore ; bdr,
(Note how ihe r modifies the preceding vowel, and
I tends lo preserve the M. E. sound.)
S^, oath; wrdj>, adj.. wroth, but also wrath ; and simi-
larly eldp, cloth, in which the M. E. sound of u has
I been preseri'ed ; tap, loath ; IdS-ian ', to loathe ; cldS-ian,
to clothe.
aris, arose ; 3ds. those ; gdsl, ghost (in which the intro-
ductioQ of the h is quite unmeaning). A very curious and
difficult word is hds, M. E. hoos, also lioors. now written
hoarse ; as far as the modern Southern E. sound is con~
cemcd, the r is not trilled, and tlie vowel hardly differs, if at
all,, from that which we have already found in cloth, from
I A. S. elap '. It probably retains very nearly the M. E. sound.
i Prdtv-an, to throw ; sdw-an, Eo sow ; mdw-an, to mow ;
cr^w-an, to crow ; cndw-an, to know ; bldw-an, to blow. In
all these the A. S. w accounts for the modern spilling, but
the w is nearly lost, being represented by a faint after-sound
of u. So also in mdiu, snow ; sdwtl, sdwl, soul, An ex-
ceptional word is pdw-an, to thaw (instead of Ihow °) ; here
' ll aiipeais m^-i/rj/. The A. S. prefii fn-
BO diffetence to the word.
* The A. S. ^-, ns occurring h<re before
J al1-Bbaadaal,BQd makes
fc../:
.n lalt A
i the sound of
' 1 keep 6 to represcnl the mod. E. th in clothe, whilst i represents
the mud. ii. M in doth. A. S. uiea both s^rnbols confusedly.
* The Kiund vnries. I here give my own pioniincialion. wfiich is like
thai (if harii. Many people sound the oa in hoarst as n diphthong.
' Tkinu. says Dr, Pcile, Is Ihe pioauocialion in North Cumlietlond,
where it rimu with snow.
5«
El^CLTSH LOHTG VOWELS.
[Cuitf, 1
ihe aw bas presen'ed (he M. E, sound, like that of a
naught. Compare naught, cloth, wrath, above.
hid/, loaf (h being dropped); dra/, drove (the finaiyU
A. S. (and in Mercian ?) being probably pronounced ae v).
A most important word is an, M, E. oon (riming at firei
with dawn, later with bone), but now riming with Mm. In the
fifteenth ceniury, 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 o into long u, after which the u was shortened and
' unrounded',' giving the cutiooa E. one, in which the initial
w is only wrillen by comic writers, who (correctly enough)
write njun. The spelling won is found as early as in Guy of
Warwick, ed. Zupitza, note to 1. 7927. The word is doubljr t
interesting, because the compounds on-ly, al-one, l-oni (she
for al-one), I-one-ly (short for al-one-ly), al-one, all preser
the sound into which it would have passed according to ti
usual rule. Besides this, the A. S, an, when used as I
indefinite article, soon lost its length of vowel, and beca
an with short a. Hence our modem an, or (with loss A
final n) a. An-on is short for an-oon. N-one, short f
ne one, not one, has followed the fortunes of one, c
of its obvious connection with it. Other examples
shone, past tense'; stan, stone; gr4man, to groan;
ham, home ; lam, loam ; /dm, foam ; eldm, prov. E. elea
used in Devonshire to mean earthenware.
lag, Idh, low (the final guilural being Arop^eA) ; /dg,/dh,
foe; ddg, ddh, dough; so dg-an, to own; dg-en, own (I.e.
one's own).
' ' KouHitlng is a conlnielion of the month-cavity by lilen] c
pression of the cbFek-p»si>gc uid nairovulng of ihe lip-aperture'; ~
Phoaetlcs, { 36, Unreututing means the relaxatioD of the n
effort rrqoiml for ranndiHg.
' Properly tioaH ; but often sbortcD«d lo tAtit.
' I Tm ipij
1 43.] TI/E ANGLO-SAXON LONG E. 57
dc^ oak ; slrdc-ian^ to stroke ; spdc-a, spoke of a wheel ;
idc-tHy token.
rdd^ road ; Idd, lode (a vein of ore, course) ; wdd^ woad ;
gdd^ goad ; tdd^ toad ; dbdd^ abode. But brdd^ M. E. broody
has absolutely retained its M. E. vowel-sound, and is spelt
broody because that sound was represented by oa in Eliza-
bethan English \ The A. S. suffix -hdd 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 'h/d, 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 -?ied ; this accounts for the variant
'head, as in Godhead, maidenhead.
dt-e, an oat, pi. dt-an, oats ; wrdi, wrote ; gdt, goat ; bdt,
boat. But hat, M. E. hoot (pronounced as haught- in
haught-y), has been * widened' to hot; and ic wdt, M. E. /
woot (pron. wauf), 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. papi, and we should all be saying pape, as if it rimed with
ape. Compare pap-al, pap-ist, pap-acy, all words of F.
origin. And compare pole, A. S. pal, Lat. pdlus,
§ 48. The A. S. 6 (long e). The A. S. e had the sound
of ItaL long e, or the French / in /// (but longer), or nearly
that of ai in bait ; the M. E. usually preserved this sound ;
it has since shifted into the sound of ^^ in beet^.
* ' In one word, the M. E. ^ [ = aw in awe'\ has been preserved up to
the present day, viz. in the adj. brbhd\ * Sweet, Eng. Sounds, p. 61.
Sweet's Hist of Eng. Sounds, p. 61.
58 ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. IChap. V.
Examples. A/, he ; ^/, thee ; w^^ we ; m^^ me ; ^/, ye.
The A. S. yh presents some difficulty ; 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 by). 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.
h/r, here ; ge-h/r-an, to hear ; w/r-ig, weary. The pt. t
ge-her-de, lit. heared, is shortened to heard \ such examples
as this, in which the shortening is obvious, are of some
value. See § 454.
A//, heel ; j///, steel ; fil-an, to feel.
Uff, teeth.
ge-l/f-an, to be-lieve*; sle/'e, sleeve; the A. S. (and
Mercian ? )y between the two vowels being probably sounded
as V,
sc/ne, adj., E. sheen, lit. showy, but now used as a sb.';
w/n-an, to ween ; gr/n-e, green ; c/n-e, keen ; cw/n, queen.
But the A. S. i/n has preserved its long vowel only in the
compounds thir-teen, four-teen, &c.; when used alone it is
shortened to ten,
s/m-an, to seem ; d/m-an, to deem ; t/m-an, to teem.
eg-e (Mercian /g-e, § 33) is an occasional form of A. S.
/age, eye. Strictly, the word belongs to the group containing
the long diphthong /a. This /ge 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 form^-^; pronounced
^ The simple verb lieve was common in M. £. as leuen.
' Evidently from a popular delusion that it is etjrmologically derived
from the verb to shine, with which it has no connection. Curiously
enough, the adj. sheer really is connected with shine, but popular etymo^
logy does not suspect it.
I 43.] THE ANGLO-SAXON. LONG E. 59
as «f in beeif followed by a light vowel, with a light interven-
ing ^-sound, such as is heard between ee and tng in mod. £.
see-ing. Then the final ^e dropped, and the M. E.^or long
/ developed regularly into the mod. E. diphthongal sound
which we write /. Yet we still keep, in our spelling, the
form eye^ ^representing a sound which has been obsolete for
many centuries. It is this unlucky and unreasonable con-
servatism which has brought our modern spelling into such
dire confusion* The history of eye is parallel to that of high
and nighy discussed above.
/c-an^ to eke ; r/c^ reek (smoke) ; l/c (substituted for Uac),
a leek ; s/c-an^ to seek ; Mercian c/c-e (see § 33), A. S. c/ac-e^
cheek ; bic-ey beech (tree) ; br/c^ breek, an old plural form,
afterwards made into the double plural breeks (hence also
breech^ breeches). The mention of this word breeches occurs
opportunely ; it reminds us that the mod. ee really means
Italian long /, and consequently that, when shortened, the
short form of it is short i\ whence it is that breeches is pro-
nounced britches. With this hint, we see that A. S. hr^c
(substituted for hr/ac), became M. E. reek (reck), later reek
(riik), which, by shortening, gave us E. rick ^
h/d-an, to heed ; r/d-an, to read ; s/e'd-a, steed ; sp/d,
speed ; y/d-an, to feed ; n/d^ need ; m/d, meed ; g//d, gleed
(a burning coal) ; br/d-an, to breed ; ble'd-an^ to bleed ;
cr/d-a^y creed.
swit-ty sweet ; sc^i (for scM), sheet ; yW, feet ; mil-an, to
meet ; gr/i-atiy to greet ; bei-e^ beet.
w/p-an, to weep ; cr/p-el, lit. one who creeps, a creeper,
M- E. crip-ely later creeple ', but now shortened to cripple. Cf.
rick above.
* * Kteky a Mow or Heap of Corn, Hay, &c.* — Bailey's Diet., ed.
»745-
' Borrowed from the first word of the Latin creed^ viz. cred-o^ I be-
Here. Hence the A. S. /<- Lat. /, as above.
* • In them that bee lame or creepelles * ; (1577) J. Frampton, Joyfull
6o ENGLISH LONG VOWELS. [Chap. V.
§ 44. The A. 8. i (long i). The A. S. long i was
sounded as ee in heei. In course of time, a sound resembling
aa in haa was developed before it [see p. 53, note 2,] so that it
is now pronounced as a diphthong, which would most cor-
rectly be represented by ai, viz. a sound composed of the
Ital. a rapidly succeeded by Ital. /*. The principal inter-
mediate sound through which it passed is one which may
be represented by Ital. «*, very nearly the sound of j in name.
Examples, bt^ by * ; ir-en^ iron ; wir, wire.
wil-ey wile ; Jrwil, while ; mil, mile. In the last case, the
word is not English, but borrowed from the Lat. milia pas*
suum, 2L thousand paces. Here is a clear case in which the
A. S. /= Lat. i\
Itf-e, lithe ; wrff-an, writhe ; bli3-e, blithe.
(s, ice, where the spelling with ce is a mere orthographic
device for shewing that the s is hard, or voiceless ; ns-an, to
rise ; zuts, wise ; the / is shortened in the derivative wts-dSm^
wisdom, by accentual stress.
sti'Weard, M. E. sti-ward (Havelok, 1. 666), should have
become sty-ward, in accordance with its etymology, but the
coalescence of / with w has resulted in a diphthong, whence
E. steward. In precisely the same manner the A. S. spiw-an
is now spew or sptu ; and the A. S. hiw is now htu.
lif life; scri/-an, to shrive, which may have been
borrowed from Lat. scribere ; cnif, knife ; wif, wife ; drt/-an,
to drive ; ftf-e, five. But in the compound fif-tig (lit.
five-ty), the /is shortened by accentual stress, whence E.
fifty* Similarly the A. S. wif-men, later form tmmmen (by
assimilation oi fm to mm\ is still pronounced as if written
wimmen. It is, however, always spelt women, in order to pair
Newes out of the Newe Founde Worlde, fol. 52, back. 'CroVcAcrc
pillis*\ York Plays, p. 255, 1. 36.
* E. final I is written y\ as in by, my, thy, any^ many.
' Compare line ; for, whether we derive line from the A. S. lln-e, a
cord, or from F. ligm, either way we are led back to Lat. linea, a de«
rivative of linum, flax.
§44.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG I. 6\
off with the (more corrupt) singular woman ; see Woman in
my Etym. Dictionary.
dtn^ thine ; suciny swine ; scin-an, to shine ; scr(n^ shrine,
not an English word, but borrowed from Lat. scrinium ; vAn,
wine, borrowed from Lat. utnum, and actually preserving the
original sound of Lat. «(=«;); mtn^ mine ; twin, twine ; pin,
pine-tree, borrowed from Lat. pinus. The Lat. poena was
transferred into A. S. in the form p(n, whence the verb
fin-an, to pine, to pine away. In French the same poena
became peine ^ whence E. pain.
rim, rime ; npjv almost invariably spelt rhyme, by a need-
less and ignorant confusion with the unrelated word rhythm,
which is of Greek origin, whereas rim is pure English.
Curiously enough, the word really entitled to an h is now
spelt without it ; I refer to the A. S. hrim, hoar-frost, now
spelt rime by loss of initial h. A considerable number of
A. S. words beginning with hr, hi, hn, all lost the initial h
even in the M. E. period. The A. S. Urn, lime, is pure
English, but allied to the cognate Lat. lim-us, mud; slim,
slime ; iim-a, time.
stige, stye, sly ; stig-el, a stile, lit. a thing to climb over,
from siig-an, to climb ; stig-rdp, sti-rap, a ' sty-rope,' or
rope to climb on a horse by, now shortened (from steerup) to
stirrup,
lie, like ; as a suffix, -ly (by loss of the last letter) ; siric-an,
to strike ; sie-an, M. E. sik-en, now sigh, by loss of the final
letter as in the suffix -ly from like, though the spelling with
gh preserves a trace of the lost guttural. The A. S. snic-an,
E. lo sneak, presents an extraordinary example of the pre-
servation of the Original vowel-sound ^. To these we must
add rice, rich, not borrowed from French, though existing as
riche in that language, which borrowed it from a Frankish
source ; the M. E. riche was regularly developed from A. S,
^ Compare the prov. £. (Cumberland) stee, a ladder; from A.S.
tii'gan, to climb.
62
E.VGLlsn LONG VOWELS.
[Ch*
rict liy the usual change of A. S. -« into W. E. -</ie, and the
/, at first long, is now shortened. The A, S. die, a dike, was
a masculine substantive, with a genitive dic-ts; but ii was
also used as a feminine, with a genitive and dative dU-e. The
latter case-forms regularly produced a M, E. dich-t, used in
all cases of the singular ; hence mod. E. dkh ', now always
written ditch, with needless insertion of a /. Here again, the
/ has been shortened.
id-el, idle ; rid-ati, to ride ; nd-e, side ; slid-an, to slids^
•wtd, wide ; glid-an, to glide ; ctd-an, to chide ;
Md-an, to bide ; brid-tl, a bridle.
.imit-an, to smite ; writ-an, to write, in which the initiat
is no longer sounded ; hwil, white ; bil-an, to bite.
rSp't, ripe ; grlp-an, !o gripe, the form grip being due U
r. gripper, a word of Teutonic origin.
The words of Latin origin above mentioned, viz, .
skrini. witu, pint (tree), are of importance, as proving 1
the A. S. / was really the Latin long (', and therefore [
nounced as mod. E. le.
% 45. The A. S. b (long o). The A. S. 6 was soum
nearly as oa in boat, and preserved the same sound in
But in the modem period liie sound was shifted, having b
' moved up lo the high position ■ ' of long w.
ExampleB. si6, slioe ; d6, I do ; t5. too, to.
I6h, tough. Here the final guttural has been changed toy
whilst the vowel-sound has been shortened and ' unrounded ^
The spelling with ou indicates that the A, S. S had I
regularly reduced to the sound of ou in you before \
shortening and ' uiurounding ' took place.
m&r, moor. But in sw6r, swore ; flSr, floor, the long » ll
been preserved, though altered in quality by the followlng^^
' 'A Dirk, Dt dike' ; Minshen'a Diet., ed. :6)j.
' Swecl, Hist, of Eng. Sounds, p. £6. The dale asagned for (
«bB(i£e ii A.D. 1550-1650.
~i« note above, ini. p. 56, oolc 1.
I 45.] THE ANGLO-SAXON LONG 0. 63
siSl^ Stool ; c6l^ cool ; i6l^ tool.
s6i^ sooth; iSS^ tooth; SSer^ M. E. oother^ other y first be-
came what we should now write ootheVy after which the long
u was shortened and ' unrounded/ giving £. other. So also
brSSor is brother. The modem spelling is consistent, afler a
sort ; for if it be once accepted as a rule that 00 shall stand
for the sound of long u^ it ought to follow that 0 may repre-
sent (even unrounded) short u. Cf. doih^ son, govern^ &c.
gSs, goose ; but gSsling has been shortened to gosling. bSsm,
bosom, in which the former 0 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 00 in foot. The longer sound is in accordance
with the rule ; the shorter is that which I am accustomed to
hear. hr6st^ roost, sb., h being lost. In blSstma^ blSsma^
blossom, the 0 has been shortened without shifting to u. In
nUhtiy I must, the iv-sound has been modified precisely as in
other, brother, above ; the only difference is that it is now
spelt phoneticaUy.
rdw-an, to row ; hl6w-an, to low, as a cow ; fl6w-an, to
flow ; gr&w-an, to grow ; bldiv-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 of u,
h6f, hoof; be-hS/'ian, to behove, which preserves its long
0 ; glSf, glove, with the same changes as in other, brother.
sdn-a, soon ; n^, noon (from Lat. nona) ; mSn-a, moon ;
mSn-aJf, month, with the same changes as in brother ; MSn-
an-dcBg, Monday, like the preceding ; ge-dSn, d6n, done, pp.,
like the same. To these add sp6n, a chip, £. spoon.
gUhn, gloom ; dSm, doom ; brSm, broom ; blSm-a, bloom.
Also gSm-a, pi. gSm-an, the gums, parallel to mdste, must.
slSh, slew (M. E. slow); w^-ian, to woo; drbg, drew
(M. E. drow). But ge-nSg is mod. E. e-nough, just as tSh
(already explained) is now tough. The word b6h took the
form boHgh even in M. E., and occurs, e. g. in Chaucer,
64 ENGUSH LOmS VOWEU. [Chap.V.
Cam. Tales, 1. 1982. This M.E. m had the French sound
of ou in soup ; and ihe result of this early shifting was that
the sound shifted yet once more in the modern period, thus
becoming E. bough (see § 46), in which the final guttural
sound, though preserved lo the eye, is entirely lost to the ear.
w6c, woke, has preserved the long 6; in every other in-
stance, words in -6c now end in -00k ; and owing to the hard k,
all of them are now pronounced with the short 00 q^ foot, not
the long 00 of bool. Hence hrSr, a rook ; ISc-ian, lo look ;
sc6c, shook ; c6c, a cook ; bSc, book ; ir£i-, brook ; hSir, a hook ;
JorsSc, forsook. No such form as A, S. cr6c for ' crook ' has
as yet been found, but it is highly probable that it existed ,'
cf, Icel. krSkr, Swed. krok. Sitnilarlj', the Icel. iSk has given
the M. E. took.
/6d-a, food ; mUd, mood; hrSd, brood. Bui the old w-sound
has been shortened in slSd, stood ; g6d, good ; and still further
changed ' in J]Sd, flood ; fn4dor, mother ; bUd, blood. The
history of the A. S. r6d is curious ; it not only produced,
according to rule, the mod, E. rood^, but also the mod. E.
rod, in which the 0 is shortened from an older (M. E,) pro-
nunciation such as raud (riming with gaud) ',
/6i, foot ; b6t, boot, i. e. advantage, profit *.
§ 46. The A. S. li (long u). The A, S. long u answers
exactly to the Lat. 6 in the words mAl. a mule, borrowed
from Lat. mUlus, and mtfr, a wall, borrowed from Lat. mints '.
' ' In modern English, wr hive a veiy anomalous cue of unronniling
of the back-Towel «, hut [riming with fBoi\ becoming b}t [riming wilh
rttf]' \ Sweet, Hist. Hng. Soonds, p. 43. At the same time, the vowel bu
been ' lowered bum high lo mid.'
' Rood in rood-hfi and rood ;of land) are the snmc word.
* The lengthened sound of £. short e ii heard in the not nncominon
use of da-aig for deg.
* Mr. Sweet adds kwif-au, to whoop. Bat the A. S. hwJfait m«>u
' lo threnlen.' The ill in vhoef belongs lo Tudoi Pjiglish. The M, E.
form U heuptn, fioin F. keuptr.
* Observe lint A.S. mil (from mu!ui) would have become nffuii in
THB AKGLO-SAXON LONG U.
mplcs of ihese words are given by Greiii and Etl-
The history of the A.S. H (sounded as oo in hoof) is parallel
to diat of the A.S. f. Just as the latter was developed into
Ital. ai, mod. E. long (', so the former was developed into
Ital, au, mod. £. ou in bout. Moreover, the change took
place much about the same time, viz. in a.d. 1550-1650.
To this may be addet!, that just as a final long i is orna-
mentally written as j-, as in by, my, thy, Ac, so likewise the
final OH is often ornamentally written bw, as in com, hm>,
nmi, and in a few words the same spelling prevails even
when the sound is not final, as in awl, shower, lawn.
Examples, hi, how ; 3&, thou ; tiH, now ; c&, cow ; br6.
sHr, sour ; sdir, shower ; bilr, bower. In
\h'ge-biir, neigh-bour, the £ has simply lost its accent and
th, and the sound has become indefinite '.
iU-€, owl ; /HI, foul.
t£3, south ; m&S, mouth ; unc^S, uncouth, which has pre-
served its old sound. In citS-e, the u has been preserved,
bul has been shortened ; ihe mod. E. is coud (riming with
good), always carefully misspelt couid, in order to satisfy thi-
eye that is accustomed to would and should.
h&s, house; l&s, louse ; miis, mouse ; pismd, thousand.
dUn, down ; tun, town ; brin, brown.
rim, room, has preserved its old sound, but is now a sb. ;
iginally, it was an adj., meaning 'spacious' or 'roomy,'
h6g-an, to bow ; ruh, rUg, rough, has changed its final
SQUiual to /, whilst the vowel was first shortened to the
Mund of 00 in Jbot, and tlien altered by 'unrounding."
briic-an, to brook ; this word, being mostly used in poetry,
S kept its old sound, but in a shortened form.
' Mr. Sweet derives E. ioar from A.S. ge-btir, with the same sense
a pntely mirieni word, borrowed from Dn. boer. The A. S.
^ would have became Ivaxr, as in Tact ;!□ another sense) it did.
TOL. I. F
66
BNGUsa LONG VOWELS.
[CHtf,4|
/ilSd, loud ; s<r<id, shroud.
at, oul; dtil, clout; d-bHt-an, about; pr&t, proud (wj
change of t to (/).
§ 47. The A. 8. ^ (long 7). Now that examples havi
been given of the A. S. long vowels d, /, i, S, if, it is «
while to explain tlie long vowel denoted in A, S. hy^.
is nothing but a lengthened form of the A. S, vowel denot
by y. The Romans adopted this letter from the Greek Y,
in order to represent the sound of the Greek u (u) in words
borrowed from that language. The Latin had originally
neither the symbol nor the sound; hence the very spellii^. '
of such words as uiyw, aitodync, apocalypse, asylum, ftc,
once reveals their Greek origin. It is further believed t
the sound of the Greek u (and therefore of the Latin s
A, S, y) was that of the German U in iibel. Hence also, t
sound of A. S, / was that of the long German U in GtmO^iM
There can hardly be a doubt as to this fact, yet we ■
practically, independent of it as far as modern £nglish i
concerned. For it is quite certain that this sound was lot
at rallier an early period, and that long y and Ic
confused, and merged into the common sound corr
denoted by the latter symbol. That is, the sound ofy «
identified with that of M. E. /, the sound now denoted by ee vt
lietl. Hence the symbols (' and y became convertible, i
the M, £. bi was often written by, as at present ; and coOa
versely, the word pryde was oflen written pride. The hisi(»
ofy since the Middle-English period is precisely the same I
that of*', already explained in 5 ^4 '.
Examples, hw-f, why ; y*. ky ', the old plural of fcW J
whence the mod. E. ti-ne, by the addition of the samepliual']
suffix as that seen in ty-ne, the old form of fy<-s.
' \Vc find confusion of^ with «' even in Icplnndic. Thus Im1.j(
was often written ^nV; teefyrir in the Icel. Dictioniiy.
' Wc find A'it for ' cows' in Gelding's translation of Orid, M, :
1. 23 (i6o3\ Bums has irf in TheTwa Doga, 1. j from end.
S4S.] THE AHGLO-SAXON LONG ^. 67
^r. hire, sb. ; fjr, fire.
ge-/^l-an, 10 fi!e', an old word now only used with the
unnecessary addition of the French prefix de-, and therefore
spelt dffik. In the A. S. /j>/>, filth, the i has been simply
shortened from the old f-sovind, without diphthongisation.
k^d. a hiihe, or haven.
/jff, lice, pi. of i&s, louse ; mys, mice, p!. of m4s, mouse.
But the old i'-souod has been simply shortened in /i'j-/,
fist; w^se-an. to wish.
hyd, hide, i.e. skin; k^d-an, to hide; bryd, bride; pryl-e,
5 48. The A. 8. s^, 6a, So. Other long sounds are de-
noted in A. S. by ^, /a, /o. The examination of these may
be deferred for the present, especially as they may he
studied in Mr. Sweet's book. It is, however, worth observing
that there are a large number of instances in which all three
sotmds answer to mod. E. «, The A. S, rf was pronounced
Hke the long or drawled sound of a in man ; or, accordinjr
lo Sievers, like the G. long d.
The following are regular examples : —
s(t, se2L;_/irr, fear; rdr-an^, to rear; bdr, bier.
S, eel ; mdl, meal ; hdl-an, to heal ; ddl-an, to deal.
Ad/, heath; hcid-en, heathen; icdp, sheath; w//-<//.
wreath.
lis-an, to tease ; Ids-el, Ids-l, a teasle.
if-en, even, evening ; hff-an, to leave.
Udn-t, lean, adj. ; ddn-c, clean ; mdn-an, to mean : gt-
fuin-e, mean, adj., in the sense of ' common ' or ' vile.'
[iwdg, yrhey ; kndg-an, to neigh; ^rtc^, gray, grey; clipg,
' 'For BanqHo's Issue hane \Jird niy Minde ; ' Mach. lii. ;. 6; (ed.
'S'il. ' Their monraefull chatetl, filiti with rusty blood ; ' Spenser,
Mr. Sweet distinguishes between ihe close and opi-n sounds of i\ and
*»ilislinction is real. In mnny caies, however, the mod. E. m reanlls
™«both alike. I therefore tentnre, for the present, to combine his
•"Owtsof ewunples.
6H
BNQLTSH LONG VOWELS.
[Chw. i
dow's I
there ^\
cby. But here the^ became a vocalic _>>, and a diphthong
resulled.]
lAc-t, leech, (i) a physician, (a) a worm; sprde, speech,
(with a curious loss of medial r) ; rtic-an, to reach ; tdc-an,
lo teach; bldc-an, to bleach.
7V&d, weed, i. e. garment, chiefly in the phrase ' a widow's
7Mtds ' ; i(£d, seed ; griid-ig, greedy ; dJed, deed ; ndd-l,
needle ; rdd-an, to read ; Idd-an, to lead.
slrdl, street, not an A. S. word, but borrowed from
I-at. strata^ in the phrase strdia uia, a laid or paved
The representation of ihe Lai. a by A, S. d is unusual ;
was probably an older form Hral. See Prof. Cook's edition
of Sievers' Old English Grammar, § 37, bldl-an, to bleat;
hiil-o, heat; hiviit-t, wheaL So also sliip^ sleep,
§ 49. A, S. 6a ^loQg ea). The h.%. /a was a ' broken'
vowel, i. e. the two elements were separately pronounced
rapid succession, with a stress on the former element,
nearly imitated by sounding payer or gayer without
initial/ or^,
fle'a, flea (see examples of this spelling in Bosworth
Toller's A. S. Diet).
/ar-e, ear; t/ar-tan, (o sear; n/ar, near, originally
iidverb in the comparative degree (from n/ah, n/h, nij
);eiir, year ; iAir, tear.
/<«/, east ; iasl-or, /asl-re, Easter.
iH-reaf-ian. to bereave ; Uaf, leaf; sdaf, aheaf.
bian, bean, s^am, scam ; sUam, sieam ; sir/am, strt
v/wra, gleam; driam, dream ; t/am, team ; biam, beam.
biae-m, beacon. wA/, neat, sb. ; be'al-an, to beat
heap, heap; hUap-an, lo leap; eiap, sb., whence E. cheap,
adj.
§ 60. A. 8. 60 (long eo). The A. S. A was a ' broken '
vowel like the above, composed of the elements i and 0 ;
sounded nearly as Mayo without the initial M and no sound
of J'.
ii'.]
SUMMARY OF ffFSC.'LTS.
}
}ir/o, ihree; ie s/o, I see; s/o, ^f,/e'oh (Mercian _/i'7i,
§ 33). fee ; /r^Q, free ; gU'o, glee ; t'c be'o,lhc; b^o, a bee.
hlfyr, a cheek, whence waa formed the E. verb to Iter ; de'or,
deer; dior-e, dear; dr/or-ig, dreary; beor, beer.
Awwft/, wheel; efoi, keel of a ship.
t^o^-an, to seethe, /r/os-an, to freeze ; priosl, priest,
m/mv, cn/o, knee ; trAnu, Irio, tree.
i^ lief, i. e. dear ; //^ thief; cUof-nn, to cleave, split,
he-hofon-an. between ; fiotid, fiend.
iriW, a reed ; a«W, a weed ; ntod, need.
^(W, a ship, hence ^fled; cr^op-an, to creep; d^op, deep.
The number of words omitted, as not giving exactly the
rood. E. ee, is not at all large.
5 61. Summary. Now that we have noted some of the
principal results respecting the A. S. long vowels, a brii-f
summary of the whole may prove useful.
Tlie A. S. long vowels d, i, i, 6, H were sounded nearly as
the vowels in E. baa, bail, bat, boat, boot. They corre-
sponded exactly lo the Latin a, e, i, 5, u; ■as, may be seen
from the following (amongst other) examples.
The A. S. papa, a pope, was borrowed from Lat. papii ;
A. S. b^t-e, beet, from Lat. beta; A, S. serin, a shrine, from
Lat. scrinium ; A. S. n6n, noon, from LaL nma ; A. S. mtil, a
male, from Lat. mulus '.
The mod. E. sounds to which they respectively correspond
are those heard in boat, beet, bite, boot, {a)bout, as may be
seen from the A. S, forms of those words, viz. bat, bite. Mian.
bSl, ttbdlan. See % 39.
The A. S. _>* or long y was sounded like the Greek long
u (») or the mod. G. ii in grtin. At a rather early period
te was confused with long i and followed its fortunes ; hence
mod. E. mi(e from A. S. mys, used as the plural of motur.
A. S. mtfj. See § 47,
70 ENGUSH LONG VOWELS. [Caip. i
The sounds denoted by A. S. d, fa, /o, have all been i
frequently replaced by the mod. E. te. See §5 48-50.
In the course of many cenmries, whilst these changes were
taking place, it is hardly surprising that some words suffered
changes nor quite in accordance with the general niles.
Some of the more important of these exceptions have been
discussed, witli the following results.
I . Under words containing the A. S. 6, we must also in-
clude: so, ruad; who, hwa; two, toa; ought, dhtt; naught,
1101, nahl; wrath, adj., wrap; cloth, c/a^ ; hoarse, AaV; thaw,
/iiijoan; one, an, a, dn; none, nan; shone, scan; broad.
irdti: -hood, -head (suffixes). -Add; hot, Ad/; wot, uaf/.
We Rnd among these such sounds as 00 in 600/, due to a
preceding w ; also au in gaudy, which was probably the t
sound of the M. E. 00; 0 in not ; &c. See % 4a.
3. Under words containing the A. S. i, we must included
high, Mh {hfaK); nigh, n^h {n/ah); eye, /gr (fage); rictl|
firt'c {kr/ac); ct\\tp\e. cr/pel; ten, //». See § 43.
3. Under words containing the A. S. f we must include
wisdom, w{sd6m ; fifty, fiflig ; women, wl/men, and 1
woman, wtfman \ stirrup, slirap ; rich, rUe ; ditch. <AV{A
Also: steward, stkoeard; spue, spfvoan; hue, Hw; in wW
the vowel is affected by w. Also: sneat, snUan;
unaltered vowel. See § 44.
4. Under words containing the A. S. 6 we must includ
swore, sw6r, floor. fl6r, which remain little altered exce
by the loss of the trilling of the r ; behove, bch6jian,
ui'k. which keep the A. S. sound. Also: tough, /^A;
(ii'Jrr ; brother, briSor ; mother, m&lor ; flood, fSJ; bloo^
lilud; glove, glt^; gums. g^man ; must,m<&/r; month, mJna^ ;
Monday, mSnan dag ; done, dSn ; enough, gtnSk. Also :
bosom, bSsm ; stood, sl6d\ good.g&Z; shook, jcA- (with other
words in -ooi) ; fool, /i/. Also : gosling, gSsliag ; blossom,
hiSslma; rod, r6d. Also: bough, bSh. See § 45,
3 Under words containing the A. S. & we must include ;■■
.>.]
NOTE ON SHORT VOWELS.
neighbour, w/<jA(ff)itfr ; rough, n?^; could, ctf^'ir ; brook, v.,
briican. Also: uncoulh, uncHS, room, rtf/n, which preserve
the A. S. sound. See § 46.
6. Under A. S, _^-words : fihh, _^i(^; fist, j^"'^' J ^'^'''
uryseaa; all with an alteration from the sound of te in See/
to that of »■ in M. See § 47.
Note on the Short Vowels.
For the history of the Short Vowels, I must refer the
reader to Mr. Sweet's History of English Sounds; especially
as even the above sketch of the history of the Long Vowels
is very imperfect, and requires to be supplemented and
modified by reference to that work. I may note, however,
that the symbols r, i, and o. frequendy remained unchanged,
so that the words wt, in, ofl, on, for example, are spelt in
A. S. precisely as they are spelt now.
The A.S. short a in man, a man, was pronounced as in
the mod. G. Mann ; but in mod. E. the pronunciation of
man is peculiar, and may conveniently be denoted, phone-
tically, by the spelling wim. The A. S. « had this very
sound, so that the A.S. glmd was pronounced exactly as
its mod. E. equivalent glad. Curiously enough, this is not
a case of survival, for the M. E. glad\ia& pronounced with
the sound of the G. a in Mann or glalt. which accounts for
the modern spelling.
The A.S. short u had the sound of 00 in hooh; so that
sun-nt, the sun, was pronounced nearly as the mod. E. soontr
would be, if the 00 of soon were altered to the 00 of book.
The sound of « in (he mod. E, sun differs considerably from
this, having been both ' unrounded ' and ' lowered.' In
Middle-English, the A. S. «, when next to n or u, was often
represented by 0 by French scribes ; as in A. S. sunu, M. E.
tone, mod. E. son. Hence the modem son and iun are pro-
nounced alike. Similarly, the A. S. luf-u, M. E. lou-€ (with u
Vol c). is the mod. E, Awft
CHAPTER VI.
Teutonic Languages Cognate with English.
§ 62. Value of the Vowels. In the last Chap
account has been given of the sounds of the English I
vowels, for the particular purposes of shewing that a scientific
study of etjinology must take phonology into account, and
also of emphasising the fact that the study of vowel-sounda
in particular is of great imporlance. It M-as righily objected'l
against the reckless ' etymologists ' of a former age that th^ M
paid hardly any regard to the consonants, and to the voweli^l
none at all. Scientific etymology requires that ffreat attention J
shall be paid to the consonants, but s/i'/l greater to thai
vowels. For afier alt, it is precisely the vowel-sound which.3
gives life and soul lo the word. The combination rn signifietJ
nothing; but, if between these two letters, we insert vowds J
at pleasure, we obtain quite different results. By insertion of J
a or u, we obtain different parts of the same verb ; ran being'T
a past tense, and run a present tense or an infinitive mood. ■]
By other insertions, we obtain words denoting totally difTereot J
and unconnected ideas, stich as rain, rein, roan, or rww'i
and it is somewhat extraordinary thai the first and second of J
these words sound precisely alike, and can only be diffen
tiated or distinguished to the ear by the context in wfai
they are used. They are distinguished to the eye by i
' The gnruing etymologists delight in ignoriag the vowell,
wDoId tell Ui Ibat a rtin guides a borac in running, or that TUtHt
called Ixcaute Ihi- ninJc venei rwn or flow easily, &c., &c. Sue
suidilies \K slill atlered, I (ul!y l>c[iETe, almost every day, at leaal {^1
Englanil.
E.VClISJf AND GERMAN.
casual and unmeaning difference in spelling, which has only
been obtained by altering the spelling of M. E. rtin to rain.
The et)inological distinction is obtained only by the dis-
covery that rain is of English origin, whilst rein is French.
% 63. EngllBh not derlTed from GtermaQ. We have
also seen in the last Chapter that the hisiory of the vowel-
sounds of many purely English words can be carried back,
practically, to about the eighth century. We thus find, for
eaample, that the sound of o in !fone has descended from
that of a in stan. The next qnesiton for consideration is
plainly this : what do we know about this A. S. &} Can we
by any means trace back its history still further? We have
DO EngSiih records that can help us here ; it only remains to
(ee if any help can be obtained from any eKtemal source.
This leads us at once to a prtviom question — is English an
isolated language, or are there other languages related to it ?
The usual answer that generally occurs to the popular mind
is one that ignores about six-sevenths of the truth, and is, in
the main, grossly misleading. All that many people can tell
us is that, by some occult process, English is ' derived from
German.'
§ 64. This mistake is due to a strange jumble of ideas,
and has done immense harm to the study of English ety-
mology. Yet it is so common that I have often heard
something very like il, or statements practically based upon
I this assumption, even from the lips of men whose course of
I 'classical ' studies should have taught them better. Ask what
I is ihe etymology of the English bile, and not unfrequently
I the reply will be, expressed with a contemptuous confidence.
I ibat ■ it comes from the German ieissen,' as if /Aire, at any
^^ rale, is an end of the matter! It does not occur to some
^^_ ncn to enquire by what process a / has been developed out
^^^B>r 2 double s ', nor is any account made of a possible affinity
' As a fad, the development is the other
o the ari^nsl Teutonic: /, which again a
»ay, tbe German ii being
74
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES.
\Cnxt. VX.
of llie word with Latin and Sanskrit. It is easy to see how
this singular idea arose, viz. from ihe persistenl use by
Germans of the word Germanic to express what I here
call ' the Teutonic group of languages.' By a confusion
natural to half-knowledge, Che English popular mind has
rushed to the conclusion that what has thus been called
Germanic is all one thing with what we now call 'German,'
whereas the two things implied are widely different, A littlK;
attention will preser\'e the reader from making this
himself.
§ 66. The Teutonic Group of Ziftnguages. A carefiit
comparison of English with other languages shews that it
does not stand alone, bul is closely related to many others.
Our modern ypo/, A. ^./6t, is expiressed in Gothic by/b/ia, in
Old Friesic and Old Saxon by /^/, in Swedish by /o/.
Danish hy/od, in Icelandic hy /6lr, in Dutch by voel, in Low
German (Bremen) hy fool, and in German hy fuss. Accord*]
ingly, all these languages and dialects are, in this
obviously allied !o each other, and we might hence ii
{correctly, as it happens) that the fundamental base of the
word is obtained by combining f, long o, and t; omitting
for the present the question as to whether any older form of
the word can in any way be traced. We might also infer that
Danish has a habit of turning final / into rf. that Dutch has a
habit of turning initial / into v, and that German has a habit
of turning final / into si. But if the modern German has a
habit which so obscures a word's true form, and so disguises
its original type, surely it must be but a poor guide, and Indeed,
lisleading of the whole set. A similar examina-
tion of a large number of words will deepen this impression ;
and it may, for the purposes of English philology, be fairly
laid down thai, amongst the whole scries of Teutonic lan-
guages, German (in its modern form) is practically the tvortt
guide of all lo Ihe uninitiated, though it can be put lo excel-
lent use by students who know how to interpret the modem
I
EAST TEUTONIC.
fonns which its words assume'. According to the latest
method of division, the Teutonic languages have been divided
into two branches, m. the East and West Teutonic*. The
East Teutonic languages are Gothic (now extinct) and those
of the Scandinavian group. This group contains two a
divisions, viz. the eastern, comprising Swedish and Danish,
and tlie western, comprising Icelandic and Old Norwegian.
The West Teutonic branch includes all the rest, viz. English
with its older forms, such as Northumbrian, Mer
Anglo-Saxon ; Frisian (which, together with English, seeras to
form a separate branch) ; Saxon or Low German ; Prankish
(including Dutch); and Upper German or High German.
There were numerous other dialects which have died out
without leaving sufficient materials for their linguistic classifi-
cation. A few words concerning the principal languages of
ibis group may be useful '.
{ 58. East Teutonic. Gothic. Gothic, or, as it is also
called, Mosso-Gothic, being the extinct dialect of the Western
Goths of Dacia and Mcesia, provinces situated on the lower
Danube, is the oldest of the group, and the most perfect in
its inflexional forms. This must be only taken as a general
statement, for it is not uncommon for other languages of the
group to exhibit older forms in special instances. The
literary documents of Gothic reach back to the fourth
cemun', and are of very great linguistic value. The chief
work in Gothic is a translation of parts of the Bible, made
about AJJ. 350 by Wulfila, bishop of the Mceso-Goths, better
' I CdotiDiie Iq receive leltcis asserting that our IVIiilstttiday is de-
titvA from the modem German Pfingstin. 1 am told, pcactically, that
ibe hiilory of the word anipkonllic laws ought certainly to be Delected,
Ijccanse it i« an obvious fact which ought on do account to be con-
tndicted. All proofit withheld.
' Called East and West Gennanic by German writers, hecanse Ger-
DiSD is. with |}icm, coextensive with Teutonic.
' Compare Mottis, Outlines of Eng. Accidence, § 9 ; and particularly
Tbe History of the German Longniige, by H. A. Strong and K. Meyer,
76
TEUTOmC LAfTGVAGES.
[Cra
known as UlphiUa, though this form is merely a Gi
corruption of his Gothic name. The most important of the
MSS. dates from the sixth century, The great antiquity of
Gothic gives it a peculiar value, and the student of English
etymology can hardly do better than gain some acquaintance
with it as soon as possible. It is by no means difficult 10 an
Englishman, owing to the very close relationship in many
fundamental particulars between the two languages '.
Svedifih and D&nish. These are national and ti
languages, best known in their modem form. Neither
them possess monuments of any remarkable antiquity.
Icelaadic. The numerous remains of the early Icelani
literature are of the highest value and interest to Englishman
and the language itself is still in full activiiy, having sufTered
but very slight change during many centuries, owing to it;'
secure and isolated position. Its great interest lies in the
fact that U does tuil greatly differ from, and, for practical
purposes, fairly represents the language of the old Danes who so
frequently invaded England during many centuries before the
Conquest, and who thus contributed a considerable number
of words to our literary language ', and many others
provincial dialects, especially Lowland Scotch, Yorkshire,
and East Anglian. With a few important exceptions,
extant MSS. are hardly older than the fourteenth centi
but the forms of the language are very archaic. One
value of Icelandic is that it comes in to supply, especially as
regards the vocabulary, the loss of our old Northumbrian
literature. The old Danish (as ]ireserved in Iceland) and
our own Anglian or Nortliumbrian must have had much in
' See my edition of the Gospel of Saint Mark in Gottiic (Clarendon
Press Seriei), intended ob an elementary book for beginners. And ■ee,
on tbe whole subject, Lecture V in Max Miillcr'* Leciurcs an the Science
of Language.
■ The people who derive all English from German shudder at thr
idea of deriving English woidi from IcetaOdic. Here they are wroog
■gain.
shire, I
itiuj^^^H
', sr.l
WEST TEuromc.
I
common. The Icelandic has ofien been called Old Norse,
but Norse is a name which strictly means Norwegian, and
should be avoided as likciy to lead to ambiguity.
j 67. West Tel'Tonic. Anglo-Saxon. This has been
explained already, as exhibiting the oldest form of English
in ibc Southern or Wessex dialect. The MSS. are numerous;
many are of great importance, and the oldest go back to
the eighth century at least. Old English comprises the
scanty remains of Old Northumbrian and Old Mercian as
well as the abundant remains of Anglo-Saxon.
Old Friesio. This language is closely allied to Anglo-
Saxon ; perhaps still more closely to the Old Mercian.
'The Frisians of the continent,' says Max Mflller, 'had a
literature of their own as early, at least, as the twelfth cen-
tury, if not earlier. The oldest literary documents now
i-xtant date from the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.'
Notwithstanding this comparative lateness of date, the forms
of the language are often very archaic.
Old Saxon. This is the name usually given to the old
dialect of Westphalia, in which the oldest literary document
of continental Low-German is written. It is called the
Heliand, i.e, the Healing one. the Saviour, and it Is a poem
founded upon the Gospel history. It is ' preserved to us,'
says Mas Miiller, 'in two MSS. of the ninth century, and
was written at that time for the benefit of the newly con-
»eTted Saxons.'
Sotch. This is still ' a national and literary language,'
and 'can be traced back to hterary documents of the
ihineenth century.' Closely allied to Dutch is the Flemish
of Flanders ; and not very far removed from this is the
dialect of Bremen, which is worthy of particular mention'.
Oerman. The particular language now usually called
' Id my Dictionoiy, I have used the term ' Low-Cennan ' in a speeial
ifnii, u has long been lunnl, wilh rerercnce to the work known ta the
Bremen Worterbuch, primed in 1767, in five volumes.
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Ctw. VT.
German is common]}' called High German by phiIoIog:ists.
It was fonnerly considered as standing apart from all
other languages of the Teutonic group, because of its
remarkable diversity from the rest as regarils the consonants
which it now employs. The remarkable formula of con-
sonantal sound-shiftings usually called ' Grimm's Law ' pre-
supposes that the High German occupies a class by itself.
But this apparent diversity is really delusive, because it is
only the more modem form of the language which exhibits
such characteristic variations. In the eighth century, or at
any rate in the seventh century, the German consonantal
system agreed sulBciently closely with that of ihf other
Teutonic languages; but this is no longer the case in ihe
modern stage of the language. ' If we compare English
and modern German, we dnd them clearly distingiiibhed
from each other by regular phonetic changes'.' One would
think the difference is so marked that it cannot well be
mistaken ; yet it is a curious example of the force of popular
error, that many students who are [jer/ectly aware of this
material difference between the two languages at once forget
the fact as soon as ever English etymology is discussed, and
go on deriving bik from the modern German hmscn just the
same as ever'-'. The High German is subdivided, chronolo-
gically, into three stages —Old High German, from the seventh
lo the eleventh century; Middle High German, from the
twelfth to the fourteenth century ; Modern High German (or
German), from the end of the fourteenth century to the
present time.
§ 68. Teatonio types. By comparing all the above
varieties of Teutonic, we can practically construct, at least
as far as relates lo the forms of many words, an original
■ Monis, Hist. Outlines of E. Accidence. { to,
' In the Chriitian fferlrl o( Jaly 9, ;885, > coirctpoodenl compliin*
ihnl a [cforaied ipcUiog would loosen ' the liei that bind our lugnage-
to the Getman whence it comes.'
*.l
TEUTONIC TVPES.
79
'Teutonic vocabulary which shall represent and include the
" whole series. The forms thus obtained are called ' Teutonic
ij-pes" or 'etems,' and are of high value for the purposes of
etrmology. In constructing them, we must lake into account,
not merely the monosyllabic base' of each substantive, such
as FOT for fool, but the vowel-suffix which determined the
character and manner of its declension. The type of a
substantive, thus obtained, may be called its stem. I define
a stem of a substantive as the (usually monosyllabic) base
with the addition of the suffix which determines the character
of ils declension'. The exact meaning of this is best seen
from an inspection of the modes of suhstantival declension
in Gothic, which, on account of its antiquity and general
adherence (in many particulars) to the earliest Teutonic
word-forms, may frequently be taken as the standard to
which the others may be reduced. By way of further ex-
planation, I quote the following (slightly amended) from
my Introduction to St. Mark's Gospel in Gothic, p. xxxv : —
'The j/rm* or crude form of a substantive is the supposed
original form of it, divested of the case-ending. To this
stem the case-ending has been added, after which the case
has frequently suffered degradation, and appears in a
weakened form. Thus the stem fiska signifies ' fish,' whence
was formed the nominative fiska-s, afterwards contracted lo
jf/i/.' This wordjij^J belongs to what is called the A-form,
orA-declension of substantives'. The word yoo/, Goth. nom.
_/clu-s, belongs to the U-form, so that the true stem of the
I t define tbe bast of a word tn be that part of it which is left when
^KRcd of sufRies. Thns the base of Lat. /tf-i'i, a. fish, a/rite-,
l' Thus, in the Lot. nom. fiisas. a fiah, fisc- is ihe biise,/iir(- is the
jid ■> ia the case-ending denoting the nominative case. These
>I be the best terms, but I find them uselnl.
P Called ^it ID the pas<iage hete quoted. (1 have since found it con-
: to levetae the ase of iltin and base as formerly given by me.)
cb a the account usually given in Gothic grammais. The de-
n might more eiactlj be called the o-decleDaioa, and the stem
(pbedaaFiSKo. Ct, the nom. pi. //*u"-j (-/Jiovi).
Ro
TEUTOmC LANGUAGES.
[CHAP. VI.
word is FoTU, which may be taken as the primitive Teutonic
type of the v/oxA/ool, A large collection of Teutonic tyjics.
both of substantives and verbs, is given in the very valuable
work of Fick, entitled ' Vergleichendes Wdrterbuch der
Indogermanischen Sprachcn.' This book is especially ser-
viceable to the student of Teutonic philolog>'. 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 bile from the German ifissen' would
do much belter if they were to say that the German lieisstn
is from the E. liik \ and if they were to take into account an
older form of English, and so derive the G. beissen from the
A. S. Mian, tbey would do better still. In fact, Fick aclually
gives Bf TAN ' as the Teutonic type of the infinitive mood of
this verb.
§ 69. Teutonic dental Bounds, The phonetic changes
by which German is distinguished from English were at the
outset few, but afterwards became even more numerous than
ihey 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
' 1 r«el obliged to conlinae to piotctt a^inst this childish error be-
cause 1 tiod, by eiperieacc, that it is deeply rooted, widely sjircai], and
piu«me1}' mischievous.
' The circnmflcx ovet the I denotes length, i.e. It has preclMljr 4t
same value as the accent over i in hllan.
TEUTONIC DENTAL SOUNDS.
^Hfc.1 TEUTO}
^Hbcb words as begin', in English, vith the dental sounds
i, f, or th*. In such words, it is ihe English which pre-
serves the original Teutonic dentals, and the Gtrraan which
has changed them into something else. Thus German has
changed d into /; / into s (if / be initial : otherwise it gener-
t&f employs st medially, and s. Is, is or s finally, making
four varieties of the changed /) ; and tk into d,
\ 60, Tentonio A becomes Qerm&n t. Initially; as in
E. titatA, G. Tod. Medially; as in E. idle, G. ei/^L Finally;
as E. ied, G. £f//; E. red, G. ro/h'. In further illustration
of these changes, see the numerous examples collected in
Afpbkdix a.
§ el. Teutonic t becomea German z, initially ; or bb,
medially; or z, tz, ea, or b finally. Initially; E. lame,
G. zo^/n (pronounced Isaam). Medially; E. water, G.
Waster; E. tuHk, G. NrwI. Finally (chiefly after /, r) ; E.
tall, G. Sals ; E. heart, G. Hers : or (chiefly after a short
vowel), E. net, G. Neiz ; or {chiefly after a long vowel), E.
vAiU, G. weis! ; or (rarely) E. that, G. das. But the final /
is not changed when preceded by E. gk,/, or j; as in E.
fight, G./echt-en; E. o/t, G. oft; 'Y.. guest, G. Gast. Initial /
remains when followed by r; as in E. tread, G. treten. For
further examples see Appendix A.
§ 62. Tontonic th beoomea German d. Initially ; E.
tkank.G. dank-en. Medially; Y.. feather. G. Feder. Finally;
E. path, G. P/ad. But O. H. G. dUsunl, answering to E.
thousand, is now lausmd. It is amusing to find that beginners
frequently found their ideas of the resemblance of English to
1 upon the word butler, G. Butler ; but it happens
is is a non-Teutonic word, being of Greek origin.
I Similai changes orim take place when the dental letter ia h«/ initial ;
j»eiaropleB»t pp. 503-4.
' This is a uiople sound, awkwardly denoted by the ose of liao
82
TEUTONIC LAHGUAGES.
[CitAP.Vr.
Further illustrations will be found in Appendix A, The
remarkable exceptions lo the general law which arc pre-
sented by the Y.. father and motlur (G. Valtr, Mutter) are
discussed below in Chapter IX.
5 63. Teutonic labial soniids. The changes in the
dental letters rf, /, t/i, which distinguish German from English
spelling, are thus seen to be tolerably regular and complete.
Less complete are ihe changes in ihe labial letters, viz. 6,p,
/ {v). For a Teutonic b, 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 pj, as in E,
path, G. P/ad; E. applf, G. Ap/el; but most English words
beginning with p, and most German words beginning with
p/, are non- Teutonic. The most regular change is in the
substitution of Germany for the Teutonic/ final.
ExamplsB : deep, tu/; heap, Hauf-e; leap, Iai^-tn^\
sharp, scharf; sheep, Schaf; sleep, v., schla/-tn; thorp,
Dor/] up, au/i Occasionally the /"is doubled; as in hope,
ioj'-fn ; ship, Schif,
§ 84. The Teutonic y, when initial, usually remains as/
in German. The Old High German frequently has v for
initial^ and a few archaic forms still preserve this peculiarity
of spelling, though the v is pronounced precisely as E.yT
Examples : father, Cafrr ; fee, Vieh. The English /",
when final, usually represents a Teutonic v, and appears as
G. i; as in E. deaf, G. tauS. See Apcendix A.
§ 66. Toutonic gnttoral sounds. The Teut. guttural
sounds g. i, h usually appear unchanged in modern German.
The O. H. G. has i for g, as in ians, cognate with E. goose ;
but this distinction is no longer made. The M. E. (obsolete)
guttural sound still represented by gh in our modem spelling
answers to G. f A ; as E. Ught, s., G. Li'fAt. We may notice
' Tl,c M.E. Iffeti, A.S, iU.ifan, often n
f6<j.]
ENGUSH AND GERMAN,
83
ces in which Teul, final k becomes G. ch\ as
in E. break, G. brtch-m ; see Appkndis A.
$ 66. Englisb and Q«rmaa. It will probably have
been observed that, in some words, fwo changes have taken
place. Thus, in the word Ihorp, the initial Ih has become d
in German, whilst the final/ has become _/; the German
form being Dor/. But, as these changes are in accordance
with nile, no difficulty arises. There is a matter of more
importance, viz. the question of vowel-sounds, upon which 1
have already endeavoured to lay much stress. It is easy to
sec the relation between thorp and Dor/, because the ideniiiy
of the vowel-sounds is obvious. But let it be noted that, in
tvery 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 established '.
If, for example, the G. Fuss is really equivalent to the E.
foci, it is not enough to say that the change from / to ss is
regular; we must further investigate the meaning of the G.
long ». By tracing the word backwards, the O. H. G. forms
■re found to he /u6z^,/uaz, foaz, fde, so that the vowel was
once a long n ; and as the A. S. for foot is /6l, the vowel-
loands are equivalent. In precisely the same way it may be
thewn that E. rfo^A.S. dSti, whilst O. H.G. shews the
disnged or ' shiAed ' form ISn, also written loan, luan, tmn,
mod. G. tkun ; and again, that an original Teutonic long o is
the vowel-sound common to the following pairs of words,
via. E. blood, G. Btut; E. brood, G. Brut; E. hood, G. Hut;
E. rood, G. Rutk-e\ 'E. /other \ G. Fuder; see 5 74. In all
^^B ■ There ve some exceptions, due lo what is called vowcl-gnidation.
^^^Bk there are lules in ihii case also. The lubject will be resumed when
^^^Bwel-gndatioa has been explaiaei!,
^^^B ' Notice the filial t, which is the mesi rtgular German substitution
^^m E. I. The G. e is, in fact, sounded as ts. and is nothing but a kind
^^Bl' (o which a parasilic ubiluit aouod has twen added.
^^r* The mod. E-foilktr is almost obsolete ; however the ff may now be
^^ toondcd, it was odcc I^ng, the A. S. form being /rffli
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES. [Cii*p. TI.
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, _/oo/with G. Fuss has been
fully demonstrated, we can then say that either of these words
is COGNATE ' with ihe 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 ihe G. Fuss is derived from the E. /ool (as is never said
by any, because Englishmen dare not say so, and Germans
know belter), we are talking a trifle more sensibiy, and con-
tradicdng history a little less. We must, however, use neither
phrase; we must drop the term 'derived' altogether, and
employ the term ' cognate.' ll follows thai English and Ger-
man are sisier-languages, as they are rightly called. Though
originally of twin birth, time has treated them difTerenlly ;
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 tolally different thing from derivation ;
for the latter letm implies an actual borrowing.
§ 67. BngliBh words borrowed f^om 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 ihe word
' derived ' can be correctly employed. As this matter is one
of considerable interest, and it will greatly clear up the whole
ming 'co-boro," or iprang from the m
moat
r<8.] COCJMTE WORDS. 85
VftCter 10 shew ihe 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,
Diiich,/fUspar,fuchsia,fugJtman, gneiss, hotk (wine), kuzzah,
landau, maulstick, mctrscAaiim', mesmerise (with French suffix),
plunder, poodU, quarts, shale, swindler, trull, wade, waltz,
wheedle (?), zinc. To these may be added veneer, a French
word in a Germanised form ; and a few Dutch words, viz.
deilar, rix-dollar, eteh, wiseacre, borrowed by Dutch from
Gennan.
This is a very remarkable list, as the words are all of
modem dale. No less than five of ihem, feldspar, gneiss,
■A, shale, wacke, are terms of modern geology ; bismuth,
are metals; hock, landau, are mere place-names;
rUia, fuchsia, mesmerise, are from personal names. There
b MA/ a single word in the whole of the English language that
on 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 ia merely because several French
words are of Prankish or old Danish origin, having been
imported into France by Teutonic invaders and conquerors,
u will be duly explained when we come to treat of French.
TTie real use of the cognate German forms is that they help
la in the construction or investigation of primitive Teutonic
types and " bases.'
\ 68. Cognate words. The occurrence of consonantal
[es in German words, whereby they exhibit deviation
the Teutonic types, is called shifting, or in German,
ttverschiehung (sound-shifiing). Thus, in the Teut. tj-pe
' PronoDDe^ m^inhum, with » as in ieel (Ogilrie* ; whereas Ihc
%. t€ Tcwmblct ai in iail. The fact, that tve caa ttiUE ttUcr ■ Gcttnan
i alnui*! at onoe, helps ui to undenlond that we have altered
e Ecgluh ioucds in the course of ci
rflTU, Y../00I, the / has, in German, shifted to a, laler ss ; the
German word being /kjj. As the English so frequenlly
preserves the Teutonic consonant intact, it is in this respecl
more primitive than German. But we cannot say that
German words are ' derived ' from English, because it often
happens, on the contrary, that modem German preserves the
original vowel-sound intact, where the English has altered it.
Thus the E. Aeap (A. S. /i^ap) answers to a Teutonic type
HAUPo (Pick, iii. 77). O.H.G, iau/, houff, mod. G. Haufr;
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 cngttaU.
§ 69. In precisely the same way, we can only say that the
'E,./ool and Goihic_/<i/Kf are cognate ; we must not Lilk 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 fatu-s, where j is merely
the suffix [icculiar lo the nominative case. It must also be
remembered that modem German is the only Teutonic
language wiiich shews a shifting of consonants (such as d, I,
ih, &c.) from the original Teutonic type. The other Teutonic
languages commonly resemble both English and Gothic id
their use of consonants ; the chief exceptions being that, in
Danish, a final k, I, p,/- are commonly 'voiced',' and appear
as g, d, b, and v ' ; whilst initial Ih commonly appears as / in
Danish and Swedish, and as rf in Dutch '. Hence most other
Teulonic languages present, lo the eye, a more familiar
appearance than German does. Yet few notice this, because
they seldom make the comparison till they have partiaJly
' Contonants ore lither 'voiceless.' na i*./,/,/a:c.; or 'voiced.'
meaning of Ihio distinetion wiU be explained hereofter.
' As Id E, I'oek.fiKl, dief, dtaf; Dan. beg,fod, dyb, das. ~
Sued, tame ; Dbl. lem \ Du, doom.
'!.]
TEUTONIC AT.
ttTDl German, and at the same time neglected the rest. If
ti Englishman were to learn Dutch or Danish fint, he would
find either of them easier tlian German, as he could more
often guess at the meanings of the words. Surely ihe Dutch
B«nd Danish daad are more like our deed than is the 0. Thai.
\ 70. If the reader will kindly refer to the beginning of
\ Chapter, he will see (§ 53) that the original question
Irith which we started was this, viz. What can we find out
I the A. S. a, or about any other of the A. S. long vowel-
his problem has not been lost sight of for a
Uoment, but it was absolutelj necessary to consider other
qoesdons by the way. We have now considered these
eufiidently to enable us to proceed with it. By way of
digression, in sections 54-'>9, we have seen (1) that English
is not derived from German except in a few modern in-
stances of word- borrow ing ; {%) 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, die 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
ibe rest by certain curious consonantal shiftings, which have
been sufficiently exemplified ; (5) that, from a comparison of
■U 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
vUcfa, SO lo speak, has fairly well preserved many of the
Bore striking features of the primitive Teutonic mother-
Jngue. We now proceed to consider the value of the A. S.
•»% a, or d.
§ 71. A. 8. & = Teut. ai (rarely 6).
I {a) To lake a special instance, the E. s/one answers to A. S.
tdn ; see § 42. Other forms are these : Goth, stains, nom. ;
n. tUtti ; Iccl. ittinn ; Dan. iten ; Swed. iten ; G. Sitin. From
KM
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES.
[Cb*». VI.
a comparison of all these forms, and consideration of a large
number of other A. S. words containing the same symbol A
and by calling in the aid of phonology ', il has been c
eluded thai the primitive Teut. sound was that of ItaL i
followed by Ital. /, thus producing the diphthong i
sound of which is not very far removed from that of mod. E
long t'l as heard in line, mine, thine; though perhaps the
(7A-sound should be heard a little more clearly. The primi-
tive Teutonic type is staino, it being a masculine substantive
of the o-declension ; cf. Pick, iii. 347. Judging from this
example, we should expect to Irnd, at least in many cases,
that the A. S. d corresponds to Goth, ai, Du. «, Icel. ei, Dan.
e (long), Swed, e (long), G. ei; and we shall find that these
eqiiivalent vowels occur, in the various languages, with a
prising regularity. I give half-a-dozen examples :—
1, E, whole, A.S. hdl, Goth, hails*, Du. heel, Icel. .
Swed. hel, Dan. htel, G, heil: Teut. type kailo (i
iii. 57)'-
3. E. dole, A.S. ddl, Goth, dails*, Du. deel, Icel. .
Swed. del. Dan. dell, G. Theil: Teut. type oailo (id. I
.4a).
3. E. oalhy A.S. d/>, Goth, aiih-s*, Du. eed. IceL eiSr,
Swed, ed, Dan. ed, G. Eid: Teut. type aitho {id. Hi. ,
4. E. hoi, M. E. hool, A. S, hdl. Goth, (missing), Du. I
Icel. heitr, Swed, hel, Dan. hed, G. heiss. Here, though ti
Gothic is missing, it would clearly have been 'hail-
type HAiTo (id. iii. 75),
5. E. / wol, M. E. wool, A. S. itdl, Goth, wail.
' Phonology dole with the history of the sbuhJi which, tn e>
guii^e, the wiittea symbols denote. It ia all.im|ionaiil, but it i
lo deal, in ao elemcQlary treatUe. with the wnllen syraboU.
* The -s il merely the nom. caie mfTii.
' Fick givn the types in the fonni haila, daila, &c. ; but the final
vowel or the Teat, type b now ojnially taken id be O ; ae« Sieven.
Hence Ibe tygics should lather be written as hailo, dailo, aITBO,
UAITO, WAIT, SlAIPO.
I
TBUTOmC LOfrC E. 89
led. vtis, Swed. vtl, Dan, vted, G. vieiss : Teut. lype wait
(id. iu. 304).
6. E. ra/>e, A. S. rap, Goth.raijs {in the comp. skauda-raip,
a shoe-tie, latchet of a shoe), Du. reep, Icel. reip, Swed. rtp.
Dan. «i, G, Rdf (a boop, ring, sometimes a rope) : Teui.
type RAiPO (id. iii. 147).
It is easy to see froin these examples that the Teutonic
vowel-sounds can often be exactly analysed, and we are
generally able to account for any slight deviation from
regalarity. Thus the E. hovie, A. S. ham, Goth, hai'ms, should
answer to Dan. hem or heem ; but the Dan. form is hjem,
where the _;' is plainly an insertion, indicating a parasitic
sound of short I introduced before the long e.
(i) Teut. 6. 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 at'. Such a case is seen in E.
6oat, A. S. iai (no Gothic form), Du. 600I, Icel, batr, Swed. bit.
Dan. baad (the G. Bool being borrowed from Dutch) ; Teut.
Ijrpe BATO (Kick, iii. aoo), though it should rather be written as
Bfrro; cf. Sievcrs, O. E, Grammar, § 57, where he instances
A.S. tndgas, pi. kinsmen, as compared with Ice!, mdg-r,
Swed. mag, Dan. maag, Goth. megs. Here the A. S. a
answers to Teut, / (long e) ; but the history of this word is
obscure, its origin being quite unknown. But certainly the
nwtl muai original value of A. S. d is Teut. ai.
I 7S. A. B. 6 commonly arises trom Teut. 6 (long o),
tmlese it is duo to contraction.
(a) Certain A.S. words coniaiiiing long e require individual
investigation; the long ( seeming to arise from contraction.
Thus E, Hw=A. S. w/, answers to Goih, iL-eis, a fuller form.
(i) In other cases, / occurs as a variety of a more usual
<<i ; as in i/h, high, usually A/ah ; nth, nigh, usually ne'ah :
such words are best considered together with those that
contain Ai. (Here, A precedes A, x, c, or^.)
King such special instances aside, the A. S. /most
90
TEVTONfC LANGUACES.
tC«*F.
frequently arises from a changed form of original S, as ii
feet, pi. Q^ /SI, foot. This peculiar change is due to whsit ^
specifically called mutation (in German umlaul), a subject d
such importance that it will be specially considered aftei" *
wards. By way of example, we may notice _/W (as above),
pi. of /■(*■/, foot ; l/p, leeth, pi. of liS, tooth ; g/s. geese, pi. of
g6s, goose; d/m-an, to deem, derived from the sb. dSm,
doom ; bl/d-an, to bleed, from the sb, bISd, blood ; gUd,
gleed, a glowing coal, from the verb glSwan, to glow.
Similar examples are rather numerous. Comparing the E.
feet with oilier languages, we find that Goihic and Dutch -1
keep the i^-vowel unchanged, as in GaCn. foljtis, pi. of/eln
Du, voelen, pi. of voel. But Icel. /Sir has pi. /air (wi
for/cE/r); Swed. /ei has p\. /htUr ; GilTi. /od ha.s pi. /odder;
G. J^uss has pi. FUsse. Hence, in this instance, A. S. / is
equivalent to Icel. a (ce), Swed. and Dan. ei, G. ii, mutations
respectively of Icel. S, Swed. and Dan. o, G. a.
§ 73. A.S. i=Teut. 1; imless it is due to oontractioii.
(a) The A. S, f is commonly an original sound, represent-
ing ee in ieef. In Gothic, it is written et. but the same sound
is meant. Dutch denotes ihe long / by tj; mod, German
denotes it by ei; but English, Dutch, and German have all
altered the original sound, with the same final result. Thai
is to say. the Du. y and G. ei are now sounded Ulce E, i In
mi/e, but the original sound was like the A. S. ( in mil, I. e.
as in £. 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. f, Swed. and Dan. long i being still pronounced
Three examples may suffice.
I. E. u'Ai/e, A.S. Awfl, Goth. Aweila, Du. wi/l Icel. ivd^^
(only in Ihe special sense of rest, or a bed), Swed. Miiia (n
Dan, /ivile (rest), G. loeiU (O. H. G. hfila) ; Teul. type W
{Kick, iii. 75).
■fcit.n
{ 74.] TEUTONIC LONG 0. 91
2. K writhe^ A. S. tvrffan, (not in Gothic,) Icel. ri^a
(initial w being lost), Swed. vrtda^ Dan. vride (not in Dutch
or German); Teut. type wRtxHAN (Fick, iii. 309).
3. E. rhynuy which should be spelt rime, A. S. r/w, Du.
rijm^ Icel. rima, Swed. rim, Dan. riim, G. i?«>« ; Teut. type
rImo.
(b) An interesting instance in which long i arises from
contraction is seen in E. five, A. S. /t/ej ft/, Du. vijf. Com-
paring this with G. fUnf, O. H. G. fin/, Goth, fimf, we see
that a liquid has been lost. In consequence of this loss, the
short I, as seen in O. H. G. fin/, Goth, fim/ 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. 8. 6= Teut. 6 (long o) or d (long e); or is
dne to loss of n in on (for an).
(a) The A. S. 6 commonly represents an original Teutonic
6, which appears in Gothic as 0^, in Dutch as oe, in Icelandic
as ^, in Swedish and Danish as 0, and in German as long u
(sometimes written uh). Three examples may suffice. Com-
pare § 45-
I. E. siool^ A. S. siSl, Goth, siol-s, Du. sioel, Icel. stSll,
Swed. and Dan. siol, G. Siuhl (O. H. G. siuol, s/ual) : Teut.
type STOLO (Fick, iii. 341).
a. E. hoq/', A. S. ^^(not in Gothic), Du. ^oe/ Icel. h^r,
Swed. hof, Dan. Aov, G. Hu/; Teut. type h6fo (id. iii. 80).
3. E. brother, A. S. br66or, Goth, brothar, Du. breeder,
Icel. brSSir, Swed. and Dan. broder, G. Bruder : Teut. type
UtdTHAR (id. iii. 204).
(b) A. S. d, before a following n, sometimes stands for
* The Gothic p needs no accent, as (like the Goth, e) it is always
9S
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES.
[Cur. TI.
West-Teut. a, or general Teui. fi; see Sieveni, O.E. Gram.
§ 68. For the values of Teut. £ in different languages, see
§ 7' W-
1. E, span, A.S. ip6n (properly a chip of wood), Du.
spaan, Icel. spinn. sp6nn, Swed. spin, Dan. tpaan, G. Span
(with long a), 6|eiiAn (a chip, splinter): Teut. type spSni
(Fick, iii. 353).
3. In the pp. of the verb to do, the A. S. din, done, answers
lo Du. ge-daan, G. ge-ihan, where ihe original West-Teui.
vowel was plainly d (from common Teui. ft).
(f) A. S. if also results from the lengthening of a short 0,
by compensation for the loss of n in the combination on,
originally an. This happ>en9 when llie an is followed by t
O! p (l/i). Thus^dj, a goose, is for 'goni.a. changed form of
gans*, as shewn by Du. and G. gans, a goose ; Teut. type
GANSi (Fick, iii, 99). So also iSp, a tooth, Is for 'i<mP, changed
form of lanlh ; of. Du., Swed., Dan. land ; Teut. type taktho
(id. iii. 113). And thirdly, E. olher, A.S. 6Str, is for *ondtr,
changed form of anSer, as shewn by Goth, anthar, Du. and
G. ttfuUr: Teut. type anthako {id. i, 16).
% 7B. A. B. ii=Teat. tl (long u) ; or is due to loss of
& iQnn.
{a) The A. S. 6 answers to Goth., Du., Swed., Dan., and
G. a, Icel, 6; all long. See § 46.
Example : £. nffiv, A. S. tt&, Goth, hm, Du. ku, Icel. ni,
Swed. and Dan. nu, G. nun (from O. H. G. nu) : Teut. kO.
(i) We find also Du. «/, Dan. uu, G. an.
Example : E./oW, A. S./H/. Go\b./ah, Du, uih'/, Icel.yttrf,
Swed,/u/, Dan./««/, G./rtB/: Teut. fOlo (Fick, iii. 186).
(1-) The A, S. a also arises from loss of n in nn followed
by / or /A; compare the loss of n in on {=an) in § 74.
Thus E. us, A. S, tfj, is for *uns, as shewn by Goth, and G.
mu, Du. ons. Also £, mouth, A.S. mif^, is for 'munlH, as
■ A, S. dn it constkntly replaced b; 9
■c often hud lend fat Jlu*^
TEUTOmC A 17.
93
1. ***
^4* i
by Goth, mufitks, Dan. and G. Mund, Du. mond;
Tent. Ij-pe mlt.-tho (Pick, iii. 231). So also E. could, mis-
wrilten for coud, A. S. ctide, is for 'cunSe \ cf. Goth, kuntha,
Du. konde. Swed, ajid Dan. kunde, G. kUnnk; and, in fact,
the » is preserved in the present tense can. And E. soulh,
A. S. s43, is for 'siinlh ; cf. O. H, G, sund, south, now jfirf ; in
fact, the word sgulk means the sunny quarler, and 19 a deri-
vative of sun.
\ 76. A. S. ^ commonly arisea from Teut. tl (long a).
\a) The A. S. /, like the A. S, / (see 5 7!), arises from
mutatioti, but is modified from H instead of from long 6.
Thus the pi. of miis, mouse, is mys, mice.
Similar modifications are seen in Ice), m£s, pi. m^ss, Swed.
nus, pt. moss; G. ^/aaj, pi. Afituse; which shew that tlie
\.S.y. in this case, is equivalent to Icel.y, Swed. o, G. du.
Another interesting example is A. S, rjf, pt. of ci!, a cow ;
Dan. ieer, pi. of ko; G. KUhe. pi. of Kuh. Here A.S._y
uuwers to Dan, <>. G. U. Cf E. ki-ne (p. 66, note 2).
(i) It may also be observed here, that the A. S. y also
krises from a modification of ^a or /o ; but it will be found
hereafter, that these represent Teut, au and eu respeciively ;
see §j 77, 78, The net result is thaty always arises from an
inal long u or from a diphthong containing u.
{ 77. A. B. ^a commonly representa Teut. au. This
an important and interesting fact, as it enables us to trace
'ft* derivation of many words which contain A. S, /« ; see
} 49. To take an example; E. sirtam. A. S. sir/am, (no
Gothic form.) Du. siroom, Icel. siraumr, Swed. and Dan.
"'nm, G, Slrom (O. H. G. slraum, slroum) : Teut, type
'iKAL'MO (Pick, iii. 349), We shall further find, hereafter,
ftii -MO in STitAU-wo is a suffix, and that the Teut. au
arises from what is called a ' gradation ' ' or variation of a
lirimitive EU ; this would shew that strav-ho is founded
"nie
gradatioD will be full; eipluaed hereafter. Ste Chap-
94
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES.
[ciup.i
upon a Teut. root streu, which certainly meant ' to flow';
that strea-m merely means ' that which flows.' I subjoi
three other examples.
E. heap, A. S, yap, (no Gothic,) Du. hoop, Icel. At^r,
Swed. hop, Dan, hob, G, Haufi: Teui. type haupo (Fid
iii. 77)-
E. eait, A. S. fyit, Du. oesi, Iccl. austr^ Swed. Ssiifln), 1
pj/, G. Osl. Osl{tn) : TeuU stem aus-ta- (KJuge ', 3. V. C
from the root us, to bum, shine brightly.
E. cheap. A. S. c/ap, s. barter, Du. ioo^, s. fl bargain
X'au/. 3., Swed. tiip, s. Dan. rfioii ", s., G. A'l/u/; s. : Teut. t
KAUi'o ; Gothic has the verb kaupon, to traffic, bargain
§ 78. A. S. hQ commonly represents Teut. eu (G
E. //6^(dear), A.S. Uof, Goth. Uuh-s, Du. lUf, IceL lj£/-r.
Swed. Ijuf, G. Ueh (O. H. G. Hup) : TeuL type lrubo (Pick,
iii. .78).
Y., freeze, h.S. fr/oi-an, Du. vriez-m, \ct\. frj/Ss-a. Swed.
frys-a, Y)3Xi.. frys-e, G, fn'er-en: Teut. type frkvs-an (Fick,
iii. 192).
§ 79. A.S. se commonly arises from a mutation <
A.S, a; or correeponds to Qothic long e.
{a) This will be more fully treated of hereafter;
suffice to say here that A.S. h&lan, to heal, is a derivative B
hal, whole; and tliat examples of this mutation, or modifi
tion of vowel, are numerous.
(i) In some cases, 4 appears instead of d, even tboof
the ordinary rules for vowel -mutation do not apply. ThOJ
E. sea, A.S. sd, answers to Goth. laiws. sea; though t
Goth, at commonly appears as A. S. a. Sievers (Gram. § 9
thinks thai the mutation here points to the fact that j
must, originally, have belonged to the t-declension.
■ SeeKlnge, Ei^moli^ischei W'oilcibiich der dcutsicheD Spnebe, 1
■ Dsn kioh u for ii^ \ ihe prcGied i ii doe to > parasitic 1 slipped i|
befote Ihe i. Cf. Dan. hjevi, p. Sg.
' There me vmious (somewhat troublesome) eiceptlotis.
Hfcand
TABLE OF RSSVLTS. 95
(c) In other cases. llie A. S. d corresponds to Goth, long r.
Tcel. d; as in E. meal (time), A. S. mcel, Icel. mal, Goth, md
% 80. Besaltfl. As the results above arrived at with regard
I the long vowels in the Teutonic languages will often be
I be useful, 1 here subjoin a table exhibiting the
irious forms of some of the most characlerislic words. It
t not be considered as exhaustive, nor as exhibiting all
tbe possible varieties ; it merely exemplifies such varieties as
are moil common. Special words often present peculiarities
which require special treatment. I quote Low-German forms
6rsi. 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, /, /, 6, i, ^
in alphabetical order, adding /ii, ^o, d at the end. A more
Kieutific order is obtained by taking them in four groups :
(i) a (=Teut. /), 6 {=Teut. /) ; (a) i ( = Teut. t), a
(= Teut. at, gradation of /), d (modification of a = at) ;
I) S (=Teut. 6), / (modification of S)\ (4) H (=Teut. 4),
(= Teut. m), ^a (= Teut. au\ J (modification of £, to,
). I use < to denote ' derived from,' and . . to denote
nutation'; so that < ,. denotes 'derived by mutation
k.S.d~t.
<(-£.
/=!.
i^Kl.
A<..KX.
Engliih ,.,
hat
moon
■aihik
■wkcU
kcal
Anvlo-^iaiiia
bat
mJna
iwii
k&lan
thU
boirt
wijt
htll
ktilm
'GennM ...
Atond
Wiiu
keil
keiUn
Suteh ...
haad
hviU
kul
kile
bit
•Hint
hvila
All
kela
Inrlinttic ...
bitr
mdni
hvUa
kcitt
ktiia
CMhi« ...
kvnila
kaiU
kailjan
TUTTONIC.
nEro
MtNO
HWtLO
HAILO
TEUTONIC LANGUAGES.
i^i,.
/<..o.
,1^6.
i<..>i.
EnglUh ...
f«a
/«'
numse
mUc
Anglo-SaiOD
fit
/A
mis
Gennui ...
Fuss
Mans
Mouse
Danish ...
fed
fodder
Swedish ...
fdtter
mass
IceUndic ...
mr
f^tr
fotus
Teutonic.
pOtu
mOsi
A-KU.
A-AU.
Enelish
lUf
strtam
ABglcSaxoD ...
df
str/om
Dutch
ttroom
nib
Slnm
Daoish
slrUm
Swedish
Ijuf
sirbm
Icetuidic
ijifr
siraumr
Gothic
Teutonic
STRAUMO
Teutonic,
t
t
AI
a
«
EU
AU
English ...
Anglo-Saxon
Dutch
B
d
Or)
1
i
A
A
y
J
ox
t
Danish ...
Swedish ...
Icelandic ...
a.
A
i
'/
11
<
«
o
o
6
a
ir
uu
?
r1«
Gothic ...
*.
e
"
at
ai
"
a
4W
NuTE. — It muit be remembcTed that the modem Engliih spelling
is very variable. Thus Teut. EU is also E. te in ditp. A, S. diep. The
above table onlj tells nt what correspondences we should, in general.
CHAPTER VII.
Classical Lanouages cognate with Enoush : Grimm^s
Law.
§ 81. Iiatin forms compared with English. If ahy
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., patemalis, maternah's, fraternah's. Be this as
it may, the answer is suflBciently 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 /rater, brother. On
this result, however, we may found a new enquiry, viz. how
comes it \h2X father, mother^ brother have so curious a re-
semblance (yet with a certain difference) to pater, mater,
fraitr} Arc we to say XhdX 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
GermaiL In § 63, we found that the £. / is sometimes
shifted, in German, to/*; so that E. sharp is cognate with
YOL. L H
,!
GRI Arse's LAW.
[Ch*
G. scharf: but here we have an apparent shifting from a Latin
p to an Y..f. In § 64, we find that an E. ymay answer to
G. h, so thai E. hal/'is cognate with G. halfi ; but, on com-
paring Lat. fraler with E. Irolher, we have an apparent
shifting from a Latin /"to an E. b. In all three cases, viz.
\j3X. pater, mater, fraUr^ as compared with %. father, mot/ur,
irolher, there is the same apparent shifting from / to th '. In
the case of English 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
Anglo-Saxon forms.
§ 82. Early borrowings fsoto. Latin. We know, hi
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 borrcwtd
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 ivith their equivalents (if any) in Latin soon
' Corionsly, it is only afparent in the caw a{ fatlter, molhir (A.S.
fadtr, mider), wticie the shifdQg is realty to d. The third case (A. S.
hrHSBr) is figiil enough.
■ There is, however, a fiindamental difference in the nature ot the
shifting. The O. H. G«imui usnilly exhibits soiuids shifted from Low
German ; bnt the Low Gcrointi toundt are shifted, not from Latio or
Greek, but from the original Aryan speech.
{lish I
1 in^H
(Sj.l
COGNATE WORDS.
99
shews us, clearly enough, thai the consonantal shifiing which
marks off English from Latin is much mon regularly and
fully carried out than it is between English and German.
There b found to be a fairly complete shifiing, 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 teUing whether
an English word is really of Latin origin or not. When
EQCh is the case, there is no sound -shifting ; but when the
words are only cognate, we can often at once observe it'.
Paiemal is (ultimately) derived from paler, 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. eandela,
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
lell these borrowed words by the very close resemblance they
have to their Latin originals. In practice, there is seldom
any difficully in detecting these borrowings at once.
I { B3. Greek, Sanskrit, and other languages. If we
I iiexl extend the area of our enquiries over a wider field, we
P shall find, in hke manner, that E. father is cognate with Gk.
war^p, 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 (or father
is pilar*, the connection of which with Gk. nirnjp and Lat.
fakr cannot be doubted. It is certain that no event has
given such an impetus and such certainty to the study
' Not always, becanse aeveraJ Latin letters, vii. /, wi, H, r, s, v. nerer
shift at alL Again, a few bonawed words, inch as lumf, weie borrowed
a( H> <arly a pehiKl that they octnaJly exhibit soimd-shifliiig.
* The Dominative case drops r, and leDgtbens the vowel, thus pro-
&tiaasfitd. Sanskrit sobstaolives arc qiioliM, in my Dictionary, in the
fortsa called bast!. These bases are theoretical forms, on which the
mode of dedenuun depends. The ' base ' of fild U /iVri, or fiitt, the
Emol letter being a vocal r.
GRIMM'S LAW.
[Ciu». 1
d it I
of pliilology as the discovery of ihe relation which exuCi|4
between Sanskrit and such languages as (jreek and Latio^n
This discovery is just a century olJ. See the account of San-'
skrit philologj- given in Mas Miilier's fourth lecture on tbe
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 1 784.' 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 wilh which it is cognate is considerable.
It so happens that Sanskrit often exhibits extremely
cbaic forms ' ; hence the mistake was at first made — (and it
is ofien made still by those who have not studied the subject
with sufficient care)— of supposing that Greek, Latin,
other languages are derived from it ; which would depri'
such languages of much of their individual peculiarities of
form and grammar. This is now understood not lo 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 ilie Teu-
tonic group of languages (spoken of in the lasl chapter).
The only difference between the Teutonic languages and the
rest is ihat all of them (except modern German) exhibit a
' Suukiit eihibiu ta eitremel)' n^lnt ly&tcio of formatioa tmd
inlleccioa, of wtiich other languages wem to icavc onl^ traca. Bat tMk
iCfpilarity ii lamclimei late, and dae to noalngic inHuiace.
' Greek really shews bq nliiec vowel -iyiiem, a (act which is now be-
coming betlcT undrrslood.
' Monis, Hist. OuttiDcs of Y.. Accidence, { i j. Sievcn culls ihem the
Indiiii, lisniui, Baltic, SUtodIc, Greek, Albiniui 1. mcntione*] bjr Morris
under MellcDic), Italic and Celtic gioops ; and adds Atmca'
ri M
THE AHYAN lAffCUACES.
shifring of some of ihe original conBonflBla; whilst the modem
Gennaii partially exhibits a doubh or reptaUd shifting. We
have already seen that the shifting seen in GernJan consonants
as compared with English is no bar to their being considered
its 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. -■ - .
4 S4. Aryan family of l&nguages. The whole seV-bf
I languages whicli are thus found to have a sisterly relation m
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
I length. I prefer Aryan, because there is no doubt as to its
\ ttmvetth'onai meaning, and it is sufficiently brief. A third
^name is In do- Germanic, but this has led to much misunder-
Standing, and indeed inadequately substitutes Germany for
nearly alt 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
I England as it has been in Gemiany, some English teacher
^mig/U have spoken of the Jndo- English family of languages.
Tortunately. 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 may mention some of the best known.
The Indian group contains Sanskrit, now a dead language ;
Diodem 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 modem Persian (i. e. as
' Sm Morrii's Accidence for the full liit; alio Peile's Frimer of
Fhilology, chap, iii.
102 C^lkAf'S LAW. {Cuta. '
far as it is ongina],*f(>( 'nearly half the language is borrow
from Arabic, whfch is 'a Semitic or non-Aryan language) ; the
so-called Zend>,op language of the old Persian sacred writings;
the Ian guaj;e' fir which the very interesting cuneiform biscrip-
lions are wri&en ; and others, Of the Leitic or BaUic group,
the mbst interesting is the Lithuanian, spoken in parts of
E^ifwn J'ruBsia, and remarkable for extremely archaic forms.
f}iy'jSlavottic group contains Russian, Polish, Bohemian,
^_f»ian, &c. ; the most important, from a purely philological
'•_'^tnt 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 Hrtltnu group contains
forms of Greek. In tlie Ilaiic group, the most famous
language is the widely known Latin, which is not even yet'
extinct in its Rxed literary form ; but beyond this, it is famooi
as being the main source of the so-calied Romance lan-
guages, viz. Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Provencal,
the Roumansch of the canton Grisons in Switzerland, and
ihe Wallachian of Wallachia and Moldavia. These Ro-
mance langtiages 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,
has been said, from Latin. English, on the other hand,
all its borrowings, has a native unborrowed core, and has
borrowed words in order lo amplify its vocabulary. Nex^
the Keltic group contains Welsh, Cornish (now extinct),
Breton, Irish, Gaelic, and Manx ; of these, the most im-
portant, philologically, is the Old Irish. Lastly, the Tcu-
lonic group contains English, Dutch, German, Ac, in tlie
Wetlern division, and Danish, Swedish, Icelandic, and Gothic
in the Ealern ; as already explained.
§ 86. The tliree sets. Inasmuch as the Teutonic
guages alone exhibit consonantal shifting, it will be foi
■ Mtr Miiller, Lecnird, Stb cd., 1. 117.
4
hot- .
THE THREE SETS.
103
attiemely convenient to use some common name for all the
languages of the Aryan family that lie outside the Teutoaic
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, lo denote all the Aryan languages except those of the
Teutonic group. I shall also Umporarily divide all the Aryan
langaages into three new sets, for the sole and special purpose
of examining the phenomena of consonantal shifting more
exactly. These sets are : (r) the classical languages; (2) the
Low German, Scandinaiian, and Gothic languages, of which
English may here be taken as the type, both from ils in-
trinsic importance and because it is the one which we most
wish lo discuss; and (3) the High German language, /'« a
class 6y itsilf, 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
ftll keep, in reality, 10 the same unsbified sounds. Thus, for
fathtr we find the Sanskrit /('/ur {base /i/r '), Old Persian
pilar'*, Gk. trarijp, Lat. pakr, Old Irish alhir, afhair^; but the
word is lost in Russian and Lithuanian. Again, for broiher we
find the Skt. bhrdlar*, O. Pers. brdlar*, mod. Pers. birddar.
' Sanskrit not only posscues a symbol for the consonanl r, but alio
■ pair of lymboU for the short and long vocalic r. These are denoted
in Benfey'f Dictionary by [i aod ci. In my DictioDiry, I bave denoted
tbem by 11 and r/, putting the r in Roman type. But it is now niaal to
print T (without i) for the short sound, and lo pnt an accent above it to
wpctaent the long one.
* Hod. Vai.pidar, with t wealceoed to d. This is a case of weakeouig,
not of ihil^g in tiic /articular sense to which I now wish lo confine it.
■ The Old Irish dropi the initial / ; the M (-( + *) is very different
from the English Ih, and is really a / that has been afterwards aspirated,
•o that tliere is no real shifting. Id Irish characters, it is written as
B dotted t; we might print it ati'r, aXxdr.
* In these words the aspirated bh has beco weakened to b, or, as some
think, an origioat b has been aspirated so as to produce bk\ it is Bot a
n which I am oow using the word.
104
GRlMi^S LAW.
[Cbat. vir.
Gk. ifipanip, Lai. frater. Old Slavonic bratru ', Russian
brale^, Polish ira/, Old Irish brdlhir (irdlir), Lithuaniaa
broUlis, contracted into hralis. So also mother corres]
to Ski. mdlar, Zend mdlar (mod. Pers. mddar, with
weakened from /), Gk. m^IC. Lai. malcr. Church Slavonic
mail, Russ. male, Lithuanian mole (rarely moltrc), Irish ma-
Ihair (where the Ih is an aspirated or dotted /). Whilst we are
discussing these three words, it may be interesting to shew
the forms which ihcy assumed in (he unoriginal languages
which we lerm Romance. The Latin accusatives 'jM/rcm,
malrem, fralrcm, became respectively Ital. padre,
/rale (now only used in the sense of friar, ihe word
brolher being the diminutive form fratelh) ; Span.
madre, /railt (only in the sense oi/riar)^; Von. pat,
frade (only In the sense oi friar') ; French pire, mire,^
O. Proven9al paire. maire.fratre oxfraire (friar) ; Roumani
frer (brother), Wallachian^aft (brother) '.
§ 88. Qrimm's Iiaw : 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 (itst 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
MUller's Lectures on the Science of Language, Series II,
Lect. V. I here give a simitar explanation in slightly
different words, as far as relates to the denial series of E.
letters, viz. d, I, and Ik, First of all, let us divide (he
ussian
janiaa^^J
ipondd^H
rith ^^1
avonle ^^
' See note 4, p. 103.
* We must tilte the aecuiative as the Romnncc type, u will be teen
hereafter.
* The Spin, for'biather'ii ^mutiii, from LaL^rmdiuw. The word
/raiU stondt for an older frairi, derived from Ihe Lai. *aauatiT«
/ralrtm, by loss all.
' The Roumimsdi hu baf, mmmma, lot father aad mclker; the Walla-
cbiui has tall, mame.
fifcl
TRIPLE SOUUD-SHIFTING.
105
^^1
Aiyan languages into three sets or groups: {i) the 'clas-
sical' languages, as defined above; (i) ihe 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 ihe name of Aspirates ; the sound denoted by d.
Soft*; and that denoted by /, Hard. Then it is found that
where the first group of languages usually has Aspirates, the
second has a Soft sound, and the third a Hard sound. This
fact is what is called Grimm's Law, and may be thus ex-
'essed in a tabular form.
(i) Classical Languages
(2) Low German (English, &c.) .
(3) Old High German
DH
This succession, of Aspirate, Soft, and Hard, may be ex-
pressed by the memorial word ASH '.
Further, the same succession of sliifted sounds occurs, if,
instead of beginning with Aspirates, we begin with a Soft
sound ; only we should be careful to denote the Teutonic
Aspirate by TH rather than DH *. We then get the suc-
cession Soft, Hard, Aspirate, which may be expressed by
lowed by
^^^^Bsd odI]
^^S-* I pref
' The Skt. has a dk, or Hspirated d, a sound which also belongs to the
original Ai}'an. ' By an aspirsCe is meant a mumentarj' consonant fal-
lowed by a slight A-soand, not so distinct as m back-keusi, anl-htU
<d-hauit\, &c., but of the iaxra: nature. These lonnds. however, are
1 odlf in Sanskrit and GiEck 1 in the other langoagea tbey are
entcd by the corresponding contiauoua conaonEints — h, ch ^Ger-
' t./'—Pdle, Primer of Philology, p. iSj.
• I prefer the term ' voiced' or 'sonaiit.' The meaning of 'voiced '
win be eaplained hereafter. Hard sounds are ■ votcelos.'
' Peile. Primer of Philology. Appendii, p. 16a.
' It mates a great diflerence. If DH be loosely accepted ai rcpie-
.g the Tent, aspirated dental sound, it would then appear as i( the
woo of sounds ii DH, D, T; D, T, DH ; and T. DH, D; or
I, I), T,UH following each other as in a citcalar Older. The
'jo UH, D, T, th does nul bring us bnck to oui
mt, but leaves, as it were, a gap in the circle.
GRlMStS LAW.
This may be expressed, in |
the memorial word SHA.
tabular form, as follows,
(i) Classical languages . . . , D
(a) Low German (English, &c.) . . . T
{3) Old High German . . . . TH
Lasily, if we begin with Hard sounds, we get the succession
Hard. Aspirate, Soft, which may be expressed by the t
luorial word HAS ; or, in a tabular form, as follows.
(r) Classical languages . . . . T
(a) Low German (English, &c.)
(3) Old High German
The single word ASH will enable us to remember 1
order of succession, as we can change this into SHA t
shifting A to the end, and again change SHA into HAS I
shifting S to the end of the second form.
Expressed in a single table, the formula: ai
(i) Sanskrit, &c. . . . DH
(i) English, &c. . . . D
(3) Old High German
$87. Meamng of the Symbols DH,D,T,TH. Before
we can apply the above law usefully, we must first observe
that the letters DH, D, T, TH, are here used as »
which require to be interpreted according 10 the peculiarity
of the particular language which is being considered,
the languages use D and T; but the sounds and syiabc
answering to DH and TH vary. For DH, Sanskrit co*
monly has i/A', Greek has fi; Latin hasy initially, and da
b medially. For ih, Anglo-Saxon scribes use the symbols (>
and t! indiscriminately; but it is convenient to restrict the
sj-mbol }) to the sound of tk in thin, and S 10 the sound of Ih
in thine. The original Teutonic th was probably f only,
TH
e as follows :-^
D T
T TH
TH
-er) Skt. tk, which need not tx eoagldeted in dw
fSM
THE SYMBOLS DH, D, T, TIT.
107
which is slill the only sound used in Iceiajidic when occurjing
at the beginning of a word. In English, ihe original J) hag
given way to 5 initially in the case of a few words in very
common use, viz. in all words etymologically connected with
Iht (as that, ikis, they, them, there, Ounce, Ihilker, &c.) or with
Ihou {as Ikee, Ikiw, Iky). In the middle of a word, j) has
been weakened 10 S between two vowels; compare breath
with hrtathe (M.E. brelhen). Smooth is only an apparent
exception, for the M.E. form was smooth-e, vhicb was
diSsyUabic.
It is also important to observe that the Old High German
sound of aspirated / was not ih (or fi), but is, which was
denoted by the symbol e ; the German e is pronounced as
tt still *. Hence we may otherwise express the law as
follows.
DH <Skt. dh, Gk. (, L»t./(rf, i)). D (Skt., Lat. d. Gk. 81.
IDCA.S.rf). T[A.S.O-
T (G. /). TH (O.H.G. e, G. t. /j).
T (SWl.. Lat. t, Gk. t).
TH(A.S.>(II), E. M).
T (G. f).
A few examples will be interesting, and are here given ;
iginning from DH.
Tniliftl DH ; Skt. duhitar (put for * dkughitcr) ', daughter ;
Gk. Atottjp; E. daughter; G. Tochler. Skt. dhd, to put,
place, Gk. r.-fl.,-,*. (for • 61-6,^^^), I put; E. do; O.H.G.
jSwb, M. H. G. tun, mod. G. tiun (with Ih sounded as /), or
tun (in reformed spelling). Skt. dih (put for * dkigh) to
smear, Gk. fliyydwii', to touch, handle, YaK. fingere, to mould ;
Goth, drigafi, to mould, knead, whence daigs, dough, E,
dough ; G. Teig. dough.
' SoklMinO. French, the ward fjaRfr: was oace pronoDDccd chanttls,
■rlucli at ouce explain! iti dnivalioa from ihe l-at. cantatii. by loss
of I- The O. Y.Jii, jon, is now written yJls, lo preserve the old sound ;
»aA assii it, in Eogliah, aiuli.
' When *!■ asterisk is prefixed to Kay word, it means that its form U
titetrelical. As to Skt. duhilar for *dkagiler, see p. 1 16, 1. 7.
io8
CK/JIfJU'S LAW.
tc»A». vn.
Medial DH ; Skt. rudhira, blood, Gk. i-p<i6pit, red, LaL
ruber (= ' rudher), Irish ruadh; E. rerf, Du, roorf, Dan. and
Swed. ro(/, Goth, rauds; O.H.G. rdt, mod. G. roth (with /A
sounded as /), or rnt (in reformed spelling).
Initial T; Ski. /iwm (thou), Gk. ri (Attic oil). LaL hi,
Irish /«, Welsh // ; A. S. ?tf, E. Ihou, Iccl. >tf, Goih. Iku
G. (/«. SkL /r/', three, Gk. r/>tir, Lat. frw, Russian tri,
O. Ifish /r<"; A.S. /-r/o, E. Mr«, Icel. A^i Goth, iirtiri
Uedial T; Skt, anlara, other; Lidiuanian antral,
alter (for *anltr)-, Goth, anlhar, A.S. rfAr (for ' onSer =
* anSer, by loss of «), E. o/^^r ; G. ander.
D. Skt. (Aifi/fl (ten), answers to Gk, iira, Lat. (Aveai
E. /«i. Goth. tai'Aun; G. zeAn. Skt. di'a (two), Gk. Sue. Lat.
duo, Russ. lAffl, Irish ab; E. two, A.S. Attf, Iccl. ti'eir, Goth.
/uvti ; G. EWft. Skt. dan/a, Gk. ace. J-S<S>^-o, Lat. ace, dtnl-an,
Welsh rfa/«/; E. loolk. A.S. /if?, Dan, land; G. aj*M
' aant/). As an example of medial D. we may
Skt. ad, lo eat, Gk. «-..*, Lat. fd-ere; A.S. rl-an, E.
Du. tl-en, Icel. </-ii, Goth. t"/-an ; O. H. G. es-an, esa~an. mod.
G. ess-en (used for efs-eu, by assimilation of Is into the easier
sound of m).
§ 88. EzoeptionB to Grimm's I>aw. If we examine
the E. words brother, fathir. mother, and compare them willi
the above law, we obtain some startling resuUs. In the first
place, the forms of brother are fairly regular, viz. Skt.
bhralar, 'Vax./rater, A. S, brSSor, G. Brudtr. Similarly, beside
the Lat. pattr, mater, we should expect to find A. S. '/it3rr,
m63or, and G. * Fader, * Mutter ; but, as a fact, we finil A. S.
fifder, mider (with d), and G. Valer (for * Fal^r), Mutter
(with f). We may be sure thai there must be some reason
for this apparent anomaly ; and it was from this convic-
tion that Verner discoveretl what is now known as Vemer'o
Law. which explains the apparent anomalies in the operation
of Grimm's Law ; and actually extends it. This important
I
em ;
Lat.
^ih. I
t-em.
r,.]
LABIAL AND GUTTURAL SERIES.
lOg
knaCter is (reated of below, in a separate chapter; see
Chapter IX.
{ 88. Oritmn'B Iiaw; labial aud suttaral serioe.
I have pur|iosely confined the examples of Grimm's Law lo
the denUl scries of leliers. DH, D, T, TH. Rask and
Gritsm made ihc Law more genera! by trying to include the
labial series of letters BH, B, F, PH, and the guttural series
I GH, G, K, KH. But the law is imperfectly carried out in
vtbese cases, as will best appear from a consideration of a few
f the usual examples which are adduced lo illustrate it. 1
(ely keep some of the more difficult points in the
ickground.
BH (Gfc. *, Lat. /). Gk. 07y-<ft. Lai. /ag-us, beech-tree ;
E. bu^h, allied to A. S. b6i:, a beech-tree, a book ; Swed. bok,
Du. bfuk, beech. The O. H. G, is puoch/i, also buockd, mod. G.
Bmeht. Here the change from Gk. BH' to Low German
B ia regular; and so is the change, from Low Gennan B
to Gennan P in O. H. G. puochd. But we cannot ignore ihe
bet that puochii is only an occasional form, which modern
literary German does not recognise ; and the same is true
in other cases. Hence there is, practically, no regular second
sUfliitg from Low G. b lo High G. p.
P. Ski. pa<i, foot; Gk. noOt (gen. waS-de), Lat. pts {gen.
p€d-u) ; E. /ool. Golh. /otus, Swed. foi ; O. H. G. /ifa. /uos,
mod. G. Fusi (with ss for z). Here there is a shifting from
Plo Low G. PH ( = /); bul there U no second shifting \\om
Low German PH to High German B.
fi. Gk. taumffit, Lat. cannabis, hemp ; A. S. heenep, henep,
E. hrmp ; O. H. G. hanaf, lunef, G. Hanf. Here we have a
shifting from b to p, and again from p Xaf, the aspirated form
of /t. Bot the example is somewhat unsatisfactory, because
ifae Teutonic forms are merely borrowed from Latin, which
•gain is borrowed from Greek. The chief point here gained
_is the observation that the law of sound -shifting may even
> The Gk. ^ aoawers to Sk. bh ia general.
J JO GRIM!is LAW. [Qu».
apply lo the case of a harrowed word, but only if that s
was borrowed at an exlremely early period. Such cases are
ver^' rare. The. reason for choosing this example Is that
instances in which a ' classical ' B is shifted lo a Low German
P are extremely scarce. See, however, § no, p. 137.
GH '. Gk. x^"! ^ goose ; Lat. amer (the initial guttural
being wholly lost) ; E. goose, A. S. g6s (for 'gons), Du. gans,
Icel. gds (for *gans) ; O. H, G. gam, occasionally eani ; G.
Gaiu. Here the shifting from GH to Low German G is
regular; but the O. H. G. cans is an occasional form, and
tifre I'j no regular second shifting lo German K. The E. g is.
in fact, also a German g ; cf, E. ^0, good, goal, with G. gehm,
gut, Geiss.
K. Gk. KopSia, heart ; Lat. cor (stem eordi-), O. Irish rride ;
E. heart, A. S. heorle; O. H. G. herz/l. G. Her%. Here the
shifting from K to KH (weakened lo A) is regular ; but tkir*
«a-tr was at any time a second shi/litig to a German G.
G. Gk. yiv-os, race. l^iX.. gen-tis; E. kin, A.S. lynn,
irilic, Icel, kyn, Goth, kutti; O. H. G. chunni, khunnf,
race. Here the shifting from G to Low German K is regular ;
but the apparent shifting to O, H. German KH {kh. ch) is
ileliisive. This, again, is a mere occasional form ; and, as a
fact, there is in general no second shifting. The E. k is also
u German k ; cf E. king, kiss, caw, with G. Konig, Kuss^
Kuh.
\ 80. IfeedleBa oomplioation of Giinun's Iiaw.
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
li absolutely no trace of it. If to these two cases we add
■hose in which occasional 0. High German forms have to be
•elected (see under EH, GH, G) in order to make die law
operate, we may say that it practically breaks down, as far as
High German is concerned, mfive cases out of nine. ITlo
' Gk. X Answers to Ski. gh for the present purpoie.
tl ther* .
NEEDLESS COMPLJCATION. II r
re again add ihe case (noticed under B above) of which
there are but few good examples, [hese five cases are increased
to six. In other words, Grimm's law is only useful, as far
3S the High German is concerned, in the case of ihe dental
series of letters DH, D, T, and TPI. 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 tfieaal view to the Old High German, wilhout 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
shiltinga 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 b in
which the corresponding letter of the cognate native English
word is also b.
§ 9L Simpler form of Q-rimm's Law. It would seem
U) 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 lo 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 soimd denoted by each 'classical'
symbol (whether DH, D, or T) is shifted, in ' Low German,'
lo Ihe sound denoted by the symbol which next follows it.
' ' Tbat the O. H. G. shifting is historical and recent was, it i; true,
•dmilted by GrimiQ, but be liked to lose siEht of the fact whenever he
wanted to taiffkify the Eaw. His fmoiework is much too liig for the
facts.' — H. C, G. Braadt, in Amer. Jonmal of Philology, i. 1 53.
GRIMES LAW.
^ VII.
This is true, and is well worlh remembering; but when
ve come lo apply similar metlioda 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 -Slated, with necessary corrections. The endeavour to
do this will occupy the next chapter,
§ 92. Old High Qerman : value of Orimm's Law.
We may, however, wiih respect to the Old High German,
Bay that the shifting which it exhibits took place, as (ar as it
was carriefl out, in the same direclion as the former shifiing,
but not lo the same extent. It was obviously a much laler
development, due lo similar causes, whatever they may have
been. The oid theory, thai the imperfect Old High German
shifting took place stmullaneously with the more complete
Bhifdng seen in Low German, is no longer tenable, and it is
not easy to see how it arose, except from an exaggerated
idea of ihe 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
tliat the great object of applying it is to enable us to detect
the cognation or sisterly relationship of words. We see, for
example, ihal the Lai. _/rafrr can very well be the same word
as the £. brolhtr, 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 ihe symbol BH, which shifts
regularly into K. h. The Lat. a is long, answering to Teu-
tonic long 0, Golh. long e, i,e. the A.S. 6 in brSSor. The
symbol T {Lat. /) shifts regularly to A.S. ji, afterwards
weakened to C. E. tk. Lastly, the suffix -ter is found in a
varying form 'ler at a very early period ; and the common
Aryan suffix -ter becomes -ler in Larin. and -Str, -^or,
in A. S. There is not only an enormous gain in deleciiaf ,
these real equalities which are concealed under apparenl ~'
THE ARYAN TYPE.
"3
"ferenccE, but we also get rid of the absurdity of dfrivtng native
English words rrom Latin or Greek, and we at once put
them on their inie level as being equally from the same
ultimate Aryan type.
{ 93. The Aryan type : simpler form of Qrimm's
Law re-stated. We must pause for a moment, lo con-
ader 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 '
OT the Low German consonants approach more nearly to
those of the parent speech. For it is obvious thai 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
BRathes; 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
ibe 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
lo 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 Itiird theory, which may be the Cme one, vii. that the
oldest form wa^ grater ; but 1 shall nol hrre diicais it.
VOL. I. I
GRIMMS LAW.
[Cha*. VII .
Low German types in estimating the forms of the original
Aryan parent speech. It may therefore be safely assumed
that (he 'classical' type is also the Aiyan type, or comes
most near it, and that the Low German or Teutonic' Ij-pes
are formed, by a tolerably regular shifting, not really from
the ' classical ' type, but from the original Aryan wliich the
latter exactly, or nearly, represents. All thai 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 ihe
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 shewn hereafler to be
equally true (with necessary modifications) for the latual
and guttural series.
Write down the symbolB DH, D, T, TH in waa-
cesBion. It is found that tbe Aryan sound corre-
sponding to each of these symbols (except the last),
is shifted, in cognate Teutonic words, to the sound
□orreaponding to the symbol which next sncceods 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 a
will be considered in the next Chapter.
of
* Heucefortb, I umme the Low Gennao type ta be identic*! w
Tmtonlc ; ind regard the O. H. Gcnaaii ai a developmeDt &
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 labialy 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
folloiKing statement, which may conveniently be here repeated.
Write down the symbols DH, D, T, TH, in suooession.
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.
§ 96. 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. ^ is a stable sound ; so also is the Gk.^ d.
In Latin, d is common, but occasionally D appears as /.
Thus lacrimay a tear, was once dacrimay according to Festus,
and is cognate with Gk. ddicpv, £. tear ; lingua, a tongue, was
* As to the unoriginal chtracter of the Old High Gennan ucwd
coosooantal shifting, see Chapter IX, % 123.
I 2
Il6 GRIMM'S LAW.
once dingua, and is cognate wilh E. longut; ol-eri, lo smell,
is allied to od-or, smell '.
T. The Ski. / i3 sometimes aspirated afler j, and appears
as Ih, as in sihag, to cover, G!c. ariytiv, i/Ad, to stand, Lat.
The Gk. r is slable; so is Lat. / (usually).
DH. The Skt. has dA. If a verbal root begins with JA
and ends with another aspirated lelter, 60/A of these letters
appear in the simple, not in the aspirated form. Thus the
Skt. di'A, to smear, stands for *dAigA. We find other occa-
sional instances in which Skt. tfA appears as </, as in dvdra,
a door, put for 'dhvdra ; cf. Gk. 6ifa.
The Gk. dh is 6. But Gk. allows of only one aspirate in
a syllable ; hence we find rpix" ^i" '^p'x^-
The Latin dh appears initially s.s/, but medially as doi 5.
Thus Gk. Sipa, a door, is allied to Lat, pl.Jor-tt, doors, the
cognate E. word being door. Gk. i-pu6-p6i, E. red, is in
Lat. ru&fr (for 'rudhtr). Gk. elBap, E. udder, is in Lat. uhrr
(for 'udher); whilst E. widow, L. uidua, answers to Skt.
vidhSva.
The Aryan DH regularly appears as rf in Slavonic, Liihu-
anian, and O. Irish, as in Russ. dvtre, 0. Irish dorus, a door,
Lith. diirys, pi. doors ' ; cf. Gk. Bipa.
$96, Teutonic: Dentals. T{Arj'anD); Gothic/(rcgu-
larly) ; and so in A. S., Icel., Swed., Dulch ; but in Danish
it is weakened (when final) to d, as ia/od, fool.
TH (Aryan T) appears as lA m Gothic ' ; writien^ or 3 in
* I do not give all the valaes of ihcK! Aryan symbols, boE only those
necetsary for (he ptesent purpose ; thus a d may nppeai in Lttin as r,
but Dot in woidE cognale with English. For fuller particulars, see Iwaa
Miiller, Handbuch det KJassiEchen AHertmni-Wisscnscbaft, Ijuid II ;
Nordlingen, 1885.
' Tbb cbange is ptacticatly a shiiting, and gives the same rcstill.
But it (tifTers in this respect, vii. that the Siavonic (and other) tacn
were content to confoK Aryan DH with Aryan D. The Teutonic races
were not contented to do so, but distingniihed their re«l D from T.
' German editors often write \ for Goth. tA.
»V8-1
THE LABIAL SERIES.
117
is sounded as ifi in thin, but ihe
a Danish and Swedisb the initial ih
{/>) is sounded as /, and the medial Ik {f} as d, owing to
3 difficuliy in pronouncing /A at all; for a similar reason,
Dutch invariably substitutes d; cf. E. /hree with Dan. and
Swed. Ire, Du. drie ; and E. brother with Icel. brSdir, Swed.
and Dan. broder, Du. bretder. 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, Lat._/>-a/f/'=Goth. brolkar, E. irw/Afr, regularly ; but
on the other hand, \a\. paler ■=Qoi\\. fadar {not '/alhar), A. S.
feeder (not */a:3er), M. Y,. fader, ihe tona fallur being modem.
An Aryan ST remains st in Teutonic ; unless the j is lost.
when the T may shift to th.
D (Aryan DH) appears as Gothic, &c., d, regularly.
§ B7- Numerous examples of English words which are
^ate with words in other Aryan languages are given
In giving these it is convenient to reverse the order
Mve, i.e. to give the English words before the oUiers; so
■tfat instead of sajing that the Aryan D becomes a Teutonic
T, we say that the Tem. 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 Arjan T, and
Taking > as the symbol for
I,' and < as the symbol for ' results
I^uui, wc Bcc iiidi liic sciies DH>D>T>TH is the same
■»D<DH; T<D; TH<T. And again, these three com-
^isons may be taken in the order T<D; TH<T;
fe< DH ; without at all altering the Law.
I § 98. The La,bial Series. If Grimm's Law be equally
pue for the labial series, il will take the following form.
cnrrite down the series of symbolA BH, B, F, FH (F).
Then the Aryan sound corresponding to each of these
symbols (except the last, is shifted, in cognate Teu-
todio words, to the sound corresponding to the symbol
TeuL D 10 Aryan DH.
'becomes' or 'passes in
^^om,' we see that the s
»D<DH;
TJ8
CRIMl^S LAW.
[Ciw^Tin.
which next suooeeds it. This is true, with a certain
restriction, viz. that there are no very clear examples of the
secoTtd of the three changes, viz. of Aryan B answering to
Teui. P. The comparison of E. hemp with Gk, tarvafiK
is not whoUy lo the point, as the E. word is only a very
early borrowed word ; neither is the Gk. hqi-hiSw an original
Greek word, being itself borrowed from the East. The
great difficulty, accordingly, is to know with what we arc
to compare the Teut. P, a problem of which I know no
satisfactory solution. It is certain that a great number of
words beginning with P in the Teutonic languages are
merely borrowed from Latin or Greek; thus E. pif, M. E.
put, A. S. fyl (for *putt) is merely borrowed from the Lat.
pulfus ; and the large number of words in modern English
beginning with this letter is in a great measure due to the
very free use of the Lat. prefixes, per-, post-, pre-, preler-, pro-,
and the Greek prefixes, pan-, para-, peri-, poly., proi-. Some
have even denied that there are any Teut. words beginDing
with p\ but a list of over loo words has been given of
words beginning with p, which cannot be proved to be
non'Teulonic '. Besides, it is certain that final/ is a suffi-
ciendy common letter in Teutonic, as in E. }uap, hip, hope,
hop, and the Icel, happ, chance, whence our hap. One view
that might be held concerning the final Teut. p is that, in
some cases, it remained unshi/ted; thus Curiius compares E.
ieaPi Goth, hlaupan, with Gk. upmir-wit, swifi ; E. lip, lap, with
Gk. Xan-Tuu, to lap ; E, shape with Gk. aian-rtu', to dig ; and
it is extremely difficult to see how E. up can be entirely
severed from E. over, Skt. upari. As this is a difficult point,
I leave the supposed shifting of Aryan B lo Teul. P wilboui
further discussion, and pass on the shiftings that still remain,
viz. of Aryan P lo Teut. PH (F); and of Aryan BH to
Tent B. These are real and regular, as will appear.
< 1 iiDve lost the reference to tbit uiidc. See, howcTcr, p. I
THE GUTTURAL SERIES.
119
re
th
10
L
gi
Gr
t
§ S&. Aryan: Iiabials.
B (mentioned above) is ihe Skt. b, Gk. fl, Lat. i.
P is the Skt. /, Gk. w, Lat., Slav., and Lilhuan./'. The
SkL p may become ph after j, and even in Gk. tnt may be-
come ii<^.
BH is the Skt. hk, Gk. *. The Skt. bh may become b,
when another aspirate follows, as in bandh (for *bhaudh),
E. iiBr/. In Latin it occurs as / initially, as in fer-re,
Gk. ^ip-tw. Ski. bhar, to bear, E. i^ar; and as i medially, as
in am-60, both^Gk. Sfi-ifiu. It is worth adding that the Latin
initial y sometimes appears as A. so that the Old Lat. _/or-
dewH, barley, is usually Aordeum, or even ort/eum, the A being
lost.
J 100. Tel-tonic: Iiabials.
The Teut. B is always b in Gothic ; but appears as (final)
in A.S. See below, § 122.
The Teut. P is always p in Gothic, &c. An Aryan SP
remains as tp, the p being unshifled ; unless * is lost, when
ibe P may become^;
The Teui. PH is regularly represented by_/in the Teu-
tonic languages. But there are cases in which the _/" may
pass into i ; these exceptions can be explained by Vemer's
Law, for which see Chapter IX, Numerous examples are
given further on, where, for convenience, I take the E. forms
The series BH>B>P>PH(=F) is the same as
B<BH; P<B; F<P; or, in another order, as P<B;
<P; B<BH.
$ 101. The Outtural Series. If Grimm's Law be
equally true for this series also, it will take the following
form. Write down the series of symbols GH, Q, K,
' Latin has two rcmiikable exceptions, iu which / hu b«eu turned
tnlo I or i/u, vii. loqum, lo cook, pal for *fio^erc (cf. Skt. ftuA , 10 cook),
uid fKinfue, five, pDt fur 'fiaque (cC. Skt. pahckan, five). Heie the
initial letters have been affected by the following qu. The O. Irish
initial/ disaiipeua; as !□ 0. Irish air, a pig, Lat. /ervuj; O. Irish
i«w, a fiib, \m. pistil.
GRUtif'S LAW.
[Ca*F. 1
KB(H). Then the Aryan sound oorresponding to
eaoh of these symbols (except the last), is shifted,
in cognate Teutonic words, to the sound cor-
respoDding to the symbol which next follows it.
There are, undoubtedly, many cases in which this Law
holds; but, unfonunaiely, there is an initial difficulty in
determining the Aryan values of GH, G, and K, which
gready interferes with the simplicity of it An English * or
hard c ought to answer to Aryan G, as it clearly does wl
we compare E. kin with Gk. yin-ai ; by the same rule,
might expect that ihe Gk. (or coze is yovt, but ihe actual
word found is |3oSt. This suggests that there is some initial
difference between the values of the Aryan G (=Gk. y) and
G (=Gk. 3)- There arc also reasons for supposing that
the Aryan K and GH had each Iwo values ; and these facts
are now generally admitted. As Mr. Wharton remarks, at
p. ijt of his Etyma Grreca, ' the Unprache [parent or Aryan
speech] distinguished fiv ', gv, ghv (Lithuanian k, g. g, Skt. *
or cA, g or J, gk) from *, g, gh (Lithuanian iz, i, i. Slavonic
s, B, z, Zend, f, z, a, Ski. f,_/, h) ; Greek properly represents
the former by jr, 3, <^, but sometimes instead by <c, y, xt
in other cases stand for original A, g, gh.' This impoi
distinction deserves to be considered somewhat more fully.
§ 102. Palatal and Velar SoundB. It appears
there were two varieties of the Aryan G, called ihe * pali
and ' velar ' respeclivirly. The former may be considered
resembling the English g, with a tatdemy to become palatal^
the latter is a labialized g. ' The vocal organs may be shil
lo form a vowel,' says Mr. Sayce", 'while ihey are siill
the act of forming the consonant. Hence arise mouilU
labialized letters. If the front part of the tongue be rai
and the lips opened while a consonant is being uttered.
' By Ifv, gv, gllv are mnuil hv. gTi-, gAw. The freqneiit u:
is dne to Gerniui wrilen, and is nolliing lets than ■ niiisalii
' IntTDdDClioQ to the Science of Laaguagc, i. 197.
1
'4
f W3.]
Tff£ GUTTURAL SERIES.
}
palatalized or mouiiU letter is the result, of which the Italian
gl and gn, the Spanish // and R, or the Portuguese Ih and
nh are examples '. . . . Certain consonants are incapable of
being mouill^; gutturals, for instance, in whose formation
the back part of the tongue plays so prominent a part, can
only be so by becoming palatals. Labialized sounds are
those in which the lips are rounded while the pronunciation
of a consonant is in process. Labials and gutturals shew
the same fondness for this labialization, or " rounding," that
the palatals and dentals do for mouillation ; and a com-
parison of the derived languages proves that the primitive
Aryan speech must have possessed a row of labialized or
" velar " gutturali^to, gu>, gAtv—of which the Latin fu and
our own m; qu [and %vh\ are descendants. There is nothing
to show thai these velar gutturals were ever developed out of
the simple gutturals ; so far back as wc can go in the history
of Indo-European speech the two classes of gutturals exist
aide by side, and the groups of words containing them
remain unallicd and unmixed.' I shall denote the Aryan
palatal K by K, and the velar K by Q ; where Q denotes
a -t-sound that is prepared to receive a following a. Similarly
I shall denote the palatal G by G, and the velar G by Gw,
where the w is added in smaller type to shew that the G is
prepared to be followed by it. We shall now see how
remarkably these sounds are distinguished in some of the
derived languages, including Sanskrit and Lithuanian, and
occasionally, but not always, Greek.
§ 103. Aryan G (palatal). This corresponds to Skt.y,
Lithuanian i, Slavonic a; in Gk, it always remains y, and in
Latin f. It shifts to Teul. K, in accordance with Grimm's
Law. Thus Siit-jdnu, Gk. tdiu, Lat. genu, is the Goth, iniu,
E. intf. The Skt, jnd. to tnow, Gk. y.-yt^-o-jtH^, Lat.
{g)ni>-scere, Lithuan. eim/i, Russ. zna-k, is E. know.
122 GRtMAfS LAW. [Ciu
Aryan Q-w (velar). This is more difficult, as it e
two varieties, which ■aa.y be marked as [a) and (^).
first, the Gk. y remains unchanged ; in the second, it appc
(a) This corresponds to Ski. j or g, Lithuar
, Gk.,
Gk. ,
Lai. g. It shifis to Teut. K, as berore. Thus Skt, Jaiuu,
Lilh. gamas, Gk. yimt, Lat. gmus, is E. kin. S]kl.yugam, Gk.
ivyiv, Lilh. Jungas, Lat. iugum, is E. yoke. We may notice
that it is chiefly distinguished from the palatal G by
Lithuanian use off instead of i.
{b) This corresponds to Skt.y or g, Lith. g, Gk. ft Lat.
b, V. It shifts to Teut, K, followed by « or a; ; we often find
gu in English. Thus Skc. go, Gk. Sovt, Lat. bos, Lettish
ffiWii, is the A. S. cH, E. cirw. The Skt./?/, to live, is allied
to Gk. fflot, life, and to Lat. ui'u-us {=*guiu-us), living,
Lithuan. gywas, Old Slavonic ttv& (Russ. jivoi), living ;
also to Goth, hvi-ui {='kwivj-us), stem kwiwo, living, and
to A. S. cwi-c, E. '/ui-ci, living. The A. S. at/ic also took
the (later) form cue (with u for wi); hence the prov. E.
couch-grass, otherwise called quikh-grass, quick-grass,
live grass, a term applied to a weed {Triticum repent)
it is very difficult to eradicate.
§ 104. Aryan K (palatal). This remains as ■ in Gredi,
and c (sounded as *) in Lalin ; but in Skt. it usually appears
as f (i. e. a sound that has been changed from k to i), and in
Lithuanian as sz. In Teutonic it shifts to GH, represented
in Gothic, &c., by a strongly aspirated h, except in eases
where the h is changed to f in consequence of Verner's
Law; for which see Chap. IX. Thus E. hund-rcd, A.S.
hund, is Aryan kento ', SkL fata, Gk. i-turror, Lith. tsinUat.
Old Slav, saio (Russ. sle), O. Irish c/l (Irish cead), Welsh
cant.
Aryan Q (velar) had, from the beginning, a tendency to
■ More stiictly KMTO, where the M n vooli the Jiccent being on the
lillei sytlikble.
i '05-1
THE GUTTURAL SERIES.
123
I
a parasitic w following it. There are two cases : (a) where
the tendency is lost in some of the languages, so that the
q remains as •( in Skt. and Lithuanian ; and ifi) where Skt.
has ch, Lat. has qa, and Gk. either retains k, or has ir {before
•) or T (before i, •). With the latter case we may rank the
examples in which Skt. alone has ch, but all the other
languages have k. The Aryan Q shifts regularly to Teut.
KHw, i.e. hv>, E. wk or h (or eveny). Examples of («)
are : Aryan qo or qi, who ; Skt. kas, Lith. kas, Gk. r/t, LaL
fui (tbi 'yuoi), quh; Goth, hwoi, A. S. hwd, E. who. Also
Aryan wlqos,' a wolf, Skt. v^kas, Gk. Xvitor{for fXvuot), Lat.
hipui (for 'ivluquus), Lith. wilkas. Russ. volk' ; in this case the
Golb. hw is replaced byy; corresponding by Grimm's Law to
the Lat /, thus giwng Goth, wutfs and E. wolf. Examples
of (i) are : Aryan qetwar, four ; Skt. chatvar, Gk. Ttrrapft,
notraptt, Lat. qualuor, O. Irish cdbir, Lith. kituri, Russ. chtl-
vero, Wthh peduiar; Go\i\. fidwor, h..?i. fe'nuitr, Y.. four.
The Skt. has the root ruch, to shine, corresponding to Arj-an
BBUq ' ! but other languages keep the k, as in Gk. XivKot, white,
Lat. luc-ere, to shine ; this k becomes Gotii. h regularly ;
hence Goth, liuh-ls, A. S. l/oh-l, E. ligh-t (where -/ is suffixed).
In this case the Skt. alone has preserved a trace of q ; in all
the other languages it is k.
{ 106. Aryan QH (palatal), This is represented in SkL
by h, in Gk. hy x', in Latin it is h or/ initially, and h {which
often drops out) medially, or g (after a consonant). The
Lith. is S. By regular shifting, it becomes G in Teutonic.
Examples: Gk. ;(fi/ioi>', winter, answers to Lat. hums; Skt.
Aanua, swan, answers to Gk. x'!"- goose, Lat. anier {for
'hanser), Lith. idsis, Russ. gus\ A. S. gis, E, goose- Gk.
X0X7. gall, is Lat. /el, E. gall. Skt. agha. sin, is allied to
Gk. 3)(-os, ai)g;uish, Lat. ang-or\ and to Goth, agt's, fear,
' The L il vocalic, becoming vocal r in Sanakrit.
' See Root No. 311 in List of Arjan Roots, in my Etym. Diet.
V 741.
124
GRIMM'S LAW.
[Cba
Icel. agi, whence the mod. E. awe, a word of Scandi
Aryan OHw (velar). This is represented by Ski. ^
or h, Gk. X (occasionally Q, 0), and Liih. g. Latin is v
variable, shewing f, A.yinitially, and^j/, v medially. T
Lat. gratus is allied to Gk. x"**™. I rejoice; Lai. hostts, i
stranger, enemy, is allied to A. S. girsi, stranger, E. gua^
Lat, formus, warm, to Skt. gkarma, warmth. La
a snake, is allied to Lithuan. aiigfs, Gk. tx^t, SkL aAi, i
snake. Lat. ieu-is, light, is for ' Ithuh, Gk. f'-Xojtt-r; .
breu-is, short, for * lirehu-is, Gk. ffpax-it. The Teuloi
shifts, regularly, 10 G.
$ lOe. Grimm's Law : Guttural Series. It folloi
from the above explanation that the guttural series G, K,GH,
really splits into a douiU set, viz, G, K, GH (palatal), and
Gw, Q, GHw (velar). Hence the Law in § loi above, which
is true ifO, K, GH are palatal, requires lo be supplcmenied
by the following.
Write down the following series of velar letters,
viz. GHw, Gw, Q, KHw(=Hw); then the Aryan
Botmd corresponding to each of these symbola (exoept
the last) ia shifted, in cognate Teatonio words, to the
sound Gorresponding to the symbol which next
suooeeda it. Numerous examples are given beiow, where
the E, forms come _firs/. The Guttural Scries has ihe double
set of formula K<G; H<K; G<GH; and Q<Gw;
Hw<Q; Gw<GHw,
§ 107, In the above statements, only the die/ pecu-
liarities of particular languages have been noticed; the
various consonants are often affected by tiieir peculiar posi-
tion in the word or by the neighbouring vowels ; for
such variations, books on classical philology must be con-
sulted. I believe, however, that 1 have said enough lo
enable me to give a table of 'Regular Substitution of
Sounds,' similar to that which Curtius gives in his Greek |
( >07.]
TABLE OF CONSONANTS.
'35
Etjmolc^, tr. by Wjikins and England, i. 158; see also
Rhys, Lectures on Welsh Philology, and ed., p. 14. Now
that we have gone through the whole series, we need no
longer consider the dental series first, but can take them
in the usual philological order, viz. (i) gutturals, (a) dentals,
(3) labials.
Table of Rkgulak Substitutioh of Consonants.
In the following table, the Aiyan symbols are on the
Ufl, and the Teutonic on the extreme right. By comparing
these, the shifting of the consonantal sound is at once per-
ceived. Only the usual corresponding values of the con-
sonants arc given ; it is impossible to include every case.
A.T«.
Skt.
Gk.
7
X
i
t
Ul.
Lith
Sl>'
O.lriih
Golh.
AS.
g
Toil.
G
K
GH
Go,
G
CJSftf
D
T
Da
J
%
t,ck
d
1
di
f
*./(/)
i
X
d
i
d
b
P
b
g
6
{,tk
i
d
i,lh
d
k
''{g'l
g
AT
g.v.S
hw,k
g
kw.k
g
d.l
f. id, i)
MJrf]
h^j-n
T
TH
D
B
P
BH
i
P
hk
b
P
f. ^W
b[m)
/m
/[*!
«
Ff
\PffiF.
Id thii tkble, tbe Latio sonad* within a paieathesii only occnr medialljr.
The Goth, uid A.S. tonnda within sqnare brackets and variatEont due to
Venm'i Law.
126
CRIMI^S LAW.
[cba?. nn.
5 to give esaniples of [he above-named corre-
spondences of consonantal sounds. These I shall Uke in
the order of the table, bm beginning wilh English, i.e. with
the right-hand column,
§ 108. Teut. K (Goth, k, A. S. hard c) < Arvak G (Skt.
/, Gk. y, Lat. g, Lith. 5, O. Slav, z, O. Ir. g). See % 103.
The symbol k is not much used in A. S., which commonly
uses c; nevertheless, it appears occasionally even in MSS.
written before the Conquest. In the latter part of the A. S.
Chronicle it appears frequently, and from about 1 1 50 lo the
present day is used before e and i, because e might other-
wise be supposed to have the sound of s; also before n,
where it is mrua silent, though originally sounded. The
order of words follows that in Pick's Worterbuch, ili, 38.
Initially. E. kin, A. S. cynn, Goth, kuni (stem kun-Ja) ',
Teut. KUN-vo ', a tribe (formed by ' gradation ' from the Tent.
root kkh) ; cf. Lat. gm-ius, in-gen-ium (whence E. geiu'us,
ingenious), Lat. gen-us, race, Gk. yif-ot, Skt. Jan, to beget,
generate. Root gen, to beget.
E. iiiig, A. S. cjm-ing, lit. belonging to the kin, or one
of (royal) race ; a derivative of iin (above).
E. (an, now a present tense, but really an old past tense
of A. S. cunnan, to know ; from the Aryan root gen, to know,
which is usually altered to gno. as in Gk. yvii-yai, Skt.yMa,
to know ; see account of E. tnaui below.
E. ken, to know, formerly ' to make to know,' causal de-
E. know, A. S. cndtoan, Russ. sna-ie, to know, Lat. no-seere,
old form gno-scere, Gk. yi-yvit-vKtar, Skt. JHd, to know;
Aryan root gno, from an older gsn (cf. E. eon).
' The Goth.y is loDDded hi E. y.
' TcuL types, pciotEd in capitals, ore lU thtorttiiol, but are useful for
shewing the right fono. So also the Aryan types, also printed in capltali,
aie likewise theoreticiJ. They are given in Flck'i Worterbach ; but the
vocatiim, as there gicen, needa reform, and I do not know that 1 have
|lo90
EXAMPLES.
127
I E. tomb. A, S. eamh, a toothed instrument; allied to Skt.
■mbha, teeth, jaw, Gk. yaH*^' ja*', y^/"^"*, a peg.
I E. and A. S. corn ; Russ, zerri-o, com ; Lat. gran-um.
_, E. friTiw, A,S. i-ran, Welsh ^araw, Gk. v«/iai-oc, a crane,
lAiixaji.garn-ys ', a sLork, genue, a crane, Lat. gru-s ; named
from the cry. Cf. Gk. yjjp-ifu; to cry out. And see below.
E. crmo, A. S. crAwan, to crow as a cock. Cf. Lat. grus
K||bove).
V E. (oroe, A. S. etorf-an ; Gk. ypdip-ia; to scratch, write.
f E, c(iJ</, adj.. A. S. cmW, Goth. ia/<ir, allied to cool, A. S.
<rff; Lat. gel-id-ut, cold, ^^/-h, frost.
E. knead, A. S. cned-an, G. knel-en, Russ. gnel'dk, gne-slt\ to
press, squeeze.
E. -t«/<, A. S. i-a^; from the verb to m> (for knip '), to
inch, bite {hence, cut), Du. knijp-en, to pinch ; Lithuan.
»yP~^h 'o l^'l^ (3S a goose), to pinch, as a crab; also
[jthuan. gnyb-ti, to nip.
[ E. knot, A. S. cnoHa ; Swed. knut (whence the Russ,
a whip, written knout in E., was borrowed); Lat.
vad-us (for 'g-nSdus, like noscere for gnoseeri).
E. itfwr, A. S, cw/ow, Goth. i«('a ; Lat. gmu, Gk. yd™, Skt.
jinu, knee.
E. c/^fli'^, to split, A. S. eUof-an, G. klieb^, Teut. base
KLEUB (Kltige) ; Gk. ■fXi^ta, to hollow out. engrave, LaL
ghib-ere, to peel.
$ 109. As the Scandinavian languages are closely allied
to English, we naturally find that words of Scandinavian
origin can be classed with English as regards ilieir initial
letters. Thus E. cast, Iccl. and Swed. kasl-a, Dan. kasl-e,
orig. to throw up into a heap (cf. E. east up a mound), from
Icel. kos, a pile, heap, is allied to Lat. ger-crr, to carry, bring,
' I suppose thaE g appears iaslesd of i in Lilhuaninn because the
wotd it imitative. Imitative words frequently shew exceptional foims.
' * Als tar as catal, the lang symmyris day. Had in thai paitnr eyt
ud ihijf away.' (1513]. C. Douglas; PioI. to xil. bk, ofVligil,
L94-
ia8 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-ium.
§ 110. E! > CH. Examples in which the A. S. c
(before e or t) becomes E. ch,
E. chew, A. S. c/cw-an, G. kau-en ; Russ. jev-aU^ O. Slav.
Hv-aitj to chew.
E. chitiy A. S. ««, Icel. kinn^ G. ir/«« ; Lat. gen-a^ cheek,
Gk. ycVvf, chin, jaw.
E. choose, A. S. c/os-an, Goth, ktus-an; Gk. yfd-^iuu, I
taste ; Lat. gus-tus^ taste ; Skt yV/jA (for V*"")* ^^ enjoy*
relish.
§ m. Final K. In all the above examples the Teut
K occurs at the beginning of the words. It will be useful to
add examples in which it occurs at, or near, the end 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 W6rterbuch.
Medially and Finally. E. eke, to augment, A. S. eac-an,
Goth, auk-an; Lithuan. aug-ti, to grow; Lat. aug-ere, to
increase.
The mod. E. / is A. S. iV, Goth, ik ; Lat. eg-o, Gk. ry^^
ry^v; but the Skt. is aham (as if for * agham).
E. rook (bird), A. S. hr^, i. e. * croaker ' ; Goth, hruk-jarty
to crow as a cock ; Gk. Kpavy-rj, a screaming \ cf. Skt hruf,
to cry out.
E. thatch, s., A. S. Jxec ; Lat. teg-ere, to cover, Gk. arty^tp,
Skt. s/hag. The Aryan roots teg and steg, to cover, are
merely variant forms.
' Here sound-shifting occurs twice, both at the beginning and the end
of the word ; so also in thatch, think, 6cc
I.l
EXAMPLES.
129
, from pane, a thought ; 1
I
■ichl, A.S.
ndg, milk ;
) rule ; Skt.
E. think, A,S. Pm
Kmg-ert, to think.
E. thick; O. Inahlig-e, Irish ligh-e, thickness, fatness.
E, bake, A.S. iac-an, pt. t. b6c; cf. Gk. ^ary-tiv, lo roast.
E. betch, derived Trom A. S. b6c, beech ; Lat. fag-as, Gk,
E. brtak, A.S. brtc-an, pt. t. i;-tec ; I.M. /ra{n)g-ere, pt. t.
Y. black, A.S. ijtef, orig. blackened by fire; \.if.. flag-rare
to bum ; Gk. i^Xfy-ow. to scorch.
E. bUak, pale, A.S. bide, from hllc-an. to shine; prob,
allied 10 Gk. ■^X<V-"r ; cf. Lith. bfizg-gli, to shine.
E. much, M. E. mucht, allied lo M. E, muchel. n
mic-fl; Gk. li'Y-at, great, luy-ak-tj, iem., great.
E. miZi, s,, G. melk-tH, to milk, v. ; O. Irish /
Gk. i-piKy-iiy, Lat. mulg-ere, to milk,
E. r/VA, A.S. ric-e, powerful; Lat. reg-er<
rdj-d, a king. We use rajah in E.
r^M A.S. ri/it (for *recl)-, cf. Lat. »
E. waj^, A.S, wae-an; Lat. af^-«
wakeful.
E. wini-ie, a shell-fish, winch, a crank ; Lidiuan. wing-e, a
bend.
E. uwri, A.S. weorc, s. ; Gk. (py-oi- (for ' FipV") '■
E. wreak, A.S. wrec^an, orig. to drive, urge, impel; Lai.
urg-tre ( = ' utrg-ere, to urge, Gk. tipy-*'"! lon'c (py-dn
= (f*'??-"")! 'o impel ; Ski. rr/' (= ' vtrj), to exclude, orig.
to bend ; Aryan wehg. Cf. E. urge, from the Latin.
E. stick, to pierce ; O. Fries, steka, to pierce ; cf. O. Sax.
ilak. pt. t. he pierced ; G. sicch-en, to pierce, stab ; Lai.
m-slig-are, to prick forward, Gk. oriftii' (= " nTiy-yta), to
prick, irriy-)ia, a mark made by pricking, E, sligma.
' Thii ii one of the nnmeroos ingtances in which Elnglish throws light
Dpon Greek. Eng. slUt preserves tbc inilial w, which Greek lost at
least tji/a liauianJ years ago. The symbol f (di.gBmma) mcaas iu.
VOL, 1. E
Here also belongs £.
e-ius (for 'reg-lus),
; to arouse ; uig-il,
130 GRIMM' S LAW, [Chap. VIII.
£. strike. The A.S. siric-an is sometimes used in just the
same sense as Lat. s/rt{n)g^ere, to pass lightly over the sur-
face ; cf. Lat. sirig'ilis^ a scraper for the skin.
E. speak, for * spreak, A.S. sprec-an (later spec-an)\ Icel.
sprak-a, to crackle; Lithuan. sprag-iH, to crackle, rattle;
Gk. <r<f)apay-osy a crackling.
£. slacky lax ; cf. Skt. stj\ to let flow, let loose.
§ 112. I have given rather a full list of the changes from
Aryan 6 to Teut. k in order to shew the principle clearly.
The following lists are less exhaustive.
Teut. KH (Goth. ^,^)< Aryan K (Skt. f, Gt «, Lat r,
Lith. sz). See § 104.
Initially. £. Aea/A^; Lat {duyceZ-um, a pasture for
cattle, W. coed (=* coe/), a wood.
£. hen (sing-er) ; cf. A. S. han-a, a cock ; Lat. cdn-ere, to
sing.
[£. ?iead, A. S. h/af-od is often compared with Lat cap-ut,
but the Goth, form is haubiih^ and the G. is Haupiy which
would require (says Kluge) a Lat * caupuL Fick is wrong
in supposing that the A.S. /a was short, and mistakes the
Icel. form, which was originally hau/u3,'\
£. heave ; Lat. cap-ere^ to hold. (See Kluge, s.v. heden.)
£. horn ; Lat. corn-u, Irish corn, horn. From the same
ultimate root is £. har-/, allied to Lat. cer-utis, a hart
E. hard\ Gk. icpar-vf, strong.
£. harvest^ A.S. harf-est] Lat carp-ere^ to pluck, Gt mpv-
off, fruit.
£. haulm, halm, stalk ; Lat. culm-us, Gk. icaXa^-7.
£. hazel, A. S. hcBsel\ Lat corul-us (for * co5ul-us\ Welsh
coll.
£. honUy A. S. hdm ; Lithuan. kem-as, a village, and perhaps
Gk. ica>/A-i7 ; see Kluge, s.v. Heim.
£. hide (skin), A.S. hjd; Lat. cul-is, Gk. cr#cvr-off.
' See Etym. Diet for fuller particulars^ both as regards this and many
other words.
! "3-!
EXAMPLES.
131
I
E. hund-red, A.S. hund; Lat. cml-um, W, cani; Gk. l-ma-
&r, Skt. and Zend fata. Lidi. siimtas, Russ. f/0, Pers. sad.
E. Aco/-/, A. S. heoTf-e ; Lat. ror (stem eordi-) ; Gk, tapi-ia,
Rues, serdlse, O. Ir. cMyf.
E. i-iV- A. S, An«f ; Lat. circus, Gk. rpfK-ot, «ip*[-M.
£. lean, v. (for * kUan), A.S. hlinian; Lat. elinart, Gk.
E. /w<rf (for * Maud), A.S. ^Ui/; Lat, in-clut-us, famous,
Gk. xXvT-df, famous. '
FwALLY OR Medially. 'E. t^ht, A.S.eaA-ia, Goth, ak-
tau ; Lat. 0^-/0, Gk. mt-tiu.
E. /fn, Goth, taih-un; Lat. lilrf-ewi, Gk. fl«-a, Skt. da^an,
W. (//f (="rfi'f), O. Irish dioc.
E. KMjr, to grow, Goth, waks-jan ; Skt. vaksh (for * waks),
W grow, Gk. crff-oww, to increase. (Here Gk. i=Skt. ks=
Goth, hs)
\ US. TKfT. G (Goth. f)<ARrAN GH (SkL A, Gk. ;,,
Lai. A,/; or, after a consonant, ^). See § 105.
Initially. TS.. goose, A.S. ^rfj, G. Gans; Lat. ans-er (for
* ians-er), Gk. x^*', Lilh, ifit«>, iamsi's ; SkL Aamf-a, a swan.
E. ^a// ; Lat./(/, Gk. x-A-ii, gall.
E. gutsi, Goth. ^(M/-f ; Lat. kost-is, stranger, guest, enemy.
Eng. y. The initial E. g also appears as y (for A. S. g
when followed by c).
'E. yearn, A.S. gym-an, v., from ^«r«, adj. desirous; G.
U-gthrcn, to long for ; Gk. xtv-a, joy, Skt. har-y, to de-
Y. yard, A.S. gtard, a court; Lat. hort-us, Gk. x^pT-m;
O. Irish gori, a garden.
"£,. yelltm), A.S. ^«o/h (ace. geohoe); Lat. htlu-us, light
jeliow ; Gk. x^d-ti, young verdure of trees ; cf. Russ. selenuii,
green.
Y. yawn. A.S. gan-ian, afterwards weakened to M.E.
]^>ff, as if for A. S. ' gcan-ian ; Gk. xai'"-"'', to gape. Cf.
Gk. x^-Wi yawning gulf, E. chaos ; Lat. hi-are, to gape.
13a GRIMM* S LAW. [Chap. VIII.
E. yester-dc^y A. S. geosira (yester-) ; Lat. hester-tius, be-
longing to yesterday ; cf. Skt. hyas, yesterday.
Finally AND Medially: lost in Mod. E.,or represented hyw,
E. awe^ a word of Scand. origin, Icel. ag-i, fear; Gk.
ax-o^ P^^> anxiety ; Skt. agh-a, sin.
E. main, strength, A. S. nuBg-m ; Gk. {ifix-canit means ; Skt.
mah (for * magh), to honour (magnify).
E. //>, A. S. licg-an^ pt. t. IcBg ; Gk. Xf^-or, a bed ; Russ.
lej-aie, O. Slav. l€i-a/t\ to lie.
E. woiw, A. S. wcBg-en ; cf. Lat ueh-ere, Skt. z^^z^ to carry.
§ 114. Tkut. Q (Goth, kw, k; A. S. oi;, f)< Aryan Gw
(Skt. g, y, Gk. y, ^, Lat. ^, », d, Lith. ^, Slav. ^, 5, O. Ir. 3).
See § 103.
Initially. E. raw;, A. S. cii (for *cwuT) ; O. Irish 3^, Lat.
bos, Gk. /Sow, Skt. ^0; Pers. gdWy bullock. Hence Pers.
nilgdWf lit. blue cow, written nylghau in English, and used as
the name of a kind of antelope.
E. cack'Uf v., allied to quack ; cf. Lith. g/g-^le, a cuckoo
(dimin. form); Russ, gog-o/a/e, to cackle. An imitative word,
and such imitative words often remain unaltered. Cf. Lat
cachtnnus, laughter, whence E. cachinnation. The E. gaggle
is a mere variation. Very similar is E. tattle, and even babble.
All result from such repetitions as ka, ka, ga, ga, ta, ia, ba,
ba, qua, qua, Cf. ha 1 hat to express laughter.
E. calf, A. S. cealf, Goth, kalb-o, Gk. fip€<f>^s, embryo,
young, Skt. garbha, embryo.
E. coal, A. S. col, G. Kohle, Teut. base kolo (= kwalo ?).
Cf. Skt. jval-a, flaming, jvdl-a, flame, jval, to blaze, Jvar, to
bum.
E. come, A. S. cum-an, Goth, kwim-an, Lat. uen-ire, Gk.
i3aiV-€4v (for *Pa¥-y€i»), to go ; Skt gam, to go.
E. queen, A. S. ciu/n^, Icel. kvdn, a woman; Gk. yw-^,
' In this case, the /in A. S. rz&^ is a mutated form of / ■• Tent
long a ; Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 68. Hence queen answers to a Tent
type kwXni (Fick, IL 39).
n i.s.i
EXAMPLES.
133
I
woman, wife ; Skt. jan-i, a wife ; Pers. zan, a woman ; O,
Irish hm, Gaelic bean. From Pers. zan comes the Hindustani
Mdtidna, women's aparunents, imported into English as
aaiuma, or (less correctly) zenana. From Gael, kanshiih, lit.
fairy woman, we have E. banshte or bmshet.
E. quern, a hand-mill, for grinding corn, A.S. cweorn, Icel.
kvern, Goth, hvairn-as; Lilh. girn-a, the mill-stone in a
quem, girn-ot, pi., a hand-mill ; SkL jdr-c^a, to grind, from
_/ri', to grow old, to be digested.
E. quell is a causal form, from A.S. cwel-an {pt. t. cvHit),
10 die, whence also the sb. gual-m, A.S. cwtalm, a pestilence,
and the A.S. cwal-u, destruction. Of, G. Qttal, torment;
Lithuan. g^I-a, torment.
E. quiek, living, A.S. cwic, Icel. kvik-r ; a shorter form
appears in Goih. twiu-s, quick, living (stem fcwivj-a), answer-
ing to Lat. uiu-us (for 'gut'u-us), Lithuan. gyio-as. Russ.
;■«.■«; alive. Cf. Gk, &i«i, life, Skt.y»V', to live.
Medially. E. nak-eil, A. S. nac-od, Goth, nakw-aihs, a
past participial form. Allied to Russ. nag-oi, Skt. nag-na,
naked, O. Irish noch-l, naked.
Y-.yoke, A. S, geoc ; 'LaX. jug-um, Gk. ivy-6» ; S^X.yug-a.
5 U6. Teut. Hw (Goth, fan, h, A.S. Aw, /i, E. wh, h)
< Akyan Q (Ski. k, ci, Gk. «, tr, r, Lat. qu, c, v, Lith. and
Slav. i). See 5 104.
Initially. £. Aew; Lith. kow-a, battle, iau-ti, to fight,
Huss. km-aU, lo hammer ; ct. Lat. cu-d-ere, to beat.
E. A-a^, A. S. A/a/, heap, crowd ; Russ. hip-a, heap,
Crowd ; Lith. kup-a, heap, crowd ; Lith. kaup-as, heap.
E. who, A. S. Ait^ ; Lat. qui, Lith. and Skt. ka-s, who.
E. whaxe, A. S, hu'/s-an ; Lat. ?afr-t' (pp. ques-tus), to
Complain ; Skt. fx'aj, to breathe hard.
E. whilr, A. S. AiotV ; allied to Lat. qui-es, rest ; cf. Gk.
tt't-fua, I lie still, Skt. (i, to lie still.
Medully. E. light, s., A.S. Uohl, Goih. Uuh-ath, brightness ;
Lat. luc-ere, to shine, Gk. XreK-oi, white ; Skt. ruch, to shine.
134 ckimm's law.
§ U6. Teut. Gw, G (Goth, g) < Aryan GHw (Ski. gh, »,
Gk. X, *, S, Lat-f, Ai/(f«. »), LiLh.and Slav.f). Seef 105.
Medially. E. naii, A.S. nag-tl; Russ. nog-ole, Lilh-
nag-as ; Ski. nakh-a (for * nagh-a).
E, J//&, A.S. iltg-el, from slig-an, to climb; cf.
cmix-"», to go, Skt. j-/i^A, to ascend.
5 U7. Teut. T (/) < Akyan D (Skt. d, Gk. *, Lat. 4, 1
Initially. E. loolh, A.S. 163 (for "tonT), Goth, hmlkk
Lat. ace. denl-em.
E, /nil/; Lat. dom-are, Gk. da/i-^, Skt ^am, to tame.
£. Umber, Goth. Im-r-jan, to build; cf. Gk. i^Mi
build.
E. leaf, s., Goth, /i^r; Lat. lacrima, O. Lat,
Gk. flojt/iir,
E. tear, v., Goth, ga-lair-an ; Russ. Ar-o, a rent; Litha
dir-li, Gk. A/p-fi*, to flay ; Pers. dar-idan, to tear.
E. Iree, Goth, /r/w ; Gk. ipC-e, O. Irish dair, Welsh 1:
oak ; Russ. drcv-o, tree.
E. /ow«, A.S. hSn, an enclosure;
town, Welsh din (whence din-as, a town).
E. /ie, low, v., tug; cf. Lat. duc-ere, to draw.
E. tongue; Lat. ling-ua, O. Lat. ding-ua.
E. /«fl, Goth. taihun\ Lat. decern, Gk. Jl(«a, Ski. dafan,
E. /d, prep.; Russ. rfo, O. Irish rfo, to.
E. Irea-d, ira-mp ; cf. Gk, 8po-wii, Ski. drd, to run.
£. /wD, A. S. /W ; Lat. duo, Gk. Mo, Russ. and Skt. 1
Irish da.
Finally and Medially. E. al, Goth, at; Lat ad.
E. <m/, A.S. at; Skt H up, out
E. eat, Golb. t/-a«; Lat ed-ere, Gk, Ja-«». Skt. ad, I
eat
E. wAa/; Lat. quod, quid; Skt. <(iii/, what.
'E./ool; Lat ace. ped-em, Gk. ace. mSA-ii, Skt. ^arf.
E. flu(,fioat ; LilhuftD. //nf/-aK, I float.
E, betl-er, Goth. ia/-j, good ; Ski, bhad-ra, excellent.
EXAMPLES.
'35
r
E. i/'/ir; Lat./(n)(^-rrr^todeave,pt.t._/frf-(",Skc.i5A((/, to cleave.
E. wa/-er; Russ. vod-a, Gk. CS-up, SkL ud-an, water,
E. o//-(r; Russ. vuid-ra, Lithuan. ud-ra, oHer; Gk. iiS-pa,
-snake, whence E. hydra.
E. wil, wtel, to know ; Russ. vid-iett, to see, LaL uid-tre,
Gk. H-fir (for • fiB-*!*), to see ; Skt. vid, to know, orig.
to see. E. wol = Gk. dJB-o,
K. ftV; Russ. sid-iete, Lat. sed-tre, Skt. joi/, to sit; Gk.
^o^uu (= • iTti-Jii3-)i(u), I sit.
E, swart, dark, black, Goth, stvari-s; allied 10 Lat. sord-es
(for ■ stvord-ts), dirt, whence iord-id-us, dirty ; surd-us, dim-
coloured. Of. E. sordid, surd.
E. ftw^/; Lat. sud-uis {= * suad-uis), pleasant; Gk. ^i-vt
(= *<rfa&-iis), sweet; Skt. svdd-u, sweet. Cf. E. suave.
E. swtat; Lilt, sud-or (= * swid-or), Gk. U-ptit (= * (rfiS-
p^), sweat ; Skt. svid, to sweat, sved-a, sweat,
§ US. Teut. TH (Goth. Ik, d)= Aryan T (Skt. /, Gk. t,
Lat. /). See § 96.
Initial. E, Ihal; Lat. {,is)-lud, Skt. /jrf.
E- /hatch, \.?,.pac, s. ; Lat. leg-ert, 10 cover; Gk. "'y-ot,
roof, ariy-*i*, to cover, Cf. E. legttment.
E. /A*»i ; cf. O. Lat. lotig-irt, 10 think.
E. thin ; Lat. Im-uis, Russ. /nn^jV, Skt. /an-a, thin.
E. Ikun-der ; LaL Ion-are, to thunder.
E, /Aorw ; Ruas. li'me, black-thorn ; Polish larn, thorn.
E. thirst; Irish lart, Skt. tarsha, thirst; Gk. ripiT-ofuii, I
am dry.
E, /Ap&, v. to endure (still in use provincially) ; Lai, tol-
erart, Gk. tX^mi, Cf. E. tolerate.
E. /Ai'fi ; O. Irish tig-e, thickness, iitig, diick.
E. thou ; Russ. tui, Irish A(, Lat. tu ; Pers. /<(.
E. thorp ; Lithuan. /ro*-a, a dwelling ; O. Irish trtb, a
settlement, tribe ; G. Dorf.
E. threat-en ; Lat. trud-ert, to push, urge ; Russ. trud-ik, to
urge to work, ves.
136 CUTMX'S IMIV. 1
E. Ikret ; Irish, Buss., Skt, iri; LaU Ires, Gk. t.
Final AND Medial. 'E.htalh; Lat. ^a-i://-um, cow-pasture.
E. loolh ; Lat. ace. dtni-em, Welsh dan/.
E. fialh-er ; Gk. itn-o^n, I fly, Skt. /aZ-ra, feather ; Lai.
ptn-na {for 'pel-itia), a feaiher. whence E. /fw.
E. murlh-er {mur-der), A.S. morS-or, Goth, maurlh-r ; Lai.
ace. marl-em, death. Cf. E. mortal.
E. scalht; ef. Skt, kihat-a, wounded.
§ Ue. Teut. D (rf) < Aryan DH (Skt. dh, rf, Gk. fl, Lai.
init.y; med. d, b, Lith., Slav., Irish d).
Initial. E. dare, Goth, dars, I dare ; Gk, Bapa-tiv, to be
bold, Russ. dert-att, Skt. dhxsh, to dare.
E. dough, Goth, dig-an, to knead; IjU. fing-tre, to mould;
Skt. iftA (for • dhigh), to smear. Cf. E. _/^b, from the
French.
E. daughter \ Gk, 6vyanip ; Skt. duhilar (for • dhughHar).
E. rfoor ; Gk. ft!f>-<i, Skt. dvdr-a (for * dhvdr-a), Russ. Avrf ;
0. Irish t/or-nj ; Lat./or-M, pi., doors,
E. do i Gk. ri-ft;-(ii, I set, put, place ; Skt. dhd, 10 ]
Hence E. doo-m, Gk. fl«-fiit.
E. drone, to hum ; Gk. 6p^v-ot, a dirge ; Ski. dhrat(
sound.
Final and Medial. E. udd-er ; Lat, uiir (for •«dS|
Gk. oifl-op, Skt. Hdh-an, 6dh-ar.
E. Auri/ ; Gk. (par-ut, strong ; Ionic K&pr-ot, strength. ^
E. hide, A.S. Ayrf; Lat. cUl-is, Gk. hjivt-m.
E. iinrf; Ski. batidh (for ' hhandh), to bind ; Pers. bandan,
to bind; Aryan bhkndh.
E. rerf; Gk. i-pvO-pis, Lat. ru^r (for *rudh-fr)\
rudh-ira, blood ; O. Irish r^ad, red.
E. wid-ow ; Lat. uid-ua, Skt, vidh-at'd.
E. word; Lat. uerb-um (for * urrdh'Um). Cf. Eng. ver$8^^
E. j//'rir, AS. slid-an, to slide, slid-or, slippery; Lith. j/lrf—
w, slidd-us, shining, sUppery.
BuiE. j/i-arfhasrffor/A; cf. Goth, j/ott-*.
<o pub
EXAMPLES. 1.^7
\$tai-io, a station; Skt, ilhil-i (^ot ' slil-i), an abode; § iiti.
For siniilar examples, see §§ 129, 130.
Siao. Teut. P (/)< Aryan B (Skt. i, Gk. ,8, Lat. *)'.
See $§ 98, 100.
llfiTiAL. There is no example in which this change occurs
■initiall}'.
FiKAL AND Medial. E. app-lt, A. S. app^l; 0. Irish
f, ub-all, Lithuan. oi-olys, Russ. lab-loko.
E. f6j&, A. S. clypp-an, to embrace ; Lithuan. ab-glcb-li, to
mbrace.
E. thorp; Lith. troh-a, a dwelling, O. Irish /rf*, a settle-
!nt, tribe.
E. afciTp, Goth, diups; Lith. rfAi-w, hollow, deep.
There seem, however, to be some clear cases in which
Lthe Aryan P has practically remained unshifted in English.
FThis Tact has been denied; but I think it should be ad-
mitted, though there may be some special cause, such as
accent, 10 account for such exceptions to the general rule.
I I mbjoin examples '.
Initial. E. path, A. S. pa3,pa3\ Lat. pons, acc- pmi-em,
■ bridge, orig. a path, way ; Gk, wor-or, a trodden way, path ;
'^Vpalh-a (for 'pat-a), a path. (See however Kluge, s.v, P/ad.)
FiDAL AND Medial. E. up, Goth. I'up; Skt. up-a, near,
under, up-ari, over^. It can hardly be denied that the
Skt. upari, over, is allied to E. upper; and it is equally
certain that Skt. upari corresponds to Goth, ufar, E. ovtr.
In fact, upper and over are mere variants, and an upper-ioal
is an over-coal. In the fonner case, the Aryan P remains
which Teut. P = Aryan P ; see
Eoglish.
' There uem lo be aba some ci
* Some have even asserted tbat an initial p U impossible
d that evtry E. word bcgioniiig with/ must t« bonuwed
'1 deny tbat p occnis fiDaily in native words, as e. g. in up, sharp,
; and if finally, why not initially 7
* The ideas of 'under' and 'over' are oitxcd ; cf. Lat. sub, iindei.
Motion from beneath is an iipjuarit molion.
GRIM At' S LAiV.
[Ch*f, VIII.
imshif ted ; in ihe latter case, it is shifted regularly. The
only reason for assuming that the Aryan P must be shifled
lies in the notion that al! the nine Aryan sounds — e, k,
GH, D, T, TM, B, p, BH — must always be shifted in Teuionic.
I look on the occasional apparent unshifiing of p as a fad,
which has only been denied lest Grimm's Law should seem
imperfect. Yet we have already seen how very imperfectly
the second shifting, from Low to High German, was carried
out. See the examples below.
E. htap, A. S. heap (G. Hauf-e) ; Lithuan. kaup-as, Russ.
kup-a, a heap. (Kluge admits this relationship, but notes
the irregularity.)
E, sharp; allied to Lat. scalp-fre, to cut, Gk. atapn-iot, a
stinging insect, scorpion. (In this case the shifting is pre-
vented by the preceding r or I). See Fick, i. 8ii.
Y..stcp; Russ. slop-a, a foot-step. (Here Kluge assumes
double forms for the root, viz. stab and stap.)
I believe that further instances might be given. I suppose,
for example, that our word to shape comes, without shifting,
from an Aryan root sxap, to cut ; and that our word shavf is
merely the same word in a shi/ttd form. But here again,
double root-forms, skab and skap, are assigned.
§ 121. Tevt. PH (Goth./ b) < Aryan P (Skt. p. Gk. ir,
Lat. p). Examples are numerous.
Initial. 'E./alker ; Lai. paler, Gk. warqp, Skt. pitar, Pers.
Y-./oot; Lat.ncc. ped-ftn, Gii. ace. w6i-a, Skt. pdd, pad. Pets,
E.yiather; Gk. wnpiv (for ' wtr-^por), wing, Skt, falra,
wing, feather.
E./atA-om; cf,Lat./ia/-f«,tospread,open; Gk. irrr-dr»i^.
E.. /are; Gk. irop-iuofuu, 1 travel, wop-or, a way; LU.
tx-ptr-ior, I pass through, whence E. experimct.
E./or, prep. ; Lat. pro, Gk. iip6 ; Skt pra, before, aw»jr.
E. /arrow, from A. S.fcarh, a pig ; Lat. porc-us
I
I iij.] EXAMPLES. 139
E.yK//; Rnss. pol-nuii, Skt. pdr-na, full. Cf. Gk. «roX-vr,
£./«//, s^ skin ; LaL pell-is, Gk. jkXX-c.
'S../oal, A. %.fola\ Lat. pull-us, young of an animal, Gk-
E, V^/rf, as in two-fold; cf. Gk. Si-rrXiitruit {for " fli-jrXor^J'or),
double, two-fold.
E./«tf : cf. LaL/ail-i (for * j^/^0. «> err ; Gk. rr<^<iXX-.«,
lo cause to fall, Skt. spial (for * spa!), to tremble. (Initial s
lost.)
E.Jiw, iM. pau-cut, (ew, pau-lus, little.
T-fish; 'LaL pisc-is, O. \n%\i. iasc {ioT ' piasc).
'E./ou-l; Lat. /B-/j(/-Bj, stinking; Skt. /tfj', to stink.
E./«; Gk. irOp.
E.yti;, Golh./w&f, cattle ; Lat. pecus, Skt. pagu, cattle.
Y../ritnd, Ga\h./ri-jonds, liL ' loving ' ; Skt. pri, to love.
Y..fretZ€, Ga'Ca.friui-an; Skt. prush, plush, to burn. Cf.
I^. ^rtt-i'«fl, hoar-frost, /ra-»a, a burning coal.
Y^flaw; allied lo Lat. pluu-ia, rain, Russ. p!u-ile, to sail.
float; Gk, frX.'-..*, Skl.//w, to swim. Cf 'E. plover.
FiNAi. AND Mkdial. Note that, in mod. E., the A. S. /
usually appears as v. Even ^is pronounced ov.
E. of, off, A. S. of, Goth, a/; Lai. a& (for ' ap), Gk. Ar-d.
Skt. ap-a, from.
E. OT^r, A. S. o/er, Goth. w/&r; SkL upari, above.
E. ^Bf^, be-rcave, A. S. riaf-ian, lo strip, plunder ; allied to
LaL ru{m)p-ere, pt. t. rw^r, to break ; Skt, lup (for • rup), to
break, spoil. Our E, loot, plunder, is a Hindi word of Skt.
origin, from Skt. lotra, loplra, plunder, a derivative of lup, to
break, also to spoil.
E. shave, A. S. seeaf-an, Goth, skab-an ; Lith, skapSli, to
shave, cut ; Gk. inuifr-rcii', to cut a trench, dig. See remarks
at the end of § 120.
\ laa. Tkut. B {b) < Arvak BH (Skt. bh, Gk. *, Lat./,
Li, i; Pers., Slav., Irish b).
140
GRIMM S LAW.
[Ck*
Initial. E. bant. A, S. 6an-a, a murderer ; cf. Gk. ^r-m
death, murder ; O. Irish ien-aim, I strike.
E. lieec/i, book, A. S. bdc, beech ; Ijai. /ag-us, Gk. ifr^f-it.
E. btll-tr (comparative) ; Goth, bats, good ; Skt. bhad-n
excelleni.
E. bind; Skt. bandh (for • bhandh\ to bind, Pers. band-a.
(o bind.
E. biar, V. ; Lai. fcr-re, Gk. ^ip-tw, Skt. iA7r, to t
Pers. bur-dan, 10 carry ; O. Irish ber-im, I bear.
E, brother ; \-.2\./rater, Gk. (ppartip, Skt. birdtar. Ruse. i«
O. Irish brathir, Pers. biradar.
E. ferit, V. ; Lat./br-are. lo bore, Pers. bur-idan, to cut. '
E. i(Vf; Lat./(n)i/-frf, pt. t./rf-i", Skt. Wi'rf, lo cleave.
E. beaver; Lithuan. bebrui, Ruas. ioi/, Lat._/fi*r.
E. i/n-^ (iree), Mercian i/rfc, A. S. b^rc; Russ. ^
Skt. i^ir/fl, a kind of birch-tree.
E. be, A. S. */o-« ; Russ. bu-ilt> to be, &i-A(, I shall \
Lat./tf-r^, to be, _A-i', I was; Gk. ^b-ta, Pers. b£-dan, 1
4A(, to be.
E. break, Goth, brik-an ; Lai. /ra{K)g-ert, pt. t. y>ifl
to break. Cf. Y.. fragment, from the same root.
E. brow ; Russ. ^ropf, Gk. o-^pt't ; Pers. a-brS, Skt. bh
E. brook, v., A. S. brttcan. to enjoy ; Lat. _/>■«!'. pp.yrtt
{= '/rug-tus), to enjoy, yVwf-w, fruil, Skt. W<y* (= ' J
for * bhrug), to enjoy. Cf. %. fruit, from the French.
E. blow, (as wind); Lai. /o-r^.
E. black, A. S. i/isf, orig. sense 'burnt' or ' scorclied by
fire ■ ; Lat. fag-rare, to burn ; Gk. i^\iy-ta, to burn ; Skt.
bharg-as, Ught, brightness. Cf. "S.. flagrant.
E. blmv (as a flower) ; Lat. flo-s, a flower, fio-r-ert, I
flourish ; O. Irish bld-lht, bloom, bliih, a 6owcr.
FiKAL AND Medial. The Teut. final b, preserved in
Gothic, is weakened to v (written /) in Anglo-Saxon. In
a few words, such as turf, the i) is strengthened to f by its
position. This A. S./" usually becomes ve in modern Englij
§ laa.l EXAMPLES, I4I
E. carve^ A. S. ceorf-ariy G. kerb-en ; Gk. ypai^tw, to scratch,
grave, inscribe, write *. Cf. O. Irish cerh-aim^ I cut.
E. calf\ Gk. /3pc^off (for * y/w^-or), foetus, foal, whelp, cub,
calf: Skt. ^ar^^-a, foetus.
E. cleave^ to split, A. S. cUof-an^ Icel. kljUf-a ; Gk. yXv^-rur,
to hollow out, engrave, Lat. glub-ere (for * glubh-ere), to peel.
(We speak of cleavage with relation to splitting in layers,
like peel.)
E. and A. S. turf\ prob. related to Skt. darbh-a^ a kind of
matted grass.
£. nave (of a wheel), A. S. naf-a^ naf-u \ Skt. ndbh-i^ navel,
nave of a wheel.
E. beaver, A. S. be/er ; Russ. 3(7^^^, Lat. fiber ; Skt. babkru,
a large ichneumon.
E. /lig/^ dear, A. S. Uof, Goth. /I'l/^-x ; Russ. Itob-oiy agreeable,
liob-o, it pleases; Lat. lub-et, it pleases; Skt. lubh, to covet,
desire.
E. weave, A. S. wef-an) Gk. v^^ (for * fc^^), a web;
Skt vdbh'ts, a weaver, in the comp. Urna-vdbhis, a spider, lit.
' wool-weaver,' cited by Curtius.
E. shffoe, A. S. scof-ian, weak verb, allied to scHf-an,
to shove, strong verb ; Skt. kshobh-a (for * skobha), agitation,
Jishubh (= * skubh), to become agitated.
* Grave and rafv^ leem to be variants from the same root, viz. Aryan
SKARBH ; carve keeps the K (s being lost) ; whilst A. S. grqf-an and
Gk. yp6^af shew a weakening firom « to y.
CHAPTER IX.
CoNSONANTAI. SHIFTING : VeBNER's Law.
5 133. In Chapter VII I have given Grimm's Law i
usual form. The original notion, as started by Rash
Grimm, seems to have been'lhal, at some extremely early
period, the Parent (or Aryan) Speech split up into three
systems, well distinguished by three different habits of using
the chief consonants. And, in some mysterious way, this
happened, perhaps, contemporaneously. It is obvious that
nothing of the kind could ever have taken place. All ex-
perience shews that sound-changes take place but slowly, and
new habits take long to form. Indeed, the assumption that
the three systems took their rise contemporaneously is as
needless as it is unlikely. Further, it is not a good plan to
talk about the shifting of Sanskrit forms into Teutonic ; for
it is quite certain that the Sanskrit forms are often themselves
of a degraded type. The shifting took place, not from San-
skrit or Greek, nor even from the ' classical ' languages con-
sidered collectively, but from the Aryan or Parent Speech.
At what lime the Low German languages shifted the Ar3:an
sounds, we cannot say; but we at least know that it must
have been in a very early prehistoric period, since the Gothic
of the fourth century shews the shifting almost wholly carried
out It is perfectly safe to say that it took place soon after
the Christian era at the latest. On the other hand, the
shifting from the Low German sounds to the High German
ones was not only much later, but can be historically traced.
Many of the oldest High German poems abound with Low
German forms. The celebrated 'Strasburgh Oath,'
CONSONANTAL SHIFTING.
\ godes (not gotUs
* the
; tf'ing K
842, has dag (not lag') for 'da
genitive of 'god,' though the nominative i:
rfi'flg-) for ' thing.' Otfrid's metrical version of the Gospel
history has dohter, daughter, duan, to do, Ihanken, to thask,
thursl, thirst, &c. ; yet Otfrid was only born a few years
before a. d. 800. As an exact date is hardly possible, it is
enough (o say that this shifting, begun about a. d. 6od, was
still going on in the ninth century. I cannot do better than
quote ihe words of Strong and Meyer, in their History of the
German Language, 1886, p. 70.
'The High German language, though belonging to the West
Teutonic group, is yet divided from the other members of this
group, as well as from those of the East Teutonic, by a process
of consonantal sound -shifting which in many respects bears
great similarity to that which separates all the Teutonic Ian-
guagcB from the other Indo-European languages. It is there-
fore sometimes called the second sound -shifting process. This
process set in about 600 a.d., originating in the mountains of
South Germany, and began thence to spread southwards and
northwards, affecting the languages of the Langobards, Alemans,
Swabians, Bavarians, and Franks, until it gradually came to
A Standstill in the regions of the lower Rhine. Taking these
sound-changes as a test, we call all Teutonic languages and
dialects that were affected by them High German, and all those
left unaffected by them we call Low German.
'This whole sound-shifting process was, however, nowhere
consistently carried out. While the dentals are consistently
shifted on the entire High German territory, excepting alone in
the Middle- Franconian dialect, the shifting of gutturals in uk-
laut and in auslaut [i.e. initially and finally] after consonants
is confined to the so-culled Upper German dialects, and that
of initial labials ceases to operate in the Rhcno- Franconian
dialect.'
It follows that High German was originally, as regards the
use of its consonants, in complete accordance with Low
German ', so that its later characteristics are, comparatively.
144
VERjmflS LAW.
of no particular importance to the student of early Englidif
It was natural thai Grimm should inclutJe it in his scheme,
but il would have been better to treat it separately, because
the facts had to be forced to try lo make the scheme look
lomplete, It is not only more convenient, but absolutely
more scientlGc, to leave it out of consideration in taking a
survey of the consonantal system of the Aryan languages.
We then have only to deal with one fact, viz. that the Low
German languages, or (to speak with perfect exactness) the
Teutonic languages generally, shifted the Aryan {not merely
the 'classical') sounds according to a formula which may
roughly be denoted by the following symbols, viz. GHw>
Gw>Q>KHw(Hw); GH >G >K>kH(H): DH>D>
T>TH; and BH>B>P>PH{F). Let il be noted that
the symbol > means * older than ' or ' passes into,' in accord-
ance with its algebraical value of ' greater than.'
5 124. The real discovery made by Rask and Grimm was,
briefly, this. They practically said — ' It is not enough to ob-
serve that the Latin trcs corresponds to E. three, or the Latin
tu lo the English thou; these are only special instances
a great general law. that a Latin initial / corresponds to
English initial th, whatever the word may be ; and, similailjr,
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 tye. Al
the same time, the true philologist must really deal ti'ith l/u
sounds themselves, and it only is by a recognition of diis all-
important truth that most modern advances in tlie science of
Swedish. Bad Notwcgiui . . . have really kept lo the original fonn of
Cemumic speech, whilst High Germaa has sepacsled itielf (rom tbu
cocnmon tbandatiuD.'— Scherer, Hist. Germ. Lit., i. 35.
ilin
I
I "5-1
GRIMM'S LAiy.
languages have been made. The symbol is a mere make-
shift; the sound is subject lo real physiological laws which
arc of primary importance, and frequently, or as some would
say, invariably, act with suqirising regularity '. The best plan
is to regard the formulse of sound -shifting, in 5 107, as fur-
nishing a convenient empirical rule, which should, in every
case of word- com pari son, be carefully considered. The facta
themselves are nearly two thousand years old, and Grimm's
Law only formulates ihem conveniently. 1 have already
observed that ■ the popular notions about Grimm's Law are
extremely vague. Many imagine that Grimm vtade the law
not many years ago, since which time Latin and Anglo-Saxon
have been bound lo obey il. But the word imu is then
Strangely misapprehended ; il is only a law in the sense of
[ an observed /act. 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 wits 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 lo
establish an exception to the rule in ortler to compare a
Rngle (supposed) pair of words [such as E. can, A.S. cearu,
and Lat. cuto, 0. Latin coira\ which did not agree in the
vowel-sound, and did not originally mean the same thing'.'
§ 125. Il is extremely important to observe here that, after
all, several of the above supposed shiflings are not really
confined lo the Teutonic branch of Languages. Take, for
example, the word brother. Ski. bhniiar. Here the Aryan
BH is only kept in ihe Skt. hhrdlar, Gk. ^pCnrip, and the Lat.
' Exceptions are crgardcd as due to Ihe citi-mal jnlluciice or rormi
whicb lecm lo Ik m the same cnlcgory. YtiMi A. S. Wre is now latrl,
bccauK wc iliendy hnd art. shall, V-ill.
■ Some of tlie ipellingi in jlilfrLti'i tianslalioa of Ocoaius are doc
« litllc rtmiirlmblc. He writes GiAcs for Lai. Cadii, MiSia for Media,
Alhlani for Atlat ; Fulgaroi are ' Bul^ariuiK,' Crecu aie ' Greeks,' Src.
• Pref. IQ Etyro. Did., p. xxiv.
146
VBRNEKS LAW.
rc«
fralfr ; it is B ihai appears in Russ. brat (spelt bralrtt in
Old Church -Slavonic), O. Irish brdihair, Lilh. brolts, P
birddar (Zend and O- Pers. brdlar) as well as in the GotI
brolhar. In this respect the table given in \ 107 is very
nificant ; and, in fact, the weakening of bh to b occurs in
Sanskrit itself, as in bandh, for bhandh, to bind. Latin often
has d for Arj'an DH. and g for GH ; and, in the same way,
the E. door goes wiih Russ. dvtrc, and O. Irish dorus, as dis-
tinct from the Gk. 6up-a; whilst the A.S. nceg-el, a nail, goes
with Russ. nog-ok, Liihuan. nag-as, a nail, as distinct from
Skt, nakh-a, itself a variant for *nagh-a. Certainly, the three
shiftings expressed by GH>G, DH>D, and BH>B are
natural simplifications which can surprise nobody. For
whatever sounds were denoted by GH, DH, BH, il is fair to
suppose that they were more difficult of utterance than ihe
sounds denoted by G, D, and B only. Further, the Teutonic
symbol KH merely meant h, so that the formula K
really represents a change from k to A, and of these
sounds k requires the greater effort. There is, no d<
some difficulty about such changes as G>K, D>T
they were probably due to a striving after distinctness,
order to separate the original G and D from the degi
instances of GH and DH, They are not more
(lerful than the Highlander's pronunciation of very good as
/try coot. Without pursuing this subject further, I will
merely observe that, in Anglo-Saxon, the Greeks arc called
Cr/cas quite as often as they are called Gr&as. The
(ioihic bishop Wuliila called them Krekds.
§ 126. Vflmer's Law. Notwithstanding all exceptions,
some of which are real and some apparent, the Teutonic-
sou nd-shiftings exhibit, upon the whole, a surprising iegu>
Uriiy; and every anomaly deserves careful consideration,
because we may possibly learn from it some useful lesson.
' 1 do not here include Ibe cbonee denoted by B > P. which ii, m
n ibe
ilonic
won- ^^
..,.]
EFFECT OF ACCENT.
■47
I
II was just by taking this scientific view that the remarkable
law called ' Verner's Law ' was discovered, which I now pro-
ceed 10 explain and illustrate. The particular anomaly
which it explains is well exemplified by comparing ibe Lai."
pattr, maUr,/ralfr, Skt. pitar, mdlar, bhrdlar, with their Teu-
tonic equivalents. In modern English ive \\A\ft father, mother,
brolhtr, because constant association has given the words the
same ending -liter, but this is not the case in Anglo-Saxon,
nor even in Middle English'. The Chaucer MSS. have
fader, moder, brother, in agreement with K.%. fitder.mSdor,
hrSSor, O. Friesic feder, moder, brother, O. Saxon fadar,
m6dar, br6lhar,Go\h\c /adar, brolhar (ibe Gothic word for
' mother ' being ailhei). I may add, on the authority of Dr.
Pcilc, whose assistance in describing Verner's Law I thank-
fiilly acknowledge, that the dialect of S.W. Cumberland still
employs the words _/aA/-, mudder, brother, in accordance with
Anglo-Sixon. It is quite certain that the true Teutonic types
of these three words are fader, m6der. br6ther, whilst the
tine Aryan types are pater, matkr, bhrater. The last of these
■hews the shifting T >TH, whilst the two former shew T > D.
Here is something worth investigation. There should be
some reason for this ; and the problem is, to discover it
f 187. 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 Zeitschrifl, vol. xxiii.
p. 97 (1877). PiThaps the first thought that might occur to
any one who lakes up the problem would be this, viz. that
the Lat. pater differs from /rater in having a short vowel in
[he former syllable, whilst the a in/rater is long. Unluckily,
this breaks down at once, because the o in ?nater is long,
which links 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 cuy to find examples oS/allUr, mother before 150a. Lit
VERifSRS zaip:
e find ihe words lo be >
(with long a), which slill links
UT^P ; but the fact is, ihat ihe Greek does not in llns instanosfl
t the 0
inal Aryan a
., though i[ is often a good "
represent
guide, Sanskrit, on ilie contrary,
solves the dilliculty. In Sanskrit, the true old nominatives
vierepi/a-r, mdia'r, bhrd-lar (first a long), when ihe doi after
a vowel denotes that it was accented. That is to say, pHar
and malar were accented on the latter syllable, but bhrdtar
upon the formtr. Hente 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 Ziow
German h, th, or f ; but if the accent baB any other
poBitioa. it beoomea (as it were by a double shifting)
g, d, or b.
To this it must be added, by way of necessary eKplanation,
that the Aryan and Sanskrit (and indeed the Greek) act
was at first, at least predominantlj', an accent of pilch, ai
concerned the tone of the voice, having nothing to do with
Irngtli or ' quantity ' of a syllable, nor j'ct with stress, as
modern English, Verner thinks that the Teutonic accent ^
one of stress also, not of pitch only ; so that (he stress falling
upon Ihe vowel of an accented syllabic preserved the con-
sonant which followed it from funher change beyond its first
sliifiing, Otherwise, the consonant following an tmaccented
syllable suffered further change. Thus the Teutonic brO^,
THEB, accented on the /ormer sylhible, kept its th unchanged]
but the Teutonic fathek. accented (in the earliest pcriod)bl
on the latter syllable, suffered a further change of th to D^,'
thus becoming fader.
§ 128. Vemer's Law (in the original a«rman>.
ought lo say that I have only staled Vnncr's Law, as giveVi
above, in a popular way. His own words shall now begivcfti
■ IiiJogerin. *, /./, gingtn erst Uberall in h. /i.yubeT
^
»'
EXAMPLES.
MV
I
enstandenen fricalivK ncbst der vom Indogermanisclien
ererbten totilosen frioitiva. j wurden weiler inlautend bei
lOnenden nachbarschaft selfast tSnend, erhielten sich aber als
tonlose im nachiaute betonler Silbeit.' I. e. ' The Aryan t. I,
f, first of ali sliifted into h, fk, and/; the fricatives thus
produced (together with the voiceless fricative s when in-
herited from tlie Aryan) afterwards became, when medial and
in voiced company, themselves voiced [i. e. chanKcd to gi d,
6, s]; but remained unchanged when following an accented
syllable,' It may be added thai llie a. thus produced from
*. 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 of j to 8 as well as the change of
i, /, and ;* to g, c/, and &, that his explanation has been ac-
cepted without question.
§ 128. Examples, The use of the Law consists in ils
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
e^lanation. It has already been shewn lo explain the differ-
ence in form between the A. S. br43or, brother, and the A. S.
/(eder, mSJor, in which the 3 has been further weakened to
rf, owing to the fact ihat the original Teutonic accent fell
upon the la/Ur syllable of those words, whereas in the case of
br63or, it fell upon the former syllabic. But it explains a
great deal more than this- For example the Skt. a-nlara,
other, was accented on the first syllable ; hence the Teutonic
form was a"nthero, with the same accent, whence A. S. S3er ',
E. oliur, wiih /h for /, and no further change, On the otlitr
hand, the Skt. ania-r, within, was accented on the littler
syllable; hence the Teut. form was first antheti and
' The A S. form was originn.Uy, *aHfAir ;
into OH, it tjccame 'en/Air ; nnd again, becao!
il became (Uer, the towel being lengthened ti
of •. Cf. /.W, toolh, for • ranO, Lat, dtnl-cm.
as A. S. changes n
. S. drops H before f'
mpensate for the Ioeg
15°
VERNERS LAW.
[Cw
, IX.
secondly akder, whence ihc A. S, under, E. undrr, wilh a Blighl
change of sense. (The G. unltr is siill often used precisely
like ihe La(. i-nter) Grimm's Law would have made the
Tem. form anther. Once more, the Skt. (ruta- (Gk. nXm-iii),
heard, from fru. to hear, was accented on the latler syllable ;
the corresponding Teui. form was first hlutha', and secondly
HLUBA", whence A. S. Mud, E. loud. Grimm's Law would
have made it loulh. Yet again ; the SkL spfidlr (=sf>hali, for
*tpali), signifying 'increase," was accented on the laller
syllable ; the corresponding Teutonic word was first spflTW,
and secondly spfloi', which {by a rule of vowel-change lo be
explained hereafter) became the A. S.sp/d, E, speed. Grimm's
Law would have made it speelh. On the other hand, the Skt.
drya, venerable, honourable, gives a sb. aryw-ld, honourable-
ness, accented on the second syllable, i. e. the accent just pre-
cedes the suffix -la. Hence the corresponding suffix in
Teutonic was -tha, which usually suffered no further change.
This is tbe sufhx so common in English, as in ■weal-ih.
heal-lh, slreng-lh. Sec. To take another instance, we may
exemplify the curious change of j lo z and r, as to which
Grimm's Law says nothing ; it only occurs where s has beeD
voiced to a because the accent does not precede il.
Sanskrit causal verbs are formed by adding the suffix -aya.
as in bhar-aya, to cause to bear, from bhx. to bear. This
suffix is an aeeenled one, having an accent on the former a.
The corresponding suffix in Teutonic Is -jan or -tan, which
also originally took the accent, so that causa! verbs in Teu-
tonic were at first accented on the suffix, not on ihe root.
Hence, from the verb rise, A. S. rh-an ', was formed a causal
verb 'ras-ian, in which, by Verner's Law, the s became first
s and afterwards r\ In fact, we meet with it only in the con-
tracted form rdr-an, mod. E. rear. Here Verner's Law s(
' The mirk o>er the ■' dcnolei laiglh onl^. It h>i DMhiog to da
with the peculiar Teutonic Rcceal here discnssed. So !il«i in the cue
of rii-ian, 4c., (he mMk Mill denotci vowel -lenylh ooly.
n '30-]
ANGLQ-SAXOW GRAMMAR.
t causal
I
once explains how the E, verb lo rtar is the correct c
fonn of the verb to Hst ; i. e. the original sense of rear was
simply ' lo 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 s 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 t-q/b). In other words, Vcmer's Law not
only accounts for the variation in form between rear and
raise, but enables us to trace them to the same Teutonic
fonn raisjan; in fact, it tells us all we want to know.
Instances might be multiplied almost indefinitely ; it is suf-
ficenC to say that Vemer's Law is most admirable and
satisfactory, because it ful!y explains so many cases in which
Grimm's Law seems to fait.
§ 130. Fointa in A. 8. Qrammar. There are some
points in A. S. grammar which Verner's Law explains, and
which are too important to be passed over. Thus, among
ihe verbs of the 'rfr/Vrt- conjugation' (see Sweet's A. S.
Grammar) is the verb snfS-an, to cut (G. schneideti). The past
lense singular is ic snad, I cut, but the past tense plural is
w/ snid-oti, we cut, and the pp. is snid-ert ; where snid-on,
ttiid-en, shew a change from S to d. The explanation is the
same as before, viz. that the original accent fell on iHxe/ormer
syllable of snid-an and on the only remaining syllable of snd3,
bat on the laller s}'llable of snidon and sniden. Turning lo
Sanskrit, this is at once verified. The Ski. bhid, to break or
cleave, has the pt. t. bi-bhcd-a with accent on the root; whilst
the first person plural of the same tense is bi-bhid-ima', with
the accent on the last syllable. The pp. is bkin-na-, also
accented on the final vowel. Precisely in the same way, the
' Thai Icel, kjSta, to choose, has both kcsinn finJ kjorinn in the pp.
* The ImI. j, iKjth in rba and rtisa, i> pronounced u j, not ■ ; w
it could not pass into r.
J^EKNERS LAW.
verb (^osan, to choose, has for ihe first
pers,
itigularof th4^^1
past tense the form Uns ; but the plural suffered change, first
into *cuzon, and secondly into euron, which is the only form
found. We can now easily foretell that the pp. was not cosen,
but eorin, as was in Tact the case ; the modern E. has restored
the s (by ' form-association ' with the infinitive chopst), so that
we now have chosen. This remarkable r is still preserved
the word forlorn, which has been isolated from the verb to
which it belongs. It was once a pp., answering to A. %./<>.
loren, pp. q\ for-Uosan, where /or- is an intensive prefix, and'
teesan is closely connected with (l>ut not quite the same word
as) our verb to lose. Hence /or-laru meant, originally, utterly
lost, left quite destitute. Some other facts which Vemer's I^w
explains, may be also mentioned here. The Gothic infinitive
of the verb 'to slay' is slahan, contracted in A. S. to tledn;
the A. S. pt. t. ( I p. s.) is sl^A (with h '), but die plural is
slSgon, and (he pp. tlagm (with g), E. slain. Lastly, the
Greek accents suffice to help us lo the form of the A. S. co
parative. Gk. lias i8ur, sweet, but in the comparative
accent is thrown back (where it can be) upon the root,
seen in the neuter ^at (cf. the superlative iJBiBroe) ; and,
correspondence with this, we find the Gothic comparati'
from the base bat- (good) is not bat-rsa (with s), but ba't-itd-
(with a). Consequently, the A. S. lurns the Teutonic
-izo into -iVa, -era, -ra, as in bet-ra, E. belt-rr ; and genersllj
all our mod. E. comparatives end in -er, whilst the superlatii
end in -est, because the s is protected from change by
following /. Cf. Goth, ba/-ti/-s, best, Gk. ,'«-
§ 131. Tedio Acoentnation. It is a singular result
Vemer'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 I Let u*
try an ejiamplc. We find, in A.S„ that the vcib /(3-aa,
4
^
I
I
EXAMPLES. 153
travel, makes the pas I lense tad, pi. Ud-on, pp. hd-en ; and we
further find that the past lense of ihe subjuticiive mood lakes
ihe form lid-t, pi. lid-tn. We should iherefore expect that,
in the corresponding Sanskrit lenses, the accent falls on the
SulSx rather than on the root-syllahle ; accordingly, we find
thai, in the first person plural of the second preterite, the
accent falls on the last syllable, as in bibliidima-, we clove
(Si3°)> "n*^ >'> 'lie perfect potential tense, the accent falls
upon the sulSx -fitm, as in bibhidya-m, pf, potent, of bhid, to
cleave.
% 132. Qenerol ReeultH. The following are the general
results given hy Verner, with reference to the above Law.
They merely slate it in a difi'erent form,
I. Even after the occurrence of the first consonantal
shifting, the Teutonic languages preserved the original Aryan
accentuation.
3. 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, I. p appear in Teutonic sometimes as h.
th, f, and Eometimes as g, d, 6, such variation is due to the
old Aryan accentuation.
4, Whenever j appears in Teutonic sometimes as j and
nmetimes as z (or r), such variation is due to the same
cause.
We thus see that Verncr'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 frequently In-flkd, or rendered
onirorm. its shifted forms, being in this respect a less faithful
representative of the original Teutonic dian either Anglo-
Saxon or Icelandic.
§ 183. Examples, A few examples arc added, by \vay of
illustration.
154
VBRNER'S LAW.
[Chai-.TX,
Gutturals, We find g for h in the A. S. pt. I. pi. sl^-on,
from sWan (Goth, slah-an), to slay; whilst the pi, t. sing, la
sl6h, regularly. So also in the pt. t. pi. JnvSg-on of Jnv^n
(Goth. Ihwah-an), to wash ; whilst the pi. t sing, is J>w6h
(Matt, xxvii. 34). So, too. in the pp. of these verbs, we
slag-itt, pivag-en, not * slah-en, * jnvah-en.
DeataU. Examples of d for th (/) are more numei
and important. Thus, ihe Ski. tiliya, third, is accented
the second, ooi the first syllable ; hence the Goih. form is
not 'J-ri/ija, but pridja, with which cf. A. S. Pridd-a, M. E.
thrid, mod. E. third. This change does not apply 10 ih€
olher ordinal numbers on account of their peculiar forms ;
Ihus we find A. 'A.p.ft-a, fifth, jiJcZ-a, sixth, rai/^-iT, eleventh,
iwilfia-, twelfth, all with voiceless / on account of the pre-
ceding voiceless /"or s. Such pronunciations a&fifl and sixl
may still be heard in provincial English. Seventh, dghlh,
ninlh, are in A, S, seo/oPa, eahlojm, nigoPa, where (he origin^
accent jutt preceded the p ; whilst fourth, A.S. fiorpa^
conformed to the analogy of the prevalent form in -}>a.
The d for Ih in hard is explained by ihc accent of the Gk.
nfKTT'it. E. -hood, common as a suffix, is the A. S. had,
Goth, haid-us, cognate with Skt. kelu\ 'a distinguishing
mark,' with the accent on the u. £. and A. S. vnder, Goth*
ttwrfur, is cognate with Skt. a«to-r, within ; whilst E.o/fer,i
anlhar, on the contrary, is cognate with Skt. arnlara, ot
with the accent on the first syllable. The Skt, pp. suffii -Hi
was accented, and for this reason E. past participial forms
end in d, not Ih ; examples arc E, lou-d, A, S. hlH-d, cognate
with Gk. JiXv-Tt!i, renowned, Skt. {ru-la', heard ; E. ol'd, A.S.
eal-d, cognate with Lai. al-lus^ pp. of al-ere, to nourish ; E,
dea-d, A. S. d^a-d, Goth, dau-ti-t, whibt the allied sb. is
dea-lh, A. S. d/a-iS, Goth, daulh-us ; E, nak-ed, A. S. nat-od,
Goth, nakw-alhs ; and generally, the E. pp. ends in -d or -ed,
whilst the Goih. pp. invariably ends in -Ih-s. So, too. in the
case of causal verbs, the primilive accent on the causal suffik
i on "
I
CHANCE OF S TO R. 155
(A.S. -tan, in contracled form -an) lead us to eapect d in
place of M. Hence we have Y-.kad, vb., A.S. lad-an (=.*lad-
ian), causal of lid-an, to travel ; E. smd, A. S. send-an, Goth.
sand-Jan. a causal verb allied to Golb. sinlh-s, a journey.
Note also the A. S. pi. 9. cwap, quoih, pi. cwdd-on \ and the
A- S. pp. sod-cn, E. sodd-en, from the infin. s/oS-an, E. seelhe.
lAbials- A good example occurs in E. sei'en, of which
the Goth, form is sibun, not * si/un ; cognate with Vedic Skt.
iapia'fi, Gk. iara. It is remarkable, however, that the Tcut.
h always appears as/ in A. S. at the end of a syllable {where
it was not sounded asy| but as v). See 5 122,
The letter r for s. E. hare, A. S. har-a (for *kaz-a\ G.
Has-t ; cognate «ith Skt. ffff-a- (for f'«-a'), a hare. E. lore,
A. S. lar, together with the causal verb Mr-an, to teach,
shew r for j ; cf. the Goth, lat's-jan, to teach, connected
with the pi. s. Im's, I have learnt, of which the infin. " ki's-an
does not appear. So also in the case of all comparatives of
adjectives, already mentioned ; as in E. bfll-er, A. S. bel-ra,
cognate with Goth, bat-iza, better. The A.S. pp. corm,
chosen, from c/os-an. lo clioose, is mentioned above ; as also
ihe old \i^./or-tvrn. Another interesting example occurs in
the A. S. pp./roren, for which mod. E. has substituted frozen,
as being more easily associated with the \\i%n. freeze. But
country people still complain of ' being from! and we have
the authority of Milton for the form frore, which is merely
the A. ^.froren with the loss of final M.
' The parching air
Bums frore, and cold performs Ih' effect of fire.'
Par. Lost, ii. 594-5.
CHAPTER X.
Vowel-Gradation.
S 134. One of the most important matters in etytnolof
is the consideration of the relationship of some of the o1d(
vowel-sounds, which are lo a certain extent connected b^§
what is known as ' gradation,' or in German, abhul. Suckl
a connection is especially noticeable in the case of the sire
verbs, which form the past lense and past participle by meai
of such gradaiion or vowel-change. Thus the past icnse <t
drink ts drank, onA ihe past participle is drunken; vie htw^
here an alteration fiom / lo a, and again to u. It is oIm
viously highly important that we should investigate to i
extent such alterations are regular, and are capable of t
tabulated. It may be noted, by the way, that similar altei
tions in the vowel-sounds are found in other Aryan language
and are not confined to Teutonic only. Thus, in Greek, H
find that the verb Xiiir-tir. to leave, makes the perfect ten
\i~'koin-a, and the second aorist (-Xtir-ov ; that is, there is 4
gradaiion from *t to «, and again to i. Neither i
gradation confined to the verb ; it appears also in \
derivatives; thus we have the sb. XiJ^.t {= 'Xdir-nt), ,
leaving; the adj. Xoar-it, remaining; and numerous c
pounds beginning with Xuro-, as in Xtiru-y^/ifiamc, waivtii
a letter, whence E. li'pogram. In Latin we have /i^
{=*yi:id-ere), lo trust; in connection with which are the a
fid-US. trusty, the sb. J}d-(s, faith, and the sb. fim
{ = 'foid-us). a compact, treaty. These shew a gradadl
GRADATION IN MODERN ENGLISH.
157
I
'. («■) lo oe {pi), and again to ?. These arc merely given
furlher illustrations; in (he present chapter I shall only
discuss gra<iation as it nfTects the Teutonic languages,
especially Anglo-Saxon an<i Gothic,
\ 13S. Modern English it^ but an unsafe guide to gradation.
A considerable number of the strong verbs, which were once
perfectly regular, may no«- fitly be named ' irregular,' al-
though thai name is chiefl)- used lo conceal the ignorance of
grammarians who are unable to understand the laws of
gradalioD. 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 Tor both.
To make the confusion worse, we find instances in which
Uie 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
I in which a verb has been associated with another which
loriginally belonged lo a different conjugation, or with an
Rallied weak verb, or has been altered from a strong verb to a
%eak one. Thus the verb to bear has the pi. t. bare, and the
pp. horn, borne. Bui the pi. I. bare is obsolescent, and is
commonly replaced by bore, in which the 0 is borrowed from
, the pp. l"he A. S. stand-on, to stand, had the pt. i. sl6d, and
I the pp. slanden ; but the form standen has disappeared, and
[■the pi. t. shod is also used in the pp. Such a form as
I ^oktn shews great confusion ; the A. S. verb was sprec-an,
pL I- sprac, pp. sprtcen, which should have given in modem
English, with (he loss of r, an infin. sptak, with the pt. t,
^ke, and a pp. *sfieim ; but it was naturally associated with
the verb /o break, of which the true pt. L was brake, and the
pj>. broken. The result was the use of spoken, as associaled
with broken ; moreover, the past tenses spake and brake have
become archaic, and are usuallj- supplanted by spaki and
br^ ; where the 0 of broke is borrowed from the true form
of its pp. ; but that of spoke from a faht form. The verb lo
158
VOWEI^GRADA TTOIf,
[Ou*.:t.
hold made the pt. L Md, and the pp. hold-en, but the latter
has been supplanted by the pt. t. ' He was held down ' is,
hislorically, a shamefully incorrect form ; but it is now con-
sidered good grammar, and we must not now say anything
else '. Again, the old strong intransilm verb to wake made
the pt. t. yxke, so that it was correct to say / woke ; but
it was confused with the derived weak tramitivt verb to wakt,
so that we may now hear 'I woke him up' instead of 'I
waktd him up,' which was the original phrase, Convei
we find ' I waked' used intransitively. Many verbs, such
creep, weep, sleep, which were once strong, arc now weak.
There is even one remarkable instance in wliich a weak verb
has become strong, viz. the verb lo wear. pi. t. viorr, \
worn ; simply by association with bare, bore, born- The M.
urrm, 10 wear, is invariably weak, with a pt. 1. werede
wered, and a pp. wered.
' Of fiistian he ivered a gipoun.'
Chaucer, Prolog, to C. T., 73.
§ 1S8. It follows from this that the modern English stroii|['
verbs cannot be properly understood without comparing
them with ihe Middle English and A. S. forms ; and it is
absolutely necessary lo 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. Ouilines of
E. Gramm.. pp. 285-307, and need not be furthur discussed
here. Our present object is to discover ihe original Teu-
tonic vowel -gradation, and for this purpose we 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 which
I
REDVPUCATING VERBS.
159
I
have already given in ihe Introduclion to Morris's Specimens
of English from 1150 to 1300, p. bcvii (and ed.). The
seven conjugations are exemplified in modem English by
ihe verbs _/a//, shake, tear, give, drink, drive, and choose;
which may be remembered by aid of the following doggerel
couplet —
'If e'er \hoM fall, the shake with patience bear;
I Give; seldom drink; drive slowly; choose with care.'
i The investigation of the modes of conjugation of these seven
verbs will now occupy our attention.
§ 137. Redtiplicating Verbs : the Verb * to fell.' Verbs
of the 'fall' 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. Wc still
have the pp./iill-en itova/all, blcw-n from blow,grmv-n from
grew, hrw-n from hni\ and the obsolescent hold-en from
AjW. The wordyi;// can be traced back to an Aryan root
9PAL, as seen in the Skt. sphal (for 'spal), 10 tremble; Gk.
v^oUk-fii' (for •(rjrdXX-*w), to trip up, cause to fall ; whence,
by loss of initial s, we have the Lai, fall-err, to deceive,
oiig. to trip up, and the E. fall. Both English and Latin
words begin with the same letter/, because of the lost s of
ihe root ; the 'La.x.falUre (for *sfallcr€) being due to a change
oi tfi \o sf (as in Gk. air to irtp) ; whilst / is the regular
I Teutonic substitution for Aryan/ by Grimm's Law. Now the
I Iju. fall-ere makes the pt. t, fi-frll-i by reduplication; and,
in precisely the same way, the Gothic verb hald-an, to hold,
makes the pi. L in the form hai-hald^ ; i.e. the initial letter
of the verb is repeated, followed by short ai (for /). So
also we have Go\Vi./alth-an, to fold, pi. t. fai-fallh ; hail-an,
to call, pt I. hai-hait; laik-an, to skip, pt. t lai-laik. In a
■ The Goth. faH-an, to fall, doei not bappeo ti
past tenae wonW bc/ai-fall.
; if it did, it
1 6o yo fVEL- GRAB A TIOAT. [Chap. X.
few cases, the Gothic exhibits a vowel-change from e to o
as well as reduplication, as in let-an, to let, pt. t. lai-lot;
red-an, to provide for, pt. t. rai-rolh. Anglo-Saxon exhibits
but very few examples of reduplication ; the principal being
heht^ Goth, hai-hait, pt. t. of hdl-an, to call; reord, Goth.
rai-rothy pt. t. of rid-arty to advise ; leolc, Goth, lat-laik, pt t.
of Idc-aUy to skip ; and the disfigured forms leorty Goth, lai-loiy
pt. t. of Idt-an, to let ; and an-dreord, pt. t. of on-drdd-ariy 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 io\ thus, corresponding to the Goth, hai-
haldy we have A. S. hiold^ whence E. held. Similarly, corre-
sponding to the theoretical Goth, ^fai-fally we have A. S,//oll,
E. /dl. For further particulars, see Sievers, O. E. Gram.
§ 395, &c.
§ 138. It is found that the A. S. strong verbs haveywr
principal slems, to which all other forms may be referred '.
These are :
(i) the 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) the first preterit-stem y to which belong only the ist
and 3rd persons of the singular of the preterit indicative.
[The I St PKRS. 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 stem of the past participle.
In the \iOxdifall these four stems are, in their A. S. forms,
' I copy thb account from Sievers, O. £. Gr. % 379.
IUo-3
THE vehb 'fall:
i6r
ras follows: iutin. /tai/-an (O. Mercian yo//-j«) ; ist pt. s.
_;ftii//; ist pt. pLyi-o/Z-os; pp. /ealZ-fn. It will be obseired
.Uiat 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
farther explanation in this case. Full lists of the Principal
Sterna (or Parts) of the strong verbs will be found further on
(5153}; P- "fi?-
{ 188. The following are the principal mod. E. verbs
which once belonged to theya/Z-conjugation ; together with
some weak verbs derived from obsolete strong verbs of that
conjugation.
Here belong; (a) verbs still strong, as behold^ /all, hang
(intransitive), hold, lei; beat; blow (as wind), blow (as a
Bower), crmv ', grow, know, throw : ifi) go, pp. gont, the old
pt t. being lost : (r) verbs now weak (though hnun, mmun and
■ appear as past participles): dread, fold,well,iviild; walk\
tlttp, vxtp : fl&w, glow, law (as a cow), mow, row, sow ;
I, hew, nvoop. wAetze : (d) weak verbs formed from old
ig verbs : ilend, dye. read, shed, sweep, span. Explanation
tii tbe anDmaliea found in modern English must be sought
elsewhere: liius the verb lo hang now makes the pt. t. hting,
instead of M. E. heng. The forms mew, sew (for mowed,
I lowed) are stiU in use in tbe East Anglian dialect, and
I probably in other forms of provincial speech. Finally,
the /^//-conjugation does not ai 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. Tliere are but two forms
of the 9lem, as the pp. resembles the infinitive mood (as in
ihc case above), whilst the vowel of the past tense remains
unchanged ihroughoui. The vowel of the first stem is a,
> The pp. iraii'ia ocean in C. Douglas, Ir. of Virgil, prol. to Book
762
VOWEL-GRADATION.
tCRW.!
whilst that of the second is S. This 4 is merely due to ti
lengthening of a ; cf. E. m6dor with Lat. mdltr. 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., niih
00 (=(() in the pt. I., and keeping the vowel of the infinitive
in the pp. Such a verb is shake, pt. t. shook, pp. shuk-rn ;
A. S. scac-an, later sctac-att, pt. 1. icic, pp. scac-tn.
5 141. Examples in modern English include : {a) verbs
Bdli strong — draw, forsake, shake, slay, swear ; {b) verbs with
strong past tenses or past participles— j/ttni/, wake, awake
(pt. t. stood, woke, awoke), grave, lade, shape, shave, wath,
wax (pp. graven, laden, shapen, shaven, washen, waxen) ;
(f) verbs now wholly weak^ — ache, liake, fare, flay, gnaw.
heave, laugh, seaihe, step, wade (and frequently shape, shave,
wash, wax); also lake, a word of Scand. origin, but con-
formed to the conjugation of shake, and therefore wholly
§ 142. The next three conjugations are extremely alike,
and were really formed by differentiation from a common
type. In Gothic they usually exhibit, respectively, the steniF j
vowels i, a, i, u, or else t, a, e, i, or thirdly /
corresponding to primitive Teutonic e (i). a, d, o (w), i
else e (i), a, d, e (i), or thirdly .• (0, a. ". " (") '. The g
idea of these changes is not difficult to perceive ;
start from a stem containing e or /. which is modified I
' graded ' in the second stem to a, and in the fourth to o or »
unless, as in (he second formula, the fourth vowel returns
to that of the first stem. The form of the third stem
is of comparatively small importance ; in the third formulas^
it resembles the fourth stem, whilst in the first and second H
see an ci-ident attempt to employ a long vowel i
plural number. Omitting the third stem, we find |
order to be ; (;), a, o («), which may be usefully compi
e altemalivei Le. '* (JJ'I
i M5.T
T^E VERB 'bear'
163
e gradaiion observed in some Greek verbs. Thug
, Tpiijt-tiir, lo nourish, has ihe perfect ri-Tpotp-a, and
3 aorisl i-rpocfi-oi.. Even in Latin we find kg-ere, to
vith a derivative tog-a. a garment ; prec-ari, lo pray,
whence proc-us, a wooer; segn-i, to follow, whence soc-ius,
a companion. Thus the conjugational scheme is evidently
founded upon the gradation of E to O (Teutonic A), with
la third variation which is found to be ultimately due to a
\ loss of accent.
5 148. The verb ' to bear.' The Gothic stems exhibit
\i{ai),a, i, u {au); the A. S. stems exhibit e (r), a- {a), d (a),
0 (b), corresponding to Teutonic e, a, &, 0. The Teut. e is
liformly weakened to i in Gothic, except when the vowel is
followed by r, A, or Mv, when it appears as (short) ai'. In the
fourth stem, the Teut. o is k in Gothic, except under the
same circumstances, when it appears as (short) au. These
changes are due to the effect upon the vowel of a succeeding
r or A. Examples are r Goth, brik-an, to break ; pt. t.
hrak. p). brtk-um. pp. hruk-ans : and Goth, liair-nn. to bear
I (with ai for e before r, as explained above) ; pt. t, bar, pi,
ier-um, pp. baur-ans. Anglo-Saxon preserves the t and a.
except when a nasal sound follows, when they become
i and u respectively. Examples are : ber-an, lo bear, pi. t.
fcr, pi, bdr-on, pp. bor-tn ; and nim-an, to take, pt. t. nam,
ipL ndm-cn, pp. num-en.
§ 144. Examples in modem English include (17) htar,
hreak, shear, tieal, itar ; {V) quail, which is now weak ; and
(f) eomt, the form of which is disguised, the Goth, being
hvim-an, pt. l.hi'<im,\A,hvem-um,'pp. kumm-ans. Curiously
enough, all these verbs (except giiait) are sdll strong, and
they have even added one to their number in Ihe verb wtar,
which was originally weak. See above, § 135 ; p. 158.
§ 145. .The verb 'to give.' This differs from ihe fore-
going verb lo bear only in its fourth stem, in which there is
^ a return to the original vowel of the first stem. This is
ro WEL- GRAB A TION.
n Goihic, «
pp. gib-ans; and saihm-an, lo see, pt. t.
I. saihw-ans. Anglo-Saxon commonly
1 the first stem, the chief exceptions being
l«4
observable in the mod. E. give, pt. t. govt, pp. given. Tw^|
examples maj
gaf, pi. gcb-u
sahw, pi, sehw-u
preserves the t \
when it takes a weakened form or is contracted. The verb
lo give is really no exception ; for, though ihe infinilive i«
often quoted as gif-an, a better form is giefan, where the e is
radical, and the ;* is a parasitic letter inserted after the g,
as when people call a garden a gi-arden.
§ 146. Examples in modem English include : (a) verbs si
strong, as eat, forget, gel, give, lie, see, sit, speak, slick, I
weave : (A) verbs now weak, ^%frel, knead, mete, weigh, 1
(f) the verb qiwlh, of which only the pt. I. remains; and i
originally to pray, which lias eniirely superseded the old t
signifying 'command,' which properly belonged to the cAofl
conjugation. The pt. t. iims also belongs here.
5 147. The verb ' to drink.' TheGothicslem-vowelsai
I (<i/), a, u (am), u {au), with perfect regularity ; the ai and 4
being wrilten, as explained in % 143, only when llie e
vowel is followed by r, h, or hw. Examples are : driggk-9,
to drink [wilh ggk pronounced as ngk\, pi. t. draggk, \
druggk-um, pp. druggk-ans ; bairg-an, to keep, pL t. ,
pi. baurg-um, pp. baurg-ans.
The A. S. stem-vowels are e («, 1% a (m, <b). u, 0 («).
the eo and ea occur only when the stem-vowel is followed S^
r, /, or A ; and cz only occurs mfragn, birrsi, jxirse, strand,
and brtFgd, pt. t. of/rigH-an, bersi-an,}>erse-an, stregd-an, and
bregd-an. Examples are : btrst-an. to burst, pt. t. bitrst, pL
burst-on, pp. borst'tn ; eeorf-an^ Xa carve, pL t. eearf, pi. curf-ottt
pp. corf-en ; drinc-an, lo drink, pt. t. drank, pi, drunc-on, pp.
dnine-en. Of these, ihe verb to rfr/ni is the mosl chai*0?j
terisiic, because the verbs which resemble it are mOB
merous, and are best represenled in modem English.
pcculiariiy of such verbs is ihe use of i' for .■ in the first si
1 149.] ^^■E VERB 'DRINK^
Which is due to the fact that the stem-vowel i:
■«5
.riably fol-
s mvariat
lowed by two consonants, one of which is the nasal n
(or the m or n is doubled in the A.S, form). It may be
added that, in all the verbs of this conjugation, the stem-
vowel is succeeded fm A. S.) by two consonantSj one of which
is either m, n, I, r, g, or h, i. e. either a liquid or a guttural
ktter.
$ US. Examples in modem English include : {a) swell, the
only partially strong verb which retains the vowel e, though
the pp. swollen is giving way to swelltd : {S) a large number of
g verbs containing in, viz. 6(gin, run (Lowl. Sc. rin), spin,
; bind, find, grind, wind; cling, ring, sing, sling, spring,
B»j, swing, wring; drink, shrink, sink, slink, stink; also
; (c) the following weak verbs, some of which
kave obsolescent strong past participles, viz. traid, burn,
(/, earve (pp. carven), climb (occasional pt. t. clomb), delve,
I (pp. holpcfi), mill (pp. mollen), mourn, spurn, starve,
^ash, yell, yield. The verb U'orlh, as in ' wo worlh the
■kj' ! ' belongs here. The verb to cringe seems to be a
Kondary form from A. S. cringan. Quench is a secondary
1 from A.S. twine-an, to become extinguished. Other
ttndary forms are bulge, drench, stint, stunt, swallow, throng,
'orpK
V % 14B. The verb ' to drive,' We now come to a new
idation ; where the Goth, has the stem-vowels «', ai, i iai),
~i {al); and the A.S. has the invariable set f, a, i, i. The
Gothic Bubsiiiuiion of ai for i is merely due to the presence
of r, ^ or hin, immediately succeeding the stem-vowel. The
■poth. «■ is merely the way of denoting the long i (/). The
r ' It ii wottb while lo add here that we [iiid a variation of vowels
En Ttduplicaitd wordi, iLs the; ate called ; such as thil-ckat, dilly-
daily, ding-iimg (for 'ding-dang), erinkle-crankle. ptl-pat. See. In
many of thae the root-vowel is a, weakened lo ( m the former syl-
meaiiiQgtess copy o( the principle of gradation, ind of
1(56
VOWEL-CRADA TION.
[Cair, X
A.S. a answers to a Teutonic at. 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, ax weakened to i
(short). This corresponds to the gradation observed in the
Gk, XfiV-tiv, pi. t. XtAi>i:ra, 2nd aor. t-'Kas-av ; and in the Lat.
fid-ere, to trust, with its derivatives _/iwrf-ur {^='foid'Us), a
compact, onA/ld-fs, faith, Gothic examples are: dreHnm^^
to drive, pi, t. draib, pi. drtb-um, pp. drib-ans ; ga-
to point out, pt. \..ga-taih, ^.ga-taih-um, pp.ga-/a/A-a
A.S. we have drif-an, to drive; pt. t, irdf, pi, drif-on, \
§ 160. Examples in mod. £. include : (a) verbs sdll S
or partially strong, as abide, arist, bide, bite, cleave {to adl
drive, ride, rise, shine, shrive, slide, smile, stride, strike, wri
write; to which add rive, thrive, of Scand. origin,
strive, originally a weak verb ; (b) weak verbs, as glide, ,
reap, sigh, slit, spew, twit. Though we find chode in (
xxxi, 36, the A. S. dd-an, to chide, is a weak verb, pt. t. <
The frequent occurrence of long i in the infinitive will I
observed.
§151. The verb ' to choose.' This also introduces an
gradation. Gothic has the siem-vowels iu, an. u {au), u {at
where the substitution of au for u is merely due to the e
of the slem-vowel being followed by r, h, or kw. A. S, ]
the siem-vowels fo {fi), /a, u, 0. The A. S. /o, ia, invariabTy
represent the Goth, iu, au respectively ; and both sets of
stem-vowels answer to an original Teutonic set expressed by
<u. au, u, u. We hence learn that the Teut. slem-vowel eu
can be strengthened, on the one hand, to au, and weakened,
on the other, to u. This closely resembles the Greek
gradation tv, ov, k, as seen in iktiaoimi, 1 shall go, perf.
«a^Xovfti, 2nd aor, iJXuA*, Examples in Gothic are : kius-an,
to choose, pt. t. kaus, pL ius-um. pp. ius-arts ; tiuh-an, to pnlli
pt. t. lauh, pi. tauh-um, pp. lauh-ans. In Anglo-Sason: e/os-on^^ v
r» "530
TABLES OP STEMS.
167
I
10 choose, pt. I. cAis, pi. eur-on {for *cu3-on), pp. eor-en (for
*eot-en), as shewn in § 130; also b6g-an, to bow, pL L b^ah,
pL &ug-on, pp. iog-en.
$ 163. Examples in mod. £. include : {a) verbs which still
Bbew strong forms, as choose, ckave (to %'^\\),fly,freezt, seethe,
thool; {b) verbs now weak, as brew, chew, creep, flee, !ie (to
lell lies), red, rue (all with orig. /o in the first stem) ; and
6aw, brooi, crowd, slwve, suck, sup (with & in the first stem) ; to
which we may add bereave, dive, drip,floai, lock, lose, slip, smoke,
tug, as being secondary forms immediately derived from strong
forms. The A. S. biod-an, to offer, command, is represented, as
lo its meaning, by mod. E. bid ; but the mode of conjugating
this mod. £. verb has been borrowed from that really belong-
ing to the old verb bid, to beg, pray, which belongs to tlie
^re^^onjugalion ; see g 146.
§ 153. I now give the four stems of the seven conjugations
in various Teutonic languages, as they atford much help in
comjiaring the vowels of one language with those of another.
The four stems exhibit respectively, the infinilive ; the past
tense, i person singular ; the pas/ lense, i person plural, and
ikt past parliciple, as already said.
1. FALL-oonjugntion. (Conj
VII. ia Sie^■e
-=-)
/-/«.
Paslsi^.
Paitplur.
Fast part.
Teutonic...
FALL-AN
FE-FAI,L
FE-FALL-UM
FALL-ANO
Gothic' ...
hald-OH
hai-hald
hai-hald-um
hald-an,
Anelo-SaxQD
fcaU-an
/Ml
fJoll-OH
feall-ea
Eogluh ...
%n
M
'fell
/<ai-en
Dutch ...
vall;n
Viet
vieU«
gtwdt-tn
Gcinuui ...
/all-en
fiel
JUUn
:SSr
Icelandic ...
/all-a
flU
/m-um
Swedish ...
%U.a
'foil
filU
faU-tn
DtnUti ...
yald-e
faldl
faldt-e
fM-a
' Gothic bo not the verb ■ to fall '; I substilole for it ht
I wUch belong to ihis conJugiLtioii.
i68
VO WEL' GRADA TION.
[Chap. X,
2. SHAKE -coDJagation. (Conj. VI. in Sievers.)
Infin,
Past sing.
Pastplur,
Past part.
Teutonic...
SKAK-AN
sk6k
skCkum
SKAK-AN
Gothic » ...
far-an
for
for-um
far-ans
Anglo-Saxon
scac-an
sc6c
sc6c-on
scac-en
English ...
shake
shook
shook
shak-en
Dutch*
var-en
voer
voer-en
ge-var-en
German * ...
fahr-en
fuhr
fuhr-cn
gefahr-€n
Icelandic ...
skak-a
skSk
sk6k-um
skek'inn
Swedish * ...
far-a
for
for-o
far-en
Danish* ...
far-e
focr
foir-e
far-et
3. BEAR -conjugation. (Conj. IV. in Sievers.)
Infin,
Past sing.
Pastplur.
Past part.
Teutonic...
BER-AN
BAR
BtR-UM
BOR-ANO
Gothic^ ...
bair-an
bar
ber-um
baur-ans
Anglo-Saxon
her-an
ker
b<ir'On
bor-en
English
bear
bare, bore
bare J bore
bor-n
Dutch* ...
brek-en
brak
brak-en
ge-brok-en
German' ...
brech-en
brack
brach-en
ge-broch-en
Icelandic ...
ber-a
bar
bdr-um
bor-inn
Swedish ...
bdr-a
bar
bur-o
bur-en
Danish
bar-e
bar
bar-e
baar-et
4. GIVE - conjugation. (Conj. V. in Sievers.)
Infin.
Past sing.
Pastplur,
Past part.
Teutonic...
GEB-AN
GAB
G^B-UM
GEB-ANO
Gothic
gib-an
S^f
g€l>-um
gib-ans
Anglo-Saxon '
giefan
geaf
gcdfon
gif-en
English
give
gave
gave
giv-en
Dutch
gev-en
S^f
gav-en
ge-gev-en
German ...
geb-en
gab
gab-en
ge-^b-en
gef-inn
Icelandic ...
gefa
g^f
gdf-um
Swedish ...
gifv-a
gof
gofv-o
gifv-en
Danish
giv-e
gov
gav-e
giv-et
1
* In Gothic, Dutch, German, Swedish, and Danish, I give far-an^ to
travel, instead of ' shake,' which is not used.
' In Gothic, the diphthongs <w', au replace the vowels ^, <?, when r
follows ; see p. 163. In Dutch and German I give the verb break,
» In the A. S. giefan^ ge-qf, ge-dfon, the gi or ^ is a substitution for
g ; the vowels are rnlly e, a, d.
i 153.]
TABLES OF STEMS.
169
5. DRINK - conjugation. (Conj. III. in Sievere.)
Infin.
Past sing.
Pastplur,
Past part.
Teutonic...
DRENK-AN
DRANK
DRUNK-UM
DRUNK-ANO
Gothic
drtggk-an
draggk
druggk-um
druggk-ans
Anglo-Saxon
drinc-an
dranc
drunc-on
drunc-en
English
drink
drank
drank
drunk
Dutch
drink-en
dronk
dronk-en
ge-dronk-en
German
trink-cn
trank
trank en
ge-irunk-en
Icelandic ...
drekk-a
drakk
drukk'Um
drukk-inn
Swedish ...
drick-a
drack
druck'O
drnck-en
Danish
drikk-e
drak
drakk-e
drukk-et
6. DRIVE - conjugation. (Conj. I. in Sievers.)
(
Infin.
Past sing.
Past plur.
Past part.
Teutonic...
drIb-an
draib
DRIB-UM
drib-ano
Gothic
dreib-an
draib
drib-um
drib-ans
Anglo-Saxon
drif-an
drdf
drif'On
drif-en
English ...
drive
drove
drove
driv-en
Dntch
drijv-en
dreef
drev-en
ge-drcu-en
German
treib-en
trieb
trieb-en
ge-trieb-en
Icelandic ...
drifa
dreif
drif'Um
drif'inn
Swedish ...
drifv-a
dref
drefv'O
drifv-at
Danish
driv-e
drev
drev-e
drev-et
7. CHOOSE -conjugation. (Conj. IL in Sievers.)
Infin,
Past sing.
Pastplur.
Past part.
Teutonic...
KEUS-AN
KAUS
KUS-UM
KUS-ANO
Gothic
kius-an
kaus
kus-um
kus-ans
Anglo-Saxon
cios-an
cias
cur-on
cor-en
English ...
choose
chose
chose
chos-en
Dutch
kieZ'Cn
koos
koz-en
ge-koz-en
German
{er)ki€S'en
{er)kor
{er)kor-en
{erjkor-en
Icelandic ...
kj6s-a
bjttd-a
byd-e
kaus
kus-um
kos-inn
Swedish* ...
bod
bod-o
bud-en
Danish* ...
bod
bod-e
bud-et
^ In Swedish lind Danish I substitute bjud-a, byd-e, to bid, offer;
A.S. biodan.
170
rO WEL- GEADA TlOlf.
[COAf. 3
5 164. We can hence compile a table which will give aal
approximate value of the vowel-sounds in the difiere
languages. It is not altogether correct, because some (
the modem languages have altered the old values of ihe
sounds. Thus the mod. G. pp. ge-lrieb-en, driven, has been
substituted for ge-trib-en, so that the original German sound
really answering to our short 1' was also short 1'. Such
subsuiulions must be allowed for,
Comparative Table of Vowel-soonds, as deduced froI
Strong Verbal Stems,
[Tbe stems selected xw. fall (stem i), shaki {V), itar {2), gm (»%
forTtol, A; siaie (a), for Tent, long O; itar (3), foe Tent, long A^
fear(i), give (:1, drink (1), for E; bear (4), for O ; drive [l, »i
long I, AI, and I; ch<x>st{i.. a, 3, 4), for EU, AU, «nd U.]
Teutonic...
A
6
A
E
0
1
AI
I
EU
AV
^
Gothic ...
i,ai
ai
1
in
an
• '
Anglo-Saxon
i
t,i.eo
/
d
/
h,ii
/a
u,t
EQElish ...
1. a
i
i
r-.ou
f
K.'
Dutch
ij^
German ..
tt.ah
ui
it
e
Icelandic
6
i
a
M
«, 0
S<ndilh ..'
a,»
i
S.i
;
i
1
J-
a
Dooiih ..
M
'
aa
i
I
•'
y
0
"
5 166. This table is not, perhaps, exact in all panicuitt
as regards the modern forms, but it will give a sufficient ides a
what may be expected. The principal results are the followi
(i) The Teut. A may be lengthened 10 A > 0 or long J
(2) The Teut. E may be ■ graded ' to A {Aryan O) on d
one hand, or altered (if altered) to U or O.
(3) The Ttui. 1 may be graded by being strengthened to
AI, or weakened to I.
(4) The Teut. EU may be graded by being strengthened
to AU, or weakened to U.
' SubititDled Tor Ihe mine* in ihe tables; u
' A. S. /a, ia cummoiily becume E. long e.
Ihe remarks aboie.
'SS-l
TEUTQMC VOWELS.
s ofa
J7I
We iLus 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, U or O.
The I-group ; 1, 1, AI.
The U-group ; EU, U, AU.
I here call ihc second the I-group because all the varieties
contain I ; and for the same reason I call the last llie
U-group ; but ilie true starting-points are t and EU.
We may also note some of ihc results as follows.
Teut. A : remains as a usually ; A. S. also has ca (before
/, r, k. or after if , c, sc) ; also a ; also o (chiefly before m and
«). See Sicvers, O.E. Gram. §§ 49-84, throughout.
Teut. 0, for A ; here Gothic has long 0, to which answers
A.S.rf, E. 00.
Teut. M (see Sievers, 5 45, 6) : here Gothic has long e, to
■ which .answers A, S, d (commonly E. ea or re).
Teut. E : regularly weakened to ;* in Gothic, except before
I r, h, hw, when it appears as a short at. In A. S. it often
[ remains as ^ ; or becomes i (chiefly before m and n) ; or m
I (before /, r, h).
TeuL O: occurs in Gothic before r, h, hw, when it
I appears as an. A. S. has 0, chiefly before r and /. (In
act or, ol represent the vocalic r and /.)
Teut. I : usually remains i in the Teutonic languages.
Teut. 1 : Goth. «*; Du. y ; G. ei; the rest, /.
Tcul. Al : Goth, at; K.S.6; Icel. ei; E. (commonly) 0;
J. ei, it; the rest, i.
Teut. U : Goth., Swed., Dan. « ; A. S. and Ice!, u, 0 ; Du.
I and G. 0 [also G. a],
Teut. EU: Goth. iu\ A.S. /o (and a); lcs\.j$; Swed.
'11 ; Dan.^ ; G., Du. i< ; E. long e '.
' E. thaett it an exceptional fonn; tbe rigbt towcI ii w, u in the
rertwi'/nnvlfor 'tlea'i), creep, /rettt, stelhi. The M.E. liamvickti-ai
h the foimer t long).
172 V0WEL-GRADAT10I7. [C«a*.3
Teut. AU: Goth., Icel, au; A.S. i<x\ G., Du. 5; SwedJ
Dan. long ii.
Lastly, if the Table in § 154 be compared with that il
§ 80, p. g6, which was obtained from different considerations^
the results will be found to agree in all essential particulars.
5 166. 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 1
pronounced like tt in beet. This sound is still preserved ii
Icelandic, Swedish, and Danish. It was also so pronounce
in A. S. and M, E. But in E., Dutcli, and Gennan, it \
suffered a precisely similar alteration. Ii has been move^
on, as if by a new gradation, from 1 to AI ; so
Du. y, G. «', and E. long i are all now sounded precisH
alike, i.e. as j" in iife '. Or again, we may consider the A.S.d|
whence came the E. 0 in stone, and compare it with Other lan^
guagce. 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
TeuL AI. We should expect this to answer to Du. long /,
and accordingly we find the Du. stem answering to A- S. sl6n
and E. stone. In conj. 6, stem 2, die G. corresponding sound
would seem to be i>, but the fact is that the G. Irieb (drove) is
a modern form; the O. H.G. was dreib or treib, and the
M. H. G. was treib. Hence the G. d is the right equivalent
of A. S. d, as in G. Stein, a stone. Having obiained this
result, we are prepared 10 find other similar examples, <^'i
which a few may be cited. E. bone, .\, S. b&n. Do. 1
bone, leg, shank; G. Bein, a leg, E. ivholt, A.S. Ml, 1
heel, G. heil. E. oath, A. S. fl>, Du. ted. G. Eid. E. .
A. S. dc, Du. etk, G. Eieh-e. E. soap, A. S. sap-e, Du. i
' The inUrnitJiali found bclweeo i 'tt in beet) and at (1 in bite'] i*
[ft in itame). Tbi* is sappoied to have betn the sound of E. i in the time
of Shakespeare. Observe lh>t Gennui actually retalni [be nrchuc spell-
ing Wdn, correipotiding to a time when that word wu ptonodDced Ite
' ( ISB.]
THE ANGLO-SAXOff LONG A.
173
G, Stiff. Il is not to be concluded that (he A. S. a answers
to Du. tt, and G, ei in all cases, for the G. ci, e.g., may
aJso represent Teut. long i (p. 1 70), 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 modem
forms of related languages may easily arise from the same
original sound in the common Teutonic type.
§ 167. As I have already, in Chapter V, explained the A. S.
long vowel-sounds ai some length, it may be interesting to
compare them, as we can now more easily tlo, with their
Gennan and Teutonic equivalents. For this purpose I shall
say a few words upon each sound, without giving every
detail, Iwginning with § 4a.
The A. S. i. (long a). In many cases this answers to
TeuL AI, G. ei, as explained in § 156. Examples ; /scif, two.
G. swei; Ml, whole, G. heil; ddl, dole, G. Tkeil; dp, oath,
I G. £id ; eldp, cloth, G. Kleid (a dress) ; lap, loath, G. iad
I (troublesome) ; gist, ghost, G. GeisI; hds, hoarse, G. hds-er;
I 6n, one, G. tin ; sidn.. stone, G. Slein; ban, bone, G. Brin
' (leg); hdm, home, G. Ham ; ddh. dough, G. Teig, &c. But
there is a second value of the German equivalent, which is
less common, liz. <h; as in rii, roe, G. Rth; sid, sloe, G.
Schlth-t ; ■wd. woe, G, Weh ; gd. go, G. gth-e ; /a, toe,
G. Zth-i; Idr, lore, G. Lehr-e; sdr, sore, allied to G. iehr,
sorely, very; mdr-e, more, G. mehr. This sound is, in
general, merely another development of the same Teui. AI,
and either occurs at the end of a syllable, or is due to the
influence of a following A or r ; thus A. S. rd is also speh
rdh ; and A. S. sld is a contracted form for 'sldli-e ; see
further in Kluge's Et)-m. G. Diet.
§ IS8. Tbe A. 8. 6 (long e). This most often arises from
s mutation of d, as explained in Chap. XI, Thus E. /eet,
A.S./'*. is the pi. of /co/. A. S./oo/; cf. G. /uu, foot, pi.
FUsse. Hence we shall often find that the corresponding G.
^ sonnd is long U. Examples : A. '&.fit-an, to feel, G./Uhl-en ;
174
VOWEL-GftADA TTOlf.
gren-e, green, G. griln; efn
to heed, G. hill-en; br/d-an.
tw^t-e, sweet, G. siiss ; gre'l-i
there are several examples in
e, keen, bold, G, kiifm ;
to breed, G. hriil-m, to hatcl
ri, to greet. G. grtits-t
which the A. S. / has anoth
origin ; thus heh, high, is a shorter form of hfah, high, i
§ 168. The A. S. i (long i). This commonly answers &
G. li; see § 1 56. Examples : A. S. bi, by, G. bei; ir-en, irO
G. EiS'i-n; hwil, while, G. Weile, &c. It is very easy t|
multiply examples.
§ 160. The A. S. 6 (long o). This commonlj answera tl
Teut.O; see the pi. I. of j/fciicin § 1.^3. The A. S./ar-a
to go, makes the pt. t. _/dr ; with which cf. G. JuAr ; so t
A.S. i?commonly=G. long « or uk. Esamples: sc^. shoi
G. Schuk ; d6n, to do, G, thun ; IS, loo, G. zu ; swSr, sworfi
G. schit-ur ; pr, floor, G. Flur ; siSI, slool. G. Sluhl;
hoof, G. Hii/\ blSd, blood, G. Blut; br6d, brood. G. Brvl% '
h6d, hood, G. Hu(\ r6d, rood, G. Buth-e, &c. The G.
iiii/, cool, M. H. G. idt/e, is allied lo an unmodified form
iaol, appearing in M. H. G. kunl-haus, a cooling hou.=e ; and
this latter agrees exactly with A. S. c6t, cooL Two imporlata |
examples occur in A. S. brSSor, brother, G, Bruder ; audi
mSdor, mother, G. Multer. It is surprising to find thai tbitl
G. long «, answering lo a Teut. long 0, was really A in dl^iB
Aryan parent -speech. We thus gel the remarkable varie^
of lonf; vowels seen in Lat, niater^ Doric Gk. /idnjp,
ji^rjjp, A.S. m6der, O. H. G. muolar (G. Mulkr);
in 'L'iX./Sgus, Gk. *ijyor, A. S. b6e, G. Buche, a beech-tree.
% lei. The A. S. li (long n). It was shewn in § 46 ll
the A. S. 6 has been developed into the modern diphthong!
ou, as in hUs, a house, just as the A. S, i has been altered U
tlie modern diphthongal long i. Both of these changes \am J
taken place in German also'. Just as the O. U. G. vdn is
' The leatoD, in both knfruagM, ii the Mme. I bave nlreidT given it.
Sec p. fj, note 1.
N
(,] THE ANGLO-SAXON LO!^G V. 175
Wein (E. wine), so the O. H. G. /ids is now Ham (E.
/). Examples: brS, brow, G. Augm-braue; s4r. sour,
G. jawfr ; f£l. foul, G. yoi//, corrupt ; h6s, house, G. //ctki ;
l£s, louse, G. Zaitr ; mtfj, mouse, G. jl/aBi, &c. But there
i are cases in which German has preserved the « unchanged ;
1, thou. G. du ; wrf, now, G. nun ; cd, cow. G. A"h^.
' Such instances are useful, as they enable the Englishman to
realise what the original A. S. & was like, especially when it
is remembered ihat coo (cow), noo (now), moos (mouse), //on.r
. (house) are quite common words in provincial English.
I§ 162. Tho A. S. f (long y). As found in A. S, mys. pi.
of m6s. mouse, it answers to G. au in Msusc, mice. The
A. S.JyIS, filth, may be compared with G. Fdulm'ss, roticn-
Tiess. Much the same sound appears in hjir, hire, G. Heucr ;
fSr, fire, G. Frutr. But in G. Hant, hide, A. S. -{/</. and
Sravt, bride, A. S. brfd, the G. au has sulTered no modi-
fication.
§ 188. The A. S. (6. It appears from the 3rd stem of the
conjugation of the verb lo bear {§ 153) that the A. S. tf
answers regularly, in some cases, 10 G. long a. Examples r
rf/, eel, G. Aal; m^t, meal, repast, G. Mahl; <f/en, evening,
C Abend; sprdc. speech, G. Sprach-t; sad, seed, G. Saat;
idd, deed, G. Thai; nadi, needle, G. Nadd\ sldp, sleep,
G. Schlaf, &c. But there are numerous cases in which
A.S. words containing r£ are mere derivatives from words
containing d { = G. ei), as explained in the next chapter. In
such cases, German keeps the .;/ of the more primitive word.
Thus A. S. hdl-ati. to heal (G. Heil-tn) is derived from A. S.
^^— kal, whole (G. hcil). It is obvious that German is here an
^^H excellent guide to such a method of derivation.
^^B $ 164. The A. 8. 4a. It appears, from the 2nd stem of
^^^ the conjugation of choose (§ 153), that the A. S. e'a represents
Teut, AU, and is equivalent to G. 5. Examples : jl/a, flea,
G. Fleh ; fyr-r, ear, G. Ohr ; iast, east, G. Osl ; b/aa, bean,
; ilream, stream, G. Strom. But examples are
176
VOWEL-GRADA TTON.
tCiuKXIi
not wanting in which G, has kept the Teut. au unchanged ;
as in bt-rt'af-ian, lo bereave, G, be-raub-tn ; Uaf, leaf, G.
Laub; s/am, a seam, G. Saum ; drfam, a dream, G, Traum ;
b/am, beam, G. Batim (tree); Mip, a heap, G. Hau/H\
Wap-an, to run (leap), G. lauftn ; c^ap, a bargain. G. Kauf
(both perhaps from Lai. taup-o, a huckster, though Kbge
considers these words as pure Teutonic).
§ 166. The A. 8. £0, It appears, from the ist stem of
ehmst {5 1,^3), that the A. S. /w (Goth. i"«) answers lo Teui.
EU. G. ie. Examples ; seo, she, G. sit ; fM. callie (fee). G.
Vieh ; i/o, bee, G. Bie-ru ; d/or, deer, G. TTiier (animal) ;
i/or, beer. G. Et'er; c/ol, keel, G. Kiel; s/o3-an, to seethe.
G. sicd-en, &c. But there are cases in which an A. S. A
arises from contraction; and here G. has ei; as \n firfy,
three. G. drei; /r/o, free, G. frei; ffotid, fiend, G. Feind
(enemy). Ano'.her contracted form occurs in A. S. jAw, lo
Bee, G. iek-en,
§ 186. The above examples are intended to shew how the
same original Teut. sound may be quite differently developed
in such languages as modern English and modern Gennao ;
so that, for example, the great apparent difference between
the sounds of E. fta and G. Fioh can be explained ; they
are different develoiimenls of Teut. AU, and Uial is 1
Grimm's Law only enables us to say that, in such a p
words as the E. tekm (A. S. Idem) and the G. Ztichtn, I
is regularly shifted to a G. Z, and the k (A. S. e) to the G
Bm we can now go furtlier, and say thai the A. S. if t
G. ti are both alike developed from Teut. AI, and eiM
correspond. Hence the E. lokm corresponds to tbeiJ
Ztichen all the way through, sound for sound ; and it it
when we can pro^x such an original idtntity of fona |
words can fairly be said to be cognate. That is to taf^^
are bound to explain not the consonants alone, but 4
vowels also. If anything, the vowels are of even more I
poriancc than the couaoiuiits, us they enable us to ad
' < i«7J
PRACTICAL APPUCATION.
177
I
a more delicate test. It is not lill this principle is thoroughly
undersiDOii that true philology begins. Mere hap-ha^ard
comparisons are utterly worthless.
§ 167. Practical application of the principle of
gradation. A knowledge of gradation, as explained above,
enables us to trace relationships between words which might
otherwise seem unrelated. Thus, when we know that long a
and short a are connected by gradation, we can easily
understand that the vowel may appear as short a in one
language and as long a in another. Take, for example,
the Skt. (apha, a hoof. Here the Skt. f, though pro-
nounced as s, is weakened from k, and the Ski. ph is an
aspirated/, so that the Aryan form of the first syllable was
KAP. By Grimm's Law, the Aryan k and p answer to Teut.
h and^ respectively, thus giving the Teut. form of the same
syllable as haf. If the a be graded to a, it becomes, as
above, an A. S. $, which gives us A. S, hi/, a hoof, at once.
We cannot doubt that the SkL ^apha, which, practically,
differs from hSf only in exhibiting a short a instead of a long
one in the first syllable, is really cognate with the A. S. h6f,
E. Aoqf; for the words are identical in meaning. Similarly,
we can perceive such connecuons as the following, A. S.
mina, moon, allied to Gk. /i^vij, moon ; from the Aryan root
KA, to measure, the moon being the measurer of dme; cf.
Skt, md, to measure (J 160). Y.. food, A..S. /6-da, from
the root PA, to feed ; Skt./d, to feed. E./oo/, A. S./&, Skt
pidox pad, a foot, E. boot, advantage, A. S. li£t, G. Busse,
reconciliadon ; strengthened from the Teut. base bat, good,
preserved in Goth, bai-iza, better, bat-isls, best ; where bat=
Aryan bhad, as seen in Skt. bhad-ra, excellent. E. stool,
A, S. stSl, a chair, support ; G. Sluht, chair, throne ; Gk.
VTqXi), a pillar, named from being firmly set up ; from the
Aryan root %Tk, to stand firm. E, cool, A. S. c£li allied to
Icel. kal-a (pt. t. k£f), to freeze ; A. S. ei-al-d. O. Mercian
M/-rf(§33). E. (ol-d; cf, Lat.^^/-«, froai. E.SougA, K.%.b6k,
VOWEL-GKADATrON.
hSg, an arm, shoulder, bough, branch ; Icel. h6g-T, shonlde
of a
nimal, bow (of a ship); cognate with Gk. irqx-v*(f(l
'^t\X-vt), arm, Skt. b&h-u (for 'bhdghu), arm, Pers. Afi^'l
arm.
§ 168. The A. S. 6 does not always arise from Teut. 0 ;
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 ow, the o being lengthened by compensation
to make up, as it were, for the loss of [he 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 o before nasals. Modern
English has the later form &ond as well as band'. Hence
E. gooic, A. S. gSi, stands for 'gons = 'gam ; cf. G. Gam, % ^
goose, Lai. aits-er (for 'hans-er = 'ghans-er), Gk, xv (foS
•xa«), Skt. haSis-a, a swan. So also E. ioolh, A. S.
is for 'Ioh3 = 'lanS; cf. Lat. ace. dtnl-em, Gk. ace. •
Ski. dant-a, looth. E. other, A. S. 6Ser, stands for *i
'anSer ; Goth, anthar, other, Skt. antara. Lastly, I
A. S, s^, is for 'son9=*san3; cf. Dan. sand, true, Ice
sann-r, true (pui for *sand-r. by assimiialton) ; Teut. s-
true, second grade from Aryan sent-. This sent-
' being,' or ' existent,' or ' actual," whence the sense of • tnie ^
easily resulted ; it appears in the Lat. ace. ai-seni-em, t
away, pra-tent-em, being near at hand ; and it is clear tl
this SENT- is short for es-ent-, which is nothing but a pK*iV
sent participial form frow the Aryan root es, to be, as s
in Ski. as, to be, Lai. es-st. It is not probable that such a
abstract sense as ' be ' was the original sense of this root ;
most likely meant lo ' breathe ' ; as seen in the Skt. as-u, v
breath, life. Thus soolh is simply 'that which lives,' heno^
a reality or truth. The corresponding word in Ski. is t,
which, as Benfey explains at p. 63 (s. v. as), is properly llioa
PRACTICAL APFLICATIOlf.
pres. part, of as, to be, but n
[ also right, virtuotis, steady,
I
venerable, excellent. The feminine form was reduced to fi
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 sulUe, and incorrectly apply to the burning of
a widow. The Skt. short a being sounded as the E. a in
mud, we have turned sali into sullie, just as we "vnle Jungle,
punch, pundit, bungalow, Ihug, Punjauh, for the same reason.
One of the most interesting facts in philology is the bringing
together of many words which at lirst sight look unrelated ;
and it can be shewn that the same root es, to live, is the
ultiniate source of all the words following, viz, am, art, is,
soolh, sin (English) ; tssetut, entity, absent, present (Latin) :
ru- (prefix), {pal<£\-onlo-logy (Greek); andiK//-« (Sanskrit).
5 166. But the most important application 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 sufBxes, the stems of seac-an, to shake, are
(i) seac' (2) sc6c' (3) scSc- (4) scae-, yielding only two varieties,
viz. tcac-, icSc-. It is found that derived words, chiefly sub-
stantives (sometimes adjectives), do not always preserve the
primitive stem {scae-), but are soraeiimes formed from the
variant (scSc-). Thus the mod. E. shape, sb., agrees with the
stem scap- of soip-an, to shape ; but the A. S. sc6p, a poet, lit.
a shaper of song, agrees with the stem scSp, seen in the pt. 1.
sing, of the same verb. It is, however, not correct to say
thai ledp, a poet, is derived from the pt. t. sc6p ; 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. Xtin-tiv, to leave, perf.
Xr-Xora-a (§ 134). We find the adj. Xour-or, remaining; not
formed from the perf. Xi'-Xoiir-o, but exhibiting the sairu
gradation as that which appears in X/-Xo«r-a. If now we
derived from,' and the
l8o yOSVEL-GRADAT/OU.
symbol II lo signify 'a base with ihe same gradation as.' w«
may, with perfect correciness, express the et)Tnology oi scSp,
a poel, by writing scSp. sb. < 11 sc6p, pt. t. ofscdfi-an, to shape.
This is aomelimes loosely expressed by omitting the symbol 0,
but it must always be unilerslood ; so that if at any lime, for
the sake of brevity, I should speak of s(Sp, a poet, as being
' derived from the pt, t. of icap-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 aa 5c6p' 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 ia
Loth's Angel sac hsischenglische Grammatik, but they an ■
taken from Anglo-Saxon, and do not clearly bring out tbo-l
survival of the principle in the modern language. Aa thial
point has been so much neglected, I have endeavoured b
collect such examples of gradation as I have observei^
in modern English, and now subjoin them ; but I do I
suppose that the list is complete.
§ 171. /'<t/A conjugation. There are no examples
derivatives from a secondary stem, because the past tei
is formed by reduplication, not by gradation. The verb Jh^
fell is derived, not by gradation, but by mutation, as will b
shewn hereafter (§ tga j3). From the primary stem \
have such substantives is /all, hold, span, Ac; where t
derivation is obvious.
§ 172. i'Aiie-conjugation. There are no modem ezampi
of derivatives from the second stem, except in the <
of soke, soien, A.S. sSc, sSc-n < l( s6c, pt. t. of s<K-an, to
contend; and in the doubtful case of groove, A.S. grSf {})
< II f ^ pt- '■ of graf-an, to grave, cut. But I believe it
wilt be found that the A. S, gr6f\i unauthorised and imaginary ;
\!i\%\.grom<e is a word of late introduction into English, being
tmknown in the M. E. period ; and that it was
EXAMPLES. 181
bonowed from Du. groeve'. Nevertheless, the principle Btill
applies; for Du. groeve is derived from the stem seen in
groef, pt. t. of Du. graven, to grave.
5 173. 5^i7r-conjugal)on. The stems are (t) ber- (2) har-
{3) Mr- (4) bor-, as seen in ber-an, to bear; or (i) nim-
(2) nam- (3) nim- (4) num-, a3 seen in nim-an, to take.
The following are derivatives from the 2nd stem : E, bair-n
(child), A.S. bear-n < ll beer {=*iar), pi. t, of btr-an, to bear.
Also E. 6ar-m, A. S, bear-m, the lap ; from the same.
E. share, as in plough-share, A. S. sciar { = 'jrar) < || scar
(for 'sear), pt. t. of scer-an, scier-an, to shear.
E. fual-rn, A.S. cweal-m {='cuial-rn). pestilence, death
< I A.S. aval {=*cwa/), pt. t. of A.S. cwel-an, to die,
which is now spelt quail.
From the 3rd stem ; bur, A. S. itir < 11 bdr-on, pt. t. pi. of
ber-ait, to bear.
From the 4tb stem : bur-den, bur-then. A, S. iyr-Sen, a
load < (by mutation) || bor-en, pp. o! ber-an, to bear(§ 193)-
Similarly i/>--/A, A. S. ge-byr-d.
E. Ao/t, A. S. hoi, a hollow, cave < || hol-en, pp. of A. S.
M-an, to hide.
E. score, A. S. jfor, a score, i. e. twenty < || scor-en, pp. of
terr-an, to shear, cut.
We may also note here that mm-b-le and numb are both
from A, S, nim-an, !o take ; the latter adj. was actually formed
from the pp. num-en.
1 174. The ^iV^conjugation.
From the and stem : lay, v., A. S. leeg-an < (by mutation)
g lag (=*lag), pt. t of litg-an, to lie (§ 192 a).
E. ul, A.S. w//-fl« < (by mutation) || sal {=*sal), pt. t. of
till-on, 10 sit (5 192 a). Likewise E. stll-lt, a bench.
E. /TtfA (nol found in A.S,) < II Irad {=' Irad), pt. t. of
trtd-an, to tread.
l83
VOWEL-GRADATION.
[Ckai-. X.
E. wain, A. S. wag-n < || wag, p[. I. oiweg-an, to carry.
E. wreck, M. E. wrak, that which is driven ashore < [ A. S, J
f*/-fflf { = 'wrae), pt. L of wrec-an. to drive (to wreak). Al9o|
E. wretch, A. S. wrac-ca, likewise < || ifiriPir.
From the 3rd stem : E. speech, A. S. spdc-e, older form
spriic-e < II sprdc-on, pt. t. pi. of sprec~an, to sf)eak. So also
the Scand. word seal (Ice!. iir/() is to be compared with A. S.
sdt-on, pt. t, pi. of sitt-an, to sit.
From the 4lh stem: E. lai-r, A. S. kg-er < || /''j'-m, pp,l
of licg-an, to lie.
E. ^^ai^, A. S. bed, a prayer < || bed-en, pp. of bidd-an, Ukl
pray. The same principle is applicable to Scand. words also. J
Thus E. law. A, S. lag-u, borrowed from IceJ. lag^ order, pl> J
li'g {with sing, sense) law < || Icel. Id (for *£if), pL L C
liggja, to lie ; the ' law ' is ' that which lies ' or is settled.
§ 176. The (/rinif-conjugation.
From the and stem : E. bend, v., A. S. bend-an, to fasl«
a siring on a bow, and so to bend it, from A. S. bend, a bandij
which is derived (by mutation) from a base parallel with &
pt. t. o( iind-an (§ 192 a).
E. cram, A. S. cramm-ian < n cramm, pi. t. oicrimm-an, tO'fl
cram.
E. drench, A. S. drene-an < (by mutation) || dranc, pt. to
drinc-an, to drink (§ 192 a).
E. malt, A. S. meall, steeped grain < || mealt, pt. of w«/!f-4
to melt, hence to steep, soften. (We may observe that t!
A. S. pp. molten is still in use.)
E. quench, A. S. cwene-an< (by mutation) B cwanc, pt. I
lif aoinc-an, to become extinguished.
E. sop^, M. E. song, sang, A. S. sang < || sang, pt U t
sing-an, lo sing. Soalso ji>^f, A. S. ^f'>^-i]n(tomake to slng^)^'!
10 scorch (alluding to the singing noise made by burning
logs), derived by mutation from the same stem saHg(^ 193 ff)-
E. stench, A. S. stenc < (by mutation) || slanc, pt. t. of
atinc-an, to slink.
t 176.] EXAMPLES. 183
E. Ihong, A. S. Jiwang, < || *pwang, pU t. ol 'pwing-an,
only found in O. Fries, tkwing-a, O. Sax. tkwing-an, to con-
strain, compress.
E. Ihroag, M. E. throng, thrang, A. S. ^a»^ < n Prang,
p(, C. q\ Pring-an, to crowd.
E. v>andtr, A. S. %vand-r-ian, frequenlalive verb < || vmnd,
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. tixnd, to go, fonned by mutation (191 a).
E. -ward as a suffix (in lo-ward, Sec), A. S. -weard (Goth.
•wair/A-t) < ;| A. S. vicarp, pt. I. of weorp-an, to become,
orig. to be turned to.
E. warp, threads stretched lengthwise in a loom, A. S,
Wtarp < II wearp, pi. t. of weorp-an, to cast, throw, throw
across.
E. wrang-U, frequentative from the stem wrong, pi. t. of
wring-an, to twist, strain, wring. So also wrong, adj., A. S.
wrung, i. e. perverse, from the same stem. We may also
note tiiat £. swam-p is allied lo avamm, pt. t. of swimm-an,
to swim. Similarly the Scand. word tiang, a pole, stake
(Icel. stang-r) is to be compared with A. S. s/ang, pt. t. of
sting-an, to sling, poke.
From the 3rd stem; Y.. borough, h.S. bur h, burg < || iurg-on,
pt, I. pi. of btorg-an, to keep, prolecl-
From the 4th siem : E. borrow, A. S. borg-ian, verb formed
from 6orh, barg, s., a pledge < II borg-en, pp. of beorg-an, to
keep. So also bury, A. S. byrg-an, fonned by mutation from
the same stem (5 >93)'
E. bund-U < || bund-en, pp. oibind-an, to bind.
E. crumb, A. S. crum-a < II crumm-en, pp. of crimm-an, lo
ctam, squeeze.
E. drunk-ard < II drunc-en, pp. of drinc-an, 10 drink.
§ 176. The rfr(»<-conjugation.
From the ist stem ; E. chine, a fissure in a sea-cliff, A. S.
cin-u, a fissure < || cfn-an, to split, crack.
i84
VO fVEL- GRAB A TIOH.
[CKA
E ripi, A. S. rip-t, adj. < J rfp-an, to reap. Hence r»jftr J
is * fit for reaping.'
E. slirrup, A. S. slfg-rap, lit. rope to climb or i
by < II slig-an, to climb.
E. i/f , A, S. J//^-o, a pen for cattle ; from the same.
From the 2nd stem : E. abode, M. E. abood < 1 A. S. <f-*
pt. L of ibid-an, to abide.
E. dough, A. S. rfi/A < II "d&h, pt. t. of "dig-an, to knead,
only found in the cognate Goth, deig-an, to knead.
E. driwe, sb., A. S. rfrii/ < || A. S. draf, pL t. of drif-an, to
drive.
E. grope, A. S. grip-ian, weak verb < || ^ra/i, pt. t. of I
grip-an, to gripe, seize.
E. loan, A. S. /d-n (a rare form) < | Idh, pt. t. of /ii4-M^ J
to lend ; the -n is a suffis, and the h is dropped.
E. lode, a course, A. S. tad < || lad. pt. t. of ItS-an, to J
travel, go. Here the change from final 3 to final d is doe "I
to Verner's Law ; the pL t. pi. of l0-an is lid-oH, and tl
pp. /<y-«;§ 130.
E. lore, learning, A. S. Idr < || 'Idi {not found), cognate J
with Golh. lais, I have found out, pt. I. of 'la's-an, to trad; T
find out ; see p. 155. See /orf andZMr«in my Etym. Diet J
E. road, A. S. rdd < || rdd, pi. t. of r(d-an, 10 rid(
E. I'/a/; answers to an A. S. *sldp < fl j/d/, pt. t. of j/fjfrooa^. J
10 slip.
E. Shrove (in Shrove-Tuesday) < n E. shrove, pt. L of 1
shrive. A. S. scri/-an.
E. j/roAf, A.S. sirdc-ian, weak verb < || sfrdc, pt. L of j
siHc-an, to strike.
E. ivrolh. adj.. A, S, wrdS, i, e. perverse < || aruJ. pt. t. 0^ J
wri3-an, to wTilhc, turn about.
We have at least two Scandinavian words with a corre-
sponding stem-vowel. These are bail, Icel. btil-a < 0 beit.
pl.-I. aibila, lo bite; and raid, Icel. rci? < j( rcj?, pt. t. of
r^-3, to ride. We may also add bleak, gltam, leave, lend, rta^y,
I I?«.l
EXAMPLES.
■85
»
rear, v.. stair, weak, wrealh, all formed bj- mutation. See the
next Chapter (§ 195).
From the 4th stem : E. bit, A. S. hil-a, sb. < l| A. S. bit-en,
pp. of bit-an, to bite.
E. ffr/-/ < II A. S. rfri/"-«(, pp. of drif-an, to drive. (The
suffixed / will be explained hereafter.)
E. grip, sb., A. S. grip-e^ < l| grip-en, pp, of grip-an, to
gripe, grasp.
E. lid, sb., A, S. hlid < 11 hlid-tn, pp. of hlid-an, to
cover.
E. j/i*/, sb. (whence M.E. sUt-tm, verb), A.S. jW-^, sb.
< II siit-en, pp. of slit-an, to rend.
E. whil-tie, to pare with a knife, from A. S. pwit-el, a
knife < n Jmiit-en, pp. oijiwit-an, to cut.
E. wn/, A, S. {ge)-jvrit < || writ-en, pp. of writ-aii, 10
write.
Besides these obvious derivatives, we find others, such as
these:—
E. ehin-i, formed with suffix k from a base chin- < 1| nw-cn,
pp. of ein-an, to split, crack.
E. cliff. A. S. f/i/) properly a 'steep,' or a place to climb
Up ; the same as kel. klif, a cliff < Jt Icel. 'kli/-inn (obsolete),
pp. of klif-a, to climb.
E. dwin-d-le, formed (with excrescent d) from *dwin-lt, a
regular frequentative verb < || dwin-en, pp. of dwtn-an, to
decrease, dwindle, languish.
E. slip, weak verb, M.E. slip-pen < || slip-en, pp. of
slip-on, 10 slip (strong verb).
E. shrif-t, A. S, serif-t < || serif-en, pp. of scrif-an, to
ahiive',
E. j/iZf (to climb over), in which ihe i has been lengthened
after loss off, M.E. sli\-el, KS. stig-el < || slig-en, pp. of
stig-an, to climb.
i86
E. Slrid, a
VO WEL- GRADA TION.
[Chat.X.
il riding-place, a well-known place in ihe valley
of the Wharfe < H sirid-en, pp. of sirid-an, lo stride, stride
across.
Similarly, the Scand. thrif-t is to be compared with ihriv-m,
pp. of thrive ; and vjick-et, a French word of Scand. origj:
is 10 be compared with Icel. vik-inn, pp. of vik-ja.
See also wick-et, tuitch-elm in my Eiym. Diet.
It is also highly probable that the syllable -digt in A. S.
hiif'dige, a lady, is from the same stem as *dig-en, pp. of
'dSgan = Gotli. deigan, lo knead ; and that the original sense
of our /ady is, consequently, ' a kneader of bread.'
g 177. The r^oor^- conjugation.
From the ist stem we may note the following. E. drwi
A. S. drior-ig, of which the orig. sense was gory, dripping
with blood, put for 'dr/os-ig (cf. Verner's Law) < |! drfos-an,
to drip,
E. crawd, s., is best explained by supposing (with Strat-
mann) that the A. S. infinilivo (which docs not occur) was
*criid-an, to push, not 'er/od-an, as usually assumed ; the
pt. t. is found as cr^ad. In fact, Chaucer has the verb crmid-tt
to push, and the Dutch form is kruijen, formerly kruid^
which answers to 'crUd-an, just as the Du. buig-en does t
A, S. bdg-an; whereas, on the other hand, the Du. for cho«tt
(A. S. c/os-an) is kiez-ea, with a very different vowel, and an
A. S. *criodan would answer to a Du. 'krieden, of which no
one has ever heard.
E. dove. A, S. d6/-a, lit ' a diver ' < || dif-an, to dive.
E. lout, s,, a clumsy, slouching fellow < B A. S. I6l-emi9k
sloop ; the change from A, S. 6 to £. ou being regular (§ 46).
The sb. cripple, formerly a-eepie '. one who creeps about, is
a derivative of the verb lo creep.
From the and stem ; E. bread, M. E. ireed, A. S. hria-d
(where rf is a suffix) < II bre'aw, pi. I. of br^ow-an. to brew.
! .;;■]
i»7
I
hence, to ferment; the orig. sense being 'that which is
fennented.' Observe that the vowel in tread, though now
short, was long in M.E.
E. -iess, the commonest suffix in English, also has a
shortened vowel. It answers to M. E. -lees, A. S. -I/as
< i //as, pt. t. of l/os-an, to lose. The suffix -less means
'deprived of.' The A, S. Uas was also used as an adj., with
the sense of ' false ' ; hence E. has-ing (A. S. t/ai-vng) in the
sense of ' falsehood.' The adj. loose is Scandinavian, from
IceL lauss, loose, cognate with A. S. l/as, loose, false.
E, neat, cattle, A. S. n/at < || n/al, pi. t. of n/ol-an, to use,
employ. Hence the sense is ' used,' domestic.
E. reave (commoner in be-reave), A. S. rea/-ian, to strip of
clothes, despoil, from r/n/, s., clothes, spoil < || r/af, pL t. of
rirf-an, to deprive, take away.
E, red, M. E. rted, A. S. r/ad < u r/ad, pt. t. of r/od-an,\a
ledden.
I E. rerf, s., A. S. rie, another form of riac, smoke < II rt'ac,
^. I. of r/x-an, to exhale. The original Teut. AU is still
seen in the cognate G, Rauck, smoke; § 164.
E. shtaf, A. S. sc/af < || sc/af, pt. t. of sc&f-an, to shove,
push together.
E. iheet. A, S. sc/l-e, scyi-e, a sheet, allied to sc/at, a corner,
fold, comer of a sail, sheet or rope fastened to a corner of
a sail < II lelal, pt. t. of sc/ot-an, to shoot, hence, to project.
E. throe, A. S, Jir/a < || J>r/aw, pt. t. of pr/ow-an. to
suffer. The vowel in E. Ihroe may have been influenced by
the Icel. foim f>rd.
From the 3rd stem: E.^fw/, A. S.^ti//, properly 'achannel'
< n gul-<m, pt. pi. of g/ol-an, to pour.
E. sud-s, pi. < II sudden, pt. pi. of s/od-an, to seethe, boil.
E, A(f, weak verb < || lug-on, pt. pi. of t/o-n, to draw,
From the 4th stem : £. hode, A. S. bod-tan, to announce
g bcd-tn, pp. oiie'od-an, to command.
VOWEL- GRADATIOff.
[Ciu
E, bow, a weapon, A. S. b«g-a < I bog-en, pp. of b£g'
to bend, bow.
E. bro-ih, A. S. Jmj-? (where -J is a suffix), put for *brau
< n brov)-tn, pp. of br/ow-an, to brew.
E. rfro^, A, S. drop-a, s, < II drop-en, pp. of irft^an, I
drop, drip.
E. dross, A. S. dros, sediment, ihal which falls down < |^
dros-en, pp. of dr/os-an, to fall, drip down.
v.. float, v., A. S.flo/-ian < wftol-en, pp. o^fl/ot-an, to float.
Y../rost, A. S./roi-/ (/ suffixed) < |l 'fros-tn, orig. form of
/roz-fn, pp. oi/rAis-an, to freeze.
E. ('n-^0/, a mass of metal poured into a mould, from ih a
got < II got-tn, pp, Q^ g/ot-an, to pour.
£. /oiri, s., A. S. /tv-d, a lock < II loe-en, pp, of l^c-an, %
lock, fasten.
E. /ote, v., M.E. /ojiVw, A, S. hs-ian, orig, to become k
< II 'los-e/i, orig. form of lor-en, pp. of Uos-an, to 1
which became M. E. /^r-oi, and is obsolete.
E. /o/, a., A. S. hlol < II hlol-en, pp. of hUot-an, to ch(
by lots, assign.
E, shot, s. < n uol-m, pp. oi sc/o/-an, to shoot Also «
in scol-fret, which is a doublet of jAo/, and perhaps a Sci
form. Cf. Ice!, shot-ittn, pp. of skjSia, to shoot.
E, shove, A. S. scof-ian, weak verb < II scnf-en, pj
sc£/-an, to push. Hence shov-el.
E. jAi^, A. S. j/o^/if < shp-rn, pp. of slAp-an, to diss
let slip, i'/o^ was especially used of the droppings of a c
E. smoke, s., A. S. smoc-a < || smoc-en, pp. of sm/oc-OKii
smoke.
E. jorf, wet or sodden turf, hence soft turf < J sod-en, pp.
oi se'o3-an, to seethe; cf. sodden.
We have preserved two old past participles, viz. riiZ/rti, Icel.
rol-inn, ^nA /or-lern, A. S. /er-/oren ; both belong to strong
verbs of the cAoose-corijagSidoTt. Skuffie, scuffle are Scand.
words, allied to shwe. Some derivatives are formed by^
m
i 178.]
SUMMARY OF RESULTS.
189
mutation, as britt-Uy dive, drip, &c., which will be explained
hereafter; see pp. 204, 208, 203. The verb io shut and the
sb. shutt'le were also formed by mutation from the 3rd stem
(scu/-on) di scioi-ariy 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, 6 (for A), as seen in
shake, pt. t. shook, A. S. scacan, pt. t scSc; E, A, O, as
seen in bear (A.S. ber-an, Lztyer-re), pt. t. bare, pp. bor-n,
&c. ; 1, AI, I, as seen in drive (A. S. drif-an)^ pt. t. drove
(Goth. draib\ pp. drtv-en; EU, AU, U, as seen in choose
(A. S. c/os-an, Goth. kius-an\ pt t chose (Goth, kaus), pp. chosen
(Goth, hus-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 ...
a 0 ...
a 6 ...
a 6 ...
a uo ...
E A}0
\ai a au
ie a 0
Xeoeao
\ i a u
e a 0
u
\e a 0
\i
t AI I
• • •
et at t
id i
i et t
{ et t
EU AU U
iu au u
\h ia u
\ii 0
j6 au u
0
{ iu au 0
CHAPTER XI.
Vowel-Mutation,
j 179, ' A mart said lo Goidburh, buy a wfwle goost and I
com cheap.' This is my memorial sentence, for remembering
the principal contents of the present chapter. I may remark
that Goliiliirh 19 a real name ; it is the name of the heroine
in the old English romance of Havelok, which belongs lo the
reign of Edward I. I shall now discuss each of the words
printed in ilalics in the above sentence. We find, in Sweet's
Anglo-Saxon Grammar, the following facts.
I. The pi. of mann, a man, is mcnrt, men,
a. From ffo/J. s. gold, is formed ihe adj. gyldfn, gold(
and the vtth gytdan, lo gild.
3. Burk, a borough, town, makes the plural byrig. towi^
The dat. sing, is also fyfig.
4. From M/, adj., whole, is formed the derived verb hdki
to heal, lit. to make whole.
5. G6s, goose, makes the pi. g^s, geese.
6. Ctf, a cow, makes the pi. cy, cows ; hence, by the %
mod. E. ki-ne, which stands for ki-cn (like cynr, eyes, for 5
Here i/- = A. S. cy, and -«i ia a pi. suffix (A.S. -an); I
that ki-m {=ki-tn) is a double plural '.
7. C/ap, a bargain, whence our cheap is derived, prodoc
a derivative verb ci^n, cyfan, to buy. This verb was s
times written c/pan, whence our keep. See Cheap, Kafi, in a
Etym. Diet.
■ The pi, tyt ocean in Northcni English ; i[ U spelt Jeit'tn
(lUisluiMi of Ovid's MeumorphiMeE, fol. iG (1603) -. d. p. 66, (
P» "81.1
CO [ft: BALED UUTATION,
191
I
5 IflO. To these results we may add one more, \Az. that
just as in the 7lh example we see fa changed to I'r, or^i* ( v
being a later spelling), so we find examples in which the
unaccented ea changes to the unaccented it orj". Even to
changes like /a, and eo like ca. These facts can easily
be remembered in connection with example 7. Thus
ctoealm, death, gives the verb &-cwielm-an, d-cwylm-an, to
kill ; sl/or, a steer, ox, gives the derivative slleric, sipric, a
atirk ; and hcorU, heart, gives the verb hiertan, hyrlan, to
hearten or encourage,
§ 181. 1-matation. If we now tabulate the above results,
and call the secondary or derived vowels the mutations of
Iheir respective primary vowels, we obtain the following
anangement, where vowels in the row marked (A) are
the primary, and those in the row marked (B) are the
derived vowels.
(A) »,a^ I kbit I eii,eo I «*, «o
(B) eyy I fi,6t I is, y Mo, *
This vowel-mutation, \i\a.ch frequently takes place in forming
derivatives from older words, is called, in German, umlaut.
If we were to enquire thoroughly into all the cases in which
mutation occurs, we should find that in every cast the
primary vowel is influenced by the occurrence of an i or
u (rarely o) in the next syllable. This refers only to the
primary form of the word, and cannot always be detected in
the known forms of Anglo-Saxon ; for it not unfrequently
happens that the i, 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 thai, in all the examples already cited, the effect is
produced by i'. not by u. The cases in which u produces any
< Thit if called ' tvmeaUd mutation,' or csnctaltd umtaul. It is very
192
ro WEL-MC/TA TION.
[Caw, a
effect are, comparatively, so few that I leave them out <
sight here. "Yhe principle of mutation is the thing It
acquired ; after that, all is easy.
§ 183. Concealed mutation. An easy example of o
cealed mutation occurs in the word Frmch. French is short
for Franki'sh. But the a in Franiish, being followed by an
i in the next syllabic, ' 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 Prankish into Frenkish, and »e
actually find, accordingly, that Frencisc is the A.S. form of
the word. This Frenkish (A. S. Frmcise) was afterwards
shortened to French, as we now have it ; so that the i, after
mo<lifying the a to an e, has disappeared ; that is, the cause
of the mutation has been concmltd. 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 (t) that the pi. of man is mm ;
or, in A.S,, that the pi. of mann is nunn. The Icel. pi. is
also nunn. 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 mam and mannans ; and it is probable that the latter
form was shortened to 'manna, and afterwards the final
vowel weakened, thus giving 'munni, which would be regu-
larly changed into menn in Icel, and A.S. O. Frieaic,
O. Saxon, and O. H. G. have ihe unchanged plural man
(the same as the singular), which would result from the pi.
mans, by loss of s. We can see the result more clearly in
the dative singular; for it happens that the A.S. dat. sing,
lakes the form main as welt as the nom. plural ; whereas the
Icel. dat. sing, is manni, thus affording formal proof that
menn<.'mmni=manni.
§164(2). 0>Y. The adjectival suffis -«■ is
■tins ill Gothic, which has gullh, gold, gui/h-eait,
i IBs.]
MUTATION OF 0 TO Y.
193
Now «■ is merely the Goth, way of writing *■ (long t) ; so that
gold-en may be equated lo *gold-iH. The i'(Iike i) produces
% mutation of 0 (for original u) to y, so that 'gold-ln became
gyld-m^. Similarly, we can explain the verb gild; for the
regular A.S. infin. suffix of causal verbs (whereby verbs are
formed from pre-exislem substantives) is -ian, so that from
lu/-u, 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 gyld-an by mutation and subsequent
loss of 1'. This process is extremely common in causal
verbs; we constantly find that -tan is shortened to -an after
maCadon has taken place. Modem English has substituted
golden for gildtn ', but retains the old mutation in the verb
to gild, the form of which is now explained.
\ 196 (3). U>Y. Burh, town, makes the pi. hyrig. 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 ihe nom. p!., is also byTig ; so that the A.S. for ' at
the town' was at Piire byrig, the word burh being feminine,
and requiring the fern, form of the def. article. In later
English, this gradually became at Iher bury, or (by assimila-
tion of th to /) at Itr bury, a form which at once explains
the surname Atlerbury (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 ai last entirely) lost sight of, whilst the true form of
the dative was likewise forgotten. Hence borough was treated
as sn michangeable neuter, and the very same phrase also
appeared as at kn borough, where len represents the A.S.
' Strictly, it became gyld-iit, but (innl -en is used for -in In A. S., the
Kuffix -iH being disliked ; see Sievers, O. E. Gmm., J 69.
' Vi.'E.gilden ; thui St, Chrytcntom b culled 'lohn GUdcn-melk' or
Golden Montb; Specimens of Engliab, 1198-1393, e<L Motris and Skeac,
p. 69, L 8.
VOL. 1. o
194
yO WEL-SfUTA TION.
Jiam, ihe dat. neuter of the def. article. This has given i
the well-known name Altenboraugh. Further, it was not un-
common to use place-names in Ike dative or locative case, and,
in some instances, the prep, at (E. at), which governs a dative,
was expressly introduced ; see note to sect. iv. 1. 99 in Sweet's
A.S. Reader, 4ih ed. This at once explains the use or 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). A > long M. The verb to heal is easily ex-
plained. From the adj. hal, whole, was made the causal
verb 'hdt-ian, whence (by mutation and loss of 1) the form
hdl-an, M.E. hel-en, E. heal. The original form of the
causal verb is quite certain in this case : for Gothic always 1
employs the form haiUjan i^-^hail-iari) from the adj. I
whole. In Gothic, ihe letter usually printed j is 1
an English y \ and y is the semi-vowel corresponding to t|
as shewn in § 139; p. 150.
5 187 (5). 0>l;. The mod. 'E..gooM, A.S. g^s. ansn
10 a Teut. type cans ' ; see Kluge'a Worlerbuch, s.v. Gam. '
But its declension followed that of the feminine ' /-stems,' and
its plural nora. was originally *gSsis, which became *g/sit by
mutation, and was then shortened to g/s^. Similarly, tlw |
dat. sing. 'gSsi became *ge'si by mutation, and was sborti
iog^s likewise. The word/iwA A.S./6t, answers to a Tm
type f6t, of the masculine gender; see Kluge, S.i
In Gothic it followed the u-declension, but in A.S. it ;
to the consonantal declension (as in Greek and Latin);
the nom. pi. '/"''' ^^'^ ^^^ *^^'- ^'i^- '/^'' ^°^^ produced d
formyW. It is curious, however, that the nom. pi. sometin
' Not GANSi, u in Fick, iii. 99: for tbls stem would have o
vowel- cbimge even in the Dom. sing.
' On ' the treatmcol of tcnninal consonants and vowels* in the T«at,
languages {G . auttaulgeitli), cf. Strong and Mejrer's Hill, of the Gennan
Language, p. 61 ; the accotml there given is, however, i
icfen to Golhic only. Sec Sievers, O. E. Giun., { 133 <Ja).
i r»9J
MUTATTOir OF LOmj V.
■95
I
follows a different declension, and appears a.'&/SI>is; whilst
in M.E, we even find three forms of the plural, \\z./eel,/olrn,
snA/olts, the two latter being of rare occurrence.
Other examples appear in loolh. A. S. 163, masc., pi. kelh,
A.S.l/3, Tareiy idSas; and in iook, A, S. Mr, fem,, pi. i/c;
but this form was exchanged for that of the M, E. SoAa soon
after the beginning of the thirteenth century.
§ IBS (6). Long U > long Y. The E. mouse, A. S. mils,
answers to a Teui. fem, base mOs ' ; see Kluge, s, v. Maris.
It belongs to the consonantal declension ; the A. S. plural
«-as originall)' 'mUsis, which passed into the fonn 'm^sis
by mutation, and was then shortened to m^s. Other
examples occur in E. louse, A. S. lUs, and in E. cow. A, S,
t£, both of which are feminine ; the pi. forms being Ifs,
e^. Of these, the former is E. lice; the latter is the
(occasional) Tudor E. and prov. E. hie or kye, afterwards
lengthened to ki-ne, by analog>- with ey-m and sAoa-n, the old
plurals of eye and s/ioe. On the other hand, our Aouse, A. S.
A£t, was a neuler noun ; and. having a long root -syllable,
remained unchanged in the plural ; see Sicvers, O. E. Gr.
{ 338 ; p. 117,1. 4- That is, the pi. was A£s, now extended
to hout-es in order to make it conform 10 the general rule*.
This is why we never use the plural hice (I).
I IBO (7). Long EA>long IE (Y). The explanation of
eSep~<m, lo buy, is precisely similar to that of hdl-an, to heal ;
i.e. the mutation is concealed. The sb. r/a^ produced the
derived verb *c/ap-ian, after which the i caused mutation and
then vanished. The other examples are of precisely the
same character. In sly^r-ic, slirk, from sl^or, the i is visible.
The sb. ewealm, death, produced a verb ' cwealm-ian, passing
' Not mOsIi s5 in Fick, iii, 141 ; for this stem would have caoaed
mDlacion ercn in the nom. sing.
' Note the piov. E. ha»s-tn, so often commended as 'a true old
Angio-Ssioo form ' by ihoie who know no better. Il is only ui earl;
Southern £. fofm, cevei found before the Conquest.
VOWEl-MUTA TION:
\ lo ki!l ; and the sb. heort-t, \
tan, passing into hiertan or hyrt
196
inio ewielman or cwylmaK
produced the verb 'heorl-
to encourage.
§ 190. U-matation. I have now gone through
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 a, or even o. in the following syllable, as well as to the
occurrence of 7". Striking examples are seen in the A. S.
menluc, milk, seol/or. silver; words in which the to seems to
be due to «-mutation rather than to a mere 'breaking* of (
into eo before a following /; see Sievers, O. E. Gram., §§
39, 107. In the former case, mcol-uc stands for mil-iu* (cf.
Goth, mil-vk-s, milk) ; and the eo is technically described as
being ' a «-muiation of /,' because the u has turned / into
CO. In the second case, the muiaiion is concealed ; seolfor
is contracted for 'sent{o)/or or 'seol{u)/i>r, and to is, as
before, a (/-mutation of t; the Gothic form being silubr,
O. San. silubar. These forms are of some interest, becai
the vowel i in the mod. E. words milk and sitvtr shews
ihey belong rather to the Mercian than to the Wi
dialect. The form siloftr occurs once, and sylfor twice
A.S. poetry, but seolfor is the usual form. The O. Mercian
syl/ur has been already noticed ; see § 33. The Northum-
brian form is ju!/er (Malt. s. 9).
§ 191, Examples. I now give several examples of all
the above j'-mutalions 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 § 193.
(i) A > E. A.S. iang, long; compar. Img-ra (for
'liing-ira=-'la>ig-iza)\ Goth, comparatives end in -«a; cf.
§ 130. A.S. Strang, strong ; compar. strertg-ra, stronger. Also,
from K.S. long, the verb Img-an [ = '!ang-ian),Xo prolong.
From A.S. lanJ, land, the verb lend-an ( = 'land-ian),
Did. From A.S. »flm-
name, the verb ncmn-an (= 'namn-
slrong verb ' to heave.' with pt. t. h6f,
•e hebban { = */ia/-ian), instead of the
e Sweet, A. S. Reader,
I Of',
; the -n-eak Enfini
tegular 'haf-an, which is not found ;
p. 1m', Similarly, the strong verb 'to swear,' with pi. t.
avSr, has the weak infinitive sweriatt (^=' swar-ian) \n&.ezA
of 'sivaran, which is not found ; id., p. Ixxi.
In order to save space, and for the greater clearness, I
ill use {as before) the sjmbol > to mean ' produces,' and
sjinbol < 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 mutation.' 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 Manner.
where d is the modified form of a. In accordance with this
notation, A. S.siveriiin< .."swar-ian; andagain, A.S. /ra^-ra
< .. *lang-ira, compar. of tang.
(a) O > Y. A.S. gold> ..gy!d-en {for •go/d-in. as ex-
plained above). So also A. S. horn, horn > .. hyrn-eJ, horned.
A. S. slorm, stoim > .. s/yrm-an, to storm, assail. A. S.
/orn-a, first> .. fyrm-esl {=*foTm-ist), first; really a double
superlative (E. /oremoit). A. S. folg-ian, to follow, often
appears in the mutated {o\-mfylgian. A. S. cor- |j cor-en, pp.
of cAs-an, to choose > .. cyr-e, choice. A. S. gad, god > ..
'gyd-in). goddess ; cf. G. Goll-in, goddess, &c.
(3) U > y. A. S- iurh, borough > .. liyrig, plural. A. S.
(also vxorf), work > .. wyrcan (:='ivurc-ian), to work.
■A.S. uiuit, wool > .. wyil-tn, woollen. A. S. wul/, a wolf
> .. vylf-en, a she-wolf; this is not in the dictionaries, but
appears in the following curious gloss : ' Bellona, i. furia,
dea belli, mater Martis, wylfin ' ; where ' i.' is the usual con-
' Note the form htHan. not lie/an ; the doubling of the b is due lo
the contraction cnsnine the loss of 1, Observe, loo, that A, S. puts lb
ttlff; Sweet, A.S. Reader, p, xxviii.
igS VOWEL-MUTATTOff. [C«i». 1
traction for id est, ihat is to say '. A. S. httngor, hunger > ^
hyttgrian, to hunger. A. S. munvc, monk (merely bom
from Lat. mnnaihus) > .. niyiticen, a nun; whence the 8
name Minchin.
(4) Long A > long M. A. S. Ml. whole > .. hitl-an, to
heal ; as in 5 186. A. S. Idr, lore > „ /<fr-aw, to leach. A. S,
sidn, slone> ., Uitn-tn, made of stone; also stdn-att, v., to
stone. A. S. Ac, oak > .. t£c-cn, oaken. A. S. irdj, broad^
> .. brdii-an. to broaden, make broad, &c.
(5) Long O > long E. A.S. gds, goose, pi. ^ci; so i
/<S3, pi. Ud:/6l, f\.//l. The A.S. bSc, book, makes the pi. '
icf-, as \i='E..'liefk; but the M. E. pi. was bok-fs,t\ov books.
A.S. bSt, advantage, E. hoot > .. M-an (=*iW/-;jm, Goth.
bo/jan), to profit ; Lowl. Sc. but, to profit, amend — hence, ti
add fuel to Are. Burns uses It metaphoricall/ in his Epi
to Davie, st. 8 : —
' It warms me, it charms me.
To mention but lier name ;
It heats me, it beets me.
And sets me a' on flame! '
(6) Long U > long Y. A.S. c£, cow, pi. rjf, ki-ne;
in § 188. So also c£S, pp. known > .. e0-an (=
M.E. kjithen, to make known, shew, display,
'For gentil bcrte kylheth gentiJcsse.'
CUAUCKR, Squ. Talt, 4
A.S. I&n, enclosure, town>.. tyn-an {='/tin-ian). to t
close; M.E. tj-nen. Thus, in the Promptorium Parvuloni
written in 1440, we find: ' Tytiyti, or hedgydde,
A.S. Krtfrf, a shroud > .. ler^dan (='scrtSJ-ian), to clol
cover up.
{7) EA > IE (Y). A. S. c/ap, a bargain (our eieap) >?
cl^an, eyp-an, to buy (our Heep), in § 189. A. S. aKirf, C
> .. djld-an (=*d/ad-iart), to make dead, kill. A. S. j
' See Wright'* Vocab., ed. Wijltkcr, col. 194.
f '5»-]
EXAMPLES.
199
I
a horse-load > .. spm-an { = * s/am-ian), to load a horse.
I A.S, dr/am, Joy > .. drjfm-an, to rejoice. A.S. «Arf, need
, n^d-an, to compel,
§ 192. Ii remains to give examples of the i-mutation in
I modem English, in which it is by no means uncommon,
I though our grammars usually say but little about it.
:. (o). A > ..E. In the following words, the Gothic form
at once sliews that the A.S. e is an i-mutation of a.
E. ail, A. S. tgl-an ; Goth, agljan, occurring in ihe comp.
ut-agljan, to trouble exceedingly ; allied to E. awe, from Icel.
• tigi, fear (Goth, iigis, fear).
In E. bar-ley, the former syllable = A. S. btre, barley ;
Goth, baris, barley. (Mod, E. puts ar for er.)
E. bid, A. S. bed; Goih. 6adi.
E, bellows, pi. of bellow. M. E. btlow, belu, bcli, A, S, belg, a
bag; Goth, balgs (stem balgi-), a wine-skin.
^^K £. benii, v., A.S. bendan, orig. to string a bow, fasten
^^h band to it, from A. S, dtnd, a band (Goth, bandi, a
^■JMIld).
^^H E. berry, A. S. herige (= " batige) ; cf. Goth, basi, a berry,
^^B E. better, A. S. betra (= * bali'ra); Goth, bati'za, better.
^H E. ^,1/. A, S. ^1'/,!/ (= ' balisi) ; Goth, balisis, best.
^^ E, drench, A.S, drencan {=■* drancian), to give to drink;
Goth, draggkjaa, to give to drink (where ^^*6 ^ «^^, by an
imitation of Greek spelling).
^^ E. ell, A. S, f/« (short for 'etin = 'u/Zn) ; Icel. alin, Goth.
^^■)d/R*Ra, a cubit.
^^P £. ^/,tf, A. S, ella ; allied to Goth, alja, except ; cf. Lat.
^^ alias, otherwise.
E. end, A. S, inde ; cf. Goth, andi-laus, endless.
E./WI, A. %.fenn ; Goth./aw;*, mud.
E. guist, A. S. ^«/, also gcest ; Goth, ^oj/j (stem gastt-),
a guest, gasli-godi, good to guests, hospitable.
E. heU, A. S. Af/, /f// i Goth, halja. hell.
E. hen, A. S. Awn (originally • htnjd, see Sievers, 0. Eng.
300 VO WEL~MtJTA TION.
Grammar, cd. Cook, §§ 256, 258), and so fern, of A. S, I
Goth, hana, a cock
E. km, to know, M. E, ktnnm, lo make known, Icel. ken
Goth, kannjan, to make knoun.
E, keltk, A. S. ctUl; Goth, katils; not a Teut. word, 1
borrowed from Lat, calillus, dimin. of ralinus. a bowl.
E. lay, v., A. S. Iccgan {= 'lag-tan); Goth, lagjan. Hw
eg is merely a way of writing gg ; and the gemination •
doubling of the g is due to the contraction ; (gg < gi).
E. Ul, v., lo hinder, delay, A. S. lellan (^ * lalian), to make
late ; Goth, laljan. 10 be late, tarry, from the adj. !at-s (A. St t
lat), late, slow. The double / is due to contraction ; {ll<S^
E. meal, A. S. melt; Goth, mals (stem mail-), meat; r.
E. m^rc, a lake, A. S, mere ; Goth, marei, sea.
%. net, A. S. nel, netl\ Goth. natt.
E, send, A. S. sendan (^ * sandian) ; Goth, sandjan,
E. jc/, A. S. «//(W (=• Jo/-(an}'; Goth, saljan.
E. f&//, A.S. j«//; cf. Goth, skalja, a tile.
£. stead, a place, A. S. jAn/f; Goth, slalhs, pi. sladeis (sU
E. swear, A. S. nver-iaa, a strong verb with a weak i
finitive ; but the Goth, infin. is swaran.
E. twelve. A. S, Iwel/e, hvel/; Goth. ft«i/i/:
'E.wear, to wear clothes, A. S. werlan {=*wazian)\
was/an, to clothe.
E. wed, A. S. weddi'an, v., from wed, s., a pledge ; (
wiufi, a pledge.
E. wend, A. S. wendan (=' wandian), to turn;
wandjan, to turn.
{^). Besides the above words, in which the true origin^
the e is so clearly shewn by the Gothic forms, there are n
■ Gemmation it commoa in A. S. in words of this lort. Tiuti A
» 'heffan <MiafiaH (see ( 191). so that/ > W. So klso^' >i;j <
I >9»-]
EXAMPLES.
aoi
ethers, some of which are explained in my Dictionary.
Thus bhnd answers to A. S. blendan, to blind ; but as hltndan
{=* bland-iaii) is really the causal verb due lo bland-an, lo
mix, the two were confused, and the secondary verb took
the sense of 'blend.' Bench, A. S. bene { = *barik-i) is a
derivative of bank. Dwell, A. S. dwcUan {=^*dwa!ian), is a
derivative from the base dwal- 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.
teg (for 'aggi), is cognate with Lat. aci-rs, and answers to a
Tent, form agjo (Fick, iii. lo). E. English obviously stands
for Angk-ish ; the A. S. form is £nglisc or Engine, derived
(rom Angle,'p\. the Angles. Fell, A.S./ill-an, is a causal
verb (= '/all-ian), due to the strong verh/eall-an (for */aU-an).
to fall. Frish, A. S./crjf, stands for A. S. '/ar-isc, i.e. full
of movement, flowing, as applied to water that always flows,
tuid is never stagnant; formed horn /ar-an, to go, move,
with the common suffix -uc (E, -isA). Hedge, A. S. Aecge
(sec Supplement lo Diet.), stands for *hag-ji>, from the older
form hag-a, a hedge, which is the mod. E. haw ; cf. edge,
A.S. teg (for 'agjo), just above. E. length, A.S. lengS,
answers lo a Teut. form langitho (Fick, iii. 265) ; from
so also Icel, IcHgd, length, from langr. E. netlle,
S, nelele, is cognate with O. H. G. nesild (Schade), from a
'eut. type hnatilo, dimin. of mnatjo, a nettle (O. H. G.
■); Fick, iii. 81. E. penny, A.S. pening, older form
pHiding, Is probably a derivative from the base pano, as seen
in Du. pand, a pledge, G. P/and, which is (I think) non-
Teuionic, being borrowed from Lat. panmts, orig. a cloth.
E. quell. A.S. cwetlan (=*ewal-ian), to kill < .. || cwal
(='fWfl/). pi. t, of ewel-an, to die; where the symbol< .. (|
means 'derived, by mutation, from the same base as that
seen in ewislJ' E. quench, A.S. eweneon (=''cwane-ian),
to exlinguish < .. II cwane. pt. t. of cwinc-an, to go out, be
[tinguished. E. say, M.'E. sey-en; K.S.srcgan (='sag-ian)-
VO IVEI^MUTA T/OflT.
[Chat. XT.
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 (='sag/o);
lit. 'cutter,' i,e. sword-grass or sword-plant, from its shape;
the original a appears in A- S. sag-a, E. saw (cutting inslra-
ment). E, sfil, A. S. lellan (='sal-iiia) ; the orig. a appean
in Icel. jflZ-a, E. sale. E, singe, put for *sengt, M. E. seng-en,
A. S. seng-ati, lit. to make to sing, from the hissing of a
burning log, Ac; the orig. a appears in A. S. sang, later
form iotig, E. song. Chaucer has sengr for singt ; C, T. 5931.
E. slenck, A. S. slenc, a strong smell, the stem being slan-ci'
(see Sievers, O. E. Gram, ed. Cook, § 266) ; < .. II statu, pt t.
of slinc-an, E. slink. E. slep, v., A. S. slepp-an {=.' slap-icn) ;
from the strong verb stap-an, to go, advance. E. strenglh,
A. S. slreng^u (■='strangi3u)', from Strang, E. strong.
So also E. siring, A. S. streng-e, a lightly twisted cord ; from
the same A. S. sirang. E. Ie^, A. S. fe//a« (= •tal-ian) ; from
A. S. /ii/-H, a number, a narrative, £. lale. E. unkempt, i. c>
unkemb'd, uncombed; from A. S. eemb-an, to comb< ..eamb,
E. ctf/ni. E. Mvi, A.S. w^ii {^'zuaf-jo), since ii results
from the doubling of y (Sweet, A. S, Reader, p. sxviii)
< .. tl w<e/ ={*wa/), pt. t of we/-art, to weave. E. IfWM,
A. S.!((t/-wf, foreign < .. A.S. iwa/-A (=*h'<i/-)4), 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. wreeca, lit. an exile, outcut
(=*wrac-ja) < .. || wme {='wrae), pi. t. of the strong
verb wrec-an, to drive, urge, drive out. Cf. E, wrack, from
the same root.
§ 193. O > . . Y. I now give some examples of the second
I'-mutaiion ; from a Xoy.
a. (o). E. gild, v., A. S, gyid-an < .. gold, gold ; this has
been already given. Similarly, we have the following : —
E. highl, a coil of rope, a bay, A. S. byht, a bay, lit. ' bend '
< .. II kng-en, pp. of b^-an, to bow, bend. E. birth, IccL
imrSr, A. S. ge-byr-d < .. || bor-tn, pp. of ifran, to bear ; so
F'94-]
EXAMPLES.
303
;. burdfn, A. S. lyr-S-m. E, iw/Vrf, A, S. byld-an< .. A, S.
iwtf, a building, dwelling. E.Sury,A.S.iyrg-an,iyn'g-aK< ..
n iorg-en, pp. oi beorgan, to hide. E. rffi/, a Scand. word, Dan.
dryppe, lo drip< .. II Icel, drop-i3, pp. of drj4p-a, strong verb,
to drop ; cf. A. S. drop-en, pp. of the strong verb drcop-an, to
drop, drip, E. drizzle, a frequentative form from a base drys-
< .. U *dros-en, orig. form of drnr-en, pp. of dr/osan, to fall
in drops, 'E.fiify, a Scand, word, \ct\./ylja<, .. \ce\./oli, a
foal; cf. A.S./0/a, a foal. E. /rj/, A.S./yrs/ (=*/or-isl)
, A. S, _/^r-^, before, in front. E. kernel, A. S. cyrn-el
^*e9rn-ila)<. .. i"om, E. corn ; the sense is ' a little grain.'
E. kiss, v., A. S. cyssan {=* coss-ian), from fow, s,, a kiss. E,
(, A. S. enyllan {=*cnoi-ian), from ■-no/-/fl, a knot. E, li//,
a Scand. word, Icel. iypia (pronounced lyflaY, put for
'lept-ia='lo/l-ia\ from the sb. lopl (pronounced lo/C), air;
thus 'to lift' is 'to raise in the air'; cf E. io/l-y, a-loft,
also from Icel. lopl. E, vix-en, M. E. vtxen^ fixen, a she-
fax, A.5. /yx-en {■=*fox-in)< „fox, Y.. fox ; precisely
inraUel to A. S. gydtu, a goddess, fern, of god, and to
^If-trt, fern, of v}olf\ § 191 (3). So E, sully, A. S. sylian
..sol, mire.
((3). The same mutation is remarkably exhibited in four
EOrds borrowed from Latin, Thus Lat. coquina, a kitchen
.. A. S. cycen (for 'eoc-in), E. kikhen. Lat. molina, a mill
».,A. S. mylen, myln, M. E. miln,Y.. mill. Lat. mone/a, a
„ mynei, E, mini; cf. E, mon-ty (F. niotinaie) from the
same Lai. word. Lai. monaslerium, a monastery, was short-
ened to 'moniiler> .. A. S. mymter, E. mimler.
1 184. U > , . Y. Third mutation ; from u loy.
3. (a). There are two good examples that can be illus-
ttated by Gothic, E. kin, A.S. cyn; Goth. kuni. ^.Jill, v.,
lS. ^llan {='/ull-ian)-, Qoih. /ulljan. to fill. In the re-
larkable verb lo fulfil, the second syllable naturally takes
) Then Is no written y^ ia O, Icelandic: it is denoted always by
ji symbol/' (cf. LaL scrifliu), but it is pronounced /i'.
204
fo wEL-MUTA rroN.
[cbaf. xr.
the niui3led form, the sense being 'lo fill full,' though, in
composition, the order of the elements is reversed.
(S). E. Mule. M. E. bruttl, answering to A. S. 'brylel (nc
found)< .. II brut-on, pt, I, pi. of br^olan, to break up;
A. S. brytlan (= 'brul-ian), to break, a secondarj' weak v
E, ding-y, i. e. soiled wilh dung ; we 6nd the A. S. verb ^
dyng-aii, to manure, in jElfred, Ir, of Orosius, i. 3 ;
dvng, E. dung \\ A. S, dung-tn, pp. of ding-an. to throw awajd
E. list, v., as in the phr. it lisMh. A. S. iysl-an {=''iust-u
to desire < .. A. S. /usf, desire, pleasure. E. pindar, c
pinner, an impounder; from K.5. pyndan {=*pund-iim).Xa
imfiound < .. pund, a pound, enclosure. E, shul, M.E.
shuilen, shillen, A. S. seytlan, to shut, to fasten a door with a
bolt that is shot across < .. || scul-on, pp. t. pi. oi sc/olan, to !
shoot ', E. itinl, properly ' to shorten ' ; cf. A. S.
occurring in the comp. /or-slyn/an, to make dull < .. A.S
s/uni, stupid. The peculiar sense occurs in the related S
words, such as Icel, siyUa (put for 'slynla), to shorten, i
(put for 'slunir), short, stunted. There is a further trace d
the A. S. verb stynlan in the gloss : ' Hebelal. slyntid ' (^
siyntiS); Wright's Vocab., ed. Wtllcker, 25. 28. E. /*!>»*,#
seem, as it occurs in the phr. melhinks, i. e. it seems to n
A.S. m/ pynfe3, from pynean {,=*piinc-ian\ to seem;
Goth, thugkjan, i. e. 'ihunkjan, G. dUnken, to seel
it appears that the base of this verb is Punc-. It happc
that we also find A, S. pane, thought, Goth, thagkt 0,«
'Ihank's), remembrance; from the TeuL base thank, f
intend, think (Pick, iii. ia8). Pick explains the base ^
as due to a Teut. thone-jo, which is possible ; but it is c
tremcly likely thai there really was once a strong 1
'pincan. pt. I. *Pane^ pp. *puneen, as suggested by Eutalfl
E. Ihrill, M.E. ihriUcn, thirlen, A.S. /yrlian, PyrtUan,
pierce; a verb formed hompyrei, s., a hole. Further, >!
I '9S-]
EXAMPLES.
205
tlBtands for 'Pyrh-el (as shewn b)' the cognate M. H. G. durehd,
I'pierced) < ,, A, S. purh, prep., E. ihrough. Thus 'a IhirV
I *as a hole through a thing ; whence the verb Ihirl, thrill, to
I'jHerce. E. trim, properly lo set firm, make stable, as in ' to
l^'i'm a boat'; A. S. trymman, tryinian. to make firm < ,,
m, firm, strong, E. winsome, A. S. wynsum, i. e. pleasant,
I from wyn, wynn, joy, a fern, sb., put for 'wunni (see G.
T Wonne in Kluge)< ,. i| wunn-en, pp. of winnan, to win, gain.
( See also Listen in my Dictionary.
(y). There are two good examples of words borrowed from
Ladn. Thus Lat. uncia> .. A.S, yncc, 'E.inch. L.puteus, a
well, pit> .. A. S. 'puti (for *putt'), fyt, ^.pil.
§18B. K.> ..M. Fourth (-mutation.
4. (n). The following examples are well illustrated by the
Gothic spelling ; we must remember that the A, S. a com-
tnonly represents Teut. AI (Goth, ai); § 71. E. kial, A. S.
hdlan (=* hdl-ian), Goih. Aailjaa. to heal< .. A.S. hal, Goih.
hails, M. E. hool, E. whole, E. rear, A. S. r.ttran ( = 'rAz-ian),
Goth, raisjan, to raise, cause to rise ; where r stands for s (with
I . a s-soimd), by Vemer's Law. We should also particularly note
kfiie doublet raise, which is a Scand. form, Icel. reis-a. And
pjnst as Icel. reis-a < .. |l Icel. reis, pt. t. of rls-a, to rise, so
likewise A. S. rdr-an<, .. n 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,
(^). E. any, M.E. ani, A. S. t^-iff (with long rf)< .. A. S.
dn, E. one. E. W^ai, orig. 'pale," A.S. tide < .. 11 Aide,
pi. t. of blic-an, lo shine, look bright or white. E. bread-th,
in which the final -ih is laic ; the M. E. form is Irede, breede,
A-S. brdd-u. This is one of the substandves of which
Sievcrs remarks (see brddu in the Index to his O, E. Gram-
mar) that ' they have taken the nom. sing, ending from the
^-declension,' though ihey properly 'belong to the weak de-
clension, since they correspond to Goth, weak sbs. in -«',' i.e.
Hence brtkd-u is for 'brad-i< .. A. S. brad, broad. And,
aoS
VO WEL-MVTA TION.
LChm.I
in fad, we tind Goth, hraid-ei, breadth, which is ihe very -
cognate form required. Y.. feud, enmitj', is a remarkably
erroneous form. The mod. E. form should have been 'feed
or *feiid, but it has been curiously confused with the totally
different wordyi-at/, a fief, which is of French origin. The
M. E. form \%fede oxfdd in the Nortliern dialect (see Jamic-
son'a Scot. Diet.), answering to the Dan. feide, a quarrel,
feud. The corresponding A.S. word \% fdh-de, enmity< ..
fah, fa, hostile, E. foe. E. heal, A. S. hettu, is precisely
parallel in form lo A. S. hrddii, breadth, explained above.
Hence the d is an f-mulation of d ; from A. S. fuil, M. E.
hool, E. hoi. E, hest, a command, M. E. best, has a final ex-
crescent /; of, vjhih-i, &c. ; the A.S, form is At/j, just as
iehds is the A. S. form of E. bthest. The form hdi ia diffi-
cult, but probably stands for 'hds-si, which again stands for
"hdt-liifi. blissy A.S. blifs. bliSs, from hHde, blithe '), The word
is certainly formed, by mutation, from the verb hdlan, Gotb> I
hailan, to command. Curiously enough, the Goth, form C
the sb. 13 haih\ which presents no difficuhy. E. lead, v
ladan {=*/dd-ran)< ..Idd, a course, E. lode. E. leavt.V
A. S. Idfan, to leave behind < .. Idf a heritage, that wW
remains. E. lend, with excrescent d and shortened vowi
M.E. lenen, A.S. /tkruin < .. /an, E. loan. E. slair,
iidg-er {■=''stceg-irT)< ..slak, stag, pt. t. a( stig-an. to din
E. siveat, v., M.E. swelen, A.S. swdlan { = *swdl-ian)< ^
aval, s., sweat. E. Ihread, A. S. ^rdd (for *J>rd-di)< ..f>ri
an, to throw, to twist The word to Ihrim formerly t
precisely the sense ' to twist,' like its Lai, equivalent torqt
cf. ihrowsler in Halliwell, explained as ' one who throws i
winds silk or thread.' Cf. also G. Draht, thread, from ^rnd
to turn, twist. E. wrealh, A. S. wrdd (='wrd3i). a
band, fiUei < .. || wrdS, pi. t, of wri3-an, to writhe,
Wretl and wrestle are similar formations from the i
root.
' See Bohder, Die VcrtialaUtiactu, iSSo, p. 65.
n 196.]
EXAMPLES.
SO?
I
5 lee, 0 > .. £. Fifth i-mutation.
5. (a). We have already noted the pluralsy^^/, geese, teeth,
from foot, goose, loolk. A fourth such word is A. S. hrS5or,
brother, which made the pi. brSSru, but the dat. sing, breder.
The Icel. br63ir made the pi. brm^r, now written bradr,
where the a answers precisely (o A. S. /, being the i-
inutation of 6. Hence the pi. brelker was introduced into
Northern English and even into the Midland dialect, and,
finally, with the addition of the characteristic pL suffix -eti,
into the Southern dialect. We find brelhre, Ormulum, 8169 ;
hrelher, Rob. of Brunne, Ir. of Langtoft, p. 51 ; brether-m,
Layamon, i. 90.
(&). In the five following examples, the Gothic form shews
dearly what was the orig. A. S. form.
E, deem, A. S. d^m-an {=*dim-ian), Goth, dontjmi, to deem,
Judge; from A, S. i/rfm, Goth, rfom-f, judgment, opinion, E.
ieom. 'S..feed, A. S./(tfan {=''f6d-iatt'), Go\\i. fodjan, 10 feed ;
from k.S./Sd-a. V../ood. E. mal, A.S. m/t-an {='m6l-ian),
Golh. motjan, in the comp. ga-motjan, 10 meet ; from A. S.
m6t, ge-m6t, a meeting, assembly, preserved in the E. phr. ' a
moo/ point,' t. e. a point for discussion in an assembly. E.
tttk, A.S. sAan (=*sic-iaii), Goth, sokjan, to seek < l[ A.S.
iSc (Goth. sok\ pi. t. of sacan, to contend, dispute ; whence
also sake and soke or soiim. E. -wetp, A.S. iv/p-an {■=w6p-
ian), Goth, wopjan ■ from the A. S. sb. wSp, a clamour,
outcry.
{y). E, beech. A. S. b/ce ; kechen, adj., A, S, bec-en (= 'bic-m)
< .. h6ct a beech-tree. It thus appears that the true word
for 'beech' was b6c, now only used in the sense of book;
hence the adj. bk-en, beechen, as well as a new form
b^t, beech. E. bhtd. A.S. bUd-an ( = 'md-ian). from bm,
blood. E. bless, A. S. bUtsian, Northern form bloedsia
(=A.S. 'bUd-sian); also from bl6d, blood. The suffix is
the same as in cUan-se, A. S. cl<hi-siiin, from cldn-e, clean ;
orig. sense of bless was to purify a sacred place
2o8
VOWEL-MUTJ TTON.
or altar wiih sprinkled blood'. E. breed, A. S.
(=.*br6d-ian), from lr6d, E. brood. E. glede, a live coal,
A. S. gUd{=.*gl6-di, see Sievers, O.E. Gram. \ 269); from
glS-wan, E. glow; where the w is lost, as in thread from
/ArOTt in 5 J 95- E. ^rcwi, A, S, gr^-e, O. H. G.
Teut. gr6njo (Fick, Hi. iiz); derived from A.S. gr6-vi
allied to IccV grS-a, 'E. grcno. Gran is the colour of^
t'ng herbs. E. ieel, to cool, as used in Shakespieare, A. S.
e/l-a,i {=*a/-fan); (wm c6!, cool. E. speed, A.S. j^rf
{=sp6-di, Fick, iii. 355), success; from A.S. sp6-wan, to
succeed, prosper. Cf. the remarkable cognate Skt. sphili,
prosperity, sphati, increase, from sphay, to enlarge. E. sUtd,
A.S. Uida (='s/id-jai), a stud-horse, stallion, war-horse;
from A. S. sISd, M. E. stood, now spelt and pronounced as stud,
§ 197. tf >.. Y. Sixth i-mutalion.
(a), An excellent example is seen in the E, hide, a skin,
A. S. hj^d. This hjd clearly stands for 'HUdi, because it is,
by Grimm's and Vemer's Laws, the equivalent (except in
vowel-grade) of Lat. culi-s {stem cvli-), a hide. The plurals
mice, lice, ki-rte have been discussed above; see § 188.
{8). 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. r. 65, and by Spenser, F. Q. iii. 1. 6a. The A. S.
form \^/^l-an {=''f&l-ian) < ../HI. foul; so that //c= to
make foul. So also the sb. filth, A. S. /jfl3 (cf. O. H. G.
/iilida)< ../HI, Y../0UI. E. dive, A.S. dy/-an { = *d£/.,an),
a weak verb derived from the strong verb d£/-an, lo
dive; whence also d£/-a, E. dove. Properly, dive is a
causal form. E. kith, A. S. cfS, knowledge, acquaintance,
relationship (■=^'cun-3i); cf. Goth, iunlhi, knowledge; < ..
A. S, ctiS (= 'cuntf), known ; with which cf. Goth. ku>ilhs, pp.
known. In the mod. E. ktlh, the thas been shortened £>«
pride, A. S. prjft-t ; from /rtf/, E. proud. E. witk, 1
' This etymology i« doe 10 Mi. Sweet (Anglia, iiL i. > j<S].
I Iii9-1
MUTATION OF EA TO Y.
209
\ tujfscan {=:*ittise-iait) < -. wtfjc, a wish, s. ; it is obvious
that the mod. E. has really preserved the form of the vtrli
only, though wuss, on ihe 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 A. S. rym-an {='riim-
ian), to enlarge, from the adj. rtfm, large, room-y.
§198. EA > .. Y; EO > ..Y. This is true, whatever
be the hngth ■,\.t.ea > y,/a > j^-,eo > y, and /o > y. In
early MSS., l\\e y is written ie. We take all these together.
as tlie seventh i-muialion. Examples in mod. E. are rare.
(a). The mod. E. elder, eldest, correspond to A. S. yldra
^{=^yld'ira), yldesl (='yldista), < .. tald, E. old. The ab.
#tf=A.S.yrf-B, oldage.
(p). E. tuork, v., A. S. wyrcan (=*weorc-iaH) < .. weorc,
'E.uiori,^. Mod. E. confuses the eo and jf, so that this cannot
&irly be instanced.
(7). In the same way, E. steeple, a high tower, is from
steep, high ; but the A. S. form Uypel is formed by I'-muladon
from stiap, steep. So E. teem, v., M. E. temen, is from team,
M. E. tern, teem, a family; but the A. S. verb ffm-ian is
formed by /-mutation from the sb. team.
(i). We may instance also Icel. dypS, depth' < ,. Icel.
dj£pr-^pL.S. drop, deep. Modern English imitates this in
forining depth from deep. So also the/l from thief; A. S.
pieJSe, theft < .. P^of, a thief. The clearest example is
E. itirk, a bullock, A. S. iljr-ic, formed with suffix -c and
vowel-mutaiion from A. S. ste'or, an ox, a sleer.
§ 199. Hutatioa in Modem Eagliah. By way of re-
[ capitulation, I here collect those instances in which the
[ vowel-mutation has been clearly preserved even in modern
I English. The explanations of the words have been already
L given above.
For *djSp-iio ; rf, Teut lakcitho, length, at p. joi,
VOL. I. p
VOWEL-MVTA TIOfT.
[Chat. 4
I. (a) man, pi. nxn ; conipa.re bank, bench ; fouf (a culterjji^^
compared with sedge, (i) Substantives derived from ad-
jectives, as: long, length; strong, s/reng/A'. (c) Adjectives
from subslanlives, as: Angle, English; Frank, French;
Wales, Welsh, (J) Verbs from substantives or adjectives.
as: band, bend; late, lei (to hinder); sale, sell; tale. ttll.
Here we may insert the cases in which the substantive lies
nearer in form to the root, as : qual-m, quell ; song, f iin^£J
wand, wend; wrack (sea-weed), wretch and wreck.
these we may rank : comh, unkempt, considering
as a pp. (e) Weak verbs from the base parallel with that of
the pt, t. of strong verbs, as : can, ken (for can is an old past
tense as regards its form); drank, drench; /alt, /ell; lay
(A. S. ItEg), lay (A. S. lecgan), which are distinguished 1
usage ; tat, set. Similarly we have stank, stench, though si
is a sb. (/) Adjective from a verb : fare, fresh.
3. (a) bor-n, birth and burdtn; com, kernel; drop, drip;
fort, first; fox, vixen; gold, gild; knot, knit; mon-ey, mitU',
monastery, minster, (i) Of Scand. origin : foal, filly ; toflf
lift. (/) Similarly we have b<ms, sb. {A. S. bog-a || bog-en, \
of bdgan'), bight ; borrow, v, (A. S. borg-ian \\ borg-tn, pp. 4
beorgan), bury, v. ; dross (A. S, dros \\ dror-en=*droS'e\
dr/osan), drizzle.
3- dung, dingy', full, fill; lust, list; pound, pint
slunl-ed, stint: through, thrill ; won. pp., win-some.
4. broad, breadth ; foe, feud ; hot, heat; load, lead, i
loan, len-d; one, any; rose (pt. t. of rise), re
thread; whole, heal. So also compare wroth, adj. (A,
wrdS II wrdd, pt. I. of wrlSan), with the sb. wreath.
5. (a) foot, feel; goote, geese; tooth, teeth. Cf.
brethr-en. (b) book, beech; blood, bleed and bless; boot (U
vantage), beet (to profit, kindle); brood, breed; doom, d
' Here bf longs A. S, ilriHg-t, now spell ilring, from the «dj. I
So bIso the fiah called ■ Hag was formerly called leage (ItaTclok, i
and siiDply nicias 'tlu long lish,' from ils sbape.
I
EXAMPLES. 211
Jbod,/ied; glow, ghdt (live coal) ; grow, green ; cool, keel (to
cool); moot, meet; soke, seek; stud, steed.
6. (a) cow, ki-ne ; loust, Uce; mouse, mice, (i) dave, dive ;
foul, de-file and filth ; un-eoulfi, kith ; prwd, pride ; room, prov.
E. rimer (a tool) ; Lowland Sc- wuss, s. (a wish), wish, v.
7- (d) A. S. EA : o/rf, ^/rf-^r. (i) A. S. ea r f^'a/i, ieefi :
sltefl, steeple ; team, teem ; where mod, E. shews no difference
in the vowel-sounds, (r) A. S. &o: steer, slir-k; also deep,
depth ; thief, Ihtft.
It thus appears that clear examples of mutation can be
itaccd in ntarly eighty instances even in modern English !
Surely this is a point of some importance, such as should
not be passed over in our dictionaries and grammars as if it
were beneath investigation. When we find that Webster's
Dictionary, for example, explains _/oc</ as being the A. S.
foda \sie; no accent], hom/edan [sic; no accent], to feed,
how are we to trust an etymologist who does not even know
this elementary lesson, that the A. S. e' is a mutation of
a preexisient </? (I am glad to find this set right in the new
edition of i8go.)
§ 20O. It remains to be observed that, in many instances,
the original vowel of the root has suffered both mutntion and
gradation, so that the results of the present chapter may often
have to be taken in combination with those of the preceding
chapter before the form of the root can be clearly seen.
Thus the verb lo/ced is formed by mutation hom/ood, A. S,
/ifda. But the S\a/6da is a strengthened form of a. so that
the Teutonic base takes the form fad, answering by Grimm's
Law to an Aryan pat, appearing in the Gk. nar-iofioi. I eat.
This Aryan pat is an extension of the root pa, to feed,
appearing in the Skt. pd, to feed, Lat. pa-sc-ere (pt. t. pa-ui),
lo feed, &c. For further information on this subject, see
Chapter XIII (below), where the method of discovering
Aryan roots is more particularly discussed.
We are also now in a position to explain words similar to
212
VO iVEL-MUTA TION.
[GAAP. XI.
those mentioned in §§ 47, 162 ; as e.g. nyd^ need, hr;fd^ bride,
gelffatiy to believe, hfd^ hide, ffst^ fist. Of these, nyd an-
swers to Goth, nauihs (stem nauihi'\ so that the ^ is an 1-
mutation of au (A. S. ^). At the same time, the G. Noih is
cognate with Goth, nauths, the G. long 0 being equivalent to
Goth. au. Hence we conclude that £. need and G. Noth
have related vowel-sounds. Similarly, E. bride, A. S. brjfd, is
cognate with Goth, bruths (stem brUihi')^ and therefore with
O, H. G. brUt, whence G. BrauL Gelyfan, to believe =*^^-
Uaf'ian^ from ge-Uafa, belief; and, as A. S. /tf=Goth. a«=
G. au, this is precisely the G. Glaube {j=^ge'lauhe\ E. hide,
A. S. hyd, answers to Teut. hCdi (Pick, iii. 78), cognate with
Lat. cUii'S, though the Latin form shews a weaker grade;
the O. H. G. form is hUt, whence G. HauL Similarl}',
A. S. fyst answers to O. H. G. fUsi, whence G. Faust,
These examples may suffice ; there are many more of a
similar character.
CHAPTER Xir.
PRErixBs AND Substantival Suffixes.
§ aoi. Prefixes. A considerable number of the prefixes
in English are of Latin origin, and due to prepositions, such
as ab, ad, ante, &c. The prefixes of English origin are not
very numerous. They are given in the Appendix to my
Etym. Diet., in both editions ; but it may be useful to give
here a brief list of the chief of them. Cf. Koch, Eng. Gram,
iii. 112; Sweet, A. S. Reader, p. btxix,
A-, from various sources. (Only the Teutonic sources are
noticed here.)
I. A. S. of; as in qf-dune, E. a-down.
a. A.S. on; as in M, E. onfoli, E. a-foot.
3. A. S. and-, against, opposite ; as in A. S. and-lang,
E. a-l<mg. See An-, Un- (2).
4. A.S. a-, intensive prefix to verbs; as in A.S. d-risan,
E. a-riit. This A. S. «- is cognate with O. H. G. ar-, ir-, ur-
(mod. G. tr-\ Goth, us-, ur-. The Goth, us is also used as
a prep., signifying ' away from,' The chief verbs with this
prefix are a-bidc, ac-curse (written for a-eurse by confuMOn
with the F. and L. ac- = ad), af-fright (similarly, for a-frighi),
al-lay (similarly, for a-lay), a-maet, a-rist, a-rouse ; we have
also the past participles a-gkast, a-go. Among these words,
ac-eursi and a-roust seem to have been formed by analt^y ;
they have no representatives in A.S. The pp. dmased,
amazed, occurs in Wulfstan's Homilies, ed. Napier, p. 137,
I. 93. See Or- below, p. ai6.
214
EMGUSH PREFIXES.
[Ce.
5. A- in a-do is short for at, whirh was used in the Noitti|
as ihe sign of the inBniiive. The prov, E. ' Here's a pret
lo-do' is equivalent to the old phrase ■ Much fl-rftf/ i.e. 'much-'l
al do," much to do. There was an old phrase 'out at doors,''r
besides the more usual ' out of doors ' ; hence the phr. 1
a-doors, which may represent either of the older forms,
6. In some words, the A. S. prefix ge-. later i-. y-,
turned into a-. Thus A. S. g(-wa:r is our a-ware ; and A. !
gt-/ort-ian produced M.E. a-forlhm, mod. E. af-ford (fii
'a-ford). See E-, Y-.
We may also notice a-ughl, A. S. ihvihf, where d-
prefix meaning 'ever,' cognate with aye, ever, which ii <
Norse origin.
After- ; A. S. a/ltr, after, prep, used in composition.
An-, in an-swir, A. S. and-swaru, s., an answer, refdj.-f
Here the A. S. and- is cognate with Du. o«/-, G. tnt-, Gk*
dir;, Skt. anli, over against ; the sense is ' against,' or
reply.' The same prefix appears as a- in a-long, and 1
in un-bind. See A- {3), Un- (2).
Ann-, in anneal, A. S. an-dlan, to set on fire, burn, 1
Thus the prefix is really the common prep, on,
senses, the word may be of French origin.
At-, in al-one, is the common prep, al, A. S. at.
Be-. This is A. S. be-, bi-, the same as bi, prep, by; E. l^^
E-, in e-nough. Enough is M. E. i-noh, A. S. ge-nSh ; i '
Goth. g.:-nohs, enough. Hence the prefix is the A. S, j
Uolh. ga-.
Edd-, in edd-y. In this obscure word, ttie prefix seems R
be A. S. ed; back, again ; cognate with Icel. (3-, O. H. ('
//-, ila-, Goih. id-, back. The Icel. iSa, an eddy, conn
sponds to the Lowland Scotch ydy, an eddy, which ocrt
in the Boke of the Houlate (ab. 1453). st. 64, 1. 817.
find the O, Sax. prefix idug-, back, in idug-lSnSn, to repajf M
paj-
From A. S. ymb-rynt, a die
EHCUSB PKEFIXES.
\ The prefix is A. S. ymh-, about, cognate with G. u
\ O- H. G. upihi, Lat. ambi-.
For- (i), E. and A. S. for, prep. Used in such cc
I pounds as, for-as-much, for-ever, &c.
Pot- (2), A. S, for-, prefix, as in /or-gifan, lo for-g
[ Cf. Icel./or-, /yrir-, Dan. /or-, Swed.yor-, Du. and G. i'
I Goth. /ra-, /air-, Skt. /«/•■!-. The Skt. pari is an old insi
I mental case of para, far ; hence the orig. sense is ' aw
Allied to Tl./ar. The prefix has something of a
' Force.
giv
j the s
; of '
A-ay,' or ■ from," The chief
I
derivatives are Jor-bt-ar, Jor-bid, /or-jend, /or-go (miswritten
/ore-go\/er-gd./oT-give,/or-lorn,/or-sake,/oT-twtar.
"Eot^, in front ; A. S./ore, before, prep, and adv. Cognate
with Du. voor, Icel. /yrir. Dan. /or, S\fed./dr, G. vor, Goth.
./aura, Lat. pro, Gk. vpi, Skt. pra, Orig. sense ' beyond ' ;
■ killed to TL./ar, and lo the prefix /or- (i).
Forth-, forward, A. S. /arff, adv. ; extended from /ore.
before; see above. Cognate with Du. voor/, from voor; G.
/ort, M. H. G. vorf, from por. Cf. also Gk. irpori {usually
rp6s), towards, Skt. pra/i, towards.
Pro-, as in /re-ward, i. e. turned from, perverse. The
prefix yrc-, Northern K./ni-, seems to be the lce\./rd, from,
closely allied to Itxl./ram, forward, and to E./rorn.
Ooin-, against ; M. E. geitt, A. S. gegn, against. Hence
gain-saji, gains/and.
,n im-bid, im-park, is the form which the prep, in
assumes before a following b or p.
A. S. in, prep., in ; often used in composition. See
above.
I1-, in l-one, which is short for al-one; where al = M. E.
al, mod, £. all.
Kid-, in the word mid-vyi/e, is nothing but the A. S. prep.
mid, with, now otherwise obsolete ; cf. G. mil, with, mit-hd/m,
to help with, assist. So also the Span, comadre, a midwife,
is, literally, a ■ co-mother.'
2l6
ENGUSH PREFIXES.
[CHA
's-deed, a
's-laie. A. S. mi's-, wrongly.
Also found as Icet., Dan.,
Mis-, ^^Tongly, as in
amiss ; allied to the verb h
and Du, MIS; Swed. miss-, Goth, missa-.
N- ( t). A prefixed n- in E. words arises from a misdivision
of consecutive words in a phrase. It most often results from
the use of the indefinite article an. Thus an not becanoftl
a nnvl, an rkr-name became a nick-name, an t'ngol I>ecam
a ningot (whence probably a niggol, used by Norlb, and
mod. E. a nugget). On the other hand, we must remember
that a naddfr became an adder ; a napron > an apron ; a
nauger > an auger ; a norange > an orange ; a nouch > aH_\
ouch ; a numpirt > an umpire : hence the curious f
adder, apron, auger, orange, ouch, and umpire ; all of v
have lost an initial n.
W- (a). In the case of nunele, the n is doe to the
letter of the drst possessive pronoun; so that mynundt^
myn uncle, mine uncle. We even find the form n
N- (3). In the word n-once, which only occurs in the phr
/or the nance, we have the M.E. /or Ihe nones, miswritten fi
/or then ones, for the once. Here Ihm is the dat. case of tl
def. article, A. S. 3dm, later forms dan, than, then.
TS- (4), negative prefix. A, S. n-, prefix, short for ne, 1
Cf. Goth. «/, Rusa. ne, Irish m, Lat. ne, not ; Skt. n
It occurs in n-aught, n-ay, n-either, n-fver, n-ii/{!or n
n-o.n-one^ n-or. n-ot (shorl for n-aught). Seeirn-(i); p. ai)G
Of-, Off-. The prep. (/ is invariably written off' in c
position, except in the ease of o//a/, for fff/ail, where |l
use of off would have brought three_/"s together.
On- ; A. S. on, prep., E. on; in composition.
Or-, in or-deal, or-ts. The prefix is A. S. 0T-,
with Du. oor-, G, ur-, Goth, ur- or us-. It is therefore on^-^
another form of A- (4). Or-deal, A. S. ordfl, orddl, is cog-
nate with Du. oordeel, 0. urtheil. judgment ; -deal is the same
_^a5 £. deal, a portion. The word meant ' that which is dealt ,
ri"»i.i
ENGLISH PREFIXES.
"7
tk
out.' hence, a decision. Oris is pi, of or/, cognate with
or borrowed from Mid. Du. oor-efe, a piece left uneaten, from
Du, ef-en, 10 eat.
Out-, A. S. Hi; ihe prep, out in composition.
Over-, A. S. o/ir; the prep, ovrr in composition,
T-, in /-wit, A. S, ai-w{lan, to twit, reproach. Thus i-
is short for al-, which is the same as at, prep. ; see At- in
the New Eng. Dictionary.
Thorough-, in Ihorough-fart ; the same as through.
To- (i), in to-day, to-morrow ; merely the prep, to, A. S.
iW, to, as to, for.
To- (z), intensive prefix ; obsolete, except in the pi. t. to-
brate. Judges is, 53. A. S. tt!-, apart, asunder, in twain;
cognate with O. Fries, to-, It-, O. H. G. zd-, zt-, si-, all with
ibe sense of ' asunder ' ; closely related to 0. H. G. sa-r-, zt-r-,
Bt'-r-, G. Bt-r-, prefix ; cf, also Goth, /wis-, as in Iwis-slandan,
10 separate oneself from.
Twi-, as in Iwi-tighl, A. S. twt-, lit. ' double,' hence
•doubtful,' allied to E. two. Cognate with Icel. tvi-, Du,
Ht>tt~, G. sTuit-, which are allied, respectively, to Icel, Iveir,
'Du. twet, and G, zwei, two.
Un- (i), negative prefix ; A. S. uM-, from A rj*an n- (sonant),
negative prefix. Cf. Du. ow-, Icel. 6-, &-, Dan. k-, Swed. o-.
Golh. un-, G. un-, W. an-, Lat. in-, Gk. a.-, A-, Zend, ana-,
Pere. no-. Ski. an-. See TS- {4) ; p. 216.
Un- {2), verbal prefix ; A,S. un-, also on-, short for oni- =
A. S. flBrf- ; cf. Du. onl-, G, tnl-. Gk, d«^.'. It is therefore
ultimately the same as an- in an-swer, and n- in a-hng. See
above; p. 214,
Un- (3), in aH-A/, un-to. The prefix is equivalent to the
Fries, and O. Sax. und. up to, as far as to, Goih, und, up
unto. The A, S. (Wessex) spelling of this prefix is S9.
Under- ; the prep, under in composition.
Up- ; the prep, up in composition.
Wan-, in wan-Ion ; see Wanton in my Dictionary.
2l8 SUBSTANTTVAt SUFFIXES. [Cauf. 3m.
With-, against ; the prep, with in cotnposilion. The A. S.
wi3 commonly means ' against ' : this sense is ret^ned in tlwj
phrase ' to fighi wilh one,' Hence wilh-slatid.
Y-, prefis ; as in the archaic words y-ehpi, named, j'-ioii',"
certainly. M. E, _y-, f- ; A. S. gt- ; cognate with Du, ge-, G.
gt-. Goth. ga-. This prefix, once very common, made very
little ditTerence to the sense; sometimes it has a collective
force. It was, perhaps, originally emphatic. See A- (Wl
andB-.
§ 202. SussTANTiTAL SuFmcES. The substantival sufBn
of E. origin are of three kinds, viz. (i) those like -dom, •
where the A. S. sufTix was also an intelligible word; (3)5uffi:
expressive of diminution ; and (3) suffixes consisting of o
one or two letters, such as -m in doo-m, -Ik in lerig-lh ;
of these being double or compound.
(1) In the first class we have only the following:
-hood (also -head), -lock (also -Ifdgi) ', -red, -ric, -ship (also '
■scape, which is Dutch). See Koch, Eng. Gram. iii. 101:
Sweet, A.S. Reader, p. \%x%\. To these should be added
A.S. /dd; see under -hood below. 'The-cra/}'mpriej/-cra/i,A
&c., can hardly be regarded as a mere suffix.
-dom. A. S. -dSm, the same as A. S. dSm, judgi
K. doom. Cognate with Icel, -d6mr, Dan. and Swed. -dem, ■
in Icel. fira.l-d6mr, Dan. lr<el-dom. Swed, IrHl-dom, ihraldc
Du. -dom, G. -Ihum, as in Du. hcilig'dom, G, Htilig-ihik
sanctuary, relic. It occurs (a) in pure E. words, as birth'
farl-dom, free-dom, healhtn-dom, king-dom, sheriff-don,
dom : (p) in words of Scand. origin, as hali-dom, Ihral-A
(c)\n words in which the first element is foreign, as : Chriti
dom, duke-dom, marlyr-dotn, peer-dom, pope-dom, printf
irrf-dom. New words, as ftunkey-dam, can be coined,
-hood, -head. A.S. -hSd, Friesic -Md; cf. § 43,
A. S. had meant sex, degree, rank, order, condition, state,
nature, form ; so that man-hood means ' man's estate ' ; &c
' The sufHx -Hesi [ ^ ■ti'tss') does Dot belong to this cUa. "Sits | 1]^
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFTXES. ijg
fCognale wth Du. -A«V/, Dan. -^td, Swed. -ie/, G. -Aeil,
aj^aring respectively in Du. vrijheid, Dan, fri-hed, Swed.
fri-ktl, G. Frei-hei(, freedom ; where Ihe Swed. form looks as
if V. were merely borrowed from German, as perhaps the Dan.
form was also, Cf. also Goth, haidus, manner, way ; further
related to Skt, ke(u, a sign by which a thing is known, from
kH, to perceive, know. It occurs {a) in pure E. words, as
hrother-hood, child-hood, knighl-hood, likeli-hood, maiden-hood,
man-hood, neighbour-hood, sisler-hood, widow-hood, wife-hood,
woman-hood, and is spelt -head in God-head, maid(n-head:
(^ in words in which the first element is foreign, as m/alse-
I, priiit-hood. In boy-hood, the word boy is Fricsian ; it is
lot found in A. S. The form Hve-U-heod is corrupt ; here
-6-Anorf has been substiiuled for M.E. -/oat, and the real suffix
is A. S. -lad, as in Hf-lad, provisions to live by. This A. S.
lad is the same as mod. E. lode; see Lode in my Etym. Diet.
-look, -ledge. Only in wed-lock, know-ledge; the former
of which has the pure E. suffix, from M, E. -ISk, shortened from
M. E, M=A. S. lac, whilst the latter exhibits the cognate
Scand. form, Icei. -leikr. The A. S. lac is probably preserved
in the mod. E. slang term lark, sport ' ; it meant ' play, contest,
gift, olTering,' but was also used to form abstract nouns, as in
r^f-lae, robbery, wrohl-lac, accusation, wed-ldc, later wed-
lat, matrimony, the wedded stale. The cognate Icel. leikr.
Swed, kk, play, is also freely used as a suffix, as in Icel.
iarleikr, Swed. ksrlek, love. There was also a corresponding
A.S. verbal suffix -Idcan {='-l6iian), as in A.S. nMi-l^can.
M. £, neh-lecken, to draw nigh, approach ; and it is not un-
likely that the form of the suffix -Uche in M. E. knaw-Ucht,
knowledge, was really inGuenced by this A, S. verbal form.
It makes no great difference.
-red { i), A. S. -rdden ; only in hal-red, kin-d-red. In the
liter word the middle d is excrescent, the M. E. form being
' It ihonld rather have giv<
B laii. a (port, is from the Icel, Iciki
mod. E. leit ; tbe commoii North-
smSTA2\mVAL SUFFTXES.
kin-rede, i
1 A. S.
n-rddtn, i
t found.
;, answenng;
also hal-red, M. E. hal-reden^ answers to A. S. 'lule-rddtK,
also not found. We find, however, A. S. /r/ond-r^dfn.
friendship, shewing that the suffix, Uke -ship, signifies ' stale '
or 'condition,' originally 'readiness.' It even occurs as a
separate word, meaning ' condition, rule ' ; and is allied to
Golh. ga-raid-eins, an ordinance, rtjle, G. be-reil, ready,
E. ready. Curiously enough, it is related lo the verb to
not, as might at first be supposed, lo the verb lo read.
-red (a), in hund-red. The suffix in hundred, A. S. kt
red, is not the same as the above. It appears
hund-rad. O. Sax. hunde-rod, O. H, G. hundi-ril, G. htmdt-rt.
In this case the suffix -red means tale, number, or more
literally, ' reckoning ' ; so that hund-red means ' a hundred
by reckoning,' the A. S. hund (cognate with Lai. eenl-utn)
meaning a hundred, even when used without the sufilx. Cf.
Golh. ga-ralh-jan, to reckon, to numbei
-rio, in buhop-ric. From A. S. rk-e, Golh. reik-i, domii
allied to Lat. reg-num, kingdf
-Bhip, A. S. -scipe, originally ' shape, form, mode,'
sctpp-an {=*seap-tan), to shape, make. Cognate with Icel.
•ikapr, Dan. -skab, Swed. -siap, Du. -schap, G. -tehafl, as
seen in K.^.friond-scipe, 'Qxa. frand-skab, ^ivitA. frSnd-tkap.
Du. vriend-schap, G./reund-scha/l, i. ^./riend-thip ; for which
the Icel. word is vin-skapr. See Weigand, Etj-m, G. Did,
li. 540. The suffix is used (^7) in pure English words,
of which are in early use, as : friendships hard-ship,
thip, toum-ship, worship {=wor/h-sArp) ; others in later
as : horsemanship, kingship, ladyship, .sheriffship, son-
stewardship, ward-ship : [b) with Scand. words, as : /a
ship: (f) with French words, as: clerkship, court-ship^
The word landscape, originally also land-skip, was boi
from Du. landschap in the I7lh century,
§ 208. (2). Suffixes expressive of diminution. The chief
■ diminutive A. S. suffixes are -c, -el, -en, •ing, which
rd to
I uid I
M
icd.^
de-rf.
idred
./-„)
r i J03.]
DTMINVTIVE SVFBIXES.
I
be combined, giving ihe secondary forms, such as -k-in,
-i-ing.
-O (probably from Teut. -ko). The word bull does not
appear in A. S., though we find Icel. ioli, a bull; but we
find A.S.iuii'U'c\ E. buU-o-ck. It is usual to regard the
suQix -ock as indivisible, but I i^ould ralher regard the suffijc
&s double or compound, and due to some such form as a
Teut. double suffix -wo-ko ; or otherwise, the -0- {A. S. -«-)
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,
ft smaU hill; humm-ock, a small hump or heap; rudd-ock. the
little red bird, the redbreast ; lavcr-ock, little lark, from A. S.
l4vMrce, la/era, a lark. There is an equivalent diminutive
suflix in Irish, spelt -og (also perhaps for -o-g), whence our
thamr-ock, Irish stamr-og, dimin. of seamar, trefoil. Cf. A. S.
matt-uc, meli-uc, W. mat-og, a mait-ock, where the W. word
may be of A. S. origin. The origin of hadd-ock is doubtful.
The word hammoik is W. Indian, so ihat it is of entirely dif.
Cerent formation. Originally hamaca, it came to be s[H-!t 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-Oik, as is curiously proved by the fact that Paddock
Wood, in Kent, not far from Tonbridge, was formerly called
Parrocks (see Archaeologia Canliana, xiii. 128; Hasted's
Kent, V. 286), This is the A. S. pearruc, a paddock ; from
tparr-an, later parr-en (with loss of s), to enclose.
In the word slir-k we have the simple suffix -k. It is the
dimin. of slur, A. S. ste'or ; whence A. S. slyri-c, a stirk.
> Nol buUuca. Bs usually given ; the dnt. cue bulluce occurs in the
Liber Sdntillanmi, sect 54.
* Cr. O. Sax. -thu, ■ horse, item ■em-WO, cogute with Lat. ef-uur,
222
DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES.
-el, or raiher -e-l, where ihe -/ answers to
suffix -LO- See § 218. Thus Y.. bramble {wilh excrescent
i), A. S, hrim-et, 13 formed (with (-mutation) from A. S.
brSm, broom (Kluge, s.v. Brom-beeri); giving Mm-el <
*br6tni-l (see Sievers, O. E. Gr, § 365). Simaariy, E.
hov-el is a dimin, of A. S. hof. a house. E. kern-el. A, S.
cyrn-tl, is a dimin. of A, S. corn, a com, a g'rain. E. nav-el,
A. S. nafe-ta, is a dimin, of E. r>avr, A. S. nafa, the boss of
a wheel. E. padd-le, a little spade, formerly zpaddlr, is a
dimin. of spade. E. runn-el, a rivulet, A. S. ryn-el, is a
diminutive of ryne, a course < .. Ironn-en, pp. of rinnan, to
run. Other diminutive forms are ax-le, bund-le, nipp-li,
nosz-le, pimp-U, spa»g-le, spark-le. In tlic word eoek-er-el,
a little cock, the sufGx is the Aryan -ro-LO. So also in
pik-er-el, a young pike ; ntong-r-el, a puppy of mixed breed,
from A, S. mang {ge-piang), a mixture '.
-en, or rather -e-n (Teui. -1-na f). In the word maid-en,
diminutive of maid, the cognate O. H. G, magal-in or meged-in,
dimin. of O. H. G. magad, a maid, shews that the saSix
answers to a Tent, -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, and ed. In E. ii//-tn,
M. E. kit-oun, the suffix was originally French, and there-
fore this word does not exhibit the A. S. -oi, but the
Anglo- French -oun (Lai. ace. -micni) ; the change from -ova
to -at being, however, due to association with diminutives
-ing, i. e. -in-g, is due to a Teutonic compound suffix ;
see § 2^I. It was chiefly, used in A. S. to form patrony-
mics, as in aPel-ing, son of a noble, from <il>eU, DobI&.^
If-illui, dimin. of en
ri"3.]
DIMINXJTIVE SUFFIXES.
a 13
It docs not seem to be now used as a mere diminutive,
except when -/- precedes. See below.
-1-ing. is compounded of the sufBses -/ i^-tt) and -ing, and
was early used to form diminutives. Examples are : cad-
ling, daei-Ung. gos-ling, slar-ling, as diminuiivcs of cod, duck,
goote, and of prov. E. ilare, A. S. tiar, a starling'. Many of
these forms acquired a depreciatory sense, as; /op-ling, lord-
ling, strip-ling, wil-ling, world-ling. Some are related to
I the prinaarj- 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 slrip ; year-ling, a creature a year old. Some
e from adjectives, as: dar-Ung (;=^d(ar-ling),fat-li7ig, first-
ling, young-ling. Some from verbs, as : changt-ting, found-
ling, hire-ling, nurs-ling, shave-ling, starve-ling, suck-Ung,
yetm-hng. Sler-Ung is a Latinised form of Easter-ling ; see
my Dictionary. Scant-ling docs not properly belong here,
being of F, origin (F. escAanlillon).
1, i. e. -k-in or -k-i-n, seems to be a treble suffix. The
1 cognate O. H. G. -kin or -chin, as in wibe-kin, vdht-cMn,
I dimin. of 'uiSb, a woman, shews that the / was once long ;
moreover, -in appears to be a double suffix, as said above,
in discussing -en. The suflis -kin is not found in A. 5,,
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) preiiKed. The words lamb-kin, pip-kin (dirain. of
pipe), thumb-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. grSss,
a pig. E. sis-kin, a song-bird, is from Dan. sis-gen [ = * sis-
ken), a Ultle chirper; of, Swed. dial, sis-a, to make a noise
Kke a wood-grouse, In nap-kin, the E. suffix is added to
the F. nappe, O. F. nape, a cloth, from Lat. mappa, a cloth.
224 DIMINUTIVE SUFFIXES. [Chap. XII.
The following words are all probably Dutch, although the
Mid. Du. suffix ^-ketiy once common, has been replaced, in the
modern Du. language, by -je or -ije or -eije or -pje (after tn\
which is now widely used. Bump-kin^ Mid. Du. boom-ken^ a
little tree, thick piece of wood, hence a block-head, 'dimin. of
boom^ a tree, cognate with E. beam, Bus^ktn (for *brus'kin
or *burs'ktn)y Mid. Du. broosken^ a buskin ; origin uncertain.
Cana-ktn (Shak.), Mid. Du. kanne-ken^ explained by Hexham
as * a small Canne, Pot, or Cruse,' dimin. of Du. kanne, a can.
Cai-kin, a spike of flowers resembling a cat's tail, Mid. Du.
kaiie-ketif a kitten, dimin. of Du. kalUy a cat. Dodkin (ob-
solete), a little doit, dimin. of Du. duii, a doit. Fir-kin^ the
fourth part of a barrel ; from Du. viery four. Jer-kin^ dimin.
of Du. jurky a frock (Se wel). 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-kenj a little man,
dimin. of Du. man, a man. Mini-ktn, a term of endearment,
Mid. Du. minne-ken, my love, dimin. of Du. minne, love. To
the above words in -kth we may add prov. E. bul-chin,
a bull-calf, dimin. of £. bull, and equivalent to bull-ack,
^ Spelt kinderkind (with excrescent d at the end) in Peele's pUy of
Edward I, ed. Dyce, 1883, p. 383, note.
*Et^2:
i I
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, -Tl, -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
diflferent form in Teutonic; thus -to becomes -tho or -tha
(by Grimm's Law), or even -do or -da (by Vemer's Law).
§ 206. Aryan suffix -O ; fem. -A. This suffix invariably
disappears in modem English, and need not be discussed at
length, though a large number of sbs. originally belonged to
this class. It occurs as -a (fem. -p^) 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
(vy-6'V, a yoke, and to the Lat. -j/- (formerly -0-) in iug-u-m.
Thus 'E.fish, Goth, fisk-s, has for its stem fiska, appearing
in the dat. pi. fiska-m. £. hal/^ Goth, halba, has the stem
HALBd, dat pi. halbo-nty where -d is a long vowel, and
VOL. I. Q
226
SUBSTA!fTIVAL SUFFIXES, [CukZHI^
answers to Aryan -a. E. ship, Goth, skip, has the stem
SKiPA ; dal. pi. skipa-m. Of ihese words, both in A. S, and
Gothic, fish is masculine, half is feminine, and ship is
neuter. Modem English has given up all idea of distin-
guishing genders in this way'. The following is a brief
list of some of the substantives of this class. Cf. Sievers,
O.E.Gr.§§.39, 251.
(o). Masculine : E. day, A. S, dag, Goth. dags. E.
dough, A. S. ddh, Goth, daigs. Y-.fish, A. %. fisc. Goyit. fiiis.
E. hound. A. S. hund, Golh. hunds. E. loaf, A. S. hid/, Goth.
hlaibs. E. oalh, A. S. 6p, Goth, aiiks. E. shoe, A. S. wrf,*.
Goth. j<i0^j. E. sleep. A. S. f/<^^, Goth. skps. E. awy, A. S.
weg, Goth. i«^j. E. Wfi^ A. S. wul/, Goth. uw^.
{&). Neuter : E. deer, A. S. d/or, Goth, rf/ux. E. grass,
A. S. gr<Es, Goth. ^aj. E., A. S. holl, a wood, E., A, S.,
Goth. /a«rf. E. M<>, A- S. seip, Goth. ji/>. E. lore, s.,
A. S. sdr, Goth. jair. E. jwr, A. S. g/ar, Goth. yir. Jg, ,
^'oii?, A.S.geoc, Gotii-jiii.
{c). Feminine : E. care, A, S. caru, Goth. fora.
A. S. heal/, Goth. Ar/^ (side). E. A<:r./, A. S. heard, Got
hairda. E. ru»^, A. S. Arung, Golh. hrugga (=
E. womb, A. S. wamb, Goth, wamba.
§ 206. Teutonic -an; fem.-6N{=SN). This sufGx is conn*
mon in many cases of A. S. weak nouns, but does not appear
in modem English. Thus E. tongue, A. S. iung-e, {., makes
the gen. luitg-an; the Gothic lugg-o {=/ung-iS) makes the
gen. /ugg~on (^/ong-Sn); the Teut. form being tohg-aii^
cf. § 205. Other nouns which had this suffix are bear (aig
animal), baw (for shooting); bourn (brook), cave, drop, gal
shank, smoke, spark, state, wit (wise man), all masculine ; a
ear, eye, neuter. Also the fcm. sbs. crow, fly, heart, tuetk \
the fem. pi. ashes, A. S. asc-an, Goth. azg-Sn.
' Modem E, gender is (mainly) logitat, i, e. il depends 1
of ui. The A.S. gmdei \.% grammatical, i. e. it depends on the fam j
tlie name ilaelf, which '\i quite a diflerent thing.
J J09-1
AXVA/t^ SUFFIX -10.
227
■
I
{ 207- Aryan suffix -T. This sufiix disappears in
modern English, like the preceding. It is commonly known
only by its causing ' mutation ' of the root-vowel of ihe stem.
It occurs in the stems of Goth. sbs. of the /Hleclension ; as
in arms, an arm. dat. pt, armi-m. There are no neuter
sbs. of this form. It occurs also in Skt. ah-i, a snake, Gk.
7x-'-«. LaL angu-i-s, &c.
Examples are : (a) Masculine : E. Aip {of the thigh),
A. S. Ayfie, Goth, ^ups, stem hvpi. E. mta/, A. S. meU,
Goth, maj^; TcuLmati. Y.. string, k. %. sirtng (=*slrangi),
allied to Strang, strong, (b) Feminine : E. queen, A. S.
nv/n, Goth, twens ; Teut. kw^ni, E, uvird, i, e. fate ; A. S,
wyrd < .. II word-tn, pp. cSweor^an, to happen.
For further examples see Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 263.
§ 208. Aryan suffix -U. This suffix likewise dis-
appears in mod. E. It occurs in the stems of Goth. sbs. of
the ((-declension ; as in kandu-s, a hand. It occurs in Skt,
rff-w, quickly, Gk. iir-u-r, swift, Lat. ac-u-s, a needle, ftc.
Elxamples are (<i) Masculine ; E. wand, of Scand, origin ;
Icel. vond-r = Goth, wand-us ; where p is the «-mutation
of a. (i) Feminine : E. cMn, A. S. ci'nn, Goth, kinnus, Gk.
ynvr. E. hand, A. S. hand, Golh. kandus. (c) Neuter : E.
/ee. A. S./eoh, Godi./u/'Aa.
§ 200. Aryan suffix -10 (written -JO by some German
writers). This suffix appears as -Ja'' in Goth, haird-ja-m, dal.
pi. of haird-eis, masc, a shepherd ; and in kun-ja, dat. sing.
of htn-i, n., kin. It is represented accordingly, by Goth,
masc, sbs, ending in -eis, and Goth, neut, sbs. in -i; see my
Gospel of St. Mark in Gothic, p. xsxvii. Il is common in
Latin as -io-, as in od-io-, stem of odium, hatred. In A. S.
this suffix became simply -e, as in Goth, and-eis, A. S,
tnd-e, M. E. tnd-e. In Chaucer, mod. E. end, where the suffix
disappears. Similar words are: E. herd, in the sense of
shepherd, A, S. hird-e, m., Goth, liaird-a's, m. (as above),
' The GiKh./ « proaouQceil a> Jc..y,
228
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES.
CCr*
.Xtit
Teut. HERD-YA (Fick, iii. So). E. keck, A.S. Idc-e, Goth,
Itk-eis. a physician, Teut, l^-ya. Iii otherwords ihe -io- suffix
(A. S, -t) has somelimes caused a doubhng of the last letter in
the A. S, form, and has afterwards fallen away, though it has
often left its mark upon the word by producing an /-mutation
of the preceding vowel. Thus E. din, A. S. dyn (put for
dynn), is also found in the fuller A. S. form dyn-t (=dl's*-va).
E. hill, A. S. hyll {=hul-ya), cognate with I.at coU-is.
E, ridge, A. S. hrycg {= firygg = hrug-ya). E. wedge,
A. S, Wicg { = Wfgg = wag-ya). See Sievers, O. Eng.
Gr. 5 247.
In A. S., the neuter Teut. suffix -i drops off, but 1
before it has caused i-mutation. Good examples are »
E. 6ed, A. S. iedd, Goth. 6adi. E. iitt, A. S. fyn«, GotB. '
iuni. E. tu/, A. S. net/, Goth. na/i. E. fved, s. {a pledge, oiso-
Ifle), A. S. wedd, Goih. wadi. Other examples, mostly neuter,
occur in A. S., viz. E. dm, A. S. denn (cf. O. H. G. iMHt, Gj
Tcnne, a floor). E. errand, A. S. drend-e, Icel. eyrm
E. hue, A. S. hiw, Goih. hiw-i. E. rib, A. S. ribb (O. H.(
rjje/i)- 1" ""''*. A. S. wcM, where the A. S, double b stai
as usual, for double/; so that weib = ''waf-ja< .. || Ai.jj
wa/'{fot 'waf), pt. t. o^we/-an, to weave. E. k'(7, A-S.n
Goth. !«■/-», from A. S. and Goth. wH-an, to know.
H*rA, s., A.S. weorc, Goth, ga-waurk-i. It should 1
particularly noticed that ait the mod. E. words quoted 1
this section {except leech and hue) are pronounced with i
short vowel, this effect being due to ihe mode of ti
formation.
Aryan -lA. This is the corresponding yJ-wiwiw i
appearing in Gothic as -jo in tlic dat. pi. wrak-jo-m of tl
sb. wrak'Ja, vengeance. The Goth. sbs. commonly e
in -ja in the nominative, but the A. S, drops tlie :
altogether, though its original presence is marked, aa before,
* In th[swotd the snUix ts obviously i/^uA/f ; thus A. S. ir-tmd-t^
Tent. AiK-AND-YA. Cf. Goth, air-us, ■ messenger-
0.3
TBUTOmC SUFFIX -VAN.
329
by the doubling of the final consonant (unless there are two
consonants already) and by i-mutation of the preceding
vowel. As before, the vowel in mod. E. is usually short.
Examples : E. iridge, A. S. btycg, f. (Icel. l>rjgg-ja). E.
m'b, A. S. crM, f. (O. Sax. kribb-ia). E. edge, A. S. teg, f.
pu. egg-e). E. hell, A. S. ktl, {., gen. hell-e, Goth. h^l-Ja,
gen, haljo-s. E. A«, A. S, ^(7i«, formed with /-mutation from
A, S. masc. kan-a, a cock. E. stdge (lit. sword-grass), A. S.
secg,2. sword (= 'sag'ja, i.e. ciill-er), from Teut. base sag^
Aryan root sek (Lat. sic-are, to cut). E. shell, A. S. scell,
Goth, ttal'ja, a tile, allied to E. ifa/c, Anglo-French tscak.
E. j<7/ (of a door), A. S. s^ll, a base, support. E. sin, A. S.
tynti (for 'sytiJ), O. Sax. sund-ia, G. Silnde, O. H. G.
/w(/-,j'. Cf. Sievers, O. E. Gr. § 258.
§ 210. Teutonic -VAN, -In, These suffixes appear in jot«
sbs. of the weak declension '. Examples are : [a) mascu-
, line: E. M, s., A.S. M-a, gen. ebb-ait (= 'af-jan)". E.
' Mmt, A.S. hnecc'a, gen. hneec'etn {=.'hnak-jan). E. wr//
I (springof water), A.S. iuf//-ff, gen. ww//-i7M(= 'ifj/yan), from
I the base WAL (A. S. wtall-an\ to boil, boil up. E. w///, s., A. S.
F V/ill'a, gen. wtll-an, Goth, wil-ja (stem viil-jan). E. wrtUfi,
A. S. wrecc-a, gen. wrecc-an (= 'wrak-Jan), from the base
WBAX (A. S. icrfcf , pt. I. of wrec-an, to drive away, hence to
exile).
(i) Feminine : E, c/rf, s., old age (obsolete), A. S. yld-u,
itld-u, derived by f-muiation from eald, old, answers to O. Sax.
tld-i, O. H. G. (•//-(', old age, and therefore had originally the
stem *tald-in. So also E. heat, A.S. hdl-it, from hdl, bol;
A<&-» had originally a stem *hdt-in. The Gothic weak fern.
sbs. of this class exhibit the sufKx -ein, as in manag-tin, dal.
' Kaa suntta; see Schaile.
■ The 'weak decleoiion ' is the name given to that of Etcms ending in
n; McSicTcrs, O. E. Gr. { aj6, nnd my Gothic Gf. % 11, The term is
not a happy one.
' The A. S. ti stands im ff<Ji. Cf. Goth, af, E. ef, i. e. from. Hence
1 tU, &oni *a/-jaii, means ' ibe receding ' of Che sea (Schadc).
230
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES.
of manag-ti, multitude ; and this -ein answers to a Tcut. -ticl
Sievers well remarks {§ * 79) : — ' As respects their origin [i. e.
etymologically], the abstracts in -u, -0, such as brdd-u,
breadth, hdl-u, salvation, metig-u, menig-o, multitude, slreng-a,
strength, ield-u, age, belong to the weak declension, ■
they correspond to Goth, weak nouns in -ti. They haw
however, taken the nom. sing, ending from the J-declensiotV |
and thus rid themselves entirely of the old infleclional forms.'
Here likewise belongs Y..fiH, s., ^.'?i. fyll-o, fern. < ..full.
adj. full; orig. stem *full-in\ cf. Goth. us-/ull-ein-s, fulness.
Teat. -i-HA. Corresponding to this is the A. S. suffix -tn,
as already noticed in § 203. The words maid-en, thick-tn,
have been already cited as diminutives. Other examples are :
(perhaps) E. vtai-n, s., strength, A. S. mag-en, n(
with Icel. vieg-in, strength, 0. Sax. meg-in, 0. H. G, riuk^
E. swine, A. S. sw-in, neut., cognate with Icel, n-ln, Gcl3C\
sw-ein (stem sw-ema). In the latter case, the suffix was
orig. adjectival, as seen in Lat. suinus (Varro), relating 10
sows, from su-, crude form of sus, a sow; cf. E. saw, A,S.
sugu, si!. E. iraci-en, A. S, bracc-an, is really a plural for
being the pi. of A. S. bracc-e, of the weak declension,
words in -en will be discussed hereafter.
§ 211. Aryan suiBx -WO (written -VO by Geni
editors, who write v for w, needlessly). It occurs in !
df-iifl, a horse, Gk. tireo-t (:= *iK-fo-c), Lat. eq-uu-s\ Skt. <
a course, Lat. a-uu-pi, a life-time. Goth, ai-wa-m, dat. pL^
aiws, an age. It is not observable in A. S. i
sing., but appears in other cases (except in the nom. pi. 1
ace. pi. of neuters) ; see Sievers, O. E. Or. § 349.
of neuter sbs. are : E. bale, s., harm, evil, A. S, beal-u, {
beal-we-s, cf. Goth, bal-uv-wetei, s. f., wickedness. E, i
also quid, A. S. eud-u, cwud-u, cwid-u, gen. avid-un-s. Ten
KWjn-wA (see .Supp. to my Etym. Diet., ind ed.). E. meal,
ground com, A, S. meol-u, gen. nieol-tves or meoi-o-wts (where
the inserted -t>- is euphonic), Teui. mil-wa, E, tar, A.S
>.]
ARYAN SUFFIX -WA.
23'
I
K, gen. leor-Tve-s, stem ter-wa = Teul. ter-wa, for
tre-wa; ihe word is of adjectival origin, and denoied
originally 'belonging to a /r«'; cf. Iree below. Other
neuters of this class are : E.gkt, K.S. gl!g,gl/o,^ta.glt-we-s,
Teut. gU-wa. E. knee, A. S. cn/b, ca/ow, gen. cne'o-we-s, cog-
nate with Goth, kni-ii, gen. kni-uii-s, Teut. kne-wa, allied
to Lat. gtn-u, Gk. yiy-v, Skt. jdn-u. E. //■«, A. S. frA, gen.
Irio-we-s, Golh. iri-u, gen. tri-wi'-s, Teut. tre-wa, cog-
nate with Rii3S. dri-vo, a tree, W, (/.rr-a, an oak, Gk. ^>ii-t,
an oak. The suffix appears as -w in mod. E. stra-w,
A. S. itrea-w, as seen in ilream-berige, a strawberry, Wright's
Vocab. ed. Wolcker, col. 298, 1. 11 ; cognate with G. Siroh,
0. H, G. str6, strau, gen. siraiv-es; the corresponding Golh.
stem would be 'stra-wa (Kluge, s. v. Stroh). E. lee, i.e.
shelter, a Scand. form, from Icel- W, lee, is cognate with A.S.
hl/o, hkmv, gen, hUo-jve-s, a shelter, preserved in prov. E.
lav. warm, lew-th, shelter.
Masculine : E. de-w, A. S. t/ea-w, gen. dea-we-s, cognate
with G. TAau. Teut. ha-wa (Pick, iii. 146). E. lo-w, a
hill, mound, grave, A. S. hld-w, hld-w, dat. hld-vx, htd-we,
cognate with Goth, hiai-w, a grave, from the Teut. base hlki,
=! Aryan root krei (klei) ; cf. Lat. cii-uu-s, a hill. E. snty-w,
A. S. snd-tv, Goth, snai-w-s (stem mai-wa).
§ 212. Aryan -WA.fem. form of the preceding. Examples
occur in the following fem. sbs. : E. cla-w, M. E. cla-iv, A. S.
cla-wu, pi. cid-we, cognate with G. Klaue, O. H. G. chla-wa
(see Schade). Fick gives the Teut. form as klA-wa, iii. 5a.
Perhaps it is belter to suppose the Teul. form to be
KLA-WA, resulting from klau-a, where klau is a 'graded'
form of the Teul, base klsu = Lai. glu- in glu-ere, to draw
together; see Schade, s. v, eklawa. Also: E. gtar, A.S.
gtar-tve, fem. p!. equipments, formed from the adj. gear-u,
(nom. pi. gear-we), ready, jiare, Teul. gar-wa, adj., ready,
(Fick, iii. loa). E. mead, also mead-ow, A.S. mtiti, dat.
d-we, stem uau-wa, so that mead is from ibe nom. case.
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Ciu». XIII.
and mead-ow from the dative or the Stem ; moreover, the
■D- is for -TH- = Aryan -t- ; in fact, ihe E. -lA actually
occurs in the forms after-math, latter-math, and the root is
the Teut. ma, to mow. Similarly, the double forms in E.
shade and E. shad-mo are exphcable by help of the A. S. fern,
sb. seead-u, of which the ace. pi. is scead-wa (Grein). E.
sin-ew, A. S. sin-u, seon-u, nom. pi. sem-we, Grein, ii. 430.
E. slo-w, a place, A. S. si6-w, gen. sl6-ive ; from the Ai
root 5TA, to stand, remain. The word mall-mv, A. S. mai-
ls a mere borrowing from the Lat. mal-ua.
§ ai3. Teutonic -WAN. There is an instance of this
E. swall-ow (bird), A. S. swcal-uie, s. fem., gen. sviral-wan,
Teut. swAL-wAN- Other examples are (probably) ; E. arr-aw,
A. S. ar-e-we (gen, arewan), a late form, pointing 10
earlier 'ar-we, gen. *ar-wan, answering to a Goih. fem.
stem *ark-w6n, as shewn by the closely allied Goth, ark-
wa-zaa, an arrow; Teut. stem arh-wAn, also found Ift!
the shorter form arh-wa, whence Icel. or (gen. or-va-r),
arrow. The Teut. akh-wa = Aryan ARg-wo, whence
arqu-u-i, more commonly arc-u-t, a bow, weapon of defei
from the root arq, to defend (Lat. arc-ere) ; see Fick, iii,
E. barrow (in wheel-bar rmu), M. E. barawe, barwe, answt
lo A. S. bear-we, gen. bear-waa, as seen in the cc
mcox-bearwe, a barrow for dung. E. sparr-mo, A. S.
we, gen. spear-wan. E, yarr-ow (milfoil), A. S. gear-
gen. gear-wan. The word wid-aw, A. S. wi'd-
-U'We, is cognate with Goih. wid-u-wo, gen. i
which seems to have an additional prefix before the
-WAN, answering perhaps 10 the -a- in Ski. vidh-a~\
widow. The E. pill-mv is not Teutonic ; it occurs as M, E.
pil-we, A. S. pyl-e. But there must have been a longer A. S.
form 'pyl-wc. cognate with O. H.G./Aff/«j(*,/iAKAtiti(Sclia(lc);
all the forms are merely borrowed from Lat. puluinus, a
bolster, cushion. Such words as bill-ow,/urr-otv, marr-mi^
will-aw, do not belong here,
430-
is in I
ARYAN SUFFIX -MO. 233
214. Aryan -MO. This is well marked in Mod. E., in
which it appears as final -m, or as -om (in bos-om^ boll-om,
/alh-omy. All the extant words with this prefix are (I think)
of the masculine gender, except _^ijni, which is neuter- It
should also be particularly noled thai, with the exception of
the words in -om, all these words are now monosyllabic, and
all contain a vowel that is long, either essentially or by
position ; for, escept when the vowel is essentially long,
words or this class end in a double consonant. I'he A. S.
suffix is -m, answering to Goth, -ma, Lat. -mu-s, Gk. -/lo-s
(-ftq), as in Lat. cul-mus, a stalk, Gk. t&.a.-^ot,^ reed (iiaXii-/ii;,
a stalk), which is cognate with E. halm, haul-m, a stalk, and
Rubs, solo-ma, straw.
Examples : E. bea-m (of timber), A. S. b/a-m, Du. boo-m,
a tree (E. boom, borrowed from Dutch), G. Bau-m, perhaps
allied to Gk. ^C-fio, a growth. [But the Goth, form is
iag'ifis (stem bag'tna), which points to an Aryan root bhagh,
as in Skt. bah-u, large; see Bough in my Eiym. Diet.]
E. bos-om, A. S. bSs-m, G. Bus-en. E. boll-om, A. S. bot-m,
G, Bod-en, prob. allied to Gk. nv6-iijiv, and to \'edic Skt.
tudh-na, depth. E. doo-m, A. S. dS-m, Goth, do-m-s, stem
SO-HA, allied to Gk. fl<-/i'r, that which is set or established,
from the root dha, to put, place, whence E. do. E. drea-m,
A. S. dria-m, meaning (i) noise, rejoicing, (a) joy, (3) vision,
TeuL DRAU-UA (Pick, iii. 152), prob. allied to Gk. fipoot,
noise, tumult. "E./afh-om, A.S.ya3-m, the space reached
by outstretched arms, from the root fat, to extend. E.
jff/-m. A, S. *fil-ni, only found in the dimin. form film-en,
membrane, allied to E. /ell, skin '. E. /oa-m, A. S. /d-m,
prob. allied to Lat. spu-ma. Ski. phc-na, foam. E.
The e in this fiiml -Btn was fonneily not wiitten ; cf. A. S. Mim,
bofm./atm. And, in fact, the final -m is here vocnlic.
* Wright's Vocab., ert. Vp'iilcket, col. Jojjhas: ' CcHtipiUium,i. emtn-
trnm, filifi.* The cneajiiog of the curl is oncertsiD. In [be ume, cdI. 446,
SUB^ANTIVAL SUFFIXES.
» shine, as seen in gU-nl, gli-j
a glS-ma=GLU-itA, from a base cu.
gloo-m, A. S. gU-m, a faint light, from gl6-u
; gli-litr, gli'Stcr,
E. haul-m, I
allied to Lai.
, to glcM
, A. S. heal-m, Teul. hal-ma (Fick, iii. •jtiy,
, Gk. .
i above). £. M-m,
a helmet, A. S. Ael-m. that which covers or protects, a hebnel,
Goth, hil-m-s (stem hil-ma), Tcul. bel-ma (Fick, iii, 69%
from the root of A. S. hel-an, to cover. E. hol-m, an islet
in a river, A. S. hol-m, orig. ' a mound,' allied to Lat, cul-mtn,
a mountain-top, and to col-lis, a hill. E. loa-m. A. S, Id-m,
Teut. LAI-MA, closely allied to E. li-7ne, A. S. /Aw, Teut.
Lt-siA (Fick, iii. a68). In fact, //bm and loam only differ in
their vowel-gradation (cf. A. S. drif-an. to drive, pt. t. drdf) ;
and are allied to Lat. li-ntre, to smear, daub. E. qual-m, A. S.
cweal-m (for *cwal-m) < j] acir/ (=*rtwj/), pt. t. of cwtl-an,
to die. E. r/a-fli, A. S. j/u-w, G. Sau-m, Teul. saimia, from
the root sO, to sew (Lat. i«-irrf). E. ili'-me, A. S. j//-«, allied
to Russ. sli'na, saliva, Lilhuan. seil-e, spittle, O. Irish ju//-*.
s-aliva, and Lat. lal-i-ua. E. slea-m. A, S, sl/a-m, Teut. stau-
MA. E. j/w-m, A. S. .(/tir-m, Teut. stor-ma (Fick, iii. 346).
E. strea-m, A. S. j/rA-m, allied to G. Stro-m, Teut. stsaD-
HA, from the Teut. STREtJ, to flow= Aryan root stbeu, skei;, to
flow, whence also Gk. Sr^-ruif, the Strymon, a liver-name,
pti^fia, flow, flood, Lithuan. sro-we, a stream, O. Irish srH-
aim, a stream, E. swar-m, A. S. mnar-m, Teut. swas-xa.
orig. 'a buzzing,' from Aryan root swar, to hum, buiE.
E. lea-m, a row of horses, A. S. l/a-m. a family, a line,
cognate with G, Zau-m, a bridle. Teut. tait-ma, a set, line,
row, bridle, put for "tauh-ma, derived from Teut. teuh,
to lead, Goth, liuk-an (Lat. duc-ere)^. To these we may
add £. roo-m, though the A. S. rH-ni was orig. an adj.,
meaning targe, spacious; cf. Goth, rums, adj.. spacious, also
rums, s., room; Teut. rO-ma (i) spacious, (a) space; allied
to Lat. ru-s, open country. The word ioo-m also belongs
' So Kluge ; (bis i> bcttci tlmti lu couicct Jt witb tbe vi
h'7.]
ARYAN SUFFIX -RO.
235
^H to £
but is mere Dutch, from Du. boom, a tree, a boom,
cognate with E. btam (of timber), given above; cf. E. horn-
team as the name of a tree, In broom, harm, the m is not
a suftiit, but radical.
§ 316. Aryan -MI, allied to -MO. The examples are but
few. We may cite : E. arm (of the body), A, S. tar-m, stem
AE-uo ; but cf. Goth, arms, gen. ar-mi-s, stem ar-mi ; allied
to Lat. ar-mu-s, shoulder, Gk. ^p-fio-r, joint, from the root ar,
to fit. E. ko-mt, A. S. ka-m, Goih. kai'-m-s, gen. hai'-mt-s '.
perhaps cognate vriih Gk. i«i-/iij, a village, Lilhuan. ki'-ma-s,
a village. 'E.wor-ni,h.S,wyr-ni{=*wur-mi),TtMX.WK-Tti\
see Worm in my Etym. Diet.
§ 216. Aryan -MON (-MEN). This suffix (occurring
in Latin as ~mdn-, -men, •min') is seen in the borrowed words
abdo-vien, acu-mtn, aibu-men, bitu-vien, o-men, regi-mm,
sptci-men. It occurs in A. S. weak sbs., as follows r E. bar-m,
jreast, A. S, beor-ma, gen, beor-man, probably cognate with
Lat. ftr-men-lum, whence E, fermenl. E. bes-om, A. S,
btt-ma, gen. 6cs-man, cognate with O. H. G. bes-a-mo^ G.
Bts-t-n, Du, bn-e-m. E. bloa-m, a Scand. word, Icel. bl6-m,
Goth, blo-via. stem blo-man, from the verb bl6-wan, to
blow (as a flower); allied to Lat. _^o-j, a flower. E, na-me
A-S. na-ma, gen. na-man, Gotli. na-mo, stem na-man,
cognate with Lat. no-men. Ski. nd-r.
A. S. /{-ma, gen. ti-man, Teui. t'i-m;
I to E. li-de, A. S. //-rf, Teut. Tt-ni.
Mcst-m, A.S. bl6st-ma, gen. bl6sl-
\y triple, the si em being blA-
o, a name. E. /;-mf,
(Fick, iii. 114), allied
Here also belongs E.
m ; but the suffix is
r-MAN, from bl4-wan,
to blow, flourish ; cf. bla-s-l, from bla-wan, to blow (as wind) ;
and see bloo-m above. Such a conjunction of suffixes is
common in the Aryan languages.
5 217. Aryan -RO. Some have supposed (hat the primi-
tive Arj-an language contained no /, and tliat / was merely
developed out of r ; but this view is hardly tenable. 1 shall
But the Goth. pi. is abu haim-es (stem hai-mS).
2^6 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [C«ap. XIII.
here consider ihe suffixes -ro and -to separately, and shall
take -RO first. It may, however, be remarked here that the
letters r and / are frequently interchanged in various Aryan
languages.
Aryan -ro; Goth. -ra. It musl be observed that the
letter r easily allows a vowel to slip in before il, the vowel
thus introduced being unoriginal. Thus the Gk. Kan-poi
is certainly cognate with the Lat. tap-er, a goat. In fact,
cap-tr is merely the peculiar form of the nomlnativt
stem is capro-, as seen in the old ace. sing, cnpro-m. Again,
the word which we now spell acre is the A, S,
In all such words the true suffix is -ra, and we must
look upon the -(• in the A. S. nominative ac-e-t
(Goth, ak-r-s, stem ak-ra), or the -e- in Lat. ag-e-r {:
AG-No], as being an original vowel. It will be found, for
instance, that the -er in Uv-e-r, a part of the body, is of
totally different origin from that of the -er in liv-er^ one who
lives. The former word belongs here; the latter does no(.
(See § 23,.)
Examples, (a) Masculine. E. ac-rt, A. S, <rc-fr, Goth.
ak-r-s, stem ak-ra, cognate with Lat. ag-rr, Skt. aj-ra ; from
■/ AG, to drive (cattle) '. So also beav-tr, A. S. br/er. Tent.
BEB-RA (Pick, iii. an). E. fing-er. A, S. fing-ir, Gotb.
figg-r-s, Teut. fing-ba. E. Jloo-r, A. S. JlS-r, Tcui. rtfl-lA
(Pick, iii. i6o), E. hamm-fr. A.S. Aam-or. E. oO-er, A. S.
o/-cr, Teut. ut-Ra (Tick, iii. 33), allied to Gk. vS-pa, whence
E. hyd-ra. E. s/ee-r (bull), A. S. s//o-r, Goth, t/iu-r-s, TeuU
STEV-RA (F. iii, 34*). E. summ-er, A.S. sum-or (id. 326),
E. Ita-r, A. S. i/a-r, also leag-or (GreJn), Goth, lag-r, n.,
Teul. tag-ra. allied 10 Gk. iin-pv. E. tkun-d-tr, A. S. pun-wr,
Teut. thon-ra (F. iii. 130), allied to Lat. lon-i-lru. To
these may be added ang-tr, of Scand. origin; from IceL
ang-r, stem ang-ra (F. iii. 1 2). (li) Feminine. E. ftalh-tr,
A, S. fid-er, from ■/ pbt, to fly. E. liv-tr, A. S. hf-<r^
' The symbol ij agnifies ' Arynn root,'
I
^'
ASYAff SUFFIX -LO. 337
Teut. UB-RA (F. iii. 271). E. tsnd-er, A.S. fynd-ir. Teul.
TOKD-BA, from ihe Teut. base tand, to kindle (id 117).
(f) Neuter. E, bmv-er, A.S. bii-r. E. /aj"-r, A.S. %-(r.
Goth. /fg-r-Sf a couch, stem i,ig-ba ; cf. A. S. licg-a», to lie.
Uath-er, A.S. h3-er, Teut. lkth-ra (F. iii. 278). E.
Hm-i-er, A.S. Im-b-er (Goth, tim-r-jan, to build), Teut.
TZK-RA (id. 1 1 7). E. udd-er, A. S. dd-er, Teul. Dd-ra
(id. 33). E. wal-ff, A.S. wtfl-er, Teut. wat-ra (id. 284);
cf. Gk. at-vi-pnt, waterless. E, viond-er, A. S. ivund-or, Teut.
(306). We may add slai-r, A. S. stdg-er (of un-
certain gender) < .. || stdg {stdh), pt. t. Qi s/lg-an, to climb.
We also find the form -ru ; as in E. hung-er, A. S. hung-er,
m., Goth, hdh-ru-s (for ' hunft-ru-s). E. and A. S. wint-er.
m., Goth. wint-Tu-s.
§ ai8. Suffix -LO, This suffix is well marked in modern
English, being frequenily represented by final -U or -il, or,
in a few words, by -/; all of which are alike pronounced
>with a vocalic /. Some are of obvious verbal origin,
heet-k, a heavj- maliet, A.S. byi-d, a beater < .. btat-an,
to beat. So aJso bund-le < || bund-en, pp. of bind-aa, lo
tnnd; cripp-le, formerly crtip-k, from crup; gird-k, from
^iVi/; iad-U, from /aiA ; prick-k, from prirk; sadd-le, seti-U,
botliallied tojf*/; skov-el < shove ; shuH-U < shool \ spin-d-U,
A. S. spin-l < spilt ; spitt-k < spit; kas-el < lease.
Other examples are: ang-le^, s., A.S. ang-fl, a fish-hook,
whence ang-k, v., lo fish ; app-U, bram-b-k. brid-U, brist-k,
gird-k, hand-k, haz-d, hurd-k, icic-k (A. S. is-gic-el), stap-k,
attep-k, slick-k, a spine (as in slickk-back), swiv-tl, thist-k,
•U, wrink-k. The following are now monosyllabic :
', A.S. /ug-f/ ; hai'-l, A.S. hag-el; nat-l, A.S. nag-tl;
■I, in the gloss 'pag-el, giUo'; rai-l, a nightdress
'•(obsolete), A.S. krag-l; sat'-l, A.S. sfg-el; snai-l, A.S.
afurg-i ; sou-l, A. S. saw-el ; sli-k, A. S. stig-il < || stig-en,
.th. Traveller,
138 SUBSTAtrriVAL SUFFIXES.
pp. of stig-an, lo climb ; lai-l, A. S, tag-l (cf. E. tag). Hefe
belong E. stno-l, A. S. siS-l ; E. wM-U, A. S. Awf-/.
This suffix has been already mentioned as having been
used to fonn diminutives ; see § 203. Here also belong
sick-k, A. S, sic-ol, borrowed from Lat. sec-u-ta, from ste-
are, to cut : and li-U, A. S. Ug-cl, borrowed from Lat. leg-
u-la, from ttg-ere, to cover, Mang-U, s., a machine for
smoothing linen, is borrowed (through the Dutch) from
Low Lat. manganum. Latinised from Gk. nn'yyaroi', axis of
a pulley; the familiar suffix -It being substituted for the
unfamiliar -an.
§ 219. Teutonio sufOxes -ra-na, -ab-na. These a
in at least two words, viz. acorn, iron. Ac-or-n is a later 9]
ing (by confusion wiih corn, as if it were oak corn, wl
impossible) of A. S. irc-er-n, an acorn, corresponding e
to Goth, ak-ra-n,, fruit (stem ak-ra-na-, as in the comp<
akrana-laus, fruitless, unfruitful) ; from ak-ra-, stem of a
a field, E. acre. The original sense was 'fruit of the B
enclosed land,' or ' natural fruits of the forest,' such I
acorns, mast, Ac. ; afterwards used in a more restricted s
Iron, A. S. (r-en, older form ts-en, is also found in the ftdl
form seen in A. S. is-er-n, Goth, eit-ar-n. It wouli! s
be closely connected with A. S. It, ice ; perhaps from |
glancing hard black surface. But this still remains an opt
question.
§ 220. Tetitonic snfflz -lan. E. fut-1 (of the foot), i
M-ia, gen. hf-ian ; nelt-lt, A. S. ful-e-k, gen. ntt-e-lan ; i
A. S. f-rosl-le, gen. proil-lan. But fidd-le, A. S. Jii
merely borrowed from Lat. uit-u-la, a viol. Strictly G]
ilic dimin, nav-el, already mentioned in § 203, eshibita d
suffix ; A. S. naf't-la. gen. na/-e-lan.
Teatonio Bufflx -il-sa. This remarkable form occurs"
in buri-al, M. E. buri-el, hiri-el, biri'tl-s, A. S. byrg-tl-s,
a tomb ; and ridd-lt, an enigma, M. E. red-tt-s, A. S. riid-
ei-ie, from rdtd-an, to read, explain. See further in §
i "O
I the lalter (
ARYAff SUFFIX -NO.
<e, the gen. rdd-tl-san re
239
I
I
I
'-el-san really exliibits ihe
longer suffix -il-san. So also shull-le; see % 231 below.
E. ank-ie appears to have been taken from Norse ; the A. S.
•iTK-l-/(/w is difficult of explanation, though -/ot* appears as
a formative suffix in ldr-/ow, a teacher.
5 221. Aryan -NO {answering to Goth. -na). An un-
original vowel is often inserted before the suffix ; hence it often
appears in Mod. E. as -<n {-f-n) or -on (-o-n) ; but tn some
words as -n only. Examples are : heac-on, A. S. b/ac-m,
TeuL BAUK-NA {Fick, iii. 197). Ov-tti, A.S, o/-(?i, of-n,
Goth, auh-n-s (stem auh-na), Teul. uh-na ? (id. 3a). Rav-en
(bird), A.S. hra/-n, Teul. hrab-na (83). Tok-m, A.S.
l^-H, Teut. TAiK-HA (114). Weap-on, A.S. wdp-en, Goth.
vitp-na, pi., Teut. w£p-na (288). The following words are
now monosyllabic : bai'r-n, A.S. hear-n. Teut. bar-na (202).
Blat-H, A. S. bUg-cn. Brai-n. A. S. brag-en. Cor-n, A. S.
cor-n, cognate with Lat. gra-num (for *gar-num), Hor-n,
A. S, hor-n, Teut. hor-na (67) ; cf. Lat. cor-tm. Loa-n, A. S.
l&-n (for 'lah-n) < II /oA, pt. t. of lih-an, to lend. .^a;'-n.
A. S. r<y". Sla-ne, A. S. f/rf-n, Goth, s/ai'-n-s, stem stai-na.
2Sa-w, A.S. A^-™. fTu/n, A.S. wtFg-n. Var-n, A.S.
gear-n. In a few words the suffix has disappeared alto-
gether, as in game, A. S. gam-en, and in ihe Scand. word
rot (of a fish), Icel. hrog-n (G. J?o^-«i) '.
Suffix -NI. The Goth, stem of token is taik-ni, but
Fick gives taik-na as the common Teut. form. I know of
no sure examples except the law-term soken, A. S. s'6c-n,
answering to Goth, sok-ns (stem s6k-ni) ; and the interesting
M. E. er-H, an eagle, A. S. ear-n, allied to Icel. iir-n (pi.
ar-ni-r), stem ar-ni, and to Gk. 5p-n-t, a bird.
Snfflx -NU. Examples are : E. qutr-n (hand-mill), A. S.
' Mor-n, A.S. moreen, Hnih maurg-in-s (stem maurg-ina
\ (Ficit, iii. 143) seems to eiliibit the saffii -INa.
A. S. *fyl-€lK . .fax, M. H. G. vu&s-mae, bu a fcm. snffii -I
a40
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. tC«w. Xni.
rvotor-n, Goih. kwair-nu-s. E. son, A. S. m-ntt, allied to
Skt. n?-««. E. /Aor-«, A. S. porn, is given by Fick undtf-'
THOR-KA, though the Gothic has thaur-nu-s.
§ 222. Teut. -nan ; A. S. -nan. This occurs in s(
weak subslanlives. Examples : hav-en, A. S. ha/-t-ne, gen.
hcEf-e-nan. E. «!■«, A. S. sitn-m, fem., gen. tun-nan. E.
/ff« (vexation), A. S. l/o-na, gen. Uo-nan.
The word glad-en, a kind of iris, A. S. glud-e-nt (geiLiL.
glad-e-nati) is merely borrowed from Lat. gladiolus. So
kilch-en, A. S. cyc-e-ne (gen. cyc-e-nan) is borrowed from
coquina, with mutation of o to^.
5 223. Aryan suffix -TO, This highly important
usually the mark of the past participle passive,
E. siree-t, borrowed from the Lat. strata (i. e. sirala ui'a,
paved way), appears under various forms in the Teutonic
languages. We may especially note it in the suffix -M-
(stem -tha) of the past participles of Gothic weak verbs,
in lag-i-lh-s, E, lai-d, pp. of lag-j-an, to lay.
It is remarkable that Home Tooke. in his celebrM
derivation of Irulh from irowelh (as being ' that which a man
trowelh') should have overlooked the Gothic pp. form in
■Iks. Derivation from the third person singular of the
present tense is extremely clumsy. In the suffixes of £.
sbs. it occurs in three forms, viz. -Ik, -/. and -d. These
will be considered separately,
(a) E. euffix -th. Some words are of verbal origin, as : —
bir-th^ from bear; bro-th from brew (A. S. br^ow-an. pp.
brow-en); ear-th from ear. to till (obsolete); gram-Ik;
sleal-ih; til-th\ Iro-th* from trow. Hu-ih, allied to the
verb rue, is a Scand. fonn ; Icel. hrygg~3. Mon-lh is from
the sb. moon. Weal-th is a mere extension from M. E. welt.
"■■■ J
' Uma.i]y ^iyrd ia A.S. The fonn itorS is extremely nrc, but w«
find, '/W/jVriKm.hyic-beortJ'; Wright'i V(«ab,,cd, Wulcker, aoLjiS,
1, 7, where A^.w^boy, and Awe-fcerira boy- birth, child-birth.
' Some regard tro-lA ai a mere viriiut of Iru-lk, from /nv, adi.
Bnt stc Irtnimfe in the Ormalimi, 1. 1350.
S»j.]
ARYAN SUFFIX -TO.
241
. wtaL When the suffix is added 10 adjeciives, we fiiid
(-mutadon of ihe preceding vowe! lakes place ;
lithis is because it answers to the stem -i-tha of the Gothic
:t participles of the causal verbs in -jan; cf. tag-ilh-s, pp.
»f lag-J-an, to lay, cited above. Hence we can explain the
kvowei-changes in the following forms, some of which are, how-
Kever, not of early fonnation. Examples: briad-lh < broad;
xiih </mi\ heal-th < whole; leng-th < long; mir-lh <
ijwrr-^; ilreng-lh < strong. By analogy with these, we have
'larm-lh from warm, without mutation ; sla-lh < slnw ; Iru-lh
W<. true; so also wid-th from uji'afe, dear-th from dear, depth
f < deep \ with an inevitable shonening of the vowel. Ki-lh,
PA. S. (_i-dde < . . A. S. c6-3, known, whicli is for ' cun-d.
pp. of cunn-an, to know, with vowel-shortening. In the word
ytm-lh^ ihe suffix has 3 different origin ; it is discussed below,
on p. 251.
(fi) £. suffix -t. The suffix appears as -/ after _/^^A, «, r, j ;
iiierel)' becausey/. ghl, nt, rt, si are easier final sounds thaii/W,
ghih, nth, rlh, sih. This is best seen in the words drough-l.
formerly M. E. drouhlhe. A. S. drug-a-Se, drought, from drtig-
£an, to be dry ; heigh-l, formerly high-th ; thef-l, from thef-th.
A.%.fiit/-3t< ..piqf, a thief. In some instances the original
Aryan -to remains as -/, after _/) gh, n, r, or i. E.xamples
are: we/-l, Teut. wef-ta (Fick, iii. 289), from A. S. wef-an,
to weave ; together with such formations as drif-t from drivt
(A. S. drif-an, pp, drif-tn) ; shn/-l, from shrive ; ri/t, a word
of Scand. origin. Icel. n'p-t, from rive (Icel. r^-a, pp. ri/-mii).
E. ligh-t, a., takes the mutated vowel ' of the verb lyhl-an, to
\t:=.*le'oht-ian\ from the sb. ie'oh-t, which corresponds to
th. Uuk-alh, neut. (stem lium-a-tma), from the Teut. base
=Aiyan root REUQ, to shine. In tlie E. kn^h-t, A. S.
S-/, die -/ is certainly a suffix, but the word is of obscure
; the most likely supposition is that it is a derivative of
deriv,
>t from ihe A. S. (orm.
242 SrjSSTANTlVAL SUFFIXES, [Ca*F. 3
A. S, cyn, kin, with an adj. suffix -I'A/', as seen in
ihl, stony; if so, then cniht (for *cyn-M), is allied to {
just as the Gk. ■jw-^iriot, legitimate, is to yir-ot, kin,
Craf-t, A. S. craf-t, orig. ' power,' is from the Teut. '
KRAP, to force together {Fick, iii. 49), whence also E. cra-m-p.
Haf-i, A. S, h«/-l, the handle by which a thing is seized or
held, from A. S. hub-ban { = ' ha/-iari),V, have, hold. Shaf-t,
A. S. iC€o/-l, a smoothed pole or rod, from scaf-an, pp.
sca/-tn, to shave. Bough^t, s., in the special sense of a fold
(also spelt boul). is of Scand, origin ; Dan. hug-t, Icel. bug-d.
a bend, coil ; from the verb to brnv (Goth, biug-an). Of this
high-t is a mere variant, answering in form 10 A. S. i^-k-l
i^ = *bug-U')^ from the same root. Though-l, A. S. poh't, allied
to Icel. k6l-t>\ k^'-tr (i. e. 'l>6h-ti, ' l^h-lr), thought, is derived
from /('Bf- an, to think, pp. poh-t, ge-poh-l.
Similarly we have draugh-t (also draf-i, a phonetic spelling)
from drmv, A. S. drag-an ; weigh-l, from vmgh ; hff-l. a
heaving, from htave ; and several others, for which see sections
214, azg. Brim-I is rather an obscure word, but is of Scand.
origin, and allied to Dan. bryn-dt, heat, passion ; the -/ is
a suffix, and the original verb is seen in Goth, brinn-tm, to
bum (pp. brunn-ans).
E, har-l, A. S. heor-o-l, is cognate with O, H. G. hi'r-u-t,
Teut. HKR-U'TA (Fick, iii. 67). This form stands for hes-
wo-Trt, where her-wo- is cognate with Lat. crr-uu-s, a hart.
stag. Thus die suffix is really a double one, and the sense
is the ' homed ' animal ; cf. Gk. Kfp-a-6s. homed, m'p-or, a
horn, and E. hor-n. Of similar formation, but more obscore,
are E. gann-e-l, A. S. gan-o-t, cognate with O, H. G, gaii-a-t^,
a gander, allied to gan-der and goose; and E. horn-e-l, A.S.
hyrn-e-l, cognate with O, H. G. horn-is. horn-u-t, named
from its humming noise. The dimin. suffix -el is nsually
French, being rare in native English. E. Eas-l, A. S. Au-t,
the cast, was evolved from llie Teut. adv. aI's-Ta-na, from
' A double tuffix, vix. -ih-i; cf. Lai, um-ec-lus, moist, ttta
s
I
ARYAN SUFFIX -TO. 243
" the east; see Fick, iii. 8, and osim in Kluge, Thus -/ is a
suffix, and the base aus- is the same as in Lat. aur-iira <
wn ; cf. Skt. ush-as, dawn ; from Aryan •/ US, to
shine, burn. E. /ros-l, A. S. /ror-/ (usually spelt /ors/) < ||
I A. S. */ros-en, orig. form oi/ror-cn, pp. of /re'os-an, to freeze.
(f) E. BUfflx -(/. The Aryan suffix -ta often appears as
I i^ in English, whilst the Gothic has -Ih '. Thus E. gol-d
I answers to Goth, gui-th ; and E. bloo-d to Goth. i/u-//;. The
I same remark applies to the Aryan suffixes -Tt and -tl',
discussed below. Examples are : E. bla-de, A. S. bla-d (with
short (z), cognate with Icel. bla-d, G. Bla-ll; see Fick, iii.
219, and Blall in Kluge. E. blood, A. S. b!6-d {Goth, blo-lh),
from blS-wan, to blow, flourish; blood being taken as the
I symbol of blooming or flourishing life. E. bran-d, A. S.
iran-d, lit. a burning, hence (i) a fire-brand, (a) a bright
rSword, from the Teut. stem brakn, to burn. E. brea-d, A. S.
^tr/a-d, cognate with Icel, brau-S, bread, lit. that which is
^Irewed or fermented, from A. S. br/ow-an, pt. t. br/a-iv, to
■lirew. E. gol-d, A. S. go!-d (Goth, gul-lh), from the same root
Ksjiftl-ow and glo-iv, viz. Aryan GHAR, to shine. E. hea-d,
M.E. heued (=hmcd), A.S. hiaf-o-d, Goth, haub-i-th. E.
moo-d. A, S. m<i-(/, Goth, imd-s {stem ma-da), Teut. mO-da
B(Fick, iii, 342), probably connected with Glc. /lal-oiuu. I seek
Bfter. E. Mrw-i/. A. S. /rd-d, cognate with Icel. /ri-J/-, G.
irai-i, O, H. G. drd-/, from the same base as A. S. prd-w-aii,
to throw, also to twist (Lat. lorqu-ere) ; so that tkrta-d is that
-which is twisted. Similarly we may explain E. broo-d, A. S.
irS-d, from a Teut. base brA, to heat ; cf. G. brUh-en, M. H. G.
brU-€n, to scald. E. soun-d, A.S. sun-d, (i) a swimming,
power to swim, (2) a strait of the sea; probably for "swusi-da
(Fick, iii. 362) < n 'swum-a-na, pp. from the weak grade of
the base swem, to swim. War-d, A. S, wear-d, a guard ;
from V WAR, to defend.
§ 224. Aryan -TI, This suffix only appears in English
' Ct Vcraer'sLaw; see i DQ.
244 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [(
as -Ifi. -I, and -d; but -Ih is exceptional. See Sievers, 0.il
Gram. § 269. Compare § 223.
(a) E. fioffix -/A. As 10 the word iir-lk, the usual A.3
form \sgt'-byr-d= 'ge-bor-di< .. Wge-Oor-tn, pp. of ier-an, ti
bear; but see p. 240, note 1. O. Friesic has both ier/ie
and indr. Graw-lh is of Scand. origin, fnam \Qe\. gr6-3i\
but the true stem of this word is CRd-iUAN, so thai the suffix
(i) B. Buiftr -I. E. fiigh-t, A. S. flyh-l ( = *fluh-ti),
allied to G. Fluch-t< .. Wflug-m, pt. L pi. cS ft/og-an, to flee,
fiy. G/-/, A.S. f/-/, Icel. gif-t, Teut. cef-ti (Kick,
iii. 100), from gttf-an, to give, pL t. geaf {for * gaf).
Gues'l, A.S. jM-/, ffSf-/, Goth, gas-t-s (stem gasti), a
stranger, hence a guest ; cognate with Lat. hos-li-s. an
enemy, a stranger. Migk-t, A, S, miht, meht, also nteahi, Goth.
mak-l-s (stem mahti), from the verb seen in E, may. Goth.
tnag-an. Kigh-t, A. S. w'A/, »*A/, Goth, nah-l-s (stem nahti),
cognate with Lat. nox (stem nocti); cf. Skt, nak-la, night; all
from the Aryan v' NEK, to fail, disappear ; from the failure of
light. Pligh-I^, obligation. A, S. plih-1, danger, risk, connected
with the strong verb plion, pt. t, phah, to risk. Shif-t^ s.,
a change, is from the Icel. skip-lii^.c. 'ikif-lt). a division, cat-
change; the A. S. has onlj' the verb scif-lan, to divide ; cf. led.
akif-a, to divide, skif-a, %., a slice, prov. E. skive, a slice. SigA-t.
A, S. sih-/, gf-sih-l, more commonly ge-sik-3, gt-sUh-^', c£
seg-en, pp. of se6n, to see. [Here llie e in seg-tn produced
*gt-ieh-3, whence gt-sifh-d by the breaking of e before k ;
and hence again ge-sih-S, the change from it to /' being
due to ' palatal ' mutation ; see this explained in Sievers,
O. E. Gram. § 101-] Sleigh-I. cunning, is of Scand.
origin; from Icel. sliig-3, cunning, a sb. formed from the
' Onljr in certain senses, ud Dcaily obsolL-te as n ib, ; llie dcrivcil
verb ta flight is common. Pliglil, comiition, is a totally diflcrcnt KMtl,
and ihoald be spelt flile, as in M. E,, bein^ really of t\ oiigiOi froin
Lat. fluila, fem. pp. oi flit-art, to fold.
ARYAfT SUFFIX -TU. 245
P adj. t!mg-r, whence E. sly, Thirs-f, A. S. )>yrs-l (=■ 'Purs-li) ;
cf. Goth, />aurs-am, pp. of pairs-an, to be dry. Wigh-i,
a creature, man, doublet of whi-l, a thing, both from A. S.
wih-l, a wight, also a whit, Goth, waih-t-s (stem waih-ti),
Teui. WEH-Ti (Fick, iii. 282). Wrigh-I. a workman, A. S.
vyrh-l-a, is a derivative of wyrh-t, ge-wyrh-l, a deed ; this
wyrA-/=Teui. worh-ti, a deed (Fick, iii. 293); cf. Goth,
Ifra-u-iiurk-l-s (stem fka-waurh-Ti), evil-doing; from the
same root as E, %vork.
(c) E, Bufflx -d. Dce-d, A, S. otf-rf, Goth. A-rf-j (stem
dedi='dadi), Teut, d.\-di (Fick, iii. 152); the verb being
A. S. d6-n, E. do. Gle-de, a glowing coal, A. S, gl/-d, formed
with i-mulation from glS-w-aa, to glow. Min-d, A. S.
gr-myn-d, formed with /-mutation from miin-an, to think,
ft-mun-an, to remember; cf, Lat. mens (stem nien-li).
Utt-d, A. S. n<=-^, w/tf-rf, Goth. wau-ZAj (slem nau-ihi) ; cf.
O. H. G. ttiu-wan, ttti-an, to crush. See-d, A. S. irf-< Icel.
ta-3i; cf. Goth, mana-selhs (stem mana-sk-dj), ihe seed or
race of man, the world; Teut. sA-ni (Fick, iii. 312); the
verb is A. S. sd-w-an, F,. sow. Spee-d, A, S, spe'-d, success,
baste; sp/-d= *sp6-di\ from sp6-w-an, 10 succeed. Sica-d, a
place, A. S. tte-dt, Goth, sla-lh-s (siem sta-thi), a place, lit.
'standing,' from ■/ STA, to stand. Slu-d, A. S. ilS-d, orig.
I herd of horses, TeuL stA-Di (Fick, iii. 341); from Teul.
, sirenglhened form of */ STA, to stand. Slce-d,
L S. sl^-d-a, a slud-horse, is derived from A. S. st6d by
Imutation; i.e. sle'da=-'sI6d-Ja, with suffix -ja = -io.
§ 226. Aryan -TU. {a) There is one clear example of
tfie suffix -Ih in English, from Teut. -thu. This is E. dea-th,
L. S. dAi-d, Goth, dau-ihu-s, death (stem dau-thu) ; from the
Teut. base dau, to die (Fick, iii. 143),
iP) E. BUfflx -/, Lo/'l is of Scand, origin; from Icel.
i»//(='/g/7), the air; Go\\i. lu/-tu-s \ root unknown. Lus-I,
ius-/, pleasure ; Goth, lus-lu-s, pleasure ; root un-
in ; cf. Skt. lash, to desire, las, to sport.
24fi
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES, [Ciup. Xm,
{() E. suffix -rf, Flm-d,k.S.fiS-ii; Go^. fio-du-s; from
p'W-an, to flow. Shiet-d, A. S. seil-d, sctl-d; Goth, shl-du-s ;
root uncertain, Wol-d, weal-d, A. S. wtal-d, 0- Sax. u>a2-d,
a wood; cf. Ice!. ro/Zr {=*wal-dus), a field. The o in the _
form wold is due to the influence of the preceding to ;
M, E. forms are both wold and wald.
§ 226. The Aryan suffixes -ta, -ti, discussed above, (
be followed by other sufGxes ; thus Y..foo-d, A. S./^-rfa (st
/6-da-n) had originally a suffixed -n ; cf, Goih. fo-dti-n
(stem yi>-(ij-«/), food, feeding; from the Aryan v PA, (
feed. E. mai-d-m, A. S. mag-d-en, cognate with O. H.f
mag-a-ii-n, answers to a Goth, 'mag-a-dei-n, a dimin. ;
from Goth, mag-a-lh-s, fein. {stem mag-a-thi), a maidc
allied to Goth, mag-us (stem mag-u), a boy ; ihe st
mag-US is ' growing lad,' from the verb appearing in ]
The Mod. E. tnaid is merely a contracted form of »
the M. E. short form for ' maiden ' is miiy, A. S. tii&g ;
the A. S. form answering to Goth, magalhs is magS i
maged; all from the same root. On the other hand, the 9
-TO occurs in combination with, and following, the suffix -(n
This double suffix -(i)s-to appears as E, -si ; and is disc
below; see § 233, p. 254.
5 227. Aryan -TER (-TOR). This suffix is foimd i^
such words as Lat. /ra-ler, Skt. bhra-lar, brother; and
answers to Golhic -Ihar, -dar, and -tar. Of tliese three
Gothic forms, the change to -dar is due to Verner's t<aw|^
whilst the preservation of the form -tar is due to tbe (
currence of a foregoing k or s.
(<i) Goth. -ihar. Bra-lh/r, A. S. br6-3or, Goth. .
Tent. brO-thar (Fick, iii. 204); usually referred to Atj
•/ BHER, to bear, as meaning one who bears, i
aids, or supports the younger children.
{h) Goth. 'dar. Fa-ther,l&..Y../a-dcr, A. S./a-rfw, Goih.
/a-dar, as if from a ■/ PA, but the sense is doubtful, Mo-lhtr,
. mo-der, A. S, mi-dor, Tcut. mO-bar (Ficic, iii. 242^^
I "8.1
ARYA!7 SVFFIX -TRO.
247
I
I as if from an .\ryan v' MA ; but here again dae original
I sense is uncertain.
(f) Dattgh-ler, A. S. d6h-tor, Golh. dauh-tar, cognate with
* Gk. du7-o-nfp, Ski. duh-i'lar; usually explained as 'milker'
of the cows ; cf. Skt. duh (for "dhugh), to milk. But this is
a mere guess. The word sis-ler (really sii-i-er) is excep-
tional ; it is a Scand. form, from Icel. sys-l-ir, allied to A. S.
mxos-t-or, Goth, swis-l-ar ; the TeuL form is swks-t-.\R
(F. iii. 360). but the / is a Tent, insertion, due to form-
it does not appear in Skt. svas-r, nor in Lat.
5 228. Aryan -TRO. Upon this suffix, which usually
denotes an agent or implement, Sievers has written an
excellent ariicle in Paul und Braune's Beitritge zur Ge-
•chichte 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
equiralent stem-suffixes, viz. (1) -thro-; (2) -thlo-, where
/ is substituted for r. Each of these may be further sob-
divided. Tbus -THRO- either remains (a) as -/ro- (with
>=/A in Ihin); or {b) becomes -3ro- (with 3=lh in ihi'ne,
in consequence of Verner's Law) ; or (/) appears as -Iro-,
when it follows such letters as /, h, s; or (d) appears as
•Iro- when the sufliK -j- (Aryan -ks-?) precedes it. Again,
-THLO- appears {<■) as -pio- ; or (_/") as -Slo- ; or {g) as -Ho-
after y ot s; or (A) especially in Anglo-Saxon, assumes the
.nsposed form -/d. Wc have thus eight cases to consider,
rhich will be taken separately,
(a) The form -Jiri>-- The mod, E. rudder is M. E. roder,
more commonl)' rolher, A.S. r6-3er, orig. a paddle, an instru-
[ipient to row with ; from r6-w~an, to row. La-ther answers
K.S.lt'a-doT, Liiher, soap', cognate with Icel. lau-dr, foam,
from Teut. base lad, to wash; cf. Lat. lau-are, to
Mur-dtr, also written mur-lker, A.S. mor-Sor, Goth.
Ninun, liaSor'; Wright's Voc. ed. Wiilcker, col. 456, 1. 14.
248
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES.
[Oiu»J
maur-thr (stem maur-ihra), Teul. hok-thko (Sievers); ^^
\^MAR, lo grind, kill, die. Here also probably b<?long8
ka-lher, A.S. k-der, G. U-dtr, Teut. le-thra (Fick, iii. 278) ;
bui the root is unknown, so that the right division raaj be
LETH-RA.
ill) The form -dro-. After an (originally) unac
syllable ending in a vowel or /, this becomes Goth. ■
A.S, -rfr-. E, bladder answers lo A.S. b}<h-drt (Wrigli
Voc. ed. Wokker, col. 201, 1. 41, col. 160, t. 3), allied fl
Icel. bla-dra ; from ihe root of A. S. iid-JL-an. to blow, i. e. |j
puff out. Add^r. M.E. nadder, A.S. mr-drr, Goth. ;
(stem mi'dro). Teut. ka-dra (Fick, iii, ig6), Foddrr, A."^
f6-dor. Teul. fB-dha, may similariy be derived directly fnil
•/ PA, to feed ; but was rather perhaps formed with b
-RA from the Teutonic root fod (=fo-th) appearing; i
Goth, fod-jan, lo feed ; see Osthoff, Forschungen. i. ,
it makes lillle ultimate difference. Ladder, M. E. laddf.,
from A.S, hld-dcr; cf. G. Iti-ttr; lit. 'that which leaoft^
from Teut. base hlf.i, to lean, Aryan -/ KLEI, to lean, wbeni
also Gk. icX;-^g. a ladder (Kluge). Wta-lbtr, A. S. »
Teut. wE-nRA (Fick, iii. 307) ; prob. from -/ W£, to \AfJ\
cf. Goth, wat'-an, to blow. Whether shoulder belong? b
is doubtful : wonder is probably to be divided as wond-er, a
has accordingly a different suffix. See 5217.
(<r) The form -Iro-. Hal-ttr (for •half-ttr), A. S. hal/-A
cognate with G. Haf/-I,r, O, H. G. half-Ira : which Rl j
righily connects with F.. he/ve, A.S. hiel/, a handle. Xat
ler, A. S. hieh-lor, hleah-lor ; from the verb 10 laugh, i
blehh-tm. Slatigh-trr, a Scand, form, from Icel. ild-tr, t
fused with A.S. sleah-l, with ihe same sense; the latter is
derived from the base slith- of the conlracled verb tltdn, 10
slay. Fos-ltr, verb, k.S./Sslrian. is from llie A.S. ih./it-A
nourishmenl; ihe sufHx is really a double one, as/Xt-i
/'S-t-ler; from v'PA, to feed. Siui/er. prob. of i
origin ; cf. Icel. bidsir, a blast of wind, from b!ds-a. to ti
rs "8.]
AXrAN SUFFIX -TRO.
249
I In ihe word Eas-l-<r, A. S, /as-(-or, Sievers regards ihe / as
I insened ; cf. Lilhuan, ausz-ra, dawn. In any case, it is
I closely related to tas-/, A. S. e'lis-/.
(d) Double sofflx -s-lro-. Whether we should regard
I' tiie -J- as due to the Ar)-an -es-, or rather consider it, wth
I'Sievers', asan inserted letter, I cannot say. Examples are ; —
|io/-r-/(fr. A. S. bol-s-ter, cognate with G. Pol-s-ter; and
mAel-s-ler, borrowed from Du. hol-s-tsr, a pistol-case, cognate
I with A. S. hcoi-s-lor, a hiding-place; cf. Goth. huU-s-lr, a
|Tcil, from hulj-an, to cover. See 5 238-
[e) The form -pio-. Nte-dit is from A, S. niP-dl, cognate
I with Goth, ne-lkla; Teut. n6-thla (F. iii. 156), from the
] V' N£, to bind, sew ; cf. LaL n^rr, G. tiSh-m, to sew. This
r seems lo be the sole example,
(/) The form -dh-. Spillk is 3 word which has been
f changed in form, owing to a connection with the secondary
and late verb spit. The M, E, form was spo-lit, answering
exactly to A.S. spd-ll { = ' spai-3Io-), from spi-w-an, pt, t.
tpd-w, to spit, mod. E. spnv. The secondary verb spd-l-an
became M. E. spelrn. spetlen, and was confused with spitlen,
which is a Mercian form, appearing as spUlia in Matt xxvii,
30 (§ 33)-
I (g) The form -llo-. Of this there is no certain example
I jo English; brhl-tr is from A. S. byrst, a brisde. Thros-l-k
la thrush, has an inserted /, which we do not sound ; the
' A. S. forms are both pros-lf and pros-t-le ; the relation of the
former to thrush. A. S. prys-ce {=*proi-C'ia) is obvious.
(A) The A. 8. transpoBed form -Id (for -d/). This
transposition is precisely like that seen in the Shakespearian
form fiee/d for iieedk, a form which also occurs in P. Plow-
man, C. xs. 56. An equally clear case is seen in the A. S.
hfyrf, spittle (Elcne, 1. 300) ; usually spelt s^dt/. Hence A. S.
*-/!/, a building, stands for 6o-di {= 'io-3/o-) ; from the Aryan
/BHtJ, to dwell, live, be. This sb. is obsolete, but we still
' He Ttfers to Ostlioff, In Kiihn's Zcilschrifl, vol. xwii, p. 313.
250
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. tCiiiF. 3mt.
use the Aeiived verb 6yld-an{=*6aM-ian), to iui'lJ. Curiously
enough, the A. S. also has io-fl, a dwelling, a house, which
Sievers regards as a ' hardened ' form of dv-di ; hence, prob-
ably, BoolU in Cumberland and Lancashire, and BallU Fitld
in Warwickshire. Another example, according to Sievers,
is ihresh-o-ld^ which he refers to a form ' Prtsk-o-Slo-,
whence A. S. 3reic-o-td, Icel, Presk-4-Jdr ; and he regards all
the other forms, such as A. S. Sresc-wald, mod. Icel. prtsk-
jSldr, prepskjaidr, as due to popular etymology. Cf O. H. G.
drisc-u-fii, a threshold (Schade). Sievers adds that the E, adj.
level is from Ihe rare A, S, lir/tlJe, even, for *lafi-3lo', alUM
to Goth, io/a, the palm of the hand. But it may rather I '
French; for we have yet to find an example of M. £. J<
used as an adjective. The sb, level is certainly French, B
of Latin origin.
§ 229. Aryan Buflx -ONT (-ENT. -NT). This it
suliix so common in present paniciples, as in the Gk. I
TiW-ow-o, and in the Lat. am-ani-, mon-eni; reg-<nt-,
ent-, from ant-are, to love, mon-tri, to advise, reg-ere, Xt
aud-ire, to hear. The Gothic usually has -and-, as in i
and-s, bearing (stem batr-and-d) ; also -ond- (=ay-and-), as
inyry-oW-j, loving ; infin.yryon ; cf, 5263. Hence the A. S.
-etid-e, as in bind-end-e, binding ; Northern M. E. -and. Mid-
land M.E. -cnd-e. Southern M. E. -I'nd-e, afterwards corrupted
(about A.D. 1300) into -ing-e, mod. E. -ing. Thus, in M.E.
we get North, bind-and, Midland hind-ende, bind-tnd. Southern
hind-inde, bind-inge, bind-ing. In A. S, we have several sbs,
in -md, -nd, which were originally present participles. Only
a few are now in use, viz., errand, fiend,fncnd, tidings, V-'ind;
to which we may add ioolh, already explained in § 168 ; and
[icrhaps j'dk/';, Err-and, M.E. er-end-e, A. S. tfr-end-e, or
ur-tnd-e, a message (stem *dr-end-ji), orig. perhapa '
' Presecid (not persceld, m miiptiatcd in tny Dictionuy) is the 1^
in Deut. vi. 9 ; in Eii>d. xii. la, ii is ptrxeid, i. c, ptrtadd. Wflj'
Vocabnlaiics give the forna ptrrnvold, ferscwald, preoxwold, }
ARYAl^ SUFFIX -ONT.
251
B-going,' but the root is uncertain '. Fiend, M. E. fend. A. S.
f(ondi an enemy, orig. the pres. part, of the contracted verb
t/ltn, to hate ; Goth, fij-and-s, an enemy, pres. part, a^ fi-j-an,
> hale; from Aryan •/V\. to hale. Friend, ^l.Vi, /rend,
I A- S. _^/(W(t/, a friend, orig. pres. part, oi /r^eti, to love;
uGoih. /rij-ond-s, orig. pres. pari, oi /ri-j-on, to love ; from
r Aryan •/ PRI, to love. Tid-ing-s, a pi. form due to M. E,
(Southern) lid-ind-t, (Midland) lilk-end-e; a Scand. form,
from Icel. Il3-ind-i, neut. pi., tidings, pres. part, of 'i^-a, to
happen, cognate with A. S. ttd-an, to happen ; from tl)e sb.
which appears in Icel. Ii3, A. S. iid, E. tide. Wind, A, S.
wi-nd, cognate with Lat. ue-nl-us, wind ; orig. sense ' blow-
ing'; from Aryan A^Wfi, to blow; cf, Skt. vd, to blow,
IGolh. wai-an, to blow, and Lithuan. wi'jas, wind. To these
Koch adds, perhaps rightly, the word you-th, A. S. ge£-gu3,
originally geSg&S with two suppressed «'s, and therefore for
*geong-und, cognate with O. H. G. jug-und, jung-und, G.
Jug-end (stem 'jung-un3-u, as Kluge has it). Koch also
,9ddG the sb. fi'cn or eve, in the sense of ' evening,' on the
Mrengtb of the G. cognate form Ab-end\ but the eijinology
of the word is very doubtful.
It is perhaps worth while to note here that tlie suffix in
morn-ing, a-i-n-ing, has nothing to do with the present par-
ticiple of mod. E. verbs, but is discussed below, in § 241.
§ 280. Aryan -OS, -ES. This appears in Skt. ap-as,
■ work, Lat. ep-us { = *ofi-os), gen. op-er-is {=' op-es-is) ; Gk.
fit^oi, gen. yiv-t(a)-oi. In Teutonic it is sometimes joined
with some other suQix ; thus, with added -a, it produces -:
ikened to -is-a, as in hut-is (stem hat-is-a), hate
■ English it sometimes (u) disappears, or {!/) appears as -s, or
' Uxailly written xrinde, with long <? ; su Sieveta and Gceio ; Heyne
pves the O. Sa», drtitidi, O. H. G. arunli. But Fick uid Schadc con-
' ' !i Ibe fiiit Towel as, ahoit. The Icelandic forms are crendi, Urtndi,
252
SimSTANTTVAL SZTFFrXES. [C«*f. Xni.
(ff) II disappears. Thus half, s. M. E. hat-e (diasyllaWc),
keeps the vowel of ihe A, S. verb hai-i-an ; the A. S. sb.
hft-e, with (- mutation of a, originally *hal-ia (Sievere, O.
Gram. J 263, note 4), Goth, haf-is (stem hat-is-a). Awt
of Scand. origin ; from Icel. ag-i, cognate with A. Sr fg-e,
originally "ag-i's (Sievers, as above), Goth, ag-ii (stem
ag-is-a). The simple suffix became -an in the Teut. laxb-
AZ, and was lost in the A. S. lam/i, E. Iam6 ; see Sievers, O.
Gr. § 390. Here belong also, according to Sievers, the w<
bread, calf, skart (in plough-share).
{b) It appears as -s, -w, -x. Ad-ee, M. E. ad'Se, ai-,
A. S. ad-es-a ; origin unknown. Ax, badly spell ax*, A.
(EX, tax, Northumbrian ac-ts-a, Golh, aktv-iz-i, allied 1
a^i-mi, an axe, tt£-ijf, sharp ; origin uncertain. Bliss,
biiS-s, blid-s, and, by assimilation, blis-s ; from bWS, bli
blithe ; so that bliss is ' blitheness.' A. S, bliS-s is coj
with O. Sax, bUd-s-ea {=' blid-s-jd), and is therefore to be
classed with -ja- stems, the suffix being double {Siei-cre,
O. E. Gr. § 258). Eave-s, A. S. e/-es. fem. (gen. e/-et-t),
corresponds to Goth, ub-iz-wa, a porch, hall, orig. a project-
ing shelter, from the Teut. prep, uf (Goth, u/, allied to
E. <//); cf. G. oh-dach, a shelter, ob-en, above, E. {abyavt
the suffix being double.
{c) It appears as -r in E. ta-r (of com) ; G. Uh-Tt,
ah-s. Lat. ac-us, gen. ac-er~is. Also in n'ld-r-u, pi. of
cild: cf. mod. E. child-r-en ; see Sievers, 0. E. Gr. §§ 289, agov'
% 331. We have thus already had examples of the double
suffixes -Es-o, -KS-iS, -ES-wo. We also find the suffixes -is
and -Lo in combination, producing both -is-lo, weakeoed to
Teut. -s-LA, and -lo-s, weakened to Tcul. -l-S.
(a) -s-LA. Hm-sd, A. S. h4-s-l (for 'hun-i-t). Golh. him-
s-l (stem hun-s-la), a sacrifice, holy rite. Ou-stl, A. S.
(for 'am-s-le), cognate with G. Am-ie-l, O. H. G,
root uncerlain. Koch also refers hither E. ax-U{=*i
f but the T may be an extension of the root.
GomH
ri 53».:
EXCUSIT SUFFIX -.VESS.
2J3
{b) -L-s. l"he remarkable words burial, riddU, shullk
(see I 219), have lost a final s\ they are, respeclively, cor-
Tuplions of burieli, riddlts, shuttles ; it is obvious thai the
t was mistaken for the plural suffii, and was accordingly
I purposely dropped. Burial, M.E. biriel, burid. buritls, A. S.
I ^fg-fi-'' a burying-place, from &yrg-an, Lo bury. Riddle,
f M. E. red-el'S, A. S. ritd-el-se, rdd-d-s, an ambiguous speech ;
from rdd-an, to explain; we still say '10 read a riddle!
Shuttle, M.E. sehilel, A. S. scyl-tl-s < .. \\scol-en, pp. of
sc^ot-an, lo shoot. Of this word skittle is a mere variant,
^ being a Scand. form ; but the final -j does not appear in
Dan. skyttel, a shuttle, Icel. skulill. an implemenl shot forlh,
harpoon, boll, Koch adds three more examples, viz. bridle,
girdle, stickle (a spine, as in stickle-back) ; but, as a fact, all
of lliese have double forms in A. S., viz. A. S. brid-tl as well
as brid-el-s, gyrd-el as well as gyrd-el-s, and slie-el as well
as stie-el-s; there is ihcrefore no need to consider them
here, and they have already been mentioned in § 217.
§ 232. E. stlfflx -new. This is not a simple suSix, like
^-kood, -ship, but a compound, to be divided as -n-cs-s. The
^- originally belonged to a substantival stem, so that the
true suffix is rather -cs-s, Gothic -as-su-, supposed lo stand
for -Es-Ti*-, by assimilation ; of. § 235. In ihe Lord's prayer,
the petition 'Thy kingdom come' is, in Gothic — kwimai
ihiudituusui Ihtins. Here the word thiudinassus, kingdom,
is formed with the suffix -as-su-s from the stem lhiudin=
ihiud-an-, i.e. king; cf. thiudan-s, a king, thiudan-on, to rule,
thittdan-gardi, kingdom. So also leikin-assus, healing, leikin-
, to heal ; drauhlin-assus, warfare, drauhlin-on, lo war.
|We find no trace of n in u/ar-assus, superfluity, u/ar-
u-jan, lo abound ; from u/ar, over, above. The Goth.
^-H-assus, -asms, is masculine; but ihe corresponding A. S.
-n-is (also -n-ys, -n-es, -n-ess) is feminine. It is mostly used
for forming abslract substanrives, expressive of quality, from
-adjectives; us hdlig-nis, holi-ness, from Mlig, holy. Hence
254
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [C«4>. X
E. glad-ness. mad-ncss, siid-ntss. and a large number i
similar subsianlives. It can be added to adjectives of Frendi
and Latin origin with equal readiness; hence riffid-ness,
sordid-tiess, etc. The whole number of derivaHves contain-
ing this suffix considerably exceeds a thousand •,
5 233. Aryan -(i)s-to. This is common in E. words of
Gk. origin, as in soph-i'sl, F. soph-isle^ Lat. soph-ia-ta, Gfc.
(rm/i-ia-T^t (stem *cro0-iff-Ta), allied to irm^-dt, wise; and hence,
in the form -ist, it can be used generally, as in dtnl-isi,
flor-isi, from the Lat. stems dfnl-, fior-. It appears as -«/
in the native word haru-tst, A. S. }tarf-rsl, from ■/ KARP, to
pluck ; cf. Lat. carp-tre. So also earn-est, orig. a sb.. as in
the phrase ' in earnest ' ; A. S. torn-ost, eorn-tsl, cognate with
G. Ern-it; from a base arw, extended from the v'AR, to
raise, excite.
Hence, probably, we may explain some words with the
suffix -si (= -J-/), as, e. g. hui-sL Twist, A. S, twi-xl. a
rope ; from twi-, double, as in hvi-feald, twy-fold, two-fold,
allied to /aw, two; cf. Ski. dvi, two. Tru-if, of Scand.
origin ; Icel, trau-st. trust ; cf, Goth, Irau-ait, to believe ;
allied to Irue, /row. Tryst, trist, allied to trust;
probably due to the mutated form in Icel. Irrysta, v,
(= ' irausl-ja), to rely upon, from trau-tl, 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. h!ics-t, neut, (stem hlas-ta), to the base
HLATM, to lade, whence A. S. hhd-an, Goth, klalh-an ; in
which case A. S, Mas-t stands for * Mtt3-t, as being easier to
pronounce. Cf. A. S. blia, bliSs, as forms of bUa. Similarl/t
we may explain wris-t, A. S. wn's-t, fem. (stem wris-ld), as
put for * wriS-t ; from the base wrid-, as seen in var^-em,
pp. of wrtd-av, to writhe. So also rus-t, A. S, riis-l (stem
rus-ta) ; put for * r»d-it < l| rud-on, pt. pi, of re'od-an, to be
TEVTOmC SUFFTX -SKA. 1$$
[ Ted ; cf, E. rudd-y, A. S. rud-u, a., redness ; and see G.
I Rost in Kluge, Gris-I, A. S. grts-l, corn to be ground, is
I dearly connected wilh grind-an, lo grind, and may stand
I for 'grid-l or 'grids/.
§234. Teutonio -s-Ti. Here we may place /j/, /i>/(fn),
[ I'l-stis A. S./y-j/(= '/iSsii), allied to G. Fau-s/, which Fick
I refers to Teut. fonsti, and connects with Russ. fiias/f, fist,
Old Slavonic p£sff, fist, where the vowel f denotes that «
has been lost; see Schmidt, Vocaiismus, i. 167, where it is
sbewn (i) that this is correct, and (z) that it is an argument
' against connecting Jif/ wilh Lat. pugnus, as is usually done '.
[ The verb lo listen, M. E. lusl-n-en, is derived from M. E.
' tusl-en, A. S. hlysl-an, lo listen, by the insertion of -«- (cf.
Goih. /ull-n-an, to become full). This verb k!yst-an is from
ihe sb. A/cj/, hearing (= 'hiu-s-li), Teut. hlusti, hearing
(Fick, iii. 90) ; which again is from Teut. HLEtJ = Aryan
I VKLEU, to hear.
I 5 335. Teutonic -s-Tir. This appears in "E. mi-si, vapour,
' A. S, mi-sl, gloom, fog; cognate with G. Mi-sl, Goth.
maih'S-lu-s, dung; from Aryan V MEIGH, to sprinkle,
whence Lat. viing-tre. See also § 232.
§ SSe. Teut. soffljE -s-T-MAN. This appears in E. blossom,
A. S, bU-s-l-ma (stem MS-s-l-man), a blossom ; from blS-w-an,
to blow. Without the -s-l, we have Icel. hl6-m, Goth. M6-ma
(stem blS-man), a bloom ; § an,
$ 287. Tent. -SKA. This appears in lu-sk, A. S. lu-sc.
I or, by metathesis, lux. This A. S. lu-sc is almost certainly,
I as Ettmiiller says, put for 'Iwi-sc, and meant originally
ilouble tooth, molar tooth, from A. S. Ijni-, double. Cf. A. S.
gt-twi-s-an, twins, Genesis xxxviii. 27 ; O. H. G. swi-s, twice,
xwi-tk, swi'ski, double. I would also refer hither E.
hu-st, M. E. hu-ske, as it has almost certainly lost an /, and
stands for 'hul-st ; cf, A. S. hul-u. a husk, prov. E. hull, a
' This would re(juite x Tent, fonn fuh-sti ; see Kluge, who takes
I the opposite view, connecting it with pu^tiin, but cot wiih Rdsi. piasle.
256
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Ciuy. XTIt.
husk or shell; G. Hlil-se. O.H.G. fml-sa. M.H.G. (Aie-
mannic) hvl-s-che. a husk (Schadf) ; and cf. E, hoU-trw <. jj
A.S. kol-en, pp. oX hd-an, Xa hide, cover.
§238. A. 8. -es-tkan; cf. §238 (</). This appears l
A, S. -es-lre, a common fern, suffix, as in bac-es-Ire (stem
bcEc-(s-tran), a female baker, M. E. bak-s-Ur, preserved in
the name Baxter ; wcbb-cs-tre, M, E. web-i-ler, preserved in
ihe name Websler. Onlj' one of these words, viz, spin-t-ingj
Biill retains ihe sense of the feminine gender; the restrict:
of the sulTix Co ihc feminine was early lost, so that tong-tk^
for example, has now the precise sense of sing-tr.
A.S. sang-er-e, a singer, was masculine; whilst sang^t'i
a songster, was feminine. There are numerous exampleafi
Wright's Vocabularies, ed. WUlcker, coll, 308-313.
we find : 'Cantor, sangere : Cantrix, sangyslre : Fidi
fidtlere [fiddler] : Fidiana, fil^lestre [fiddlester] : SarUk
s^amere : Sartrix, s^amestre ' : etc. Hence our sempskr 4
seamster is A. S. s^am-es-lrt, from siam, a seam.
The Tern, sense is now so far lost that the F. fern. buSEx -1
has been added to songster and stamsin- or stmpsttr, \
ducing the forms seng-str-tss, sram-str-ess, semp^tr-ess,
M.E.,-j/c/- was freely added 10 bases not round in A. S, ;
huckster, properly the fem. of htuk-er (now spell hawkt
see Huckster in my Etym. Diet. In Tudor-English 1
suffix was rather widely used ; hence teamster, tap-tkr, 1
obsolete words such as drug-ster, mail-ster, whipster, 1
In some words ii expressed something of contempt, p
owing 10 the infiuence of the Lai. poetaster \ hence fib-tx
gamester, punster, rhyme ster, trickster; see Morris, I
Outlines of E. Accidence, p. 90 ',
§ 239. £. &niBx ~er. This very common suffix, ss J
Jish-er, usually expresses the agent, and is much used ]
> The
uMitiotial. Cotgntve cxpUini
i.Qunr.' C(. i.jj.
IMO.]
ARYAN SUFFIX -fCO.
257
I
subelantivea derived from verbs. The A.S. form is -ere, as
in boe-tr-e, a scribe, lil. ' book-er ' ; the corresponding Gothic
word is iok-ar-ti-s (■^*bok-ar-ji-s, stem bok-ar-ja)-, 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 -fr-e (with long e),
answering to Teut. -dr-ja (wiih long a) ; and I think his
arguments must be admitted. £. -er has also been explained
by supposing ihal -ak is here a shorlened 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 ibe use of this suffix.
§ 840. Aryan -KO. This is very common in Gk, in the
aominative form -not, and in Latin as -nu; as in Xiryi-itAc,
vhence E. logi-c \ pau-cus, cognate with Y..fcv>.
In Gothic il usually appears as -ha or -ga, but always after
a vowel ; tlie vowe! is commonly due to the stem of the sb.,
as in ilaina-ha-. stem of slaina-h-s, stony, from slama stem
of slains-s, a slone ; kandu-ga-, stem of Itandu g s, handi
clever, wise. These are adjectives (see § 256), m substan-
tives, the simple suffix is rare, but occurs perhaps in sfir k,
already discussed in § 203 above.
Other examples are the following : —
E. ^, -e>' ; A.S. -ig. -h. Bod-y, A.S. bod-ig ; cf. O.H.G.
fol-ah- Hon-ey, A.S. hutt-ig; cf. Icel. hun-an-g. Iv-y,
A.S. i/-ig- Sally, Sall-ow, a willow-tree, A.S. uat-h, stem
*sat-go ; cf. Lat. sal-i-x, gen. sal-i-€is '. Here also belongs
the diminutival suiBx y, as in Betty ; and the -ie in lass-i'c.
We also find examples of a Teut. suffix -ka, as already
I noted in 5 203. Such are the following : —
i E. -k; A.S. -c. Fol-k, A.S./oJ-c. Teut. fol-ka (F. iii.
1 89) ; cf. Lithuan. pHi-ka-t, a crowd, Russ. poi-k', an army ;
' Ad E. -tnv bi
pig i furr-mii,_ K.^.f«r
-^farr
, wonls the A. S.
VOL. I.
■h is radical, not a suffix.
258 SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES. [CiuP. XITl.
root uncertain. Haw-k, A. S. haf-oc ; cf. Icel. hau-k-r,
O.H.G. hab-uh\ lil. '[he seizer ' ; from V KAP, lo seize,
hold. Wel-k, Wil-k, a shell-fii^h, usually missiielt ivhdk, A.S.
■wil'Qc,\2.\jt\U'el-oc; named from its spiral shell; rromv^WER,
to turn, wind, Yol-k, I'el-k, A.S. geol-ec-a, the yellow part,
from geol-u, yellow. Sil-k, A.S. s(ol'C, is merely a borrowed
M ord, obtained from Slavonic traders ; it is the Slavonic form
of ihe Lat. Seri-cum, the material obtained from the &«»;.'
but the suffix is the Aryan -ko.
§ 241. Tbe Teut. EufRx -ga is common in combiiutii
with a preceding -an-, or more usually -in-, o:
doubtful origin. Of -ait-ga there is but one exampl
viz. in the Goth, bah-ag-ga {=bah-an-ga), a doubtful woi
in Mark ix. 42; but the suffixes -in'ga and -un-ga (or^
ally -in-g6. -un-g6 in the case oi feminine substantives) a
very common in A.S. in the forms -ing, -ung.
(a) A.S. suffix -ing. This was in common use li
patronymics, of which a striking example occurs in I
Northumbrian version of Luke iii. 24-38, where ' the soa ^
Judah ■ is expressed by ioia-ing, ' the son of Zorobabel'
sorobabd-ing, etc. Hence were formed a large number |j
tribal names, such as Scyldingas, the Seyldings, Scylfit^
ihe Scylfings, both mentioned in the poem of B&>wi
Hence also are derived many place-names, as, e.g
in Essex, from the tribe of Barkings, A, S. JitoreingM.
Bmkitigham, from the A.S. Bucdr^a-ham, i.e. home of ti
Buckings, where -n is the suffix of the genitive plural ; N^A
ingham, from the A.S. Snotinga-ham, i.e. home of the S
ings or sons of Snot, the ' wise ' man ; cf. A. S. snol-or, C
itiut-r-s, wise. In composition with -/-, it appears as -
already discussed as being a diminutival suffix in § 2<
out the -/-, it has a diminutival or depreciatory force in Afi^'
ing, lit. a little lord. Farlh-ing, K.^. fcoT3-ing,/fr3-ing, also
found 3& feorS-l'ing, means a fourth part of a penny ; from
/torp-a, ot\^. //crp-a, fourth, Uom f/owtr, four, Htrr-ii^^
A XGLO-SAXON^ SUFFIX -U^TG.
259
I
A.S. har-it)g, the fish that cornea in shoals or armies, from
htr-e (stem har-ja), an army, hosL K-i'ng, short for kin-ing,
A.S. (j'ti-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 cyn-ing from A.S.
eyn, tribe, race, stock, whence also cyn-e, royal, is indubitable.
Pmn-y, A.S. ptn-ig, fuller form pcn-ing ; oldest A.S. form
pend-ing ; formed by /-mutation from pand-, the same as Du.
pani, G. Pfand, a pledge. Rid-ing, as the name of one of
the three divisions of Yorkshire, is for 'Ihrid-ing (i.e. Norlh-
ridingtar Norlh-lhriding); of Scand. origin ; from Icel.^r/i^'-
ung'r, the third part; from /r/9(', third. SAi/i-t'i^, A.S. sail-
ing; cf. Goth, skill-^g-s (=skill-{ng-s). Whil-ing, a fish
named from the whiteness of the flesh. We may add the obso-
lete word icthd-ing, A.S. apd-iag, a prince; Uovatepeh, noble.
{fi) A.S. BbiQx •nng. This is extremely common in sbs.
derived from verbs, as in cldni-ung, a cleans-ing, from cldns-
tan, to cleanse ; georn-ung, a yeam-ing, from gfartt-ian, to
yearn, The suffix -ung simply takes the place of the infinitive
suffix -an or -ian. Even in A. S. this suifix frequently appears
%s-ing ; as in ieorn-ing, learn-ing, also spelt Icom-ung ; /ylg-
wg, a follow-ing, from j^/g-an, to foUow. 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-hunling.' where a represents the
A.S. prep, on, and kunl-ing is for the A.S. hunt'Ungt, dat. of
hunlung, a substantive of verbal origin. In .Slfric's Colloquy,
we have the Lat. heri fui in vtnatione ; above this is the A. S,
gloss — gyrslan dag ic wtes on iuntur^f, 'yesterday I was a-
hunting '.' These words in -ing are now used with an ellipsis
of a following 5/j which gives the sb. all the appearance of
a ib. Aunratt with
26o
SUBSTANTIVAL SUFFIXES.
tea,
being part of the verb itself. Thus ' he i
flies ' is to be explained by comparison wiiii ' he amused
himself by kiiling flies,' i. e. by Iht killing of flies ; so thai it
really stands for ' he was seen in the {act of) killing 'f flies/
There is an insuuctive sentence in Bacon's third Essay
which should be particularly considered. ' Concerning the
Meanes of procuring Unity ; Men must beware, thai in ihc
Procuring, or Muniting, of Religious Unity, tliey 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 l)u pro-
curing of Religious Unity.* Consequently, procuring 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 difference. In fact, these words in -ing had pre-
cisely the force of Lat. words in -aiio, when formed from verbs.
Nowadays, the phrase 'he was punished for the breaking of»«
window' has become ',. .for breaking a window'; whence, ll{
the subs titudon of an active past participle for the .lu^/oWai
present participle, has arisen the extraordinary phra
punishedforAai/iT^ircifn a window.' This phrase is n
ccpled one, so that the grammarians, in despair, have invet
for words thus used ihe term gerund, under the impression that"
10 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
suflix, which can be added, in modem English, to any verti -
whatever.
' Thus I read in b certain book, that ' the gemsd in -ing mwt bed
luiguisheil from Ihe verbal noun in -ing; &c. The fad is, ihM tf
(lirTcrence is pnrely one of modern oiage ; etjimolagicaUy, it ou
diflerence vrhnleTcr. Moieovei, (he to-caltcd 'verbal Donn'
' verbal ' in the scn&e of being derived/rem averh ; just ai in tlw a
Ittai-ti from steat.
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, -/uly 'lesSf -like or -ly, -some, -ward, -wart, -wise.
-fast, A. S. /cBsi, the same as fast when used indepen-
dently. It occurs only in shame-fast, M. E. scham-fast, A. S.
sceam-fcBst, now corrupted into shame-faced ] and in stead-
fast, stedfast, M. E. stede-fast, A. S. stede-fcest-e^ firm or fast
in its stead or place.
-fold, A. S. -feald\ as in two-fold, three-fold, mam-fold,
-ftll, A, S. -ful, i.e. full; as in dreadful, heed-ful, needful^
etc. It is freely added to sbs. of F. origin, as graceful,
grate-ful, &c.
-less, M.E. -lees, A. S. -l/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.
Ucu 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
modem formation, as court-like, saint-like, which may also
be court-ly, saint-ly. In all older forms, it appears as
2fi2
ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES.
[Ciuv. 1
^H -/)', a shortened form of -Hit, A.S, -//>, formerly 'lh\
^H in gasi-lic, ghost-ly, carp-Iic, earth-ly, Ghasl-ly, 'M.-'E. gatt-
^H ly. t. e. terrible, is formed from A. S. gdsl-an. to terrify.
^H -8ome, M.£. -sum, -som, A.S. j»ni; cognate with Icel.
^H -samr, G. -jam, and orig. the sa^me word as £. fafftc. See
^H Weigand's Etym. Germ. Diet., s.v. -sam. Hence uriit-somi,
^H A. S. viyn-sum, deliglitful, from vyn, joy ; lissom, short for
^H lithesome, etc. Added to sbs. of F. origin in metllesome,
^^B noisome, quarrelsome, /oilsome. In the word lux-om, M. E.
^H bulisiiM, from A. S. bUg-an, to bow, bend, we have the same
^H suffix ; the orig. sense was yielding, pliant, obedient, a sense
^H which occurs as late as in Milton, who twice speaks pf ' the
^H buxom air': P. L. ii. 842, v. 270.
^H -ward, A.S. -weard, i.e. turned towards, inclined; ex-
^H pressive of the direction in which a thing lends to go. The
^H Gothic fonn is -wairlks, as in and-viairlhs, present ; from
^H jvairih-an, 10 be turned to, to become '. The A. S. form is
^H parallel to the pt. t. wearS of the corresponding A. S. verb
^B weord-an. Thus lo-u-ard is 'turned to' ; /ro-ward is 'turned
from'; awy-warrf is short (ot awayward, i.e. 'turned away':
/br-ward, i.e. 'turned to the fore'; baek-ward, 'turned to
the back.' Awk-ward is 'turned aside,' hence perverse,
ciumsy; from M. E. auk, transverse, strange, a form con-
tracted from Icel. afug-r, ofug-r, going the wrong way;
just as hawk is formed from A. S. hafoc.
-wart. Only in stal-wart, a corrupt form of slal-tvortk.
The suffix is A. S. weorS, worth, worthy ; slalworlh is for sla-
SolwierSe, from slaSol, foundation; Sievers, § 201 (3),
-wise, A. S. wis. Occurs in wealher-wise, i. c. knowing
as to the weather. M, E. also had rig/it-wis, wrong-ms. The
latter is obsolete; the former (A. S. riil-wft, lit. knowing as
to right) is now conupled to rigk/eous.
\ 243. Other adjectival suffixi'S agree more or less wiih
I
ARYAN SUFFIX -TO. 363
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, Mind, answers to Goth, blinds, stem bund-a.
Koch instances blaek, bleak, blind, broad, cool, dark, deaf,
deep, dumb, full, glad, good, great, grim, high, hoar, hot, lief,
loath, red, rough, short, sick, stiff, while, whole, wise, worth.
young; and some olhers. Here belongs loose, from Icel.
lauss, stem laus-a. See Sievers, O. E. Gram. § 293. Few^
slaw, do not belong here ; see § 748.
5 244. Aryan -I. Examples are scarce. We may refer
hither the following. Mean, in the sense of common or vile,
A. S. gt-mdit-e ; cognate with G. ge-mein, O. H. G. gi-mein-i,
Goth, ga-main-s (stem ga-main-i). Whether this is related
to Lat. com-mun-i-s, common, is sull disputed; but the re-
lationship is probably real.
I 346. Aryan -U. The chief examples are quick, A. S.
I aniC'U, cwie ; and hard, A. S. heard, cognate with Goth.
hard-u-s, and allied to Gk. ic,jar-u-f, strong.
5 246. Aryan -10. Cf Gk. fly-.o-r, holy. Lost in mod.
E., but sometimes appears as -t in A. S. and even in M. E.
This suffix sometimes causes (-mutation of the preceding
vowel. Without mutation are the following. Dear, A. S.
ddor-e \ cf. O. H. G. Hur-i, whence G. theuer; Teut. devr-ya
(Pick, iii. u6), Free, \.S. fr/o, frh; Goth. /rw-j (stem
ijri-jd) ; originalSy ' at liberty,' ' acting at pleasure,' and allied
jtoSkL/W^a. beloved, agreeable; from -s/PRI, to love. Mid,
I A. S. mid, Goth, midjis ; Teut. med-va. Neiv, A. S. niw-e.
Goth, mu-ji-s (stem niu-jd) ; derived from Goth, nu, A. S. «tf,
E. nmv. Wild, A. S. wild, Goth, wilth-ei-s (stem witlh-ja).
The following exhibit mutation, Keen, A. S. cfn-f {='cSn-
Jo-). cognate with G. kiihn, O. H. G. chuon-i', Teut. x3n-va
(Pick, iii. 41); perhaps allied to can. Sweet, A. S. su>/t-e
' Hence O. H. G. CliuoH'rAl, Kiton-rdI, keen (In) coonicl ; appearing
264
ADyBCTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Cm*».XlV.
{=*itv6t-jo-')\ Teut. sw6t-ya (Fick, iii. 361); this appears
to be a later formation Trom an older sw6tu, ct^natc i
Lat. suauis (for 'mmd-uis), Gk. i)8-u-», Skt. svid-u,
so that it was originally a u-stem. Cf. Goth, hard-ja-na I
the ace. masc. of kard-u-s, hard.
§ 247. Teutonia -!-na. This answers to Goth, -ti-na, as
in siluhr-d-na-, stem of siluir-a'-n-s, silver-n, from sHutr,
silver; and to k.S.-tn, E. -en, -ti. This suffix sometimes
causes (-mutation of the preceding vowel, as seen in btech-€n,
A, S. M--rti, from b6c, a beech-tree ; and in A. S. gyld-tn,
golden, from gold, gold. The latter has been displaced by
gold-en', and the sufBx is much commoner in Early En^-^hsh
than in A. S. Hence we commonly find no mulation of the
vowel. Examples arc : ash-en, made of ash ; hirch-a'f_
braz-en, made of brass ; flax-tn ; gold-en ; hfmp-e\
oak-en ; oal-en ; silk-en ; wax-en ; wheat-cn ; wood-tH ; ftiogl-4-u
So also lealher-n, silver-n, the latter of which is almost d
soleie. Asp-en (properly an adjective, as when we spexk-d
' [he aspen-tree ') is now practically used as a sb, ;
sb. CBsp or a-ps, an ' asp,' from which it is derived, beitig 0
almost forgotten. Lin-en was also originally an adjec
only, from A. S. I(n, flax ; not a native word, but i
borrowed from Lat. lin-um. Tre-en or Iretn was once 0
as an adj. from tree, cliieSy with the sense of ' wooden^
Glas-en, made of glass, had long been out of use. Elm
from dm, is still in use in our dialects. The words nm
healh-en, do not belong here ; see § 252. With this stiffix C
§ 248. Aryan -WO. In § 21 j we have seen thai -
answers lo E. -ow in mead-mv, shad-ma. Similarly 1
explain call-ow. A, S. eal-u (stem cal-wo-); fall-aw, A.i
feni-tt (stem feal-wo- < fal-wo-) ; mell-aio, with / for r, (
Mercian mer-we, lender; Matt, xx'iv. 32; narr-ow. A* 8
near-a; saU-ow, K.S,sal-u\ ytlZ-ow, A.S.geol-u. i
' -Spenser liai ' Uren mould," i. c. shape of trees ; F, Q. L 7, j6.
I •5.0
ARYAN SUFFIX -RO.
«65
I
O. E. Gram. § 300. Here also belong the following. Few,
K. S. pi. Pa-we. Njgh, M. E. neh, A. S. n/4, n/ah, aUied to
Goth, neh-wa, adv., nigh. Haju, A. S. hrfaw, pi. hr/a-wt.
Slow, A.S. i/(ft*, pi. sla-W€. True, A.S. tr/o-we, Teut. treu-
w\ (F. iii. 124). yare, ready, used by Shakespeare, A.S.
geat-u (stem gear-ajo-<, gar-wo-) ; whence probably the sb.
^arr-ow, raitfoil, 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. w<tr-m, A.S. wear-m, Teui. war-ma (F. iii. 29a); prob-
ably from a root war, to boil, and not allied to Gk. dip-fiir.
Cf. Russ. var-lh, to boil. The m is a suffix in A. S. rti-m,
Bpacious, whence E. roomy.
% 260. Tentonio -ha-h. This is only found in old super-
latives, such as A. S. /or-ma (stem /or-man), first, ihe su-
perlative from /or-e, fore ; cognate with Lat. pri-mu-s, first.
To this superlative -ma it was not uncommon to add the
additional suffix -at (Goth, -isi-s) ' ; this produced the iiiffis
-tn-esl, which was afterwards supposed to stand for mosl, and
was accordingly so re-spclt. This is the history oi o\xr /are-
m-osl, A. S. /or-m-tsl, also more correctly fyr-m-est, with
r-muiatbn of 0 \Qy. So also hind-m-osl, Goth. hindu-m-isl-s\
in-m-osi, from A. S. inne-m-esl, most inward ; out-m-osl, from
A.S. Ule-m-esl, most outward. With the suffix -er for -esl,
we get the curious word for-m-er, where the -m- marks
a superlative, and the -er a comparative form.
§ 261. Aryan -RO and -LO. There are not many
traces of the former. The clearest example is bill-er, W. E.
hi/-er, A.S. bil-cr, bil-or < || bit-cti, pp. of ii'l-an, to bite; cf.
Goth, iailr-s (stem bait-ba), bitter < n bail, pi. t. of Goth.
ia't-an, to bite. Fai-r, A. S. fo'g-r, fag-rr ; Goth, fag-r-s
Kvjwn mffix -is'ro, weakened foim of -ves-ti
1, Conip. Gram. vol. ii. { 135.
,Gk--<
266
ADyBCTIVAL SUFFIXES.
[Cnnr. 3
(slem fag-ra), fit, suitable ; from >/ PAK, to fasten,
SIt'pp-er-y \s formed by adding -y to A. S. slip-or, slippery;
from the verb to s!ip.
■LO. There was a rather numerous class of A. S. adjec-
tives in -nl, -tl, of which few survive. Sweet, in his A. S.
Reader, instances het-ot, violent, from htt-t, hate ; ard/aMf-o/,
thoughtful, from^nr, thouKJit. Brill-U, M,E. bril-et, 6rol-<l,
brul-el < |] brol-en, pp. of A, S. br/ol-an, to break. Spenser
uses hrick-le, F. Q. iv. lo. 39, with a like sense ; from A, S.
brtc-an, to break. Ev-il, \.S.y/-el; Goth, ub-t'-l-s (stem
ub-i-la); see Kluge. Fick-Uy A. S. ^e-oi, dcceitMjjrJ
from jfr, s., fraud ; cf. fac-n, deceit. Id-U, A. S. 1
empty, vain; cT, G. eit-el, vain. Lill-U, A. S. lyl-tt, .
nected with lyt, adv., little; here lyf=*luli-, and there 11
connection with Goth, liul-!, deceitful; see Fick, i
Mick-k, great, A. S. myc-el, mic-el; Goth, mik-i-l-t
to Gk. base ^(7-a-^o-, great. But the most extraordia
word with this suffix is the M. E. rak-el, rash, wild,
of Scand. origin, answering to Icel. rtik-all, adj., vagxbc
from reik-a, to wander about. This word was strangdj**
transformed into rake-hell in the i6th centur)- {see Trench
and Nares), and has since been politely shortened so as 10
produce the mod. E. sb. a rake. i. e. a dissolute man.
\erb to ail, A. S. tg-l-an, to trouble, to pain, is derived t
A, S. eg-h, troublesome, allied to Golh, ag-lu-t.
hard ; so that the final / is really an adjectival suffix ; i
^AGH, to choke, pain. So also in the case e£ feu-l, J
fH-l; from ■/PU, to stink.
§ 262. Aryan -NO- E. hrmo-n, A. S. br&-n \
with G. brau-n, Lithuanian iru-na-s, brown ; and allied
Ski. ba-bhru, tawny'; see Fick, iii. 218, Ev-en, A. S. <
Gotb. ib-fi-s {stem ib-na) ; probably related to Goth,
backwards, Fai-n, k.S. /ag-en; cf, \ce\. /tg-inn, glad,
snggeMed in my Die-
f joyful- We
ARYAtr SVFFTX -TO.
y here n
267
i the usual
e notice that ihe Icel.
c of the pp. of strong verbs, as in gef-inn, E. giv-m.
Goth, gib-an-s (stem gib-a-na-) ; so that the adj. suffix is
here of the same form as that of the sirong pp. The Teut.
form of/ain is fag-i-na (Fick, iii. 169), as if it were a pp.
from the Teut. base FAH, lo (il. suit; VPAK, to fit. The
same pp. suffix occurs in op-e», A. S. op-en, Icel. op-inn ; and in
rotl-tn. borrowed from the Icel. rot-inn, the pp. of a lost verb.
Cr. % s6o, Htalh-m, orig. one who dwelt on a heath, but ex-
tended (like the \a\. paganus, a villager, afferwards 3l pagan)
I to denote one who is uninsiructed in Ihe Christian religion ;
A. S. hdd-en, from hdS, a heath. Cf. Goth, haith-no, a heathen
■voman ; haitk-i, heaih.
Grti-n. A. S. grf-n-e {=" gr6-n-jo-\ cognate with Icel.
grann, G.grtin, answers to Teut. gro-n-va (Fick, iii, iiz):
so that the suffix is really double. It is closely allied to the
verb to grow. Lea-n, slender. A, S. hld-ne {=*hld-n-jo),
slender, frail ; orig, ' leaning,' as if wanting support ; allied to
hlifnan, to lean. Sler-n, sevtte, A, S. slyr-ne { = *siurn-joi).
With regard to the words last-trn, west-ern, north-em,
south-em, we must compare the O, H.G. forms, such as
7iorda-T6ni, north-em. Fick (iii. 251) supposes that the
O. H. G, suffix -rSni is a derivative from rann, the and stem
of G, renn-m, Goth, rinn-an (pt, t. rann), lo run. If so,
north-ern 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.
§ 263. Aryan -TO. This is the usual suffix of the Lat.
n sfra-tus, pp. of sUr-n-irt, to lay ; and, as already
aid in § 283, it occurs as -d in E. lai-d, pp. of toy, and as
1 Goth, iag-i-th-s, laid, pp. of lag-j-an, to lay. It is
' familiar in the form -ed, used as the pp. suffix of
weak verbs, as lov-td, pp. of Im'e; also as -/, as in
n-l, pp. of liurn. It deserves to be particularly noticed
268
ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Ciuf. XIV.
that the presence of the -f- in -td {= -i-d) is really due, for
the most pnrt, to the causa.1 verb-suflis which appears in
Gothic as -}-, and occasionally in A.S. as -i-; thus E. haU,
inf. = A. S, hal-i-an, Goth, kat-j-an ; and the pp, halt-d =
A.S. hal-o-d, Goth, hal-i-lh-a. It will thus be seen thai
the pp. suffix (when written -tJ) is properly -d only; the
preceding -e belongs to the verbal stem, just like the -i-
in the case of E. fa<r-/-/, borrowed from Lai. lat-i-hu^ ;
of lac-e-re.
The Aryan -TO appears in E. as -th, -t, and -d.
(a) The form -Sh. This is rare, but occurs in u
orig. unknown, strange ; from A. S. cii-3, known, Goth, k
Ih-s, pp. of kunn-an, to know, [flc-//; is a Scand. form, I
Icel. ba-dir. both ; the A. S. form drops the suffix, appear
as hi in the feminine and neuter; cf. Goth, bai, G, /
The -th is from a different source, and stands for i
the def. article.] Nor-lh, A. S. m'r-3, may be allied to Gk.~
w'p-Tt-pot, lower, as suggested by Kluge, who also cites (he
Umbrian mr-tro, on the left hand. The connection, in
Ihe latter case at least, is the more probable, because 1
Ski. rfaifjA/na means 'on the right,' also 'on the south/l
a man looking eastumrd. Sou-lh, A. S. s£-3 (='«*«-?); '
O. H. G. siin-d, south ; allied lo E. sun, as being the s
quarter.
The suffix -Ih also occurs in most of the mod. E. ordinal
numbers, as four-tk. fif-lh, si'x-lh, seven-lli, &c. ; but note
A.S .fif-la, six-la, where the -/ is due to ihe preceding / or
X. Hence the Lowl. Sc.fi/i, six/; cf. Lat, xex-tu-s.
{&) The form -/. We may particularly note this in past
participles, chiefly when preceded by /] gh, !, n,p, r; as in
cU/-l (from tliavt), rtf-i (from nave) ; bnugk-t, brtmgk-t,
sough-l, faugh-l, wrough-t ; fd-t, spil-t; btirn-t, mtaii-4,
pen-t; ktp-t, s!ep-l, swtp-t, wep-l; bks-t, las-l, wis-l. When
the verb ends in / or in ^ preceded by another consonant,
[he pp. is often contiacled ; as in set, hurl, eas/, btalt {
Hadv.,
f »53.] ARYAl^ SVFFTX -TO. 269
^iuilded), lent, sen/, spent. In adjectives, it appears after y;
gh, I (in salf), r, and j. ZJt/-/, M.E. c/f/-/. fitting, becom-
ing, mild, dqf'l, innocent (whence prov. E. da/'-/, foolish)
allied to A.S. ge-daf-en, fit. gt-d//-e. suitable; Golh. ga-dof-s
)ga-dob-s, String, ga-dah-an, to happen, befit. Le/-/, with
xeference to tbe hand, A.S. Ic/-/, as a gloss to Lat. inanis
(Mone, Quellen, i. 443) ; the same MS. has snine for synttt.
so that k/t is for *ly/t { = *lup-li). Mid. Du. lit/-/, from the
V'RUP, to break, whence also E. lop and lil\ So//, A.S.
■6/-ie, adv., softly ; allied to G. san/-/, soft, O.H.G, sam/-/o.
adv., softly. Swi/-/, A.S. swi/-/, orig. turning quickly, allied
E. swiv-e/. Bn'gk-/, A.S. beorh-/, Goth, iairh-/-s (Teut.
-ta), liL lighted up ; from ■v'BHERK, to shine. Ligk-/,
fts opposed to heavy, O. Mercian lih-/ (see J 33), A.S. It'oh-t;
allied to Gk. <-Xax-vr, Ski. lagh-u, light. Righ-/, A.S. r/X-/.
Golh. raih'/'S (stem raih-/a-), Teut. reh-ta (F. iii. 348);
cognate with Lat. rtc-/us- Sligh-/, not found in A.S., but
of Frisian origin ; O. Fris. sUuch-/, Mid. Du. slich-t, even, flat,
Du. slech'/, slight, simple, vile; Teut. sleh-ta, which per-
jiaps originally meant ' smitten,' from slak, to slay, smite
[<F. iii, 358); but this is doubtful. Siraigh-/, A.S. s/rth-/,
nttretched light, pp. of s/recc-an, to stretch. Tigh-/, prov. E.
t^'/e (more correctly), M,E. //j-/, also /A>'A-/(more correctly):
of Scand. origin, from Icel. p//l-r {=*J/^k/-r), water-tight;
allied to G. di'ck-l ; also to A. S. Ji^on, G. gtdciken. Sal-/,
A.S, ual-/, lit. salted; cf, Lat. lal-su-s, salted, from sal,
aalL Swar-t, A.S. smtar-/, black, Goth. swar-/-s (stem swar-
Ta) ; orig. ' burnt ' ; from */ SWER, to glow. Tar-/, acrid,
A.S. tear-/ ; perhaps < II /a:r, pt. t. oi fer-an, lo tear. Eos-/,
A.S. ias-t; cf, Lat. aur-ora (='aui-osa), Skt. ush-as, dawn.
Wti-/, A.S. iwj--/; cf. Lai. ues-ptr, evening. See also won-/
in vaf Dictionary.
The word waste, A.S. wis-te {=*tv£s-t-ja), exhibits the
• Tikis etymolugy w
iBlia. iii. 155 ti88o;
1 discovered by Mr. Sweet, who pnl>liihcd il
ADJECnVAL SUFFIXES. [Ck*». XIV.
r, vasi, but is
870
double suffix -t-ya ; it is related to Lat. i
not borrowed from it.
(f) The form -d. We have already noticed the -t-d of
ihe pp. A remarkable example appears in E. bal-d, of which
the M.E. form was ball-ed, lit. ' marked with a while patch '
(cf. pii-bald. skao4ald) ; the Welsh iai means ' having a
while streak on the forehead,' said of a horse, and cf, Gk.
^xA-uKpir, bald-headed, ^X-ap.ir, having a spot of white.
Mol-d, A.S. ial-d, beal-d; cf. Goth. adv. baUlha-ba. boldly.
Col-d, 0. Mercian cal-di^ 33), A.S. aai-d; cf. L^t. gtl-i-dus,
cold; the -d does not appear in A.S. cSl, E. tool. Dra-d,
M.E. dce-d, A.S. d/a-d\ Goth, dau-lh-s (stem dau-THa), a
weak pp. form due to the strong verb diw-an (pt. t. dau), 10
die. (The verb die is of Scand. origin, not A.S. ; from Icel.
dey-ja) Lou-d, A.S. hl&-d; cognate with Gk. kXh-tiS-i, re-
nowned, famed. Skt. ^ru-la, heard, pp, of fru, lo bear. The
word nak-cd still preserves the full pp. form ; A. S. nac-cd, as
if from a verb 'mu-i'iin, to make bare ; Goth, naiw-a-ii-t,
naked ; the Icelandic has not only nak-l-r, naked, but also a
formna*-/"nff, with the characteristic pp. sufRs of a strong verb;
cf. also Lai. nu-dus {^=.*nug-dus), Skt. nag-na, bare.
% 264. Aryan -TER. This occurs in E. o-lhrr, A.S.
6^er, Goth, an-thar, Lat. al-Ur, Ski. an-lar-a. It is a com*
parative suffix, occurring also in wht-thtr, which of two,
Goth, hwa-lhar, Gk. ud-rtp-ot, frd-wf^-oi, Skt. ia-lar-a; and
in its derivatives ri-lhcr, n-ii-lhcr.
§ 265. Aryan -ONT. -ENT. This suffix occurs in A.S.
present participles, as already explained in \ 229, which see.
% 266. Aryan -KO. As already explained in % 140, ibis
suffix occurs as Goth, -ha in slaina'ha, stem of staina-h-t
atony, from starna-, stem of stains, a stone ; also as -ga \n
handu-ga-, stem of handu-g-s. wise, a word of doubtful cqr-
moiogy. So also Goth. waA/n'-^-j', mighty, answering lo A.S.
mtahti-g, mighty. In A.S. the suffix is practically ^-I-KO,
from the frequent use of -KO with (-stems. Hence the
I »57-]
ARYAN SUFFIX -SKQ.
371
I
iftvariabU suffix is -ig, which is invariably reduced to -y in
modem English. Thus Golh. mana-g-s (with a-stem) is A.S.
man-ig, E. man-y; Golh. mahlei-g-i (with /-stem) is A.S.
mtaht-ig, E. mighl-y ; and Goth, fiandu-g-s (with «-siem)
signifies ' wise,' but its connection with E. hand-y is doubl-
fiil. In modem E, these adjectives in y are very numerous ;
in fact, this suffix can be added to a large number of
eubsiantives ; we can say ' a horsy gent,' or * an inky
sky.' Amongst A. S. adjectives of this class we may enu-
merate hys-ig, bus-y ; cnc/l-ig, craft-y (orig. experienced) ;
ifys-ig, dizz-y ; dyh-t-tg, E. dotighl-y < .. Jug-an, to avail, be
mod. E. da (as it occurs in the phrase ' that will r/o ') ;
\^s/-^, dust-y ; fam-ig, foam-y ; h(f-ig, E. heav-y < Mi-aa
{=*ka/-ian), 10 heave; w^r-ig, wear-y, &c. So also any,
A. S. ^-ig, from an, one ; cf. Lat. un-ieus. The word
tt'U-y, M. E. sel-i, A. S. siil-ig, has remarkably changed its
it is derived from A. S. idl, season, and orig.
meant timely ; then lucky, happy, blessed, innocent ; and
lastly, simple, foolish. In the expression 'sil/y slieep,' it is
used with a less contemptuous sense than when we speak of
' a silly man.'
§ 257. Aryan -ISKO or -SKO. This suffix is used in
Greek to form diminutives, as in noiB-io-xoc, a young boy,
from irow (gen. woi8-d[), a son. It occurs with an adjectival
use in Lithuanian, Slavonic, and Teutonic. Cf. Lith. IHva-s,
bxhei, whence leiv-issi-as, fatherly ; O. Slav, itna, Russ.yVna,
a woman, whence O. Slav, irn-isht, Russ. jen-sk-ii, womanly,
feminine. So also Goth, manna, a man, tuann-isk-s, human ;
A.S. mettn-isc (witli /-mutation), human, also used as a sb.,
meaning 'man ' ; G. Men-sch, orig. an adj., but now always
used as a sb. This word is still preserved in Lowl. Sc. mense,
but the sense has slill furthe changed lo that of ' manliness,'
and thence to good manners, propriety of behaviour. ' Meat
is good, but mtnse is better' is a Scottish proverb. The A.S.
- -itc is ihe mod. E. -ish, which can be very freely added to
«7»
ADJECTIVAL SUFFIXES. [Cmw TTT.
substantives, to denote similariiy. Other examples occur in
A.S. hdden-isc, E. healhm-uh; Hl-lend-isc, E. oul-land-ish.
4c. It is particularly used to signify relation to a country or
iribe; as in E. Engl-ish, A.S. Engl-isc, formed with /-muta-
tion from Angel, i.e. Angeln in Denmark, siluaie in the
country between Flensburg in Sleswig and the Eyder. E.
Dati-isk, A.S. Den-ISC, from Den-e, pi., the Danes; cf. led.
Dan-skr, Danish, from Dan-ir, pi. the Danes, E. Frtn-th,
A.S, FrtfK-isc, Frank-ish, from Franc-an, pi., the Franks.
E. Wel-ik, A.S. Wal-isc, from Weal-as, pi. of wealh, a
foreigner. The words French, Welsh have already been in-
stanced as exhibiting cKampIes of concealed roulalion ; pp.
193, aoa. Add 10 these Brit-isk, A.S. Britt-isc, from Brill-ci.
nom. pi., the Griions ; cf. Brit-en, Brill-en. Lat. Britannia, the
land of the Britons. E. Scotl-ish, Stot-ish, Scol-eh. Scots (for it
is written all four ways'), A.S.Scjilt'isc, fonned by i-mutation
from Scolt-as, nom. pi., Lat. Scoti', the ScotSj orig. the Irish. Of
common adjectives ending in -ish it may suiTice to mention
churl-ish, A. S. eyrl-isc, cierl-isc, formed by r-muiation (also
spelt ceorl-isc, without mutation) from cegrl, a husbandman,
a churl, a freeman of the lowest class. Some such adjectives
are of quite modern formation, from substantives of French
origin, as agu-iih, mod-ish, prud-ish, rogu-ish. We have
already seen that it is shortened to -<h in Fren-ch. Se«l-tA ;
and to -fh in Welsh. To these we may add the foUon-ing:
E. fresh. A, S. fer-sc ( = */ar-isc), i. e. moving, from /iir-an,
to go ; /resh water being that which Ts kept from stagnation
by constant motion. E. marsh, s., A. S. mersc {=*mfr-ise\
orig, an adj. ; lit. 'mere-ish,'i.e. adjoining a mere or lake ; front
mer-e, a lake. E. rash, of Scand. origin ; from Dan. and Swed.
rask, quick, brisk, Icel. riisk-r, ripe, mature. In this word, as
Kluge suggests, a Ih may have been lost ; it would then stand,
as it were, for 'rath-sk, i. e. quickly turning, from Ihe Teui.
1 •s'■^
ADVERB rAL SVFFTXSS.
=73
I
itATH-A, a wheel, preserved in G. Rad, a wheel; cf. Lith.
rdias, a. wheel, Lat. rola, Skt, ratfia '. Perliaps it is hardly
necessary lo add that this E. adjectival suffix -isk is wholly
distinct from the verbal suffix of Romance origin which
appears \n flour-Uh, pol-uh. pun-ish, &c.
Aryan -IS- TO, or -YES-TO. The superlative suffix -est
answers [o Gk, -ur-ra-, and needs no illustration. See § 250.
Adverbial Suffixes.
§ 258. Some of the adverbial suffixes can be recognised
as having been independent words, Such are -ly, -meal,
•ward, -wards, -toay, -ways, -ui'sf.
-ly. A, S. -iic-e, adverbial form from A. S. -lie, adj. suffix.
See § 342. Il was common in A. S. to form adverbs from
adjectives by the addition of -e; as beorhl-t, brightly, from
bforht, bright. Cf. Goth. sama-Uik-o, adv., equally, from
tama-Uiis, adj., alike; uhteig-o, seasonably, frora uhleig-s,
seasonable. Thus the corresponding Goth, suffix is 'Icik-o.
•meoL Only now used in piece-mtal, a hybrid compound.
M, E. had Ahoftok-mel, by companies, /to«ni/-wf/r-, by pounds
at a time, stund-mclc, by hours, &c. Of itit^t flok-tml answers
to A. S, fioc-mdi-um, adv., by companies, in flocks ; where
mdl-um is the dat. or instrumental plural of mal, a time, also
a time for food, mod. E. mgal, a repast.
-ward,- war d-B. As in hither-ward, back-ward, back-wards.
See -wardna an adjectival suffix in 5 24a. It is common to
find the same form of a word used both adjectivally and
adverbially in modem English ; as ' a 6rig/i/ sun,' ' the sun
shines bright.' This is because the A. S. adverbial form was
heorht-t, as explained above ; and the loss of the -e reduced
the adverb to the same form as the adjective. The -s in
-wards is an old genitive ; see further below, § 259.
-way,-way-B. A.S.ina/-H)ij>',a/-itov-r. .^/-H/oy-jisageni-
' Schade has a very differeat salntioa. He sopposei that ui initial ■ai
hu b«n lost, nnd connects tasK (for *wrasK) with Golh. ga-
prndiice fruit, to bring fniit to perfection (Luke viii. I4].
VOL. I. T
274
ADVERBIAL SOFFTXES. [Chav. XIT.
livai form, in later use, due lo form-assodation with adverbs
in -s. Al-7t<ay is an accusative form, as in A. S. ealnt wtg (acc.)i
lit. 'all way/ often used with the sense of mod. E. always,
-wisa. As in no-wise. Hit-wise. The suffix is the ace
case of the common E. sb. wist, manner : A. S, tvts-r, ace.
wi's-an. Cf A. S. on dnfg-e w(s-an (ace), on any wise ; on pa
ylcan wii-ati (ace), in die same way. The acc. wis-an be-
came M, E, uii's-e, and finally im'sf.
§ 269. Other adverbial sufRxes are due to case-endings,
as in -J, -se, -ce, old genitives ; -er, old dal. fem. or accusative ;
-em, old dal. plural. To these we may add the compound suffix
-l-ing, -l-otig. See further in Morris, Hist, Outlines, p. 194.
a-, •se, -ofi. The suffixes -es is the characteristic ending
of the genitive case of A. S. strong masculine, and nruJtr
subsiantives ; and we find several instances in which the
genitive case is used adverbially ; as in dieg-ts, by day.
By association with this usage we find the adverb mhl-^^2.
by night, though nihl is teaWy /aninine, and ils genitive e
is properly niht-e. Similarly we can explain E. tl-si, A.j
tll-es, cognate with Goth, alj-is^ genitive of aljis,
another. The A. S. ne'd, njd, need, is feminine, and 1
the gen. ȣd-e, n^d-c, which is used adverbially in
xxiii. 17. Hence the M. E, ned-e, also used adverbia
but the more common M. E. form is nfd-fs, preserved I
mod. E. needs. The A. S. dn-es, E. on-ee, was origi
the gen. of dn, one. By association with this word,
A,S. tvst-wa was altered to M. E. twi-ts, E. fjt'i-ee; and i
h.S. Jiri'Wa to M.E. rtr/-«, E. thri-ee. The final -et,
noticeable in these words, is intended to shew that the I
sound is that of J, not of s, and is imitated from the Fre
cf. prelen-ee, vtolen-ce.
-or. In E. ev-tr, A. S. d/-re, the -re is Ihe suflix of d
dat. or gen. fem., as in A. S. g&l-re, dat. (and g«n.) I
of i'M good. So also in ner-er, A. S. nd/-ri.
yesl-<r-d<iy. llie suffix is the acc. masculine, A.S.geosf-ri
l-toO
VEftBAL SUFFIXES.
275
I
I
-om. In whil-om, ibe suffix denotes the dat. pi. ; A. S,
hwil-um, at times, once on a time, dat. pi. of hunl, while,
time. E. se!d-om answers to A. S. seld-um, dat. pi., or seld-an,
dat. sing, (both are used) of scld, rare.
-l-ing, -1-ong. The gen. pi. of A. S. sbs. in -ung (later -ing)
could be used adverbially, as an-ung-a, dn-jng-a, altogether,
gen. pi. of oii'Urig, sb. formed from an, one. So also ea/i'
ung-a, later laU-ing-a, wholly, from eatl, all. Similarly, M. E.
adverbs were formed ending in -l-ing, as hcd-l-ing, head-
foremost, afterwards altered to head-long, probably by con-
fusion with long. So also dark-ling, i.e. in the dark; flat-ling
or fiai-long, flat; sidi-Ung, or side-long, sideways.
Verbal Suffixes.
5 260. The only verbal suffixes which still appear in
modern English are -en (-n), -k, -le (-/), -er, -st\ cf. Morris,
Hist. Outlines, p. zat.
-en, -n. This suffix is remarkable for its complete change
of meaning. It was formerly the mark of a reflexive or
passive sense, but it now makes a verb active or causal. The
Gothic /ull-J-an, to make full, from full-s, full, was causal ;
but the Goih. _/iill-n-an, from the same adj., meant to be
filled, or to become full. There is no doubt that the -n- here
inserted is tlie same as the -« in 6(ir-H, for-n, i.e. is the sign
of the pp. passive ; so that full-n- is, in fact. ' filled *,' and
Jiiil-n-an means ' to be filled,' hence, lo become full. This
tise is still common in the Scand. tongues. Thus Icel. so/-na
is ' to fall asleep ' ; Icel. vak-na, Dan. vaag-ne, Swed, vack-na,
is 'to become awake'.' So also A. S, dicae-n-an was
' The ■»• \a full-n- is, in fnct. the Aryan suffii -NO (i 153) ; cf. L»t.
fU-fUU, Skt. /Ur-na, tall
' The psfsiTe Die ot tbc Gotb. soBit -nan i» 'controverted in an
eicellmt paper by A. E. EeE^> °^ ' Inchoative or n-verbs in Gothic, &c.,'
I fal the American Journal of Philology, vii. 38. The author wys the»e
I'TCrbt are iHfAoa/ive, nad be may be right, [iractically. But it makes
c ID the derelopmeat of the forms. The itilhx -KO was
KUiflinally adjccciva], and the derived verb could easily take cilhci an
p i&choative or a passive st
376
VERBAL SUFFTXES.
i used both with s
g and weak
intransitive, (hough i
past tenses; but after 1500, it was often used transitively, and
is BO used still; see Awaken in Mutray's Dictionary. The
old causal ^'e^bs in -ian ceased to have any distinctive mark ;
and this loss was supplied in a. most curious way, viz. by
using the old suffix -n- with a causal sense, as being so
frequently required. This usage, which is not early, is now
thoroughly established; so that \a falt~tn is 'to make fat';
lenglh-m is 'to increase in length,' to 'make longer,' &c.
Most of these are formed from adjectives, as : black-en, bright-
en, broad-tfi, cheap-en, dark-m, deaf-en, deep-fit, Jrti
gladd-en, hard-en, less-en, lik-rrn, madd-€it, mahl-en, ep^
quiek-en, redd-en, rip-en, rough-en^ sadd-en. sharp-en, short-i
sick-en, slack-en, soft-en, sliff-en, siraight-en, sweel-en, tfuek-\
light-en, lougk-en, weak-en, whit-^n ; some of which are a
indifferently as transitive or intransitive ; so that there is, a
all, no sure rule. Very few are formed from sbs. ;
fright-en. heart-en, height-en, length-en, slrength-e?t. The B
important, philologically, are those which are fotind I
early; these are, 1 \.\iink,fai/-ea, glisl-en, lii-en, list-en
wak-en. Perhaps glist-en, A. S. glis-n-ian, and list-en,
formation from A. S. hlysl-an, are the only ones which r
the true sense, and can never be (correctly) used t
intransitively. The word op-en is very remarkable,
verb, it answers 10 A. S. open-ian, causal verb from 0^
adjective; whilst the adj. op-tn, cognate with Icel, o
exhibits the characteristic ending of a strong pp.
pp. is probably formed from the prep, up ; so thai op-€» S
as it were, 'upped,' i.e. hfted, with reference to the lifting^
the lid of a box or the curtain forming the door of a b
Shakespeare has dup (= do up) in the sense ' to open.'
-n. The same suffix appears as n in daw-n, drow-n^am^
lear-n, cw-n ; in some of which the true pp. origin of the
suffix can be clearly traced. E. daw-n is M. E. ditw-n-en, to
become day, formed with inserted -h- from daw-en, 1
'.«..]
VEHSAL SVFFTXES.
277
p::
to !
ttne
day, A. S. dag-ian; from d<Eg (stem dag-a). day. K.
drow-n is A. S. drunr-n-inn. whence M. E. drunc-n-im, drtmk~
n-en, and (by loss of k) drou-n-tn, droui-n-e, drow-n. The
A. S. drune-ii-ian is 'to become drunken,' to be drenched,
from A, S, drunc-tn, pp. of drinc-an, to drink. ¥^./aw-n is
A. S./itg-n-ian', lo rejoice, be pleased, from the aA]. /ag-n,
E. /ai'-rt, i. e. pleased ; cf. Icel. ftg-imt, fain, with the suffix
-init characteristic of a pp. of a strong verb. E, har-n, A. S.
leor-n-ian, to learn, i. e. to be taught, lo experience, answers
lo a Golh. form 'Uz-n-aa formed from 'lis-an-s, pp. of the
defective verb appearing in the Golh. pL t. /a/>, I have ex-
^perienced. E. cw-n, to possess, A. S. dg-n-iatt, to possess ;
formed from dg-en, adj., one's own, orig. pp. of the strong
verb ig-an, lo possess, which produced the verb imie, in the
same sense, as used by Shakespeare, Temp. i. 2. 407, &c,
Perhaps mour-n also belongs here ; see my Etym. Diet.
§ Sei, -k. This suffix, of obscure origin, appears to give
a verb a frequentative force. The clearest example occurs in
Aar-i, hear-k-tn, A. S. htor-c-n-ian, her-c-n-ian, evidently allied
ioAyr-an {=*A/ar-ian, *A/az-tan), Golh. haui-jan, to hear. E.
■it, of Scand. origin ; cf. Dan. lur-e, to listen, lie in wait,
'G. tauer-n. E. sml-k, skul-k, of Scand. origin ; Dan. sku!-k-e,
to sculk; cf. Icel. skaU-a, lo sculk away. E. smi'r-k, A. S.
tmer-c-ian, to smile; the shorier form appears in M. H.G.
tehmier-en, also schmid-m, to smile, cognate with E. smiU, of
'rScaiul. origin. E. slai-k^ A. S. sleal-c-ian ', allied to E. slal-k,
»n A. S, steal-e, adj., lofty, and to A. S. slal, prov. E. stele, a
E. wal-k, A. S. wtat-c-ian, orig. to roll about, go from
"Wde to side ; allied to Aryan -J WAI., to roll, as in Russ.
val-iatt, to roll, Skt. val, to move to and fro ; cf Pick, iii. 298 '.
' It U euicr 10 eiplnin the vowel-sonnd rrom Icel. fagva, instead of
from A. S. fagnian ; so this verb may lie Stamiinavian, though the adj,
f»in i. =ci so.
■ In the compound bt-sleaUian, in Sweet's A.S. Primer, vi. 37.
' E. talk is often rcfentd lo here, and compared wilt E. tell. Bui 1
lonbE the connection ; ace Talk in my Etym, Diet, and in the Supp. lo
c ind edition.
278
VERBAL SUFFTXES.
[Ckaf. ]
§ 202. -le {-!), -er. These are equivalent suffixes,
letters / and r being interchangeable. They are used to ex-
prcas iteration, and so to form frequentative verbs. They
are especially noticeable in words of imitative origin, such as
bahb-k, rumb-k, warb-k, eack-k, craci-k, gagg-k, gigg-U,
gugg-k, chuckle, jing-k, jang-k, tmk-k, ruit-k, uifusl-It,
rali-k, prali-k, lall-k; %v\A jabb-er, gibb-<r, thuU-er, dall-er,
palt-er, lill-er, fwill-er, mvil-er, whtsp-er. Similarly dragg-Jt,
to keep on dragging, is the frequentative of drag ; dazz-k,
oidaze; drihb-k.oi drip; hobb-U,oi hop; A«r/-/r, to clash, of
hurl (F. hairl-er, O.F, hurl-tr, to push) ; just-k, jost-lt, of
joust ; jogg-k, of jog ; nibb-k, of nip ; snuff-k, of muff; Iramp-k,
of tramp ; wadd-k, of waiJe ; wagg-le, of wag ; wresl-k, of
wrtst. Similarly, we have draw-l, from draw ; mav-l, from
mew ; wau-l (as in ealer-waul) from M. E. wirw-en, to cry
like a cat '. So also glimm-er may be considered as a fre-
quentative oi gkam ; fiult-er, A. S.flol-er-iati, to fluctuate, of
A. S. flat-ian, to float ; glitl-er, is from the base glit-, seen in
Goth, glil-mun-jan, to shine ; well-er, formerly wail-^, to
wallow, roll about, from A. S. wealt-an, to turn about. But
in many cases the frequentative sense is not apparent,
and the verb is someiimes intransitive, or expresses con-
tinuance, or else is causal ; as in crumb-k, to reduce to
crumbs, from crumb, sb. ; curd-k, from curd, sb. ; spari-k,
from spark, sb. Cf. ktiee-l, from knee. Or the suffix merely
extends the word witjiout making much difference, as in
tumb-k, with the same sense as A, S, lumb-ian, to turn beds
over head, to dance violently ; dwin-d-k, formed (with ex-
crescent d) from A. S. dwin-an^ to pine away. Verbs with
the suffix -k and -er are numerous, and it is needless to con-
sider them further. We must remember, however, not to
' The -tr ID €al-er-waM-t ii due to the Soad. form ; cf. loei. kttt-r,
> cat, gcD. kair-ar ; whence the compaimds iaJtar-aaga, cal's ejit,
forget -mc-not ; kallar-stimn, a cat-skin. Similarly the M. E. miglUtr-
- ttUt (ClUDcer) corrcipoDdi to IceL ndllartal.
VERBAL SUFFIX -SE.
279
I
confuse ihe verbal suffixes with subslanlival ones; thus ihe
verb logird-U is merely due to ihe sh.gird'le. from gird; so
ihat gird-le is no/ a frequentative of the verb to gird. Simi-
larly, the verb lofetl-tr is merely due to (he sb. felt-tr. A, S.
ftl-or, allied to Lat, pcd-ica. And it may be taken as a
general rule that, before any sound etymology of a pair of
related substantives and verbs can be attempted, we must
ascertain, historically, whether it is the sb. that is derived from
the verb, or conversely the verb from the sb.
§ 368. -Be. This suffix is remarkably clear in the verb
elean-st, A. S. din-s-ian, to make clean, from the adj. iUan,
A. S. clan-f. Also in E. rinse, borrowed from F. rin-se-r,
which is borrowed, in its turn, from Scandinavian ; cf. Icel.
hrein-sa, to cleanse, from hrein, clean; Dan. ren-sr, from
refn ; Swed. rtn-sa, from rm. It also occurs in clasp, grasp,
put, respectively, for daps, graps; we actually find M.E.
dap-s-en {Chaucer, C. T. 375), and grapstn in Hoccleve,
de Reg. Prin. p. 8, Dr. Morris instances lisp ; but nothing
is known of (liis verb beyond the fact that it is derived from
an adjective signifying ■ imperfect of uilerancc,' which is spelt
indifieiently wlips and wlisp. We find : 'balbus, uallsp,' and
* balbutus, slom-vjiisp ' in the Corpus Glossary (O. E. Texts,
p. 45); and 'balbus, wlips' in Wright's Glossaries, ed.
■Willclcer, col, 193.
As to the origin of this suffix, we find that the A. S. sian
answers to Goth, -ison or •izoti, as seen in walw-ison, to
wallow, hal-izoii, 10 feel hale, to be angry. Hal-iz-mt is ob-
viously formed from hal-is, hate (stem hals's-a) ; and -on
answers to A. S. 'ian, a causal suffix which is to be compared
with the Skt, -aya, as in boilh-aya, to cause to know, inform,
from Inid/t, to understand. Hence the E. se corresponds to
a compound suffix arising from these suffixes used in com-
bination, Cf. § ^30 (a), p. 25a.
CHAPTER XV.
Derivation from Roots.
§ 264. The root of a given word in any Aryan Iang:tiage
may be defined as the original monosyllabic element which
remains after the word has been stripped of everything of
the nature of prefixes and formative suffixes. For a general
discussion of roots, I beg leave to refer the reader to
Whitney's Language and the Study of Language, 2nd ed.,
1868, pp. 254-276. Whitney takes the case of the word
irrevocable^ and shews that ir- { = mj not), and re-, again,
are prefixes, whilst -adie {L^X.-a-bi'li-s) is made up of forma-
tive suffixes ; so that the root of the word, in its Latin
form, is voc- or uoc^ ^ It is found that all words of Aryan
origin which admit of a complete analysis can be reduced
to ultimate monosyllabic elements of this character, and a
comparison of different languages enables us to determine,
at any rale approximately, the Aryan form of the root. All
such roots are either of a verbal or a pronominal character.
§ 266. The following passage from Whitney is of special
importance : — * Elements like vocy each composing a single
syllable, and containing no traceable sign of a formative
element, resisting all our attempts at reduction to a simpler
form, are what we arrive at as the final results of our
analysis of the Indo-European vocabulary; every word, of
^ Latin words are better spelt with u than Vy because this reminds the
student that the pronunciation of the consonant was not like that of the
E. V, but rather like the E. w. The Aryan root is weq (Gk. few).
' < >«■]
ARYA^• soars.
aSi
I
which this is made up — save those whose history is obscure,
and cannot be read far back toward its beginning — ia
found to contain a monosyllabic root as its central signi-
ficant portion, along with certain other accessory portions,
syllables or remnants of syllables, whose office it is to define
and direct the radical idea. The roots are never found in
practical use in their naked form ; they are (or, as lias been
repeatedly explained, have once been) always clothed with
sufGxes, or with suffixes and prefixes; yet they are no mere
abstractions, dissected out by the grammarian's knife from
the midst of organisms of which they were ultimate and
integral portions; they are rather the nuclei of gradual
accretions, parts about which other parts gathered to com-
pose orderly and membered wholes ; germs, we may call
them, out of which has developed the intricate structure of
later speech. And the recognition of them is an acknow-
ledgment that Indo-European language, with all its fulness
and inflective suppleness, is descended from an original
monosyllabic tongue ; ihat our ancestors talked with one
another in single syllables, indicative of the ideas of prime
importance, but wanting all designation of their relations ;
and that out of these, by processes not differing in nature
from those which are still in operation in our own tongue,
was elaborated the marvellous and varied structure of all the
Indo-European dialects.'
% 266. Analysis further teaches us that many prefixes and
suffixes were likewise once independent words, or made up
of several such words compounded together; and wc cannot
resist the conclusion that the same must be true of all such
affixes. Hence we conclude that all affixes arose from roots
similar to the primary ones, though they are often so worn
down that neither their original foims nor senses can be
discovered. The Aryan polysyllabic word was simply com-
pounded of various roots strung together. The oldest and
commonest of these sank first to the condition of ' obsolete '
z9i
ARYAN ROOTS.
[Cma. XT.
r value ia i
roots, and secondly to the condition of mere GulSxes ; whilst
others retained sufficient form and sense to remain distincti)'
recognisable, and are still regarded as ' efficient' n
sessing a special interest from the fact that their value 18
known. The words ' efficient ' and ' obsolete ' !
used merely for convenience. By ' efficient ' I mean i
as are still used in the root-syllable; and by '
such as are now only used as an affix or as forming part
of an affix. The form and sense of ' efficient ' roots can be
determined by analysis; those of the 'obsolete' roots ate
quite uncertain.
§ 267. A Ust of known Aryan roots is given in rojr
Etymological Dictionary, with numerous examples; and in
my Concise Dictionary, without examples. This list in-
cludes nearly all that are of importance to the student of
English, Latin, and Greek. A few of the most useful of
these may be here mentioned. (It must, however, be firel
explained that the roots, as cited in my Dictionary from
Vanicek and Fick, are there given in the Sanskrit form,
which is no longer, as formerly, supposed lo be aluityt the
oldest. Thus the root signifying 'eat' is there given as
AD, but should rather be ED. The Sanskrit form, indeed,
is ad, but it is not the general form ; on the contrary, we
find Gk. M-fo-, Lat. ed-ere, A. S. c/-an, to eat, and the
Lithuan. ed-mi, I eat. The vowels E and O can no longer
be regarded, aa formerly, as being imoriginal, I therefore
now substitute E and O, where requisite, for the vowel given
as A in my former list of Roots.)
The following roots, then, are common. AG conveyed
the idea of driving ; AN, breathing or blowing ; A R, plough-
ing; ED, eating; ES, breathing (hence, being); EI. going or
moving; EUS, burning; KAP, seizing or holding; QER.
making; KEL, covering; QI (rather than KI)', lying down ;
e tboM glvea tn zaj
|i6S.]
UST OF FIFTY ROOTS.
383
111 ^^
LI, leaning against; KLEU, hea.ring ; GwEM (ralhcr than
GA), going; GEN (rather than CAN), producing; GER,
grinding; GEUS (rather than GUS), tasting, choosing;
GHER, glowing, shining; GHEU (rather than GHU),
pouring; TEN, stretching ; TEU, swelhng', growing strong ;
D6, giving; DEK. taking; DEIK (rather than DIK),
pointing out ; DHfi, putting, placing ; DHEIGH, smearing,
loulding with ihe fingers ; DHU, shaking ; PA, feeding ;
'ET, fi)-ing ; FED, walking ; PLEU, flowing, floating ;
ipeaking; BHER, carrying ; BHEU, growing ; Mfi,
leasuring ; MEK, dying ' ; MU, muttering ; YEUG,
lining; REUP, breaking, spoiling; WEQ (rather than
'AK). calling; WES, dwelling, slaying; WEID (rather
WID), observing, knowing; SED, sitting; SAR or
SAL, hurrying, springing; SERP, gliding; SEK, cutting;
SKID, cleaving ; ST A, standing ; ST ER, spreading ; SREU,
or STREU, flowing. The number of words that can be
fonned from these fifty roots is very large.
§ aes. I shall now take the case of a common English
word, and shew how the form of its root may be discovered.
In doing this, we shall often have to take into account
Grimm's and Vemer's Laws, and to use the hints concem-
ig gradation, vowel -mutation and affixes, which have been
preceding chapters. The word selected shall be the
■b to listen. We must begin by tracing it in Middle
Inglish and Anglo-Saxon. The Middle English has the
forms lusin-en. Ihln-en, and the shorter forms lust-en, lhl-(n,
in all of which the final -en is merely the infinitival suffix.
In the forms lust-n-m, lisl-n-tn, the -n- is plainly an in-
sertion or addition, and has already been discussed above
(i a6o). We thus get a base lust- or list-. The variation
of the vowel is due lo the diiliculty of representing the A. S.
(wliich had the sound of G. it). Hence the A. S. base
may be expected to be lysl-. There is, however, i
word ; the fact being that ihere has been a loss of a prefixed
h ; ihis we at once perceive by comparing the A. S. htysl-an,
to lisl, hslen, hearken to ; a weak verb formed from ihe sb.
klyst, expressive of the sense of hearing, Bui -si is a sub-
stantival suffix ; see § 234 ; so that we may divide the word
as hly-sf. Moreover, y is an unoriginal vowel, due to 1-
tnutation of u ; so that hly-sl presupposes a form *hlu-ii-i
(5 185). We now resort to comparison with other languages,
and we find Icel hlu-si-a, to listen, from hlust, the ear ; and
the shorter form (without j/) in the Goth, klt'u-ma, bearing,
where -ma is a mere suffix; see § 214. The Gothic form
of llie base is ////«-, answering to Teut, hlkc ; which again,
by Grimm's Law, answers to an Aryan KLEU, denoting
the idea of 'hearing.' This root is clearly vouched foJ
by the Skt. fru (with f for k, and r for /), 10 hear; Gk.
cXu-civ, 0. Lai. clu-crt, to hear; Welsh dust, hearing, |
We have thus traced the E. listen, by known procet
the Aryan root KLEU or KLU.
§ 26B, It is interesting to enquire what other £a|
words can be derived from this root. It is evident that J
derivative is ihe Gk. nAu-nSt, renowned, cognate with |
fru-ta, heard (§ 153 f). The idea of 'renowned'
from that of being much ticard of, or loudly spoken all
By Verner's Law, the Gk. nXu-rrft, accented on the I
syllable, answers ' to A. S. A//i-rf (not A/tf-^), i
(§139); and this A. S. word became M. E. /urf or /cwrf (pro-
nounced With 0u as in soup), and finally mod. E. /ouif, by the
common change of A. S. fi to mod. E. ou (5 46). Hence wc
see that E. iaud is another derivaiive from the above ro<a.
We may certainly also refer hiiher, not only ihc Goth. A/itr-
ma, hearing (as above), but the Swed. dialectal words Iju-mn,
a noise, Iju-mma, to resound, hm-ra, to resound (frcqucnlatiife);
' Except in the length of the 1
camnioD) may pcibap* Lc due to a
JI70-1
THE ROOT KLEU OR KLU.
285
see Rjetz.p. 410. This S wed dial. /mn-rii is evidently the E.
lum-b-er, in the sense of making a noise, as in ' The lumbering
of the wheels' inCowper's John Gilpin, st. 6 from the end; see
Lumber (a) in my Dictionary, Moreover, the O. Lat. clu-fre,
to hear, had (he pres. pt. clu-ens, later form cli-em, one who
hears, one who obeys, a dependant ; and from the ace.
eU-ml-em came the F. cli-mt and E. cU-enI, which is thus
seen to be nol a .native word, but borrowed from Latin
through the French. Similarly, E, glory is borrowed from
the O. F. glorie, Lai. glo-ria, which is certainly a weakened
form of an older 'do-ria, allied to Gk, icXi-or (for '«Xff-ot),
glory, from the same root KLEU ; cf. Gk. tkv-r&t, renowned
(above) '. A still more extraordinary result is that the very
same root has yielded tlic mod. E. slave, derived, through
the F. tsclavt and G. sklavt, M. H. G. slave, from the O.
Russ. Sl<m/ne, the Slavonians; for the orig. sense of ilave
was a captive Slave, or one of the Slavonic race. The
literal sense of Slovfnt was 'the intelligible' people; for,
like other races, they regarded their neighbours as ' dumb,'
or speaking unintelhgibly ; so that Slovene is a derivative
from the Old Slavonic slo-vo, a word; allied to Old Slav.
flu-li. to be named, to be illustrious. This verb slu-li, like
the Russ. slush-ale, lo hear, is from the same root KLEU
as before. The peculiarity by which the initial k has been
changed into s is found not only in Slavonic, but in the
Skt, fra, to hear ; where the a)inbol f denotes a sound that
is pronounced nearJy as s, though etymo logically derived
from an original k. In precisely the same way, the Lat.
cenl-um. Welsh cant (our hund- in hund-red) answers to Skt,
fata, Pers. sad, and Russ. slo.
{ 270. Summing up the results of the §§ z68, 369, we find
that the Aryan root KLEU, to hear, is the root of the mod. E.
' 'Gloria vienl d'un ancien snbslaulif Dculie 'itovos, '[leus.*ilBi =
lOJti Iponr 'ii\ifos), &c. Cf. le lapport de gradlii et de fracats ' ;
286
ARYAN ROOTS.
tCur. 3
native words listen, hud, and lumber (to make a noise),
with their derivatives, such as Ustm-er, Uslm-ing, Imtd-iy,
loud-tiess, tumber-ing ; as well as of the borrowed words clienl,
glory, slave, with their derivatives, such as clieni-iAtp,
glori'ous, glori-ous-ly, glori-ous-mss, in-g/on'-ous, in-glori-
ous-ly, in-glor-ious-ness, vain-ghry, slav-ith, siav-ish4y,
ilav-ish-ntss. We thus obtain two important results. The
first is, that the Aryan roots can be exceedingly fertile, since
from the single root KLEU we have obtained more than a
score of modern English words.wilhout counting the numerous
derivatives in other languages, such as JiXtJ-tiv, Kko-r&t, dU-af
in Greek, cli-ens, in-cli-tm, glo-ria in Latin, &c. The
other result, not less important, is that an analysis thus regu-
larly conducted enables us to associate words which at 6ret
sight are so utterly dissimilar as loud, litlen, glory, client, and
slave, in which the sole letter of the root that still remains
common to all is L. A moment's reflection will shew bow
utterly unlike modern scientific elj-mology is to the old
system of guesswork, the efifect of which was, on the one
hand, to associate words which were in fact wholly uncon-
necied, whilst, on the other, it wholly failed to perceive
innumerable real connections.
§ 271. By way of further illustration, 1 will consider the
interesting root GHEU, to pour, whicli also appears in the
fuller forms GHEUD and GHEUS. This root appears
in Gk. x'-» (for x'f-"*-)- f^ut. x^""' P^^f- P*ss. Ki'-xv-iua, lo
pour, xii-;iot, x^\ot, juice. From these sbs. the words eJiynu
and cAyle have been imported into mod. English. The same
root is most likely the source of al-the-my, of which Dr.
Murray says, in the New E. Diet., that it is • adopted fmta
the O. Fr, alguimie, algurmie, alkimie, an adaptation of Mid.
Latin alchimia (Prov. alkimia. Span, alquimia, Ital. aUhim^^
adopted from the Arab, al-ktrnw, i. e. a!, the, iimia, appor-
enily adopted from the Gk. xni^ia, yjfwi'a, found (circa 300) i
the Decree of Diocletian against " the old writings ( "
s art.]
THE ROOT GITEU.
a87
Egyptians, which treat of the x^i^a (transmutation) of gold and
silver" ; hence the word is explained by most as " Egyptian
art," and identified with xif '"i Gk, form (in Plutarch) of the
native name of Egypt (land of Khem or Khan^, hieroglj'phic
Khmi, " black earth," in contrast to the desert sand). If so,
it was afterwards etymologic ally confused with the like-
sounding Gk. x"'/"'". pouting, infusion, from x^-, perfect
stem of x'-"". to pour (cf. x*^!^! juice, sap), which seemed
to explain its meaning; hence the Renascence spelling
alchymia and (hymislry. Mahn (Etymol. Untersuchungen, 69)
however concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gk.
xvptla 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 xif"'". Xl*"'". ^s in Diocletian's decree. From
the Alexandrians the art and name were adopled 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 ihe words akhemisl, akhymisl, chenu'sl, and ckymisl.
In Latin we have the extended root GHEUD in the verb
fuiidfre, to pour, pt. l./ud-i, pp.yu-iuni (for *fud-mTn) ; hence
numerous borrowed E. words, such as/use, con-fuse, dif-/use,
tf/usc, in-/u». refuse, fus-ion. s-if-fu^-ion, trans-fust (from
the supine); can-found, refund (from the infinitive) ; _/«/-i*/r,
con-fuff, rtfutf (cf, the O. Lat. pp.fii-tus ^ *fud-tus as well
szfu-stts); &]so fusil, in the sense of easily molten ; yb/jon,
plenty, O. F. foison, abundance, from Lat. ace. fusionem,
pouring out, profusion. See Concise Etym. Diet. p. 166,
' I hai-e little 'lonlit that Mahn is right. Medieval elymologisti
delighted in sturtling and far-fetched asBocintione, wbich had all Ibe hit
of proroimd learning. The derivation from Gk. wfts too simple 10 please
Ibem i but tbe assoctatioD of the word with Egypt was jntt what tbey
288 ARYAN ROOTS.
col. 3. The haX./undere also appears as F. /oruirt. wh<
'E./oiind, in i!ie sense ' to cast meials,' and the derived s
font, fount, an assortment of lyjies, as well x&found-Ty.
Lat. root GHEUD answers to Teut. GEUT, appearing 1
Goth, gitil-an, A. S, g/ol-an, to pour, a verb of the t
conjugation, with the 3rd stem gul- and the 4lh stem i
A derivative of the 3rd stem is fu/, and of tlie 4lh s
in-gel, as already shewn (§ 177). The root GHEUS occins
in the Icel. gj6s-a. to pour, having for its and stem gaus, its
3rd stem gus-, and its 4th ^01-. From ihe and stem is
formed, by the usual t-mutaiion of Icel. an to cy. the wealt
verb gfys-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, 10 gush, borrowed by us in the form guth. It de-
serves to be added that the A. S. gM-an, 10 pour, became
M. 'E.jiel-tn, to pour, to fuse metals ; whence tlie &h.yd-frt.
a fuser of metals, used by Wyclif in Jerem. vi. 19, where the
A. V. \ta& founder (actually from the same root), ' From this
yioxA. ytlcr was formed the compound belU-ytler, i.e. Itell-
founder, a word duly recorded in the Promplorium Parvu-
lonim, written a.d. 1440. and edited by Mr. Way for the
Caroden Society. At p. 538 of this edition, Mr. Way has
duly noted that the term belU-yeltr still survives in BiUittr
Lane, London, as being the locality where foundries were
anciently established. In this case the ye has become 1, and
we note, as a final result, that nothing is now left but this
short vowe! i of the root GHEU from which we started '.' If
we now collect all the result, we see that the root GHEU
has given us, through the Greek, the words chyme, c^te, and
probably alchemy, chemist or chymisi, chemUtry, and ehemital;
tlial the root GHEUD has given us, through tlie Latin and
' On the Sindy of Anglo-SBion, by W. W. Skc«t; id MacraiUsn's
M>gBiinc, Feb. 1879, p. 308, Slowe derives Biililer bora a Mr. BtU-
utar, who oDcc leaded there, ll comes lo the same ttung, u he wbi
BUDcd from his uade 1 uiar— )ilar, (onndei.
THE ROOT SEK. 389
\ French, yiijf with its derivatives; also/iani/ wiih its deriva-
tives ; confound, refund, futile, confute, rffute, fusil, foison ;
that the Teut. root GEUT has given us E. gut and ingot.
aDd <
. Ihe
Billittr Lane; and that the
I
GHEUS has given us the Stand, words gush and geysir.
As before, we should parlicularly notice the extraordinary
variation in form in the case of such words as chynu.
/use, and gul, though the student who knows Grimm's
Law can at once see that ihey begin with equivalent
letters. Cf. § 105, p. 1*3.
$ 27a. The above examples must suffice to exemplify
the manner in which words can be traced back to roots, or
derived from Ihcm. I shall conclude this chapter with some
remarks on the prohfic root SEK, to cut, as well as upon
several other roots which seem to have a similar meaning,
viz. llie roots SKAD, SKJD, SKAP, SKER, SKARP,
SKALP, SKUR, and SKRU. The root SEK, to cut, is
well seen in the Lai. sec-are, to cut, sec-uris, an axe, sec-ula,
a sickle, seg-menlum (for 'sec-mentum), 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 Ladn origin, and
containing tliis root, have been imported into English : sec-ant,
to-tec-ant, sec-tor, stg-vunt, M-sect, dis-sicl, intersect, trisect-,
and, through the medium of French, insect, sci-on {a cutting,
dip of a piani), sect-ion. The word sickle, though found in
IA. S. as sic-ol, is merely borrowed from the Lat. sec-ula ; see
Condse Elym. Diet., p. 411. The word serrated (from LaL
terra) may also belong here. Some explain sax-um[ = ' sac-
am) as a sharp stone (cf. A. S. seax, a knife) ; if so, we may
■idd ibc 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.
Ug-ansa, M.H. G. seg-ense, now contracted lo G, Sense, a
..SCjlhe; as well as the following (which are of especial interest),
VOt. I. V
AEYAX ROOTS.
; A. S. siSe, older form sig-3e ', a li
viz. A. S. sag-u,
now absurdly s]
hence sword-grass, E. sedge.
S 273. The root SKAD. lo cut, cleave, scatter (Teut. SKAT)
appears in Skt. skfiad (for 'skad), to cut, Gk. <r«cSC»i» ( = 'o-jtdB-
yttv), to slit, cut open, or lance a vein ; ax'^l, a slice,
hence a tablet, whence was borrowed Lat. sched-a, with ils
dimin. scktd-ula, O. F. schedule, cedule, E. schedule ; also Lat.
scand-ula (with inserted w), a thin piece of wood, afterwards
weakened to scindula, and borrowed by E. in the corrupt
form shingle, meaning a wooden tile. The Teul. SKAT
appears in the E. frequentative verb seall-cr. to disperse, with
its variant shaU-er.
5 274. The root SKID, to cut, divide, occurs in the Gk.
axiiftr {=''iTxiiytiv), Lat. sa'nd-ere; whence (from Greek)
the borrowed words schism, schist, zesl (F. zesi, z/sfe = Lai.
schis/us), squill (Gk. axXKa, Lat. scilla, squiUa, F. squilie) ;
and (from Latin) ab-scind, rescind, ab-scissa. In close con-
nection witli these we have the native E. words shed, Mde,
sheath, sheaihe, 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 10 an Aryan SKIT, which majr
be regarded as a variant of SKID (see Klugc). Fithcr
from SKID or SKIDH we have Lat. cmd-ert, to cut, with loss
of initial s ' ; cas-ura, circum-cise, and (through the French)
de-cide, con-cise, in-cise, pre-cise, ex-cis-ion. and the suffix -tide
in homi-cide, parri-dde, &c. ; also chis-el and sciss-ors (for
cis-ors, M. E. a's-oures), the last word being misspelt owing lo
a false etymology from Lai. sdndere.
§ 276. The root SKAP, shortened in Greek to KAP or
I The farni si^t is vouched foi by the sllll ntUcr ^pelting sigii {•>
sigii). whicli is found io Ihe Epinal (Wees. ed. Sweet, p. 9, col. *9,
wheic the \jX. falcei (iiV) is gla&scd by uudubil. sigii, rifir, i.%, ■
wood-bill, scythe, oi sickle.
' Latin and Greek often drop on initial ! in snch compDumb u ji . .
■nd //. wherens Teutonic cominonly rclaT ~
|KOP, t
It
g filri
THE FOOTS SKBR AND SKARP. 291
J cut, appears in Gk. mnr-rfw, to cut, whence tlie
ords apo-copt, syn-copf, comma, and (through Latin)
tp-on. Also perhaps in A. S. s<(ap-any scap-an, E, shape,
which seems to keep the Aryan p, if such a result he pos-
sible. Also (with irregular weakening of p to Teut. b),
E. shm'e, shaf-t, scab, shabb-y. And lastly, perhaps (with
loss of j), E. ehnp^ chap (to split open), chip, and the
id. ekump.
§ 376. The root SKER, to cut, shear, clip, appears
In A. S. scer-an (pt. t, scar), E. shear, with the allied words
share, shore, shor-l, shir-l, shar-d, sher-d, score, and also
the Scand. words scar or scaur, skerr-y, skir-l. The phrase
sheer off is borrowed from Dutch ; ef. E. ' cut away.' Our
scari/y (F. scarifier) is from the Lat. scarificare ; but this
is only a loan-word from Gk. atap-i^o^t, I scarify, scratch-
also possible that tharacler (from Gk. x''p-a<"""'i to
1, scratch) may he from this root ; perhaps also cuir-ass.
F. cuiracf, Low Lat. coralia, from Lat. cor-iiim (for *skor-
cf. Lith. siur-i, hide, skin, leather) ; as well as scourge.
§ 277. The root SKER appears also as SKEL, to cleave,
with the common change of r to i. ; cf. Lith. sM-/i, to
cleave, Icel. skil-ja, lo divide. Hence the Anglo-French scale,
K. shell, the Scand. words scall, skull, skill, and the mod.
E. shale, borrowed from G. Sehale, a shell, husk, hence a
ihin stratum.
§ 378. The root SKARP also seems to have borne the
sense of to cut, or pierce. Hence we may perhaps derive
the Gk. anapn-iot, a scorpion, stinging insect, whence E.
seorp-icm (through French and Latin) ; also the A, S. scearp,
E. sharp. Scarp, eounler-scarp, and e-scarp-meni are F.
words of Teutonic origin. From the same root are E.
searf and Scand. skarf; also, with shifting of r, E. scrape,
and the Scand. scrap, a small portion, and scrip, a wallet.
The initial j is lost in Lat. carp-ere, to pluck, Lith.
■p-u, I shear (infin. h'rp-li); hence E. ex-eerp-t, and
392
ARYA/iT ROOTS.
[Ch.
9
(through ihe French) s-ear-ee. The root KARP (which ihus
results rrom the loss of i) appears as HAKF in Teutonic;
whence A. S. har/-esl, E, harvest, that which is cut or
cropped.
§ 379, The root SKARP also appears as SKALP,
change of r to l, as in Lat. scalp-ert, to cut, whence
borrowed Lat. word scalp-el; closely allied
sculp-crc, to carve, cut out, whence (through French) E.
trulp-lure '. Moreover, just as from the root SKEL, in
the sense to divide, to split, we have the words shtll and
skull, so from SKALP we have the words nallop and scalp.
The spelling scallop is due to the O. F. (scatope. a, F. adapt-
ation of Middle Du. icMpe, a shell. The E. sM/, a ihin
board, also belongs here.
§ 280. Another root with a Uke sense appears in the
form SKUR, as seen in Skt. ks/wr (for 's&ur), to cut, GL
aKvp-of, chippings of stone, fup-df, a razor ; here pcrbsps
belongs Lat. cur-lus {for 'skur-lus }). cut short, whence
E. curl. 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-plt ; also in Lat, icnt-la,
pi., broken pieces, whence scrul-ari, to search minutely (as
if amongst broken pieces), and E. scru-liny. The same root
SKRU, to cut, has given us the E. words shrou-d, orig. &
strip, shred of cloih, shrt-d, scree-4; and finally, the word
scro-ll, signifying 'small shred," a French diminutive from
the Middle Dutch spelling of iAred.
5 281. A review of the preceding sections (»7a-i8o) wiB
shew how prolific in derivatives has been ilie root SEK,
to cut, with the somewhat similar roots bearing a like ag.
n ill cation. Further information concerning such of the
words as are not fully explained here is given in my Etymo-
logical Dictionary. 1 hope that suDicient examples hav«
' The Gk. -ykii^iir, lo cat, is ge«raHy jappoitd lo be ct^ntle villi
Lai. imJt-ert. Hence E. hUn'SljfA-ii.
( 281.1 AR YAN 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,
a£fected 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 p)erceived, and by the
assistance of Grimm's Law (and of Vemer'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,
Vani^ek, 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 ; tfaey
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.
296
I
Eirictest 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 tliis, lliai wc ought to spell words derived
from Latin and Greek as nearly as possible like the Latin
and Greek words from which ihey 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 lease 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 kepi out of sight by Trench, except in
a very few instances ; and the French element is treated
very briefly and unsatisfactorily ; indeed, a care.'ul treatment
of it would have told the other way. Now, if we
are to spell modem 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 ibcy 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.
£ven Latin and Greek they know only by sigliti 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,
il must apply with far greater force to the words which
form the backbone of the language than to such as have
icrely been borrowed in order to augment its vocabulary.
21)6
MODER!^ ElfGUSH SPELLTfrC. [Cmw. 1
i^cal' I
ijucnily ^^y
§ 383. But the truth is, that no one can possibly
position to judge as to the exient lo which our spellin
to be conformed (if at all) to that of Greeli and La
this is what the supporters of the (so-called) etymolt^cal
spelling really mean- — until he has first msuie himself
quainied with the history of our spelling and of our Ian]
The plain question is simply this — how came wc to spell
we do, and how is it that the written symbol so frequently
gives a totally false impression of the true sound of die
spoken word? Until this question has been raore 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 tlie
wildest arguments concerning English spelling and
are constantly being used even by well-educated pei
whose ignorance of Early English pronunciation
modem English phonetics is so complete, iliat ihey
suspicion whatever of the amazing worthlessness of
ludicrous utterances. If a slight popular account, such
here offered, may tend to modify some of the coi
current errors, this chapter will sen'e a useful purpose.
cannot find that any writers have handled this
generally, eicepting Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sweet";
cellent as their books are, they are intended rallier for
more advanced student than for the beginner. For
reason, I here attempt to give a general idea of this
subject, though conscious that the details are so ni
' It ii milly B grofi misnamei to call thnl spelling ' clytn
which merely inii[«lc» ibc spelling of ■ dead luigunge. Every K
is (or thonld be) iwnre that the only true ' etymulogic>J ' ipcIUng it
which \i fhenttic. It U the sonnd of the spoken wold which h
accoDDiHl for ; and all lyiubolt which dJEguisc iliii sound «n h
worthless. If our old writen hod not used n phoaelic lynem, «
ha»e no Irne dal« lo go by.
' On Eaily English ProDQncialion, by A. J. Ellis; Triiboer and Co.
The History of HoglUh Sounds, by H, Sweet; Tritboer uid Co, A
Handbook of Phonetici, by H. Sweet : Oarcodoa Preu.
I»M
AKGLO-SAXOK ALPBASET.
1<fJ
I
.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 histof)', the notion of so-called • etymological ' spelling is
a purely moScm 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 besin
at the very beginning, and shortly consider the history of the
aymbols which have been used in English from time io lime.
The characters employed by the ancient Britons were those
of ihe Roman alphabet. There may have been more than
one school of writing, and some at least of the British scribes
lodified 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 preseni 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
sdopted, in the main, ihe same alphabet, which may be de-
flcribed as a Roman alphabet with certain Celtic and English
modifications. In ihe lime of Elizabeth, an Anglo-Saxon
sermon by .Elfric was printed by John Daye, in 1567, in types
imitating the characters used in Anglo-Saxon MSS.. and 1 here
give the modern Irish alphabet and the Anglo-Saxon alphabet
as usually represented by such printed types; they are near
enough to Ihe manuscript forms to give a .sufficient notion of
ihe manner in which the Roman alphabet was treated.
Irish printed alphabet. — 4 l)CbCY51l'-^"' "
Op.RSCll...Abc6er3hi.Linti9p.pr'^"--
I Anblo-Saxon ALPHABET.— 'A' BEDeFnDIKLcnN
HOP.RSTUXYZ {also) pDp^. abcbefshiklra
n O p . p ]■ [aho vsritlen f ) t u X y z {also) |i S p ac.
The only noticeable points in the Irish alphabet are : the
absence of k, q. w, x,y, and % ; the peculiar forms of the
tpitats, especially G and T\ and the peculiarforms of the small
398 MODER}^ ENGUSIf SPELUNG. [dunf
letters d, /, g, and especially r, s, and /. The Roman r fl
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
arc also three additional consonantal symbols, viz. p and D
(J> and %), both used to denote Ih ; and P (p), used 10 denote
ic". The letter Jj, 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 Ihorn, by association with the initial sound of
that word, and is still conveniently called the ■ tJiom-Ictlcr.'
The letter D (6), sometimes named eih, is merely ' a crossed D."
i.e. a modification of D made by adding a cross-stroke. The
MS5. use these s)mbols for the sounds of /li in Ihia and Ik in
Ihine indifferently, though it would have been a considerable
gain if ihcy had been used regularly. The symbol jE (ae)
was used in Anglo-Saxon to denote the peculiar sound of ii
as heard in llie mod. E. cat, appU. 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
nuiDcrous 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 modem editions
of A. S. MSS., the old modified forms of the Roman IcUers
are very sensibly replaced by the Roman letters themselves, as
represented by modem types ; we are thus enabled to print
Anglo-Saxon in the ordinary type, by merely adding to
' Nine odditionil aymboli in the Irish ulphulKt arc gained by placing
a dot over each of the chaiaclers for h, c, d,f, g, m, p, 1, /.
' I identity this letter, as every one else does, with the Runic Utier
called wtn, which also deouted 01. I furiber identify it, u Mine do,
irith the Gothic lellei for w. And I believe, as fieibApt no une ebe
does, that il is merely a form of the Greek T (capital v).
' In A,S. MSS. the accents ore freely omitted wherever the length of
(he Towd is obvioustoapcruinwell acquiin led with the language, wbidl
was the caie with those for whom the early Kribe* wrote. The later
>. insert them more IreqoCDtly, to prevent ambignity.
ANGLO-SAXON SOUNDS.
299
I
I
the alphabet ihe consonanlnl symbols )i and S'. Some
editors retain ihe A. S. p in place of lo, a practice altogether
to be condemned. It only makes the words harder to read,
and introduces innumerable misprints of p for )) at p, and of
f» for p or p, without any advantage whatever, German
editors replace w hy v, a practice which no Englishman
can well approve.
§ 285. The values of the A. S. symbols may be briefly
staled thus. The consonanls b, d, h, k^, I, m, n, p, I, 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, <-/, er, iir,Jl,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 (ior 'caf), scedn {for
tedn), producing the mod. E. cbajf, shont, instead of 'kaff,
's/Ume. a. Du. kaf, G. Ko^, chaff; Icel. skein, shone.
Smilarly, g was properly hard, but was also liable to be
followed by the same intrusive sound, likewise written c ; the
L -resulting gf, al first sounded nearly as gj> in the occasional
I bld'fashioned London usage of gyarden for garden, soon
passed intoj-; cf. A. S. gcard, Y.. yard; Icel. garSr, prov.
E. garth. In some words, as gfoc, 9,yoke, the^^ seems to have
been sounded as^y from Ihe very first. F is assumed by
Mr. Sweet (A. S, Reader, p. xxviii) to have been uniformly
sounded a&v'^. This may have been true (as it still is) of the
* We alio require the long vowels, vie a, f, I, S, li, y, A. Maiij
priatiog-preases pretend to be able to print ADg]o-Sa.xaii, because they
have iuch useless tjpes as the old-fashioned foimi of r, i, /, &c ; Imt
Ibej lauk such indispensable letters as y and A, aad print y and a
intteajd, as il it made no sort of difference I
' X is not common ; yet it is found occasianally in MSS. of very early
dMe. After iioo it is common enough in ceitain words. The sound is
■Iwaya hard, as now.
' At p. xiv uo ait told it wasy ticfoie haid i:ansonants, as in eft.
300
MODERM E\'GUSR SPBLUKG. [Ciuf . XV).
Wessex dialect coniinonly called Anglo-Saxon, but cannot
have been univetsally the case in Mercian and Anglian, i
numerous English words still have the sound of /I espcdtl
initially; yet there can be no doubt that the sound of \
was common tii all Old English, and that there was only
the one symbol / lo represent the sounds of both / and »
F between two vowtls was probably sounded as r), even in
Mercian ; cf. A. S. (and Mercian) ///"with E. life, and A. S. i
on life (lit. in Ufe) with E. a-live. The sound now dew
by qu was written cm. as in awfn, a queen. R dilTcred v
greatly from the mod. E. r in being fiilly trilled, not only
in such words as nearu. E. narrow ; from, E. from ; rihl,
E.r^A/, where it is still trilled, but in all other cases. In many
words, such as 6ertt, a barn, farm, an arm, the modem
English has utterly lost Ihe true trilled sound ; though,
strange !o say, there are thousands who imagine thai ihey
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
tlic sound of z, except in words like Strang, strong, fieit, fast ;
here again I suppose tliat this statement refers only to ibc
Wcssex dialect (in which it is s still), and not to the Mercian
and Anglian dialects, in which initial t was one of ihc com-
monest of sounds ; yet even m these it must often have passed
into the sound of 3 between two vowels and finally ; cf. A. S,
fr(osan with mod. E. freeze, and A. S. is with mod. E. is (as
it is invariably pronounced). On the other hand, the Mercian
(and A. S.) « is the mod. E. ice. and I find it difficult 10
believe iliat, in lliis word, the s was ever pronounced like ■
even in the Wessex dialect. 1 suppose that the sound of >
was common in all Old English, although there was, prac-
■ An EnglishmftQ aaiociAtes the wutiit of ham with tht wtiltcn
ippraruice of the word, Bnd cs-Us il ' pionauDcing ihe r ' when he pitf
oonnces llie wor<l like tbe Gcimrui Hahn. He shoald ask an luUu to
proDDunce the word, if he waots to heir the tlill.
ANGLO-SAXON SPELLING.
301
I
tically, but one B)^^! (i) to denote both j and a'. This is in
Bome measure the case atill ; for, though we find that ce (as
in twice) and c (as in city) are used 10 denote the true sound
of t, the symbol s is itseir still used with a double meaning
(aa in sin, rise). Unfonunalely, the admission of z into our
writing has been very grudgingly allowed ; so ihai whilst «
is one of the commonest of iounds, the eye sees the symbol
but seldom. Shakespeare was for once mistaken in calling
;« an ' unnecessary ' letter ; for it might have been used very
fieely in our spelling with very great advantage.
§ 288. The A. S. vowel-system was fairly complete, the
whole number of symbols being eighteen, viz. a, c', i, 0, u,y
(al first written ie), d, /, /, 4, H, y (at first written ie), a, ea, to,
rf, ia, /o. 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 A 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
Bounds ofy and v), the double use of s (for the sounds of s
l«iid j) ; and the ambiguous use of }>, S for the sounds of
th in thin and Ih in thine. Even these defects were much
lessened in practice by the position of the symbols in the
words. Briefly, wc may fairly call the A. S. sysicn\ a purely
pkonttic system, and may assign 10 most of the sj-mbols their
usual Latin values, so that the vowels a, e, i, o, u (all of
which were lengthened when accented) had [he same values
as in modern Italian ; whilst y had the sound of the G. a in
ttel, and ea, eo, /a, /o were diphthongs whose component
■ts were pronounced as written. The most characteristic Old
Tbe A. S. syiobol i is very rare, and was piobably loaoded at li; it
as Naiarclh, Zaiulaa, &.c
MODERI^ ENGLISH SPELUffG.
English sounds are those of the diphthongs just mentif
of a in cal, written a ; the gutiural h, as in riht, mod. E. right
(where the gullural is still preserved to the eye) ; the varying
ih, denoted uncertainly by f- and 5 ; and the familiar modern
E. v> '. One result of the A. S. phonetic spelling is, ihat 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 :
* etymological,' precisely because it is phonelic. When a
like tpiscnpus was borrowed from Latin, and popularly pi
nounced as biscop, it was spell as pronounced ; there was no
thought of turning it into ptscnp or ephcop merel)' to insinuate
that it was borrowed from Latin, and thai the scribe knew it
to be KO borrowed. There waa then no attempt on the pan
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. 1160-iaOO. As lime wore on, some of the
sounds slowly changed, but fortunately the spelling changed
with ihem in many important particulars, We may notice the
growing confusion, in the latest Anglo-Saxon, between the use
of the symbols » and y, so tliat the word him is often badly
spelt hym, whilst, on the other hand, we find cim'ng for ryaing,
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 L 2nd edition. The
alphabet is discussed at p. xix of the Introduction, and (he
phonology at pp. ixv-xxxi. As regards the alphabet, we
may notice (i) the increasing use of k, especially to denote
■ Thiti loand wis common in emly Latin, being written h. bs in uimtm,
wliFBce E. it'iHi. Hal the I^tin ii-canMinaDl bid nlreulf brcome v
before the earliest period of written Enelish, and hence ibe iitie of the
nine Tiifyt for the sound of -ai. Such Latin words as ma//, tfi'm, virl
may have been IcninC on the continent or &om the Biitona; the Vi
their antiqaity. See CbBpler XXI.
Jtit I
I.si.1
ANGLO-FRENCH SPELLTNG.
i°i
i
I
d sound of r before e and i, where there might other-
wise be some doubt as to the sound, because the French
scribes understood c before c and i to have the sound of j ;
(2) the use of the symbol j' to denote the sound o( y at the
L beginning of a word (as in 3f=jr) or of the guttural /i{orgi)
l.in the middle of a word (as in iiil^lighl); (3) the u?e of
mgh for the A. S. h when guttural ; and (4) the introduction
oruominlal symbol to denote ti, this « being distin-
Ignished from the vowel u chiefly by its occurrence between
r two vowels, the latter of which is commonly e. The converse
use of V for the vowel u (chiefly initially, as in vfi for up) is
also found, but was silly and needless'. By way of exam-
ples, we may note (i) the spellings krne, mod. E. keen, for
I A. S. c/nf, and kia for A. S. cyn \ (2) y, mod. 'E.-ye. for A. S.
j«, and //5I for A.S. liht; (3) lighl as an alternative for /I'j/,
for A. S. liht, as before; (4) cue, eutre, mod E. «-«, a-er, for
A- S. li/cn, a/re. We must also particularly notice that
the A. S. c and sc now become <:h and sc/i (new symbols),
especially before f and /; and that the symbol y begins to
be used for the consonant^', though it is also a vowel. The
A. S, hi, hn, hr, become merely /, n, r; fwr is replaced by
kw and ju, ihe latter being a French symbol which soon
prevailed over ^t* entirely ; kii) is written wA ; J> is preferred
to 8 initially ; and the initial gi- (prefix) becomes /-. Exam-
ines of these changes may be seen in chtrt, mod. E, churl,
for A. S. reorl, and child for A. S. did; schedcn, mod. E. sfud,
far A.S. ic/adan, and schinen, E. shine, for A.S. scinan ; yonge,
'S..young, for A. S. geong; laucrd, E. lord, for A. S. kla/ord;
nele, E, nul, for A. S. hnul ; renden, E. row/, for A. S. hrendan \
kwene, later ijucne, E. queen, for A. S. (-k//« ; zti^i', E. why, for
' This symbol is merely a peculiar form of g. very like the A . S. ^ .
A new (Fiencli) form of ^ was used for^ itself,
' The lymbol P (A.S. tc) dUappears about A.D. 118a; it occuraabonl
6ve times in llRvelok the Dane. It was replaced at first by uu, but
aftervafda by if i> French symbol) ai at present. This chBoge in no
led the pronunciation.
304
MODERff BffCZJSff SPELtlXG. iCKa.tft-
A,S. hw^; Jjak, E. though (wiih initial }j), wt3, E. wilH {with
final 5) ; i-ioren, E. iforn, for A.S. gebortn. 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 by « or a ; the disappearance, in the ihirteeolh
century, of ea and to, whether long or short ; and ihc sudden
disappearance of accentual marks, so that it is not always easy
to tell whether the vowel is long or short. We have also to
remember that we have now lo deal with three written directs.
This is also the period when French words began to be in-
troduced, with the same spelling and pronunciation as thai
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 aJteralion to adapt ihem 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, vit the
Ancren Kiwle 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 KiigUsb
language was practically rt-sptll according to tht Anglo-Frmth
method by scribes who were familiar with Anglo-Freuch.
This is clearly shewn by the use of qu for cw. as in qucnt
(queen) for A. S, cw/n ; of c with the sound of s before e and
I, as in certain, eite (city) ; of u and y as consonants, as in
euere (ever), ye (ye) ; of ay and ey for ai and ei occasionalljr,
as in day for dai, from A. S. diFg, they or /vji for Pti, from
Icel. Peir, they ; of the symbols v, if, and ch ; of ;' with the
sound ofy (as in ioie, joy), &c. These scribes also replaced the
'Anglo-Saxon" or Celtic forms q{ d,/,g.r, s, and thy letters
of a continental tjpe ; but they retained f (as a fonn of
s) together with s. One vowel-change is too lemarluilile Ifta
41880
THE rmRTERffTH CENTURY.
305
be passed over, vb. the disappearance of tiie A.S. a, i.e.
long a, owing to the change of sound from aa in baa to tltat
of oa in broad, nhich was denoted by changing the A. S.
Spelling brad into the new spellings braad^, brood. Conse-
quently, as Mr. Sweet remarks, the true it {long a) ■ occurs
■Oniy in French words, as in dame, lady, dame, blam-en, to
iilame ' ; which were oi" course pronounced with the French
I
^^v § 288. We are now in a position to give some account
^^V'Of the symbols in use at the end of the thirteenth century,
^^KOmitting the capital letters, which are suflicicntly familiar,
^^■the list of symbols is as follows :abcdefgli'i-k
^^pi m n o p qn r 8 {also Qtuvwxyz {very rare) ;
alio J> {='A)' and 5 {=y initially, gh medially and finally,
and sometimes z finally). The two last characters were
inherited from the older period ; the rest of the letters may
tbe considered as Anglo-French forms of the Roman letters,
■Dd the whole system of spelling had become French rather
iflian English. We shall not, however, have the complete
li&t of sound-symbols till we add the compound symbols
following, viz. ch (rarely written he) ng ph sob (also sh) th
wh. Of these, ch was pronouticed as now, i.e. as ch in
ehooit, and mostly represents an A. S. c (usually when fol-
lowed by c or (' or y), or else it represents an 0, F, ch as in
change; sch is the modern sh in shall; th was coming into
use as an alternative for J) ; and v)h replaced the A. S. hw.
There is no j, but the sjmbo! i represented both i and /
We must also consider the long vowels and diphthongs.
The former were at first not distinguished to the eye from
k^be short ones ; the latter were oi (or ay) au (or aw) ea
t last long, but
3o6
MODERN ENCLISH SPELLING. [Ckw. XVt
uble / I
ei (or ey) eo ie oa oi (or oy) ou oi, for the pronunciation
of which see Sweet, First Middle Eng, Primer, p. a. Some-
times we find eu (or ew). When the hard c is doubletl,
it is written kk ; a double ch is written ah ' ; a double /
is sometimes written sc (as in bUsceif), but the same syi
viz. sc, could be used for sk or even for sk.
§ 368. A. D. 1300-1400. Passing on to the fourt
century, the reader will find sufficient exampti
ing in Specimens of English, ed. Morris and Skcai, 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
EUesmere MS., written about a.d. 1400, The consonants
are much the same as in the thirteenth century. The
symbol }) remains in occasional use, but Ih 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 ta ', oa ', disappear.
Id' is rare, and the system of doubling the vowels, to indicate
length, begins to prevail, giving us aa, ee, 00 ; and sometinies
y for the long i. Eo is hardly ever used, except in fwpit,
more commonly /!■,#/? (people), or even pocpU. The reader
is particularly referred to the description of Chaucer's pro-
nimcialion by Mr. Ellis, reprinted (by his kind iieimission)
in llie Introduction to my edition of Chaucer's Man of Lawes
Tale, anded., 1879. p. x.
' Ad expressive symtml; fot ihe sound ii reilly tluil of & linal «r
imflesivi sound, followed by Ibe true ih or txflctivt (onnd: •* ia
fec-cktn, to fetch,
* In Monis's edition of the Prolo^e, the symboU d and j tre Intn^
doced with Ehcii modeni vaJnes ; the MS5. have only m for v (ftlao * te
' £a ii somelimcs wrilten in casi,/<lta.
ale commoner. Ia Ihe fiftecoth CCDturj' <
afletwitds revived.
* Oa qoite diuppeao^ but was revived ii
r, bnl (;
the aiiieeiiib caituy.
|»9i.T
THE FOURTEENTH CEmVRY,
307
I
9P0. The precedinf; account may suffice to give some
idea of ihe earlier modes of spelling ; but now that we have
reached the close of ihe fourteenth century, it is worth while
to esamine the sj'tnbols carefully, because we are fast
approaching the period when modem Enghsh spelling was
practically formed and fised. The spelling of the Man of
Lawes Tale does not essoilially 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 Ihe loss of the final c in the spoken word. Since the
year 1 400, the forms of the words to the eye have not greally
dianged, 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 10 changes in
grammar and vocabulary rather than to any sweeping changes
in tlie system of spelling then in vogue, I shall now give
a eompUte list of all the sj-mbols in use about a.d. 1400.
A specimen of the spelling of this period will be found in
the Appikdit. See also pp. 14, zg, 34. 37.
§ 261. The vowels are : a e i o ti (also written v,
initially) y (for <", especially when long) w (for u, rare)
as (rare) ee 00. Diphthongs; al, or ay au. or aw ea
(very rare) ei, or ey eo (rare) en, or ew ie 00 (very rare)
«>i, or oy on, 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 ti, for y) w X y (or )) a. Digraphs, &c. : oh gh.
or ) gn (in guerdon, i.e. giv) ng ph sch, sometimes sh
th, or fi wh. Doubled letters : bb cc dd fT gg kk (for
' EngIisl;mcQ are eo dependent upon the look of a word to ikt lye,
thiLt even a few comparatively alight changes in spelling fill llieiD with
atoatement. lloHever. we may ootice the symbols ea and oa in parti-
cular, ■* belonginE to Tndor- English, not to Chaucerian spelling.
' Ur. Ellii omits ue (as in due"} ; also hi, uy (as vaftttiS, fr»y().
' Also/, if followed by * or 1, is used to denote/ Indeed, when the
' uds a word, it always appears as gi.
308 MODERN ENGLISH SPELLING. [CMKl
ce or kt) rarely ok U nun nn pp tt bb (or fa) \
Bifonn digraphs, &c. : cch (for chth) ssh (for
simple sh) ])J) fth or even tth or thth. Iniiial combin-
aiions: bl br el (or U) or (or kr) dr dw fl to. (rare)
fir gl gn gr kn pi pr ps sc (or sk) si (also u-rittcn
scl) sm an sp squ at bw sor (or Bkr) scbr (or Bhr) spl
spr Btr tr tw thr (or ))r) thw wl (rare) wr. Final
conibinalLons ' : ot ds fs ft gn ght (or jt) lb Id If Ik
Im In Ip Is It Ith lue (=lv) mb mp nee nch nd
ngB ngth ok ns nt nth ps pt pth rb ro rce rob rd
rf rk rl rid rm m rnd rp rs rsch rst rt rth me
( = Tv) Bk ap Bt te xt. Also ge (for 7) ; gge (Cory)') ; nge
(for nj) ; rgh, in Ihurgh, through ; mpne, in solfmpne, solemn.
§ 292. The reader wiU at once recognise, in the above
list, a large number of familiar symbols which are siill 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 thai of ihe 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 ihe fifteenth century in the Midland
' These coiiibiiiBlioii& cIom: a word or syllable, m iul{c'\, att-itit.
Modem Engiisb has b>, in stats, and other combinatioiu nut axed ia
1400. I omit ill in Ab-iur, md Ihe like, where ihe lymboU bdoog M
different syllable*.
' The term ' Anglo-French ' is absolutely necessary ; il denotes tlw
later form of Ihc Normnn-Fiench introduced at (he CooijDest : f«t tht*
dialect, as adogited in England, had ■ different developracnl iima ^^^t
of the French of Nonnnndy. '
R*93-]
msToxr OF the final e.
.1°9
^alect, bul had already taken place in the Northern dialect
in the fourteeiilh. The result was not a little remarkiible,
and is of supreme importance in explaining the spelling
of modem English. 1 will therefore endeavour to explain
it carefully.
\ 993. Let us examine, for esample, the history of the
words bont, slotif. cone; the last of which is not of English,
bul of Greek origin. The A. S. for bone is ban (pronounced
baan), and for slone is slan (pronounced slaan, with aa as in
boa). But these forms were only used in the nominative
and accusative singular; the genitives singular were l/dn-fs,
sttht-ii, and the datives bdn-t', slait-i'; all four forms being
dissyllabic. The pi. nom. and ace. was sldn-as. In the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries the sound of a changed to
that of ce in braad, denoted (imperfectly) by oo, thus giving
tfae forms boon, sloon (pron. bawn, staion). The gen, and
sing, should have been written boones, sloones, boom,
; but it was felt that it was sufficient to write but one o,
lUBC the reader would unconsciously dwelt upon it, and
mentally divide the words as bo-tih, s/o-ti?s. bo-ni, slo-ni (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 o, 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 aec. boon, bon, stoon, s/on ; gen. bone's, slone's ' ;
dat. boni, stone; PI. nom. and ace. bonis, stones, forms which
were early extended to include the gen. and dat. pl. also.
The same forms continued in use in the fourteenth century,
but there was a tendency to drop the e in ihe dat. sing.
The dat sing., be it remembered, was then of considerable
importance, because It was almost invariably employed after
mat 01
lithe fo
K
j^^Pecaui
[ menta
V I
' TTic
ver Ihe e poinl out thai -.
be IbrgoHen, the whole of the o
' to moi. i'lKtroBD will CBsily rei
t distinct sytlablcs.
ruined. Any one
310
MODERN ENGUSH SPEUING. [CaAwl
\ such a
/,i.{b,-)./.r,/m
certain prepositions, s
to. Amongst these, the prep. ofya& in very frequenl use,
because it was used to translate the French de; whence
(in addition to slonn) a new form sprang up to translate tht
French de la pierre, viz. 0/ the stone; and this phrase was
possibly regarded even then, as it is always regrarded now,
as a form of the genitive case, though the form slone is,
grammatically, a dative. It is now easy to see whai
happened. The nominatives boon^ stoon, or fow, slon, yieK
confused with the datives iiOTie] slone, often pronounced b<m,
iioii , by the loss of final c, and the scribes frequently wrote
bone, stone even where the final e was dropped. This habil
was particularly common in the North of England and
Scotland, because the final e was there lost at a time when
it was still sounded in the Midland and Southern dialects;
and Northern scribes were peculiarly liable to add an idle
(and therefore an ignorant) final < in places where the same
letter was written in the South because it was really sounded '.
Or even if the Northern scribe spelt correctly, the Midland
or Southern scribe who wrote out a piece composed in the
Northern dialect would be sure to insert a large number
of final -e's quite wrongly, simply because he was used to
. them. Moreover, the spelhng of English yoZ/oKvc/ Fruuk
models, and the Old French abounded in words ending in t,
which was once always sounded, but afterwards became mute.
Examples are abundant ; it may sulfice to notice the spelling
ly/e for ly/ {aom.) in I, 432 of the Nonhern poem by Ham-
pole, called the Pricke of Conscience, written about a,d. 1340;
see p. 34, line 15. Hence arose, as a matter of course and
by mere accident, without any premeditation, the modem
English device of writing bune, stone, where the final e it>
associated with the notion that the preceding vowel is long ;
so that we now actually regard this < as u means /or in-
■ The best MS. of IlBrbour's Bnice, written out \tf a ScotchoMM Ht
I487, atiouuilB with examples of the muIi; linul •€.
ii94-]
HISTORY OF THE FINAL E.
'iieating Ike Icjtglh of the preceding vowel^ ! The clumsiness
of this device must have struck every one wlio has ever
thought of it. and it ceriainly would never have been con-
Bciously invented by any sane being. It is the greatest
stumbling- block in tlie way of reformed spelling. It is very
remaikable, loo, thai a very similar, but not exaclly equivalent,
result has come about in French, a language which abounds
with words ending in -e. The French final e was formerly
xlways pronounced, but is now silent. It was from French
that we bortoued the word cone {Hot which see Cotgrave's
F. Dictionary) ; and, finding that its spelling was ejcaclly in
accordance with our own system of spelling 6one and sloru,
we naturally adopted it as U was. The F. cone (now cSne)
represents an O. F. cm-i' (dissyllabic), where the final -c
represents the -um in the Lat, ace. con-um (nom. eon-m^QtY.
i(»*-m), just as the same Lat. suffix is represented by -o in the
Span, and Iial. eono. So also we write alotu, atone, tone,
tone, crone, drone, &c. ; and we even still write om, none,
g<mt (A. S. an, nan, gdn), because the vowels in those words
;were oaee long, and they all once rimed with lione.
§ 294. The loss of the final -e as an infiexion was
iversal, and look place not only in substantives, but in
adjectives and verbs also. Thus the A.S. infinitive rfd-an
became M.E. rid-en, or (by loss of -«) r/'rf-^, and is novi ride.
The A.S, kwSl (white) was also used in the definite* form
lU-a, whence the M. E. double form it'^/ and wkyt-H, the
Iter being preferred in the modern white. On the other
id, the A. S. infinitive tell-an became M.E. Uli-en, tell-e,
' If Ibe vowel is short, or if the length of llie vowel is otherwise
obvious, the t ususilly disappears in modem EnglUb, because its utter
Helennesi \% tben apparent. Me (ind, in !jhake£]>eare (l^'irst Folio) such
pellinet as eheert. sptake, bestin-e, tofpe, roonit. keepe, mam, cabint,
''l (Temp. Act 1, Se. i). We nlso find take, rare, fate, refe, &e., as
^^nan<
3ia
MODER}^ ENGUSIT SPEUJNG.
Cciu
but in the fifteenth century Itlle (with e mute) ; this mutsTV
is now dropped, being completeSy useless, but the double /
remains. The fate of the M. E. inflexional suQiic -en w-as
the same as that of the final -f, on account of the falling away
of the « in nearly all cases. There is a trace of it still ta^
few words, viz. ox-en, brttkr-en, chiMr-in. kitu (with t ^
10 denote long i) '.
§ 286. It is necessary to discuss somewhat further the
spelling of words borrowed from French. The word eotit,
mentioned above, was not borrowed at a very early lime.
But we find in Chaucer such words as age, ^Aance. chargt,
clause, cure, dame, grace, nice, ounce, place, lable, temple, 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 modem
Knglish ihat the sound of final y may not be denoted byy,
but must be written ge\ Similarly, ce is now the mosl
acceptable way of representing the sound of a final s ; so
much so, indeed that we have actually extended this Frendi
fashion to pure English words, and now write mice, tu'iet,
where the scribes of the fourteenth century wrote mys, twya
(dissyllabic) ; cf § 297. Verbs such as the F, grani-tr,
dress-er, were conformed to E. grammar, and became graml-
en,grant-e'.dresi-en,dress-'€\ \sx<ix grattie, dresM (monosyllabic);
and finally grant, dress, as now,
§ 298. The M. E. pi. sufiix -m (A. S. -as) is also deserving
of allenlion. In Chaucer it forms a separate sjllable, so that
fion-is, ston-¥s, were dissj-llabic ; at the same lime, the suffix
had become less emphatic and distinct, so ihai the original
A. S. suffix -as (originally pronounced with s) [jassed into
M. E. -ts (with dull t, and j as s). The forms bones, sttmn,
were retained, even after the words had become mono-
■ EoglUhmRi iat& it difliciilt to rcaliic that the old I.nngusge wu
highly infleiional ; yet it rcmiio* 10, proTincially, to this day, ns ia the
Shropshire phrase — ■ I dar' say jn' getlen more ihiui yo* dcMfven.'
i'97.]
'ETVMOLOCTCytr SPELUIfG.
313
I
syllables, because some method had to be employed for
pointing out the length of the vowels. So also we now
write earn, gamts, which are of English origin, and cures.
JIames, conts, which are French. So also cares, cures are
used in the third person singular of the verb. The plurals
ogts, chancts, 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
Ihe sound of z. We find the f-sound in mod. E. cake, pi.
cakes ; also in flock (M. E. flok), pi. flocks (M. E. flokkes),
where (he e has been purposely cut out, lest the word should
app^ to be dissyllabic. All the above examjjles are
characteristic of large classes of words. As to the suffix -cd,
little need be said ; it was long retained as a distinct syllable
in numerous cases where the e is now silenL
5 297. One consequence of the use of the e in sioms
to denote the long vowel was to disturb the spelling of many
k Middle-English words in which a short vowel was followed
^ bj a single consonant and c, such as mancre, malcre, hiler,
folrren, coper, goitre or gulere. The simplest expedient for
remedying this defect was to double the consonani, according
10 the analogy of mann-e's, genitive of man. Hence the
modem forms manner, mailer, bitter, toller, copper, guller.
Such doubling was less necessary when the vowel was not e ;
m that the old forms manage, malins '■ bigot, metal*, 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 iml^ /oily, jolly,
for M. E. /olye, iofy) was spelt lollerate by Sir Thomas More,
f^ir TTtomas Elyoi, and Udall (see the examples in Richard-
son's Dictionary); but when the mania for 'etymological'
spelling set in, in the middle of the sixteenth century, the
' The spelling mattitis U r comparatively modem innovation, by
confnnon with Ihe Ital. matlino. Hisioricolly, the word ii Fieuch ;
Cotgrave has : ' Maliits, Mntios, Morning Praier.'
~ ' Adnally also spell mellle, when used in a metaphorical luise.
MODERN ENGUSH SPELLING. [Ow. XVT.
spelling wa3 altered back again to lolcraU, lest readers should
be too dense to detect the connection of toiUrak with the-
Latin lolerare. 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 '. Whila I
aiu speaking of doubled letters, I may remark that modem
English has a ridiculous prejudice ag;ainst writing JJ and w ;
see the remarks on v at p. 317. note i. Jj has been
provided for by writing dge (I), which arose out of the final
M. E, sge (see end of § 291); but we have no way of
shewing tfiat lever does not rime to sei'er. 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, man'en is marry.
M. E. mtrji is now merry, though we retain M.E, very.
M. E, mirour is now mirror, and M.E. morwe is morrvu:
M. E. sorwe is larrmv ; and, by confusion with this word,
the A. S. sdr-ig is now sorry, though closely allied to the
adj. sdr, sore, and therefore an altered form of sor-y.
A final s is now doubli^d when it is desired to shew that it
is not sounded as t ; hence M. E. glof, ilii, dros arc now
glass, bliss, dross, and all words that once eniled in -Its and
-ms now end in -less and -ness. Another common device '
for shewing that s is not sounded a§ z. is to write cf, as in
mice, tiviee, Ac, already alluded to. So also /cu« (or M. E.
fees. In fact, English abounds with such ' phonetic ' devices ;
no one objects 10 them as long as they are allowed to remain
sporadic, irregular, and inconsislenl.
' This is wliat most people menn by ' etymological ' ipcllmg, »i«. to
bpeU n word in n Latin or Greek lasbioa where the ajaiaUigy it earj
enough, and needs qd pointing onl ; and to spell it as it lup|iciu l4> Ik
apell in Tudor-EJigliih where the etymology is hanl.
' Yet a third {\) method ii to write m, as in haru \iA. E. h*rs),
gauHtX. E. gms), <LniM (M. E. Jittui,. Bui tune is the Inie M. E. rem;
therefore the ^ in it tnetns s.
P '99.]
THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.
3Ij
§ 298. A. D. 1400-lBOO, The most weighty points
\ in the history of spelling in the firieenth century were the
total loss of the inflectional -c and the partial loss of -en,
the frequent reduction of the inflectional -ts to the simple
sound of s (or s), 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 book of the highest importance for our purpose,
viz, Caxton's translation of ' Le Recueil des Histoires de
Troye,' a sufficient entract from which is given in my
Specimens of English, Part III, pp. 89-95; or the reader
may turn to the sample of ii 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
•t in places where it was required by the grammar of
I the preceding century, though it was no longer sounded
' in the fifteenth. Examples are ; wenic, 3rd p. s. pt. t. ;
fynge, dat. ; aile, pi. ; come, gerund ; payt, infinitive j wfuk,
dat., &c. On the other hand, we find said, 3rd p. s. pt. t.
(not saidt) ; shold (not sholde) ; gold, dat. {noXgolde) ; and so
on. Further confusion appears in the use of final -e in
\ wholly impossible places, as in ranne (1. zg) for ran ; foute
(1. 33) for foul ; setie, pp. (1. 42) for stt, &c. This error is
found at a still earlier date in Northern writings. Final -f
is used to denote a long vowel, as in/ere, fear (1. 19), drede,
dread (1. 19), better spelt y^cr, dr€ed; also in ilame (1. 21),
a French spelling of a French woid. We still find -es as a
plural ending, as in Gretes, wordes, &c. ; and such a spelling
as Buruayllis (marvels, 43) shews that this suffix still lingered
IS a separate syllable ; indeed «'e even find ' wound-is wyde '
n Spenser, F. Q. i. 5. 17, though this form was then archaic.
J 298. Recurring to the symbols in § 391, we may re-
tnark the following principal v
Voaich. The use ofy for / has, at this date, become com-
mon, as in kyngf, sayd, counceyli, certayn, wylkout, ftc ;
many instances, mod. E. has relumed to the use of »'.
(for «) disappears. Aa^ te. oo remain; as in mood, prte.
oosl (host).
Diphihongs. We find zaid, sayd ; /rawde {iQ)'i demaundtd
(64) ; pfas (5, but ea is rare); cowxeill {t^\ parciyui (73);
j/«(y(i55, M.E. f/(W-0; /of^ (i28,M.E ii>i'-^');/oi//<' (33).
/mvie (85); yssut (73); cmduyte (17a). The symbol it is
rare, but is found even in Chaucer (C. T., Group B, 300)
in the -voiAfitrs, which has lasted down to modem times as
fitrce. The moAera field \%ftld, both in Canlon (93) and in
Chaucer. The symbol to is found in the fourtecniii century
in the word peopk, which was also sometimes written poeplr,
and we needlessly retain the former spelling to this day.
The original intention of the symbol was, probably, to
express the F. eii in peupie, as the .word was wrilleo pe(fU
in Anglo-French'; but the M. E. form is commonly /i-^i,
and the modern form ought to be pttplc. Caxion has
pfplt (ag). Finally, the F. eu appears in /ureur, fury
(184).
Cnnsonanfs. We stil! find ygv written leytai ioyt (ijB).
But in the course of the fifteenth century, the symbol / wm
invented, ihotigh it was not employed as at present til! much
later'. It simply arose from the habit of writing a long
down-stroke to the last *' in such numbers as iV, n'i. vii, rta,
which were commonly written ij, I'lJ, vtj, vitj, so thai 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 eldi-
sound thai had no special symbol allotted to it. Retara
to Caxion, wc proceed to note that v begins to be ^ised i|
' The numbcn refer to the lines in the extract from Caxton,
■ Statutn of Itie Realm, i. 197 ; IJber Cnitumaruin, pji. t^l, S.
Wc alM find M. E.fmfie. P. Plowman, C. xii. 11.
mployed in the 1633 edition of Shalcetpeue.
..into Dtc about 1630, and wai nrtremel; c<
1660.
»
|J990 THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 317
At present, not only initiaEy, as in Chaucer, but even in
the middle of a word, as in mynerve (Minerva, 38), proverbe
(100), rfsscyv( (139), ivyllys (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 r^ (= up), vyce (= vice) '. The
symbol j went out of use in the fifteenth century, because its
form had become indistinguishabte from that of e. Indeed,
we still write capercailzie for capercaily (= capercailye) ; and
the proper names Dahiel, Menzies, for Dat^tel, Menyes*.
The place of 3 was supplied by jf initially, and by ^^ medially,
as vaye, light, formerly 3*, //'j/.
Digraphs. Gu {,= gm) remains in gticrdon; the gu in
guess, guesi, is of later date. Sck becomes sh in the South,
though sch was still used in Scotland, and occurs in the
' Great awlcwardneas was caused by the pereistenC use of u for the
consoiuDt -sound. bccauK the praclicc vrsi always to take care that it
WBi used iehiieen two vmuelj, as in tutl or mi/ (eviD ; and, as the latter
of these voweli was OBuatly an e, every word that ended with Ihe simple
lODiid of V was spelt so as to end with the compound symbol ue. Evta
when V came into regular use for the sound of the coosonant, the RdbI v
(by an intensely stupid conscrvatiam) was still written ve, a practice
which has lasted even to this day ; so that there is a law in modem
Eil^iah that the symbol v must not end a word, and we all have
to write iave, give, serve. So,., instead of kav, giv. serv ; which leaves us
powerless to diittnguisb between the ibort 1 in the verb to live and the
long I in alive. By writinj; the former as /if, the distinction might have
been made. Heoix also another absurd mle in modern English, vii,
that V muNt never be doubled. We write lever, with a long e, rightly,
but we mast not dare to write ewer. The reason, of course, is this ;
that tf the old u or KC bad been doubled, the word would have been
written etmer at eueuer, which was felt to be a liltle too clumsy, Ko
reibnn in modem spelling is so much needed as the use of the simple v
fbff Aav, Nv, giv. and the power cither to double the v in ewer, tewer,
titwer, Stc, or else to doable the e in teever, which would be a great
deal better. I recommend this change very strongly.
' Bp. Percy prints nn old Ballad with s throughout. 'Quhy dois
xonr brand sae drop wl' blaid, Edward, Edward ? * It shews great
I stupidity, ai yntr would hare been quite correct.
3i8
XfODERlf ENGUStr SPELLTffG. [Gitttfl
MSS. of Dunbar and Gawain Douglas. The symbol ^ f)
into disuse, because its form had gradually becorae identic
with that of_j'; but primers long continued lo print j^.J
{= y>, ))t) instead of the and Ihat, whenever they found tin
there was insufficient space for Ihe words in full. Some
modern ' comic ' writers seem to fancy that the was actn&tly
pronounced ^sye, and thai asya/ 1
Doubled leiiers. For ee 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 noliced 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 F/inch, F/oulkes, and Ffrench (all in the Clergy
List\ where it is obvious that the _^ has been mistaken for
Ff, which is absurd '.
Biform digraphs, &c. The origin of the modern E. tek
for ech {=ckth) is curious. It is due to the constant con-
fusion in MSS. of the fifteenth centurj- between the letters f
and /, which are frequently indistinguishable; so that eek
came to be misread as tch. TjTwhitl actually prints v^rtkht,
fetche in his edition of the Cant. Tales, 11. yfi^S-fi ; yet all
the Six-text MSS. have e\\\\etwrecche.feuhe,orwrtcfu,/ifMt.
It is just this manipulation of MSS. which makes it so diffi-
cult for a reader to form just ideas. Everything has lo be
tested, when (as in many old, and some modern editions)
editors cannot be trusted, and frequently conceive it to
be their first duty to misrepresent tlic spellings of their
MS. authorities. However, the result is. that tch is now
the accepted way of writing ech (^=. ekch), and this fiict
is of considerable importance in etymology. In words
containing kh, the / is unoriginal, and as tlie n-A is due to
an older cc, we shall expect to find tbftt the A. S. forrtw
' ' Myne fidre letltn ' ; P. Plowmwi, C. xvi. 8,
• Initial/'-^; ihenicK //-/ff [\).
Isw"-]
ANGLO-FRENCH SPELLING.
319
I
'recca, /fccan^, as is the case. As to ssk. Caxton has
abasshid {= aliashfnd, 1. 52), but both seh and ssk finally
gave way to sh, which is now never doubled. So also, when
)> was disused, the compound forais Ilk and t/Uh soon gave
way to Ih, which ia now never doubled '.
Initial combinalions. These are Utile altered ; for ex-
amples, see the Glossary to Specimens of Eng., pt. iii. But,
as the initial k was less used, except before e, i, n, andji, the
combinations hi, kr and skr gave way to cl, cr, and scr ; also
tk gave way 10 sc, except before e, i, xaAy. Scl disappears,
though we still tind the archaic spelling sctinder in Spienser,
F, Q- iii. !■ 47, which was probably copied from Chaucer,
Schr occurs in Gawain Douglas, but soon gave way to sfir.
Fn disappears. Wl disappears entirely, having always been
rare ; yet we may remember that ihe modem E. lap^ in the
sense to wrap or enfold, is the M. E. wlapptn, and that it is
this form -wlap {= older wrap') which explains the words en-
velop, de-velop, i. e, to en-wiap, de-wlap.
Final combinations. These will be discussed when we
come to ihe next century,
§ SOO. Even from the above slight sketch, which does
not include all the details, we can begin to understand how
the modern system of spelling grew up. We had, first of all,
an Anglo-Saxon system of spelling, largely phonetic and
intended to be wholly so, founded upon a Latin model, and
free from etymological crazes. Next, an Early English sys-
tem, also phonetic, as far as the imperfect symbols would
allow; but some confusion was introduced by the fact that,
whilst slight changes were going on in the pronunciation,
very material changes were being made in the symbols em-
ployed. Early English was written out by scribes who had
' "yiatftaan may itself he {ojfetian ; see Ftick in tbe Sopplemeat to
the seconii edition of my Dictionary; but this vt another matter. I itill
b»*e my dotitKi about it.
■ Wc Mill wiite Matthtv) (Gk. Har^iuaa), ihoDub MiUhiw and
Malhtwi occur is n
320
MODERN ENGUSll SPELLING. [Ciu*. Jt¥t.
been previously trained to write out Anglo-Freocb ; and thus
the French (or Franco-Latin) system of symbols gradually
took the i>lace of the older Cello-Latin system. Two
defects of the Early English system may be especially
pointed out, viz. the confusion, in writing, between ilie close
and open o, and between the close and open e. Thus the
A. S. brad (pron. braad) came to be pronounced as mod. E.
broad, whilst it was spelt brood or brod*; and the A. S. g6s
(pron. goas, riming with dose) came to be spelt goas or g<u,
though its pronunciation was not altered. Once more, the
A. S. set, sea, came to be spelt see. without much change in the
pronunciation, the E. E. see being pronounced with ihe open
tf i.e. like the e in ere. At the same time the A, S. ip^d, speed,
became E. E. speed, with ihe close sound of e, i.e. ihe sound
ofF. /in e'ie', or not unlike the mod. £. spade, in which (be
apparent a is really a diphthong, composed of F. / followed by
short (. Thus both the long o and long e in E. E. had (ai
least) two distinct values ; a confusion which lasted through-
out the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. The Middle-
English period introduced other changes and uncertainties;
above all, the loss of the final c in the fifteenth century caused
great confusion, and even gave rise, as has been shewn, to
the mod. E. device of denoting a long vowel by employing a
final c after a consonant. Still, the great aim of the sjielling
was, as before, to represent the sounds of the words-
Numerous Anglo-French words (i. e- words current in the
Norman dialect as it was developed in England) bad been
introduced into English at various times; at first slowly, but
from Ihe time of Edward I. the stream set in steadily, and
continued long. These words were introduced with the
Anglo-French spelling, to which the English siJelling of the
time had been assimilated. Accordingly, ihey came in at
' The loss of Ibe A. S. bccccis (used to mmk long vowrti < took ■waj'
tbc Dicaat of diatioifDitbing leogtb ; we lind lirod, biood . with t loagi,
and god, gpA ^with 0 iboit). Thii wai another source of tnisble.
SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
321
I
first in an unaltered and phonetic form, but in course of
time the spelling of such words indicated their sound with
less accuracy. It would be difficult to say at what period
we again began to borrow French words from France itself.
but it is most likely that when the home-supply of French
words began to fail, ihe foreign supply began to be drawn
upon, perhaps in the fourteenth century ; and I suppose that we
have never ceased to borrow French words from abroad ever
since. It makes a material difference, because the Anglo-
French had ways of its own, and exhibits curious points of
difference from the French of Paris '. By way of example,
take ihe word adage, of which there is no trace earlier than
1548, according to Murray's Dictionary, This is, of course,
a French word, but will hardly be found in Anglo-French.
5 301. Just at the lime when our spelling was already
becoming very faulty, the invention of printing came in, and
fluxely, but not immediately, retarded all further emendation ;
so that, in the sixteenth century, we find that the p>ower of
making any material improvement was practically gone.
Nevertheless, the writers of that period had the courage lo
make at least two considerable improvements, or at any rate,
to shew how they might have been made, if the system had
been carried out with perfect accuracy. They became dis-
satisfied with the confusion, just above mentioned, between
the close and open 0 and the close and open e, and en-
deavoured to employ die symbols oa {or oe, if final) as distinct
from 00, and ea as distinct from ee, in order to remedy it. The
symbol oa was, practically, a new one, though it is found
occasionally in the thirteenth century ', It was now used
' Thui cenvty is from Anglo-French seimtitr, but eemisy fram Y.
tttroefer (as it la spelt in Colgrave). 'I'he M. E. adj. win, from Anglo-
FtcocIi vtiti, has \xta alteied la vain, in order to iniiauate, biscly. tbnl
it was borrowed from Parisian vain.
* ' Heo lei iae prisune uaur ]>useiid jec and rnoare' i. e. Slie lay in
prison 4000 yean and moie ; Ancren Riwte, p. 54, 1, 9. Examples
«ie toraewlut Tire.
3M
MODBRff ENGLISH SPELLING. lCai»,im,
was now .
for the open o, as in mod. E. bread, the only word now left
wkh the old sound of oa. As our broad is from A. S. br&I, (bis
spelling oa is properly found in words which have 4 in A. S. ;
see the examples in j 42 '. The symbol ea is hardly ever
found (if at all) in the fourteenth century ; but we have seen,
in 5 299. thai Caxlon has pras, i.e. peace, in place of the M. E.
ptes, from the Anglo-French pets. This symbol was now
used to express the open ,•, as in sea for M. E. st
found that mod. E. words containing^ ea commonly a
to A. S. words containing d or /a (see §§ 48, 49); wb>
commonly answers to A, S. /or fy (see 55 43, 50)-
improvement, towards the end of the sixteenth century, was
the gelling rid of the excessive use ot y for /, so commoa
in Caxton ; so that the word his was no longer hjrs, but
relumed lo the early A. S. form. We may also remark thu
the use of t> became more common. As regards consonants,
the symbols j and )> entirely disappear; sch and ssh are
now always sh ; kk is commonly ck ; cch is always Uh. and
dge is used for gge or the sound of final jj\ as ge is for tfae
final _/. Initial gh is needlessly written itn g in ghastly, ^
gherkin ' ; also in a-ghast. See further in S 299 abov««fl
in 5 302 below.
5 302. The loss of the final e occasioned several ad<tt
to the number of final combinations of letters.
M. E. barri, a bar, was dissyllabic ; but after it
monosyllable, it dropped not only the final t, but the r j
ceding it ; the word is no longer har-ri, but bar.
the plural is no longer barres. but bars. Similarly i
became tubs, and we have a new combination bs, not fi
in M. E. Similarly orkes, the pi. of ark, became arks ; d
laic form, has the pi. arcs ; beddts, the pi. of bed. became I
' The final ei ocean for ea (A. S. rf) in doe, fit. ret. iloe. lee, I
■EW, mislUtoe. Bui \a ihet \\K\\^t ikoo) it answpu to A.S. A
' Here ihe^ i»of loiiie me, vii. to shew ihal ihcf is harH. A^tajl
b fonnd id Scottish M c«r]jr u 1495, but did not become eencnl |^
alter 1700. CAaH/ufrom Ven.gMl, * demon.
I
'ETYMOLOGICAL' SPELUfTG. 323
dogget, the pi. of dog, became dogs ; formes, pL of form, be-
CiLmt/ormi ; innes, pi. of inn, became inns ; and the M. E.
gaiwrs became gallows. The insertion of b into the M. E.
dtllr, doule, brought about the false forms debt, doubt; a
mailer which is explained in the next section. I believe it
will be found that none of the following final combinations
are used in the M. £. period : bs bt OB gs ks ma imfl
WB. Further, final ds,/s, ngs, are only found, in M. E., in
unaccented syllables, such as ribauds, pi. of riband, a ribald,
eaiU/s^ pi. of caili/iX- Plowman, C. ai, 97), iordings. pi. of
hrding, a gentleman. Other modern endings are the zt in
mate (M. E. mase), the dze in adse, l\\tgue in tongue, catalogue,
the h in rajah, shah, &c.
I 803. So far we have only dealt with the spelling from a
phonetic point of view. The old spelling was, in the main,
very strictly etymological, because it was so unconsciously'.
In striving to be phonetic, our ancestors kept up the history
of words, and recorded, more or less exactly, the changes
that took place in them from lime to time. But in the six-
teenth century' an entirely new idea was for die first time
started, and probabl)' took its rise from the revival of learning,
which introduced the study of Greek, and brought classical
words, and widi them a classical mode of spelling, to the
front ; a movement which was assisted by tbe fact thai the
spelling was ail the while becoming less phonetic. This new
idea involved the attempt to be comciously etymological, i. e.
to reduce the spelling of English words, as far as possible, to
an exact conformity in outward appearance with the Latin
and Greek words from which they were borrowed. But it
was only possible to do this with a portion of the language.
' CtBUciona ittempls at etymology Bomcdmcs produced rather queer
Rtlta. Thus Ihe M. ^.femtle was turned mV> female, obWously because
n fancied it must have some coanection witti malt.
• See Ma« Miiller's Lectnres on Lsngnsge, Ser. II. leet. 6. He
■taoce* lliewoiks of Perion ti557)> Guichard (t6o6,\ and H. EMJenne
r a
3*4
MODSRff EtmUSff SPBLLIKG. [Cwr. XVt
It was easy to do this where words were actually borrowed
from those languages, as, for example, in the case of such a
verb as to lolerak, which was now spell with one / in order
to conform it in outward appearance to the Lai. mlerart.
But the words of native English or Scandinavian origin were
less tractable, for which reason our writers, wisely enough,
commonly lei them alone. There remained words of French
origin, and these suffered considerably at the hands of the
pedants, who were anything but scholars as regarded Old
French. For example, the Lat. debiia had become the O. F.
and M. E. ddle, by assimilation of the i to / in the contracted
form dib'la, precisely as it became delta in Italian. The
mod. F. and the Italian have the forms dtttt and dctta still.
But in the sixteenth century the disease of so-called 'etymo-
logical ' spelling had attacked the French language as well u
the English, and there was a craze for rendering such ety-
mology evident to the eye. Consequently, the 0. F. dtUe was
recast in the form debte, and the M. E. detle was re-spelt <MA
or debt in the same way. Hence we actually find in Col-
grave's F. Diet, the entry; ^ Debit, a debt.' Another word
similarly treated was the 0- F. and M. E. doule ; and ac-
cordingly Cotgrave gives ' Double, a doubt.' The mod. F.
has gone back to the original O. F. spellings delte, doutr; but
we, in our ignorance, have retained the b in doubt, in spite ctf
the fact that we do not dare to sound iL The rackers of out
onhography ' no doubt trusted, and with some reason, to the
popular ignorance of the older and truer s[ielling, and the
event has justified their expectation; for we have continued
to insert ihe b in doubt and debt (properly doul and dif^ to the
present day, and there is doubtless a large majority among
us who believe such spellings to be correct! So easy is it
' ' Such nicken of onr orthography, as to speak deul fin«, when he
AiovXi ay dmM ; del, vhta be should f loBoaaa dibl' ; I.L.L.t.1.
Sach wu the opinioa of tbe pedant Holofcmes i most people Imi^idf
*' 'as the opmioD of Shakespeare I
I 303-1
' ETYMOLOGICAL ' SPELLIXC.
325
I
I
ftjT writers to be misled by paying too great a regard to
Latin spelling, and so few there are who are likely to lake
the trouble of ascertaining all the historical facts.
Most curious of all is the faie of the word /aull. In O. F.
and M. E, it is always_/&ufr, but the sixteenth century turned it
into Y./aulh, E. fauli, by the insertion of /. For all ihat, the
/ often remained mule, so that even as late as the time of
Pope it was still mute for him, as is shewn by his riming it
with ought (Eloisa to Abelard, i8g, Essay on Man, i. 69);
with thought (Essay on Criticism, 432, Moral Essays, Ep, ii,
73) ; and with taught (Moral Essays, Ep. ii, 1 1 1). But the
persistent presentation of the letter / to the eye has prevailed
at last, and we now invariably sound it in English, whilst in
French it has become ^u/r? once more. The object no doubt
was to inrorm us that the Y./aule is ultimately derived from
Latin Jallere; but this does not seem so far beyond (he scope
of human intelligence that so much pains need have been
taken to record the discovery'. Another curious fel si fi cation
is that of the M. E. viiaHles, O. F. vitaillts, from Lat. vkluatia.
The not very diOicult discovery of the etymology of this word
was bailed with such delight that it was at once transformed
into F. vicluaHles and E. victuals; see Cotgravc. For all
that, the M. E, vitailles was duly shortened, in the pronun-
ciation, to vittUs, precisely as M, E. balai'lles was shortened
to bailies ; and vi/t/ei it still remains, for all practical purposes.
Swin, in his Polite Conversation, has dared to spell it so ; and
our comic writers are glad to do the same.
The form of the word advance records a ludicrous error
in etymology. The older form was avance. in which the
pr«6x av- is derived from the F, av which arose from the Latin
sj. Unfortunately, a- was supposed to represent the French
a which arose from the Latin ad, and this Latin ad was
* Smilarly, the O. F. and M. E. vettU becune F. voitlte b the six-
teoilb centmy ; bence E. vault. Bui in faliim, M. E. f.iucan, the / is
rcDOUDonly ignored; we ^yfaucon, and ought lo spell il so.
336
MODERN ENGUSff SPELLING. [Crw. X¥I.
actually introduced into the written form, after which the
d came to be sounded. If then the prefix adi>~ in adv-anet
can be said to represent anything, it must be taken to re-
present a Lalin prelix adb-\ It would be an endless ta^k
to make a list of all the similar vagaries of the Tudor
remodellers of our spelling, who were doubtless proud
of their work and convinced that they were displaying great
erudition. Yet their method was extremely incomplete, is it
was whc^y inconsistent with itself After reducing the word
toUerate to toUrate, they ought to have iilsKA follie to/olu, as
ihe latter is the French form ; but this ihey never did. They
should likewise have altered malkr to maler, since (here b
only one/in the Iai. maUria \ but this they never did. 7ly
had got hold of a f<iUe principle , and did nol alltmpt lo carry it
fuJ consisUtUly. So much the better, or our spelling would
have been even worse than it is now, which is saying a greitf
deal.
5 304. I believe that the stupidity of the pedantic method
which I have just described is very little understood ; and
that, on the contrary, most Englishmen, owing to an ex-
cessive study of the classics as compared with English (the
history of which is neglected to an almost incredible and
wholly shamele&s extent), actually sj-mpathise with the pedants.
But the error of their attempt wiU be apparent to any who
will take the pains to think over the matter with a little care.
Their object was, irrespectively of the sound, to render the
etymolopy obvious, not lo the ear, but to the eye ; and hence
the modem system of judging of the spelling of words by the
eye only*. There is now only one rule, a rule which is often
carefully but foolishly concealed from learners, viz. to go
entirely by the look of a word, and to spell it as we have utn
it spelt in books. If we do this, we hug ourselv^ in the
belief that we are spelling 'correctly.' a belief which even
good scholars entertain. Certainly tlie pedants put Gcvenl
■ Tbu fact ii
n ItMU; I biuet u
tt the whole tg
i^o*!
' ETYMOLOGICAL SPELLING.
327
■ Gn
HfrOT
tol
thu>,
Htren:
irds right, as they thoug-hl ; but their knowledg;e was slight.
'hey let the pure English and Scandinavian words alone ;
id as we have seen, they mended (as they thought) the
^)eltings of French words, not by comparison with old
French, which might have been justified, but by comparison
with Latin and Greek only ; and they were frequently misled
by the fancy that Latin was derived, in its entirety, from
Greek. Thus they fancied that the Lai. tilva was derived
■m the Greek lA^, and accordingly altered its spelling to
flffca. Hence, even in English, we have to commemorate
vid immortalise this blunder by writing sylvan. They seem
to have had a notion that tlie Lat. sii'lus was derived, of all
things, from the Greek (mXor, a pillar, which would be ex-
itremcly convenienl, we must suppose, as a writing imple-
int; the fact being that stilus and irriXos have no etj'mo-
ical conneclioa This blunder we commemorate by
writing j/c/it. We display our knowledge of Latin by often
writing lyro (for Lat. U'ro) ; and of Greek by often writing
Syren (for Ok. unp^i). The notion of Grtecising words
extended even to the old verbs in 'ise. Forgetting that the
majority of these were liorrowed from French verbs in -iser.
oui printers have substituted the ending -ise, merely because
the F. suffix 'istr represented a Lat. suffix -iaart, imitated
from the Gk. -(fnv. Nine Englishmen out of ten still believe
in the excellence of the use of this ■he'', as a mark of eru-
dition and scholarship. It is all of a piece with vicluah and
dtil and dou6l and fault, already noticed ; and shews how
hastily false notions can be caught up, and how tenaciously
they are held. It is extremely amusing to see that the
mending of spelling only extends to words 0/ easy derivation.
Thus we write paroxysm because it is ultimately from the
Gk. trapofucr/irit, though paroxism would be really better,
' From afhomlii point of v
■uVn iti adoption all the c
n any belief in tbe tar.
3a8 MODERN ENCUSH SPELUNG. [Cm*. XVJ.
because, as a fact, we borrowed \\. rather from the F. per-
oxismt than directly. But we ought, by the same rule, to
write aneurysm, if we are to point back to the Gk. dwvpiwjiij.
Yet the usual spelling is aneurism, simply because the ety-
mology is less obvious, and the eye remains, accordingly,
unshocked. We write science because of its connection with
the Latin scienlia ; and for this reason some writers of the
seventeenth century, struck with the beauty to tlie eye of the
silent c after s, admiringly copied it in such words as sdle^,
sa'/ualion'^, and scent. The etymology of the two former was,
however, so obvious that the habit fell into disuse; but the
etymology of sceni was less obvious, and so we write st^enl stJU 1
What, again, can be more absurd than the final ue in the word
tongue, as if it must needs be conformed lo the F, I
But when once introduced, it of course remained,
none but scholars of Anglo-Saxon could know its etymol
It is impossible lo enumerate all the i
which the disastrous attempt to make etymology visible has
introduced. Yet this is the valueless system which is so
much lauded by all who have made no adequate study of the
true history of our language. But before recapitulating ail
the facts of the case, it remains to say a few words upon the
changes in our spelling since the time of Elizabeth.
§ 906. Broadly staled, the changes in our spelling since
the time of Shakespeare are remarkably few and unimpor-
tant, especially if considered with reference to the numeroM
changes that had taken place previotisly. A specimei
Shakespearian spelling has already been given at p. i
' ■ Site, or SciU^ Sec. ; Phillipt, World of Words {i-jOS).
' ' 1 might liio Dote many false spellings in pinicnlu wop
lengtie Sot luHg,ihe (or shet. If itualt for ji'/uo/f. wfaicb ii bot latdf d
np, and hath no appearance witb miwn, the Latine word being Ji
without any i. Sctnl for stHi, signifyiog a smell or tavour, wliicb W
ing '\% also but lately inlrodoced, and bath do more ground thu the
former, the Latin word from which it comet being iiMif' — 1691 ; J.
Rav, Collection of Ecglith Words, 4c, p. 166.
>s.]
MODERN ENGLISH SPELUNG.
329
.analysis of the alterations made in the spelling of that passage
will suffice.
(a) We have wisely discarded the long s (f), and substi-
tuted D for » in Doue, and u for v in vp. These are manifest
improvements. So also is the modern use of ;' and /
(li) We do not think it necessary to mark substantives, such
as'Lambe'or 'Doue'or'Prieft,'by the use of a capital letter.
This enables us to mark proper names, such as ' Lucentio ' or
* Kalherine,' by using a capital letter, and to dispense with
the necessity for marking them by the use of italics.
(f) We have cut off the idle final e in veiy many words,
such as Iambi, /hole, skoulde, aske, booie, againt, tookt, cufft.
dmtmt; but we retain the final e in wift and lake, to shew
the length of the vowels.
Such impro^'ements are sensible, but they have been made
from lime to time by the printers, merely as a matter of
ivenience, to avoid varying forms. In doing this, they
made at least two mistakes. In the first place, the final
W should have been dropped in have, give, dtrvf, shove, and all
words in which ve follows a short vowel ; or, in other words.
V should have been allowed, like any other consonant, to
stand as a final letter; seep. 31 7, note i. In the second place,
a double _/; when final, should have been reduced to a single/.
There was no reason for treating _/" differetitly from other
letters. If we write cab, bad. bag. &c., we ought to write
ilif, cu/, Uf, &c. The present rule is thaty^final must always
be doubled except in i^and 5/"; the latter being sounded as
or. However, the printers have succeeded in reducing the
forms of words to a nearly uniform standard ; and it is sur-
prising to find how long it took them to do so. It will not
be easy to find a book in which the spelling is perfectly
uniform throughout much earlier than about 1690'. Practi'
Iron
^psh<
330 MODERN ENGUSH SPELUNG. \QmMSt. XVI.
calty, the present spelling is identical, in all important
particulars, with that of the seventeenth century, and, in all
that is most essential, with that of the sixteenth century.
The retarding and petrifying influence of printing upon the
representative forms of words soon became supreme, and
prevented any great alteration.
Meanwhile, the changes in our ever-shifting pronunciation
became still more marked, and we now constantly spell
with one vowel and pronounce another. Abate is no longer
sounded with long a, i. e. with the a in faiher^ but with long
e^ viz. the sound of the ee in G. BteL Beet is no longer
sounded with die long ^ of the G. Beet^ but with the long
% of Ital. higio or G. Biene ; and so on. We still retain much
of the Elizabethan spelling, which even at that period was
retrospective, with a Victorian pronunciation. From all this
it follows that all our spelling is extremely archaic, and refera
to pronunciations of many centuries ago, some forms being
more archaic than others. If then we want to know why any
word is spelt as it is, we can only tell this by knowing
Us whole history. When we know this, when we have ascer-
tained all its changes of form and sound, and the reasons for
all its changes of form, we can then tell exactly what has
happened. The labour of doing this for every word in the
language is of course enormous, but even a general acquaint-
ance with the leading facts, such as may easily be acquired,
will explain the forms of many thousand words, and enable
the student to detect such exceptional forms as have been
produced by intentional meddling. The chief points to re-
member are : (i) that our present si)elling is archaic; (2) that
spelling was at first purely phonetic, and afterguards partially
so, down to A.D. 1500 or 1550 ; (3) that, after this, the new
principle set in, of rendering the etymology visible to the eye
in the case of Latin and Greek words, and of respelling easy
French words according to their Latin originals ; and (4) that
the changes which have taken place in our prcxiundation,
|3o6,]
SU^MMARY OF RESl/LTS.
331
Ihne when ihe spelling became practically fixed, are
more vioiein ihan thoae of earlier periods.
§ SOa. As ihe story has inevitably been a long one, and
abounds with minute details (many of which I have been
compelled, by a sense of proportion, to omit), I now briefly
recapitulate the chief points in it, so that the reader may the
more easily grasp some oC the main principles.
(i) The Celtic alphabet was borrowed from Ihe Roman;
Hid the Anglo-Saxon from the Celtic, but with a few
ditions.
(a) The A.S. pronunciation agreed with thai of the con-
tfinent, and of the Romans, in many important particulars,
l«^)ccially in the sounds of a, e, i, 0, u. The spelling was
int lo be purely phonetic, and was fairly correct. Accents
B-vere employed 10 denote vowel-length.
(3) In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, some sounds
kltered, but the spelling was still lo a great extent phonetic,
meant lo be. At the same time, Anglo-French
re introduced in ever-increasing numbers, and the
Anglo-Saxon symbols were gradually replaced by French
Odes. The language was, in fact, re-spelt by Anglo-French
•cribes, who employed a modified form of the Roman
I mlphabet. The accents employed to mark long vowels dis-
md the vowels a, e, and 0 are sometimes doubled.
(4) In the fourteenth century, further changes were intro-
hiced, and phonetic accuracy of representation was slill further
npaired. A list of the symbols then in use is given in
I a9i. P- 307-
{5) About A.D, 1400, the sound of final -r. already lost in
the North, was lost in the Midland dialect also. When it re-
mtuns (as in bone)-, it no longer forms a distinct syllable, but
is employed to denote the length of the preceding vowel.
Final -en commonly became final -f, and followed its fortunes.
Final -td and -" lingered as distinct syllables. Consonants
gwcre doubled after a short vowel in many words, especially
33^* MODERN ENGUSH SPELUNG. [Chap. XVI*
if the old single consonant was followed by ^, as in hitter for
biter ; but the rule was capriciously applied.
(6) The invention of printing began to petrify the forms
of words, and retarded useful changes. The use of final t in
the wrong place, as in ranne for ran^ became extremely
common ; and the use tily for i 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 portum
of the language. French words were often ignorantly altered,
in order to render their Latin origin more obvious to the tyt.
The open and close sounds of long 0 were distinguished
by writing oa (or ae^ 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 bSy cs, ds,/s\ gs,
mSf and d/ are the most remarkable.
(8) English sp)elling, after 1500, was governed by two con-
flicting principles, viz. the phonetic^ 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 1 700. The modem use
of i and u as vowels, and that of j and v as consonants, are
real improvements.
(10) The changes in pronunciation since 1600 are g^reat,
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.
> Dsjfs, thongh fonnd in M. £., were by no means common; see p. 333.
1 306.]
SUMMARY OF R£St/LTS.
333
net result is that, in order to understand modem
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 ihat of supposing Latin and Greek
irds to have been introduced into the language dirtctly,
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 spellirig
ia 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 XVIL
Phcmbtic Spelling.
§ 807. The preceding investigation shews that modern Eng-
lish spelling is, from a purely phonetic point of view, eztiemelj
unsatkfaetoiy. 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 £icts
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, rkyme^ scent are simply
indefensible ; the more nearly phonetic spellings sithe, hmg^
stve, rimey 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 argimient 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
THE ' GIOSS/C' SYSTEM.
335
I
rovincial English dialects. See, e. g., Miss Jackson's Shrop-
shire Glossary, and many of ihe publications or the English
Dialect Society. For English dialectal purposes, numerous
symbols are required ; but a small number suffice for repre-
sentinf; 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
Ihe author's principle,
jaoo.
'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
CHANCING |TS FORM. OR DETRACTING FROM ITS VALUE,
KEY TO ENGLISH GLOSSIC
Ahonyi frBtnmnce English Glossic (karaeler] as Ikt LARGE
CAFJTAL Ittltrt are sotinded in l/u /tllminngwerds, loiick art all in
Ikt Hiual sfelling, iittpt thi f\rti underlined, mran/y^r foot, then , tongr.
I BEET bAIt bAA cAUl cOAl cOOl
^ knIt nEt ghAt nOt nUt fUOt
H HEIGHT FOIL fOUl fEUd ^~'
r Vfa Way WHey Hav
Pba Bee Toe Doe CHest Jest Keep Gape
Fie Vts THtN DHen Seal Zeal kuSH kouZHe
I
3$6
PHONETIC SPELLING.
dhi dubiine ov dU ^ b dhi -bmH
nir. «r. «r u[ «il riln i.Ldh «.
u', «, M. iu)ldli»- M •lenliir liHjer
*udr .ikeu-mng dhi vo>kd loiM
ov dhi tB%1 -. .Dd dhi (ril c«^
■ril Kdili rekogiKii m mincu't iuIm.
Btiwnd, uml dhns diuingtmliiac
ni-Uxn In dhdr uuixli. Tooluil-iuit
dhcei •ouDdi from dhou hcnl ia Arr.
■Vi atMrimi. Koiuid-inU ikipKI.
obcD not imdEr dhi <lra, bur dhtnz
lifni •ujo^i dh>> u > k<n»«^l
bikeii-r uundi which aiir ma prevm-
pr^tikJ «.rth«iii Bu> fiMir dU
nprinni>i>h«i ov dulcku. *« n-
unh<»ii<<H>. >nd ^gk dhi diniiufk-
Ihu lH<WH-n ^, >nd hT nndcr dhi s^oi
s.ifr'srs 22ar.r
■ rcr. occur, dcr.rrlni. occur-
Ihini aiil mw nunroall mint. Ta
(e™rrfi_dhis ii ([hi Hm a* EBirii-tnri
Ing injiy bcc »>l«>( _mn with /r.
dhiu rfj/ir-, *±f--. ^i/iri
5 310, This system is open to one grave objection.
The symbols are only intelligible to Englishmen living at
the close ol ihe nineteenth century. The sounds indicated
are slowly but surely shifting, and some of them may be con-
siderably changed in Ihe course of another fifly years. On
this account, it is far belter to allow the symbols a, e, r, e, 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 ' palseotype,' and by
Mr. Sweet in his ' romic ' system. Believing the latter to be
the best suited for common purposes, I now give Mr. Swcel's
scheme, from his Handbook of Phonetics, p. 109,
'The following list shews the correspondence of the E
Romic ' letters, with examples : —
aa as in f^her.
ae
hait.
ai
fiy.
ao
foQ.
au
„ now.
e
„ head, read^.
ei
iaii.
„ bwd, bettfT.
»
hird.
i
„ Wl.
ii. iy
f«L
' 'By'Broid-Romic'is
meant a system (at common vm: an
* ROMIC ' SPELLIKG.
reprt
ernp
reader should observe the descriptive character of the
The a, e, i, o, u have the continental values; aa
used for ihe a m/allier, because it is really long. The^-
in Jiy, or (' in flight, is really a diphthong, compounded of
(continental) a and i ; by sounding ii, i, in rapid succession,
this will be perceived'. So also the mu in now or ou in
home is really a diphthong, compounded of a and u, as is
well shewn in the German Haus. The sound of at in fail is
just that of (continental) close t followed by i\ by pronouncing
it slowly, the glide from e to i will be detected. Our o in no is
really ou, i. e. an o with an after-sound of u. In order lo de-
tect this after-sound, we should allow (he no to lie emphatic,
and lo end a sentence. Thus, in reply to the question —
' are phonetics valueless P ' the answer is — ' no! The sj-mbol
a is probably the best for the peculiar sound of a in man,
apple, hat ; and is adopted also by Mr. Ellis in his ' palteo-
typc.' Ao, ae are more arbitrary, but are convenient as
representing the ' open ' o and e with tolerable exactness ;
K comes very near the sound of long a, i. c. of the a in
when lengthened. But the most difficult vowel-sound
represent is, unfortunately, one that is extremely common
in spoken English, viz. the quite obscure sound heard in
' bud,' ' better,' unemphatic ' lli?,' unemphalic ' and,' un-
emphalic ' a' ' about,' &c. This is denoted by a turned e (a),
'ing lo the absence of trill in the English r, we actuall)'
ihe sound of this obscure vowel instead of a final r in
ich words as hair, rare, tear, &c. (unless the next word
begitis with a vowel) ; hence these words must be denoted
by — haes, raes, liia. We also actually use the lengthened
' Compare G, llain, i
33»
PHONETIC SPBLUNG.
[Cm
sound of this obscure vowel in bird, turn. Ac, which t
be written — baad, [asn.
§ 311. As to the consonants, Mr. Sweet usej 6, d,f,g
(hard), j, k, I, m, n, p, r (if really trilled), J, /, v, kj, x.y, *,
with their usual values. Also sA with its usual value, and ti
(as in glossic) for (he sound of e in aiuri or of ge in rtmgi.
Also /A for the iA in thin ; and dA for the iA m /Ai'of. just as
in glossic. Of wA in wAat, Mr. Sweet says : ' I may noce
that my wA is an artificial sound for the natural w of South
English ' '. Qu is denoted by hv, as in glossic. All these can
be very easily remembered, and cause no difficulty.
The following are peculiar : —
o denotes the cA in changt.
H denotes the aspirate, but at the btginning of a wordij
can be used instead, and is more convenient.
q denotes the ng in sing.
§ 312. The use of e for (A, and of q for r^ are f
menls that perplex the beginner, and I therefore beg It
for the present, lo neglect these two symbols, which 1 \
lieve to be unnecessary ; Mr. Sweet also joins words tO(
or separates syllables, just as we do in rapid speech.
also is a most perplexing (and, in my experience, a i
disheartening) refinement, because it needlessly destroy!
hope of rendering his system intelligible to the incxpericnot
I shall therefore take upon myself to write out the \
known poem by Campbell, entitled ' Hohenlinden,' in a H
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 eoQa-
quialiy, that is, suppressing the d in am/in unaccented positions
(unless a vowel follows), and the like. I onut the marking
' Tliis UK of n> for wk Jo what, tehtH, why ii usual in LondoD ( j|
the more is the pity.
' It i( also needless, because tiyphens can be osed lott
i>p»l wjob"; but 'I
IJ.] 'Rome' SPELLING. 33y
the accents, pauses, and ihe like, because the poem is
7 familiar, and my chief object is really to shew the
ivel-sounds.
on Lindan, wen dhs san wai lou,
aol blsdles lei dh'ancrodn snou,
3n' daak ai winta woz dha flou
av Aiz9, rouling n^pidli.
bat Lindan sao anadha salt
wen dha drani biit, at, ded av nait,
ksmaaiiding fajaz 3v dctli ta laic
dha daaknes av (h)aa' siinari.
bai taoch an' trainpit faasi areid,
iich haoasnian druu (h)iz ba^tl-bleid,
an' fyuurias evri chaaja neid
ta join dha dredfal ' revairi.
dhen shuk dha hilz, wi' thanda rivn,
dheu rasht dha stiid, ta bfetl drivn,
9d' tauda dhan liha boults av hevn
faa flssht dha red aatilari.
bat reda yet dh^t lait shal glou
on Lindanz bilz av sleincd snou
an* bladta yet dha torant' flou
av Aiza, rouling rapidli,
til maon, bat skaeas yon leval san
kan pilas dha wao-klaudz, rouling dan,
waea fyuurias Fnenk an' faiari Han
sham in dhaea salfaras k«napi.
dhe kombKt' diipnz. on yii breiv,
(h)uu rash tu gtaori aoa dha greiv,
weiv, Myuunik, aol dhai bsnaai vreiv,
an' chaaj widh aol dhai chivalri.
fyuu, fyuu shal paaC waea meni miit ;
dha snou sbal hii dhaca wainding-shiit ;
and evre Caaf baniith dhaea fiit
shal bli a souljaai sepalka.
1 «m ainid 1 hardly sound the h here.
] believe I really say ' drelfiil,' because J/ is uoproaouuceab'.e,
rt^itUy. ' Very neaily ' taoraau'
fJPerhap* I ouglit to say ' kaml«ci ' ; but I do not.
340
PHONETIC SPELUKG. [Ciup. JETII.
5 313. My chief object in introducing the above speci-
men is to enable mc lo give ihe resuJls of the investigations
of the preceding chapter, so as to shew the extraordinary
changes that have taken place in (he pronunciation of our
vowels, I here mainly follow Mr, Sweet's History of English
Sounds, p. 6(). 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. theyorwj ; whilst iBe
words in Roman lellers represent the pronunciations according
to the above scheme, i, e. the iouttdt.
OLD ENGLISH.
MIDDLE ENGLISH.
MtlDF-KN ENCL
S<ll{^<L).
sat (satj.
Bva« (mxn).
sal i;m).
^^ (heard) >.
hard Onrd).
^anfthasd.ha
Hama (oama).
name (naams) '.
"'""' (nan*).
mdt (endc).
■™A (ends).
^«/ ,end).
Mfan (helpu.).
helfm (belpsn).
A*// (help).
stufiin tseovon).
seven (serao).
seven {tc-m)
»..« Cm.te).
meU (inwtj).
meal (miit).
lUlan (slelan).
tttUn (itaelm).
jftx/ rstiU].
« (««;).
see (s«).
™ («i).
^^/(dned)'.
ntfrf(dee(l).
dW(diid).
d'-hiH Careoiin).
Hrrem (drscm).
d'rvow (driln)
grhie (greene).
grene (grwna),
i«"tgriia).
jA(s=eo).
w (see).
j«(sii).
wiloH rwitan).
iwV*w (v-itsn;.
tw* Cwii).
hyll (hyll) <.
-liV fhJl).
A./; ihii).
vln (wiin).
nyn (wiin).
uvKf imiD).
f}r (fyyi).
j5t (fiir).
/™.GLi>).
eft (eft).
^ C"ofl)-
g«(.oft)'.
«< Coon).
m (Qi.) '-
ArfChol).
A«/(b.ol).
.40/<r (honl).
td (Ua).
/«!. te (tao).
/« (loa).
■ But mod. E. Aani is derived ftoin a Meidui form J
limpte a.
' Mr. Sweel omits the iufliies in name, iruU, helfen, mrte, Stc I
' Mod. E. ditd » really from a variant form did {_de«d},
* Here^ repTCKnts Ibc Mnnd of G. H inif^/.
■ The alight diCtettnce in tbc vowcit ii dee tu the c<
'SOMIC SFELUNG.
OLD CKGLISH.
MIDDLE ENGLISH.
MODERN E
t6 (too).
to (too).
I»fcr (suna).
la, Ite fnio
»5 Wi (bum). '
Ai>Hf (hnui).
hausi (ban
d^g{A<^.
>/j/ (dsi).
dy |dei).
sagan (seggan;.
seyiti {seisn W eaiai;
0. /flffsei).
/^ (laguj.
/an* (Una?).
/aic (.Uo).
lO
§ 314. In several of ihe above words, the difference be-
tween the Middle and Modern English pronunciations is so
great, that inicrmediaie forms can be assigned which we m.aj'
ighly allot to the sixteenth century or later. The rnosi
imarkable of such forms are name (naem), dream (dreem).
(wein), fire (feir). In the sixteenth century, the dis-
'tinction between the close and open e and o was still kept
up ; whence the distinction in spelling between sea (sae) and
see (sec), and between he (tao) and loo (too). This has been
already explained in § 301.
5 816. Ii will be readily understood that the short sketch
given in this chapter is merely a preliminary inlroduciion
to the subject, of the most meagre kind. It is simply in-
ided to point out what are the results which the reader
lay expect to find, if he will take the trouble lo examine for
imseif the works by Mr. Ellis and Mr. Sweet. The tabli-
of great value, as it will usually enable the sludent
lo understand the changes in the vowel-sounds of nearly all
the most ordinary words of native origin. A large number of
examples have already been given in Chap. V, It may be
remarked that the sounds which are known with the greatest
certainty are those of the earliest (A. S.) and the latest
(modem) period. As to the sounds of the Middle-English
period, doubt may exist in the case of certain words; but
the general results are admitted. The most difficult and un-
certain period is that of the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies, when great changes were taking place in the sounds,
irequendy without any corresponding change in the symbols
iployed to represent them.
342
PHONETIC SPELUNG.
[Cw
.XVQ:
NoTF. — I beg leave lo say expressly that I do nol advotaie
Mr. Sweet's ' romic ' syBtem as being the best soluiion of
the question of spelling- reform in modem English. Ycl
even with respect to this much-disputed question. 1 think il
unquestionable that for many of our modem sounds the
above symbols cannot be improved upon ; amongst which I
would es[>ecially select the symbols aa, ic, ai, au, t, ef, i.i'i
(or ty), 0, 01, mi, uu {or tnt}) as used in § 310, and zh. ilh, ku\
as u?ed in § 311, The most objectionable symbol is oli-
viously the turned e (a), for which it has well been prt>-
posed to use a, with the sound which is familiar to us in the
words aroma and America. One great reason for emploj-ing
it is that it is already widely used for this weak vowel-sound
by the Indian government. Another, of course, is, thai it
does not occur anywhere in Mr. Sweet's schema (except as
na doubled); and it is a pity not to use so excellent and
common a symbol, which would precisely denote the usual
pronunciation of the most elementary word in the language,
viz. the indefinite article '. Moreover we should notice that.
though Jlr. Sweet uses the same symbol (a) for the sound in
rome, there is realiy some difference in the sound. The best
method of denoting the o in <rome is the real rrax in every
svsicm that has been proposed. As the sound is, after all,
not very common, I agree with Mr. Lecky in proposing the
use of tc lo denote it. I beg leave to refer the reader lo an
excellent article by Mr. Lecky in the Phonetic Journal for
August 28, 1886, where the proposal is made lo employ the
symbols a and tr, and to rtlain our difficult and variable
symbol r in such words as placard. lankarJ, ij-word, tiy-
loarri, escort, effort, which should be written plakard, ttrtUuri,
haiivard, ikarwerd, tskort, e/trt. The effect in translitetating
the poem of Hohenlinden would be to present it in the
1 following. It is sufficient to gi\e three verses.
B4r
Jij.l PHONETIC SPELLING.
on Lindn ', wen dha seen wax lou,
aol' bicedles lei dh' ccntrodn snou,
an' dark a» winter wai dha' flou
av' Aizer, roullng rafpidli.
beet Lindn sao ancedher sail
wen dha driein biit, st ded av nait,
kamaanding fakn av dcth ta ' )ait
dha darknes av 'er siinari.
bai laorch an' Ircempit faast areid,
iich haorsman druu |h|ii bstl-bleid,
an' fyuurias evri charjcr neid
la join dha dredfal revalri.
The unprejudiced reader, who would rather learn iJian
acolf, may finish the poem for himself with great advantage.
I have one more suggestion to make. If a be objected
to as being difficult to distinguish from a in writing', I see
great objection to using a for the sound of o in comt
well as for the obscure vowel. Thus come would appear
whilst Cam would appear as Cam. A very little
LCtice would render this familiar and easy, and the whole
iblem would be solved. Abundance would appear as
e second a being distinguished from the others
the accent falling upon it. I think this is preferable to
the romic form ' absndans.' The words bloodless, untrodden,
Imt, another, drum, trumpet, would appear as ' bladles,'
antrodn,' ' bat,' ' anadher,' ' dram,' ' trampet.' On the
hand, bat and dram would appear as ' b£t ' and
■4rsem.'
Note tbnt the El. /, ih, n arc often pare vowels, and ce>lljr need rd
vowel (o be written before them.
' Mr. Lecky wriles okl, i.e. ok for the a in all; alio th iat the u in
hare, which he spells behr.
' KcmembcT that a i« here a purely eonvmtioiisl eymbol, at aboie
defined. The dull sooad oC lia lit is the same as that of 0 in nsaccented
^and tB, in rapid speech. Compaie the a in CAina.
* The 0 and e are best wrilten apart ; tbui come, cat, care may t>e
Ulcn iotai, ia-l. iatr.
CHAPTER XVllI.
English Consonants.
§ 316. Classification of Consonants. Considerable
attention has been given in many of the preceding chapters
to the laws which regulate vowel-change ; it w-ill now be con-
venient to consider the consonants. These have already
been considered as far as they are affected by Grimm's Law and
Verner's Law ; and in Chapter XVI, which gives a sketch of
the history of our spelling, some of the consonantal changes
have been incidentally mentioned. The order of consonants
in the Sanskrit alphabet is such as to classify those of a
similar character; it arranges them as gutturals^ palatals,
cerebrals^ dentals^ labials^ semi-vowels, and sibilants, English
has no cerebrals, and it is convenient to take the gutturals
and palatals together. Further, the English h takes the
place of a Teutonic KH ; and this has suggested, in Pick's
Dictionary, the following order for the primitive Teutonic
consonants, when used initially.
Gutturals : k, kw, h (for kh), hw, g.
Dentals : t, th, d ; n (dental liquid).
Labials : p, f (for ph, labio-dental), b ; m (labial liquid).
Other letters : y, r, 1, w, s.
The consonants ng (guttural nasal), v (voiced/), and 8
(voiced s) also belong to the original Teutonic alphabet, but
were (probably) not used initially. Besides these, English
developed other sounds and employs other symbols, such
Mette
I — I
^udi)
JijO VOrCELESS Aim VOICED CONSOf^ANTS. 345
ch, kh, qu, gh, J(ge), dgt, x, ph, wk, sk ; but these
le most conveniently considered under the primary
ibols with which each is more immediately connected,
shall therefore adhere, in the main, to the above order,
iply for convenience, without advocating iis adoption.
317. Voiceless and Voiced Consonants. Another
important method of classifying the consonants is to contrast
them in pairs; each 'voiceless' consonant has its corre-
sponding ' voiced ' one, where the terms * voiceless ' and
' voiced ' ' have real physiological meanings. When the
precise sense of ' voice ' in this connection is once caught,
the student will have no diHiculiy in pairing off the con-
sonants with ease. Let us take the case of the pair of
itters k, g. .A' is a voiceless or surii letter, as can be easily
■e attempt to sound the syllable kaa, we shall
id it perfectly easy to do so as soon as we pass on to the
■1-soimd ; but if we try to pronounce the k alone, or taa
without the aa, we can produce no iound audible to a by-
stander, though we are conscious of a feeUng of tension at the
point of the obstruction. If we now try the hke experiment
with gaa, we shall find that even without the assistance of the
vowel aa, it is possible to produce a slight gurgle or vocal
murmur which, with an effort, we can make audible. The
difference is, perhaps, not very easily perceived in the case of
ihia particular pair, because k and g are both momentary
sounds or checks, and not continuous ; but if we take the
pair of continuous letters s and e, the difference is plain, We
can pronounce and prolong the sound of s, so as 10 make an
ibie hissing sound ; but this sound is wholly due 10 tl^e
;ape of the breath through a narrow aperture. On repeating
i Otherwise called ' surd ' and ' aonant,' which cornea to the sann;
tluDC. The older terms sharp aitAfiai, lenuis and media, hard aai soft,
ftie Kimcwhnt fanciful, and therefore objeclloaable. I give in the teit
jl ■ very popalar account. JTot a mote scientific one, see Sweet's Haud-
Ub^ook of Phonetici. p. 36.
34^ ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chaf.XVIII.
the experiment with 0, we find that, in addition to this hissing
sound, we can produce a very audible buzz by means of the
breath passing through the vocal chords, which are now open,
whereas they were previously closed. In connection with
this difference, see the remarks in Max Mtiller's Lectures on
Language, vol. ii. Lect. 3, where it is stated that the terms
' surd and sonant are apt to mislead/ because ' some persons
have been so entirely deceived by the term sonant, that they
imagined all the so-called sonant letters to be actually pro-
duced with ionic vibrations of the chordse vocales.' But this
error is easily avoided, and if we grant that, strictly speaking,
the letter ^ is a perfectly mute check, it is also true, to use
Max Mailer's own words, that * in order to pronounce it, the
breath must have been changed by the glottis into voice,
which voice, whether loud or whispered, partly precedes partly
follows the check ^.* And I suppose that in the case of a con-
tinuous buzz, as heard in pronouncing s, the tonic vibrations
of the vocal chords are real enough. We may therefore
define the 'voiced' consonants as those which are readily
accompanied by sonorous voice or vocal murmur, the glottis
being actually * narrowed so as to be ready to sound, which is
never the case with voiceless consonants.' The list of English
consonants that can be thus paired off is as follows : —
VOICELESS. VOICED.
VOICELESS.
VOICED.
k g
f
V
ch j
8
I
t d
8h
sh (« in asure,
th (in thitC) th (in
th
ine)
wh
w
P b
§ 318. The above table is of great importance, because (as
Prof. Whitney tells us) the conversion of a voiceless con-
sonant into its corresponding voiced consonant, or the
reverse, *is abundantly illustrated in the history of ever}'
language.' The common rule is, that voiceless consonants
^ These words are used with reference to 6, as compared with / ; but
they are equally applicable to f, as compared with ^.
f JlS.] VOICELESS AND VOICED CONSONANTS. 347
«cial adinity Tor other voiceless consonants, and
voiced consonants for voiced. The plural of cat is cats,
where / and s are voiceless ; but the plural of dog is d^s,
where the form presented to ihe ej-e is deceptive, the word
being really pronounced dogz. The voiced g turns the
voiceless s into the voiced s. We can thus at once see
that ihe following final combinations are easy to pronounce.
viz. lir, ts, tks,ps,/s, as in locks, cats, breaths, cap.';, cuffs ; but
the J turns into a in dogs, beds, breathes, cabs, loaves. In fact,
we actually have a special symbol {x) for the combination
^itt, as in ax. tax. Precisely similar is the case of the
K -ed of the past tense and past participle ; we may
! looked, but we pronounce lookt. Here also the easy
tnbinations are gd. thd {with Ih as dh). bd, vd. zd, as in
tggtd, breathed, grabbed, mvntd, roused; but the d turns into
if in looked, frothed, wraffed, cuffed, hissed. Whether we look
"to Ihe final or to the initial sounds of words, we find that the
combinations sk, si, .tp are easy and common ; whereas no
true English word begins or ends with sg, sd, or sb. Initial
/s is also easy, and although we do not use it initially in
English, it is the sound given in German to the symbol a.
which begins a large number of words in that language. As
to initial fis, it is usual to pronounce il as a mere j, but there
is no inherent difficulty about it. The same is true of the pt
in ptarmigan, usually called tarmigan. In contrast with pt,
we have bd in bdellium. Lastly, when we regard the collo-
cation of letters within a word, i. e. in a position where they
are neither initial nor final, the operation of the law can still
be traced. Thus the difficult word cupboard is sounded as
rubboard. We do not say five-teen, but fifteen. When we
add the voiceless Ih to the word twelve, tlie v becomes^ and
llie resah is tri'eftli. The Latin prefix mi remains unchanged
in sub-ject, sub-jugate, but becomes a/ in sup-press, sup-plant '.
' Unloi we consider tup u itallj' the oldet fonn of sub, pTcierved in
h Wordi only. Compare sup-ir.
I
348 SJVGUSff COffSOtfAffTS. [CUp.4
It actually changes slil! further in luc-eour, suffer,
sum-mon, all of which may be included in the princliile 0
assimilation, to be spoken of more at length hereafter,
§ 31B. Il is also worth while lo nolice that the voiced
consonants approach more nearly than the others to the
nature of vowels, and are more easily combined with ihem.
Hence it is that a single voiceless letter between two vowels
is liable lo become voiced ; a peculiarity which is cbieSy
seen in the case of i, as in busy {A.S. I^sig), dixsy (A.S.
4ysig),freize (A. S./r^osan), rise (A, S. rlsati). Similarly «'e
have ^ for c (=ii) in sugar, from F. sucre, and in_^i(fwi, from
O.Y.fiacoH. 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 consonuil
may take the place of another voiceless consonant, or a voiced
one of a voiced one. This is a case of actual suhfifuiimi,
and is usually due to imperfect imitation of the sound, A
child learning lo speak ofien uses / for i, saying /at for tal ',
or /" for the voiceless /A, saying /rough for through. A
foreigner who finds a difficulty in the £. lA, is likely to put t
for the voiceless sound, and 3 for the voiced one, saying saxi
for thani, and sis for /his. Even g for d is not uncommon ;
children are very likely to say goggie, if you ask thctn lo say
doggie ; and we find Shakespeare using gagg's wouns for
God' s Tvounds ; see p. r. We constantly meet willi 3 for p
in representations of a negro dialect, as in Hi, hab. for lict,
have. I think it may be laid down as a general rule in vaOA
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 a*
similation comes into [ilay, as in the case of of-fer, from the
Latin ol ami/errf ; and I tliink such a change may fairlyn
easily be explained as due to a double change, viz, Erstf
II the South Sess, be was ottea j
ECONOMY OF EFFORT. 349
^tfiyfrre 10 ''op-fcrre, and secondly from "op-ferre to of-ferre.
Both or these changes are perfectly natural ; almost, in fact,
inevitable, Similarly, the inletmediate form between Lat. ob-
evrrtre and oc-currtrc may have been 'op-currere ; whereas,
r«n the other hand, the change from ad-gredi to ag-gredi
lid be made at once.
§ 821. Consonantal changes are mostly dtie to the effects
m the consonants of the sounds (whether consonantal or
I) which either immediately precede or follow them. The
leral 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 3 more pleasing effect to the ear. Some of the
changes are arbitrary, in so far as certain peopiles 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
has been called ' laziness,' or the desire to economise
le effort of talking '. All such changes as involve economy
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
Utile. Whenever any consonantal change seems to contradict
naitiral laws, we may always suspect that it is due to txlernal
infiumct, 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-
nttt or tconomy 0/ effort, we may observe that the super-
lative formed from the comparative bilUT ought, of course, to
be bet-til \ but it was very soon shortened by dropping the
second t. The resulting form bttsl was still so troublesome,
that htit was gladly accepted as a substitute for it. On the other
* The ' liking' and ' disliking' are not really dialincl Irom the desiie
for «canom7 of effort. In each ™se, the more traulilesomc »ound [to
' le ipeaker) ii ' disliked,' and (imconsdonilr) avoided.
35°
ENGLISH CONSONANTS.
[OLW.a
hand, there was a Middle-English verb to alye, ta stone fi
in the phrase — ' They shall a&y bitterly the coming of mcl
a guest' {Thersilfs, in Dodsley's Old Plays, ed. HazUu, i.
406), This was confused with the verb abide, by a false
association, and hence we find in Shakespeare's Jul. Ctnar.
iii. 2, 1 19—' If it be found so, some will deere al/iile it.' In
this case, we have no economy, but an increase of effort,
caused by sounding a useless d; and tlie explanation i$, of
course, that tlie increase of effort is due to the external
influence of an ideal association, which led the speaker
to think lliat the d was essential. Nearly all changes
can he explained by one or other of these two priociples,
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 economy o/tfforl or of menUI
asiociation, 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 catac
us to prefer certain sounds to others ; and for t)ie influence
of the eye upon the ear, which has caused us to pronounce the
/ in/ault, inserted by pedants into the older (oitajaul, as has
been already explained. Hence, in applying the first prit^
ciple of tfonomy of (ffort, we must allow for the influence
of national habits ; and. in applying the second principle of
txltrnal influence. -we must extend il so as to include all kinds
of menial association with respect to the forms of words.
§ 322. The following are the principal methods by wbidi
consonantal change is effected in English.
CHAt
1 Sound, indefendbkt of the Symbols.
1. Palatalisation.
2. Voicing of voiceless letters.
3. Vocaiisation of voiced letters.
i'J.]
CONSONANTAL CHANGES.
351
Vpi
Asumilation, producing combinations of voiceless
letters, voiced letters, or doubled letters.
5. Substitution of one voiceless consonant for another ; or
e voiced consonant for another.
Metathesis ; or change of place of adjacent consonants.
Abbreviation of various kinds; including aphzeresis,
ibesis, Ac.
8. Change of voiced letters to voiceless.
9. Insertion of ' excrescent ' letters, chiefly in accented
jyllables; and other additions.
I Changes is the Symbols employed, or
I 10. Mere change of symbol, the sound
ntj'E TO THEM.
[ being the
^^V [ I. Symbol-change causing misapprehension ; misuse of
symbols.
la. Doubling of consonantal symbols; often due to ac-
centual stress.
^H^ To these we must add, in connection with the subject :
^^B 13. Vowel-changes due to consonantal influence.
^^P 14. Confluence of forms, sometimes accidental, but some-
^^^mes 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
aample in each case, for clearness, before proceeding
I. Palalalisalion. k>ch. The guttural *, as in A. S.
Itfrf (pron. kild) passes into the palatal ch in E. (hild.
Voicing, k > g; I > d. The voiceless k in A. S. die,
^ dike, b voiced to g in the derived E, dig. A. S. pr4l > E.
' proud.
3. Vocalisation, g > y. The voiced g in A. S. di^ has
been vocalised, and now forms a component of the diphthong
35 a ENGUSH CONSONANTS. [Chap. XVIII.
4. Assimilation. kd>kt\ gs > gz; fm > mm. The word
looked is pronounced look/, by alteration of kd to if,
where k and / are both voiceless. Dogs is pronounced dogz^
by alteration of gs to gz, where g and z are both voiced.
The A. S. hldfmcESse is now Lammas^ with the double »i for
fm,
5. Substitution, k> t\ th (dh) > d. The M. E. bakke is
mod. E. baty the winged mammal. We have the form
murder as well as the older murther {z=:murdher).
6. Metathesis, sk > ks ; ps > sfi. 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. fawL
The Lat. episcopus has become E. bishop. The Gk. ikw^^o-
<rivr) became A. S. lelmesse, and is now alms,
8. Unvoicing, d > t. The A. S. cudele is now cuttle-fish.
Examples of this character are very rare.
9. Addition, Excrescent/ after w, &c. A. S. amiig is E.
em-p-ty,
10. Symbol-change, A. S. r in cyn is now ^ in kin. A. S.
rze; is E. qu.
1 1 . Misapprehension, 5 > 0. Caper caly is now r<z/^r-
12. Doubling. A. S. ^//^ is E. bitter) with no alteration
in the sound of the i,
1 3. Consonantal influence, er > ar ; common. M. E.
heruest is now harvest.
14. Confluence, A. S. yi/^^/ and K.^, fUl are no^ fowl
and ybi//, sounded alike. A. S. geard and A. S. ^r^ are
now \iO\ki yard,
§ 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.
f-3>5.1
ffrSTORY OF IT.
353
Falatalisation. So ccilled because it causes ihc formation
of the 'palatal' letters f A, y, jA, bA (as in azure). The
letters & and g are liable to be followed by what has been
called a. parasitic y, introduced between the .4 or ff and the
vowel-sound. Good examples are seen in ibe occasional
vulgar English pronunciation of iind as iyind, and of garden
^sgyarden. This ky is intermediate between k and eh, and
the result of the introduction of the_y is the ultimate passage
of i into ch altogether. Similarly ^^ passes through ^j- into
y or j. This is extremely common in Anglo-Sason, in
which dialect the parasidc vowel was e, which produced the-
same result. Thus the Latin calc-em was borrowed in the
A, S. form ctak, whence E. chalk ; and the A, S. gcard (for
*gard) is now yard, whereas the cognate Icel. gardr is
preserved provincially in the form garth. The A. S. brycgc
(pronounced bryg-y, with j- like G. U, and j like £._>■ myes)
became M. E. brigge (pronounced brij-j) or lirij-i), mod. E.
bridge (pron. brijj or brij).
It is worth notice that English aboimds with palatal-
isation in other instances besides those arising from k>, ke
and gi, ge. Thus the A. S. see produces E. s/i, as in A. S.
scac-an, later form sceac-an, E. shake; to which we may add
nearly all words that now begin withrA. Further, //and Ji pass
into ch, sk, so that the E. question, nation, pension are practically
pronounced as romic kwesch>n, neishm, pensh^n. Di, zi pass
into J and zh respectively ; as in modulation (modyulaiion),
often turned into mojulalion ; and A. S. grasian, E. graze,
gives the sb. grazier (pronounced greizha),
§ 32e. History of K. The following are examples :
k > oil ; only when followed by e or /'. A. S. ceaf (Dutch
kaf\ E. chaffs. A. S. ceak {borrowed from Lat. eale-em),
~. fhatk, A. S. cierr, a turn; hence E. chare, a turn of
Drk, atkd ehar-waman. A. S. cerlic ; E. charlock, A. S,
' The A. S. c, copied from Ltii. e, hni! the sotuid of *.
354
ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Ca». lVm»
cear-ig, full of care, E. chary ; but the substantive care
preserves the if-sound. A. S, e/acf, or rather t/ce ; E. chtek.
A, S. c/se (borrowed from Lai. easeus); E. eheest. A.S.
e/ojvan ; E. rhiw. A. S, nWn ; K chi'cim. A. S. nd-ofi ;
E. f A/aV. A. S. «W ; E, <-Mf/. A. S. ntit, cyii ; E, cAi//.
A. S. cin ; E. chin. A. S. ein-ati, to split, pp. cin-cn ; whence
E. f A;n-i and prov. E. chine (a small ravine). A- S. eAian,
M. E. chesen ; cf. E. c/ioosf'. A. S. «of/; E. churl.
k > oh, at the end of a syllable ; this sometimes ukes
place in verbs, even when a follows in the A, S. fonn,
' because the final -an passed into -ea. A. S. ac~e. s.. M. E.
acA-e, later acie, which in mod. E. should have been
pronounced as cuh {ei as ey in //lej'), but is always somid«l
as (ii, by confusion with the verb, for which the pro-
nunciation ai is correcL The hardening^ of the c6 to i
was also partly due, in my view, to a pedantic derivation of
the sb. from the Gk. Sxot, with which it has no connection
whatever. See Murray's Dictionary, where the auilior
observes that ' the " O. P." rioters, ignorant of the Shak-
sperian distinction of aic [verb] and ache [substantive],
ridiculed the si age-pronunciation of the sb. by giving it to
the vb. in " John Kembie's head aikkes" ' A. S. tAt* ;
E. beech. A. S. irt/c (gen. benc-e, dat. 6cnc-cy ; E, btntk.
A. S. i/c-an, E. j«i ; with a by-form s/ce-aii, whence (wiih
prefix 6e-) E. beteech. A, S. hirce; E. birch. A, S, bliie-am,
later bldc-en; E. bleach. A. S, blcnc-an, to deceive; M. E-
blench-eii, to turn aside ; E. blench. A. S, brSc, pi. brA, L t.
brtek-s. properly a double plural ; now brneh-is. A. S^ &,
a na A. S. eiiian, in Khlch the KCdO
e, beonie the e seemed lo bdoog to
the^.
' ' Fagui, hilt ' ; see ID)' Supplement.
' la Middle English, ihe (arms of the nominiilivc, ditiie, and accnn*
tive were all conruiieil logelhut. A latge number of mod. E. (su-aJkil)
aomiiiatives arc due to lAt geniltvei ox dativei. Ths^hench a
. dat. ; Ihe Dom. fonn should be btnk.
I
mSTORY OF K. 355
f E, dike; gen. dic-es or dfc-r, M.E. dieht; E. ditch. Here the
I is shortened, as in AV, rf«, below ; it should be spelt dich.
A. S. fine (gen. finc-es, dat. finc-e), E. jfnrA. A, S. /i?c-^ ,
E. Uech. A. S. /fc, a. corpse (dat. llc-e) ; whence E.
lich-gate. A. S. meare (gen. mearc-e) ; E. march, a boundary,
frontier. A. S. ewene-ati, later cwenc-fji ; E. quench. A. S.
rdc-an, also rdce-an ; E, rracA. A. S. r/'re ; E. r/i-A. A. S.
nff'/iT ; M. E. rwilk, swulk ; whence swich, such ; E. such.
(Here the weakening is due to the frequent use of the
pi. su'ilc-e, and the frequent occurrence of final -e in various
oblique cases of the M. E. forms.) A. S. Utc-an, t<iet-an ;
E. teach. A, S. hwilc; E. which; cf. such above. A. S.
uiitue ; E. winch. A. S. wrence, guile, deceit ; M. E. wrench,
guile ; E. wrench, a side-pull, Iwist, sprain. Cf. also reechy
for reeky; starch, from M.E. ttark, A. S. stearc, strong;
church, Northern kirk, from A. S, cyrice.
$ 836. kk > M. E. och > E. toh.
Written cc in A. S. In some cases the kk is preserved.
tk; e.g. ///irT^, from A.S.^rcc-e. But there are
[•everal examples of palatalisation. A. S. dicc-e ; E, ditch.
[A. S. ^icc-e ; E. fiitch. A. S. ^jfc-an, M, E. ycch-en. E. iVcA
(for "yilch) ; by loss of the initial j ^^. A. S, lace-an, to
p. s. pr. /(fffv, whence M. E. lacch-en, to seize,
E. /a/fA, sb., a catch for a door. A. S. macc-a,
iter mtEccea, E. mateh^. A.S. /lac, s., a covering; whence
E. Ihalch. A. S. angel-twicc-a, a hook-twitcher,
name of a worm used as a bait for fish ; hence E, iivikh.
S. wiEce-e, s., £. watch, i. e. watchman. A, S. wice-a, masc.,
'« wkard; wicc-e, fern,, E. witch; cf. E, wick-ed, orig. 'ad-
dicted to wilchcrafl.' A S. wrtscc-a, wrecc-a, an outcast ;
later wreec-e, H. E. wrecch-e, E. wretch. Cf. also io/cA, a
f,' from A. S. bac-aa, to bake ; roA-A for rack. The
' In Mitt. i. 14, the earliest MS, of the A. S. gospels lias the accnsa-
e ge-milc(ean , a later spelling of gi-maccan ; m the laleit MS., tlie
>e word U spelt maccAen.
35fi
ENGLISH COHSONASTS. [Cmp. X¥ttt'
obsolele word Hatch, blacking, is from M, E. blaecke, ink*;
derived from A. S. b!ac, E. black,
§ 327. Voicing, k > oti > j. Sometimes, after it
passed into ch (as above), it is further changed lo /, wlucb
is tlie voiced sound corresponding lo eh (§ 317). Thus the
M. E. knaivUche is due to adding the Scand. suffix -Itchi
(Icel, -Uikt) to E, know; this word is now pronounced noUj
or noultj {^ 3'o)' The M. E. on char, E. a-jar, means "on
the turn'; from A. S. cierr, cyrr, a turn. Hence we arc
enabled to explain some difficult words beginning with J-
A. S. etajl, the jaw, became M.E. chattel (= chavel), con-
tracted to chauU, chmi'l, later jotle ; E. Jowl, jok ; indwd,
we actually find the Norfolk jig-by-jok for cheek-f>y-tha^
(Halliwell). So also jing-le seems to be the frcqueniadve
form of chink. See also_/r'//in my Dictionary,
Sometimes k is weakened to s (wTitten ce). Thus the lat.
ace. prinei-pem becomes F. prince, by dropping ihe last
syllable. In the same way we may explain E, pranct as
a weakened fonn from prank.
§ 838. k>g. This is simply a case of 'voicing'; yet
examples are rare. Flagon and sugar have been noticed
above; 5,319. Hence we can explain E. i/t^, M.E. i/^f-or=
dikien, from A. S. dlc-ian, to make a dike ; from die, a dike.
Sprig answers to Icel. sprek ; cf. ' Sarmentum, spraec,' in the
Corpus Glossary. So also the Du. word Irekker was adopud
into English as /ricker, but is now /rigger.
Final k lost. A. S. sfc-an became M.E. sigh-en, wheDM
E, sigh. It was probably first weakened to *sfg-ati; MB
examples oi g>gh be!ow. The ^^ is now mute. Tto
is a case of exireme weakening ; k>g>gh, and then drops.
So also A. S. bar-lie became barli^ in the Ormulum, anil
is now barl^\ here^- represents 3 to ihe eye, but is realfjr
In Wright's Vocnb,, ed. Wiilcker, ]j.
rium I glossed ila<eie-pel\
[filoss'-d MacteV
tuTc ihcline — 'Attn
[ijloiscd Ha<tltt\ <c
paao.l
mSTORY OF SJC.
357
I may observe that (as Dr. Murray shews) bar-Uc=
bar-lie. i.e. 'that which is like iear^ where biar is the
Lowl. Sc. word representing A. S. here, barley. [Not -lie for
i/ae, a leek, plant, as in my Dictionary.] The final c {^k")
^is also lost in /, A. S. k ; in every, from A. S, (ffre, ever, and
^neJi', each ; and in all words ending in -ly, A. S. -lie, older -He.
^P §329. Bubstitatioa. k>t. This substitution is seen in
the common provincial form ast for ask. ' I oj/ your pardon,
ma'am,' says Mrs. Gamp (Martin Chuzzlewit, ch. xicv). The
Shakesperian word aprienck (Rich. II. iii. 4. 29) is now apri'
Kj/. Similarly, M. E. bakke is now bat, in ihe sense of a
ying mammal. The A. S. gt-mac-a has become mod. E.
\ak ; a resull which is curiously confirmed by the fact that
our modem inmate was formerly inmakt '. Milt, the soft roe
of fishes, is a substitution for milk, Swed. mjslke; this was
probably due to association with milt, spleen (A. S. mill),
which is quite a different word.
k>p. The Lat. /on/j/d became A. S. lopust", later altered
to loppestre; whence E. lobster.
§ 380. 8k > Bh. Precisely as k becomes eh, so sk becomes
sh. formerly written sek ; this result is really due to palatal-
isation (5 324); and is commonly due to the occurrence of f
K oblique cases (§ 315). Thus A. S. ase-an, pi., is mod. E.
i-es, by substituting the sufllt -es for -m (= -an). So also
,S. eese, M.E. aseA, E. asA (tree). A. S. dise. borrowed from
uit. JiKU!-. E. disA. A. S./j<-; E.p/i. A.S.JlOse, M.E.
_/f«fA ; E. /<jA. a. S. Jerse, M. E. /rrse/i, and (by mela-
lhesiB)yrMfA ; "E-./resh. So also A. S. merse. hiusce, foerscan,
wasean, vjysean ; E. marsh, nesh, thresh, wash, wish. The
common A. S. suffix -ise is E. -ish. Initially, A. S. sc
often became see ; thus seac-an is also sceae-an, whence
E. shake {§ 324). Similarly scamu, seeamu; E. shame, &c.
> 1 h«w unfoTtunately lost the reference for this form ; but 1 c
punmlee ils coircctness.
* See Lebsler va mj amended Snpplcmenl to Etym. Did.
358 ENGUSH cONSOhiAfrrs.
The general rule is that the A. S. ic almost invariably %
comes £. sh ; and, consequently, that most £.
beginning with sc or sk are not of A. S,, but of Scandinavian
origin. Bui sk ts also liable to be affected by subslitutton,
being interchangeable with ks ov x; ^s '\n A. S. astian, to
ask, also spell axian, whence prov, E. ax, in the same sense.
Hence A. S. miscan became M. E. mixtn, E. mix \ A. S, ys-
cian became M. E. yxm. yxen, ¥..yex, to hiccough. Ki is
spelt x in A. S., and generally remains so, as in ax,/bXi ox,
six, wax (to grow), wax (a substance) ; A. S. ax {tax),Jax,
§ S81. History of EW, EN, QTS, cv>qa. This Is
merely a graphic change ; the pronunciation did not alter.
Cf. A, S. cw/rt, E. quetn, &c,
kD>gnoru. The A. S.m remains as <(» (but pronoonced
as »), in cna/a, cnidan, cnimv, enyllan, cnif, cnihl, cnylliiit, mei,
citolta, cndwan ; E. knave, knead, knee, knell, knife, knigkl,
knit, inotl, knot, know. But the word gnarled stands for
'knarled, being related to M. E. inarre, a knot in wood ; the
Shakesperian word gnarl, to snarl, is for 'knarl, being allied
to Du. knorren, G. kniirren, to growl ; M\AgTiash is for 'knath,
cf. Dan. knaike. In gnal, h.Si.gme/, the^ seems original;
in gnaiv, A. S. gnagan, it is merely the prefix ge-, which dis-
appears in G. nagen. The difficulty of sounding * and g
before n has led to their total suppression in mod. E. ; the]'
only appear to the eye, and might as well be dropped. In
fact, this has happened in a few words ; m'p was formcrljr
knip, and nibhU is its frequentative. The nap on cloih
was formerly nnppe. and denoted the little knots or kneps
on the cloth, which were nipped off in the process which
produced the nap. There is very little trace of this in A.S„
i find the gloss ' uellere, hnoppiam (sic) ' in Wright's
' The (bmu wtaian, wtax are A.S, (WetKx) ; we find N»itbanibritn
', Mercian vsrxa}, ibcy gmw, Matt. vi. ]S; alul Mercian wtx,
L mx, VespsilflD Psalter, 57. 9.
I scribal
mSTOHY OF H. 359
1. Wtllcker, 480. 23. Here hnoppiam is of course
error for hnoppian or cnoppian, to pluck off the
lUC
ft
Kfaiops on cloth.
§ 832. History of H. It will be convenient to consider
the aspirate (A) next, because of its answering to the
Aryan k. We find that it is generally retained, inilially,
in English words, as hoi, hill, him, but dropped in words
of F. origin, as heir, honesl, honour, hostler {oslkr), hotel,
humble, humour. But the fact is that many F. words have
been conformed to the native usage, and few knowingly
say 'ahU, 'aughly, 'carsc, 'er6, 'eritage, 'ideous, 'omage, 'orrible,
and the like ; although some of these are not particularly
uncommon. Even 'umhk is disliked, and some fairly sound
h (rather than y) in humour, human, humid. It is to
noted also, that tlie spelling (of some at least of these
irds) without initial h in Middle English is not at all
Common ; omsle and onaure being rarely found '. The
only words in which the spelling without h is really com-
mon in M.E. are ah'i, eir, erilagc, oil, ostel, osleter; for
habil, htir, &c., to which we must add the native word
//, from A, S. hit. Still, we may certainly conclude that
the F. A was weaker than the English, and was hardly
sounded. !t 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 i
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, ejien for helxn, i. e. hence ; and conversely
hende iorendt (end), and herUs toterles (earls); see the Glos-
sary. As I have nowhere seen an explanation of this phe-
nomenon, I venture to offer one. My theory is that, the
:ing strong, and ihc French h weak, the lower
360 ENGLTSR CONSOftAlfTS. tCittf, XVm.
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 100 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 inclined to think this
explanation correct, because it will also explain the confused
use of V for w. Here also the w was one of the conunonest
of English sounds, whilst in French it was somewhat rare '.
On the other hand, initial v was so common in French, thai
the E. word wine-yard (A. S. win-geard) was actually turned
into vine-yard, and so remains. The lower classes tried to
supplant w by v. the result being thai they also turned p
into w. The chief wonder is tliat 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.
hl>l; lui>ii; lir>r. In A. S. we frequently find initial
hi, hit, and Ar, The initial h js alwa}^ lost in later M. E. and
in mod. E.; but it is very necessary to know which wordi
once had it, because the h will answer, etymologically, to
an Aryan k. Thus A. S. hl^d, E. loud, is cognate with Gk.
nXiTot, renowned, Skt. (nila, heard. The list of AZ-words
contains : ladder, lade, ladle, lady, Lammas, lani, tafitimg,
latt (of herrings), laugh, lean, v. and adj., leap, lid. Unit {ft
a chain), list (to hearken), Hslen, loaf, lord, lot, loud*. Tlit
^j-words are : nap (to slumber), nap (of cloth), neck, mt^A,
' Not <iuiie ooknown to the AngloFtcDch dialect, which had waramHt,
la woTTSnt, &c, SDch words being mostly ufTeulODic oHgin. fl^jmcrw b
on exception lo tbii rule, txing from Lat. uiptra.
' A.S. also has wl; Bsin latisf, ilnnimerin^;. whence 1^, lisf. So bIki
wrap ii M. E, viraffen, aUo ivlafpen : whence E. /afi, la wrap op.
Lute'Tuarm is difficult ; il Kems to be due 10 A. S. kUe, shelter, wmntul^
, confused with wlae, tcjiid.
f 333-]
mSTOSY OP H.
361
I
nahy nelilt {h lost in A. S.), nit, nod, nul; to whicb may be
added the Scand. words ntif, nigg-ard (with F. suffix). The
&--words are: rail (a night-dress), ramsons, rath, rallier,
raUU, raven, raw, reach or rclch (to try to vomit), rear-
mouse, reed, reel (for >-arn), 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), rumple, rung; to which may be added the Scand.
words rap, to seize hastily, rape (a division of Sussex), rijle
(to plunder), rouse, ruck (a fold), ruck (a small heap), rush, v.,
nth.
$ 338. Fin&I h. The A. S. final k 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 /. The final gk is mute in borough, bough,
dotigh,ploitgh, slough (mire), thorough, though, through; high,
nigh, thigh. It is sounded asyin chough, amgh, enough,
\iough, laugh, rough, tough, trough. The puzzling combina-
tion oi^h is due lo ihe merging into one of three distinct
irms, viz. -tigh (descending from A. S. -uh), -ogh (A. S. -dh),
•h (A. S. -/!h), whilst at the same lime the loss of the gh
affected the qua]ity of the preceding vowel, by the prin-
iple of compensation. Regularly, we should have had
thrugh, A. S. 'pruh (for purh), but il has been lengthened lo
through, as if from A. S, '/'rUh ; or eise fhurgh, A. S. Purh,
but it has been altered to lhor{ou)gh. Again, we should have
bad dogh, A. S. ddh ; the spelling dough is elymologically
inexact; and the same remark applies to the mod. E. though,
put for Mj;. thogh. A.S. //edh. Again, the A.S. I4h, plSh,
tlSh. should have become boogh, ploogh, skogh, but the 00 has
been further changed to ou, so that these spellings are regular'.
The A. S. & in r&h, i, e. rough, answers to M, E, ou (long ti),
is, thcf bave come sbout legukrlr ; but, itt (be gk ii now loat,
really uome to be btu, fleu, slon, pronounced as [omic baa.
363
ENGUsn COmONANTS.
[OHna
but the tt has been shortened, though the spelting
retained. Each word must, in fact, be investigated s<
Hiccough is a spelling due to popular etymology ; it should
rather be hickup, as pronounced. Clough represents an A. S.
*el6k ; see the New E. Diet. For neigh, weigh, see § 338.
§ 334. Tinal ht. The A. S. ht tinal answers to Ai^an
kl; cf, A.S. r/A/with Lat. rectus. It is now vmv.t:nght, and
is common ; as in lighi, might, night, A. S. l/ohl (Mercian
liht), mihl, niht. In the combinadon -ought there ia the same
confusion as that noticed above (§ 333), Thus A.S. jxttii?
should have become sooghl, but the vowel-sound has been
altered, and the symbol ou is a bad represeniaiive of the
modern sound. On the other hand, in the A. S. J>oht, the 0
is short ; which should have given E. thoghl. 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, are miswritten for dclite, sprilely ; boili
words being of French origin.
5 336. Lose of h. In some cases;, h disappears from Sight
altogether; whether finally, as in/«, A. S./^oA, lea, A. S. lAA,
rpe, A. S. rdk ; medially, as in trout, A. S. truht, borrowed
from Lat. trucia, and not, short for nought, A. S. naM ; M
initially, as in //, A. S. hit, and in the combinations hi, hn, kr
(see § 333). In some cases, the h has already disappeared
even in A. S. ; both finally, as in shoe, A. S. sce^, Goth. stoA^;
and medially, as in ear (of corn), A. S. ^ar, Northumbrian
tier (Matt. xii. i), Goih. aha : see, A. S. s/en. Goth. saihw-oK ;
sidy, A. S. tle'an, Goih. slahan ; tear, sb.. A, S. te'^r, Golb.
iagr (for 'tahr) ; Welsh, A. S. welisc (for 'welhise), a d
live from weath, a foreigner,
§ 336. Hw > wh. A. S. kif is now written wh ; I
hv'ii, hivmt, E. who. what, &c. There are cases io wbici
is miswritten for to; as In E. whit, put for wiht, A.S. wM,
and a doublet of wight, so thai the h is in the wrong place ;
whelk, a mollusc, which the lower orders correctly call a
s jsr.l
mSTOKY OF O.
3«3
from A. S. iviloc ; whortltberry, better wirlhherry, from A. S.
U)}'rlil in the compound plant-name biscop-wyrtU.
§ 3S7. Hiatory of Q. Initial g. The various fortunes
of the A. S. g may be treated more briefly. Numerous ex-
^^bmples can be added from my Dictionary, and the tracing of
^^Konsonantal changes seldom causes much trouble, when
^^BBce we know the regular changes to which they are liable.
^^B The A. S. g (or rather, Mercian) initial g may remain hard
^^■ven before e and /(_>■), as in A. S. gtar-wt, f. pi., whence E,
^P^r; A.S.^/-fl«, to get; k.S.gidig.gi/t.gyldan, {on)ginnan,
gyrdan, gifan, E. giddy, gift, gild, {ie)gin, gird, give. This
bard f is sometimes absurdly written gh, as in ghaslty, ghosl,
A. S, gdstlic, gdtl ; or else gu, as in guest, guild, guilt, A. S.
gceit,gild,gylL
ge>y. A. S.fi- (initial) has two distinct origins; some-
times it represents the Goth.y (=j'), but in other words the t
has crept in, much as in the case of the prov. E. gyardm for
garden, cited above. In both cases it becomes "E.y. Exx. :
(i) Goth. Jus, A. S. ge, E. yt ; Goth, ja, A. S. g/a, E. yra ;
A.S.^«/, E.j'«'; Goth. >r. A. S, ^/ar, E.>'ra/'; A.S.^i/
{G. Jets-/), 'E.yel; Goth. yi»>w, K.?i. geon, 'E.yon; Goth.
juggs {=*jungi), A. S. geong, Z.young. Also (a) A. S. geard
{\ce\.garSr), 'E.yard, an enclosed space; and in hke manner
%,yare, yarn, yell, yellou). Yule, from A. S, gearo. gearn, gellan,
geolo, ge4l. Gi has the same fate, as in "E-.yard {Tod),yeam
(to long for), yeasl, yelp, yesUrday. yet. yex, yield, from A. S.
gierd. giernan or gyrnan, gist, gilpan. giislra, git or get,
gitcian, gieldan or gyldan. E. yawn represents a fusion
^^^ (WO A. S. forms, geSnian and ganian. In Middle English,
^^■bie y (= A. S. ge, gi, gy) is very often written j. The
^^Bbtnnaoii prefix ge- has almost entirely disappeared; we
^^^aij trace it in the archaic ywis, yclrpt, yede, A.S.gewis, ge-
' £xplaiDedbyiiiefromA.S.f/(i/^. re-let iEbe(«o).
Kg/a (orgt) iwd, i.e. jem, so; as sDggestcd bj Kluge.
But it miy Ik
364 EJfGZJSff COfJSOJfAJfTS. [C«*K X»in.
c/w^rf,pp.,,?e-''otA'. and in the middle syllable of fo«i/::y-Hwf,
A. S. hand-ge-weoTc, and hand-i-cra/l. Similarly, it is best 10
explain yean from A. S. ge-Amian, not ianian ; see also
my explanation oi yearn (a), to grieve. It appears as ^ in
e-nough, from A. S. ge-nSh ; and as ^- in g-naw, A. S. gnagan
(for 'ge^nagen). The initial ^ has disappeared in »/i from
A. S. giy ; itch. A. S. giccan ; -iVfr, A. S. gkel, in the com-
pound ic-ick, A. S. (s'gicel.
\ 338. Final and medial g. The A. S. £- is seldom
preserved medially or finally. If changed, the formulte are :
g > gh (silent); g >y (vocal) or ('; g>w (vocal) or cw;
g >/; or sometimes it disappears. Exx. ; A, S. fu'ig, E-
twig, where the preservation of g is probably due to llie
shortening of the long vowel. A. S. hndg-an, E. neigh ; A. S.
vxg-an, E. weigh. A. S. dirg, E. day ; A. S. grdg, E. gra^;
A. S. eesge, E. ^y, &c. The A. S. suffis -ig = £. ^, a« in
hal-ig, E. ^o/y', &c. A. S, i^ijB, E. ail ; A. S. ^jt^^m, E. blain ;
so also in E. brain, fain, /air, hail, s., lair, maiden, main (i.e.
strength), mullein, nail, rail (a night-dress), rain, sail, snaS.
stair, sliU, tail, thane (for *thein), twain, upbraid, wain. A. S.
h6g-an,-i., \o bow, tog-a, S., a foic; A, S./ugol, 'E./owl; A.S.
»7(ya, E. moH'; A.S. dgan.'E. owe; A. S. k^^ E. sow (pif:];
so also in dawn, draw, mow (heap of corn), own, saw, shoK.
A. S. ifiiife'a, E. gallow{s) ; A. S. morgen, M. E. morwen, ehort-
ened to morwe, E. morrow ; so also in borrow, hallow, swal-
low, V, A. S. lArcr^, E. rfwar/^ The medial jf has quite dis-
appeared in A. S. stiweuril (for 'stig-weard), E. ilewurd*. In
wine, A. S. nigon, and /i7f, A. S, tiggl (borrowed from LaL
iegula), die loss of the ^ has lengthened the i', by compensa-
tion. We have curious changes in henchman for 'AengslnuH,
A. S. fungest-mann, horseman, groom ; and in orehari fa
a prefix; just as in Golh. /oJW, It
' For the vowel-toand, cf. A. S. hiva, E. Am. The i ii ■ffcdcd b; Uk
* SJO-I
HISTORY OF G.
3«5
A. S. orl-geard, i. e. wort-yard (cf. our modem pronunciation
of torture).
ng. The A. S. ng is usually preserved, but passes into nj
(wriuen ngt) in positions similar to those in which k is pala-
talised. Thus A, S. sengan, M. E. stttgen, is now singe ; cf.
also critige, swinge, twinge, ding-y, sting-y. The A. S. ne or
ng has become n in kncten or lengtm, spring ; mod. E. lent.
5 339. Doable g. The A. S. eg represents both {gg) and
(^), where j =_^-consonant. Hence come M. E. gg, ggc, and
mod. E. dge (_/') in many cases. A. S. hrycg (gen. and dat.
brycge), M. E. brigge, E. bridge ; A. S, i-r^, M. E. f^'^f, E. fi/jfir ;
A.S. A«-^, M.E. hrggf, 'E.. Judge* ; A. S.micge, properly *myege
(cf. ' cuiix, mvy^' in ihe Corpus Glossary of the eighth century,
i. 617), E. OTMjff ; K.Si. hrycg, ^. ridge; A. S. secg, "E. sedge ;
A. S. s/tcge, E. sledge-hammer ; A. S. lecc^, E. wedge. The
breaking down of the g into the sound of/ is really due to
the frequent use of the oblique cases of the substantives,
in which a final -1; followed the tg; as in A. S. brycg-e, gen.,
dat., and ace. of brycg, whence the M. E. nom. look the form
brigg-t instead of brigg or brig. The Northern dialect early
rejected the final inflectional -e, which prevented this change ;
hence the Northumbrian forms brig, bridge, rig, ridge (back),
seg, sedge. This enables us to explain mug-wort, i. e. midge-
wori, from the early A. S. mycg (without a following vowel) ;
for A. S._y becomes both i and a in later English. For the
sense, cf. flea-bane. In some verbs, an ¥..y= A. S. (single)
g; as in E, lay, A. S. lege, imper. of lecgan ; cf. lie, buy.
When the double g is preserved in modem English, we may
be sure that ihc word is of Scand. origin. Thus the verb to
egg on is from Icel. rggja, to instigate ; the A. S. eggian could
only give edge, and indeed we find the form to edge on also'.
Hence also the derivation of tgg from A. S. wg, an egg (as in
' There are three A.S. forms, vii. hag-a, E. haia ; hegi, M. E. hey, hay,
ma is ki^iuard; aod heeg, E. hedge.
* See £11^ in Riclurdsgn.
366 BNGLISB CONSONAlfTS. [CUK XTHt
my Dictionary), cannot be right ; the A. S. ag became (regu-
larly) M. E. ey, anil is obsolete, whilst the plural ivgru became
M. E. ^re-n (with added -n for -en), and is also obsolete. E.
(gg is certainly of Scand. origin, from Icel. tgg (Swed. ^,
Dan. trg) ; as further explained in Chap. XXIIL
§ 340. History of T. T is rarely voiced, so as 10 be-
come d. In native words we have only A. S. pr6t, E. proud;
A. S. pryk, E. pride; A. S. dotl or del, E. clot and (W.
The change of / to Ih, as in swart (A-S. swear/), whence
sujirlhy, is hard to e.xplain; equally diflicult is taih for M. E.
latle, A. S. /a/to. Final / has disappeared in A. S. anfiik,
M. E. anvell, E. anvil. It is also lost before st in A. S. i^
E. i(i;j/; M. E. lalsl, E. /aj-/, superlative of A. S. l<et, E. iaU.
It has also disappeared in ado, put for al-do. It is only
written once in the words eighth, eighteen, eighty, put for
*eightlh, 'tighlteen, 'a'ghtly. In some difficult positions It i*
not sounded ; as in boatnoain (romic bou'san), castle, Chritt-
mas, mislleloe, wrestk. In the word blossom, A. S, btSstma, il
has even disappeared from the written form ; so abo in
gorse, from A. S. gorsl. In the word tawdry, the / is all iha
remains of the word saint, the word being a conlniciion for
Saint Awdry, i.e. Saint ^peipryd (lit. 'noble strength*).
The curious word stickler, lit, ' controller,' answers to an
older slightlcr, from M. E, slightlen, frequentative of A.&
stihtan, sti/Uian, to control ; here we have a change, front /
to k, by a substitution due lo misapprehension. Popular
etymology connected it with the sb, stid:.
§ 341. Exoresoent t. There are numerous cattes in
which an excrescent letter is developed, owing lo a fullness of
stress upon a syllable, after the letters m, n, or s. On this
subject the reader may consult an ingenious paper by Prof.
March, 'On Dissimilated Gemination,' which appeared in llie
Transactions of the American Philological Association for
1877. He remarks thai 'the first p in happy represcDis ibc
closing of the lips in hap-, the second/ represeais the 0
i 34»-l
mSTORY OF TH.
sfi?
ing of the lips in •^.' Again, ' ihe labial nasal m is ofien
doubled ; but the same movement of the organs which makes
m with the nose open, will m:ike b if it be closed ; hence we
find b appearing in the place of a second m. The most com-
mon case is before r, or /. . . . A. S. dumerian has in Ger-
man simple gemination and appears as schlummern ; in E.
the lips close in slum-, but the aniicipaiion of the coming r
leads to stopping the nose as they part, and what would
have been -mer turns out -her ; and so we have dumber by
dissimilaled gemination.' At any rale, the effect is certainly
due to stress ; mb is more forcible than vtm, and is substi-
tuted for it accordingly. Precisely parallel is the change of
nn \Q nd\ as in A. %. Punor, which became 'thunner and so
thunder. Similar are mp and nl. At the end of a word we
find a substitution of st for ss, or at any rale an excrescent /
is heard after s. Prof. March thinks that this tendency was
helped forward by the fact that st is a familiar E. ending ; it
occurs, e.g. in the znd person singular of the verb, as in
lovtst, lovidst, and in superlatives. Clear examples of the
escrescent / after j or .*■ are seen in E. agains-l, amids-l,
amongs-l,behes-t, betwix-t, hes-i, mids-l, wfiils-l; from M. E.
agtin-es (A. S. ong^an), M.E. amidd-ci, amoiig-es, A. S. bt-
h&s, M. E. betwix, A. S. h&s, M. E. midd-ts, whil-es. T is
excrescent in the difficult sb. earms-t (M. E. ernes), a pledge.
Excrescent / after « occurs only in anen-t, A. S. ane/n, anemn ;
in words of F. origin. (We may also note E. u}er-t, from
S. wdr-e, due to association with was-t; but this form is
like the rest, of purely phonetic origin.)
§ 343. History of TH, The E. ik has two sounds,
voiceless and voiced (th, dh). 1 shall here denote the former
by J", and the latter by 3 in A. S. words. In the cases where
/A has been replaced by d, we may assume that it was voiced
(dh, S) ; but where it has been replaced by /. it was voiceless
(fi). The A. S. ge-/or3-ian, /orS-ian, to further, promote,
orovide, became M. E. {a)/orden, and is now afford. A. S.
E
368 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [CWf. IfVtIt
fyr3en, a load, became iurSen, burthen (=burdhen), and u
now burden ; the cbange being assisted by association with
htrdm, the refrain of a song (F. bourdon)^ A. S. di^e became
M. E. cottde, ctmde, later coud, now spelt could, by needless in-
sertion of /, to conform it, to the eye, with should and xcould.
A. S. fiddt, tA.-E.. filheh {=fidhele), is mvi fiddk (for 'JidU).
A. S, morSor, M. E. morSre, mordre, became both murlhtr
and murder, of which only the latter is now commonly
used. A. S. rSSir, M, E. rother, roder, is now rudder. Simi-
larly, we find that the M. E. spither is now spider. As W
the voiceless ]>, we find it changed to / in A. S. A/ti^a,
M.E. ie^pe, also hq/e, later iighlh (Milton), now JiffgJU;
A.S. nosfyvl, M.E. nosepirl, now nostril; A. S. grsih^,\xux
gesihl, siht, now sighl; A. S, slalwyrP, M.E. slahvoTth, ao«
slalwari ; A. S. pUfPe, E. /^/ '. It is also explained below
(5 343)1 that M can change into rf, by Verner's Law, in the
conjugation of verbs, so that a verb whose primary rtei»
ends in Ih can have other stems ending in d. This accoimli
for the derivation of suds from [he verb to seelkc (pp. soddai^
and of lead, v., and lode from A. S. Uif-an, to travel. The
voiced th (dh) in bathe, breathe, loathe, sheathe, soothe, vreatMi,
is derived, by voicing, from the voiceless Ih in hath, brtoA,
loath, shealh, sooth, wreath. The reason why tlie th in thoe
verbs is voiced is very simple, viz. because, in the M. E. foflB^
it came between tarn vowels, whereas in the subslanli\'C5 dM
Ih was final, Cf. M. E. breSen. to breathe, with M. E. br^
breath. Assimilation of tk 10 s takes place in bliss, put dor
A, S. blips, older form lili3'S, happiness, derived from MQIr,
bliihe, happy ; and in lissom, put for Ulk-some, 1. e. h'the-mm.
IiOBB of th. Finally, th is lost in diGicult combinztions, a&
in worship for worthship ; wrist for 'writhst, from wrU-gmflO
1 Koch addi E. deck, from A. S. Petean, to Ihatch. But thii is italic
WTDQg, (1) because ileeli \% a late impurtation frum Piilch, anii <'*]
became the voiceloa tk (|i) can Qn)y change intti f in English.
WTOPg ii bis dciivation of A. S. dmcrg, n dwarf, Utaaptueerh, j
HISTORY OF D.
3'59
(risl; Norfolk, Norman, Norway, Norwich, all derivatives
from Norlh ; and in dothts, commonly pronounced as the
' romic ' clouj;, on account of the difficult combination dz.
So also A. S. pwild is E. whitik ; and thwack is commonly
whack, often pronounced as ' romic ' wa;k.
§ 343. HiatoryofD. Wc learn, from Verner's Law, that
in many cases a th is changed into d. The fact that the A. S.
pt. t, of wcorditn, to become, was v>ear3 in the ist and 3rd
persons singular, wurd'C in the and person, and wurd-on in
the plural, caused confusion between d and the voiced Ih in
M. E. Again, an A, S. d often answers to Icel, S. Hence it
18 not surprising to find that the A. S. hider, pider, kwider,
Jtxdtr, mSdor (Icel. h/Sra, pd$ra . . .fadir, mSSir) are now
hithir, thilher, whit her, father, mother*. So also A. S, wedcr
(Icel. ve3r), is E. weather ; M. E. tedder is now tithrr (cf. Icel.
ijftj^) ; A. S, gtrdrian is now gather ; A. S. iS-giedre is now
^^4^rlher. E. sward, as in greensward, A. S. rwetwd, also
^k|q)pears provincially as swarth, Icel. svordr. E. yard, from
^R^ S. geard, also appears as garth, from Icel. gardr.
^ ZJ becomes / in E. abht, from A. S. abbod; but here the
influence of the Lat. ace. form abbat-em is obvious. A. S.
a^lt is now cuttle-fish (cf. G, kultdfisch) ; but the origin of
the word is obscure, A.S. Idd, M.E. Ield,telt,\s now /r'lt
(of a cart) ; so also the Icel. ^'ald is accompanied by Dan.
*//, Swed. tdlt. The final -ed of the pp. is often pronounced
_Sa '{§318); hence we have wont for won-ed. A, S. wun-od,
ip, of iM/rMfin, to accustom; whence even wont-ed {=Vjon-ed-
\, with reduplicated suffix. Note also such forms as huill,
irl, stnt, kep-l, left, Het-t; and the entire disappearance of
rf after / and d, as in aghast, led. Final -d stands for -ed in
ial-d, M. E. tall-ed.
§ S44. Loss of d. D disappears in a few words ; as in
' But father and mother may have been dut
brother -, for they are £lill proaounccd with d L
atbetc the None iolliiciicc is very strong.
Willi
West Cumbttland,
37°
ENCUSH CONSONANTS.
[Qup.]
answtr, gospil, woodbine, A. S. andswerian, godsptl, wudtthind;
wanton, formerly waniand ; line, a prong of a fork, A.S.
lind; lime (tree), A. S. lind {siee p. 371); also in upAolt/erer,
fonnerly upholdster ; and in bandog, formerly hand-dog.
Exoreaoeut d (cf. § 341). Excrescent d appears after a
at the close of an accented syllable, as in boun-d in the sense
of ' prepared to go,' M. E. boun, Icel. hHinn, prepared, pp. of
b&a \ dwin-d-le, frequentative of A. S. dwin-an, to dwindle ;
gan-d-er, A. S. gartdia, earlier form gatira ; hind, a peasant,
M. E. kine, from A. S. hina, really the gen. pi, of Mwa, 3
domestic; kin-d-red, M. E. tinrede, A. S. cyn-radnt; Un-d,
M. E. len-en, A. S. li£n-an ; roun-d, to whisper, A. S. riin-ia*;
spin-d-Ie, M. E, spinel, A. S. spin!; thun-d-er, \.S. Pun-or;
and perhaps s<oun-d-rtl. In /on-d, the suffix is that of the
pp. (Conversely, in some words, the combination nd is
pronounced as n ; as in groundsel, handsome, hattdkerrhttf-
Lasily, dn is pronounced as n in Wednesday.)
Excrescent d also appears after / in a/-(/-fr (tree), A-S.tffr;
el-d-er (tree), A. S. eller-n; and in such forms as aldtrfiril,
i. e. first of all, where al-d-er is for M. E, aller. A- S. aiJt«,
gen. pi, of eat. Iron-mould was formerly jron-mo/f, u in
Lyly's Euphues, p. 39 ; the -d may be due to -ed, as if for
mol-ed, i. e. stained, from moU, A. 5, mii/, a spot- Nta-
fangle-d was formerly newe-fatg-el, i. e. prompt to catch ai
new tilings, as in Chaucer, C. T. 10931.
Assimihilion of d \o s appears in blets, A. S. iUdtian, orig.
to consecrate by blood ; from blod, blood, wilh the ordinal;
mutation from 6 to e'. Also in gossip, M. E, godsii,
§ 345- History of N. The most remarkable facts about
the letter n are the frequent loss of it in all positions, and tbe
occasional insertion of it at the beginning or end of a word;
as shewn below. If it changes, it changes to m ; very rarelf
It changes to m before poi b; as in A. S. henep. E. ket^ ;
V, S. win-ber^e, E. viinberry, wimberry.
A.S. jfaffa-tfw, W^
mSTOR y OF N,
ine, has formed a frequentative whimmer, noted by Jai
son as a word in use in Roxburghshire, mod. E, whimprr
(ii-ith excrescent f). At the end of words we find the same
change ; thus A. S. hotegn, hokn, M. E. kiiUn, liecame, by loss
of n, holly; but also, by contraction, holm ; so that holm-oak
means ' holly-oak,' A, S. lind, a lime-tree, became tine
(Tempest, V. i o), by vowel-lengthening {§ 378) and subsequent
loss of d, and is now lime. M. E. brm-sloon, burning s
now brimstoiu. A. S. inace, a boat, is ihe same word a
smak, whence we have borrowed E. smack. JV
flannel, hna^ily ^^annen {Welsh gwlanen). In one word, n has
become r; A. S. pinrrviiic/a, a small mollusc, is the prov. E.
peniwinkU, E. periwinkk, by confluence with the name of a
flower.
§ S46. Lobs of n. N is lost in A, S. before s and Ih ; as
in A. S. c0e, g6s, llSe, mtiS, S3er, t6d, unc&d. Us, E. cou(/)d.
goose, lithe, mouth, other, tooth, uncouth, us; cf. Goth, kunlha,
G. gam, G. iind, Goih. munths, anthar, tunthus, kunlhs
(known), urn or unsis. So also A. S. teo3a, M. E. tethe, titht.
E. lithe, is for 'l/enSa, \. e. tenth. N is lost, finally, in A, S.
drosn, also dros, E, dross; A. S, tin, E. ell; A. S. elboga (for
*etnboga-=\.ce:\. alnbogt), E, elbow; A. S. d/ett, E. even, i.e.
evening, also ne; A. S. gamtn, holegn, myln (borrowed from
Lai. molina), mislellan, solcen (only found in the compounds
d-ioken, be-soleen), E. game, hotly, mill, mistletoe, sulky. N is
also lost, medially, in spider, M.E. spither, put for *spin-ther,
i. e. spinner ; Thursday, A. S. punres-dug, the day of Thun-
der; cf. the Icel. pSrs-dagr. S\m\\^t\y /ourleen-night has
become yarttaighi, and &nal\y /ortnight ; O. Mercian enlefan,
A. S. m{d)lufon (with excrescent rf, cf. Goth, ami/), M.E.
tnUuen, is now ^to^n. But the most frequent loss of « 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, -t, mod. E. mule e or lost. Similarly
is now before ; so also in the case of beneath.
37*
EJfGLISB COJVSOJVJiJ/rS. [Cx«nZTID.'
beside, wilhin, about, without-, and in Mcnde^, Sunday, yesttr-
day, A. S. mSnan-diEg, sunnan-dceg. giUran-dteg. Initially, it
is lost in adder, auger, A. S. nadrt. na/e-gdr (111. navc-boret).
Also in aughl, when popularly used for naught, as in ihc
phrase ' carry aught' in arithmetic. This peculjariiy is due
to a conrusion in the use of the indefinite article, so that an
adder, an auger, were wrongly used instead of a ruiddtr, a
nauger. It must be remembered that an was fonneily used
before consonants as well as vowels ' ; hence we can account
for E. drake by supposing ihat the Scand. form andrakt
{Swed, anddrake, O. Icel. andriki) was misunderstood as a*
drake, thus causing the loss of an.
§ 347. Intrusive n. Owing to the uncertainty abow
mentioned, the opposite mistake arose of prefixing n to
words which began with a vowel. Thus A. S. efete became
evot. and an not was misapprehended as a newt; whence E.
tiewt. Similarly an awl was sometimes thought to stand for
a nawi ; hence the not unfrequent use of nam! or natl in tbe
sense of ' awl.' Such forms as nass for aw, wij for ^ {>&
egg), &c., are occasionally found. Nunete, naunt, probably
arose from mine uncle, mine aunt, misapprehended as wgi
tiunc/e, my iiaurtt. An intrusion of « also occurs by puitinf;
ng for g, as nig/ilingale for 'niktigale, M. E. nightegate. At ibc
end of words we find an excrescent « after r ; as in M.£.
bitour, E, bitler-n, M. E. marter, later marttr-n, now marine
both words of French origin. Hence we can understand
E. dubbor-n, M, E. stibor, which may also have arisen ftoo
misapprehending M. E. stibor-nesse as 'itibom-nesse.
Assimilation of nd to nnis seen in E. winnow, M.E. mud-
ewen, A. S. windwian, to expose to wind.
\ 348. History of F. P \s changed to its voiced eqdn-
' Layaroon'E Brut beeios with the words An precsl,verMe:aa prr^'a
thcicoood and later MS. Id I. llj of theOrmulam, wetiiitl OKdUiU^
v/if. a doughl]r wife. Still later, we find an lilltl ^mlt, * little m' "
Caw»yii, I. 30 [.about a, D. 1360 orjaterl.
HISTORY OF F.
373
Strike
It, viz. h, in a few cases. A. S. loppalre is now lobsler ;
A. S. pafiol is now pebble ; dribble is the frequenlalive of drijr;
wabble, to reel, orig. to flutter, is the frequentative of whap, to
strike, to Sutter ; tiic M. E, allorcop or cop, a spider, has
us cop-web, now cobtiieb; and itno^ has become inob,
P has become _/^ and afterwards v in A. S. cnapa, later form
E. knave.
Excrescent p occurs after m. in fW//v, A. S. lemtig ;
glimpse. M. E. glimsen ; and sempsler for scanisler ',
5 349. History of F. The ADglo-Saxon (Southern) /
the sound of u, even initially (as in modem Southern
.lects), and in all positions except in such words as o/l.
The Mercianymuat 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 ifea/, loaf, staff,
eiiff, offer, where the / 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 Lai. offtrre ; the true A. S. double f {or rather double
f) changing into bb, as in habban, to have, infin., as com-
pared with y hu/3 (= havf), he has. But a single /
between two vowels was doubtless sounded as v, even in
Mercian, and in modem English is always so written ; it was
early written u by the Anglo-French scribes. The form nff_
being emphatic, is still pronounced with /, but the unem-
pbatic of is pronounced op, even in the compounds hereof,
Ihertof, whereof. In some M. E. MSS, we even find such
words zs from needlessly speh^rom, as e.g. in the MS. of
:hard ihe Redeless ; but 1 think we never find ff for the
ind of I' '- This distinction is perfectly observed in mod,
where ff=f, andf=7i. We have only four words in
has become v initially ; these are varte, val. vinewed,
'e in»y add whimper, llie e<jEi¥alent of Lowland Scotch vihimmer,
tatiTC Uata a base whim, with the same sense as whine ({ 34s).
e capilal F is also writlea^ as said above.
374 ENGLISH CONSONANTS.
and vixen, A. "^t./ana.fiet, fintge, 'fyxen (fem. oX/qx) '. Id/t
represenls a nom. case 11/, but the M. E. pi. was lines, E- /itY/.
Calf gives both the pi. calves, and the derivative verb ft
i-a/Ui;. Belief gives the derivative verb believe. Cases in
which the medial y has become v are, of course, exitemelj'
commoii ; in fact, they run through the whole langva^-
Examples are seen in the plurals leaves, lives, loaves, lhiev*s,
&c. ; in the verbs behave, behove, eaht, carve, cleave, craee,
grave, halve, have, heave, live, love, &c., M. E. haufn (with
prefix be-), behouen, caluen, &c, ; also in cove, Jive, glow, tie.,
A. S. c6fa,fif, glSf, ftc. ; and in anvil, clover, ever, evil, harval,
haven, hovel, liver, navel, raven, &c. The/" is preserved in
fifth, fifty, twelfth, and the like, bj- the voiceless Ik or /. Gk
is now sounded as_/in some words (§ 333),
F has remarkably disappeared in the following cases:
A. S. hafsl, hafS, hmfde, E. hasl. hath (also has), had; A.S.
heafod, M. E. heued, heed, E. head; A. S. hidford, M. E. Aiwf^
E. lord; A.S. hidfdige, E. lady*. A. S. efete became M.E.
evut, our newt. Both / and y^ are ignored In the mod. E.
halfpenny.
Assimilation has taken place, of fm to mm, in Uman or
lemman, A.S. Uof-man, i.e. 'dear one'; Lammat, A.S.
hldfmasse, i. e. loaf-mass; and in woman. The last reifiuk-
able fonn arose tlius : the A. S. wifman, pi. vnfnun, bccaiM
Early E. wimman, pi. WmMffl. The pi. form is stlU striOfr
preserved in our pronunciation, though persistently taisspdt
women ; the singular has been changed from wtmoM ID
woman by the influence of ihe w, which tends to turn i ilUO
o, and 0 into u; d. Goth, kwiman «ilh the modern £. row.
' ThoD^ A, S. fyxm do« not oceui, we find A, S. fcm. ^^-jw, nAkA
only differs in the saffix ; see ladex to SwecC't Oldest En^. Tem-
Fiisen occurs u a amnftmc. Vat wot rc-imported from Dutch.
* Hawk U oltoi iddcd ; bnl it is more likelv that &iii>l Feproeuls
led. kamtr ttun the A. S. Aafoe. (The word Aoivf U niiallied, bei^^ .
French origin.) '
J.] HISTORY OF Y. ^75
J- similar is the change fromyn to nm, later m, as in A, S.
ti, sl(Jh, later sltmn, whence mod. E. skm (of a tree),
860. History of B. £ is sometimes changed lo voice-
/, as in gossip, M. E. gossth or godsib, i. e. ' related in
God,' Baid of a sponsor in bapCtsni. So also unkempt ^uh-
ktmhtd, i.e. uncombed; from A. S, camb, a comb, with
mutadon of j to e\ see p. zoz.
Sxoresaent b is common after ffl, as in em-b-ers, M. E.
emeres. \.5. trniyrian; gam-b-le, Uam. game; bram-b-liy M. E.
brembii, A. S. br/mel; ni'm-ble, M. E. w/mr/, ready lo seize,
from A. S. nim-an, to seize, take ; slum-b-er, M. E. slumeren,
A. S. iUtmerian ; tim-h-er, A. S. timber, but cf. Swed. timmer,
timber, and Goth, limrjan, to build. Similarly, mi appears
even for single m in an accented syllable, and finally, as in
crumb, from A. S. crum-a; numb, due to A. S. num-en, as
explained below ; to which we may add limh, A. S.
lim, and thumb, A. S. /uflio ; but this final b is no longer
sounded. Thim-b-le is a derivative of l/iumb ; and crum-b-U
of crumb, from A. S. crum-a. Humble-bee = hummle-bee ;
where hummle is the frequentative of ^a/w. Numb is from
M. E. Hum-en, nom-en, A. S, num-en, deprived of sensation,
pp. of nim-an, to seize, take, catch ; cf. Icel. num-tun, bereft,
r: of nema, to take.
% SSI- History of H. The letter m is lost before /and
even in A. S-, in a few words, ■■Az.fi/, E. five, Goth.fim/
(where the w is itself a substitution for Aryan N) ; isle, E.
ouset, cognate with G, amsel; sSfle, E. soft, cognate with G.
sanft, O. H. G. samflo (adverb).
itf becomes « before /, as in A. S, temetr, E. emmet, or by
contraction ani. So also we have Hants for Hamtonshirt,
otherwise called Hampshire, where thf p is excrescent. Cf.
tiunt (through the French) from Lat. amita.
§ 352. History of Y. The original Aryan Y is repre-
sented in A.S, \>y ge only in a very few words, \\z.jn,yea,
t, year, yore, yet, yokt,yoH,young, youth; inyou,your, the g
ENGUSH CONSONANTS.
m
other K23e^^^k
376
was dropped, viz. in A. S. t6w, tiiver. In other i
corresponds to an Aryan G, See § 337.
§ 353. History of B. In mosi Aryan languages, r has
a tendency to turn into /. Hence we can eiqilain E. smouldtr,
from M. E. smolder, a stifling smoke, as being a varianl of
M. E. smorlher, with tlie same sense ; from A. S. smer-ian, vo
stifle. The M. E, smorlhcr is now smother, so that smouldtr
and smolhtr are doublets.
Er lias become dd in A. S. pearrtu, M. E. parrok, an
enclosure, now paddock. In fact, the railway-station now
called Paddoek Wood is in the old manor of Parrath;
Archseologia Cantiana, siii. i z8 ; Hasted's Hist, of Kent.
8vo,, V. 286. C(. porridge <poddige<po/lage.
R has disappeared from speak, M. E. ipeken, A. S. sprttan;
also from speech, M. E. speche, A. S. ipdc, earlier sprdf.
R is intrusive in bride-groom, for bridegoom, A. S. br^i-
guma ; not, however, in groom itself; also in hoarse, M. E.
hors, hoes, A. S, hds. Sur/v^s formerly suffe, probabljr from
A, S. sw6gan, to make a rushing noise or ' sough.' As to the
pronunciation of r, see § 310.
Metathesis is not infrequent in words containing the teller r,
which is liable to shift its place. Thus we have hirJ, from
A. S. liridd ; burn, from A. S. brinnan ; bright, from Mercian
berhl (A. S. beorhi) \ cress, from A. S. earse ; /reth, from A. S.
fersc; fright, bom \.%, fyrhto; nostril, for 'noslhril ^'ma-
thirl, A. S.nospyrl; lirough, from A.S. Jmrh, cf, E. Ihnrough;
■Wright, from A. S. wyrhia ; wrought, A. S. worhle ; third for
Ihrid, from three ; thirteen, thirty, (oTlhriltern, thritly. Cf. abo
A. S. giErs or grixs, grass ; A. S. irnan or rtnnan^ lo nm ; E.
M/r/ or /Ar<//, 10 pierce ; and E. frith as a variant of jfrtf.
from Icel. J/drSr.
§ 3fi4. History of Ii. L has disappeared from taeh,
which (Scotch Hi, u-liilk), such, A. S. dk, /nuilc. svylc
from as, M. E. als, alse, atso, A. S. eal-su-a, a doublet 0
England is for Eng{le)'land, A. S. Engle-lond, £ngltilan
!3S5.] HISTORY OF W. 377
m<i of the Angles. L is not sounded In calf, half, calve,
halve, fiiik, yolk, talk, walk, qualm, &c. ; nor in would, should.
The spelling of would and should has brought about the
intrusive / in could for eoutl. Assimilation of // to // has
taken place in loiter, prov, E, lolUr, A. S, ttaltrian.
§ 356. HiHtory of W. The A. S. suffix -wa or -we is
now written -ow, as in arwe {araue), speanoa, now arrow,
^^^arrmi). The A. S. final w is absorbed; so that Ireow is
^Hw, meow is knee, gleow is glee, Iriowe is true, iaw is_vow, htw
^^b hue. Sec. It is preserved to the eye in ewe, new, yew,
^^mnv, &c., but is vocalised in pronunciation.
W has disappeared from A.S. wA, E. ooze; A. S, cwidu,
later cudu, E. nid;f/ower, E./mir; Idweree, E. /arA{bird):
^mfiteihl, ndwihl, £. aught, naught; sdwel (Goth, saiwala),
^■^ touL It also occasionally drops in certain combinations,
^Rk lul, tkw, fw, sw. Thus lisp is from A. S. wlisp, adj., stam-
^Tiering; thong, from A, S. pwang; tusk, from A.S. /ujc',
also Awr, twux (for 'tivi'sc) ; such, from M. E. nuiche. A, S.
swylc; so, also, from A.S. jmiJ, ealswd; and ja/Zrc is for
sii'eltry. Note also answer and sword, where it is only present
to the eye. Sister is not derived from A, S. sweoilor, but from
the cognate Icel. jfj/zr (Goth, srvis/ar).
Hw is now written wh, reduced in pronunciation to a
mere w in Southern English ; the w is silent in who, A. S.
kwA, but the h remains. See § 336.
Wr is still written, but the w is silent, viz. in wrile,
wrong, Ac. To this rule there is one exception, the written
w being now dropped in A. S. wrSl-an, to root or rout up, as
a pig does with hia snout. The Prompiorium Parvulorum
has: ' Wralyn, as swyne; Verror' Root, sb., is of Scand.
origin.
At the beginning of the sixteenth century a habit arose of
prefixing w 10 h, when the vowel o followed it, in certain
words. Thus M. E, hool became whole, and M. E. hoot
' Tbe spcllinj; lusc occnn in the Erfurt CIosMiy, 1. 4S7.
378 ENGUSH CONSONANTS. [Chap.XVHI.
became whote or whot\ in which cases the w was slightly
sounded^. The w in whole and what has again dropped
in pronunciation, but it is kept to the eye in the fonner
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. wSp, sb., an outcry,
the derived verb from which is w^n, our toeep. The
w in woof is also unoriginal, and will be explained bek>w;
§ 370, P- 395-
§ 366. History of 8. Owing to the frequent change
of the sound of final s to a, 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 penance, pricey
&c. Hence we find A. S. fljs, />, Ijfs, mjfSy minstan, dnes^
answering to E. fleece , ice, lice, mice, mince, once; and the
M. E. hennes, sithens, thennes, thrie's, irewes, hvies, whemus,
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, M. E. sit?ie, A. S. sf^e.
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. adese\ bedizen, allied to dis- in distaff \ blaze, A.S.
blcese\ dizzy, A. S. dysig \ drizzle, frequentative of A. S.
dr/os-an, to let fall in drops ; freeze (pp. frozen), A. S.
fr^osan ; furze, A. S. fyrs ; hazel, A. S. hdsel', nozzle, from
nose, A. S. nosu ; ooze, sb., wet mud, A. S. w6s ; sneeze,
' Halliwell gives prov. £. whome for home, and whoard for hoard.
We even find prov. £. wocUs or wuts for oati \ and we all say wun for
one.
Sri
mSTORY OF S.
r 'fnttzr, M. E. fntsen, A. S. /n/os<in (whence also n
379
'fnitzr, m..s.,fntien, .
; wheezt, A. S, hwisan \
wisnian, to dry up. So also brazen from (5row, ^ /tia? from
g/ass. grazt from grass. On the oilier hand, we have
arise and nw, A. S. drfsan, rfsan ; besom, A. S. besma ;
dosom, A. S. AAm ; /oj^, A, S. /ojwi, properly ' lo become
loose'; nose, A. S. nosu; vAose, A. S. kwds; those, A. S.
/lij. So also the verbs house, louse, mouse, with j^ as b;
from the sbs. house, louse, mouse, with se aa s. Compare
with this the voicing of Ih bettt'cen two vowels, as explained
in § 34a-
6' becomes sh in gush, from Icel. gusa \ and eh in linch-pin,
put for lins-pin, from A. S. lynis, an axle-tree. So also
^■pKX). E. henchman appears as M,E. hensman, short for
^■p!(^j/-man, i. e. horseman, groom. Cf. 'canterius, hengst' m
^PVrighl's Vocaliularies ; and sec heyncemann in the Promp-
^^orium Parvulonim.
§ 357. S>r. There are some very interesting instances of
the change of j to r, by Verner's Law. In all such cases s look
Hfirst of all the intermediate sound of s. Obvious examples
^Bfccur in are, pi. of is ; were, pi. of was ; lorn, pp. of M. E.
^■nm, A. S. l/osan ; frore, used by Milton lo^ frozen. Other
^^lamples are found in bare, A. S. Arr, cognate with Lithu-
anian basas, bare- footed ; berry, A. S. berige, Goth, ^j/;
Mare (of a trumpet), from M. E. blasen, to blow loudly
(cf. blas-f) : dreary, A. S. dr/or-ig, orig. dripping with gore,
from drfos-an, to drip; far, A. S. ('ar^, Goth, auso-, hear,
A. S. h/ran, hyran, Goth, hausjan ; iron, A. S. />■«», earlier
and learn, A. S. /or and kornian. from a
;, appearing in Goth, lais, I have found out,
v., A. S, rdran {=*rcks-ian'). causal verb from
A. S, WJri--
from wSrian,
1 tramp t
t mod. E. dare; the A. S. form is dear, standing for dearr
380 ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chaf. XVIIl.
(z=^*dearz\ cognate with Goth. darSy I dare (cf. Gk. Bapv-u^).
The radical s reappears in the pt. t. durs-t
§ 868. In several words s has disappeared from the end,
having been mistaken for the plural sufGbc, and its removal
has formed a new but incorrect singular*. A. S. byrgeUy
a tomb, M. E. burielsy became M. E. buriel^ whence our
buriaL A. S. rddelse^ M. E. redels^ a riddle, became M. E.
redely whence our riddle, A. S. pisa^ pi. pisan^ borrowed
from Lat. pisuniy became M. E. pese^ pi. pesen or peseSy later
pease y pi. peason) then pease was taken to stand for peasy
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. schaais, pi. schaaisen. 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 -f«, A. S. braccan, pi. of bracccy i. e. brake. Ececes
is singular, A. S. e/ese ; and so is almSy A. S. celmesse (Gk-
§ 350. The combinations x/, spy sir, spry 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 paddky in the sense of
an implement for managing a boat.
^ is intrusive in island, M.E. Handy A. S. tgland, by
confusion with F. islcy from Lat. insula.
S is sometimes prefixed. It is common to compare meli
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, i88a, p. 59a. But there are a few
errors in it, as e. g. under knee, supposed to be plural ; lea, supposed
to be a fictitious singular.
HISTORY OF SIC. 381
sily derive mell from imcll by supposing that the s was
But there is a real prefixing of s in s-guazi, from
. ai-tsan, cv/san, lo crash. l"his s is due to association
iHth s-quasli, a word of F.
, from O. F.
(= Lat.
-.oiictare), in which
f represents ihc O. F.
! prefix es- =: Lat, fx '. Several other words have
been explained as conlaining the same intensive prefix, but
I believe that most of such explanations are wrong*. Snteze
is probably nothing more than a variant of (he older /neeze,
due to substituting the common combination sn for the
rare and diflicult_/n; whilst iieeze resulted from dropping_/;
5 360. SK. The A.S. sc, when followed by e or i, com-
monly becomes M. E. sch, E. jA ; as in A. S. sceamti, E.
shame; A. S. scinan, E. Mne. Exceptions are mostly due to
Norse influence ; as in E. skin, from Icel. skinn. When
followed by other vowels, sc also commonly becomes sh, as
in A. S. seaga, E. siaw ; A. S. seuldor, E. shoulder ; A. S.
scyllan, E. shut. But A. S. scab remains as scab, with a
double form of the adjective, viz. scabby, shabby. A. F. tscale
is E. scalt, but A. S. scdl is E. j^f//. ^c final also becomes sh ;
as in (Sjf, ash (tree),_/fTr, fish, the dative cases of these words
being asce and fisce ; compare the remarks in note 3, p. 354.
In tbe word schooner, the sch is an imitation of Dutch
spelling ; but it should rather be scooncr, from the prov. E.
scoon, to glide over water. The late Du, word schooner is
_bonowcd from English',
^k St. Medial si may become ss, as in blossom, A. S.
^^Mistina ; missellhrush = mistkthrush, the thrush that feeds
^^m the berries of the mistletoe. In mislhloe, A. S, misldldn,
the si is now pronounced as ss; as also in glisten, listen.
' Etcd in Italian we litid tbe inmE pteft:i aaed inteiisivelj ; thus,
t-griiare, to scold, is derived from gridarc, to cry out, by prefixing J =
Lat M. (The Itnl. i also stands for Lai. i/w-l
' The old notion of etymologisbe was to niah to condosions by
combining uncertain instances, often uniclated, under a geneial law,
' Whitney, Language ind the Science of Language, 1868, p. 36.
38a ENGLISH CONSONANTS. [Chaf. XVIIL
Mizzle, to fall in fine drops, is a frequentative formed from
misty 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
£. ask also appears as prov. £. ax (= aks) ; £. wasp is
prov. E. waps, from A. S. wcBps. M. E. has clapsen as well
as claspen for E. clasp ; and this is an older form, being allied
to clamp. Similarly ^<7jr/ is for *grap-s^ M. E. grapsen, allied
to grab and gripe. Hasp is for *?iaps = A. S. hcepse, a bolt
of a door, a ' fitting'; allied to A. S. ge-hcep, fit. Asp-ai is
an adjectival form from A. S. cBps, 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 w 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 ; cjh
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; Qosf)\ gh
h ; {lost) ; gh
Q
HW
hw
wh
wh, w
GH
G
g ; ge ; h
g; y,5; gh, w, f;
ge Cj)» i».y
g» y ; gh, w, f ;
gc; hy
• • •
GG, GY,
eg
g& z&
dge
D
T
t
t ; d ; {lost)
t; d; {lost)
T
TH
)),»; t,d
J), th ; t, d ; {lost)
th ; t, d ; {lost',
Dll
D
d
d, t ; {lost)
d, t ; {lost'
N
N
n; Qosf)
n; {lost)
n ; m ; {lost)
B? P?
P
p;^
p, b; u(«v)
p,b; ve
§ 36i.] TABLE OF CONSONANTAL CHANGES, 383
Aryan.
Teutonic.
A.-Saxon.
Mid. English.
Modern.
P
F
f
f, flf; u (=v)
f.ff; v,ve;(/(?j/)
BH
B
b
b
b, p
M
M
m
m
m; n
Y
Y
ge
y»5
y
R, L
R, L
r,l
r(i);i
r(i);i
W
W
w
w; {los()
w, ow; {losf)
S
S
s; r
s; r
s,z;shy8c;r;(/9j/)
Excrescent letters : d, t, after n ; b, p, after m ; t, after
s, X ; n, after r. These produce the combinations m/, «/,
mb, mp, st, xt, rrtj in certain cases. See §§ 341, 344, 347,
350.
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 exemplification.
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 dikey knauh
ledge from M. E. knowlcche, jowl from M. E. chauel {ckavel),
proud from A. S. prUt, breathe from breathy &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 ^ ; 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) > ^^^^^ {§ 342) ; lemman (later leman), Lammas^ woman.
Early E. wimman (§ 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.
ABBREVIATtON, 385
{5) Substitation. Examples have been given of / for k
\i% 3^9) ; of k for / (§ 340) ; of d for S (§ 342) ; of / for j>
W& 34^); 3^*1 t)f sh and ch for j (§ 356). We may refer
Pliilher the change from x {=s) to r (§ 357).
(6) Metathesis. Examples have been given of ks or ,ir
for sk, and sp for pi (§ 360) ; and of llie frequent shifting of r
(5 353)- ■^o ^'so modern E. employs wh for A. S. Aw,
and commonly has k finally for A. S. tl, as in idU\ from
A. S, idtl; but these are merely graphic changes, appeal-
ing to the eye. Il is also extremely probable that ihe
sense of M.E. liktlen, to tickle, a frequentative verb from
the base tik, 10 touch lighlly, was influenced in sense,
and confused with, the Icel. killa, 10 tickle, whence prov.
E. kiltie, to tickle, and the adj. killlt, used in ihe precise
sense of the mod. E. luklhh. So also walUl, H. E. wakl.
appears 10 be a mere substitution for M. E. ivaltl, formerly
1 the sense of ' bag ' or ' basket ' ; as shewn in my
Dictionary. Other examples of metathesis are seen in necld
r needle; in acre,a.n Anglo- French spelling of A. S. acer,
8 may be seen by consulting the Year-books of Edward I,
idiled by Mr. Horwood (though this only affecis the wn'/ltn
m) ; and in several words of French origin.
§ 863. (7) Abbreviation ; including Aphesia, Syn-
cope, and Apooope. There are many ways in which
abbreviation can take place, and examples are numerous.
. Aphesis. The dropping of an initial short vowel is so
Lcommon that Dr. Murray has found it convenient to invent
ra special name for it. He calls it aphesis (Gk. Siptait,, a
\ letting go), and defines it thus : ' the gradual and uninten-
tiona] loss of a short unaccented vowel at the beginning of
a word.' A word in which apkesis occurs is called aphelic.
^ Most of such words are. however, of French origin. Among
e of English origin we may note ; down, short for M. E.
I, A. S. of-dHne, lit. off tlie down or hill, and so, down-
; lone, short for alone ; wayward, short for aw<^/ward^
To these we may add bishop, A. S. iiscop, iKwrowed from LaL
fptscopus; sicrling, short Tor Esltrling; and many words of
French origin.
Initial consonaQts are lost in several words. Tbus A*
has disappeared in nip, tiibbU, nap; see §33i. Hha& disap-
jieared in all words which began in A- S. with hi, hn, and kr ;
see the list in § 33a ; also in A. S. hit, E, il, A. S. g, later
3. is lost in if, ikh ; § 337 . A. S. / is lost in pwitel, K. wkil-
tle; and tkw<tk is comniDnly whack; § 343. A. S. n is lost
\naddfr,augtr,aughl{iornaughf)\ §346. /* has disappeared
from M.'E./nescn, to sneeze, leaving the fonn tteese, Mids.
Nl. Dream, ii. i. 56. A. S. w is lost in lisp, ooze, § 355 ; and
is silent in the combination wr.
§ 384. Uedial consonanta are also lost in various words.
C is lost in A. S. druncnian, M. E. druncnim, druncn<n, later
Jrounen, E. drown. An original Teut. h is lost even in A. S.
in tar, see, slay, tear, sb. ; § 335. Welsh, A. S. vitlisc, is really
for 'welhise, being derived from wealh, a stranger, H is also
lost in modem E. in Iroui, not; § 335. G often disappear?
from sight, becoming first M. E. j, and then i or _>■. and so
forming part of a diphthong, as in A. S. hirgel, later hayl,
hayl, mod. E. hail \ see examples in § 338, where I have also
included nine, steward, tile ; and lent (for lengt). Tis lost ia bat,
last, &c. ; § 340. Th is lost in worship, wrist, Nnr/oli. Ac;
5 342. D, in answer, gospel, upholsterer, handog ; $ 344. N,
in til, elbow, eleven, spider, Thursday, tithe; and even ia
A. S. in could, goose, lithe, moulh, other, tooth; 5 346. An
Aryan n is lost in five; § 351. F has disappeared in ftasl,
hath, has, had, head, lord, lady, leman, woman ; and lias be-
come m in Lammas ; § 349, M is lost, even in A. S., i» otutt,
'"/^' § 35'- ^ 's lost in smother, speak, speech ; { 353. L,
in as, each, such, which, and is often silent, as in cat/, /oik,
uHjlk, &c.; § 354. W is lost in 17/^0, aught, naught. Jour,
lark, so, soul, Uiong, and is silent in answer, sword; ia auk
(for swich), tusk (probably for 'Iwise), sul/ry (for sweOry), e
ft
LOSS OF FINAL CO.VSONANTS. 387
(doublet of gfid), the eSect of a ic upon the following vowel
is plainly discernible ; see § 355.
§ 365. Final consonaats 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 tigh (A. S. sic-an), where the gh is silent ;
U 3"8.
The A. S. h, later gh, is silent in borough, bough. Sec. ; and
is entirely lost in fee, Ua, roe (deer), and even in A. S, seed.
The A. S. g constantly becomes y, i.e. part of a diph-
thong, as in day, gray, icy, &c. ; and A.S. final -I'g 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, ivy, penny (A. S. bodig, ifig.prnig, short for pening, pend-
ing) ; § 338. Similarly, the A. S. g becomes ( when not final,
as in A. S. molegn, E. mullein.
T is lost in anvil, § 340 ; and d in wanion, woodbine,
tint, lime, § 344.
The loss of final n Is quite a characteristic mark of the
modem 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. misleltdn, mlky from A. S. {a)soken, 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. ling-an became M. E.
ling-en, ling-e, and is now sing ; and so with most other verbs.
A. S. mac-ian became M. E. mak-ten, mak-cn, and is now make ;
but the final e is mule. Among the adverbs, it may suffice to
mention A. S. dbH/an, E. above ; A. S. en-simdran, E. asunder ;
A. S. a/ian. behind, E. a/t ; A. S. be/bran, E. before ; A. S.
behindan, E. behind, &c. Among the prepositions we may
nole A. S. limeoSan, E, beneath ; A. S. wulinnan, E. within ;
A. S. on-blilan, d-tilan, E. altoul, &c. To these we may add
A. S. Hl-an, E. i«/, often used as a conjunction. In all Ihcse
instances, the -an was originallj a case-ending of a substan-
tive or adjective ; it was weakened to -tit in M. E., and has
since become mute e or has disappeared. Curious exceptions
are seen in ihe words hence, thenct, whmce, since. The A. S.
hin-an, hence, later ^cn-an, became M. E. A^n-ew, htnn-en,i.nA
(by loss of n) henn-e \ at this stage, instead of ihe e being lost,
the commonly adverbial suffis -fir was substituted for it, giving
M, E. henn-ii, later hens, mod. E. hen-ee. The final -<t is
merely the Anglo-French scribal device for shewing that the
Jinal s was voiceless. So also we have A. S. 3an-an, 3an-oH,
M. E. Ikann-e, Ihenn-e, later ihenn-es, and finally Ihen-ee \ A- S.
hwan-an, hwan-on, M. E. wkan-en, whann-t, later viAenn-tt.
and finally wheme. A. S. siS-3am (i. e. ' after the,' 3dm being
ihe dat. case of the definite article), became, in late A, S., sff3-
an, M. E. siSen, silhen, to which the adverbial suffix -s (short
for -es) was added, giving M. E. stlheni. later iilhenee (Shak^
sjieare), and, by contraction, since. The same case-ending
•an has disappeared in Monday, A. S. niin-an dag, day of the
moon ; Sunday, A. S. sunn-an dirg, day of the sun. In
yester-day, A. S. gislr-an dirg, 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, bretir-m,
childr-en, shoo-n, ey-ne, ki-ne ; to which we may add iracit-m
originally the plural of iraie (§ 358). In one adverb, ^^-at,
we have the suffix -en added by analogy with other M.£i
adverbs ; the A. S. form being simply 0//. Cf. § 346. Ortter
eitamples of the loss of final n are seen in eve, short for enm,
i.e. evening; my, ihy, short for mine, thine; nn.short iotnont; ago,
short for agone; el{bow) for eln[btm))', ember-days ^aremhernr
days, from A. S. ymb-ren^ymb-ryne, a running round, circuit,
course, hence ' season ' ; stem for slemn, A. S. iUmn, tltfi
366.] SYUCOPe. 389
Final w has disappeared m gUe, knee, Irei, hue, lrtn,you;
% ass-
Final s has disappeared in burial, riddle, pea ; and in
Bevera! words of French origin, as cherry, sherry, &c. ;
5358.
360. Syncope. The term syncope is usually restricted
to thai peculiar form of contraction which results from the
letters and syllables in the middle of a word, as when
we use e'er for ez-er, ev'ry for every. Examples of the loss of
Snedial consonants have been given in § 364. The loss of
the medial g in particular produces a very real syncope, by
:ieducing the number of syllables in a word, the A. S. nagd
being now nail, &c. ; see 5 338. A similar result comes
from the loss of a medial vowel. Examples are : adze for
•edit, A. S, adesa ; ant for am'l, A. S. amefle ; church for
'thur'ch, A. S. cyrice, later cyrce, circe ; rmvt for ewl-=efl=-ef't,
■K. S. efela \ hemp for hen'p, A. S. hetup, hcenep ; mint /or min'l,
A, S. mynel, borrowed from LaL mmela; monk for monk,
lA. S. munec, from Lat. motiachus; month for mon'lh, A. S.
mSnap, We may add some adjectives, as i<i/(/=M.E. ball-td;
0KW=M. £. owen, A. S. agen ; French for Frankish; Scotch
■or Scots for Scotish or Scottish ; Wit/jA for Wak-ish, &c.
The omission of f in the pp. suffix -en is extremely common,
thrown for throw n, A. S. Prdw-en \ born for ^r'«, A. S.
'tor-en, &c. Syncope also gives us don for (fo ow, dout for
<fo <w/, ab^ 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 oidtg-hwaedtr,
which again is for d-ge-hwceSer, and so compounded of d,
aye, ge, the common prefix, and kwaSer, whether ' ; else. A, S.
elles; England, A. S. ^ngla-knd, land of the Angles ; ybr/-
night for fourteen night ; fo'c'sle for fore-castle ; lady, A. S.
' Cf. G. Jeder, compannded oljt and jveder ; bereye nnswer^ to A. S.
A, and vieder to hwieSir ; the jf^ not nppeating b it. 1'b>^jtder is pie-
dely ihe equii-alcnt of £. «r ; kc below.
39°
PHONOLOGY.
I for I.
[Cm*.^
hiafdige ; lart, A. S. lawtrce ;
A. S. hlA/ord; made for makede, A. S. macode ;
A. S. pearruc; sennighl for inifa night-, itnce for ntkiiui
(§ 3^5) ; whirlwind for * -whir fit-wind, Icel. hvirfih<indr, Dan.
kvinidvind. So also or ia short for o/Aer or aulher, A. S.
Awder; and again the A. S. owdirr is a cotitracted fonn of
&-kwaSer, from J, ever, and hwaSer, whether. Consequently
or differs from eilhtr only as d-h^ote3er does from a-gt-kw<^er ;
in other words, the latter contains the particle ge, and the
former does not. So also nor ■= nt or, from A. S. ne, not, and
d-kwadiT ; and neither =■ ne eiiher.
Another kind of syncope appears in the shortening qfvoafeh,
as in shepherd for theepherd. There are several words with
short vowels which were once long. Thus rod ia short for
rood; the vowels in red, bread, dtad, shred, lead (a metil),
head, answer to A. S. /a ; those in breast, friend, hip (dog-rosc),
to A. S. io ; those in breath, health, sweat, to A. S. <^ ; those in
eloth, gone, hot, wot, to A. S, a; ten is short for teen, as in
thir-teen ; the / in ditch was once long, as in dike ; the o wu
once long in other, mother, brother, doth, done, ghve, &c. See
further in § 454.
§ 867. Apocope. The omission of final letters or syllabln
of a word is called apocope. Numerous examples have been
already given, the most noticeable being the loss of final n b
inflexions ; see § 366. Putting aside the loss of final conso-
nants, the apocope of vowels is the chief distinguishing mufc
of modem English as compared with Early English and,
more particularly, with Anglo-Saxon. It pervades the whote
of the lan^oiage. All final A. S. vowels, whether a, e, 0, or ■,
became ' levelled ' to <r ; and subsequendy all the final /s, SO
common in Middle English, were lost or became mute. Al
the same time, all the A. 5. genders have been lost ; modem
English knows nothing o{ grammatical gender ; it only recog-
nises /i>g-(Va/ gender, as in man, wife, fish ; or metaphor icai gvor
der, as when we speak of a skip as feminine. The A. S. *
APOCOPE.
391
a common gender, wl/soA scip are neuler, andjfjc is mas-
culine. As ihe final vowel, or the absence of one, gave some
sort of indication, though not always a sure one, of the
gender, the loss of genders assisted the loss of the final vowel,
by rendering any retention of it unnecessary. A few examples
must sufBce.
(a) A. S. final -a is lost in ass-a, E. ass; bog-a, E. btnv;
drop-a, E. 4rop ; f6d-a, Y..food ; fol-a. 'E./onl ; m Ai-o. E. moon ,
4c. It has become e mute in afi-a, E. apt ; har-a, E. hart;
enap-a, cnaf-a, E. knave, &c'. A. S. crum~a, M. E. crum-mc,
18 now crumb, with excrescent b. If a consonant is doubled
before the final -a, it appears in modem E. as a single con-
sonant only ; thus A. S. lip-pa is now lip ; A. S. sitor-ra, M. E,
taler-rt, is now slar. The chief eitcepiions are -c-ca and -/-/a,
)|(here the doubled consonant remains; as in A. S. irtc-ra, E.
Xtick ; A. S. geal-la, E. gall. So also we have A. S. ass-a,
ss-t, E. ass ; but in grass, from A. S. grtzs, the j is
Xibled to shew that it is voiceless.
{i) A. S. final -e is lost in crihu-e, E. (tomi ; md-e, E. wrf ;
*tor^-e, E. Mr/A, &c. It is mute in side, A. S. std-e; wise, sb..
A. S, wis-e, &c. A. S, -iw final becomes E. -ov.\ as in
arf-we, M.E. ar-we, E. arr-ow. Very often the original final
»tf has lefl a trace in mod. E. by producing palatalisation ; as
■b E. wilcA, from A. S, un'ir-ce. The final -? of the dative case
■b often the cause of such palatalisation ; as shewn in §§ 32^.
(c) A. S. final -0 or -« is lost in Ad/-o, E. heat; yld-o, E.
tfif (old age) ; dur-u, E. i/oor ; «/«•((, E. son ; umd-u, E. a/oorf.
It U mule * in beal-u, E. ia/c (evil) ; tal~u, E. u/^, &c. It is
needless lo multiply instances of this character.
A few other examples of apocope may be noted. A, S.
' Obserre how tbc mod. E. acccnied vowel is lengikenal. by the
principle of compensation ; it becomes of more importuice nnd bears n
greater stress. Very carious is the eicepliooal shoTtening, t
common ase, in the verb li
1 regular form c
It in Ibe
392
PHONOLOGY.
celpiesse (Gk. iXtiiuunjini), M. E. almase, drops -se and t
B/m« ; and finally alms, by Byncope, Final -<n has been'f
in /«/, A. S. Imct-m ; and in kindred, A. S, cyn-ritd-ft
former d being excrescent. Final -we is lost in ^<Br, j
gcar-7ve\ final -^/ in harbour, Icel. hfrber-gi; final -i* o
in /0(7i/. A. S. Idd-it, Idd-ige. The A. S. Iiag-lesse has b
down to hag.
§ 368. (8) tTnToiciuB of voiced conBOnants.
process is extremely rare ; examples are : ahdol from A. S,
ubbod, but lliis has clearly been influenced by an attempt lo
bring it more nearly to its original form, as seen in Lat. ace.
abbal-cm; niltte-{fish) or cullk, put for 'cuddle, from A.S.
cudele, perhaps influenced by G, Kulielfisch, of obscure origin ;
//// (of a cart). M. F.. *//, earlier W</, from A, S. /i-Zrf', ihcform
being influenced by Dan. Ult, Swed. talt, a lent. The mod
prov. E. want or wml. a mole, is from A, S, wand, an ex-
tremely early fonn, found in the Epinal Glossary, 1. 1014;
possibly a derivative from wind-an. 10 wind, turn (pi. i. waxd).
The voiced ibecomes/^ in gossip, M.E. god-sib, lit, * reklei!
in God,' originally applied lo a sponsor in baptism. A xaoU
remarkable example is seen in fursf, a word of Latin Oi^ilk
from Lat. bursa; it occurs as purs in A, S.
§ 369, (9) Addition. The rule in English, as in otbtr
languages, is that words become diminished in course of
lime by various forms of loss. ' Letters, like soldiers,' says
Home Tooke *, are ' very apt to desert and drop oflf in a long
march.' Anything in the nature of addition or ampliScadtm
is comparatively rare, and invariably slighl. Such insetlioa*
are mostly 'euphonic' in the strict sense, i.e. they ino9ll)r
represent some slight change in the sound which requirea is
I in order to compensate for a loBS. This will bfl
* Diversions of Purley, pt. J. c. 6.
yO fVEL-TNSER TION.
393
y understood by observing ihe examples. They may be
dislributeci inio two sets: (i) those in which vowels are in-
serted; and (2) those in which consonants are inserted.
Vowel-inBertions. The A. S. hwiiprian became M. E.
whispercn, whence E. whisper. Here, the e, apparently in-
serted, may be due to metathesis, i, e. to putting er (= ir)
for r/'. When ihe A. S. desma lost its final -a, the scribes in-
serted a vowel to shew that the tn formed a syllable ; hence E.
i^s(o)m. Similarly A. S. bUstma became bloss{o)m, with loss
of / ajid a; A. S. bSsm is now dos(o)/n ; A. S, Solm is now
boll{o)m ; A. S./aSm is now /a//i{o)r>i. A. S, hyrcnian became
M. E. herkn-en, whence our ieari'.e)n. The / in gh's/en is
probably due to a graphic mistake, by confusion with glislcr ;
il would be better omitted. Then g!is{f)n ot gh'ss(t)ii would
correctly represent the A. S. g/isn-ian. We can explain btacon
from W. E. beken, A. S. b^actn ; but we may notice that the
A. S. word is frequently spelt bt'acn. In the words bmu-y-er,
Iraz-i-er, clolh-i-rr, coll-i-er, ghz-i-tr, grai-i-er, harr-i-er
{ = har-i-er), hos-i-rr,saw-y-tr, spurr-i-er, we have an inserted
t'orj' (=(■) which it is not very easy to understand. Matzner
suggests that such words were assimilate<l to certain substan-
tives, such as courl-i-er, farr-i-er, sold-i-er, in which the
sufiix -i-er is French, from Lat. -an'us (Brachet, Hist. French
Gram., ir. by Kitchin, hie. iii, c. 2). We may notice that F.
verbs such as carry, curry, likewise gave rise to a suffix 0/
simitar form in words such as carri-er,curri-tr, where the -ir
is purely English. I think it extremely probable that such
trade-names as farr-i-er (with F. -ier) and curri-er (with E.
-er after t) combined to suggest new trade-names such as
bfftv-y-er, bra%-i-tr, cloth-i-er, coll-i-er, glas-i-er, graz-i-er,
Aos-i-fr,saw-y-rr, spurr-i-er; and that harr-i-er was invented
• Most vowel -insertions occur in an uiuiccenurd Byllablc, and lietween
mis, the Ulter of wtilcb ts «ither a liqaid or tv. Tlie renson
tiat the liquids, a; well as w, ate often voca]i<«d, and an allcmpt is
10 expre&s this io writing.
394
FfrOMJLOGT.
tCiuf. XIX.
to pair off with terr-i-er. It is not to be forgotten that there
was yet a third way in which the suffix -t-er sometimes arose.
The A, S. luf-ian, to love, produced an M. E. form Uuyn
(=/(Hi(>«) as well as louin (=laveii), and hence was formed a
sb. louyer (=lm)ur) as we!l as lowr (=/over) '. Here the I'or
y is really due to the i in the causal suffix -law of the A. S.
verb. Hence I take the most likely solution to be, that lie
form in -iVr, naturally arising: in three different ways, wm
looked upon as being always the same, and so established
itself as a convenient occasional fonn of ihe agential suffix-
The insertion of o before tv is common, to shew that the
w has become vocal, Thus A. S. wfalwian Is to viattotti ', tbe
sbs. arrow, morrow, pillow, sallow, sorrou.', sparrow, ioiUam,
answer lo M. E. arwe, marwr, pilwe, siilwt, sorwe, spcrvit,
wihve, from A. S. arnm, morgm, pylt (a short form, for ibe
original is the Lat. puluinus), stalh (gen. Kalgi), torh (gen.
lorge), iptarwa, xvilig (gen. wiUgt) ; and the adjs.yW/ooi, nv-
row, answer to A. 'Ss.fealu (definite iatm ftahoa), and ntv%
(definite form neaniia).
An inorganic mute t was often added by ignorant scribet
in impossible places, as e.g. in makdhi, but this needs no atten-
tion or remark ; unless it be worth while to say that roodeni
comic writers imagine that they can produce 'Old English'
by adding a final i at random, and thus creating stich
monstrous forms as hathe, dranke, wiiht, Ihallt, iiU, and the
like ; for such is English scholarship in the nineteenth century 1
We do, however, find an inorganic mute t in moust, kotui,
loust, goose, getst, horse, worse, &c. ; this is merely an ortho-
graphic device (like the -ce in mice) for shewing that the t is
voiceless, and not pronounced as z. Yet the verbs to fumMt, to
lauie, to mouse are spell precisely the same : we must look to
' See tuuiiH and Leuicn in Ihe glosHry lo Specimens of Kagliih,
P»tl 1, ed, Morrit In Chaucer, C. T. 1347. where lie klleuncn US.
hn> leverts, the Hetwodb imd Ijinsdowne MSS. have ttmytrt anil k
resp<^iively. II>11iwelI pves lovitr as a pioviociat £. lonn tliU %
1 370.]
COf^OJ^ANT-lNSER TWIT.
395
[Ihe conlesl to distinguish them. In one, none, the final ( ex-
presses the fact that the vowel was once long; as in M. E.
oon, noon, A. S. an, nan. Sale for sal is sioiply a ba.d spelling,
but is not unconinion ; similarly we have bade for bad,
possibly lo distinguish it, to the eye, from bad as an adjective.
Perhaps it is for a like reason ihat we write ale {not o/) for
the pt, t. of eal; some indeed write eal, but this is as confus-
ing as our use of read (pronounced red) for ihe pt. t. of read.
The A. S. infinitive is elan, pt. t. tel, pp. elen ; M. E. elen, pt. t.
eet 01 el, pp. elen ; ao that modern E. might fairly adopt el for
the past tense.
§ 370. Consonantal insertiona. At the beginning of a
word, we sometimes find A prefi.ted 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. amove, earliest
form emer; cf. Mid. Du. emmerick, G. emmerlitig, getb-ammer,
gold-ammer. H is also inserted in whelk, a. mollusc, which
ought rather to hcwilk, and in whorlle-berry ; § 336. Also in
rhyme, M. E. ryme, A. S. rim, by confusion with rhylhm. N\%
preRxed in newl; ng is put ior g in nighlingaU, M.E. nighle-
1 M is suffixed in billern, slubborn, and marlern (now
lar/en); § 3^7. i'is prefixed iajiew, M.E. ew, AS. iw,
I indicate the sound more clearly ; so also you, your, are
riiUen for ihe A. S, e^, eSwer ; but the y in yean is best
Kplained as representing the prefix ge--, see § 337. R is
pEerted in bridegroom (which is unconnected with groom),
n hoarse, and probably in surf; § 353.
The spelling swarlhs for swalhs in Twelfth Night, ii. 3.
"162, is probably a mere misprint; for it is spelt swalh in
Troilus, V. 5. 25. L in could is an intentional mis-spelling,
due to association with would and should ; § 354. W in
^ whole is explained in § 355, where also whoop is shewn to
cand for hoop.
The insertion of w in woof is very curious. The M. E.
1 is 00/, a contraction from A. S. 6we/, fiweS, short for
PHONOLOGY.
fCuKlDX.
on-w(f or nti-wfb, i. e. 'a web formed on ' what has been
already spun : so called because the woof or wefl traverses
the ' warp,' which is ihe name given lo the parallel threads
before they are crossed. It was, doubtless, felt that cofsm
in some way connected with the verb to iveope, and as the fact
of its being a contraction for o-uf/ had been forgotten, the
w was restored in Ihe wrong place, thus producing a form
wv^ to accompany iwaw, wtb,'xaAweft. See Sweet's Olden
English Texts, p. 533, col, a. The j in island is due lo
confusion with isle.
Excrescent Letters. Lastly, we may note Ihe excresctnt
letters, viz. d or /. after n; b or p, after m ; / after j or jr; ■
after r; see §§ 341. 344, 347. 350.
§ 371. (10) Graphic Changes; changes in 111*
STmbols employed. The symbols employed to denou
certain sounds have sometimes been changed from time 10
time, witliout any change in the sound represenled. This ii
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. r became k before e and i
in many words, M. E. ceh (from A. S. cc) became E. *A.
A. S. h. H'hen not initial, became gh or 5, of which ) is 00
longer used. Civ became qu. Hw became xvh. Initial/
(often A. S. g) was written either^y or j : but j is no longer
used. Initial hard g is sometimes written gu or gA. M.E.
gge {(rom A. S. eg 01 rge) is now written dge. A.S-A"*"
came /, /A ; of which / is now disused, /", as in /i/m, 10
live, became u, and Hnally v; but with the restriclion that
the u or n must always be followed by a vowel ; hence mod.
E. live for liv. When final re represented a vowel-sound, it
was commonly written nv. Voiceless final s wa.s ctianged lo
ee or se : voiced j was sometimes, but far too seldom, allend
to B. CA, sh were introduced to denote new sounds; tbe
latter was also written sch in M. £. See above, §f 334'35(|
and see the chapter on Spelling.
h^^■^
MISUSE OF SYMBOLS.
397
§ 372- (ii) Misuse of symbole. Someiimcs !iymbols
were misunderstood and misused. Some scribes, even in
tlie twelfth century, confused d with 3, by omitting the stroke
across the top of the latter. In the Royal MS. of the A. S,
Gospels, the o is not unlike n ; 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 / is sometimes omitted ; it
then becomes a long j (f). V, with a longer stroke on the
left, looks like 6. 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, or a «
like n ; most scribes make n and u precisely alike. The
ihom-letier (/) degenerated into a mere duphcaie of^; so
tbftt the early printers employed y for Ihal, Sec. They did
not however pronounce hyat; this folly was reserved for the
nineteenth century. Three successive down strokes may
mean rn, or i'», or I'u, or ui, or ni; four may mean nii\ or I'm,
or nu, or un, unless the stroke meant for / is marked by a
slanting mark above, as is sometimes done. Some MSS.
have a short stumpy^, very like s. The A. S. w is very like
p. Z and J are often precisely alike '. We thus see that
possible mistakes may arise in a great number of ways ; the
table below, which groups ihe symbols that resemble each
other together, will give some idea of this.
a,u; b,v;c,l-,d,3\ e, o; /, long s ; g, twisted s ; m, in,
ni, in, ui; n, u; mi, im, mi, un; o, e; p, w; r, t, v; s,g;
long J, y; l,e',p,y; «,«; v,r\ W,ii; A. S. ai,^ (and even
/) ! X > ; ». 5-
Some of these confusions have even influenced the lan-
^age. We write capercailzit for capercailye^, and then the
3 may be taken for a ; if we had written capercailyit, this
' The nbhrevintion for n final ci ii
mce viil, short for vidcUict, U now v
* f oimerl)' caftrealtc ; see qaotatioi
Lnlin MSS. also resembled i
398
PffOKOLOCy.
lOu».l
could not have happened. I fonnerly Ihougbt that our
mod. E. citistn is merely a graphic error for M. E. riltyn,
ftiih J written instead of_y ; cf. O. F. iiUain, mod, F. ritoyfn ;
but further investigation shews that such is not the
case.
§ 373. Errors of editors and early printers. Ever
since the invention of printing, innumerable mistakes have
been made by printers and editors in the atierapt to conveft
MSS. into printed books, A volume might easily be filled
witli 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 10
this, remembering that most of our editors have been eniireir
self-laught 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 may mention that the word e
dwery, a dwarf, in William of Paleme, 1. 362, was i
by Hartshorne, and printed as owery. There is no sucb]
in the language. Once more, as a specimen of wtf
careless editor can accomplish, take the following Ijnei
Octovian, ed. Weber, 1743-46: —
'Alle the baners that Crysten founde.
They were abaiyde [knocked if ozun];
There was many an hethcn hounde
That they chek yn a tyde.'
And so Weber leaves it ; but he informs us, in his glo
that cfuk means 'chrcked, as in the game of chess, 1
phorically, killed.' This is doubtless the sense ; bat «i|gt
arc we to think of an editor who supposes that chtk can be
the third person plural of a past tense? But the MS,, still
existing, shews that the editor had before him a copr
containing a letter w, which he misread as in, and then n
copied as yn. With this hint, we can see that he ViXSk
S 374-]
DOUBLING OF COHSONANTS.
399
wrote (htkyn a lyde for chfk-malyde, the very word required
hy the sense, the gramnaar, the metre, and the rime '.
The general rule is that the scribes are frequently stupid,
but are orien 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 rioubling of a consonant after a shori 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 modem accent. The effect of throwing a
slill 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 double consonants to shew shortness of the preceding
vowel'.' Orm gives us such spellings as Pat/ for thai, and
erisstenndom for Christendom, ihe final 0 in which was then
long. A few instances must suffice ; 1 take the consonants
in alphabetical order. Thus we have /c^i/c (for *peppU), A.S.
papoi; chkken,Pi..S.ci'cen;Jicitc,\.S.ficol; si'ckk, A. S. neat ;
addle or addttd, from A. S. adda, filth (see the New E.'
Diet) ; bladder, A. S. dlo'dre, and/odder, A. S./iidor, where the
vowels, once long, have been shortened by ihe stress ; giddy,
M. E. gtdi; ladder, A.S. //liidir', with vowel-shortening;
' I call an luireiil form, inch as awcry for thuery. a ' ghost-ward.'
Nuinerons examplesof ghost- words are given in my PtesidcQlia! Address
to the Ptiilological Society for i%%6, printed in the Tiaosactions.
' Sweet, First Middle Englidi Primer, p. 43.
' My Diijtionary gives kladrr; bnt the a was originally long, as
400 PHOmiOaV. [Our. XIX.
riddle,^. S.rddelse, wilh vowel -shortening ; niddtr, A.S.r0tr,
with vowel-shortening, from rdw-an^ to row; tadd/e, A.S.
sadol ; oj, variant of ^ A. S. of; staff. A. S. tluf, and final
jf generally ; siragglt. formerly slragle, as spell by Mituhen
l^iftii) ; follow, ll\..'E../olivcn, h..'&. /ylgan; galtow^i), A.S.
galga ; mullein, A. S. moUgn ; sviallow, v., A. S, twetgam ;
swallow, sb,, A. S. swalrwt ; yellow, A. S. ^«i/h ; /»J7, IceL AA
and final // frequently; emmrl, A.S.tsmelU; gammon, A.S.
gameti ; slammer, from A. S. stamtr, adj., stammering ; pamy,
M. E. /*«)■, A. S, penig. pming. pending ; ptpper, A. S. piptr,
from Lat. /'jft^'"; ^rry, A.S. berige; borritiv, A.S. iorgiaa;
burrow, a mere variant of borough ; trrand, A. S. (fmdlr;
farrmv, ferry, furrow, marrow, morrow, narrow, temv,
sparrow, yarrmv, as well as harrier from kart; drost, glass,
grass, loss; bitter, bottom, brittle, fttltr, flutter, latter (ie.
laltr, with vowel altered), Utile, nettle, oiler, rattle, uaHtr,
settle, spilth, teller ; dizzy, A. S. dysig ; drizzle, formerly drisir.
A singular example appears in sorry, formed by vowcl-
shortening from A. S. sdr-ig, an adjective derived from tif,
a sore. People naturally connect it with sorrow, from
A. S. sorh.
The double c {ck) in accursed, atknowledge, is unoriginal,
and due to confusion with the Lat. prefix ae- ( = arf); tlK
double f in afford, affright, is also unoriginal, and due to
confusion with Lat. af- (=ad).
§ a7S. (13) Vow el-changes due to oonsonantal ia-
fluence. The consonants which most affect adjacent vowcb
are h, g, n or m, r or /, and w or xvh.
The effect of the old guttural h (like G. eK) upon a pK-
ceding vowel is sometimes curious. It certainly lends, in
some instances, to turn ilie vowel into the mod. E- long i.
Thus A, S. meaht or mukl also appears as meht and mhS;
E. mighl. A.S. hfah, Mercian AcA, gives M. E. A^orW,
: in Kluee. Indeed, the Gb
CO.ySONANTAL INFLUENCE. 40I
It also M, E. hy or hygh ; lience E, high, [hough the M. E,
/ is represenied by ktyday, \. e. ' higii day.' A. S. nci;/;,
Mercian »/h, gives M. E. tuA or neigh, but also ny or nygh;
hence E, nigh, though the M. E. neigh is preserved in wigh-
The A.S./€ohUin, Mercian yS^/an, g:ives M.'E./th/en.
3.\so Jth/ifi ; Y.. fight. A.S. reh! is also spelt riht; E.
Hence the German words machi, hnch, nach,/(chlen,
feM contrast remarkably, as to their vowels, with E. mighl,
, nigh, fighl, right. In the A. S. flfah. Uah, the h was
Biply dropped, leaving j?^a, lea. The A.S. hlehhan, M.E.
ithyn, also layn, is now laugh.
§ 376. The A. S. g, M. E. 3, commonly coalesces with a
preceding vowel so as to form a diphthong. Thus leg be-
comes ay, ai. as in dag, E. rfay ; tagel, E. /o(7. /"^ does the
same, becoming ay, ai, as in rveg. E. Kiaj', eglian, E. a(7:
also «'. as wegari, E. weigh. Ig becomes i (ai) if accented,
as in higian, E, (4)> ; nigon, E. «/»? ; or -^ if final, as in hal-ig,
E. h)ly. Ug becomes ow, as m/ugol, V../mt'l; sugu, E. sew.
I'g becomes _>■ (ai), as in liryge, E. dry-, so also bycgan,
by-stem byg-, M, E. buyett, is now i»v, pronounced as by.
A, S. <tg becomes ty or qj', rt'or of', as inri^^^, E. key; griig,
'E.gray and frey ; hndgati, E. wfijfA ; slttger. E. j/air. A. S.
' becomes ee or i*, y (ai); thus K.S. _fi/ogaii, Mercian
^gan.Jligan, appears both as_^« and_/fj'; A.S.l/ogan, Mer-
^««, /(j^an, is E. lie. to tell untruths. A. S. Af corrc-
! to Mercian /g-, A.S, «^^f, Mercian e^ge, is E. y^.
is a fluctualion in the vowel-sound, and a tende)icy (in
me cases) lo the production of the modem diphthongal i,
a the case of h above.
■■ J 877. The effects of n or m upon a preceding vowel are
iticed by Sievers, § 65. They lend to turn a into 0. so
Ml A. S. noma, land also appear as wmia, limd. Traces of
this effect are still found. Thus A. S. camb is now eemb ;
A. S./ram is nov//rom ; whilst our prep, on represents A. S.
I, f\u for an earlier an, which actually appears in the Epinal
[JOL. L D d
402
paoNOLOGV.
(cuv.xn.
Glossary (51), and in the G. an. To these add E. loKg,toiig,
strong, thong, throng, wrong ; from A. S. lang, sang, t/raag,
frwang, [gtypr't^ig, vfrang, A lost n turns on (for an") into
A. S. long 6, E. 00 \ as already shewn with regard to the
words goost, sooth, tooth, ether. A lost m does the same in
so/l, A. S. s6/U.
Sievers remarks that n or m turns a preceding e into 1;
and instances m'man, to take (£. nim, to steal), put fix
*Hemari, and cognate wilh G. nrhmen ; also A. S. mint (herb).
!>orrowed from Lat. menlht, whence E. mint. It may be ob-
served that the same law holds in modern English; which
accounts for E. grin, from A. S. grennian. Other exumples
are these 1 blinli, M, E. hlenktn, not found in A. S. ; link (oTi
chain), A. S. klence; skint, to serve out wine, A.S, statevm;
think, A. S. Ptncan, which however was confused with the
impersonal verb appearing in nu-thinks = A. S, tn/ /lymal.
Ling (fish), M. R Unge, A. S. lenga, the * long * one, from ill
shape; ling-er, frequentative of A.S. hng-an, to prolong;
w(V^-/!f, frequentative of A. S. wew^-on, lomix. Hingt.lA.'Z.
hmge, that on which a door hangs ; cf Icel. ht-ngjit, to hong.
Singe, A. S. stngan ; swing«, A. S. swtngan ; twinge, M. E.
fivengen. Hint, prob. from M. E. hinten, more usually kaUet^
A. S. htntan, to seize, catch '. We may also notice iht
double forms dint and dent, splint and spttnt, glint and Soot
glfit; and the pronunciation of England as Ingland.
§ 378. The effect of ni/ in lengthening a preceding 1 H
surprising. In the A. S. biiidan, the i' is short, just as in Do.
and G. bindtn, Icel. and Swed. binda, Dan. bindt ; but in the
mod.E. bind, the I'is diphthongal. The same remark api^ici
to the verbs find. grind, wind, and prov. E. tind (to kindle);
to the sbs. hind (female slag), mind, rind, and uiM>JHmt,
s mud] clisrcd up by Jan
f 378.] COA'SONANTAl INFLUENCE.
fbnoeriy woodbind; and to the adjectives blind, kind, and
the adverb lihind. Kind, s., M.E. kind, kund, though
answering lo A. S. cynd, follows the same law. In hind, s.,
a peasant, formed with excrescent d from M. E. bine, tlie
A, S. has long i ; but lime-trte is a corruption of liiu-lrct =
lind-lra, from A. S. lind, with short i. The original short
*■ of find or tine, to kindle, is seen in the derivative Under ;
the original short i of the adj. hind is seen in the derivative
veth hinder. We also keep the short /in aader{A.S.sinder),
Jtittd/e, kindred; and even in the sb. wind, to avoid confusion
with the verb 10 wind. Yet even in the last case some
consider it 'correct' 10 pronounce the sb. wmi/ as (waind)
in reading poetry. Such persons are, at any rate, consistent ;
Sot in all other monosjliables the i (before nd) has been
lened.
It has also been seen, in the preceding section, that A. S.
ititutes in (of course skorf) for European en ; we can
lus easily understand that the sb. mind (for 'mend) is
ith Lat, ace. mcni-em ; and the sb. wind (for
r^ with Lat. unil-as. This furnishes an independent
proof that the / in these words was originally short ; whereas
some Englishmen, who believe that the corrupt modern E,
pronunciation is 3 sure and safe guide to the pronunciation
of A. S., have actually maintained that it was long I How
soon the lengthening of the / in these words set in, we
^^Jiave no very sure way of ascertaining. Chaucer, C. T. 2157,
^Baiinesyfna'i^(find) with Inde (India); and Shakespeare rimes
^HAk/, wind, lined, mind with Rosalind, As You Like It, iii.
^Bb. 93. If the latter pronounced the / in Ind as a diphthong
(ci), it must at any rate be granted that this i was originally
short. There is only one example of mod. E. diphthongal i
itefore nl, viz. in pinl. a borrowed word.
effect of m, in turning a preceding e into i, is not
\ striking example appears, however, in
a latter form of altmbic; but this is a borrowed
Dda
404
PHONOLOGY.
[Cut. XIT.
word. Limp. v„ to walk iamely, is connected with the A-S.
iemp-haU, adj.. lame, halting. / is now diphthoDgal before
mh in A. S, cUmban^ E. climb. Cf. § 377.
§ 379. A' and m also affect a preceding 0. ' West Ger-
manic a (saj-s Sievers) before nasals becomes ».' He
instances A. S. genuirun, taken, as compared with O. H.G.
ginoman, G. genommen ; (also A. S. mmiuc. a monk, borroacd
from Lat. monachus (which we now pronounce mfnk) ; A, S.
muni, now lengthened to moun/, from Lat. ace. mtuitrm;
and A, S. pund, now lengthened to pound, from Lai. pottdu,
a weight, Other examples are : £. among, pronouooai
w»ng, in which we have two processes, vii. the cdunge
from A. S. a {in onmang) to M. E. o (in amongt), and
Gecondly the change from n la h (mod, E. ^); so also A.S.
mangtre is now spelt monger, but pronounced mmg)T\ snd
the A. S. mang, a mixiure, is the origin of our mot^rS,
pronounced nungril. The O. Irish donn, dond, mod. Xri^
and Gael, donn, is still seen in the river-name Don ; but wai
adopted into A. S. as dunn, whence mod. £. dun, one of the
few words which ate undoubtedly of Celtic origin. The Low
Lat. noniiit, tiunna, was borrowed as A. S. nunne, mod. £■
««n. The Lat. pon/o (whence, through the French Utd
Italian, our ponloon) became A. S. puni, E. punl. But there
is some confusion as to on and un, owing to the M. K-
use of on to denote short un, as seen in A. S. sunu, M.E.
jonr, E. son, where the M. E. spelling with 0 does not mean that
the sound was pronounced otherwise than as short u.
Hence the double spelling of Ion and lun. and the objeciioQ-
able mod. E. longw for A. S. tungt. See p. 413, note i.
With regard to m following 0, we may notice M. E.
glommin, to look gloomy, whence E. glum.
§ 880. Some light is thrown upon the lengthening of i
before nd bj' the fact thai short u was also lengthened before
the same. Thus Lat. pondia, A. S. pund, is now poHtid\
, A. S. bunden, pp., is now bound, just as A. S. bifuSan is ]
i 381.)
INFLITENCE OF R.
405
bmd; K.S./unden, pp., isnow/oani/: A.S.grund.s., is ground.
and the pp. gmnden is ground also ; A. S. hund is hound ;
A. S. mifni/ is mound; A. S. ^»ni/, heatlhy, is sound, and so is
A. S. iund, a strait of the sea ; A. S. wundcn, pp., is wound.
Even «/ lengthens ihe vowel in two cases ; Lat. monlem
gives A. S. muni, our mount; Lst.. /mitem gives A. S, yi")/',
whence Y.. font, and a later form_/«n/', found in the Or-
nuilum, 1. 10924, whence Y../ount'.
To these we may add a very remarkable instance of
vowel-lengthening in the mod. £, maund, 3 basket, from
A. S, mand, mntid. This A. S, word occurs as early as the
eighth century. The Epinal Glossary has : ' Corltn, mand,"
I. 193; the Erfurt Glossary has : 'Cwi«», mondi'; the Corpus
Glossary has: ' Coffinus, mand,' 1. 533, and ' Qualus, mand,'
I. 1689; see Sweet's O. E. Texts, p. 468. It has nothing
whatever Co do with the Anglo-Indian maund ; see Col. Yule's
Hobson-Jobson ; nor yet with ' Maundy Thursday,' as is so
constantly repeated by archaeologists unworthy of the name.
§ 381. The effect of r upon a preceding vowel is great
and remarkable. Mr. Sweet says, in his History of Eng.
Soimds, p. 67^' In the present English hardly any vowel
has the same sound before r as before other consonants.
One important result is that the r itself becomes a super-
fluous addition, whicb is not required for distinguishing one
word from another, and is therefore weakened into a mere
vocal murmur, or else dropped altogether, although always
retained before a vowel.' Compare, for example, the sounds
in_/&r*, her, fir, for, fur, fare, fear, firt. mare, moor, sour
' Vety rare ; but wc lind fenl-water. in Cocksyne's Lecchdoms, ii.
3jo, We alw ita&faiU.fatUfat, &nA/an/--jiteler.
* SpcUyunn/, becaaae the h waa then sbart.
' I have giTCD feunl as x French word : I na» thiak this is unneces-
uiy. It U bettu to take it from LaL directly. The A.S./dnr easily
becomcs/HH/, tuAfunl will ^le/nint.
' Otucrve the word arid, where the letention of ibe trilled r allows
o resemble t!ia! d( the a ia/al.
4oS
PffOffOLOGY.
[CH*».»t».
vrith those in fal. hen, Jil, fog, htii, faie, feat, fight, mtie,
moot, out. Observe also the difference in prODuncialim
between ' far east ' and ' far west ' ; in the former case the r
in far is trilled, but in the latter case it is not Tbe toss
of trill in a final r before a consonant is a very marked
peculiarity of modem English as distinguished from other
languages, and Is certainly of late dale. Another modem
peculiarity is the levelling of tr, tr. and ur. as in At. fir.
fur, under one ohscure sound, and that sound a new one,
unknown to the older forms of the langua^. Perhaps the
most marked result, lo the eye at least, is the change from
the M. E. tr to mod. E. ar, as ihis is often indicated by
a change of spelling. Thus M. E. fer is now far, from
A, S. for. As this is rather an interesting point. I gi»e
a tolerably complete list of the native words in which thi*
change has taken place, The A. S. vowel is to, the M, E.
vowel e, ajid the modem vowel a, in the following : harm
(yeast), barrow (a mound), carve, dark, far, farthing, hardt
(of flajt), harl, smart, v„ star, starve, far ; lo which we aaj
add heart and htarlh (M. E. hertt, herth). which ought rather
to be spelt hart and harth, in order lo be consistent, Tbe
A. S, and M. E. vowel is e, and the modem vowel a, in ibe
following : barn, char (a turn of work, as in rkar-womam\
charlock, harry' . mar, marsh. The Icel. herbergi, M, E
herbcrwe, is now harbour ; the Icel. serkr, a shitl, is now
sark ; the Icel. sker, a rock, is now sear. In like manner,
the A. S, vieorc (cf. O. Merc, were), weorid. v.vor/>, became
M. E. werk, werld, werth (spellings which actually occur),
but the action of the preceding w caused ihcm lo lie also
work, world, worth, forms which are still retained, though the
i either denoted or was changed info &, which was aflcrwaedir -
'unrounded.* The A. S. jwwri/ became M. E. tr
whence, by the entire loss of w, the mod. E. zard (^
should rather spell it). The change of cr lo ar i
' Sec Ibc 1^1 footnote on p. 40J.
• 390
INFLUENCE OF L,
407
I
words of French origin, and is particularly
Striking in the word cUrk, pronounced as dark, and
actually spelt Clark when used ai> a proper name; also
such words as vcTmin, uriiversily, &c., vulgarly varmin,
'varsity, &c.
The confusion above mentioned, between er and ur.
^Wtnetimes affects the spelling. Thus A. S. iwrttan, M, E.
htrveti, is now liHrn ; crorl, M. E. cherl, is now fhurl ; A. S.
btrslan, M. E. lerstcn, is now burst \ A. S. eorl, eornesi, s.
(seriousness), lorSt, b:came, regularly, M.E. erl, ernest.trlh.
but are now oddly spelt tarl, earnest, earth, in order to pre-
serve an archaic spelling, which shews that, in Tudor English,
the e was ■ open,' as in mod, E. ere.
% 382. The liquid / followed by y or m preserves the
aid sound, though lengthened, of- a preceding a, but is it-
self lost ; as in A. S. cealf, M. E. calf. E. ffl^(pron. kaaf) ;
A. S. iiml/. M.K Aal/. E. Aa^{pron. haaf); A. S. sealm.
borrowed from Lat. psalmus, Gk. ^Xfiir, is pedantically
spelt psalm, but pronounced saam ; A. S, palm, from Lai.
falma, is now pronounced paam ; A. S. cwealm, M. E.
qualm, is pronounced hvaam. The combinations //, Id.
It remarkably affect a preceding a, as in all, bald, mall;
the combinaiion Ik produces the same effect on the a, but
the / is lost, as in walk. The process is carried a slep
further in A. S. cald, Mercian aid, aid, M.E. old l^=vld.
|>rotiOimced as romic aold), mod. E. old. So also in cold.
hid, &c. The combination Id also lejiglhens a pre-
ig i in monosyllables ; hence A. S. did, M. E. child,
■fa E. child; A.S. mild is E. mild; A. S. wild is E. iw7</;
but the short / is preserved in children. Mildred, and wilder-
ness. The rule does not apply to gild or build, because these
e from A. S.
n gyldan, byldan. But A. S. gild, a
4o8 PHOmiOGY.
meni, now usually spelt guild, and pronounced gild, s
by the rule, have a diphthongal i'; and in fact I have fieqiit
heard it so pronounced in the compound guitd-halt (ro
§ 383. We thus see how h. i
, and / affect i
t a pre-
ceding vowel ; it remains to note that ai often remukablv
affects a following a or o, if short; and, in A.S.. a follow-
ing /. The same effect may be produced by tt<i and ga.
Thus wan, what, quash are pronounced as if with a, i. e.
won (riming with an), wot. quosh ; and won, worse are pro-
nounced as if with u, i.e. wun, wursc (romic wtn, wm).
Examples in words of native origin are: walttl, waibm.
walnut (romic tvaon»l), wan, want, wanton, war, ward, imr-
lock, warm, warn, warp, wart, was, ivash, wasf; watch,
water, wattle; wharf, what. Qualm (pron. i-waam) is a
native word, but here the a is conirolled by ibe following
Im; §383. And again, we have; swaddle, swallow, bodi
s. and v., sviamp, swan, iwap, sward, swarm, ijt<art, swartkf,
swash, swath (spelt swarlh in Twelfth Night, li. 3. 161),
swaihe '. In twang, the a is kept lilte the a in sang, by Uk
influence of the following ng. Nest, we have: wolf, tea-
man, wonder, word, work, world, worm, wormwood, worry,
worse, worst, worship, wort, worth. Such words require
care, because the A, S. vowel may be very difTereni. We^
is A. S. wulf; woman is A. S. wi/man, § 349 ; work Is M. E.
7verk, A. S. weorc; world is M. E, werld, A. S. uxerld; worm
is A. S, wyrm. &c. The word womb is curious ; the A. &
wamb became M, E. womi, by the influence of mb, just as
tami became M. K. comb; but the modem sounds of womt
and <omb are differeniialed by the effect of the w. In (wo.
who, from A. S. fii'a, hwa. we should have had, by the usual
change from a to long 0, such forms as two, who, pronounced
as wrilten and riming widi go ; bui the w has altered ihe
' The verb ta twathc is, however, frequently pronoBUccd ■
J rwtidh. i.e. milti a as vafale.
|-38f.]
CONFLUEfrCS OF FORMS.
409
sound from o \.o u {romic 00 to uu), and then disappeared,
leaving /«. hit (romic /««, hiiti).
It may be added ihat an A. S. g, afler an a, and if me-
dial, commonly becomes w, and the vi then coalesces with the
vowel to fonn a diphthong. Thus A. S. if ragaa is M.'E. tfraiv-
m, E. draw; so also A. S. /laga, M. E. hawe, E. haw; A. S.
maga, E. mow; A, S. jn^tf, a cutting insirumeni, E, saw;
A. S. sagu, a saying, E. saw. E. law is A, S. lagu, hut this
is quite a laie word in A, S., and probably a mere borrow-
ing from Norse ; cf. Swed, lag, a law, Icel. fog (plural in fonn,
but singular in sense), a law.
I 884. When. HI and i are adjacent, the vt may affect
the vowel whether it precedes or follows it. A remarkable
example appears in A. S. cwidu, preserved as E. quid. By
I the action of the w, this A. S. word also appears as civudu,
^atid (by loss of tv) as cudu ; whence E. cud. Again, E. wood
is from A. S. wiidu; but lliis is a fate form, put for an earlier
viidu, as in uuidubinde, woodbine, in the Corpus Glossary of
the eighth century, 1. 18 ; this explains how it comes lo be
cognate with Icel. vidr, O. H. G. tc/'/u, and even with O.
\T^\fid, a tree, a wood; and how the bird called a woadwalt
is also called a wilwaH, wi'llal, or wiUoi.
In the combinalion iw, the 1' is apt to turn into e, the result-
ing ew being a diphthong. Thus A.S. niwc is E. new. A.S.
hiw is M. E. hinve, but is now spelt hue; A.S. iw is M. E,
ftigh or ail, now spelt _yrw. Hence we can e.vplain steward,
from A. S. stiweard, lit. a sty-ward, where sti is short for stig
;= sligu. The A. S. sligu, a sty, is a very old word ; see
Sweet, O. E. Texts, p. 513.
§ 385. (i4)GoQfliienceoffoFms. The numberof words
in English which are either spelt alike, sounded ahko, or both,
is very large. This is in a great measure due 10 the loss of
rxions or other changes, which have brought words into
r forms ihai were once diiferenl, I use the word con-
' Jhtence advisedly, for it would seem that there is a real leiidimy
_ is very U
^Kinflexion
^BlKiiUar f
{ 357-1 HOMOCRAP/fS. 41 i
(kldle, of Welsh origin, has been conformed lo ihe familiar
E. crowd. I leave it to the reader 10 find more examples ;
see the next section.
§ 3Se. Words of different origin which have thus run
together are commonly called homonyms. Slricdy speaking,
ihey are of two kinds, i. e. either homographs or homophones.
Homographs (from ypa^iv, to write) are such as are sptlt
alike ; homophones (from ^avii, sound) are such as are sounded
alike. Homographs are commonly also homophones, but
there are just a few exceptions, very trying to a child learning
10 read. Examples are : how (to shoot with), bow {of a ship) ;
gill {of a fish), gill, a liquid measure ; lead, a metal, leail. to
conduct ; lease (of a house), lease, lo glean ; tower, to let
down, toitier, to frown : raven, a bird, raven, to plunder ; sov.
S., smv, V. ; tear, s., tear, v. ; pronounced, respectively, accord-
ing to the romic spellings bou, bau; g'l,jil', Ifl. Hid; his.
liis ; lowr, lttu)r ; reivn, nevti ; sou, sou ; tiir, teir. Other
examples, all perhaps of French origin, are due lo variaiions
of accent, as in the case of d/serl and des/rl, Ailraace and
entrance, present ^nA prne'nl, the usual rule being rhat the verb
is accented on the rool-sy liable, but the substantive on the
prefix. 1 have given a fairly complete list of homographs.
under the title of ' Homonyms,' In my Dictionary'. I shall
oDiy add a few remarks to shew how confluence has often
uken place naturally, owing to the loss of inilexions or 10
peculiar habits of spelling, in words of native origin.
\ SB7. The A. S. angut or angel, a fish-hook, regularly be-
came M. E. angil or angel, but the F. habit prevailed of
wnting final -le for final -el. thus turning it into angle. It
ttbns became a homograph wilh angle, a corner, of F. origin.
■ The A. S. healu (for 'hah), became W. E. bale, i. e. evil, by
! almost universal substitution of final -e for nearly all in-
Xtional forms. Our bale of goods is nol from mod. F,
>, but from O.F. bale. The A.S. beonian (=Mercian
■ See also Koch's Giammatik, i. alj-ij?.
HOMOPITOHES.
htra'an ?) became M. E. lierkfi ; whence, by the change from
fr to ar (see § 381) the mod. E. verb lo bark. The A»riof
a tree is of Scand. origin, from the base &art- of Icel.
bdrkr (gen. bark-ar). The F. word barque has been rc-
spelt bark to agree with these. A curious example is seen in
the old word hiU, A. S. b^l or bjSle ', in the sense of a small
tumour; it seemed more natural to associate it with the
verb to boi! than with the bile from the liver ; and ii was
altered accordingly. It is needless to multiply instances, as
many examjiles can easily be traced by the historical metliod.
I will just add one more ; the M. E. adv. wel is now av//.
because we usually write the / double when final ; on the
other hand, the M. E. sb. vxlle has lost its final *. and
is thus reduced from a dissyllabic form to the monosjl-
labic well. This is a good example of the production at
a pair of homographs by inevitable processes.
§388. We have also several pairs of homophones. Tliese
can usually be easily explained by the historical meihod.
Thus ale is M. E. ak. A. S. ealu (Mercian "a/u) : but ail is
for til\ from M. E. rtlen, A. S. eglattt to be Iroublesoou,
a verb formed from the adj. rgU, cognate with Goth, agba,
difficult, troublesome. Btat, M. E, belen. from A. S. bAtlM,
is spelt with ea to represent that the Tudor-English sound
was that of of>e/i t (romic ae) ; whilst brti. M. E. btU, A. S.
bitf. from Lat. beta, had then the sound of dost t. The spell-
ings of son and sun are curious, and it is not easy to see
why they are now different, unless an express attempt was
made to distinguish them to the eye, perhaps on the grotuid
iliat a distinction had long been kept up. The A. S, forms
were sunu and sunne respectively, in the latter of which the n
' • /V«i«W<M (^c), weiflc, l>yle'; Wright's Clossarie*. ed. W
J44. tl; ■ FurHHOilui, weorte, utl byl,' id. J45. 15; 'Cart'
bjlaa,' id. 199. 15. There Bie two forms, hyl, nmic : ind W/i,
' ' Know jre ought what Ihiw beitct tilldV Merlin, cd. W
p. 3.
§388.] HOMOPHONES. 413
was distinctly made double. "Owing to the use of the M. IC.
0 to denote short «, which Mr. Sweet calls ' a well-known
feature of Middle English \' these became sone and sonne
respectively, spellings which may be found at least as late as
1 481, in Caxton's Reynard the Fox, ed. Arber, p. 23, 11. 20,
28. Skelton has varying spellings, but, with him, both words
still have 0, In Shakespeare's Tempest, the former is son or
Sonne, the latter is sun.
Inasmuch, however, as the best method of distinguishing all
such homophones is by tracing them back to their original
A. S. forms, it is unnecessary to pursue the subject further *.
' History of Eng. Sounds, p. 149. It may be useful to note that the
use of 0 ioT u arose from a wish for greater distinctness in writing.
Such combinations as un, nu, mu, um, uu being difficult to read in
MSS., 0 was put for u to prevent error. Hence M. £. MSS. have laue
for luue, monk for munky cotuen for cumen, tonge for tungCy and the
like ; and hence mod. £. still keeps up such perplexing forms as lovt^
monky conUy tongtUy &c
' A list of Homophones is given by Koch, i. 232.
CHAPTER XX.
Doublets and Compounds.
§ 889. At the end of the last chapter we considered
some examples of confluence of forms, producing homonyms.
This will therefore be a convenient place for giving some
examples of dimorphism^ or the appearance of the same
word under a double form. Such double forms are most
common in that part of our language which is of Romance
or Latin origin. Thus the Lat. balsamum^ Gk. fiaXvaftav, has
given us the word balsam ; but we also have the same word
in the form balm, due to a French modification of the Latin
word. These double forms have conveniently been called
doublets^, and a full List of Doublets is given in my
Ei)*mological Dictionary. I shall only notice here a few
examples of doublets in words belonging to the oldest
j)eriod or of native origin.
§ 890. Doublets are sometimes due to a difference of
dialect. Examples are seen in the Southern English ridge,
bridge^ birch, churchy shred, as distinct from the Northern
rig, brig, birk, kirk, screed. Or they are due to the
fact that we have sometimes borrowed a word from
a cognate language, when we already possessed it in our
^ It is best to keep to this name, though it is not always logically
exact. In a few cases we have really triplets, or three forms of a woid,
as when the Lat. chorus appears also as choir and quire, or wheo we
have three spellings, as caldron, cauldron, and chaldron.
I 390.] DOUBLETS. 415
own J the reason being, probably, that it was not used in
preciBely the same sense. We already had the verb lo thatch,
A-S, pcccan'^, but it was used in rather a restricted sense;
hence we borrowed the cognate Dutch <!eckm in the six-
teenth century, to express the notion of decking, or covering
in a more general manner. The following are examples of
doublets of native words, probably of dialectal origin. A, S.
amtlti, ccmeli ; E. emmet, also contracted to ani, A. S.
avidu, also eudu \ E. quid, cud (§ 384). A. S. dynt, a blow ;
E. dint, also dent. A. S. dal, a portion ; E. dole, whence the
verb d&lati, lo deal, and the sb. ddl, a portion, E. deal, sb.,
which is practically a doublet of dole. A. S. gamm, M. E.
ganun, whence E. game and the archaic form gammon (so
Spelt by confusion with a gammon of bacon). E. a/one, often
shortened 10 lone. E. 0^, differentiated as 0^. E. scabby,
also sha6fiy, with sh for sc A. S. scaleran, whence the
archaic form scatter, and the later shatter. A. S. sleef; E.
staff, pi. staves, whence the later form stave. E. lemse, better
and older form lose, M. E, tosen, from an A. S, form 'tasian
(not found), of which the m'utated form is A. S. litsan, the
original of the doublet tease. A. S. pirlian ; E. thir/, or by
metathesis thrill^. A. S. t6; whence E. lo and too. A. S.
&tor ; E. outer, also utter, with vowel-shortening and doubled
consonant, E. wallet, probably a double of wattle (§ 362).
E. wit, lo know, spelt weel by Spenser, F. Q. i, 3. 6, by
a licentious lengthening of the vowel. A. S, wiht; E. wigkl,
and also whit, the h in the latter form being misplaced.
A. S. weald. M. E. wald, altered to E, wold (or old m
Shakespeare) by the influence of w on the following vowel
(§ 3^3) ' '^^*' spelt weald, probably by a pedantic revival of
the A. S. spelling in the sixteenth century, M. E. wrappen,
' Strictly speaking, the A, S.^icam could onlj give ■ mod. E. tketck ;
cL M. E. flieichen, 1\ Plowmiui, B. xix. 331. The vowel ii, of cooiae,
borrowed irata ibe ab,, A, S./cA-, Au..}iici.
' The third lotsa, drill, is tiorniwcd from Datch.
41 6
to wrap, \yas somelimea spell wlappen, whence (by loss of «^.
the Torm lap, m Che sense to ' wrap up.'
'Indulgent Fortune does her care employ,
And, smiling, broods upon the naked boy :
Her garrrent spreads, and laps him in the fold,
And covers with her wings, from nightly cold.'
Drvden, Translation of Juvenal, Sat. si. 1.
«Jj^
§ 391. In some cases ibe native word finds ils twin fonn
in Scandinavian. Examples are seen in A. S. dell, E. (frtf,
cognate with Icel. dalr, E. dale (but see § 392, p. 418,1*
10 these differing fonns). A. $■. /ram, liter /ram, 'E./rcmi
Icel. /rii, E. /ro. Mercian mile (in the Vespasian Psalier,
Pa. 118. 70), E. mi'li; cognate with Swed. mjdlkr, milt.
whence £. milt, soft roc of Kshes, by substitution of / lor i.
A. S. rod, E. road; kel. rei3, Northern E. raid; cf. Our
phrase ' to make an inroad! A. S. rdran, E. rtar; loeL
reisa, E. raist. A, S. rdcan, rdcean, E. rtach; Swed. (Gftl
raka, to reach, raka/ram, to reach out, whence E. rakt, ut^
of the projection of the upper parts of a ship, at both eadi,
beyond the exiremiiies of the keel. A. S. sagu, a sayii^,
E. saw, Icel. saga, whence saga as an E. word. A. S. kH,
E. whoU; Icel. htill, E. Ad/7! A. S. uyri, E. toort; led.
r6t, E. root. Sometimes lN>th ihe forms are Scandinavian;
such seems to be the case with Icel. skyrla, E. siirt, modiCtd
to sliirl. Icel. ski/a, Swed. skuffa, to shove, whence E.
scuff-le, modified to shuffle. Icel. siru-k/i. modified lo ttrtuk
and to skrifk. Sometimes one of ihe words is native, and
the other Dutch; as is the case with E. IhatrA and Do.
decken, mentioned above, 5 390. Other examples are E.
thrill, cognate with Du. drillen, to bore, also to dnB
soldiers ; also A. S. loa-gti, M. E, wayn, E. wain, cognate
with Du. wagm, whence E. waggon, formerly sjjell ttyfiw ',
' ft is
Wi9*^
COMPOUND WORDS.
417
I Lai
^H avr,
§ 302. An E. word frequently has a twin form in a word
borrowed from L^in or French. Thus E. knot is cognate
with Lat, nodus, whence E, node. E, naked is cognate with
Lat. nudus, whence E. nude. E, word is cognate with Lat.
turhum, whence E. verb. Again, E. hearl is cognate with
cf. E. heart-y with eord^ial. E. name is cognate
;th Lat. nomen. whence O. F. noun, nun, E. noun. E. ship
IB cognate with O. H.G. ski/, whence F, esqui/{m Cotgrave),
E. ward, verb, is cognate with O. H. G. warUn,
O.Sax. wardSn, Middle G. warden (Schade), whence O.F.
guarder, garder. E. guard. Similarly the native words wile
xaAwzse, sb., are doublets of the (orma guile, guise, borrowed,
through French, from the Frankish. The Latin word uncia
■was borrowed in the A. S. tonaynce, with mutation of « \ay,
'hence E. inch ; at a later period it was re-bonowed in the
form ounee (O. F. unee).
Both forms may be Ladn. Thus the Lat. loeusta was bor-
'ed in the early A. S. form lopusf, and applied 10 the loeusta
ir lobster; this early form lopust was afterwards
look more like a native word by turning it into
^Mi^pestre, whence E. lobtkr ; at a later period, the same word
■borrowed in the form tocusi, and applied to a certain
winged insect. The Lat. slruppus was borrowed in the
A. S. form stropp. whence E. strop ; at a later period, this
A. S. stropp was turned into strap '. Font aad/bun/ are mere
variants of A. S./ont, borrowed from Lat. acc/intem (§ 380).
Ton and tun both answer to A. S. tunne, a non-Teutonic word
of doubtful origin.
In some cases we find that the doublets are not exactly
a piit of a diphthong ; ini^eed, even in A. S. we ahead;' liiid
nvA Sana win. Again, 1 do not suppose thai wagan w«s
!r heard of in Englnnd till the sixteenth ccntary. iN.B. in my Concise
■. Wagon, read 'XVI cent." for 'XIV cenl.'j
• I know of no ioalance of i//li> earlier than in Sit ak. Tw. Nt. 1.3. 13.
D, however, find an A. S. fk\ra\a.straput,'lk.%.strapet; see Wright's
Hfocibolaries mid Suatmann.
4i8
COMPOUND JVOXDS.
[Oup.XX.
equivalent, but differ slightly in the form of the suffix. Thus
dale. Ice!, dair, answers to a. Teut. form dala ; whereas deU
answers to oalja. I now find that the E. byrf is not (as said
in my Dictionary) of Scand. origin, but is precisely the
A. S. hjrt, which Mr. Sweet, in his Oldest E. Texts, calls a
plural sb., and translates by ' dwellings.' The TOOrd is
evidently formed by mutation from A. S. b^r, a bower : so
that bower and byre are, practically, doublets, ihough dif-
ferent in use ; the former was usually allotted to ladies, but
the latter to cows.
$ 393. Compound Words. Compound words, such as
head-ache, are extremely common in Enghsh, and the
majority of them are compounded of two substantives, the
sense of the compounds being obvious. But it is worth
observing that there are some compounds, of purely uadve
origin, which are of such antiquity that their form has
suffered considerable alteration, with the result that th«r
sense is by no means obvious until their oldest forms have
been discovered, I give below, for the reader's informa-
tion, a few of the most interesting. The results are staled
with all brevity ; fuller information will be found tn xaj
Dictionary. Some of these words are noticed in Monil'l
Hist. Outlines, p. 222; but the present list is considerab^
fuller. I shall, however, make no scruple of quoting U
length (in § 394) Morris's description of the various modes
in which English compounds are formed.
§ 894, I. SubBtantiTQ Compoonds.
(i) Substantive and subslanlive.
(o) Descriptive ; as gar-lie, spear-plani, even-lui
[Here \)e\oag/riend-ship, h'ng-dom^
{l>) Appositional ; as oak-tree, betck-lree.
(r) Genitive ; as kins-man, Tues-day, ddgms-4ay.
(</) Accusative ; as man-killer, hloodshrdding.
(2) Subslanlive and Adjective : yrcf-mun, mid-day,
bird, alder-man. [See mid-riff, neigh-hour in % 39S-]
rl 394-3 ADyECTIVE COMPOUNDS. 419
(3) Subslanlive and Numeral: twi-light, sen-night, /or i-
I H^hl [see § 395] ; ttvo-fold.
(4) Substantive and Pronoun : seif-tsltcm, self-will.
(5) Substantive and Verb : grind-slam, whel-sloiie, pin-fold,
vag-tail, rear-mouse [see below], bake-house, wash-tub, pick-
Wpockel. A substantive is often qualified by another subslan-
Itive, lo which it is joined by a preposition, as man-of-war.
Xwill-d-lhe-wisp, fack-a-Ianlern («here a = o = of), brolher-in-
I hrw.
n. Adjective CompoundB.
(i) Substantive and Adjective; in which the sb. has the
\ force of an adverb ; as blood-red = red as blood, snvw-u'hili
I ^ while as snow, sea-sick, sick through the sea, fire-proof
proof against fire, cone-shaped, eagle-eyed, lion-hearted. [Here
belong man-ly, wilful, heart-less, &c.]
(a) Adjective and Subslanlive, denoting possession, as
Iiarefeol, (In the corresponding modern forms the sb. has
taken the pp. suffix of weak verbs, as barefooted, ban-
headed, three-cornered. Just as the suffix -en in gold-m
denotes possession, so does ~ed in boot-ed, shmider-ed, forms
lo which Spenser and other Elizabethan writers arc very
partial.)
(3) Participial combinations, in which the participle is the
hst element
(a) Substantive and Present Participle, in which the first
clement is the object of the second ; as earth-shaking, heart-
rending, ear-piercing, life-giving,
(b) Adjective and Present Participle, in which the first
element is etjuivaleni to an adverb; as deep-musing, frtsh-
looking, ill-looking.
(f) Substantive and Perfect Participle ; as air-fed, earth,
born, moth-eaten.
('/) Adjective and Perfect Participle; as dear-bought,
fullfed. high-born. Cf. well-bred, where well is an ad-
. verb.
420
OBSCURE COMPOUNDS.
[CB*nV
m. Verbal Compounds.
(i) SubsLaolive and Verb : back-bite, brmt'-ffal. hood-tt
kiln-dry.
{2) Adjective and Verb: dry-nurse, dumb-found.
(3) Adverb and Verb : cross-question, doff (do off), doH ^
on), &c.
The above account may be usefulty compared with tlie
full account of Compound Words, with a Scheme of different
Composition of Noun-bases, given in Peile's Notes on the
Nalop5kh)-Snam. Camliridgc, iSSi.pp. 2-9,
§ 385. List of CompoundB, of native origin, in vbiob
tbe origin has been more or lees obscured.
Agnail, formerly angnail : A. S. ang-nirgl ; of which Dr.
Murray writes : ' a word of which the application, and per-
haps the form, has been much perverted by pBeudo-elymo-
ogy. The O.E. [K.S.} angnagl'iz cognate with O.H.G.
ungnagel. Fries, ongneil, ogmil; from ang- (Gothic aggnia,
if. ang-suvi), compressed, tight, painful, and mrgt (Goib.
nagls), nail. The latter had here the sense, not of " fingei-
nail," unguis, but of a nail (of iron, etc.) clavus, hence a hard,
round-headed excrescence lised in the flesh ; cf. [A. S.]
%oer-nagl, E. wartui, a wart, lit. " man-nail " (as opposed to
" door-nail, " " wall-nail," etc.), So, Lai. clavus was both a
nail (of iron, etc.) and a com in the foot. Subsequently
-mUl was referred to a finger- or toe-nail, and the meaning
gradually perverted to various (imaginary or real) affec*
lions of the nails.' The senses are : (i) a corn on the
toe or foot; (2) any painful swelling, ulcer, or sore near
the toe- or finger-nail ; (3) a hang-nail. Hang-nail is
a perversion of the true form, 'putting a plausible meaning
Alone, also shortened to lone ; for all one.
Atone ; coined from at and one ; i. c. to ' set at one," to
reconcile. It originated in tbe phrase ' to be at one,' wlu
OBSCURE COMPOUNDS.
X translation of the Anglo-French phrase tstrt a un.
Auger, corruption of riauger; A.S. nafu-gar, later nafe-
Fjfiir, a tool Tor boring a hole in the nave of a wheel ; from
''I A, S. nafu, a nave ; gar^ a piercer, that which gores.
Aught, liL ' ever whit,' i, e. e'er a whit, anything whatever ;
A.S, Awihl, contracted rorm dhl\ compounded of A.S. a,
ever, and wihl, a wight, whit, thing '. Cf. O. H. G. ^awiht,
aught, the cognate form. The A. S. A is cognate with Ice).
n' (whence E. aye\ O. H. G. /o, G.y'f, Goth. a/i«, ever; where
aiw is from the sb. aitvs, time, an age, allied to Lat. wuum.
Gk. iui>; a life-time. Cf. Gk. aid', on, ever.
Bandog, M. E. band-dogge, i. e. a dog tied up by a band,
)B watch-dog or ferocious dog.
Barley, A. S. btcrlic, i, e. that which is like bear, where
fcor is equivalent to A. S. bere, also explained as barley. Dr.
Plurray shews that the suffix is certainly our like, not A. S.
IKk", E. Uek, as usually said'.
Bam, contracted from A. S. bere-trn, a place for barley ;
from A. S. bere, barley, and tern, ern, a place, store-house.
Bridal, put for bride-ale, i. e. bride-feast. The M. E. ale
frequently occurs in the sense of ' feast.'
Bridegroom, for bride-goom, bride-man ; A. S. guma, a
man. The second r is dragged in by the influence of the
II firsL
j^H Brimstone, M. E. bren-stoon, burning stone,
^^t Caterwaul, M. E. calerwavien, lo make the wailing noise
^^Hlf cats. Citler = Icel. kaltar-, as in kallar-skinn, cat's skin ;
^Bprig. gen. of kollr, a cat. Cf. n^kier-lale (Chaucer). Wau-l
^^^ ^ ' n DC pensent tiirt a nit,' i e. they (Heary II. nod Beket) could
^* not agree; Le Livere de ReSs, ed. Glaver tReeord Scries), p, no, 1. 8.
* In mj Diclionaiy, I have explained the prefix Jin this word as short
for da, oat. Thit is a slip for which I cannol iiccoaiit, and is of cOQisc
entiKlr wrong.
* I regret that my Dictionary gives fhis false cxplanatian.
4.22 OBSCURE COMPOUNDS.
is the frequemative or M.E. waw-tn, to make a noise
cat. ' Where cats do waule ' ; Relum from Parnassus, A. j.
sc, 4.
Chincongh, for chink-cough ; chink = kink, a calch in the
breath.
Cobweb, i.e. alUrcop-wei; arfir-co^ = poison-head, i
spider. Cf. M.E. coppis, spiders ; Wars of Alexander, 1. 3300.
Oowalip, prov, E. cowshp, in many dialects ; A. S. di-sloppt.
cA-slyppc, cow-slop, piece of cowdung. Cf. Iccl. k6-r<h.
primrose, lit. cow-refuse. There is no doubt about
the Icel. word is a translation of the A. S. one.
below.
Cranberry, crant-btrry. So also G. Kranich-httrt.
Dai§y, A. S. dagts /age, lit. day's eye, the sim widi
Darling, for dear-ling ; A. S, d&rling.
Didapper, for divt-dapper \ a diving; bird.
Distaff, A. S. dislaf, for 'dise-sliBf, staff with a bum
flajt on it. Cf, Westphalian diesse. a bunch of flax (Bremen
Wtirterbuch, v. 284) ; E. Fries, d(sstn (Koolman) ; M. H. G.
dehse, a distaff, from dehscn, to swingle flax, also to hack,
hew (Schade); */teks, no. 124.
Each, A. S. die. for *d-ge-lfr, ever-like ; see Ai^bt above.
Earwig, ear-creeper ; A. S. wicga, one that moves about,
a beetle ; cf. A. S. wlcg, a runner, horse. ' Blaira {sic\ bta-
fuga. wicga'; Wright's Voc. ed. WUlcker, 196. 18. Cf.
A. S. w(g-an, to move about.
Either, (ij adj. in the sense 'one of two"; A. S. dg^.
^gkivaper, for 'd-gt-hwaper, ever-whether. See Each,
Either, (a) conjunction. M.E, tilhtr. variant (due to
confusion with the word above) of M. E. aulher. A. &
a-hwmper ; and therefore differing from the above in not
lontaining the syllable ff. See Or, p. 417.
Elbow, A. S. el&oga, also elnbaga, Wright's Vocab. iitS. «a.
Eln ■= ell ; hnga, bow, bending.
Eleven. A, S, mdlufon, andkofan (for '
'i-rth. 1
ut thini I
I
unch of I
>s.l
OBSCURE COMPOUNDS,
433
■Uf, Lith. waio-lika; one remaining, one over (beyond
ten). Cf. Lilh. wtfnas, one; also Lith. li'k-as, retnaining,
at-Ukmi, 1 remain over, Lat. linq-uo ; Vriq, no. 307.
Ember-daye ; from K.'&.ymb-Tynt, circuit, course (season),
lit. ' a running round.' See § 365.
Bvery, M. E. ruerich, i. e. ever-each. See Each.
Farthing, A. %.//or3-ing, [lom/eorS-a, fourth.
Fortnight, ior fourteen night, two weeks.
Furlong, furrow-long, the length of a furrow.
Pnttoeks, {or foot-hooks ; sptXifoot-kooks in Bailey, Phillips,
and Coles (1784).
Oarlic, A. S, gar-le'ac, spear-leek ; from gar, spear.
Qodwit, A, S. gSd wiht, good wight, good creature.
Ooodbye, iot God be with you^, as in Othello, i. 3. 189 (first
folio) ; other spellings are God ff w' y (Suckling), God be
vii' ye (Allan Ramsay) ; God bwy ycc (Marslon) ; godbwy (J.
Davies); God bye (Evelyn); God buy you. Twelfth Night,
iv. 2. 108 (first folio) ; see Palmer. Folk-Eij-raoiogy. It is
tolerably clear that God be with you was cut down to God
buy or God buy; after which, the sense being obscured, the
viotAye,yee, or you was again appended ; so that the modern
E, good-bye really stands for Evelyn's God bye, i. e. for God
be with you ye, or God bt with you you. This is the true
solution of the mystery, and is not at al! ' impossible.'
Qororow, carrion-crow ; from gore, blood, carrion.
Qoshawk, i. e. goose-hawk ; Icel. gdshaukr ; cf. A. S.
Ooapel, A. S. god-spel. Al first this word was gSd-spel,
tidings ; ' Euuangelium, id est, lonum nuntium, godspel ' ;
Wright's Vocab. 314. 9; but the 0 was afterwards shortened
by stress (precisely as in gos-ling from g6s), and it was then
commonly supposed to mean * God-spell,' or the story of
' Trantmuia siys this a impossible, and that it stands for Gad bt iy
; Angli*,Tiii. 3, 144. He forgets that the pUin evidence is the other
« ii ' God l>c by you ' lu be lonnd i
m ^
WgoM
434
OBSCURE COMPOUNDS.
CCur. XX
Christ. In ihis latter form it was translated tnio Icelandic
as guS-spJal! {. = GoA-s^\V) and into O. H. G. as gettpti,
as if from O. H. G. got. God, not 0. H. G. guol, good. Hence
the spe^m^ god'hpell (with short o) in Ihe Ormulum.
Qossamer, M. E. gostsomrre, lit. goose-summer. (See Wc-
tionary.)
Oossip, M. E. god-sib, related in God, a sponsor in
baptism.
Groimdeel, aplant, A. S.grun4e-nuelge, ground-swallower,
i.e. abundant weed. But this is a corrupted form. The
Oldest E. Texia have gundcsvuilgi, which means ' swallower
of poison or pus,' with reference to healing effects; from
A. S.gund, matter, pus. Gund is used of a running from the
eyes; and groundsel was good for eye-disease; Leechbook,
i. 2. 13. For the spellings gundeswi/ge, gmtdtunutlgat, see
Sweet's O. E. Texts, p. 98, 1. 976 ; p. 97, 1. 1850.
QniDBel, G-roundBill, threshold ; from ground and till.
Halibnt, holy plaice ; for eating on holidaj's. Also speh
holybul (Bailey), Cf hoU-day for holy day.
Halyard, a rope for haling \\\eyards into place.
Handcuff, corruption of A. S. hand-eops ; where copt is a
feller.
Handicap, hand i' (th') cap. a mode of drawing lots.
Handicraft. Handiwork; the / here answers to A. S.
ge, as in A. S. handgrweorc.
Harebell, M.£. hare-btUe, bell of die hare. (Otherwise
explained by those who prefer fancy to fact : and of bte
years spelt hair-bell, to foster a false etymology.)
Heifer, A. S. Mah/ort ; from Mak. high (full-grown); soit
-fort, cognate with Gk. iriJfiic, a heifer; cf. A. %. ftarr, bull
Hemlock, M. E. htmlok, humhk ; A. S. hepiU'r, Aymhi,
hymeiic, oldest forms hymblica, hymlict (Oldest E. Teats),
I- Sense doubtful; the sense of AV, lice can hardly be '
' but rather ' like ' ; see Barley above.
OBSCVRE COMPOUimS.
Henohm&D, M. E. hmsman, henxman, and more corruptly
atchman ; a page ; prob. from late A. S. hengst, a horse, and
' Canlm
r, hengsi '
The
I
Vocab. I
horse- boy, groom.
(Clergy List); cf.
A. S. HcngcsUi-brSc. now Hinxbrook ; Hengeshsgeat, now
Hinxgale, See. (Index to Kembie's Charters.) The sur-
name also occurs in the form Hemman.
Heriot, an Anglo-French re-spelling of A. S. here-gealu,
lit, 'military equipment.'
Heyday, i. e. high-day ; M. E. hty, high.
Hiccough, a modern spelling and travesty of the old
words hickup and kicket, the still older form being hirkock,
■k denotes a spasmodic gasp ; -ock is a mere diminutive,
Hoarhound ; from hoar, white, and A. S. hSne, hoar-
Hobnob, Habnab, orig. at random, take it or leave it ;
A. S. hubban, to have, mebban, not to have.
Emnbag ; from hum, lo cajole, bug, a terror, bugbear.
'For Warwicke was a Buggt, that fear'd [frightened] vs all."
3 Hen. VI, v. 2.3.
Hiusy, short for hus-wi/e = houst-wi/t.
loiole, A. S. is-gicel; from is, ice, and gUrl, a small piece
of ice.
iTomaonger ; monger, A. S. mangert, is a dealer in
various (mixed or mingled) articles.
Island, mis-spelling of t'land; A. S. (g, island, land, land.
The iit, sense of Ig or ifg is ' belonging lo water.' It is formed
by mutation from A. S. /g, /a, a stream.
lAdy, A. S. hlaf-dige, probably ' kneader of bread'; cf.
Goth, deig-an, to knead,
Iiammas, A. S. hldf-mcesse, loaf-masa; day of offering
first-fruits.
Lapwing, A. S. hU'ape-winct, lit. ' one who turns about in
426 OBSCURE COMPO UNDS. [Chaf. XX.
Lemman, Leman, A. S. l/of-man, dear one ; from Ubf,
lief, and mann, a man or woman.
Liohgate, corpse-gate ; from A. S. l(c^ the body, a corpse.
Liyelihood, a corrupted form ; formerly M. £. Uvelode^ a
life-leading, means of living ; from A. S. It/, life ; Idd, coarse,
way.
Loadstone, Lodestone ; from A. S. lad, a leading, guid-
ing.
Lord, A. S. hld/'Ordy prob. for *hld/w€ardy a loaf-ward.
Mermaid, lake-maid ; from A. S. rrure, a lake.
Midriff, A. S. mtd-rif, for *mid'hrif\ from mid, mid, and
hrif, the belly.
Midwife, from mid^ with ; a woman who is with another,
a helper. (Not meed-wife^
Mildew, lit. honey-dew ; from A. S. mek^ mil, honey.
Milksop, lit. ' bread sopped in milk ' ; a soft fellow.
Misselthmsh, so called from feeding on mistletoe-berries ;
from A. S. mistel, mistletoe.
Mistletoe, lit. * birdlime-twig,' A. S. misiel-tdn ; from
misiel, mistletoe, also that which has mist or bird-lime ; tan,
a twig. ,
Mole, short for mould-warp, the animal that throws up
mould.
Monday, A. S. mSnan-da^g, day of the moon. So also
TiweS'dcBg, Tuesday, day of Tiw (Mars); W6dnes-dccg, day of
Woden ; Thunres-dceg, day of Thor (or thunder) ; Frige-
dag, day of Frigu (Love, Venus); Saitern-dcBg, day of
Saturn ; Sunnan-dcrg, day of the Sun.
Mugr^ort, midge-wort, A. S. mucg-wort ; cf. mycge, a
midge, lit. ' a hummer ' ; see Kluge, s. v. Milcke,
Kaught, also Kot ; for ne aught \ see Aught.
Keighbour, lit. * nigh dweller ' ; A. S. neah, nigh, hitr, a
husbandman, dweller.
Kiekname, orig. eke-name, i. e. additional name.
Nightingale, A. S. nihte-gale, a singer by night.
I JSS-l
OBSCURE COMPOUffDS.
4»7
I
Nightmare : from A. S. mara, an incubus.
nostril, nose-thirl, nose-hole ; A. S, nosjiyrl.
ITunclieoii, M.E. flDw-jfA«(f^e, a noon-drink; from A, S.
scencan, to pour out drink. Noon is of Lai. origin. [Cf.
prov. E. nammut. i. e, noon-meat, with a parallel sense.]
Oakum, lit. 'that which is combed out'; A.S. dcumia,
tow ; from a-, out, off, and rcmSan, lo comb.
Oast-honse, a kiln for drying hops ; A. 5. dsi, a drying-
house.
Offal, orig. fallen sticks, that which falls of trees; reliise.
From offznd/a//. See Notes and Queries, 6 S. ix. 155, 231.
Or, conj. ; M, E. of/ifr, aulAer, A. S. d-kwaper ; see
Either (2) above, p. 422.
Orchard, A. S. orctard, orlgtard, also wyrtgrard, i. e.
Ordeal, A. S. orddl, ordal^ a dealing out, decision, doom ;
from or, out, and ddl, ddl, a dealing.
Oxlip, A. S. oxan-slyppt, oK-d toppings ; see Cowslip
above, p. 4*2. Slyppf=^*s!up-ja, with mutation ofa lo_y.
Pinfold, iox pind-fold; from A. S.pyndan, to pen up.
Quagmire, formerly guakntiire, a quaking mire.
Bearmouse, a bat, A. S. hrire-m&s ; from hr/ran, to
le, free from paying aol or shot, i, e. a contri-
bution.
Sennight, for seven nighl; a week.
Sheldrake, for shdd-drake, lit. shield-drake : a drake or-
oamenied as with a shield.
Shelter, (perhaps) the same as M. E. shtllroun, sheldlrumt,
a squadron, guard ; from A. S. sdld-truma, lit. "shield-troop."
M- E. ihdiroun in P. Plowman means defence or shelter.
Sheriff, A. S. scir-gcr(/'a, a shire-reeve, officer of the ahire.
Sledge-hammer, where hammer is a needless addition ;
'e, a heavy hammer ; from slag-, base of
an, to strike, with mutation of a to t.
4^8 OBSCURE COMPOUNDS. [Chap. XX.
Soothsayer, one who says sooth or truth.
Stalwart, a late spelling of siahvorth^ M.E. stahDorp^
stalewurde (St. Katharine), A. S. statwyrde^ pi., serviceable
(said of ships). This difficult word has been solved by
Sievers (A. S. Grammar, ed. Cook, § 202 (3), note a). A. S.
stdlan^ to found, is for stadelian\ and stJd" is for staM^
foundation. Hence it is for stathol-worth^ i. e. steadfast, firm.
Starboard, A. S. sUorhord^ steer-board ; the side on which
the steersman stood.
Starknaked, M.E. start-naked^ lit. 'tail-naked'; hence,
wholly naked.
Stepchild, an orphaned child ; A. S. st^opdld ; cf. A. S.
d'St/apian^ to render an orphan, deprive of parents.
Steward, A. S. sti-weard, warden of the sties or cattle-
pens.
Stickleback, the fish with small spines on its back ; from
stick, to pierce.
Stirrup, A. S. stig-rap, a rope to climb up by.
Such, A. S. swylc, Goth, swaletks = so-like.
Sweetheart, M. E. swete herte, sweet heart, dear heart
Tadpole, a toad nearly all poll or head.
Titmouse, from //'/, small, and A. S. mdse^ a small bird
(G. meise, not G. maui).
Topsyturvy, orig. topsytervy (afterwards corruptly topside-
turzy)y prob. = top so turvy ; cf up-so-down^ afterwards
altered to upsidedown, Turvy means overturned, from M.E.
terven, to upset, torvien, to throw, A. S. torfian, to throw.
Twibill, a two-edged bill ; A. S. twi-j double.
Twilight, lit. * double light,' but put for ' doubtful light,*
half light. See above.
Walnut, a foreign nut ; A. S. wealh, foreign.
Wassail, from A. S. wes hdl, be thou whole, be in good
health.
Wellaway, A. S. wd Id wd, i. e. woe I lo ! wo !
Werwolf, man- wolf ; A. S. wer^ a man.
P39S-1
OBSCURE COMPOUNDS
439
Which, A. S, hwylc, Goth. hwaUiks, lil. ' who-like.'
Wildemess, for wjldem-russ ; cf. M. E. wildemt, a place
for wild animals ; Trom A. S. wild, wild, d^or, animal, with
adj. suffix -ne.
Woman, M. E. wimman, A. S. wif-man, lil. ' wife-man.'
Woodruff, A. S. wude-rS/e. wudu-rSfe, from A. S. rSf,
noble, excelleni ; a name of praise. Cf. G. WaldmehUr ,
wood-masier, woodruff'. In old Glossaries wuderS/e trans-
lates Hastula regia, i.e. king's spear, usually applied to
white asphodel.
WoodwBle, a wood-pecker, oriole ; M. E. wodnoaU, lit.
' wood -St ranger,' from A. S. ivenlh, foreigner. Cf, M. H. G.
witemal, similarly explained by Schade.
Woof, M. E. oof, A. S. 6-wef, for on-wef, lit. 'web upon '
or across the weft. See § 370.
World, A. S. weoruld, weruld; lit. 'age of man,' hence
age. Sec. From A. S. wer, man ; ectdu, old age ; cf. Icel.
verdld, world, from ver and old.
Wormwood, A. S. Tvermid, fuller form wtre-m6d^, as if
• that which preser\'es the mind ' ; from vjerr'au, to defend,
and "i^d, mind. But this can hardly be the righl solution,
as it should then be mdd-were.
Tellow-hammer, for yellow-ammer ; see § 370,
Yeoman, of disputed origin. The M.E. form is double;
M.'E.jieman,yoman. 1 take the prefix to be A. S. 'g/a. not
found ', but equivalent to G. gau, province, village ; the sense
being ' villager,' as is that of O. Friesic gaman. The A. S.
•^^B, if the accent be on e, would become M. ^.ye (for A. S.
giar gives M. E._j'^[t); and *gea, with shifted accent, would
become W. E-j-e (for A. S. geora gives M. Y..yoTe).
' Kuff is n corrupt foim, dnc to l^anfusioll ; it shouUI be ■a.
We bIso find ivoedrvai and ■weedrotuil, by coQfnsion with F. rettt and
reueUt, with icfereace to its whoria oi leaves.
■ ' j4bsinlht«i7i, weramoil ' ; Wright's Vocab. igG. 34.
' Tbf A. S. gd, a province, given in Dictlonnrici, is u complex GctioD,
«»istake(. No A.S. J'G. ou; but only A. S. Ja hu this raluc
43©
HyBRlD FORMS.
[dunilt
Tes, A. S. ges(, explained by me as for A. S. ge tig, ' yea.
let it be (so) ' ; but Kluge (s. v. Ja) gives it as for A. S.gf ti
= ge sv'd. yea, so. Grein givea f/for stud.
Yesterday, A. S. groslra, yesltr-, and dtrg, day. Gt«s-4ra
is a comparative from geas- = Glc. jft't. Ski. kyas, yesicrdsr.
orig. perhaps ' morning.' If so yei-lrr- = morning beycod
A second list of compounds, all of Scandinavian origin,
will be found at the end of Chapter XXIIL
5 396. Some derived forms may be called ' petrified
grammatical forms ' ; i. e. they are fonns due lo grammatical
inflexion, preserved as 'petrifactions' long after the notion
of inflexion has passed from ihem. P'xamples are : iivt, tAy.
short for alive, formerly M. E, atita. oh'ue. on lyue, for A. S. ot
life, in life, where R/f is the dat. sing, of li/, life, Om-a.
fwi-ce, M. E. oti-es, twt-ts, are genitival forma, lilce 6arkward-t,
unawar-ts. Stld-om, at rare (times), is a dative plural ; so
also is tvhil-om, at times, Whil-s-l is a genitiwi! form, wiih
addition of excrescent /. Why, A. S. hu'^, is the instrumental
case of who. Si'rtee, short for ii/hen-s, is due to A. S. ti3 ddm,
later siSdan, with the addition of an adverbial (genitival) t;
and as da-m is a dative case, we see that the ■»• in ti-n-tt is
due to a dative sufiix, and the -ce to a genitive suSix, added
at a time when the notion of dative was lost, just as ibe
notion of genitive is lost now. For further examples, mc
Morris. Hist. Oudines; such forms, being purely of gram-
matical origin, can be explained by the historical method.
§ 397- Hybrids. English further abounds with Hybrid
Compounds, i.e. words made up from different languaget.
Many of these are due to the use of prefixes or suffixes.
Thus, in a-round, the prefix is English, but round is Frendi ;
so also in bi-cause, /ore-front, out-cry, over-pmvfr, tm-aUe.
In aim-Usi, the suffix is English, but aim is French ; so ^*0
in dukf-dom, fahe-hnnd, court-ship, dainii-ntss, phnh-fiti. /mI-
iih, fairy-tike, trouble-somt. genial-ly, &c. But besides these
have perfect compoimds, such as these : &
i 397.]
HYBRID FORMS.
431
eater of beef, where eater is English and heef is French ; so
also black-guard, life-guard^ salt-cellar, smallage. On the
other hand, French is followed by English in eyelet-hole, heir-
loom^ hobby-horse, kerb-stone, scape-goat. Bandy-legged is
French and Scandinavian. Archi-trave is ultimately Greek
and Latin; while ostrich is ultimately Latin and Greek.
Inter-loper is Latin and Dutch. Juxta-position is Latin and
French. Mari-gold is Hebrew and English. Partake, for
part-take, is French and Scandinavian. Tamar-ind is Arabic
and Persian. Spike-nard is Latin and Sanskrit. Mac-adam-
is-ed is Gaelic, Hebrew, French, and English. There is no
language in which words from very different sources can so
easily be fused together as they have frequently been in our
own.
CHAPTER XXI.
Early Words of Latin Origin.
§ 898. Latin of the First Period. When the English
invaded Britain in the fifth century and conquered the Celtic
inhabitants, the Latin language had already preceded them.
Britain had been a Roman province for nearly four hundred
years. The Latin introduced during that time among the
Britons, and by them transmitted to the English, has been
called Latin of the First Period. It is well knoit^Ti that it has
left its mark upon many place-names. The A. S. ceaster,
E. Chester^ is nothing but an English pronunciation of the
Lat. castrum, a camp. But there are at least two words in
common use, viz. street and wall^ which also belong to this
period; for the Romans had not left the island without
leaving famous traces of their occupation behind them. Our
street, Mercian stref^, is an English form of Lat. strata uia^
a paved way, strata being the fem. of the pp. of Lat. sttrntre^
to spread, lay down, pave a road. Our watt, Mercian wall ', is
merely the Lat. uallum^ a rampart, borrowed at a time when
the Latin u was still w. It must also be remembered that
many Latin words were already familiar to most of the Teu-
tonic tribes soon after the Christian era; so that the English
invaders not only learnt some Latin words from the Britons,
* Strit is Mercian and Kentish ; A. S. str^t.
* Wall is the Mercian form ; Vesp. Psalt. xvii. 30 ; A. S. wtail. (I
note here that FosSy in place-names, is Latin; but mod. £. foss is
French.)
1399-]
EARLY LATl.V WORDS.
43:;
I
but had brought others nith them. Such words also clearly
belong to the Latin of the First Period, but it is not easy to
say jirecisely what they were. Still, it is probable that our
xvine, A. S. win, spelt uuin in the Epinal Glossary, 1. 1040,
also belongs to this period ; and ihe same may be true of
wiek, A. S. w(c, a town, spelt uuic in a Charier dated 740 ;
these words are borrowed, respectively, from Lat. uinum and
m'cus. The A. S.porl, from Lat. /lor/uj-, a harbour, is common
in place-names'. Of course, it is also possible that such
vords were already familiar to liie English invaders before
they left the continent ; but this comes to much the same
thing, and we are thus entitled to consider urine, wick (a town).
^r! (a harbour), pool (Welsh pu'll. Low Lat. padulis). mile.
pint (punishment, whence mod. E. vb. lo piru), as well as
itreel and wall, as words belonging to Latin of the First
Period. There may even have been a few more, viz. among
those which are usually reckoned as belonging to the Second
Period ; but this ia not a matter of much consequence, and.
in the absence of evidence, cannot easily be decided. My
list of words belonging to Latin of the First Period is there-
fore as follows : mile, pine, v., pool, port, slrett, wall, wick
(town), wine. All these probably found their way into Enp-
lish before a. d. 500.
§ 399. Latin of the Second Period. ' The English.'
says Dr. Morris. ' were concerted to Christianity about a. r-
596, and during die four following centuries many Latin
words were introduced by Roman ecclesiastics, and by
English writers who translated Latin works into their own
language. This is called the Latin of the Second Period'
It is common to reckon amongst words of this character
such words as sanci, a saint, calic, a chalice, &c., but this is
' Cr. O. hishyjw, ■m\M,/icJi, a town (.mtimcifium). /Jl. ■> bfilpc,
per/, a liarbODi, //an, pine, pain, punisbmeni, nil Lorrou'ecl words ;
ihe Irish / being pnt for Lat h. Again, ihc borrowed words n'lW,
mUttfine (in the sense of pnnUhmuitl, are all commoa Teuloiiic
■ word*. £0 indeed is stud {G. Straise).
VOL. I. F f
434
EAXLV LATIN WOSDS.
[CaAKXXI.
likely (o mislead. As a matter of fact, these words are
ceriainly found in A.S., and were certainly borrowed from
Latin ; but they are as dead to modem E. as if ihey had
never been known. Saint and chalice are purely French
forms, and belong to a later i)eriod ; they effectually sup-
planted such forms as sand and calic. In the same way
the word haham is found in A, S. but was afterwards los.
and not reintroduced into English till the sixteenth ceniuiy,
Most of the lists of Latin words of the Second Period seem
to me more or less imperfect ; perhaps ihe fullest is tlial
given by Koch, Grammatik, i. 5. As this is a point of much
interest, I propose to give a fuller and more accoraie liaz
than such as are generally offered, carefully txcluding such
words as sand, which have not survived. At the same time,
I take the opportunity of dividing the words into two sets:
(i) those of pure Latin origin, and (z) those of Greek or
other foreign origin. Some of them, as said alK>vc, may
really belong to the Latin of the First Period, and I shall
include these in the list.
§ 400. Words of pore Latin origin, fotmd in Anglo-
Saxon ; including those of the First Period. Altar,
A.S. a//o/-<, dative (Malt. v. 24); Lai. allarf. Ark. A.S.
arc; iM.arca. Sat. A.S.b^lc; Lai. *f/rt (Pliny). B<fX {i\,
a tree, A. S. box; Lat. liuxus. Box {2), a chtst, A.S. iax;
Lat. buxus, buxum. Candle, A.S. candel; Lat. fondeb^
Canker. A. S. canecr (Bosworlh); Lat. cancer. CatlU, A. S.
taslel, used for Lat, castelluni, a village, Mail. xxi. a ; bat is
the sense of 'castle' in A.S, Chron. an. it 37. Cfiali, A. S,
cealc, Lat, ace, catc-em, from calx. Chapman, A. S. c/afimjm,
a merchant, from the sb. ce'ap below. Cheap, adj., from A. S-
c/ap, sb., purchase ; which comes perhaps ftom Lat. fM^, t
huckster'. Chme. Mercian c/re (O. E. Texts); Lat, easaa.
' I leave this, as being the nsual nceount. Bnt Kluge (s. r. tut^et)
ihcvt good reaaon for sappoiiitg that Goth, iaufeit, to Inuje. C:Jlaii/im,
Do. koBpen, ace words of pure Germanic origin, slid in Du wajr reUliA
Hfen
Dis
EA/!Ly LATIN WOKDS. 435
'irck (so Spelt by the influence of F, cerdt), A. S. a'/rw/;
Lat. circulus, djmin. of circus. CoUplant, Cole, cabbage ;
A. S, cok, in ihe comp. hd^coU, lit. ' heath-cole,' in Wright's
Vocab. 300. 33, 365. 37, and in O.E. Texts; also spell
caul, raaii, cawel (Bosworth); Lat. caulis. Cook, A. S. c6c,
eoquus. Coop, not found in A. S. except in the mutated
inn c^pa, Luke ix. 17; but we find O. Sax, c6pa in the
Freckcnhorst Roll, 1. 13 ; here O. Sax. c6pa = Low Lat.
copa, variant of Lat. cilpa, a tub, vat, cask (whence A, S. c^fiti,
with mutation of rf to j!). Cowl, A. S. cugit, cugtU ' ; Lat.
cueuUus (whence also O. Irish cochult). Crted, A. S. crida ;
from Lat. credo, I believe (the first word of the Apostles'
Creed), Crisp, adj., A. S. crisp; Lat. crispus. Culler,
Couller, a plough-share, A. S. culler ; Lat. culler. Culver, a
dove, A. S. cul/rc, fuller form culufre (Grein) ; Lat. columba.
Cup, A. S, cuppe ; fonned from Lai. atpa, a cask, late Lat.
cuppa, a drinking- vessel. Dighl, prepared, adorned, pp. of
M. E. dihieti. A, S. dihtan, to set in order ; from Lat. diclare.
DistipU, A. S. discipul; Lat. discipulus; afterwards modified
into the O. F. form disciple.
/"iin, A. S.yiinn (Mall. iii. 12), where _/" was sounded as ii^
modem _/"-sound in this word being due to a Northern
'fffonunciation (Wyclif has_/ii«); Lat. vannus, a ninnowing-
Fennel,k..'&.fenol,finol,finul,finugle; from I^A. feni-
cuium, fennel; a dimin. form ixoxa. ftnum, hay. Fever,
A.S. /e/er. /e/or (Matt. viii. 15); from Lm. /ebris. [Not
through French, as said in my Dictionary, but immediately.]
Feverfew. A. S. fe/er/uge, Lat. febrifuga, i.e. dispelling
. Fiddle, lsl.Y..fidel,phel,K.%.fideU\ perhaps from
vituia, vidula^. Foni, A..S./oal (usually _/ii«/) ; from
> Not A.S. tHjte, as gtven in my Diet, from the eld edition of Boi-
"t A.S. Did. ■C«™//o, cngle'l Wright's Vocnb. 318. 14. We
le toimf cugtie, euAle, eule in (he Rule of St. Benedict, cap. *,%, ed.
T, pp. 88, S9.
It Klnge (». y.fiedeC) aignes Ihat^fle/eisageniiineTeolonic word.
43* EARLV LATIN It'OKDS.
\.3X./onlttn, ace. oi/ons. Fount, variant oi/onl. Fork, 4
/orca ' ; "Lsl./urca. Fuller, a bleacher of clothes, A. S.yU
from fullan, verb ; [he latter is borrowed from Low 1
fullart, a verb due to the sb. fuUo, a fuller.
Gladden (a plant), A, S. gltedme, Lat. gl-adiolus (sword-QP
Jtich, A. S. j'rae, formed by vowel-change from Lai, una'a.
Keep. A.S. fipan, c^pan, a derivative of c/ap, a purchase;
see Cheafi above'. Kellle, A, S, telel, Wright's Vocab. 197.
19 ; earlier form celi'l, Epinal Gloss. i63; formed, with
»-mutalionj from LaL calillus, dimin, of catinai. a bowl. A'fftti
A.S. cyln, fuller form c^-liru, in the Corpus Glossary, t
formed with /-mutation of u lajf, from Lai. culr'na.
A.S. cyeene, from Lat. eoqnina, with similar mutatioajj
' Coquina, cyeene ' in Wright's Vocabularies, 883. 1 a.
Lake, A. S. lac ; Lat. lacus. Lin-en, adj., from A. S, ffi^:
Lat. linum. Lin{seed), from the same A. S. Ha. Zo&sttrM
hppestre, earlier form hpml ; Lat. locusia [marii). Md^
A. S. mahoe \ Lat. malua. Mast, A. S. maste, earlier i
from Lat. Piissa ; cf. ' Srei seghwilc niesitprwsl gesinge I
Oswulfes sdwle tw^ messan.' that each mass-priest sin; j
masses for Oswulfs soul; O. E. Texts, p. 444. Mile, .
mil; Lat. pi. mili'a (passuum). Mill, A. S. mvln, Lat. n
with mutation from 0 vo y. Mini (i), A.S. mynet,
mynil, a coin (O. E. Texts, p. 81); from Lat. mowla, wilh
similar change. Mortar (to pound things in) ; A. S. morttri ;
Lat, mortarium. Mount, a hill. A. S. munt, Lat. ace, mont-tm.
Mui\berry), ^^. E. mool-bety ; where mool is from A. S, mir
(with change from r to /) ; cf. ' Morus, mfir-b^am," Wrigbl's
Vocab. 138. 9. MuseU, Mussel (hsh), A.S. musete, Lat
musculus. Musi, new wine, A. S, mmt, Lat. mustum. Sofm,
■nd independent of the Lat. (ormi. It is hani to believe thst tliete it
connectiun. See O. H. Q.fidula in Sdude.
' ' Furcilla, litel forca,' VViigbl's Vocab. 154, 11 (/iwM U <i
in the ludei to thii work}.
' If theap is Teutonic, then ieep is the ume j lee note n
EARLY LATIN WORDS. 437
. S. n6n, Lat. ndna hora, ninth hour. Nun, A. S. nunne,
V Lat. noTina. Offer. A. S. offrian, Lat. off-^re.
Pall (i), A.S. fxsll, Lat. palla. Pan, A.S. ^«7w; Lat.
I, a shallow bowl '. Pea, M.E./fw, A.S. /lii*, earliest form
<sc. Corpus Glo3S. 1, laoS ; Lat. pisum. Pear, A. S. ptre
/right's Vocab, 269. 33) ; LaL pirum. Penny, A. S.penig,
filller forms pening, pending, probably formed with the suffix
>ing from a base pand-, which, like the F. pan {E. pawn),
sems to be borrowed from LaL pannus, a cloth, rag, piece,
[pledge. Periwinkle, a flower, A. S. peruinea ; Lat. peruinca.
The name of the mollusc called a periwinkle is due to con-
fusion with the flo«'er-name, and should rather be peniwinkle
or pimwinkU, A. S. pine-wincla, where the prefix pine- is
^inerely borrowed from Lat. pina, a mussel; cf. prov. E.
nnywinkk, a periwinkle (Halliwell). Pilch, A.S. pyke,
\^lice ; Lat. pellieea, fem. of pellicetu, adj., made of skins ;
from ptllii. Pile (a), a large stake, A. S. pil; Lat. pilum.
Pillow, M. E. pilwe, A. S. pyle ; from Lat. puluinus. Pin,
tA. S. pinn, a peg ; from Lat. pinna, variant of penna. [The
A.S.pitin occurs in the phrase 'to hsepsan pinn.' a peg or
lasieningforahasp; see Gerefa, ed. Liebermann, Halle, 1886,
p, ig, from the Corpus MS. No. 383, p. loz.] Pine (i), a
tree, A. S. pfn ; Lat. pinus. Pine (i), A. S. pfn. Lat. poena,
imnishment; whence our verb /opine. Pil. A. ?•. pyl \ Lat.
piieus. Pilch, A. S. pic ; Lat. ^(.c. Plant, A. S. >/rt»/ (O, E.
Texts); Lat. planla. Pole, A.S. pal; Lat. palus, a stake.
Pool (i), A.S. /J/ (Welsh pu-llt, probably borrowed from
, British ; but the British word is from late Lat. paduHs. a
» marsh. Poppy, Mercian popei (O. E. Texts, p. 85, I. 1516).
A.S.popig; Lai. f/apauer. Port, a harbour (O. Irish port),
A.S. pcrti Lat. por/m. Past (r), A.S. post; Lat. poslis.
' Kliife donbta this, bnl the change is easy. In the Epinnl Glossary,
1. 78^, we find A. S. holo-panHa, hollow pan, iLi a gloss to Lat. palinci \
and wc aclnally find this Lat. word twice «pcll paniln m the Corpns
Glossary, II. 1489, 1490; which points out thi: direolion of the change.
fusioi
jl or /(
^gl^lice
1 from
Pound. A. S. pund; Lat. pondo, allied to pondui. Prim
(canonical hour), A. S. prim ; Lai. prima hora. Pumitt,
A. S. pumiC'Sian ; Lat. pumic-, base of pumix. Punt, A. S.
^uh/; from Lai, /on/o, a ponioon,
i'ai'iw, Savine, a shrab, A. S, io/fw. saurne; Lat. saimd.
ScuItU (i), a vessel, A. S, scukl, Lat. scuUlla, Jimin. of
seufra, a tray. Service-tree, M. E, sfrves-tre, a. tree bearing
terves; where serves is the pi. of jitt? ^ A. S. ij-i;^ r
from Lat. sorbus. Shambles, pi, of ihamble, a bench, A.S.
scamrl; hal. scamf/ium. Shrine, A. S. scrfn; LaL serinnm.
Shrive, A. S. jfrt/aw, Lat. jcr/fcr,;. 5yc«,r, A. S. nlW; LiL
lecula. Sock, A. S. jor^ ; Lat. soccus. Sole, of the foot, A. S.
sek, Lat. j0/<*a. Spend, A. S. spendan ; Lat. disptndert (not
expendere, as is often wrongly said), .J/p/, A. S. sloppian, l«
Stop up ; from Lat. stuppa, tow (which is perhaps borrowed
from Gk. m-wnnj, ffr-jirrj). i'/ra^ J/rc^, A. S, slri'pp; LU-
slruppus. Sired, Mercian sir//, A. S. strdt; Lat. strata mA,
paved road, rcwi^/r, A. S. /^m^/ ; LaL tmplum. Tile. A. S.
tigelc ; Lat. legula. Ton, Tun. A, S. /bhw ; Low Lat. itamu.
/■kwiV, a. S. lunice; Lat. /an/ca. 7ur//c (dove). A. S. turtU;
Lat. turlur. Verse, A.S./hrs (with /" sounded as r) ; L»t
versus. Wall, Wirk, Wine have been already mentioned
among words of the First Period ; see § 398. Provost, Lat
prafosilus, may answer either to A. S. prdfost or the O. F.
provost (commonly prcvost). Gem is rather the F. gemmt
than the A. S. gimm (from gemma). 1 also regard the words
metre, organ, p^arl, prove, and purple as being French words-
§ 401. TTnoriginal Latin words found in Anglo-Saxoe.
It is not a little remarkable that a considerable number of
the Latin words found in A. S. are unoriginal, being tfaciD-
selves borrowed from other languages, mostly Greek. I no*
give a list of these also.
Alms, A. S. (clmesse, Lat. rleemo-ynit \ Gk- f\niiwva%
I Anchor, better spelt ancor, A. S. fl«riir. Lat. angora; GL
IhfKvpa. Angel, A. S. engel, afterwards modified by P^
i 4<».]
LATIN- WORDS FROM GREEK.
439
Lat. influence; Lat. cngelm, Gk. Sypkat. Anthem, A. S.
antt/n, lale Lai. anli/ona, Gk, itri^iom, a pi. treated as a fem,
sing. AposlU, A, S. apostol (afterwards modified by F. in-
fluence), Lai. apodolui, Gk. dnioTaXoc, Archbishop, A. S.
arcebiscop, 'L^i.archi-epiicopus, Gk. apj(.-«iicr«oiTDt) chiefbishop.
[^a^dm ; see p. 434.] Bishop, A, S. hiscop, Lat. {piscofus, Gk.
iwlanoirat. Buller, A. S. i»/^r, Lai. bulyrum, Gk. Bovnipo* ;
of Scythian origin. Canon, A. S. frtwon, Lat. fflwon, Gk.
■axil', a mle. Capon, A. S. capua, Lat. ace. caponem, nom.
ra/o; from Gk. inbraiip. Cedar, A. S. ir^rfi;/", Lat. adrus, Gk,
■^BpDc ; of Eastern origin. Chtrvil, A. S. cierfilh, Lai. rare-
\foUum, Gk. ;(ai(«0i;XXoi', lit. ' pk-asani leaf.' CAtfj/, A. S. cw/
' (Wrighl's Vocab. 276. 6). Lat. fii/i7.Gk. «i'(m,. CV/>/, A.S.
C«i/, LaL ChrisSus. Gk. XpioT.it. Church, A. S. yrirt, Lat.
eyriaca, the Latinised way of writing Gk. Kupima, neuL pi.
used as fem. sing. Cleri, A. S. clere, cleric, Lat. cleriais,
Gk- iXiipuiJF ; from xX^puc, a lot. Coomb, comb, a measure,
A. S. cumb. Low Lai, cumba. a stone sepulchre, hence a
trough ; from Gk. «ij>ifj>j, a hollow cup, a bowl ; so that a
I . toemb is a " bowlful.' Copper, A. S. coper (Wrighi's Vocab,
1^17. 9), Lai, cuprum, Cyprian brass; from Gk. Kwrpos,
Cyprus. Cumin, Cummin, A, S. cymin, Lai. cuminum, Gk.
a Hebrew word. Deacon, A, S. diaeon, Lat. diaconus.
Gk. Siitoyot. a servant. Devil, A, S. d^ofol, Lat. diabalus.
. duSiSoXac, slanderer. J9/>A, A. S. disc, Lat. (/wrw, Gk,
Htmp, A, S. A«K(;p, Lat. cannabis, Gk. unworn ; of
astern origin ; cf Skt, fanii, hemp.
/m^, a scion, M. E. imp, a graft, A, S. xmp-an, pi,, grafts.
Japted from Low Lat. impolus, a graft ; from Gk. tiu^vtot,
afied. Lify, A. S, /f/*;?, Lat. lilium, Gk. Xiipwu. Martyr,
U S. and L, marlyr, Gk. /iii/)Tup, a witness. Minster, A. S.
^^ynr/ir, Lat. monasterium, Gk. ^ioj-ooT^puii' ; from ^moT^r,
me who dwells alone (pilot), a monk, Mini (i), a plant.
, mintt. Lat. mm/u, Gk. ^060, Mmk, A. S, m«»«, Lai.
tcnacAus, Gk. fiOKi;(iit, solitary ; from pivor, alone. PdZ/'t
44°
EARLY LATIN WORDS.
(tree), A, %. palm. Lat. palma; probably borrowed from Gk,
imXdyij. Paper, A. S, paper (Wright's Vocab. ^i\ 7), iM.
papi'rus, Gk. mnrvpot ; of Egj'ptian origin. PascA, A. S, and
L. pascka, Gk. ?m'(7;[a ; from Heb. pesakh, a passing over.
Pea{cock). M. E. /«irt*, /oioi ; the latter form is from A. S.
pawe, ptnua, Lz\. pauo, Gk. rafit; of Tamil origitu Ptpptr,
A. 'fi.pipor, L.piper, Gk. wiVrpt ; Skt.pippali. Phtnix, A.S.
/mix, LM.pAatm'x, Gk. ■^oixif ; of Phoenician origin. Piatttr.
h.S. plaster, Lat, emplaslrum, Gk. f/in-XooTpoc ; from fM-"*"»-
Tov, daubed on or over, Plurn, A. S. pl6me, Lai. priutttm,
< jk, npaOvDi', npuf^wf. /'o/r, A. S. ^'/ta, L. papa, Gk. tronnr.
father. Priest, A. S. /rwi/ ; from L, pruhyter. Gk- vptaSi-
Tr,mc, elder. Psalm, A, S. ffu//n, Jlcrcian Ja/w (O, K. Twtts),
L, psalmiis, Gk, ^nXfi^c ; from ^oUor, to twitch harp-sningSt
to play the harp.
Rose, A.S. ros(, L. rosa; from Gk. ptiftoi-, for 'Ffi&i^;
Armen, ward. Sack, A. S. jofr, L. satats, Gk. irattas, H«b.
fa^ ; probably of Eg>p[ian origin. Sc/wol, A. S. jccAt, L.
srAoia; from Gk, a-jfoXj, rest, leisure, disputation, &c. SAoaI{^t),
a multitude of fishes ; doublet of School. Silk, prob. from
an O. Mercian form 'site (cf, Icel. silki), answering to A. S,
sealc; ultimately from Lat. Sericum, silk. neul. of Sericui,
belonging 10 the Seres ; from Gk, 2^(wr. pi. the Seres ; prob-
ably of Chinese origin. SloU, A, S. stole. L. sMa, Gk.
OToKJi, equipment, robe, stole. Tippet, A, S. iapptl, L, iapn
cloth ; Gk. Toni;r-, stem of riiijirt, a carpel, rug. 7'rout, ^
Iriiht, L. trucia, Gk. rjj<iKn7t ; from rpeoyiii', to gnaw,
§ 402. Clflflsification of borrowed (Latin) wore
ihus appears that the Latin words of the Second
amount to upwards of one hundred and forty, of whfcff
about two-thirds are original Latin words, and about otift-
third are borrowed from Greek, or (through Greek) from the
I East, If we examine these words a little more closely, we
I see that ihey can be roughly distributed i
R follows : —
Uola, Gk.
_r ...1.:^' *
^03-]
441
(i) IVorcfi relalinc! to eeclcsiaslieal maUers, religion, and
■ Bible: alms, altar, angel, anthem, apostle, archbishop,
krk, bishop, candle, canon, Christ, church, clerk, cowl, creed,
ninmin, deacon, devil, disciple, font, martyr, mass, minster,
jiooiik, nun, pall, pasch, pope, priest, prime, psalm, sack
. xlii), shrine, stole, temple; mosi 0/ which are rather
Ireek than Latin.
(a) Useful implemrnis, materials, and food: anchor, box,
lUtler, chalk, cheese, chest, coop, copper, coulter, cup, dish,
, fiddle, fork, kettle, kiln, kitchen, linen, mill, mint {for
ns), mortar, must (iiew wine), pan, paper, pile {state),
pillow, pin, pitch, plasier, pole, post, pumice, punt, scullle,
shambles, sickle, strap, strop, tile, tun. Articles of dress :
^ch, silk, sock, tippet, tunic. Weights, Measures. &c.: circle.
ximb, inch, noon, penny, pound.
, (3) Birds : capon, cuher, pea(cock), phoenix, turtle.
"uhfs : lobster, mussel, peri( winkle), trout.
(4) Trees: box, cedar, palm, pear, pine, plum, rose,
■vice(-tree). Blunts: [balsam], beet, chervil, cote, fennel,
feverfew, gladden, hemp, lily, lin(seed), mallow, mint, mul-
erry), pea, pepper, periivinkle, plant, poppy, savine, //ere
ongs imp.
(g) Miscellanious : canker, castle, chapman, cheap, cook,
fever, fuller, lake, mount (hill), pit, sole (of the foot), school,
shoal (of fish), verse.
(6) Verbs: dighl, keep, offer, shrive, spend, slop.
(7) Adjective: crisp.
§ 403. Bemarks. The number of Latin words of the
Second Period which have been supplanted by Fiench
forms is probably considerable. We may notice Lat. calix,
A. S. calic (E. and O. F. chalice). Ls.1.Jirus, A. S./SV (E, fig.
O. F. Jige). Lat. lactuca, A. S. lactucc (E. Uttuce, of F. origin).
Lat. and A. S. leo (K. lion, F. lion). Lat. marmor. A, S. mar-
man-slan (E. marble, Q. F. marbre). Lat. metrum, A. S. meter
I. and F. metre). Lai. ergaimm, A. S. organ, very rare (E,
442 EARLY LATIN WORDS. [C^.XXL
orgarty F. organe), Lat. osirea^ osireuffiy A. S. ostre (E. oyster^
O. F. oistre), Lat. persicum^ A. S. ptrsuc (E. peachy O. F.
pesche). Low Lat. perula^ A. S. ^«r/, once only (E. /^r/,
F. perle\ Lat. prcBdicare^ A. S. predician (E. preach, O. F.
precher), Lat. sancius, A. S. j««r/ (E. and F. sain/). Lat
tabula, A. S. /^, a game at tables (E. and F. /tz^/f). The
word ^7«« occasionally appears as A. S. _y»»«, ynum, but
was little used ; it was revived at a later time. The history
of pike is obscure ; pipe is probably Latin. There are
also some Latin words in A. S. which are now disused
altogether. One remarkable example is the Lat. margaritOj
a pearl, which was turned, by help of popular etymology,
into the A. S. mere-griot, 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 n'/w;
disc is used by Dryden ; and crate by Johnson.
Postscript. See A. Pogatscher, zur Lautlehre der Lehn-
worte in altenglischen ; Strassburg, 1888. A comparison
with the index to this work suggests the addition to the
preceding lists of the words ass, belt, camel, cap, centaury,
cope, cup, limpet, mat, pipe, purse. Limpet is from A. S.
lempedu, which properly means a lamprey; from Low Lat,
lampreda. The A. S. purs is given in Eng. Studien, xi. 65.
CHAPTER XXII.
Thk Celtic Elxment.
§ 404. This is a difficult subject, and I can but treat ii
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 hmitr is not derived from the Welsh hofio, but the Welsh
«Jio was simply borrowed from the M.E. houm, to wail
ml, of which hover is the frequentative form ; whilst the
E. houen is merely formed from the A, S. hof, a dwelling-
place, still preserved in the diminutive fitni-d. 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 stil! 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 ihe .same may be said of the list given
by myself at the end of my Etymological Dictionary. Many
the words formerly supposed to be Celtic are now known
be nothing of the kind. Thus the word barrom, in the
ise of ' mound,' is formed with p>erfecl regularity from the
'A.S, btorg, a hill; see all the various forms in the New
English Dictionary. Kiln is not from the Welsh cj'Aw, but
I from the Lat, cuiina, which passed into A. S. in the form
p-Ai, with the usual mutation. Dainty is not borrowed from
I to hm
^Hfaout
bym
444 ^■^■S CELTIC ELEMENT,
Ihe Welsh ianiaeth. but is of OM French origin, and really
represents, in spite of the change of meaning, the LaL acc.
dignitatem. Daub is also pure French ; O. F, dauber, from
Lat. de-albar(. to whiten. In my own list, I have included
such words as boast, boisterous, which must certainly be struck
out, along with ihe su^eaiion that barrow may be ultimatelr
of Cehic origin.
§ 405. I am here principally concerned with the con-
sideration of such words of Celtic origin as found ibcir way
into English before a. d. 1066. This greatly hmits the ta-
quiry, for I think it will be found that the words borrowed in
Ihe modem period from Welsh, Scotch Gaelic, and Irish
considerably exceed in iiumber the words that truly belong
to the Old Celtic element. But as it will greatly clear tbf
way if we can say with certainly which are the Celtic words
of comparatively late introduction, I shall turn asicle to con-
sider these firsi.
§ 406. As regards the Celtic words thai are of com-
paratively late introduction, it is easy to say, in many tnstaucts,
from which of the Celtic languages they were borrowed. I
shall therefore consider each language separately, begiiuung
with Irish.
Words of IriBh origin. It is surprising how little seciiu
to be known of the Irish langua^^e in our old authors. Indeed.
allusions to Ireland, of any sort, are not at all common In
our earlier literature. In the Libell of Englislie Po^cyc,
written in 1 436, there is a chapter ' Of the commodiiees of
Ireland,' &c. ; but I find no Irish word in it. Stanyhur!it'»
Description of Ireland was first published {as a pari of Holm-
shed's Chronicles), in 1586, and probably was one of tbt
earliest books to introduce Irish words into our literunR.
It contains, however, but few. the chief hw\s galloglats, glA
I (lock of hair), kernr, sia'a (knife), and ihamruck ', of whicb
in my Eqra>»
^bords
galloglass, kerne, and skcm occur also in Shakespeare. Our
great dramatist also employs ibe words hog and brogue
(wooden slioe). Spenser's View of ihe Slate of Ireland,
printed in 1633. also contains gallogiiiss, glib, kerne, iteane,
and s/iamroke, but adds to these the words hard ^, pillion,
tanist. Lough occurs in Fairfax, tr. of Tasso, bk. i. st, 44.
The word /ory occurs as early as 1656, but did not come
into more general use till about 1680, The vor6 orrery first
occurs about 1715. The word /un first appears in the
eighteenth century. Other words are, for the most part,
quite modem, 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 wliole, I thhik wt-
ly consider the following list as giving the principal Irish
that have found iheir way into English, viz. banl,
bri^ue, dirk {}). /un, galloglass, galore*, glib, s., kern,
Igh, orrery, pillion (i*)*, rappilree, shillelagh', skain {skeae,
skeiti), shamrock, spalpeen, tanisi, Tory, usi/uebaugh *. Of
these, bard, bog, brogue, and galore may perhaps be also
looked upon as tiaving claims to a Gai--lic origin.
Amongst the modem Irish words not given in my Dic-
tionary, I may notice some which take the diminutive suBHx
-Iff, which is sometimes used as a term of endearment, or,
as in the case of spalp-etn, with some touch of contempt.
Thus colieen is Irish cail-in, literally 'little girl,' from eaile,
' Though thi» word fim occure in Holland's fleulaU, nnd Sir John
Holland wai a Scotch writer, the word Keren to have l>ecn regarded a&
Iriih. HoUand bat; 'a bard out of Irlaiid ' \ Sliakespcaie has 'a iarii
of Inland 'i and SpeoKi n»es U □( Irish poetn.
' For these words, «:e tht^ Supplement to my Dlctionaijr.
' Ullimatcly of Ijitin orJEin. in any case; perhaps mcrelj' borrowed
from Span, peltan, a long robe of skins ot furs, if that be *a old word.
* The followmg Old Irtih forms, given by Windiscb, may help : bott,
tah—Mcl, shoe— /o«». tune, song— ga/l, foreigner, ^lad, a yoofh
— eatA. battle {whence E. kern it a derivative}^&fA, lough— i.7«n,
knife — lemar, umrSc, shamcuck — Idnaise, teeoiA- lormht, pnrsuit—
usee, water, ielhu, life. See Iiische Texte, ed. Windiich, Ldpiig, iBBo,
446
THE CELTIC ELEME.
a girl. Mavoumeen, my darling, is compounded of mo.
my, and mhuirnin (mh := v), a muuied form of mutrn-in,
a darling; from muirn, affection. Shebun, s snail public-
house, is (I suppose) merely a diminuiive of siapa, a shop.
which can hardly be other than the Enghsh word iht^ Inuis-
planted into Irish, The word ihanty is probably from the
Irish Sean, old. and ligh, a house.
§ 407. Words of Scotch Oaelio oiigiiL. A few Gaelic
words have come to us, through Lowland Scotch, al various
times, but the number of these which found their way to as
at an early period is extremely small. The word bannock a
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
beiow. Barbour's Bruce contains the words bog (6. 57), erag,
glen, and loeh (spelt louch). Crag answers to Gael, ertag, a
rocic : but is a general Celtic term. Biilant, 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 Scotland. It is doubtless of Gaelic origin [GmL
bealUainn), and we may rest assured thai the first part of ihe
word has nothing lo do with Bel, or the Ban} 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 cafiercaly, p. 39, clachan. 14, elan. 56, inth, t3.
slrath, iz, and Gallaaiay, 14, as the name of an 'ambling
horse.' The notice of the first of these is of some interest.
' In Rosse and Loquhaber, and vihiris places amang hilis and
knowis \knoUs\ ar nocht in missing fir trie sufficient, quhair
oft sittis a certane foul and verie rare called llie Captrcafy
to name with the vulgar peple, the horse of the forresl.* We
L should here note the correct spelling with the symbol 3,
1 should be represented in modern books by_f, pot, U
Usually and absurdly, by s. The explanation ' horse of l|
i 407.] IVOSDS or GABUC ORlGm. 447
forest' is the literal meaning of the Gaelic name capuU-coille.
Clackan is the Gael, clachan, a circle of stones, hence, a rude
church, and finally, a small hamlet possessing a church.
Clan is ultimately of Latin origin (Supp. 10 £tym. Dictionary).
Jnch is the Gael, innis, an island. Slrath is a river-valley
with a low, flat bottom ; Gael, sralh.
Duncan's Appendix Etymologic, 1595 (K Dial. Soc.)
contains the word tpale as a gloss : ' Allia<io, vtl -a, dilwoium,
ittundatio, a spate of water ' ; also the word craig (crag).
Crefl is represented in modern Gaelic only by the dimin.
form eraidkUag, ' a basket, a creel,' the original word being
criol, tlie 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,!. 224, under the date 1564.
'The db in craidhUag is merely an orthographical device shew-
ing that the preceding ai is a diphthong ' ; H. Mac Lean,
in Notes and Queries, 7 S., iii. 44. Dunbar (see Jamieson)
has the verb wauch, to drink up, whence was formed the sb.
wauchi, wavght, a draught, as in the phrase ' a waught of
ale," and Burns's ' gudewillie wauchi', i, e. draught drunk
for good will ', Hence was formed, needlessly, a new
verb to wauchi, with the same sense, used by Gawain
Douglas. I have no doubt that this wauch is precisely
the E. verb to <juaff, 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 {^s^quaugh") are both due to the Gael, cuach, a cup,
a bowl, variously spelt in English as quach, quauh, quai'gh,
queck, queff. and quaff. The last spelling is used by Smol-
lett, in his Humphrey Clinker. If these be so, then quaff
and quaich arc 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
THE CELTIC ELBMEN
ilogorne by G, Douglas, which some wriiers (including Challer-
lon and Browning) have turned into slughojTi, as if it were a
kind of horn ! See Stughorn in Supp. to Elym. Dictionary.
Besides ihese, we have several words which are all (prt^
bably) only found in modern authors. \\i. banshee* (also
Irish), cairn, calcran (ihe Gaelic equivalent of ihc Irish
hirti). claymore, cosy', gi'llie, gowan, macinlosh (from i
personal name)', philibeg {filli6eg\ ptarmigan (?), reel [i
dance), spleuchan, sporran, whiskey. Moreover, we have
ingle, kail, and plaid, ihree words which are not original
Celtic, but adapted from Latin. We might further add, from
Scott's Poems, the fairly familiar words coronach and corm.
Coronach is ihe tjael. corranach, a lamentation, dirge, as ai
a funeral : lit. ' a howling together,' from conih- (Lat. an>),
together, and ranaich, a howling, roaring, from the verb ran,
to howl, cry, roar. Corrit is the Gael, cotre, a circular
hollow surrounded with hills, a mountain dell. The woni
airl in Burns is the Gael. aird. a height, also a quancr or
point of the compass; cf. Gael, nrd, a height, O. Irish aiti,
a point, limit'. The list might be slightly extended.
§ 408. Three words demand a special notice, vii. brtti.
branks, and pibroch. Brest 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. innf.
broth; but this can hardly be anything but a Gael. ndaptaDon
of the E. word broth. From which it would follow that br»K
is a mere adaptation from the English ; just as the O. FfWK*
breues (in Roquefort), whence M. E, brewts, is a mere adapt-
' See the Supplement to Etjnn. Dictionaiy.
' So also Hiacaiiaiitisi, perlmpB one of the aliangcat co[ii|«unds in bbj
languoi;e ; for it is obviously a compound of Gni^Uc and Hebrew, willi
a FrcDcb suffix, and is declined as as English verb,
' The following Old Irish forms, giTcn by VVindiich, may belp
I kere : Vn, woman, i/afe,fciry—fo™,caini— .a/A, battle — ilM.M.vnaA,
\ Hiir. great— i:Hdja<-4, concave, hollow— juVii.terraat—^^K-iJn.Ifold,**,
I imall— uKt, water — aird. poiDt, limit (as above).
WORDS OF GAELIC ORTCfff.
1 from ihe O. H. G. brod, which is the c
449
e word t
; cognate «
Branks is certainly the same word as Gael.
hrangas, bui when we compare this with the Du. and G.
pranger, which had precisely ihe same sense, we can hardly
doubt thai the origin of the word is Teutonic. In fact, we
find in Gothic the comp. verb ana-praggan {=ana-prangan).
lo harass, orig. to press lightly upon. As to pibroch, il 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 Celdc termination, was farmed the abstract
noun ^(■(j&i;>ffli-Arf= piper-age, piper-ship, piping. . . . When
he Sasunnach, having forgoiten his own pipership, reim-
ported the art from the Gael, he Ijrought with it the Gaelicised
name piobairtachd, softened into pibroch, where the old
English piper is so disguised in the Highland dress as to pass
muster for a genuine Highlander'.'
§ 408. From what precedes, we may make out the fol-
lowing list of words borrowed from the Gaelic, viz. bansha
(also Irish), Beltane, bog (also Irish), branis, brose, cairn, eaper-
(ailyie, caleran, dachan, clan, claymore, coronach, corrie, cosy,
erag, creel, gallmvay (pony), gillie, glen, gontan, inch, ingle,
kail, loth, macinlosh, phiiibeg, pibroch, plaid, ptarmigan{}'\.
guaff, reel, slogan, ipale, spteuchan, sporran, strath, whiskij:
We may also draw two conclusions ; that the English has
borrowed more freely from Gaelic than from Irish, and thai
the borrowing began at an earlier lime. 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. ingU, kail, and plaid are
ultimately of Latin origin, from plania ', ignis, caulis, and
' The Dialect of ihe Southern Coonlics of Scotland, by J. A. H.
MocTBy, p. 54. Dr. Murray here mentions larlan as being a Gaelit
void, but rightly uyt, in the Errata, tbat it is French.
* See Rhji, I^ectnres on Welsh Philology, ind ed., p. JS'-
fOL.1. Gg
450
THE CELTIC ELBMEN7.
[CufcXS&.
ptIUs ; whilst brosc. pibroeh, are really of English origin, from
brofk and pipe ; and branks is really Northern Engliah.
borrowed probably from Holland. Hexham's O. Dutch
Dictionary gives tlie very word : ' Em Prange, Prangrr, o/tt
I or] Hah-yscr, a shackle, or a neck->Ton ' ; from the verb
'• prangen, to o]ipresse, conslraine, compell, or to shackle.'
§ 410. Words of Welsh origin. The words of com-
paratively recent introduction may be considered first.
Shakespeare has cam, crooked, awTy, 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. Cobit, a small fishing-boat, seems to be tht
W. ceubai. duller, a confused heap, is now found nol
to be Welsh. Flannel, prov. TL.Jlannm. is the W.gwlantn.
from gwlan, wool. Flummery is the W, tlymru. Uymriiwi.
Htnvk. in the sense to force up phlegm from the throat, la
the W. hochi. Coraclt, cromlech, and melheglin, arc well
known as being of Welsh origin. In Middle English, *e
find the words bragel, bragget, a kind of mead, W. 6r^*i;
croud, eroiilh, later crowd, a kind of fiddle, W. cnvtk. I
should therefore propose to draw up the list of words of
Welsh origin as follows, viz. bragget, cam. coble, eoratk.
cromlech, crowd (fiddle), flannel, flummery, hait'i (to cleai
the throat), iex, kibe, kick, melheglin.
§ 411. Setting aside the words discussed above, whicli maj
be dislincily claimed as being borrowed from Irish. Gaelic,
or Welsh later than the twelfth century, it remains thai •(
should enquire (i) whether any Celtic words are found a
late English which cannot precisely be traced back definitely
to any one of these languages; and (a) whether any Celtic
words can be traced in English of the earliest period. The
farmer of these questions is one of great difficulty, and it b
better to leave the question imanswered than to give ini-
salisfactory guesses. Amongst the words which perliap)
>'e the most claim to be considered as Celtic, o
1 4".]
WOSDS OF WELSH ORIGIN.
43'
tnpon Celtic, are some of which the origin is very obscure.
■It may suffice to mention here the words bald, bal (thick
llticic), boggle, bo/s, brag, bran, brat, brill, brisk, bug, bump,
Veobin, char (fish), chert, clock (orig. a bell), cob, cobble,
yfock (small boat), coot, cub, Culdie, curd, dad, dandriff,
I darn, drudge, dudgton (ill humour), fun, gag {?), gown,
y.gyves, jag, knag, lad, lag, lass (?). loop, lubber, mug, noggin,
I nook, pilchard (?), pony, puck, pug, rub, skog, skip, taper,
I tt/Ain. As to some of these, there does not seem to be
F much known. I wish to say distinctly that I feel I am
r here treading on dangerous and uncertain ground, and that
I particularly wish to avoid expressing myself with any
I tirlainty as to most of these words. The most likely words
I are those which can be connected with real Old Irish words,
Ksnch as those to be found in the Glossary to Windisch's Old
I Irish Tests. Thus bran probably meant ' refuse,' and is
comiected with O. Irish br^n, slinking, font. Brat, originally
a cloak, pinafore, agrees with 0. Ir, brat, a cloak. Clock;
O. Irish doc, a bell. Cub; O. Ir. cui6, a dog. Culdec is
certainly Celtic : from O. Ir. c^U D/, servant or associate of
God, where j9/is the gen. of Dia, God. Fun ; O. Ir./onn, a
lime, a song. Zag ; O. Ir. lac, lag, weak, feeble. Brill (if
Celtic) is Cornish ; cf, W. iriih, spotted.
§ 412. I now pass on to consider the words, which, though
found in A. S., are nevertheless probably of Celiic origin.
Such words are but few. Amongst them are : bannock, a
kind of cake, A. S. bannuc^ ; cf. Gael, bomiach,a. bannock.
Brock, a badger. A, S. broc ; certainly Celtic ; Irish, Gaelic
and Manx iroc, Welsh and Breton broch^. {Car/, A. S. crce/,
and clou/, A. S. clt!/, are certainly not Celtic.) 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. Mmray qootes ' BurcUum leniipleH-
glnu given in Hsupt's Zeiiscbrift, ii. ^U■^,
• Cognate with Gk. <^fsln, gray.
, healfiie bannuc' i
452 THE CELTIC ELEMENT. [Dup. XXII.
creathall, a cradle ; in fact, a more primitive form, without
the suffix, is seen in W. cryd, a shaking, also a cradle, O. Irish
crtthy a shaking ; cf. Gk. Kpad-Atw, to quiver ; so that a cradle
is named from being rocked. Crock, A. S. croc, also crocca ;
Gael, crog, W. crochan, Ir. crogan, O. Ir. crocan. Dijwn, duru
A. S. dan, a hill ; O. Irish d4in, a fort (built on a hill) ; the
cognate original E. word is tUn, an enclosure, town. Dun^
i. e. brown, A. S. dunn ; O. Ir. donn, brown (whence D<m as
a Celtic river-name). Slough, A. S. sl6h (stem slSg-^ ; per-
haps Celtic ; see £tym. Dictionary. Mattock, A. S. mattuc,
may also be Celtic, as we also have W. matog and Gael
tnadag; but these words look very like loan-words from
English. Hence the £. words found in A. S., but of Celtic
origin, are perhaps these, viz. bannock, brock, combe, cradle,
crock, down (hill), dun, slough, I doubt if the list can be
much increased.
The net result is, that the Old Cellic 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 XXni.
The ScANDiNAViAK or Scandian Element.
J 413. It has long been understood that many words found
iheir way into literary English, and still more into several
of our provincial dialects, from the language spoken by the
Northmen of Scandinavia, at ihe lime of their numerous
incursions in the ninth and tenth cenluries. Moreover, there
were actually Danish sovereigns upon the English throne
from A.D. 1016 [ill 1041. 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 thai, speaking broadly, the words thus intro-
Iduced 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 izoo'. 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
«fUr, the Norman conquest.
5 414. The language sf>oken by the Norlhmen 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 Danbh also '. It is belter
' One of the very earliest examples is the word adl. borrowed from
le Old Scandinavian verb kall-a. It is Englished *3 cealiian in Ihe
] the Battle of Msldon, which is dated, in the A.S. Chronicle.
]■ the year 993. The poem was composed jiist after the batlle.
' Vet the old title ' Donik taDga,' or Danish tongue, was once oacd oj
454
THE SCANDrAN ELEME/TT. [Omp. TXTO.
to enlarge ihe title by calling it Old Scancltna\dan, and il is
usual 10 drop the adjective ' Old,' because it is understood
that the borrowings from Scandinavian nearly all look place,
as far as we can tell, at an early period. The only objection
to the title ' Scandina\ian ' is its length ; on which account 1
shall take the liberty to shorten it lo ' Seandian,' which is
equally explicit '.
5 416. Owing to the colonisation of Iceland by the North-
men in 874-934. the Old Seandian has l>een 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 taw, that Seandian is a]most synon)Tnous with Ice-
landic ; and it is by the help of Icelandic that we can best
discover the true forms of Seandian woriis. Indeed, tf
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 exactnns,
and no harm is done. I have already shewn that, owing 10
the scanty remains of the Old Nonhumhrian and Old Mercian
dialects, we are conslantiy obliged, in practice, to speak of
English words as being derived from Anglo-Saxon. Le. from
the dialect of Wessex ; whereas we know, at the same time,
that the word is far more likely lo have belonged to OH
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 thai the Anglians
> wide and general term for Scandinavian : sec Danikr in ibc IceUndic
DiclionaTT. Al ■ laler period, [he term croploywl was Karrttma at
The name ' Scandinavia ' occura in Pliny'« Nalura] History, bit. t».
Lc 13. where it ii VBgnely nsed of an island of miccrtain liK. Bol ia
16. he speaks of the island of ' Scnndia.' which probabl)' n
^^JMlf the same country. See L<wii and Short's Latin U'
l4>SJ
ICELANDTC.
43S
\
'were themselves Scandians, as they came from the district of
'Angein ', 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 sliglit, and there is no doubt that ihev
could well undersiand one another. There is not much
exaggeration in the slalement in tiic Saga of Gunnlaugr
Ormslunga, cap. 7, that there was at that lime (the eleventh
centurj-) * the same tongue in England as in Norway ant!
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. J6nsson, Den
Ibrste og anden gramm. Afhandling i Snorres Edda, KjSben-
havn, 1886, p. ao. Hence it is hardly possible lo 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 10 ihe Northmen such
provincial words (not found in A. S.) as occur in die modem
Northumbrian and Anglian dialects, i.e. ihe dialects of the
Lowlands of Scotland, the Norlh of England, Lincolnshire,
Norfolk, Suffolk, and even Essex, Cambridgeshire, anil
iniies lying still further lo the west". I also take occasion
make here an important remark, which I do not remember
have seen hitherto elsewhere, viz. that our own Scando-
iglish words sometimes present forms more archaic than
'If jon look al > mop of Dcamark or of Northein German;, ;ou
iQ the B»ltic Sea a little land called .-fH^/n.'— Freeman, Old
Eng. Hist., p. I. I have looked in several maps, without finding any
«nch name. Only the best biIbki recognise it.
• Sauidian wonis mey also he traced in many places lyinE on iht
ast, and even up the Sevem mA other targe riven.
456 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT, [Chap. XXHI.
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 brekka, Swedish and Danish have
brinks 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 d (long a). The modem Icel. a is pronounced
like ow in coWj but the original pronunciation must have been
the same as that of the A. S. long a, which had the sound of
aa in baa. See Sweet, Icel. Primer, p. i. Consequently, it
shared the fortunes of the A. S. a, and passed into the M. E.
long 0 (pronounced as oa in broad), and finally into the
modern E. long o, as in stone y bone. By referring to the
tables in § 8o, we see that the Icel. a commonly corresponds
to the A. S. a or 6, Swed. 4, Dan. aa^ Goth, e, Teut. fe.
Examples. E. bothy Icel. bd-dir\ from *bd, both, and
/«>, 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/ b&r, a mound. Y., fro, \q^\, frd,
from ; hence the did]. /ro-ward, i. e. from- ward, perverse. E.
tow, adj., Icel. /dg-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 *oat/', the / being dropped as in
hat/sind cat/), Icel. dt/-r, an elf; Chaucer uses etv-ish with
the sense of* simple,' C. T. Group B, 1893 ; just as the IceL
dt/a-tegr, i. e. elf-like, means ' silly.'
Similarly the Icel. btdr, livid, dark blue, became M. E. bio,
livid ; but is only preserved in the dialectal variant seen in
Lowl. Sc. btae\ whence btae-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 Svenkst Dialect-
Lexicon.
ICELANDIC LONG T. 457
\ the brow of a hill, M. E. iro. (The latter word is not
wrongly said in my Dictionary.)
$ 417. The Icelandic 6 (long e). This vowel com-
mcnly answets to Swed. J, Dan. ce. In modern Icelandic, a
parasilicj'-sound is heard before the vowel, so that it sounds
like the E. WordPro; but the original vowel was free from
this, and sounded hke the A, S. /, or like « 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. krutl, Dan.
knal-e, from Dan. knte, Icel. kw!, knee ; and E. lee, as a
nautical term, from Icel. hU, lee (as in E. use), orig. ' shelter ' ;
cf. Dan. la, Swed. lH, lee, A. S. hltow, a covering, protection,
shelter. The A. S. word is preserved in the prov, E. lav,
shelter.
§ 418. The Icelandic i (long i). The mod. Icel. i
still preserves the old sound, viz. that of the A. S. /', or « in
beet. It is also preserved in Danish and Swedish, whereas in
modem Dutch and German the vowel has become a diph-
thong, having the same sound as mod. E. long /' in biU. But
— in E. words of Scandian origin it has usually shared the same
K^te as in native words ; as might be expected. There are,
H^vever, one or Iwo interesting exceptions, so that the
BcKsmples fall into two separate sets accordingly.
{a) E. itech, as a nautical term, meaning the border or
edge of a sail ; Icel. I!k, also llk-sima, a leech-line ; Swed.
, a bolt-rope; stdaide liken, the (standing) leeches. E.
EkA, adj., M.E. sl'ik: Icel. slik-r, sleek, smooth. The E.
\ is the same word, with a shortened vowel. E. shriek,
Jl. E. schrichen \ another form of which is screech, M. E.
Ttch-en; Icel. skrikja, to titter with suppressed laughter;
Iwcd. skrika, to shriek. The Icel. skrakja, lo shriek, comes
ise ; but we do not find an M. E. form 'scretch-
m ; and it is remarkable that Shakespeare uses scritch, though
his editors often lum it into screech.
(j>) E. grime, a smudge, esp. on the face (cf. ' bt-grimtd
458 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Cha». XXIII.
with soot*); Icel. grim-a, a disguise, mask; Swed. dial.
grim-a^ a smut on the face ; Dan. grim^ grime. E. lihtn ;
Swed. liknay orig. to be like, resemble. E. rife ; IceL rif-r^
O. Swed. rif abundant. E. rive ; IceL rif-^^ Swed. r^fl,
Dan. riv-e^ to tear. E. snipe \ Icel. snip-a^ as in m^fri-smpay
a moor-snipe. E. shive, a thin slice ; Icel. skif-a, Dan. iktve^
Swed. skifva, E. shrike, the butcher-bird, Icel. sSl-skrik-ja^
a shrike, lit. * sun-shrieker.' E. tike, a, dog, a low fellow ;
Icel. ^ik, Swed. /ik, a bitch. The diflficult E. gihe.jibe, seems
to answer to Swed. dial, gip-a (Icel. geip-a), to talk nonsense ;
cf. Swed, mun-gipa, the comer of the mouth; Norweg.^wjMi
to grin, make grimaces.
§ 419. The loelandio 6 (long o). Pronounced as A. S.
^y or the German o in so. It would therefore regularly be-
come the mod. E. oo in doo/. It appears as long o in Swedish
and Danish.
Examples, {a) E. dioom, s. ; Icel. dMmy hl6m-i, a bloom, a
flower. E. boon ; Icel. b6n, E. /^<?«, the name of a water-bird,
more correctly called loom in Shedand ; Icel. I6m-r, Swed. and
Dan. lorn, a loon. E. root\ Icel. r6t, Swed. r^/. E. scoop \
Swed. skop-a. E. loom, empty ; Icel. tSm-r ; Swed. and Dan.
torn.
(3) The long o is preserved in E. bow-line, Icel. hSg-Una^^
Swed. boglina, but is altered in the simple word bow (of a
ship) ; see below.
(c) The long o also becomes ^« (as in coiv) in English,
owing to the influence of a following guttural. E. haw (of a
ship) ; Icel. bSg-r, Swed. bog^ the shoulder of an animal, the
bow or * shoulder ' of a ship ; the cognate A. S. word is b6h,
an arm, also the branch of a tree, which has become the
mod. E. bough, with precisely the same sound, though spelt
differently. E. plough, A. S. pUh^ very rare and only a bor-
rowed word from Scandian ; Icel. plSg-r, Swed. plog ; but it
* * The allej^ed O. N. bSgllna occurs only in . . . a rimed glossary com-
posed probably in Orkney, and fall of foreign terms ' ; Murray *s Diet
i^»D.]
ICELANDIC LONG U.
459
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 mlh, whence prov.
Southern 'E.Booi'. E. tloueh, orig. a sb. meaning 'a slouch-
ing fellow*; Icel. sUk-r, with the same sense; cf, Swed.
ilok-a, to droop.
\ 420. The Icelandic d {long u). Also long u in
Swedish and Danish, and still preserving the old sound. It
answers to A. S. tf, and should therefore pass into mod. E.
ou, as it usually does. liut in a few words, which I give
first, the old sound is retained.
{a) E. booth; Icel. bUd. E. cruse; Icel. kris. E. droop;
Icei. dr&p-a. E. gruesome, grnosome, horrible ; cf Dan. gru,
horror. Related words are E. Friesic gr&s-en, to shudder ;
G. grau-m, to shudder, grau-sam, horrible ; the last of these
is formed in the same way as the E. word. Hexham's Old
Du. Did. also gives ' grouwsaem, horrible, abhominahle. nr
detestable.' E. hool; O. Swed. kul-a {ul en), lo hoot (one
out) ; Swed. Au! ! begone 1 E. pooh, interj. ; Icel. p£, the
same. In the words hus-band, hits-lings, both derivatives
from Icel. his, 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.
hiinn, prepared, pp. of itf-a. E. cow, v.; Icel. k&g-a, to
tyrannise over, Dan. ku-t, to coerce. E. c<rwfr ; Icel. k£r-a,
Dan. kur-e. to lie quiet, doze; Swed. kur-a, to doze, roost
(as birds). E.dow7t (i), soft plumage; Ice]. dUnn, Swed. dun,
^^Pan. dun or duun. E. rnusr (i), to stir up, orig. intransitive, to
^^BBh (out of covert) ; Swed. rus-a, Dan. rus-e, to rush. E.
^Biwi!(2), a(irinking-boui(Shakespeare); Swed.riu.Dan. ruus,
^Hninkenness. Hence perhaps E. row (3), a disturbance, up-
460 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII.
roar ; by dropping the final x, as in shay for chaise^ pea for pease^
Ac, £. scau/ (2), to ridicule (an idea) ; Icel. shiJ-a, a taunt,
skmt-yrdi, reproaches, lit. 'scout-words.' E. scowl; Dan.
skul-e, to scowl, cast down the eyes. £. snout ; Swed. smU^j
Dan. snud-e (for *snui-€)y E. Friesic snui-^^ snu/; of. G.
Schnauze. E. j^^ti// (put for * sprout, like j;^a^ for *spreak);
Swed. sput-a, occasional form of sprui-a, to squirt, spout;
Dan. sprud-e (for *sprut'e\ to spout. E. sprout, reaUy the
same word ; E. Friesic sprut-m, to sprout. The Icel. spreita
means both to spout or spirt, and to sprout ; cf. G. spritun,
spriessen, both from the same root. E. out-law \ Icel. itt-
Idg'iy 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. diira (for *diisa\ to nap, doze.
Mutation.
§ 421. The i-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 ; d 6 ii ; ea, eo ; 6a, 60.
(B) e y y ; fi& 6 :^; ie (y) ; ie {f).
The 7-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 il ; e(ja, jo) ; au ; jii (j6).
(B) e 6 y ; » GB :^ ; i ; ey ; y.
The Icel. cb is always long, and its sound agreed with that
of the A. S. d. The Icel. ce, though of different origin, is
frequently written cb. In the modern language, both cb and
a are sounded alike, with the diphthongal sound of E. i in
fnte.
tm■^
tCELAKDIC LONG vE,
461
; ihe history of the long vowelj'
I shall now continue t!
jf the diphthongs.
§ 422. The Icelandic y (long y). This was sounded
like A. S. y, or G. ii in ^riiii, and the same is true of the Swed.
and Dan. long^y. The Swed. and Dan. long>' still keeps its
old sound, but the Icel.y is now / (E. « in brd). Like ihe
M. K^y, this sound was completely confused (in English) wiih
Hitmg i (A. S. t), and consequently becomes the mod. E. / in
^H^cfe. As seen above, it properly arises from an I'-mutaiion of
HjlDng ^, or ory£ 0TJ6.
^ Examples. "E. fit ! Icel. ^, Swed. and Dan. j^/ E,
mire, Icel. myrr, modem mj/n, a bog ; Swed. niyr-a, Dan.
ntyr-e, myr. E. shy, adj. ; Dan. sky, shy ; cf. Swed. and
Norweg. sliygg, E. Friesic sck4i (G. sckeu) ; the primitive
diphthong occurs in A. S. sce'oh, timid, where A. S. fo ^ Icel.
ji. E. sky ; Icel. skj^. Swed. and Dan. sty, a cloud ; the
primitive diphthong occurs in the O. Saxon form skio, sky ;
of. also A. S. teii-a, shade. E. tm'lr, v., lo wipe the nose ;
Icel. stiyl-a, Swed. snyt-a, Dan. snyd-e {for sriyt-e), to wipe the
snout; derived by mutation from Swed. snul, snout. Thus
tn^l'a-= 'sntil-ja.
§ 423, The Icelandic long Bd. This was originally
sounded like A. S. <i, or E. e in Ihen^. Consetiuently. it
passed regularly into later E. ea or it. The old sound is
preserved in Swed.tf, Dan. a, which are corresponding letters.
We may divide the examples into those which contain E. ta ;
those which contain E. te ; and those which give the sound
of E. 1 in biU, which is the sound of mod. Icel. a.
ExampleB. (a) E. scrtam, M. E. screm-en ; Icel. skrcem-a,
Swed. sir^m-e, Dan. skranim-r, lo 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. stal;
I
' The Ic«1. a- and a aie nov
u different in origin, and t
ad It wu identified with ^ (1
confused. Ttic Icel. a (I'-mnlBtioD a( S)
luivaleot to Swed. and Dan. e; in Eng-
'iDDtatioii of A and passed iolo E. tt.
46a THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXHL
Icel. scBt'i, Swed. sUf-eK . . D sdt-um [i. e. derived by vowel-
change from a base ^ parallel to that of sd/'Utn], pt. t pL of
si/jaf to sit. £. squeak; Swed. sqvdk-a, to croak. £. squeai;
Swed. sgvdl-a, to squeal.
(3) E. j«^(?r, M.E. sner-m, to deride; Dan. sTtcerr-e, to
grin like a dog, snarl. Here also we may place £. seemly,
adj. ; Icel. scBmilig-r^ seemly, from scem-r, becoming, fit. Bat
in this case the cb was originally a ; cf. Icel. s6mt\ honoor,
sSmUy to beseem, become ; Dan. sommelig, seemly, from
sommey to beseem.
(c) E. eider-ducky a late word, pronounced with ^' as i in
biUy though some pronounce it as ee in beet; Icel. cedr^ an
eider-duck. '£** fry (2), the spawn of fishes, M.E.yri'; IccL
frcBy/rjdy spawn, fry, Swed. and Dan.yrd, Goi^ti. /ratio. [In
this case the word seems to have been derived through the
French, as we find the Anglo-French forms /riey/ry, in the
Liber Albus, pp. 507, 508.] E. sfyy M.E. sly, sky; Icel
sloeg-r ; Swed. and Dan. slug. Here, however, the vowel is
a?, and it is connected with sJ6g-y stem of pt. pi. of sidy to
strike ; the orig. sense was, accordingly, dexterous with the
hammer, cunning at a craft, which is the M. E. sense.
Hence also E. sleighty Icel. slxg-dy slyness, cunning, dex-
terity.
{d) E. wail; Icel. vcBl-a (=*z«;^/-a), from the base v&l-
seen in vdl-ay vol-a, to wail; the suffix -la is frequentative,
and the ultimate base is vdy woe. The E. vowel is affected
by the allied interjection, viz. Icel. vfi{=^*wei)y wo ! Curiously
enough, the A.S. interj. wdy id, wd, lit. *woeI lo! woe!' often
appears in M. E. as wei-la-wei, by substitution of O. Icel. aw"
for A. S. wd. Hence the unmeaning later E. wtll-aivayy and
even well-aday !
§ 424. The Icelandic an. The old sound was that of
au in G. haus, E. ow in cow. The modern Icel, sound is quite
un-English, being like G. 0 followed by short /*, or the eui in
^ From the same base is Icel. sdt, a sitting in ambush, an ambush.
r*rs.j
ICELANDIC EI.
463
H host
Htum
w ^
French fauimil. The proper corresponding Swed. and
'Danish letler is S. The old au seems lo have been appre-
hended by ihe English as approaching ihe sound of iheir own
long 0, as appears from two words of known antiquiiy, viz.
I iMSi, adj., and stoop, a beaker. In other instances it was
turned into a u.
Examples. (<i) E. hosi, M, E. loos ; Icel. lauss, Swed. and
* Dan. Ids ; the long 0 appears in O. Sax. I6s, Du. los. E. sloup.
sloop, a beaker, M.E. stoop, stop; Icel. slaup,a. beaker; Swed.
slop, a liquid measure containing three pints.
1{b) E, fluster ; Icel. flausir, sb., hurry, flaustra. v., to be
flustered. E. trust; Icel. Iranst, Swed. and Dan. IrSst. An
Inception is seen in gawk-y, from M. E. gowk, a cuckoo,
ll simpleton, from Icel. gauk-r, cuckoo.
§ 426. The Icelandic ei. This imporiant diphthong is
Wery characteristic of Scando-English words. The sound is
that of Icel. and A. S. e followed by that of Icel. and A. S. j";
but there was no such sound in the oldest A. S. It appears,
however, in native Early English, wherein it arose from the
weakening of ^ in such words as A.S, weg, a way ; E.E. wet.
The sounds of ei and at were confused; hence also the
spelling wai, way, and mod. E. way. l"he Icel, «" commonly
appears as at or ay in mod. E., (as in hail, nay); as ea
(in tieak); or as ei and ey (in their, they); but the E. sound
is usually the same in each case. See further below. It
answers to Swed. long e, Dan. long e, formerly ee ; also to
A.S. <f, Goth. <7/.
Examples, (a) E, aye; Icel. ei, ever. E. bait, v.; Icel.
ieita, causal of bita, to bite, E, dat-ry, from M,£. dy-t, a
dairymaid ; Icel. deig-ja. a maid, orig. ' kneader of bread ' ;
from deig, dough. E. hail I as an exclamation ; Icel, fuill,
_the same word, as used in greetings. (E. hale is merely
I. Korthumbrian.) E. nay ; Icel. nei. E. raid (Northern) ;
Itel. reiS, a raid, riding, also a road; doublet of E, road,
u S. rM. £■ raise ; Icel. rtisa, causal of rita, to rise. £.
464 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Cuir. XXIIL
rein-deer, where the first element is IceL hretnn^ O. Swed.
ren, a reindeer ; a word of Lapp origin. £. skdk ; IceL
steik, a piece of meat stuck on a spit or peg, and roasted
before the fire. E. swain ; IceL sveinn, Swed. sven^ a boj,
lad, servant ; borrowed whilst the IceL v was still w, £. jfcw>';
Icel. svag-ja, to bend aside; a causal verb from an older
verb svig-a, to bend, still preserved in Swedish dialects. E.
their \ \ct\, peirra, of them. E. /hey\ IceL /«-r, nom. pL,
they. E. ihwaite ; Icel. frveii.
(b) E. weak J M.E. waik, iveik\ IceL veik-r {=>*wak-r\
Swed. veky weak, pliant < II veik, pt. t. of vik-ja, to turn aside.
E. queasy, feeling nausea; Norweg. kveis(^=*kweis\ sickness
after a debauch, IceL kveis-a, or iSra-kveis-a, colic.
(f) E. groin, the same word as prov. E. grain, a branch,
hence, the fork of the body ; Icel. grein, a branch, arm.
§ 426. The Icelandio ey. This is the i-mutation of au ;
formerly pronounced as Icel. and A. S. e, followed by IceL
and A. S. y, but now pronounced simply the same as
Icel. ei.
Examples, (a) It occurs in the modem Icel. geysir, lit.
'gusher' < .. II gaus, pt. t o{ gjSs-a, to gush.
(b) It answers to M. E. ey in dey-en, E. die (LowL Sc. dee\
now pronounced with /> = / in bite-, IceL dcy-ja, to die.
(f) It is confused with E. long e, E. steep, to soak in a
liquid ; Icel. steyp-a, to make to stoop, pour out liquids, cast
metals ; Swed. stop-a, to cast metals, steep com. The IceL
steyp-a is the causal of siiip-a (pt. t. *staup), to stoop.
(d) As the E. trust answers to IceL traust (§ 424), so the
E. tryst is used as a mutated form of trust, as if from Icel.
treysi-a (i.e. ^traust-ja), to make trusty or strong or safe,
confirm ; hence the M. E. sb. tryst or trist, meaning ori-
ginally a fixed station (a term in hunting) ; and hence, a sure
meeting-place.
§ 427. The Icelandio j6, jii. These both answer to
A. S. /o, Goth. iUj Teut. eu. The £. sheat^ shiel, shielin, or
»*»B.]
MVTATtON,
465
sh/ali'ng, a temporary hut, answers to Icel. skJ6l, a shelter,
cover; Swed. and Dan. sijul. The E. meek answers to Icel.
mjak-r, soft, meek. But it is difficult to believe that these
can really be of Seandian origin : tliey are probably Anglian.
The E. words would result at once from the equivalent
A. S. forms 'sc/ol, 'm/oc, but ihey are unauthorised. We
find, however, the form meoc in the Ormulum.
§ 138. Mutation. Sotne examples of vowel -mutation
have already occurred. The following also deserve notice.
Some of them involve gradation also. See § 421.
B> . . e. E. beck, a brook; Icel. bckk-r, Swed. bUck; see
G. Bach in Kluge. E. dregs ; Swed. drUgg. E. gtd, a pike
(fish), IceI.^C(A/-a, is doubtless a derivative ai gadd-r, a spike ;
the fish is called pike in English on account of its thin shape.
E. ktg ; Icel. kaggi. E. kin, M. E. kctinen, to teach, also to
know; Icel. "tenia (Goth, kannjan). "B-smill ; Swed. smiilt-a.
_i£. hinge, M. E. hatgc; from Icel. heng-ja, to hang; cf. E.
^kff^. See 5192.
^B 0> . . y. E. drip, M. E. drypp-en ; Dan. drypp-e, to drip
^^< . . d Icel. drop-id, pp. otdrjUp-a, lo drop, drip. ^. filly, Icel.
Wj^h" < • -fol-i, a foal, Goth. /(//-a. E.///; \cit\. ftylja, to
^-jreiPOve, used reflexively 3,s,flyt-ja-sk, to flit < . . ||_^(j/-/nn, pp.
^mtffij^ta, to fioal. E. lifi, Icel. lypl-a (pronounced as iy/l-a),
^Kbb exalt in air < . . lce\.lopl (pron. ^tlo/l), air, Goth. /ii^-»^.
^^BD also ihirt, ikirl, skilUsh, skillies. See § 193.
^B n> . . y. E. skim, i.e. to take off scum, answers to an
Icel. 'skym-ja, not found ; cf. Swed. skumm-a, Dan. skumm-f,
to skim, from Swed. and Dan. skum, scum. This is a remark-
_ able instance in which the E. form is more archaic than the
[Down Seandian forms '. See § 194.
Other mutations have already been exemplified in die
able
bnov
'C Swed. liymma. to darken, trom iium, obscure.
tiCBlly, these Die equivalent words; for E.
and Swed. ihim means ' covering,' i. e. obicarjng. All from the
hVOL,
466 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chaf. XXIII.
words mite, § 422, p. 461; seat, § 423 («), p. 462; g^sir,
Ueep^ tryst, § 426, p. 464.
It remains to be said that there is also a iv-mutation,
changing a into o ; thus dqg-r, a day, makes dog-um in the
dative plural. In this way we may explain E. 6arJt (of a
tree), from Icel. bork-r (stem bark-u) ; and E. brindled, for-
merly brinded, as in Shakespeare (Macb. iv. i. i), from led.
brond'Sttr, brindled, lit marked as with a brand ; cf. brond-
um, dat. pi. of brand-r, a brand. E. ledge answers to Icel.
i^gg^ the ledge or rim at the bottom of a cask < . . D *i^
(now Id), 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, bor-inn (where bar is the pt. t. s. ist person, bdrum is
the pt. t. pi. ist person, and borinn is the pp.); {\) gef-a, to
give, gaf, gdf'Um, ge/-inn ; (5) drekk-a, to drink, drakk,
drukk-um, drukk-inn ; (6) drif-a, to drive, dreif, drif-um, dnf-
inn ; (7) kjSs-a, to choose, kaus, kus-um, kos-inn. More
briefly: shake, a, 6; bear, e, a, d, o; give, e, a, &, e;
drink, e, a, u, u ; drive, i, ei, i, i ; choose, j6, 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.)
.S'^j^^-conjugation ; dregs, Cf. § 172.
G/^'^-conjugation : seat, wag. Cf. § 174.
Z?r/>/X'-conjugaiion : band, brind-ed, brind-led, brun-t, clam'
b-er, shing'le (coarse round crunching or * singing ' gravel),
slang, stang, Cf. § 175.
Z^wr-conjugation : bait, dirt, raid, raise, rift, sway ; § 176.
C^<?^j^-conjugation : bigh-t, clef-t, clif-t, drib-blcy drip,
fledge, flit, gey s-ir, gush, gus't, ru-th, scud, scuff -le, scutt-le (to
run away quickly), shuff-le, skitt-ish, skittles] § 177.
It may here be remarked that Icelandic has contributed to
NEUTER FINAL -T. ^6y
X use some sirong verbs. \'vt. fling, rive, lak/. thrive ; as well
as the common and userul verbs call, cast, die, and, indeed,
many others, as dip (to cut), drag, drip, gatp, gaze, &c.
Rolt-en, Icel. rol-inn, is evidently tlie pp. of a lost strong
verb ; see 0. H. G. riuzan and r6s/n in Schade.
§ 430. The various Aryan suffixes have been so fully
illustrated in Chapters XIU and XIV, that it is hardly
necessary lo shew how these suffixes appear in Icelandic.
Indeed, some of the illustrations have been taken from Ice-
landic already, and the mode of forming words with suffixes
in Icelandic is much the same as in Anglo-Sa.\on.
The Aryan suffix -TO occurs as -Ih in ioo-th, Icel. b6-3,
from bu-a, to dwell ; and in ru-tk from rue, v.
The ■/ is also a suf&x in bigh-l, brun-l, cas-l, clef-t,
/raugh-l,gus-t, raf-l. rif-l, sleigh-l, thrtf-t, iigk-t ; and pro-
bably mjaanl and dill.
§ 131. But there is another suffixed -/ almost peculiar to
Scandian, which requires special consideration, viz. the ■/
which marks the neuter gender in adjectives and pronouns.
We have it in E. and A. S. in the words /-/, tha-l, wha-l
(A. S. hi't, P<B-l, fnixE-l), which are closely related, respec-
dvely, to E. he, the, who. The same suffix appears as -d in
the Latin illu-d, islu-d, qui-d, quo-d, from ilk, isle, qnis, qui.
It only appears in A.S. in the above three words, but in
Icelandic it is the regular suffix of the neuter gender of
strong adjectives, so iliat ihe neuter of ung, young, is ung-l ;
Sweet, Icel. Piimer, p. 14. Moreover, this neuter singular
is often uted adverbially, and it is only thus that we can
enplain the final -/ in the words alliwar-t, scan-i, Ikwar-I,
lof-l, wan-l, and wigh-l, adj. (valiant). All these words, from
the nature of the case, are of Scandian origin. Thus scan-l
(for *seaml). is from Icel. skam-t, neuter of skamm-r. short,
brief, whence skamf-a, lo scant, slim, dole out. Thwar-I is
M. E. pwerl, adj., across ; Icel, pver-l (orig. 'pwer-l), neut.
of fiverr, adj., perverse, cognate with A. S. fntieork. Hence
Hhz
468
THE SCANDUtf ELEMENT. [Qu*.
a-lhwarl, for on Ihwarl, across. To/-l. a green knoll ; IceL
lof^t {pron. lo/i). also /owi-/, a knoll, toft, clearing, orig. neater
of iSm-r, empty (North E. loom). Wan-/, s., from M. E, uuuH,
adj., deficient ; Icel. 7ian-f (for 'wan-f), orig. neuter of van-r.
lacking. Hence also wanf, v.. Icel. vant-a, to lack, from the
same neuter form. Wigh-t, adj., valiant, vigorous ; Icel. vig-l.
orig. neuter of vlg-r. fit for war, from vig, war ; cf. Swedr^.
nimbie, active, clever.
§ 432. There is another sul5x, altogether Scandian, which
only appears in the two vi'ords bask and busk, both of which
were originally reflexive verba ; the former means • to bitbe
oneself,' and the latter 'to prepare oneself,' to get ready.
The sk stands for si'k (cf. G. sich), the accusative case of a
reflexive pronoun of the third person, of which no nominative
occurs, Bask answers to Icel. 'baSask, orig. form of baSa-il
(an obvious corruption), to bathe oneself; from baSa, to
baihe, and sik, self. Busk is from Icel. bHask, to gel oneself
ready; from bda, to prepare, and sik, self; as before*.
The suffix in sis-lcr is discussed above, 5 ai (c)- ?■ '47!
that in blus-kr in § aaS {<), p. 248; and the suffix -st m
trtfsl, Iry-sl. m 5 233, p. 254.
§ 433. Verbal SufiOxes. These have been discussed
above, in §§ 260-263. The Scandian verba in -m or -n ire
ball-fit, faw-n, gni'-n, happ-m. haU-tn, lik-en. The verbs in
-k are lur-k, scul-k; to which we may a-ddjU'cA (weakened
from 'fii-k\ a derivative of \ce\./el-a, to hide, which has
also produced the prov. V.-ftal, with the very sense of ' filch'
or 'hide slily' (Halliwell). 'He that /w/f can find." txjt
Grose, is a Northern proverb.
' The suggestion tbal hasktacija, 'to bake onesetf ii simpljr ■ lad
gnesi, made in ignomuce □( the (act thai the M. E, batkm tnu Med
reflexively in lie rerjr lense of batk ; see Cbauetr, Nonoo Prestei Ttlft
44C. So also Swed. ' badda iig i soUn, to ba^ in the son ' ; \Mdtgiai'i
" 1. Din, (1788J.
in Ihe Rcfleiive Pronoun In Icelonili*. by G. Vigfa»-
i ton, in the Phil. Soc Transact ions, 1
irlf exvQples oHusk arc given, fioi
>, p. So. At p. I
I, u. 1310 to 1819.
PALATAUSA TIOfT.
1 Scardian base, ;
^-li, dang-le.
469
•el, mostly frequeniative, and formed
',. bung-lc, lmst-lt(J),
p-le, dazz-k (from dasi). dibb-le (for
^
dribb-k (
Jumb-le, pratl-U, rif-le, ri(>p-U, rusl-li, scuff-U (from Swed.
skuff-a, to shove about), scult-k (to uud away), shriv-tl,
ikuff-U (from shove), smugg-ie, sniv-el, sqiiabb-le, sli/-le,
itmgg'k, slumb-le, lipp-U, wagg-lc. Those in -/ seem to
express continuance rather "Cns-Ti frequency; thus to knte-l is
to remain on the knees; to wat-l is lieep on crj'ing wai\
1 wo !). The list is ; htet-t, pur-l, spraw-l, squta-l.
The verbs in -ir, from a Sqandian base, are bliind-er,
clamb-er, glimm-er, gUII-er,jabb-er, lumb-er (to make
ik rumbling noise), pall-cr, shiv-er, simp-tr, slau-er, slubb-er,
\alt-tr, splult-er, sputl-er, sguand-er, slagg-er, siult-er,
in many of these, the -er is an E. addition.
The suffix 'Se in cleanse, answering to A. S. -si-an, Goth.
■on, has lieen explained in § 263, where rinse is noted as
ling a F. word of Scand. origin. We find this also, I think,
in glim-pse, from M. E. glimsen, to glimpse ; and in dum-
s-j), allied to Swed. dial, klumms-en, benumbed. The suflix
of clumsy has been imitated in lip-sy, as well as in llie E.
word tricksy. I should also explain ^oj/ {^c<i\. geispa, Swed.
gUspa) as being a derivative of the verb to gape ; for just as
have hasp for haps, and clasp for claps (§ 263), we may
.«plain Swed. gSspa as,-= gapsa = * gapsia. Rietz explains
"Iwed. dial, gapsig, noisy, as being from gapa, to gape.
I 484. The various modes of consonantal change enu-
merated in 5 322 are all in operation in the case of Scandian
words. I give some examples of most of ihem.
FalataliaatioD. There is a strong tendency in Scandian
irds to resist palatalisation, as is well shewn in comparing
Northern kirk (Ice!, iiri-ja) with the Southern chitrck
S. ^ice\ This is particularly noticeable in E. words
I
I
470 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIII.
beginning with the sound of sk^ many of which are of Scan-
dian origin, viz. scald^ adj. scabby, scald, a poet, scall, a scab,
scanty scar^ a rock, scare, scarf, v., scoop, scotch, v., scoui, v.,
scowl, scraggy, scrap, scrape, scratch, scream, screech, scrip,
a bag, scud, scuffle, sculk, scull, a light oar, scum, scuttle, to
scud away ; also skewer, skid, skill, skim, skin, skirt, skittish,
skittles, sky. But the tendency to turn sk into sh was so
strong that we find amongst the words of Scand. origin such
words as sheer, pure, shelve, shirt, shiver, a splinter, and some
others. So also mil-ch is a derivative of miUk ; to which add
fil'ch (§ 433), p. 468, and slouch (§ 419 c) p. 459.
Similarly, the Northern English brig, rig, stand in striking
contrast to the Southern palatalised forms bridge, ridge, and
the like. The number of Scand. words ending in g or gg'v&
very striking. Examples are drag, dreg-s, egg, s., egg {on), v.,
/ag, a paving stone, Jiag, an ensign, hug, keg, leg, log, rig,
to fit a ship, rig, a ridge, sag, slag, slug (for *sluk), smug
(for *smuk), snug, stag, tag, wag ; to which may be added
many words in which the g is doubled, such as daggle,
^^(igg^^y ^^^ggy^ swagger, &c. ; and the remarkable form
ug-ly, Icel. ugg'ligr. The verb to egg on, i. e. instigate, is
sometimes written edge on. Fledge and ledge are instances of
palatalisation in Scand. words.
The sb. egg is particularly noticeable. I have inadvertendy
given the derivation from the A. S. ceg, but this is certainly
wrong. For just as the A. S. dctg became day, so A. S. ag
became ay oi ey, and the curious A. S. pi. crg-ru, eggs, pro-
duced an M. E. cire, or (with the favourite Southern pi. suflSx
-efi) the commoner form eiren or eyren. This form occurs,
for instance, in Wyclifs Works, ed. Arnold, iii. 157, where
the Glossary unluckily explains it as ' heirs ^' Caxton, in
his Eneydos, 1490, tells a good story of a Kentish w^oman
who was asked by some Northern English sailors to sell
* In M. E., heir appears as eir or eyr. The plural is eires, eyres,
iiris, or eyris, and cannot possibly become eiren.
f 43S-')
VOICIffC.
47"
'a w
them some * eggys^ which drew from her the remark that
'she coude speke no Frenshe.' Fortunately a bystander
interpreted ihe word as 'eyren'; whereupon 'the good wyf
sayd that she undcrstod hym wel '.' The fact is, that eggs is
the Northern form; and, as such, is derived, not from the
A. S. ag, but from Ice!, tgg (Swed. agg) ; just as the verb to
tgg is the Icel. egg-ja.
On the other hand, the Scandian -sk, when final, con-
stantly becomes -sh ; thus dash answers to Swed, dask-a ;
gnash, V>3.vi. gnask-f \ push, Swcil. /aji-o, Norweg. iasi-a, to
dabble in water, Dan, bask-e, to slap; smash, Swed. dial.
smasi, a slight report, smisk-a, to slap ; swash, Swed, dial.
ivassi-a, to make a swashing noise, as when one walks with
water in the shoes ; iush, Swed, busk-c, a shrub. But -sk
remains in whisk, misspelling for 'wist, from Swed. viik-a,
a whisk, a small broom ' (Widegren), Icel. visk, a wisp of
also, for (iislinciness, in bask and busk. We even find
-sh for final -j; as in gu-sh, Icel. gus-a; flush, v., lo
Iden, Swed, dial. _^ow-fl, to burn, flare; and, strangest of
II, li for initial s in shingle, the 'singing' coarse gravel on
the sea-shore.
Initial g may pass into/'; this seems to be the case in the
iliScult -vqtA'& jabber , jauni, jibe, jumble, jump.
L % 436. Toicing of voiceless letters. See §§ 323, 362.
Kxamples : p ~> b; dibble, from dip ; dribble, from drip ; flabby,
ifrovaflap; gaby, fiOTagape; jumbli, (rorajump. See iXsogibt,
nab, snob, snub, sguab, squabble in my Dictionary. Also k > g'-
as in/og, hug, slug, smug, snug ; scragg-y, probably allied to
shrink; stagger, M. E. slakeren ; sprag, for sprak (Merry Wives.
'>i/; as in scud, with ils frequentative scull-U;
lUed to shoot. F •> V
% thrive, throve, Icel. rif-a.
irf/'-a, Pre/-i; the Icel. f being voiceless. S > i
Wfrase, daze, Swed. kras-a, das-a, the Scand. s being voiceless ;
472 THE SC AND IAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIU.
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. geystr with the sound
of z, and even turn the ey into E. ^^ ; 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
/awn = Icel. fagna ; so also in bow (of a ship), gain, profit,
horw, a hill, low, adj., low, lowe, a flame, roe, spawn (Icel.
hrogn). Sometimes the g has been previously voiced from
k, as in flaw, Swed. flaga, allied to flake ; fraught, Dan.
fragt-e, S^f^^./rakt-a.
§ 437. Assimilation. See § 362 (4). This is a marked
feature of Icelandic, which has, for example, the forms
drekk-a, drakk, drukk-inn, in place of our drink, drank, drunk.
Examples are seen in brad, M. E. brad, brod, IceL brodd-r,
a spike, A. S. brord, Teut. brozda ; gad, a wedge of steel, a
goad, Icel. gadd-r, Goth, gazd-s, Teut. gazda ; ///, Icel. ill-r,
ilUr, perhaps = A. S. idel, idle, but this is doubtful ; odd,
Icel. odd'i, orig. a triangle, allied to odd-r, a point, cognate
with A. S. ord, Teut. uzda ; ruck, a crease, wrinkle, IceL
hrukk-a, Swed. rynk-a. Ransack is from Icel. rann-saka, to
search a house, where rann (for *razn = *rasn) is cognate
with the Gothic razn, a house. The Northern 'E, force, a
waterfall, is the O. lce\./ors, mod. Icel/bss, E. brink, Dan.
and Swed. brink, is assimilated to brekka in Icelandic.
§ 438. Substitution. See § 362 (5). T' is substituted
for k in nas/y, formerly nasky ; and in mill, substituted for
milk (cf. Swed. mj'dlke, milt), by confusion with E. mill, the
spleen. Flaunl answers to Swed. dial, flanka, to waver, to
be tossed about ^ Sh is put for finals \n 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 : okstokkenyfa;f>('.ar pS vIgo som en spin,
the little boat is tossed about on the waves like a chip.
VrfVOtCING.
See 5;
i shifted in a
473
Gas'p is probably
Wkidt
1 441.]
Metatheaifl,
^OJ gaps; § 4_
Icel. dril.
§ 440. Contractioii. See § 363. The usuEtl loss of
initial h occurs Iwfore / in Ite ; and probably in leak (cf. A. S.
hiec-e, leaky) and in lurk ; before n, in tut/, fist, and nigg-ard;
before r, in rap, to seize hastily, rape, haste, rfl/r;, 3 county
division in Susses, rot, spawn, ruck, a fold, crease, ruck, a
heap, ruth. Initial w is lost in raci, vapoury cloud, Icel.
Ttk, drift, siy-rek, drifting clouds, put for *wrfk^ ; also in
ntol, Icel, r6l, if it be allied to worl. Initial /A is lost in
iing, by confusion between North thriding and North
\ding. Medial voiced Ih (dh) is lost in bask, put for *f>alhsk
'^"badhsk). Final Ih is lost in quandary, if it be from M.E.
wandrtih (Icel. vandr<r3i). A (/ is lost in wall-eyed, put for
vbald-eyed (Icel, vald-tyg'dr, itself a corruption of vagl-eygr').
In the Wats of Alexander, both forms occur, viz. wald-eyed
Icel. vald-eygSr), 1. 608, and K'(JK'(/-g'ii/(=Icel. zia^Z-ft'^r),
1706. /"is lost before / in whirl, put for *whirfle, Icel.
pi>y/j ; and after r in wherry, answering to Icel. hverfr, easily
led, crank, unsteady (said of a boat). Doubtless more
iples of various kinds of contraction might be added ;
perhaps one of the most curious instances of loss of
final letter occurs in the word roe (of a fish). This is the
iwl. Sc. roun, raurt, Lincolnsh. roan^ mistaken for a plural
shoo-n from shoe). Skinner, in 1671, made this very
istake, for his Dictionary gives us ; ' The Roan or Roes
pisn'um.' But the Icel. form is hrogn.
I 441. UaToioing of voiced consonants, See § 368,
This process is rare, as the change is usually made the other
way. Blual is used in the Ormulum, 16954, '" signify dull
in mind, and may be connected with Icel. btund-a, to doze.
M, E. shunt-en, to start aside, escape, a word so
) Icelandic nlwityj drop) w ia initial wr; IccL rt^^Ni, todiive — A.S.
I
474 '^^^ SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIIL
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. skund-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-lher,
to rumble, Swed. dial, lorn-ray to resound, Swed. ijumm, a
great noise; stum-b-ky Swed. dial, stom-la^ Icel. stum-ra.
The history of the b in clamber and wimble is obscure.
D is added after n in boun-d, i. e. ready to go, Icel. bHinn ;
and in baul-d-er^ Swed. dial, buller-steen, a large rolling stone,
possibly from bullra, to thunder, crash. See Boulder in
the New E. 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 hitter -n (§347).
The d m/on-d is not excrescent, but a real addition, the
M. E. form hem^ fonn-ed, formed as pp. o^ fonn-en, to act
foolishly.
Whisk contains a useless h, and should be wisk (§ 434); a
wisk 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-Uass, by confusion with wind-
lace^ a winding course ; the usual Icel. word being vind-dss
(for * wind-ass), from vind-a, to wind, and dss, a pole. But
Mr. Magnusson tells me that the Icel. form vindil-dss is also
in common use, where vindil- is the stem of vindill, a winder.
Mid. Eng. also had the term windel, as in yarn-windel, a reel
for yam ; 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 wyndelas, or wyndas * ; which
may be held to settle this disputed point at last.
§ 443. Graphic changes. See § 371. Of course Scan-
dian words were spelt after an English fashion. The chief
GRAPHIC CHANGES.
Feiceplion is ihe modern E. word geysir ', which is spell as in
Icelandic, but pronounced as if turned into an E. gteeer
(} 435)- Many Icel. words begin with sk, where Enghsh
c and sk indiscriminately (434),
A few peculiarities of Icelandic spelling may be here
Ktiodced. The vowels and diphthongs are numerous, viz. a, t,
0, u.y\ a, i, i, 6,^, where the accent denotes length; au,
\ ey, a, a., o". The ip and a are both now sounded as
E. i in liU, and the same symbol (</) often does duty for
both. In the sounds denoted by j6 and ytf, the j (E. y) is
I almost a vowel, makingyl:^ and/tf almost diphthongs, answer-
ing to A. S. /o ; so also with regard loja,j^Ju.jo.
Initial Ih is always voiceless, like E. Ih in Ihin, and is
denoted by/. Medial and final tfi is always voiced, like E.
•Jk in Ikis. and is denoted by ? '. V (though now sounded as
E. v) had originally the sound of iv. and several E. words
beginning with w are of Scandian origin, such as »jag, want,
weai, witig. Similariy hv was originally sounded as A. S.
hw (E. wh); so that E. whirl is from Icel. hvirfl-a { =hwirji-a).
theybeing dropped. We have needlessly turned the words
wikiftg and Walfialla 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.
tw, E. gu; the symbol q being hardly ever used. Thus
E. gveas-y is from Icel, kviis {=hvfis), as in Areisa, colic.
»C is also disused, i being always employed for the if-sound.
Hence E. caj/ is from Icel. iasl-a. Other particulars must
be learnt from books that deal specially with the language.
' Pronounce it us E. gay ieir, trilling the t, nnd accenting gay \ and
this will come lomewhat near the right »omid.
' For the sounds of the Old IceUndic, sec Sweet, Icel. Primer, and
Vigfnsson and Powell. Icel. Reader, p. 467 \ for the modern sounds see
Sweet's Hnndbook of Phonctits.
' Mr. Mngnilsson considers the E. voiceless Ih as more nearly eqniva-
lent to Icel. t>]>, and the K. voiced Ik as more like Icel. tffi. We may
note that the Scand. ]i becomes /, and A becomes d, in Swedish and
general rale. Cf. A.S./(«f, Swed. ting; A.S, WJIJ, Swed. vid.
476 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT, [Chap. XXIII.
§ 444. Mimise of symbolfl. 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 // to represent the sound of y?, as in Icel. hpt^ pro-
nounced loft (whence E. loft)^ and Icel. lypt-a^ pronounced
lyfi-a (whence E. lift). This practice arose from a too close
imitation of Latin spellings in which pt appears frequendy,
andy? 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.
§ 446. Vowel-changes due to consonantal influence
or other cause. See § 375. In the case of monosyllables
from words once dissyllabic, a lengthened vowel is pre-
served. In the Icel. sala both a\ 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. t
is lengthened in E. leak, Icel. lek-a ; E. neif Icel. hnefi, the
fist ; E. thrave, Icel. prefi, a number of sheaves. The Icel.
/' is lengthened in riding, a third part of a county; IceL
pridjungr, a third part. The Icel. 0 is lengthened in boU,
Icel. bol-r ; and the u has become a diphthong in clown, Icel.
klunn-i. The change of en into in in hinge, M.E. hengi,
from Icel. heng-ja, to hang, has been already noticed in
§ 377. So also ^, fling, ^LY.. fling-en, fleng-en^, 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,
336.
§ 446. List of Compounds, of Soandian origin, in
which the origin has been more or less obscured. A
list of native words of this character has already been given
ii^ § 395 > a"d may be usefully supplemented by one in which
the compounds are from Scandian elements.
' Hcflenges to sir Florent ' ; Morte Arthure, ed. Brock, 3762.
I««l
COMPOUND WORDS.
vn
I
Bulwark, really hole-work, 3 work made of the boles or
tninks of trees, (A probable guess).
Bylaw, a lown-law, municipal law, from by, sb., in the
sense of town'; cf. Whit-by,Der-by,&iz. Usually misunder-
Btood as being compounded with the preposition by.
Pellow, lit. a partner in a ' laying logeiher of property,'
or in an association relating to ownership. \zti\. fi-lag-i, a
partner in ^/^-lag; ^xora ft, property (E.yi'c), and lag, a
laying together, an association.
Fetlock, a luft or lock of hair growing behind the pastern-
joint of horses. Not, as might be supposed, a direct deriva-
tive from f((l, but only allied to foot in a more circuitous
manner. This is proved by the occurrence of a M. H.G.
vieerloch, ciled by Kluge, s, v. Fust {but not in Schade), sig-
nifying (he hinder part of a horse's foot, and of an O. Du.
m'tlok, vilslok, which {says Wedgwood) is given by Halma,
./anon. Kluge concludes that the first syllable is due to
:a bist/il- (allied to /bo/), which appears in Icel._/9/, a pace,
■tcp ; cf. also IceL_/f/, the webbed foot of water-birds, the web
or skin of the feet of animals. Indeed, we have the same_/^/-
in OTirJiU-er, which may be compared with Lat, ped-ica.
Flotsam, goods lost in shipwreck, and left floating on the
waves. (Mentioned here by mistake in the first cdidon.
It now turns out to be of Anglo-French origin ; from A, F.
fiottfSf>n=.\j\\. 'fluclan'orum.)
ForlOQgh, a military term of Swedish origin, though it
may have come to us through the Du. form verlof. It is the
SweA. /br-lq/l leave; compounded of Swed./iir- (=K./or-,
prefix), and lof, praise, also leave, permission ; cf. G. Virlaub,
leave. Ltf is cognate with G. I0& (and -hub In Ver-laub),
and allied to E. kave and lief.
Oantlet, Gauntlet, in the phrase ' to run the gaundet ' ;
corrupted, by confluence whh gaun/Uf, a glove, from the older
fonn gantlope, which again is altered from Sviied. gal-lofip, ^
running down the lane ' formed by two files of soldiers who
478 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Cbaf. XXIII.
Strike the ofifender as he passes. From Swed. gata^ a lane,
street, and loppy a running, which is from top-a^ to run (E.
leap\ Thus ganUlet = * gate-leap ' ; taking gate in the sense
of street, way.
Greyhound; Icel. grey-kundr. 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 mean gray (Icel.
grdr).
Handsel, Hansel, first instalment df 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. hiis-bdndty the goodman of a house, from
hiisy house ; and b6ndt = bHandi, dwelling in, pres. pt. of b(ia,
to dwell. (In no way allied to band^
Hnssif, a case for needles ; due to confusion with hussif
= house-wife. But the Icel. word is simply hiisiy a case.
Hustings, properly Hnsting ; A. S. hUs-ting^ borrowed
from Icel. Ms-ping, a council, lit. * house-thing.'
Jetsam, things thrown overboard from a wreck. (Men-
tioned here by mistake in the first edition. It turns out to
be from the A«glo-FrenchyV///.f<?« = Lat. iaclaU'onem.)
Jollyboat, lit. yawl-boat; from Dsin. jol/e, a yawl.
Keelson, a piece of timber next a ship's keel. Swed.
kol'svin, lit. * keel-swine ' ; probably a corruption of the
Norweg. term kjol-svily a keelson, lit. * keel-sill *.' [1 find that
Koolman, in his E. Friesic Dictionary, s. v. kol-svin, gives,
independently, the same solution.]
Kidney, M. E. kidnere, kidneer ; from Icel. kz'i^-r, womb,
belly, and nyra, a kidney.
Narwhal, the sea-unicorn ; Swed. nar-hval, Icel. «j-
hval-r, lit. * corpse-whale ' ; from its (occasional) pallid colour.
* Another Old Icel. name for the same was kjol-syja \ot simply syja],
lit. • keel-suture ' ; from syja, to sew.
liifi-]
COMPOUND iVORDS.
the
479
i;
same as M. E. waudnih,
■', difficulty, irouble. From Icel.
vand-r, difficult; with suffix -nr^)( = E. -redm hal-reJ).
Bakehell, a dissolute man, a late corruption of M. E.
rakti, rash ; Swed. dial, rakkd, Icel. reikall, vagabond. From
Icel. rrik-a, lo wander. Now shortened to rake.
Bsnsack ; Icel. rann-sak-a, to search a house ; from
rann, a house (Goth, razn) and sak-, base of sak-ja, to seek,
co^ate vith A. S. s/c-an.
Biding (of Yorksliire) ; for 'ihnding, Icel. pri3Jiing-r, a
, third pari.
Spiok and Span-new, lit. ' spike-and-spoon-new,' where
I ^ike is a point, nail, and spoon is a chip ; new as a nail just
t made or a chip just cut. Icel spdn-nyr, span-new, new as a
chip ; from spdn, a chip, a spoon.
TnngBten, a heavy metal. Swed. tungsten, lit. ' heavy
Stone'; Icehpung-r, heavy.
^L TaUialla, better Walliall, the hall of the slain ; Icel.
^MmelAiilt (gen. case val/iallar). From Icel. vat-r, the slain, car-
^fcage ; h'oll, hall, a hall.
^H "Viking, better Wildng, Icel. viking-r, O. Icel. *wiktng-r,
^^K creek-dweller ; from Icel. vik, O. Icel. 'wik, a creek, bay,
^Eivith suffix -ing-r, belonging to.
Wall-*yod, said of a horse ; Icel. vaideygSr, corruption of
vagl-eygr, lit. ' beam-eyed ' ; from vagi, a beam, also a
disease in the eye ; and ejg-r, formed by mutation from
aug-a, eye. See p. 473.
Walms ; a Dutch spelling of a Scand. word ; Du. walrus,
from Dan. hnal-ros, lit. whale-horse. Cf. A, S. hors-hwcel, a
horse-whale, seal. The Icel. form rosm-kvalr has not been
explained.
Wapentake, a district; Icel. vipna-iak, lit. 'weapon-
touching,' hence a vote of consent expressed by men touch-
ing their weapons; fiiully, a district governed by one elected
I by such a vote.
480 THE SCANDIAN ELEMENT. [Cbap. XXHI.
Whitlow, historically a corruption o^ qmck-flaWy zflaw in
the quick or sensitive part of the finger near the nail. The
vfoxdflaw is Scandian; Syfed.^agay a flake, crack. Cf. IceL
^aka^ to gape as a wound. See § 436, p. 472.
Windlass, shortened from M. E. winde/as. Prompt. Parv.,
p. 529 ; from Icel. vindil-dss^ more commonly vind-dss ; from
vtnd-a, to wind, and dsSy 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 vtnd^ 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 modem 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), gardld
(in the phrase run the gantlet or gantlope\ kink, slag, tung-
sten ; and perhaps smelt, weld, v., and trapi^-rock).
From Danish : cam, floe, /og, 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,
braze, brazier, equip, frisk, frown, gauntlet (glove), gratt,
v., grimace, grudge, hale or haul, v., hue (in phr. hue and
cry\ jib, v. (said of a horse), 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 diretiiy borrowed
from Scandinavian, being brought over from Denmark in the
tenth and eleventh centuries, it seems strange that so liille 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 ihem 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. TTie 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,
yachi (Du. boom, kruizen, jagt, older spelling jachl) ; as well
as the word schooner. But the last instance is incorrect ; the
original name was scooner ', and originated in America, but
.0 glide
; MC Whitney, Study of Langni
water. See the sloiy
Icb 1 once doubted, bnt lind
p. 38. Schaener I
loMir
n IQ be banowed from
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 twuld are spelt with /,
could is spelt so too ; and because sloop and yacht are Dutch,
schooner is supposed to be the same. But we may, I think,
safely add to the list the nautical terms ahoy^ cUoof avast^
belay \ caboose^ hoist, hold (of a ship), hoy, huU^ 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), ree/{^ rock), reeve, raver (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 Fratemitye of Vacabondes, first printed in
^ In some senses, all obsolete, belay is a native English term. As t
nautical term, it first appears in The Complaint of Scotland, ed. Muiray,
ch. vi. p. 41 (1549).
^ See the note on this difficnlt word in the Sapplement to my Dic-
tionary.
tv'1
THE DUTCH ELEMENT.
483
I
I
1561, and in Harman's Caueat for Vagabones, printed in
1567 ; see Furnivall's edition of ibese books for the Eariy
English Test Society, which conlains a Glossary, and an
additional list of words at p. xxii. Harrison, in his Description
of Kngland, bk. ij. c. 10 {ed. 1587), says that the trade of the
Is, or roving Gypsies, had begun some sixty years
previously, and that their number was said 10 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 la
nothing but depraved and debased English, coined by using
Words in odd senses and with slight changes, as when, e. g,,
(bod is called belly chtir, or night is called darkmans. The
following are some of ihe old cant terms wliich I should
explain from Dutch. Bu/e, a dog ' ; from Du. baffm, to bark.
Bung, a purse ; Friesic pting, a purse. Kinchin, a child
(Harman, p. 76); Du. h'ndeAin, an infant (Hexham). Pad,
road, as in high pad, high road ; Du. pad, a path, hence
the sb, paddcr, a robber on the road, now called a faolpad,
.snd pad-nag, a road-horse, now shortened to pad. Prad, a
borse ; Du. paard, a horse. Slates, sheets j Du. ski, a rag,
Lclout Hexham, in bis Old Dutch Dictionary (1658) records
verb facken, ' to catch or to gripe ' ; which suggests a
plausible origin for the cant word fake, 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 /am<s, hands, is plainly Danish, from the Yiasi./amle, 10
handle; whilst woj«, drunk, is precisely the High G. nas,,
nsed Uterally in the sense of ' wet,' but figuratively in the
:nse of ' drunk ' ; the Low G. form being rial.
$ 4GD. There was a rather close contact between English
id Dutch in the days of Elizabeth, due to the war against
ipain. After Antwerp had been conquered by the Duke of
'anna, ' a third of the merchanls and manufacturers of the
The modem slasg word for dog is buffer (Holtcn).
484 ^^^ DVTCff ELEMENT. [Qatr. 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 entilied the Frails 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 sL 136 of that poem, he
says that he 'equyppt a Hoye' ; where hoy, a boat (Du. >m)
is a word still in use. In st. 40, he uses the id'y/ro/icte, to
express cheerful or merry, which is borrowed from Du.
vrolijk, spelt vrotick by Hexham ; Ben Jonson, who also
had served in Holland, spells it fralith, as if it was hardly
naturalised, in The Case is Altered, Act i. sc. 1. In his
Voyage to Holland, Gascoigne quotes several Dutch sen-
tences, which he explains by means of notes. He |k^H
introduces the word pynkt. which he explains by 'a. l^^^|
bote ' ; this is mod. E. pink (Du. pink). ^^H
In Ben Jonson 's well-known play of Every Man hlfl^
Humour, we may iind several Dutch words. Thus he has
guilder as the name of a coin, Act iii. sc. i ; this is a son of
E. translation of Du. gulden, lit. golden, also the name of
a coin ; Hexham gives : ' em Gulden, or Carolus gulden, %
Gilder, or a Charles Gilder ; ten Pkilippus gulden, a Phili|M
Gilder.' Again, he has lanet-knighh, foot-soldiers, in Act fi.
sc. 4. [or aj ; this is merely the Du. landskmcht, which has also
been taken inlo French (and even into English) in the form
lansquaicl. In Act iii. sc. i, he has the sb. hagurt, and ihe
derivative beltag'ring ; we still use bekagutr, from the Du.
ieUgeren, to besiege, the Du. sb. being leger, a camp. In
Act ii. EC I, he has quaeksalvtrs, mountebanks, from Du.
kwaksalver ; the word is still common in the abbreviated
form quack as applied to a physician.
There are several Dutch words in Shakespeare, who quoiet
one word as Dutch when he says — ' luslig, as the Duichman
says'; All's Well, ii. 3. 47 ; where lusfig means 'in excellent
spirits.' The list of Dutch words in Shakespeare is a n
I 4M-]
THE DUTCH ELEMENT.
48.';
longer ore than might be expected, I give it here, referring
to my Dictionary for the etjinologies. It runs thus : boor,
brabble, burgomaster, buskiKifd), canakin ', cope, v., copfs-male ',
eranli (Du. krans or G. Kranz), deck (of a ship), deck, v.,
dail, fohl. fop, frolic, fumble, gtck, a fool (Du. gek). gilder.
a coin (see p. 484), glib, adj., glib, v. (M, Du. geluhben, to
castrate), groat, heyday or hoyday, used as an interjection,
ke^skead, hoist, now hoist, hold (of a ship), hoUand, hoy, hull
(of a 9\iip), Jeer, jerkin, leaguer, a camp (Du. kger), link, a
torch, linstock, loiter, lop, manakin, minikin, minx ', mop, mope
rani, ravel, rover, ruffle, sloven{ly), snaffle, snap, snip, snuff
v., to sniff, sprat, sutler, swabber, switch, toy, trick, uproar
waggon*, wainscot. Many of these terms are nautical,
such as deck, hoise, hold, hoy, hull, rover (sea-pirate), sprat,
twahber; others are just such words as might easily be
picked up by roving English volunteer soldiers, viz. boor,
hurgomasler, buskin, doit, fop, frolic, geek, gilder, heyday,
head, jerkin, leaguer, link, linstock, loHer, lop, manakin, t,
snaffle, sutler, switch, trick, uproar, ujoggon ; indeed, ii
case of some of these, as doil, gilder, jerkin, leaguer,
iiitslock, snaffle, sutler, trick, ■waggon, the connection with
military affairs is sufficiently obvious.
For other words of (presumably) Dutch origin, see the
list in my Elym. Diet., md ed. 1884, p. 750 ; or my Concise
Eiyro, Diet., p. 607,
§ 451. In the case of the majority of these words, the
certainty of their being borrowed from the Low Countries
jJb verified by their non-occurence in Middle English. They
' ' Een kantiekeH, A small Canne ; ' Hexham.
' From Du. tae/vii. lo barter, and M. Du. maet, a mate (Hexhamj.
But mate is alsu E., ihuBfrh hardly so in Lhi^ compound.
' This diificalt word has been at last expiaiaed by me, la (he Phil.
Soc. Trans. 1 8S6. ll b merely the Friesic (and Bremen) minit, varianl
of Dn. metueh, a man, or (when nenter] a wench.
' Waggvn WBi re-iiiIro<Iuce<l into England {lam abroad, long after the
A-5. witgH bad passed into E. twtiH.
486 THE DUTCH ELEMENT, [Chaf. XXIV.
nearly all belong to what I have called the modem 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 Uhe 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, hut
eyren in the Southern dialect; in fact, eiren occurs in tlie
Ancren Riwle, p. 66, and is formed by adding the Southern
-en to the form eyr-e^ resulting regularly from the A. S. pi.
irgru, 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,
but 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,
or Low German words at various periods? A convenient
period for consideration 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-
THE DUTCH ELEMENT. 487
aident 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 by way 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 aheady wel! supplied with
necessary words. Still, I think the word spool is a clear
i instance of a borrowed word. It occurs, spell spok, in the
Promptorium Par vulorum, about 1440, and in another Vocabu-
lary of the fifteenth century ; and answers to M.Du. j-^iorff, Du.
^otl; 'Lo'M G. spoil. The native E. word is «(■/ (A. S.^reo/).
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 :
— bolch, lo patch, bounce, iqy, brake (for flax), bulk (in the
obsolete sense of trunk of the body), cough, curl, duck, v.,
10 dive, fop, girl, groat, hawker, huckster, kails (a game),
UJbturr or knur, a knot in wood, wooden ball, lad, s. and v.,
ft/oj^, to bind together, loll, loon, luck, maser, mud, muddle,
ptag, a horse, nick, notch, arts, pamper, patch, plash, a pool,
'abdit (f), rabble, scoff, scold, shock, a pile of sheaves, shudder,
Wtkna, slabber, slender, slight, slot, a bolt, spool, sprout, tub.
All these words are, I believe, found in
; Middle English period, but not earlier; and in some
ses the fact of the borrowing is certain. Thus groat is
lOw G. grool, llie E. form being great', mazer is a bowl
ide of the spotted wood of the maple, the M. H. G. word
* spot ■ being m4se * ; tub. Low G. lul^, may have been
' The rety word staple U certninly Low Genosajriighllydisgniacd by
11 French spelling.
* It io»j be a Scand. word, from Icel. momrr; bul maiar is aUo
). H. Gennan, and maser a O. L. Gemuul.
488 THE DUTCH ELEMENT. [Chap. XXIV.
brought in by the brewing trade, together with vat (Du. vat)\
hawker and huhsier are certainly not native words ; kadt is
a Dutch game, from the Du. kegely 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 : — Bummsetty to bounce, from humms^
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 hwSsian); krul, a curl, kru/ien, to curl; duken, to
duck, bend down ; foppetiy to befool (the M. l^.foppe being
used to mean a foolish person, see my Supplement) ; groU,
grot, a groat ; hoker, a hawker ; kegel,^ a kail : knure^ a bump ;
lak, a defect ; lasken, to lash together ; Idm^ tired, slow, whence
M. E. Icfwmish^ slow, stupid, and E. loon or lown (for *lawm) ;
laky luck ; mudde, mud ; muddelen, to muddle ; art *, ort,
remnant; plasy plasse^ a plash, pool; rabbeln^ rappeln, to
chatter, rappalje^ a rabble ; schelden, to scold ; schtiddern, to
shudder ; slabbern, slubbern, to slabber or slubber ; sh'chi,
smooth, also slight ; slot, a lock ; spole, spSl, a spool ; spruU,
a sprout, bud, spruieriy to sprout ; iubbe^ a tub. The difficult
word touch-wood is easily explained when we find that the
M. E. form was tache^ tinder, or inflammable stufl", answering
to E. Friesic takke^ a twig, takje, a little twig.
Richlofen's O. Friesic Dictionary also gives some help;
we should especially notice the following : detztia, to thatch ;
froy glad (cf. 'E./ro-lic) ; grata ^ a groat ; /«^, luck ; minska,
a man, for menskay which is short for manniska (cf. E. minx) ;
pady a path (cf. Y., foot-pad) \ skelda, to scold; skof a scoff;
slot, a lock ; snavel^ mouth (cf. E. snaffle) ; spruta^ to sprout ;
ond-y und'y on-, a prefix, the same as E. un- into un-to.
^ Koolman ntterly misses the etymology; he seems to have trusted
to Jamieson's Dictionary for Elnglish, as he mentions no other authority.
I>J
THE DUTCH ELEMENT.
489
There is a giossary to Heyne's Kleinere almiederdeutsche
Denkm^ler, which gives several hinis; I note particularly
I'ords bf-scoffdn, lo scotf at ; si:ok, a shock of corn ; slot,
a lock; un/, unto. The Bremen Worterbuch also throws
much light upon Low German forms; for example, it gives
bunstn, 10 bounce, from the interj. bums, signifying the noise
of a fall, shewing thai the w in this word is due 10 putting n
for m before a following s.
A most useful Dictionary of Old Low German has lately
ippeared, by K. Schiller and A. LUbben, As a specimen of
the information to be derived from it, I quote the following :
Bosse, boize, boilte. Art grobes Schuhwerk ' ; which ex-
plains E. botch, to patch. The authors add the following
curious passage : ' NuUus altutarionim ponet soleas sub
calceis. quae boUe dicuniur.' Again, they remark [hat gdr,
ft girl (whence E. girl) is much used in dialectal speech,
though it seems scarce in books. 1 also find hoitn, to
hawk about, and hokeboken, to carry on the back, which
makes me think that my guess as to huckaback, viz. that
il originally meant 'pedlars' ware,' may be right. Other
useful entries are : knerreholt, thin oaken boards (evidently
'\rood with knurrs or knots in it) ; iucke, luck ; masele,
measles, spots ; maser, maple, • entn masiren kop,' a maple
cup, a mazer ; mudde, mud ; art, ort ; placke, a patch ;
ptasktn, 10 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-
CiaJly bits of clothing ; rabbal, a rabble, mob ; schock, a shock,
or heap of com, scAockcn, to put corn into shocks ; schuddtn,
to shake, shudder ; stampampm, to Lve daintily (cf. E. pam-
per); sprat, a spral, Ac. It is somewhat surprising to find
in ihjs work the phrase ut undi ut, which is precisely our out
and out. We want all the light that is obtainable to guide-
in this matter.
§ 4S2. After all, some of the above words may be found
I
I
490
THE DUTCH ELEMENT.
[Cbaf. XXIV.
in A. S. glosses, or may occur in unpublished texts. The
word dog seemed to me to be borrowed, the £. word being
hound \ in fact, we find Du. dogy 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 splii to be
Scandian ; but the occurrence in O. Friesic of the original
strong verb splU-a renders it probable that split may, after
all, be of A. S. or Mercian origin. The word mane is not in
the A. S. dictionaries, so that I believed it to be a borrowed
word from Scandinavian. But the publication (in 1885) of Mr.
Sweet's Oldest English Texts shews that the A. S. form was
manUy 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 ihe preceding pages,
about (be necessiiy of attending lo the length of English
vowei-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 Grani-
matik, i. 70, 71, 144, 152, 204, 205, 208-222, &c. An endea-
vour on iny pari to state these results succinctly was made in
ihe pages ofNoles and Queries, 7th Series, i. 363, 443, 482,
ii. 43 ; and was criticised by Dr. Chance in the same, ii. 90,
I now repeat some of these remarks, adopting at the
same time some of Dr. Chance's suggestions.
§ 464. Bule 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 lerminallon, or,
■what is perhaps more common, by the adjunction of a second
word (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 ra
' I copy the whole of this from a note by Dr. Chance, in N. and Q.
S. ii. 330 ; where he amends wtial I had said in the same, i. 36.;. It
limost enmi|;h to ny that, ' in words of angniented leagth, an ori^al
D£ vowel IB apt to be shortened bjr BCcenlaal slieas.' It follows ftom
that if a short vowel (at in A. S. /lara;. has been lengthened (ai in
Atfre), it lemaiDS short in (he aagmented form (as in karrUrj.
49^ EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chaf. XXV.
in heath is shortened in hecUher (though not in heaihen) ; and
the A. S. gdslingy 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 sufl5x. Heather is from heath.
Rummage^ for room-age^ is from room. In the word throaty
the vowel was originally short, A. S. Jfrote^ protu ; it remains
short in thrott-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 widi
gives wid-ih] droad gives bread-th (A.S. brdd-u, M. E. bred-e)',
blithe gives bliss (for *bliths, A. S. bliSs), Such vowel-short-
ening is especially noticeable in the past tenses of some weak
verbs ; thus lead (M. E. lid-en) made the M. E. pt. s. Hd-de,
owing to the doubling of the d] hence mod. E. led, Srm-
\2ix\y feed (M. 'E./ed-en) made the M. E. pt. s./ed-de, now/ed.
Read (M. E. red-en) made the M. E. pt. s. red-de, now read
(pron. as red). Hide (M. E. hld-en) made the M. E. pt s.
hid-de, now hid. Hear (M. E. her-en) made the M. E. pt s.
her-dcy now heard(^xoxi, as herd). It is not quite easy to saj
at what date such vowel-shortening commenced. The sh<Mi
vowels in the past participles led,/ed^ hid, &c., may be simi-
larly explained as occurring in contracted forms ; thus the pp.
of A. S./Zd-anj to feed, was originally yW-^^/, lateryW^, and
lastly /ed. Vowel-shortening has sometimes attacked even
the infinitive mood, as in the case of A. S. sHc-any 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 stukt^.
whence the infinitive suck was easily evolved. Such a shon-
* * I wonld say thon had'st suckt wisdome from thy teat ' ; Romeo
and Juliet, i. 3. 68 (ed. 1623).
I4S4-]
EFFECTS OF ACCENT.
493
ening was funher assisted by the contraction of M. E. toukcst
and soi^s to suck'sl and such.
(i) In compound words the effect is very marked ; in
many cases the shortening is caused by the occurrence of
two conionanis after the accented vowel, as in the case of
A. S. gSs-li>ig 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 ihe quotations in the New Eng, Dictionary. The e in
A. S. brecan, originally short, has become long in mod. E,
brtah, but it remains short in breakfast. Craneberry is now
cranberry (it need hardly be said that the e in crane is only
intended to indicate vowel-length, and is not sounded) '. Foot-
kooks has become /u/tocii. Goose-ting is represented by gos-
ling. Husband and hustings are both derivatives from house
(A. S, h^s, M. E, hous, riming with goose) '. Housewife was
shortened to hussif, and even to hussy. A. S. hidf-masse,
lit. ' loaf-mass,' became hlammaisse in the twelftli century, and
is new 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 mloa/ (M.'E.lo/,too/)'. Z^ma« is properly
lemman. M. E. lemman, lefman, leo/man, i. e. * lief man ' ;
where man is applicable to either sex. Mere-maid has given
us mermaid. Nose-thirl is now nostril, though here again
the A. S. 0 in nosu was originally short '. Skerijf represents
A. S. scir-rifa. later or variant form of scir-ge-rc/a, a shire-
reeve, so ihal the r was originally double.
* It may be said Ibat the vowel in erane was originally sliort, hut
the compooni] may have been forroed after it had becnme lung. The
example fairly illnaCrates the principle at work.
' In the M.E. husibende, sometimes written for hustioaje, the middle
r merely marks the length of the h, and wu not sounded. Hence the
consoDants ! and 6 were in nclnal conjunction.
' It will be long before the despiien of history cim be taogbl to
leave off deriving lammas from lamb.
* Marked long in my Dictionat; by mbtoke.
494 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chaf.XXV.
The A. S. sthr-hord became M. E. sterebord, later sierbord;
whence, with the usual change from er to ar, came the mod
£. starboard. It meant, origmally, the side of the ship on
which the man 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. w(nberigt
i. e. wine-berry, has given us the modem wimberry (for win-
berry). With such examples we may compare such names as
Essex, put for Est-sex^ where est is shortened from A.S.
/asty east ; Sussex, put for Suthsex, where suth is shortened
from A. S. sii3^, south ; Suffolk, put for Suth/olk, in the same
way.
(r) 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. cUsceote, with long «, is now cushat (where the sh
is a simple sound), but in provincial English it occurs as rwr-
shot (E. D. S. Glos. B. 1 5) *. 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. h^ah-fore, where hiah is E. high, and -fore is allied
to Gk. TTo'^tf. Knowledge is often pronounced so as to rime
with college. Neatherd is commonly called netiurd 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 stands for sty-ropt,
A. S. stig-rdp. Similarly two pence, three pence, five pence 2St
* My guess is, that the original sense was * coo-shooter ' ; where
shooter refers to swift flight. The A.S. schta occurs in tlie sense of
' a trout/ lit. ^ a shooter,' or darter, and is equally applicable to a bird.
The syllable cti may have been imitative, like the modem coo.
EFFECrS OF ACCENT.
495
miliarly called tuppence, threppenee or thrippence. fippence
"^romic Upms, thrtpms or Iknpms, fiptns). Trisyllabic words
of the same character are seen in holiday, which is a familiar
form of holy day ; in halibut or kolibul, lit. ' holy but ' ; and
in hollyhock, which stands for holy hock, i, e. ' holy mallow.'
For other examples of syncope see § 366, p. 389.
§ 466. Biile 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 D^nsldn, which has an original
blong a in the second syllable. Uic a was shortened, giving
t^mlan. Moreover, by Rule 1 above, the A was also
^Aortened. Hence the mad. E. Dunslan, as usually pro-
lounced. This name of Dunslan serves as a memorial
tlword for remembering both rules ; we have only to remember
^ that, in the A. S. form, bolh vowels were originally long.
Koch gives several cxamjiles, including words of Latin and
French origin, 1 here mention some such words, restricting
the examples to words of native origin.
In boat-swain, cock- swain, the long ai is not only shortened,
but absorbed, giving the familiar bos'n, cox'n. Brimstone,
Ttndslone are frequently reduced to brimUtm, grindstun, (or
rinstun). Fool-hooks has become /ullocks. Housewife has
icome hussif, and even hussy. NtigM-our is from A. S. «AA-
r or n/ah-gtbir, with long u. i'A^ri]^ represents shire-reeve ;
d stirrup stands for sly-rope. A, S. slig-rdp, a rope to mount
The A. S. h6s, M. E. hous, when shortened, properly gives
■ mod. E. hus, not house (cf. hus-band, lius-sy) ; this is wliy the
old word bake-house used to be pronounced extremely like the
name of the god Bacchus ; a pronunciation which may slill
be heard. So also the vulgar pronunciation of wash-house is
ash-'us; oi brnv-house, brew-'us ; of mall-houst, mall- us;
d of work-house, work-'us. The latter is familiar to readers
] Oliver Twist. Waist-coat, by the shortening of bolh
496 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chap. XXV.
vowels, has become the familiar weskut, * Dash my veskif,
says my father, I never thought of that ' — is an utterance of
Sam Weller; Pickwick, ch. x.
Similarly, the A. S. suffixes -ddm, -Idc, -rdden have all
suffered vowel-shortening. Hence the mod. E. king-dom,
beadU'dom, &c. The suffix -Idc should have given a mod. £.
'loke, but appears with a short o in wed-lock. The suffix
-rdden is reduced to -red in hat-red^ kin-d-red (for kin-red).
The e in the suffix know-ledge is now short; but the Icel.
suffix is 'leikt. In Monday ^ Tuesday, &c,, the -day is reduced
to -^ or -di in familiar speech.
In like manner, short vowels in the second part of a com-
poimd are still further reduced; forehead is often called
forrid^ and the -fore in A. S. hiahfore is now the -fer in
het'/er.
Perhaps the most striking examples are seen in place-
names, especially in words compounded with hdmy i. e. home ;
dUn, i. e. down ; and tiin, i. e. town, K ham occurs in the
former half of a name, it commonly becomes ham by Rule i ;
and if in the latter half, it commonly also becomes ham by
Rule 2 ; and the same remarks apply to diin and iHn, Hence
we have Ham-ion or Hampton (with excrescent p after m) for
A. S. Hdm-iHn ; Hampsiead for A. S. Hdm-siede ; and the
familiar final -ham in Bucking-ham, Toiien-ham, &c. So also
the A. S. iHn has become tun in Tun-bridge, Tun-stall, Tun-
worth ; and has given us the final -ton in Taun-ton, Nor-ton
(i. e. North-town), Sut-ton (i. e. South-town), Es-ton as well
as Eas-ion (i. e. East-town), Wes-ton (i. e. West-town). The
A. S. dUn appears as down in Down-ham, Down-ion ; but
more frequently as dun, viz. in Dun-bar, Dun-ham, Dun-
mow, Dun-ton, Dun-wich ; and has given us the final -don in
Chal-don (Surrey), A. S. Cealf-dUn, lit. calf-down ; Elm-don
(Essex) ; Farn-don, i. e. fern-down (Cheshire) ; Hcy-don
(Essex), probably * high down.' An excellent example of
both rules is seen in Stanton, for A. S. Stdn-tUn, i. e. stone
EFFECTS OF ACCENT.
497
. In the same way the old compound ■wUd-dcir-ness
T wildtmess.
§ 456. Two simple extensions of the principle seen in
ifeese Rules are worth a brief notice, I shall call ihem Rules
3 and 4 for the sake of clearness.
BuIb 9. In dissyllabic words, the vowel of [he unac-
»nted syllable, if short, may disappear. A good example
B seen in hrrn, the shortened form of heron. Such examples
f what may be called "crushed forms' chiefly occur in
rords of French origin, the word heron being one of ihem.
n words of native origin, we may particularly notice the past
' participles in -ed, such as lov-ed, looi-ed, &c.; these were for-
merly dissyllabic, but are now reduced to /ov'd, lool^l, &c, :
and, of course, the same principle applies to words of a
m greater number of syllables, such as bdiev'd. Hence we ob-
■tain the el}-mologies of the words fon-d, lew-d, shrew-d.
B^fl«-(/is for ^A.V- fimn-td, made like ^ fanne or fool, and is
Btrf Scand. origin ; cf. O. Swed. f&ne, a fool, /an-ig, foolish.
KZfitMf is for M, E. lew-ed, A. S. liiw-ed, unlearned, belon^ng
■•to the laity. Skrew-d is for M. E. schrew-ti, wicked, originally
■■accursed, pp. of shrav-m, to curse, from the M. E. adj.
ackrave, malicious (whence E. shrew). Similarly the word
Jeld, as occurring in sheep-fold, is really a contracted form, and
has nothing to do with folding • the A. S. form is fald, short-
ened from an earlier falod, also spelt falud and falaed;
Bee Sweet's Oldest Eng. Texts, and the Supplement to my
IMctionafy. Holm-oak is contracted from hclin-oak, where
holm is the M. E. form of holly, from A. S, hol^n ; our
holly has resulted from the same M. £. holin by losa of the
final n.
In extreme cases, the whole of the unaccented syllable
disappears, as in the M.E. mold-warp, now shortened to
mole. It is also variously obscured or disguised, as in stal-
wart for slatworlh, wam'on for wam'and, wanion for waalowen.
Other examples of ' crushed forms ' are seen in lark for
Kk
498
EFFECTS OF ACCENT.
[cuti.xxr.
M. E. laveri, si'tct for iilhcnee, nor for M. E. nother, and or for
M.E. othtr. See 5 366.
ir, on the olher hand, the dissyliabic word be accented on
the laller syllable, then the fonner syllable (or a part of il)
may disappear. Hence the remarkable forms htu for alom,
and drake for end-rake or and-mie; cf, the O. Swed. fonn
anddrake, a drake, given by Ihre ; see p. 373.
Even in A. S. we tind such a form as spend-att, to spend, ob-
tained from the Low Lat, disprnderc (not, as often said, from
Lat. expendtre) by the loss of the two first letteiB. Other
examples occur in words of Romance origin, such as tpori
for disport, splay for display, /end for defend, &c.
§ 467. Bule 4. In trisyllabic words accented on the Gist
syllable ihe effect of (he accent is, in many cases, thai the middk
vowel, or even the middle syllable, disappears. The simplest
example is fortnight, shoriened from fourtetn-nigkl, wilh
which compare sennight for se^en-night. So ^■ix> forttas^
has become yoV'j/i;. Most of the days of the week exbibii
' crushed forms ' ; thus Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, H'ednetday,
Thursday, and Friday are all irisyllabic in A. S., being spelt,
respectively, Sunnan-dieg, MSnan-da-g, Tiwes-diEg, Widntt-
dag, Punres-diFg, Frtge-dag. But ihe chief examples occur
in words of French origin, such as butler for M. E. lofibr,
i. e. battler, and the like. Sutler is of Dutch origin, from the
Du, soet-el-aar, derived from the verb zoeUten, esplaiotd
by Hexham as meaning ' to suUie, lo sullle, or to victuall.'
The same principle is at work in place-names, which
liirnish very familiar examples. I may instance Gle'tUr
for Ghu-cfs-ter, Let'ster for Lei-ces-ler, Lem'sirr for Lt»-
miii-sler, Daintry for Davenlry. The reader will readily
think of others of the same kind.
S 468. EmphosiB. The effect of emphasis upon mono-
Byllabic words is also well worthy of remark, as pointed out
I by Mr. Sweet. Thus to and too, of^xiA off, are disliaguished
mpLasis, the former being die unempliatic, the la
EFFECTS OF SYLLABIC DIVISION.
499
r
I
I
iphatic forms. We can say ' I go /o London too' or ' I saw
him off, and saw the last of him/ The word him, if em-
phatic, keeps the h, as in '1 did not see her, but I saw him ' ;
but if we say ' I saw him yesterday,' the h is weak, and is by
many speakers entirely dropped. Hence we can explain the
of h in the unemphatic it (A, S. hit), so common in the
phrases ' it rains ' or ^ i/ snows.' In such common words as
with, thou, the, they. Sec, the ih was originally voiceless (p. 105,
'note 4), but is now voiced owing to lack of emphasis (p. 107)-
In a sb. like goose, the s is kepi voiceless by emphasis ; but
in the common words is and was the s has become voiced,
sounded like s, a change which probably look place
at an early period. In the M. E. dissyllabic word day-es, the
the latter syllable, being entirely unaccented, soon passed
into a ; hence the mod. E. plural of day is really dayz. So also
ous other cases, such as bus, boivs, huts, where the .t
is unaffected by a preceding consonant. The same reasoninf,'
Upplies to verbs ; as in mod, E. runs from M. E. runn-cs.
The foregoing considerations may suffice to impress upon
ihe reader the great part played by accent and emphasis
in altering the forms of words from time to lime. They fre-
quendy cause phonetic changes, of which our conservative
spelling takes no notice.
§ 459. Efi^ots of eyllabia division. Closely allied to
the question of accent is the consideration of the effect pro-
duced upon the pronunciation of a vowel by the mode in
which a word is practically divided into syllables.
At p. 71,1 have given a brief note on short vowels. Very
Tittle alteration has taken place in the sound of such vowels.
wherever they still remain short in modem English, But
there arc cases in which they have been lengthened, at ihe
same time suffering considerable change. The present is a
convenient opportunity for explaining this mailer, so as to
render (he history of the short vowels somewhat more
ipleie.
500
EFFECTS OF ACCENT.
Vowel-lengthening is frequently due lo the mai
which wordii are practically divided into syllables in [
nouncing them. A syllable can be either open or eiouJ, and
the vowel in that syllable is said, accordingly, to be eillier
/ree or enclosed. Thus, in the words ia-ktr, ta-kru, to-kai.
which are practically divided as marked by the hyphen, the
syllables ba-, fa-, lo-, are open ; and the vowels with which
they terminate are /ree. In the words ean-dle, hem-lock^
syllables can-, hem- are dosed, i. e. they do not tcrnunalj
a vowel; and the vowels a, e, in these words are t
being followed, or shut in, by the consonants « or «
The usual rule in modern English (as in other lanj
is that a syllable is open when its vowel is followed \
single consonant ; but closed when followed by two c
consonants, or by a consonant such as x, that is equivalent
to two consonants, or by a consonant at the end of a word.
Hence the iirst syllable is open in ba-ker, cree-per, chi-na,
elo-ver, eu-hic ; also in eli-enl, pli-ani, where the vowel of the
former syllable is followed by another vowel. But the fiw
syllable is closed in car-ttr, /el-lock, cin-der, so,
bax-er. Such syllables as man, den, sin, no/, hui, \
closed; so also are the final syllables in tthken, i
pUn-li-ful.
% 460. As regards that part of our language which it of'
native origin, we should expect to find that free vowels are
long, and enclosed vowels are shorl. Such is the case, for
example, with ba-ker, cree-per, clo-ver, /el-lock, cin-der, man.
den, sin, not, hut, already cited. Exceptions should be in-
vestigated, and admit of various inte^retaiions.
Examples. In fa-lhtr, the Ih is not really a double j|
sonant, but a symbol for a single simple sound.
In comparing bank ttith fasl. we observe that the I
n st has not the same effect in shortening a ^■owcI thai**
In comparing old with cod, we obsetvo a siniltr
■iween the effects of td and d; the vocalic n
with which
rminal^^H
equivalent
of a word,
KT, chi-na,
3we! of the
Jt the fiw
ek are
.se, for
r. man,
be in-
I
I
I
EFFECTS OF SYLLABIC DIVISION.
oi ihe i reinforces the vowel rather than the consonant,
reason, the vowel in ari is longer than that in
(■«/; and the vowel in cooi (A. S. en/) is longer than that in
eooi (A, S. coc). Different consonants produce different
effects.
In the words cow, tiey, the w and ji are vocalic.
§ 481. We must also pay great attention, in every c
the original form of the word. We find, in A. S., a large
number of words, having a sfiorl accented vowel, in which
the vowel was followed by a sii^le consonant only. Examples
I, pp., bitten ; bii-er, adj., bitter ; gid-ig, giddy ;
tal-u, callow ; ptn-ing, penny ; Irod-m, trodden ; pop-ig, poppy ;
summer. Modem English spelling surmounts this
difficulty by doubling the consonant in writing, though the
alteration in the vowel-sound is very slight, the shortness oF
the vowel having been preserved. As we are never allowed
to write a double v (see p. 317, note 1), we
from A. S. U/-r, and driven, from A. S. drif-en, though
livver and driwen would be more phonetic, in order to
separate the vowel in these words from that in divir and
driver. On the other hand, as we are never allowed to
write a final v, we write sitvt for siv (A, S. sif-e), and give
fiw giv (A. S. gif-an). As to this doubling of consonants,
•ee above; § 374, p. 399.
§ 46a. Vowel-leagthening. But the most important
fact about originally short vowels is the frequency nith which
they have been lengthened in modern English. Typical
examples are seen in bake, break, broke, from A.S. bacan,
breean, brocen, all with short vowels. This is really an effect
of syllabic division. The words were divided, in M. E., as
ha-ken, bre-ken, bro-ken, the vowels being thus left free. The
result of a strong accent upon the free vowels was to lengthen
them; and this vowel-length remained after the words be-
came monosyllabic. We also use the longer form broken for
the pp., whilst the clipped form broke of the same word has
502 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chap. XXV.
almost entirely supplanted brake, as a form of the past tense.
Even in brake (A. S. brcec), the vowel was lengthened, by
constant association with the forms break and broke,
§ 468. The words break and broke are worthy of close
attention, for a special reason. In the A. S. brecan, the e^
being short, was an open e, like the e in bed. When lengthened
it became, as a matter of course, a long open e, like the ^ in
there) and this open e was denoted, in Tudor English, by
the use of the symbol ea. Hence it was written breaks not
breek; and that is the reason why it is spelt break to this
day. Similarly, the A. S. sprecan, M. E. speken, became
speak (with open e) in Tudor English. It has since been
changed to (spiik), riming with leek, in modern English ; so
that we have now nothing but the spelling to point back
to the original short e. Of course we may some day come
to say (briik), to be consistent ; and it is doubtless well
known that the sound (briik) may be heard occasionally.
Similarly, the A. S. o in brocen, being short, was open.
When lengthened, it remained open, like the o in glory or
the drawled vowel in dawg for dog. Consequently, it has
become a long close and impure o in modern English ; quite
distinct from the mod. E. oo in cool, from the A. S. long
close 0 in coL The modern English still sharply distinguishes
tlie 0 in broken (due to the lengthening and closing of an
A. S. short open o) from the oo in cool (due to a shifting from
the A. S. long close o to the sound of long u). Hence we
can at once perceive that the A. S. o in brocen must have
been open, and must therefore have also been short,
§ 464. Vowel-lengthening also occurs in the case of
syllables that are closed by such combinations as Id, It, nd\
as in A. S. cild, child, Mercian aid, later did, old, A. S. bind-
an, to bind, A. S. bunden, bound ; see § 378, p. 402, § 382,
p. 407. For the effect of r upon a preceding vowel, see
§ 381, p. 405.
§ 466. I subjoin a list of some examples in which vowel-
i<<is.l
EFFECTS OF SYLLABIC DIVTSIO^.
,!°3
I
lengthening has taken place in native £. words owing to the
effect of syllabic division.
(i) A. S. short a (<c) : — cradol, cradle; hladan, to tade ;
hUedel, ladle : icadu, shade ; spadu, spade ; umdatt, to wade ;
ctaftr, cock-chafer ; — aean, to ache ; acer, acre; accm, acorn;
bacan, to bake ; rnaci'ati, to make ; rtacod, naked ; cwaa'an, to
quake ; raca, a rake ; sacu, sake ; scacian, lo shake ; sladan,
to slake ; snaca, snake ; alaca, stake ; Icel. laka, lo take ;
A. S. wacan, to wake ; — Mercian a/tt(A. S. ru/u), ale; Icel.
sala. sale ; A. S. /alu, tale \—gamen, game ; lama, lame ; nama,
name; Kamw, shame ;^iana, bane ; /a«, lane ; mana.mane;
tfana, vane ; wanian, to wane ;—apa, ape ; Icel. ^a^, to
gape ; mapuldor, maple-tree ; sctapen, pp., shapen, shaped ;
ffra/((M, to scrape: J/a^o/, staple ; /a/or, taper;— raru, care ;
cearig, chary ; faran, to fare ; ^ira, hare ; mara, a (night)-
roare ; j«or«, a share ; j/ar/an, lo spare ; j/ar/on, lo stare ; —
latt, adv., late; hatian, to hale; — baSian. to bathe; — crafian,
to crave; grafan, to grave; enafa, knave; na/u, nave (of a
wheel) ; hra/en, raven ; sta/as, pi., staves ; ivafian, to wave ;
■i/ff«, blaze ; brastn, brazen ; grasian, lo graze ; A(Ej«/.
faazel.
Compare also A. S. hratSor, fader, with E. rather, father.
'In A. S. water, M. E. KJa/cr, the w turned the a into short
["hich is now lengthened.
(2) A, S, short e ((o) ; mod. E. ea, pronounced as in
Bear : — A. S. bera, a bear ; ber-an, to bear ; prre, peru, a pear ;
swerian, lo swear ; leran, to tear ; wert'aa, lo wear. In one
case, a different spelling is now used, viz. in mere, a mare ;
a belter spelling would, clearly, be mrar, but it has been con-
&sed wilh nighl-mare, from A. S. mara. With these words
we may connect A. S. brecan, lo break, with ea as in great.
In some words, the mod. E. ea is pronounced as ee in
meet, or ea in meal -.—irnedan, to knead: w^rfu, mead (sweet
drink); — sfrecan, lo speak; wrecan, lo wreak; — wiW«, meal;
I steal ; Wfla, weal ; — hleonian, to lean ; cwent, a
504 EFFECTS OF ACCENT. [Chap. XXV.
quean ; wenian, to wean ; — reopan ^ to reap ; — sceran, to
shear; smeru, smeoru^ butter, hence, a smear; spere^ a spear;
— wesuk, a weasel ;— ^/a/i, to eat; meie^ meat; — becweSan^
to bequeath; heneoSan^ beneath; — cleofian, to cleave (stick
to) ; e/es, eaves ; hebbatiy whence imp. s. kefe and pr. s. indie.
hefed, giving E. heave ; wefan^ to weave.
In a few words, the spelling with e has been kept, instead
of being altered to ea. Examples are : — nure^ a mere ; nutan^
to mete ; fefer^ fever ; efen^ even. For fever ^ Minsheu's
Diet. (1627) has the spellingy^^tt^r.
(3) A. S. I*. The A. S. short i is very rarely lengthened in
the manner here indicated. The only clear examples are
seen in A. S. glida^ a glede (kite) ; wicUy wice, a week ; wi/el,
a weevil ; Icel. hikarr^ a beaker (cup). In the case of stigUy
a sty, the mod. Y.,y results from the short vowel i and the
vocalised^ (for g\ We may here notice E. evil, from A. S.
yfely with shorty.
(4) A. S. o\ mod. E. oa. The examples with the spelling
oa are scarce. The chief are : — soctan, to soak * \—/ola, a
foal ; scoluy a shoal ; flotiatiy to float ; proU^ throat.
But many examples occur of E. (?, followed (after a con-
sonant) by e. Such are : — bodi'an, to bode ; — brocen, broken ;
ceoctan, to choke ; smocian, to smoke ; — stoleriy stolen ; — openy
open ; — beforatiy before ; bor tarty to bore ; scaruy a score
(mark) ; — hosCy hose ; nosuy nose ; ros€y rose ; — cloferty cloven ;
cofay cove ; ofeTy over. Spokeriy woveny are formed by as-
sociation with brokeUy cloven ; the A. S. forms are spreceny pp.,
we/erty pp. Observe that, in beforcy scorcy borey the 0 still
remains open before r.
(5) The A. S. u usually remains short, as in buterey butter.
^ This remarkable form occnrs in the Vespasian Psalter, Ps. 125. 5,
in the Mercian dialect. It explains the mod. £. rcapy which is quite
distinct from A. S. ripan.
* Very rare; it occurs in Cockayne's LuchdoniSy ii. 240, 25a;
iii. 14.
{ 4660 EFFECTS OF SYLLABIC DIVISION.
505
The A. S. duru became M. E. dort, with short o ; hence E.
door rimes with be/ore, from M. E. be/ore.
§ 488. Besides the above instances, there are many more
in which the A. S. nom. sin^. was monosyllabic, the mod. E.
sb. being formed frora other cases. The standard case, as
regards form, is the dative; see pp. 309, 3J0. Thus the
mod. E. coal may be compared with tol-e, dat. of A. S. col,
coal ; though, doubtless, the pi. forms coia, colu, assisted the
change. I subjoin examples.
(i) A. S. a {tr). A. S. Mad, dat. bladt, pi. blado, blade ;—
A. S, diel, dat. dtele, pi. dalu (cf, Icel. dalr, old dat. dali, old
pi. dalar), dale ; A. S. kwal, dat. hwale^ pi. kwalas, whale ; —
scear, dat. sccare, a plo ugh -share ; — A, S. gcet, dat, gult',
gate. We also find vowel- lengthening in mod. E. aware,
M. E. y-war, pi. y-war-t, from A. S. gi-war \ in the adj.
bare, A. S. bar, def form bar-a ; and even in the pt. t. bare
from A. S. bar, and in dare, answering to A. S. dearr. In
these words, the vowel has been affected by the following r.
(a) A, S. e. A. S. bed, a prayer, dat. bcde. pi. bedu, is ihe
mod. E. bead, with a curious change in the sense ; beads
were used for couniing prayers. (Both A. S. bed and gelied
are wrongly marked with long e in Bosworth's Dictionary.)
The adj. hlec, full of cracks, is Ihe origin of leaky; we find
'on \w. hiece scip,' i.e. into the leaky ship; Gregory's
Pastoral Care, tr. by King .Alfred, ed. Sweet, p. 437. The
adj. ge-mel, def. form ge-mela, answers to E. meet, i.e. fit.
(3) A. S. o. A. S. geoc, dat. geoce, a yoke; — hoi, dat. hole,
a hole; pel, dat, pole, a thole; gor, dat. gore, gore; mol.
dat. ote>le, a mole, atom.
I may observe, further, that a syllable closed by si often
has a long vowel in mod. E. Thus beast, feast, are des-
' Very r«re; the form gxle occurs in jtlfred's translntjon of Bcda,
ed. Smith, bk. iii. c. tl ; uul g<rt occani Id the O. Nottbnmb. version of
Matt. vii. :3. The usu&l fonn wss gtat, mod. prov. E. yat ot yti. li
It probably cocFosed with led. gala, a road.
5o6 EFFECTS OF ACCENT,
cendants of the Anglo-French hesky /esie, with short open e,
and are therefore spelt with ea, as explained above. We
have one similar case in a word of native origin, viz. in the
^ord yeasf, M. 'E.yees/, from A. S. gts/.
In conclusion, I give useful general formulae for dis-
tinguishing between the open and close e, and between the
open and close 3, in Middle-English.
(A). Open long e, in M. E., usually arises from A. S. a, «r,
or lengthening of short e ; it was pronounced as romic (ae),
or like e in fAere, Cf. p. 336.
ExAHPLES : A. S. wdron, M. E. weren^ were^ E. were,
A. S. eacy M. E. eek (aek), E. eke. A. S. hrecan^ M. E. breken
(braekdn), E. break. Such words, in mod. E., are frequently
spelt with ea ; as in sea^ A. S. sd ; dream^ A. S. dream ; speak^
A. S. sprecan.
Close long e, in M. E., usually arises from A. S. / or eo,
and takes the spelling ee in later English; as in A. S. grene^
M. E. grene (greena), E. green (griin) ; A. S. deop^ M. E. deep
(deep), E. deep (diip). Cf. p. 340.
(B). Open long (?, in M. E., usually arises from A. S. a, or
from lengthening of 0 ; the mod. E. sound is that oK 0 \ii no
(nou).
Examples : A. S.yS, M. E.y^ (fao), Y.,foe (fou). A. S. open,
M. E. open (aopsn), E. open (oupn).
Close long <?, in M.E., usually arises from A. S. b\ the
mod. E. sound is that of 00 in cool\ as in A. S. cbly M.K
cool (kool), E. cool (kuul); A. S. /J, M. E. to (too), E. too
(tuu).
NOTES
Noti to page 14, last line. * It was directed by Act of Parliament
that all pleadings in the law-courts should henceforth be conducted in
English, because, as is stated in the preamble to the Act, French was
become much unknown in the realm ; ' Morris, Hist. Outlines of £ng.
Accidence, $ 35, p. 31. The Act is that of 36 £dw. III. c. 15.
Aote to /. 39. Compare the following passage. *Our maker
therfore at these dajes shall not follow Piers plowman nor Gower nor
Lydgate nor yet Chaucer^ for their language is now out of vse with vs :
neither shall he take the termes of Northem-men, such as they vse in
dayly talke, whether they be noble men or gentlemen, or of their best
clarkes, all is a matter : nor in effect any speach vsed beyond the riuer
of Trent, though no man can deny but that theirs is the purer English
Saxon at this day, yet it is not so Courtly nor so currant as our
Southeme English is, no more is the far Westeme mans speach: ye
shall therefore take the vsuall speach of the Court, and that of London
and the shires lying about London within Iz. myles, and not much
aboue. I say not this but that in euery shyre of England there be
gentlemen and others that speake, but specially write, as good
Southeme as we of Middlesex or Surrey do, but not the common
people of euery shire, to whom the gentlemen, and also their learned
Clarices do for the most part condescend, but herein we are already
ruled by th* English Dictionaries and other bookes written by learned
men, and therefore it needeth none other direction in that behalfe.* —
1589, G. PuTTENHAM, The Arte of English Poesie; lib. iiL c 4
(ed. Arber, p. 157).
Not€ to p. 73, 1. 20. The notion that English is 'derived from
Gemum' is so strange, that I may be accused of caricature in asserting
5o8
NOTES.
its existence. But see p. 78, note 2; and compare the following
statement made at a meeting of the College of Precepton.
'Without pretending to be a German scholar myself, I ▼entore to
say that of all modem languages the most useful to English people is
the German, partly because it is a grand original language, with no
foreign admixture, and because it is the true parent of our own mother
tongue ;' Educational Times, March i, 1887, p. 118, col. a.
Note top. 379, % 363. The woid grapsen, to grasp, actually occun
in the Bremen Worterbuch, and even in modem High German. But it
is still more important to record its M.E. use. It is employed by
Hocdere, De Regimine Principum, ed. T. Wright, p. 8 : —
* That grapsest here and there as doth the blynde.'
APPENDIX A.
FtJRTHER iLLU
J 60-65 (pp. 81-83).
4 60, Teatonic d becomee German t. (Cf. § 119, p- 136I.
(a, initially): daughter, Tochter; deaf, iaub; death. Tad;
deep, lief; dike, Tcick ; dough, Teig ; doughty, tiichtig ; dove,
Taube; &!&■«, iragrn; dream, Trautn; Ar^Tirf, traurig; drink,
erinien; linve, /reiien ; drop, Tropfen\ dull, /o//; (also) dale,
Thai'*; de»r, ikeuer; deed, Thai; deer, Thier; dew, Thau;
do, /A«« ; dole, rA«V ; -dom (suffix), -Ihum ; door, r^KV,
{b, medially) ; adder (fonnerly nadder). Natter ; fodder,
Futier; idle, eittl; ladder, Ltiter; middle, milUl ; saddle.
Battel; shoulder, Schulter; ndder, Euter; widow, WilKvc.
{c, finally) : beard, Bart; bed, Bett; blade, Blatt; blood, £■/«/ ;
bid (iQ oRer), bitten \ bid (to pray), bitten ; bride, Braut ;
broad, breit; \iiaoA, Brut ; -fold (suffix), -fait; gird, ^r/-c« ;
good, gut; hard, A<ir/j head (A.S. hdafod), Haupf; heed,
v., hUlen; hide. Haul; hood, //»/; lead, s., Loth; lead, v.,
ieit-tH; mead (strong drinkj, A/i'/A ; mead (meadow), Matt-e;
meed, Mietk-e; mood, Muth% need, Noth; reed, Rieth; red,
w/A; ride, reit-en ; rood, rod, Rath-e; seed, 5aa/; shide (a
thin slice o( wood), Scheit; shred, Schrot; spade, Spal-fti;
sward (rind of bacon), Sehmarl-e ; sword, Schwert ; third,
dritt-e; thread, Draht; tide, Zeit ; tread, tret-en; wad (wad-
ding), Wait-e; wade, wdZ-^w ; word. Wort; world. Welt*.
But Id, nd remain unchanged ; as in mild, G. mild ; end, G.
I But /i
^H> The
The ipelling with th makes do real difference ; the G. th is pro-
nced precisely as /, and many good Gennui icholoiB now drop
''die h, snd write Tat, leuir, To/. Tier, Tau, luii, Teil.
' A eupbonii: form foe ihc uaproaoimceable Haubt,
* The C. Bred, bread, It prODOiuiced Brot, and shoald be so spell.
Wilt U for in older Werll.
5IO APPENDIX A.
§ 61. Teutonio t beoomee German b (initially); or n
(medially) ; or a, ta, bs, or 8 (finally). (Cf. § 117, p. 134.)
tale (number)y Zakl ; tame, sakm ; tap, Zapfen ; tear, &,
Zdhre ; tear, v., zehren ; teat, Zitse ; tell, scM-en ; ten, zehn ;
tilt (of a cart), Zelt ; tide, Z^V ; timber, Zimtner (a room) ; tin,
Zinn\ tinder, Zunder\ to, 2u\ toe, Z^-A^ ; token, Zeichen ; toll,
Z^//; tongs, Zange ; tongue, Zunge ; tooth, ZoA/i ; tough, zake \
town, Zaf//f (hedge); twenty, zwanzig\ twig, Zweig \ twitter,
zwitschen ; two, -srw^'. But observe that, in the combination /r,
the r preserves the / from change, as in : tread, treten ; true,
treu ; trough, Trog^. Medial : better, besser ; fetter, Fessil\
gate (in the sense ^street), Gasse ; nettle, Nessd ; rattle, rasseln ;
settle, s., Sessel; water, lVasser\ Final (i.e, ending the E.
word) : bolt, Bolz^en \ heart, Herz ; milt, 3///ar ; salt, SaU ;
smart, s., Schmerz ; snout, Schnauz-e ; start, s. (a tall), ^y/ri ;
swart, schwarz ; wart, Warz ; wort, JfT/rsr :— net, Netz ; sit,
sitz-en ; set, setz-en ; smut, Schmutz ; whet, wetz-en : — bite,
beiss-en\ eat, ess-en; foot, Fuss; goat, Geiss; greaLt, gross;
greet, griiss-en ; hate, //iwj ; hot, ^^/w ; let, lass-en ; nit,
iVm ; nut, iVwjj ; shoot, schiess-en ; smite, schmeiss-en ; sweat,
Schweiss ; sweet, jirjj ; vat, /^aJJ ; white, «/«.rj ; wit, v., wissen ;
write, reissen (to tear, to design) : — lot, /^^j ; that, doss, das ;
what, was. But observe that the final / is preserved from
change when preceded by ch, /, or j, as in : fight, fecht-en ;
flight, Flucht; fright, Furcht; sight, 5/VA/; wight, ^f^iVvfc/;
oft, oft; soft, sanft; brist-le, Borst-e; burst, berst-en; fist,
Faust; frost. Frost; guest, (7^w/; hurst (wood), Horst; rust,
§ 62. Teutonio th beoomes German d. (Cf. % 118, p. 135.)
thank, danken ; that, doss ; thatch, Dach ; then, dann ; thence,
dannen; thick, dick; thief, Dieb; thin, diinn; thing. Ding;
think, denken ; third, ^/rrV/tf ; thirl, thrill, drillen ; thirst. Durst ;
this, dieser; thistle, Distel; thorn, Dom; through, durck\
thorp, Dorf; thou, ^« ; though, dock ; thresh, drescJun ; thread,
Draht; three, ^r«; throng, Z>ra«^ ; throstle, Drossel; thumb,
' And generally, observe that combinations of letters, such as sp^ si,
f^i i^t &c., do not shift at all.
'' £. butter and G. Butter coincide only because they are both foreign
words, being of Greek origin.
APPENDIX A.
^B D«um-iH\ thunder, Donner; thy, deiH^. Also: bath, Bad;
^r both, beid-e; broth-er, Brud-er; cloth, Kleid; death, Tnd\
itaXh-tT, Fid-er ; foih-er {9.ca.n-\rM.A),Fud-er; inn\i-e.r,/urd-er\
heath, lieid-t; heathen, ffeid-en; leather, Led-er\ mouth.
MuHd; north, Nord; oath, Eid\ other, and<r; path, PJad;
seethe, sied-cn ; sheath, Scheid-e ; smith, Schmied ; withe (withy,
willow), Weid-c.
% 63, The TeutoDio b, when Initial, reoiEdnB as nioh in
modem Oerman, though the O.E.O. often haa p. There
are a &w exeeptions, in which p appears. (Cf. ^ I3Z, p.
140.)
Examples are very numerous ; it must suffice to quote the
following :
bath, Bad; bean, Bohne; beard, Bart; bed, Belt; bee,
Bietie; heer. Brer; bench. Bank; bent (grass), Binse; berry,
Beire ; besom, Besen ; better, besier, &c.
Exceptions are :
babble, papptln ; blare |t<» roar, blubber), pldrren ; bolster,
Pohler; \ixa.-«\ prahlm (?).
But the medial and final b, preserved in Qothio and
Qerman, is f { = (, v) in Anglo-Bason, and f (ff) or v (vo) in
English. (Cf. p. 141)'.
(<j) calf, Kalb: deaf, taub; (be)lief, (GVaube' ; half, kalb;
leaf, taub ; lief (dear), Ueb ; of, off, ab ; self, Jf/*-^ ; staff, Slab ;
thief, Dieb.
(b) carve, terben; cleave (A. S. cltof-an), kleben; dove,
Taube ; drive, treibm ; even, <*«j ; give, ^^icw ; grave. Grab \
have, A«^« ; heave, heben ; knave, Knabe ; live, /rfi^w ; liver,
Leber; love, Heben; (be)lieve, (g)lauben; over, ii^r; reave
(rob), rawicw ; seven, sieben; shave, schaben; shove, sckieben ;
shive (a slice), Sckeibe ; sieve, Sieb ; silver, Silber ; nave. Nabe ;
navel, Nabel ; weave, weben.
The T«ut<mic p, when initial, ia uaoally pf in Oerman,
I
' E. Iheasand answers to O. H. G. (Old High Gennan) ddiuni, after-
w»ids altered to liisunt, G. laustnd.
* Note ihat this is the only cue io which the Anglo-Saxon faiU lu
keep the original Teutonic consonant.
• The initial G; for Gt-, U a mere piefii, like the be- in bi-lic/.
APPEXDIX A.
It tfaB niv^H
and sometimeH appears aa pf finsIlT; but 1
Oerman equivalent of Teutonic final p is f,
{a) path./yiirf; ^\fa,v.,pfdfcn\ plight, v., allied xa PfiiM.
id) carp (fish), Karpfen ; crop fof a bird), Kropf; damp, s-
Damp/; drop. Tropfen ; hop, fiiipfm ; stamp, itamp/en ; Slep^
stapfen ; swamp, Sumpf; top, Zopf.
(c) deep, tie/; drip, triefen; gripe, grei/en; harp, ffar^l
heap. Hait/e : help, hel/ett ; hip. //«/-/?, O. H. C. ^st/; leap,
laufm (to run) ; nip, kn^tfen • pipe, ;y&i/V» ; ripe, rti/% sap,
J(i/-/. O. H. G. S,if\ sharp, jtAni/; sheep, Schaf; -ship
(suflix), -schaf-f, sleep, schlafin\ slip, schlei/m; soap, JWyt;
step-mother, Stief - mutter \ thorp, Dorf; up, aw/'; warp,
(rf) ape, 4^' : clap- i/a^'^ (tr> bark, ydp) ; gape, gaffat j
hope, hoffen; rap (to seiie hastily), nySw ; shape, fchttffni',
ship, Schiff; weapons, Waffen.
In the word lip. G. Uppe, the / is preserved, because it iras
originally double, as in A.S. lipp". lippe.
% 64. The Teutonic Initial f commonly ramninB aa f in
Oerman ; but some archaic 'words exhibit the O. H. G. t.
(a) ls\\. fallen ; fallow, fa/ilx iai./em; fare, Jakren; £ul.
test; fathom, Faden; feather, Ffder\ iecX, fiih/fn ; fell (skinl.
Fell; felly. Filge; fell, FiU; fern, Fam; feud. FtAde: field,
Fcld; fiend, Feind; fight, /«A/ct(; finch, f(«i; find./'uMkn;
finger, Finger; fir, Fdire; fire, Feuer; fish, /i'ji-A ; fist. Fitmtt;
ftvtjiinf; flax. Flacks; flea, ^/oA : ?^fx.,Jlit)un\ fleece, /^&m;
flesh, Fleisch ; flight. /"/wfA/ ; fliMxi, /VwA ; tiy^/lUgfm ; foal,
Fohlen; foam, Feim-, fodder, Futttr; UAA, faltm; fbUowi
folgen; foot. Fuss; forth, /or/; foul, /aw/; fox. Fudis} bvtt
frei; ittxxt, Jrieren; fresh, frisck; friend, Fretind; &^fet,
Furcht ; frost, /^ro*/ ; furrow, Furcke \ Siirrhez,/urdtr.
(*) father, Ta/^r; fee, F»A (cattle); folk, K)/*; (or, wr;
for- (as a prefix), *^- ; four, vier; fowl, f^^*/ (bird) ; full, valt.
Note thai the difference is only apparent, for this Ccrmin
initial v is now pronounced as/, and might much more sensibly
\ d6. The Teutonic and English initial g uviuUly »•
I mains as gin Oerman. (Cf. H hJ' P- 131 : ti6, p. 134.)
gali, Call^ ; gallows, Calgen ; gape,^(i^« ; ((or)gei, (m
u
APPENDIX A,
\ien\ ^rdle, Giirtel ; give, gidcM ; glass, Glas; glide, ^/eife/i ;
I ^v, gtiihin ; go, gekcn ; goal, Gdss ; God, Gett ; gold, Gold \
^ixi&,gut\ goose, Gatts; gore, Gekren; gtss^, grapsra \ grass,
Gras ; grave. Grab \ gray, grau ; great, gross ; green, grUn ;
greeting, Gruss \ gripe, grci/e» ; ground, Grund; guest, Gatt;
^u\A, aide; gums, Gaitmen.
But In many oaoes the Eng. g beoomea y. (Sec p. 131.)
yard (rod), Gerte \ yard (court), Garten ; yam, Gixrn ; yar.
tov, (Scktifs-garbe \ ya.wn, gnllnill \ yeam-ingly, ^"i-jw ; yellow,
geli; ycstezday, ges/arn; yield, gc-Uc/i.
Medially and flnally, the g is almost always lost in
modein English (or forma part of a diphthong) ; it is
retained in Qerman. (Cf. p. 132.)
(a) day. Tag ; lay, legeit ; may, miigen ; play, PJlegen ; say,
sagen ; slay, schlagen ; way, Wcg.
Also : honey, Homg\ holy, heilig; and all equivalent words
ending in E. with the suffix -y (A. S. -ig) have the suffix -ig
in Gennan.
Also : eye, Auge ; lie, lUgen ; lie. Luge j roe (Icel. krogn),
Regen ; rye, Roggen.
(S) ciaw (of a bird), Kragen ; draw, tragfn ; follow, folgin ;
gnaw, nagen ; haw, //(if ; maw, Magen ; morrow, morgen ;
Stw, ^oftf ; saw, ^n?» ; sorrow, Sorge ; swallow, schtuelgen.
{e) ziwA, Magd; \wA,Hagel; ■rxA, Nugel ', sail, Segf/ ; tail,
Zagnl.
(d) 'gainst, gegen ; lain, geUgen ; rain, /iigc'n ; wain, Wagcn;
Stair, stile. Sleigh.
§ 66. The Teutonic k, when Initial, appears as k in
Oennan 1 medially and finally, it commonly appears as
oh, English has o or k, sometimes palatalised to ch. (See
p. 126.J
(a) callow, takl; can, kann; carve, kerbm; clay, KUi;
deave, klebm: deft, Klu/t; cloth, A'Md ; clover, Klee; coal,
Kohie; ca\A,kalt; camh,iCamm; came, kmnmen ; coal,kiihl;
com, iCorn ; cow, Kuh ; crnft, Kraft ; crane, Kranick ; craw,
,Xfvga%; cress, Kresse; cripple, Kriippd; crop (of a bird),
iKfofif; crow, Krahe; crumb, Krumc; keen, kiihn; kernel,
Kem; kid, Kilse; king, Konig; kiss, A'aw; knop, knob,
Knopf; knot, Knoten \ knuckle, Kniichel.
{ti) chafer, Kafer; chary, karg; chew, kauen ; chin, AVmw ;
choose, kiesen ; churl, Kcrl; chum, kermn.
lI
514 APPENDIX A,
(c) bleak, bldch ; book, Buck ; break, brechen ; brook, v.,
brauchen ; dike, Teich ; eke, auch ; hark, harchen ; lark, Lercke ;
leek, Lauch ; like, (g)leich ; -like (suffix), -//c^ ; make, nuuhen ;
milk, i1/i7^A ; oak, Eiche ; reek, rauchen ; sake, ^o^A^ ; seek,
suchen\ speak, sprechen\ spoke, s., Speiche\ stick, stechen\
stork, Storch \ stroke. Stretch ; wake, wachen ; weak, te/^*^ ;
week, Woche ; wreak, rdchen ; yoke, y^^A.
(</) beech, Buche ; reach, reichen ; rich, mir^ ; speech,
Sprache ; such, solcher ; which, welcher,
N. B. — In some combinations German keeps the final k ; as
in £. bench. Bank ; birch, Birke ; finch, /^r>r>&. Observe also
such examples as £. bake, G. backen\ naked, nackt\ work,
Werk ; thatch, decken. The A. S. sk^ written sc^ conmionly
becomes £. sh^ where German has schy e.g. ash, Escke\ ashes,
Asche ; flesh, Fleisch ; fish, /Vj^A ; 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 igrigiiwh
and German, or is lost (before 1, n, r) ; medially and finally,
it api>ears as English gh, German h or oh, or is lost. (See
p. 130.)
(d) hail, Hagel\ hair, Haar\ &c.
(b) loud (A. S. hliid)f laut ; nut (A. S. hnutu), Nuss ; raven
(A. S. hrafn), Rate,
(c) high, hoch\ laugh, lachen\ nigh, nahe\ neighbour, Nachbar\
rough, rauh ; though, cbch ; through, durch ; tough, zdhe,
(d) eight, acht ; fight, /echten ; flight, Fluchi ; fright, Furcht\
knight, Knecht ; light, adj., licht\ might, Mcuht\ night, Nacht\
plight, v., Pflicht, s. ; right, recht ; sight, (Ge)sicht ; wight,
Wicht.
The Anglo-Saxon initial hw (English wh) is w in Qerman.
(See p. 133.) wharf, Wer/'t\ what, was ; wheat, JVeisen ; whelp,
lVe//\ when, wann ; where, wo ; whet, wetzen ; which, welcher ;
while, weil \ whirl, s., lVirbel\ whisper, wispeln ; white, weiss \
who, wer.
APPENDIX B.
I
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 arc required for complete illustration.
(i) 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^ jiet alleu[lreherdschipes,andalle vlesshes
pinunge, and atle licomcs swinkes, al is ase nout ajean luue, |iet
scbTr^ and brihte% %e heorte. ' Licomliche bisischipe is to
lutet wurtS ; auh swote and schir heorte is god to alle fiinges ; '
(1 Tim. iv. S). 'jiauh ich ku¥e,' he sei¥, 'alle monne ledene
and englene ; and |>auh ich dude a mine bodie al!e ]<e pinen,
and alle |« passiuns ^ bodi muhte jiolien ; and ^auh ich ^eue
poure men al bet ich hefde; but }if ich hefde luue ^er-mide to
God and to alle men, in him and for him, al were aspilled'
(iC^.xiii.1-3).
[wf>M^, testifies ; uftre, outward ; llcomes rwi'nkes, toils at
the body ; ichirif', purifieth ; Licomliche bisischipe, Bodily
diligence ; swoU, sweet ; scklr, pure ; kf?Se, knew ; monne hdine
and engUnr, languages of men and of angels ; ^Uen, endure ;
^ue, were to give ; kt/de, had ; but 3//, unless ; aspilied, lost]
As regards the spelling, we may note k for c, as in ii-u%e for
A. S. c^e\ ^ioT g, as in yf, if, \.Si.gi/-, yue,viere to give, A. S.
gia/e ; u for E. v, A. S. / as in luue, dal. or aec of A. S. lufu,
love ; eh for A. S. f , as in ich, A. S. ic, I ; si/i for A. S. sc, as in
tchir, A. S, Jrfr, sheer, pure. Note that in the word poure, the
H means v; cf. E. pover-ty ; this word offers almost the sole
exception, at least at a later period, to the rule that u can only
mean v when a vowel follows. We do, however, sometimes
find eure - evrc, ever ; and ntun = nevre, never, A verj'
curious speUing occurs in the M, E. vucl(V. Plowman); this
represents «T'r/, i.e. evil; l^.^.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
5l6 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 EUesmere MS. Compare this with the edited text in my
edition, p. i. Date of MS., about 1400. Dialect, Midland.
(See p. 307.)
In Sunye whilom dwelte a compaigpaye
Of chapmen riche | 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 I and eek I 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 y ; there is no
difference between the sound of in, prep., and the sound of yn
in satyns. The Corpus MS. has sfdcerie for spicerye. The^^ in
wight represents the A. S. // in wiht. The ty in deyntee is an
Anglo-French symbol ; and so are the ai in compaignyey the
final ge in message^ the on in thought, and the ow in nozu. In
whilom^ the wh is for the A. S. h7u. In riche, the ch is for the
A. S. c in rice ; in chapmen, it replaces the A. S. ce in a^apmcnn.
The double e in deyntee and eek denotes the length of the vowel ;
so also with regard to the double o in Noon. The A. S. }>and ^
are replaced by th. The final e is suppressed in pronunciation
in Surrye, where, chaffare, message, wolde, entente ; it is elided
(before a following vowel or h) in dwelte, riche (twice), sadde.
Were, chapmanhode, the (in the ende), place, thoughte, take :
but forms a distinct syllable in compcdgny-e, trew-e, wyd-e,
spiccry-e, hew-e, ttew-e, chaffar-e, war-e, Rom-e, wend-e. send-e,
end-c, auantag-e, herbergag-e. It is just this full pronunciation
of the final -e in so many words that gives to Chaucer's metre
its peculiar melody.
I
APPENDIX B.
(3) From Caxton's translation called [he Recuyell of the H is-
toryes of Troye ; see Specimens of Eng. Literature from 1393-
1579. e<3- Skeat, p. Eg. Date, 1471. (See p. 315,)
Whan Dyomedes and vlixes \Vlysses\ were retomed in to
their oost. Alhenor wenle hym vnto the kynge pryant \Priam\
and said to hym that he shold assemble alt his folic to counceytt.
And whan they were alte comen. Anihenor sayd to hem that
for to come to J>e peas of the grekes they musie nedes payc
twenty thousand marc of gold and of good poys | and as moche
of s>'luer I And also an hondred thousand quarters of whcte.
And this muste be maad redy with in ceriayn terme. And than
whan they haue this | they shatt seCtc sewrtce to holde the peas
wyth out ony (rawde or malengyne [evil lUsign]. There it was
oxdeyncd how this some shold be leueyed and whylis they were
besy their abowtes. Anthenor wente to the precst |>' kepie the
palladyum | the whiche preest had to name Thoant | and bare
to hym a grete quantitce of gold. And there were they two at
counceitt Anthenor sayd to hym that he shold take this some of
gold, whereof he shold be ryche alt hys lyf \ and that he shold
gyue to hym the palladyum { and that nomao shold knowe
Iherof I Hbr I haue. sayd he. grete fere and so moche drede as
thou, that ony man shold knowe therof. And I shatt sende hit
to vlixes I and he shatt bere the blame vpon hym. and euery
man shatt saye that vlixes shalT haue stolen hyt { and we shall
be quyte therof bothe two &c.
We may here n
00 in ooil ■,ea'mf
ay in ctrtayn ; eu.
ey in ordeyned\ ei
the capital F.
It may be rem
. the very frequent use of^for i ; the use of
r; ay in poys ; ou in thoasai:d\ aa in maad;
\seivrice; ee in the same; aw \n jraivde \
counceill; &c. The_^ in _^f really denotes
C occurs for u in vlixes; ue for vt' is common,
irked that the final // is printed with a stroke
across it; this is in imitation of MSS., and was originally
used as an ahbreviated way of writing final lU ; but it became
unmeaning when the tinal e was lost, and frequently appears in
a wrong place.
(4) From the second Part of King Henry the Fourth ; A. i.
SC. 2 ; first folio edition. Dale, 1623.
Fal, My Lord, I was borne with a white head. & something
a round belly. For my voice, I have loft it with hallowing and
singing of Anihemes. To approue my youth farther, 1 will
not: the truth is, I am onely olde in iudgemenC and vndcrftand-
51 8 APPENDIX B.
ing : and he that will caper with mee for a thoufand Markes, let
him lend me the mony, & haue at him. For the boxe of th'
eare that the Prince gaue you, he gaue it like a rude Prince, and
you tooke it like a fenfible Lord. I* haue checkt him for it, and
the yong Lion repents : Marry not in afshes and facke-cloath,
but m new Silke, and old Sacke.
We may notice here the distinction between the ea in ecwe,
and the ee in mee. The former word was pronounced with ea as
e in mod. £. ere ; but the latter like mod. £. me. These symbols
occur in words which had, respectively, the open and close e of
Middle English. So also the oa in cloaih represents the open o ;
and in fact we still pronounce cloth with the oa of broad. In the
word onely^ the insertion of the e shews that the vowel o was
long ; we still sound it so, but omit to shew this in our spelling.
(5) From the History of England, by John Milton ; bk. v.
p. 248. Date, 1695. The spelling is, practically, that of Shake-
speare's time, petrified and rendered nearly uniform. The chief
difference is in the omission of final e where it is wholly idle.
See p. 329.
He [King Alfred] was of perfon comlier than all his Brethren,
of pleafing tongue and gracefull behaviour, ready wit and
memory ; yet through the fondnefs of his Parents towards him,
had not bin taught to read till the twelfth year of his Age ; but
the great defire of learning which was in him, soon appeared, by
his conning of Saxon Poems day and night, which with great
attention he heard by others repeated. He was befides, excel-
lent at Hunting, and the new Art then of Hawking, but more
exemplary in devotion, having collected into a Book certain
Prayers and Psalms, which he carried ever with him in his
bofome to ufe on all occafions. He thirfled after all liberal
knowledge, and oft complained that in his Youth he had no
Teachers, in his middle Age so little vacancy from Wars, and
the cares of his Kingdom, yet leafure he found fometimes, not
only to learn much himfelf, but to communicate therof what he
could to his People, by tranflating out of Latin into Englilh,
Oro/iusy Boethiusy Beda^s History and others, [and] permitted
none unlem'd to bear Office, either in Court or Common-wealth.
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
■♦♦■
In the following Index, Middle-English words are distingnished by
being printed in italics. Anglo-Saxon words are further distinguished
by being marked * A. S.* But, in general, no references are given for
A.S. words, as they are almost always to be found in close proximity to
the mod. £. word to which they correspond.
The references are to the pages. The letter ' n * after a number
signifies that the word occurs in a footnote.
a (in), 33 ; (they), 33.
a- (prefix), 213, 214.
abbot, 369.
abdomen, 235.
abet, 480.
abide, 166, 213.
abide, aby, 350.
abode, /^. j., 57, 184.
about, 5a, 66, 373.
abscind, abscissa, 290.
accurse, 213.
ache, 162, 354, 503.
acorn, 238, 503.
acre, 236.
Adage, 321.
adder, 216, 248, 372.
a-do, 214, 366.
a-doors, out, 214.
a-down, 213.
advance, 325.
adze, 252, 378.
tsftling (A.S.), 259.
affright, 213.
afifo^, 214, 367.
a-foot, 213.
after-, 214.
aftermath, 232.
against, 367.
aghast, 2T3, 32211.,
369.
agnail, 420.
a-go, 213; a-gone,
33 «.
ahoy, 482.
ail, 199, 266. 364,
412.
aimless, 430.
airt, 448.
ajar» 35^.
alchemy, 286, 287.
alder, 370.
alderfirst, 370.
ale, 4x2, 503.
all, 44, 407.
CUUlSy 26.
allay, 213.
allegro, 13.
alms, 352, 380, 438,
441.
alone, 56, 420 ; lone,
415-
along, 213.
aloot, 482.
also, 376, 377.
altar. 434, 441.
alway, always, 273.
amaze, 213; amazed,
20.
amazon, 13.
ambrosia, 13.
amidst, 367.
among, 404.
amongst, 367.
amuck, 13.
an, a, 56.
anchor, 438, 441.
and, 26.
andante, 13.
anent, 367.
aneurism, 328.
angel, 438, 441.
anger, 236.
angle, j. (hook), 237.
angle (2 wards), 411.
ankle, 239.
ann-eal, J 14.
anon, 56.
answer, 214, 370, 377.
ant, 375; emmet, 415.
anthem, 439, 441.
antic, antique, 25 n.
antistrophe, 13.
anvil, 366, 374.
any, 205, 210, 271.
ape, 503.
apeyred, apeyryng, 34.
apocope, 291.
apostle, 439, 441.
apple, 82, 137, 237.
apricot, 357.
apron, 216.
or, 26.
archbishop, 439, 441.
architrave, 431.
are, 44, 379-
arise, 166, 213.
ark, 434, 441, 501.
arm, 235.
armada, 13.
5ao
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
armadillo, 13.
arose, 55.
around, 430.
arouse, 213.
arrow. 232, 377.
as, also, 376.
ash (tree). 357, 381.
ashen, 264.
ashes, 226, 357.
ask, 352 ; ax, 382.
aspen, 264, 382.
asphodel, 13.
assets, 107 ff.
ast (ask), 357.
at. 134.
athwart, 467, 468.
atone, 56, 214, 420.
Attenborough, 194.
Atterbury, 193.
auger, 216, 372,421.
aught, 214, 377»42i;
(= naught), 372.
august, 25 //.
aunt, 375.
avast, 482.
awake, 162 ; awaken,
276.
aware, 505.
awe, 124, 132, 252.
awkward, 262.
ax, 252, 358.
ax («= ask), 382.
axle, 222, 252.
ay, 36.'
aye, 20, 463.
a-zent, 33 n.
babble, 132, 278.
backward, 262, 273.
bairn, 181, 239.
bait, 184, 463, 466.
bake, 129, 162, 503.
bake-house, 495.
balcony, 25 ».
bald, 270, 369, 407,
451-
bale, 230; (2 words),
411.
balsam, 434; balm,
414.
band, 466.
l»ndog, 370, 421.
bandylegged, 431.
bane, 140, 503.
bannock, 446, 451,
45a.
banshee, benshee, x 33,
448, 449.
bantam, 14.
barbre, 26.
bard, 445.
bare, 379. 503.
bark (3 words), 412;
(of tree), 466.
Barking (Essex), 258.
barley, 199, 356, 357,
421.
barm (lap), 181 ;
(yeast), 235, 406.
bam, 406, 421.
barrow (mound), 406,
443 » 444-
barrow (wheel-), 232.
barse, 410.
bask, 468, 471, 473.
bass (fish), 410.
bat (stick), 45 1 ; (ani-
naal), 352, 357.
batch, 355.
bath, bathe, 368, 503.
batten, 468.
Baxter, 256.
bazaar, 13.
be, 69, 140.
be- {prefix), 214.
beacon, 68, 239.
bead, 182, 505.
beaker, 504.
beam, 68, 176, 233.
bean, 68, 175.
bear, j., 226, 503; v.,
119, 140,157, 159,
163, 168, 503.
beat, 68, 161 ; (cf.
beet), 412.
beaver, 140, 141, 236.
because, 430.
bed, 81, 199, 228.
bedizen, 378.
bee, 69, 176; bees,
499.
beech, 59, 109, 129,
140, 174, 207, 210,
354.
beechen, 264.
beefeater, 430.
beer, 69, 176.
beet, J., 52, 59, 69,
434, 441 ; V.
(Scotch), 198, 210.
beetle (mallet), 237.
before, 371, 504,505;
before, 38.
begin, 165, 363.
behave, 374.
behest, 206, 367.
behind. 403.
behold, 161.
behove, 63, 374.
belay, 482.
beleaguer, 484.
believe, 58, 212, 374.
belly-cheer, 483.
bellows, 199.
Beltane, 446, 449.
belyve, 38.
ben, 26.
bench, 201, 210, 354-
bend, 182, 199, 210.
beneath, 371, 504.
bequeath, 504.
bereave, 68, 167, 176,
187.
berr), 199, 379.
beseech, 354.
beside, 372.
besom, 235, 379.
best, 349, 366.
bet, 480.
better, 134, 140, 152,
I55» 199; best, 152.
between, 69.
betwixt, 44, 367.
bid, 164, 167.
bide, 62, 166.
bier, 67, 181.
bight, 202, 210, 242,
466, 467.
bile ( = boil, J.), 412.
billion, 19.
Billiter Lane. 288.
bind, 119, 136, 140,
165, 402, 502.
birch, 140, 354; birk,
414.
birchen, 264.
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
5"
bird, 376.
birth, 181, 101, 310,
J40, J44.
bisect, 389.
bishop, 351, 439, +41.
biibop-nc, 110.
biuDuth, 8j.
Mt, 185.
bitch, 355.
bite, 51, 6j, 73, 78,
80, 135, 140, 166,
bitter, a!i5, 313, 35*.
bittern, 371.
blaclc, 139, 140, 263.
blacken, 176.
blackguard, 431.
bladder, 14S.
blide, 343. 505.
blaeberry, 456.
bJain, 339, 364.
blare, 379.
bUtcb (ndj.), 356.
blaie, 378, 503.
bleai^, 68, 354.
bletk, 119, 184, 105,
bleat, 68.
bleed, 59, 90, 107,
blcnri, i6[, joi.
bless, 107, 110, 37* i
blest, 368.
blind, J63, 403.
blink, 40).
bliss, 353,368, 493.
blithe, 60.
blood, 64, 83, 174,
bloom, 63. 335, 355,
458.
bIossom,63, 335, 355,
366, 381.
blow (as wind), 55,
140, iGi ; blown,
159-
blow (flourish), 63,
140, 161.
blunder, 469.
blnnt, 473.
blaster, 348, 46S, 469.
blylke, 38,
boar, 55-
boat, 53,54,57,89,95.
boatswain, 366, 495.
bode, 187, 504.
bodice, 380.
body, 357.
hog, 44Si 44^1 449-
boffile. 45'-
bolstc
349.
bond, 178.
bondage, 480.
bone, 56, 173, 173,
309, 3"0.
bonfire, 493.
book, 64, 86 n., 14a,
'9S-
boom, 333, 335, 481,
boon, 458.
boor, 485.
boot, J., 53, 64, 177,
19a.
hooth, 459, 467.
Bootle, 350.
bote (billow), 456 if.,
140. 504-
bom, 36, 304.
boroagh, 1S3, 190,
^ 93. '94. Sfi'.
borrow, 183, 364.
bosom, 63, 333.
botch, 487, 489.
both, 456.
b6tl (A. S.), »50.
bols, 451.
3 36, 364 ; (of a ship) ,
i78.458.47';l>ows.
/.//., 499.
bow {i-amrds), 411.
bower, 65, a37, 418.
bowline, 458,
box (I), box (3), 434,
441.
boy, 487, 488.
boycott, 6, 30.
brabble, 485.
bracken, 230, 380.
brae, 457.
brag, 451.
Lraget, 450.
braid, 165.
brain, 339, 364.
brake, J., 487, 488
■ nble,
boltu^, -aa.
bough, 63, 177, 361,
458.
boDghl, bout, I,, 343.
boaghC,;)^., 168.
boulder, 474.
bounce, 487, 48S, 489.
bound, j^., 404, 503.
bound (ready), 370,
4S9. 474-
bourn, 336; iiiiierd!).
375.
»37.
"bran, 451.
brand, 343.
brandish, 4 Bo.
branks,448,449,450.
brat, 451,
hiaic, 48a
brazen, 264, 503.
braiier, 480.
bread, 186, I43, 353.
breadth, 305, 310, 341,
492-
break, 83, 139, 140,
157. 163. '68 n.,
501-^;brokcn, 157,
breath, breathe, 368.
brew, 167.
hrew-'us, 495.
breecb, breeki, 59,
354 ; breeches, 59.
3S4-
breed, 59, 174, 308,
brethren, 307.
brickie, 366.
biidat, 431.
bride, 67, 175, 313.
bridegroom, 376,431.
bridge, 339,353, 365,
470.
bridle, 63, 337, 353,
522
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
brig (bridge), 365,
470.
bright, 269, 376;
brighten, 276.
brill, 451.
brimstone, 371, 421,
495.
brinded, brindled,
466.
brink, 456, 472.
brisk, 451.
bristle, 237, 249.
British, 272.
brittle, 189, 204,266.
broad, 57, 263, 305,
320, 322 ; broaden,
276.
brock, 451, 45 a.
brogue, 445.
brood, 50, 64, 83,
I74» 343-
brook, v., 65, 71, 140,
167; J., 64.
broom, 50, 63.
brose, 448, 449, 45a
broth, 188, 240, 449,
450.
brother, 63, 91, 97,
98, 104, 108, 112,
117, 140, 145-149,
174, 246.
hrouchy 34,
Brough, 194.
brought, 268.
brow, 65, 140, 175.
brown, 65, 266.
brunt, 242, 466, 467.
Buckingham, 258,
496.
bufe (dog), 483.
buffer (dog), 483 n.
bug, 451.
build, 203, 250, 407.
bulchin, 224.
bulge, 165.
bulk (of body), 487.
bullock, 221.
bulwark, 477.
bump, 451.
bumpkin, 224.
bundle, 183, 222, 237.
bung (purse), 483.
bungle, 469.
burden, iSx, 203, 3 10,
368 ; (2 wards\ 410.
burgomaster, 485.
burial, 238, 253, 38a
bum, 165, 376, 407 ;
burnt, 268.
burst, 164, 165, 407.
bury, »., 183, 203,
210; J. (town), 193.
bush, 471.
busk, 468, 471.
buskin, 224, 485.
bustle, 469.
busy, 271.
but, 23, 26.
bu}, bethy 33.
butler, 498.
butter, 8i, 439, 441,
504-
buxom, 262.
buy, 365, 401.
by, 60, 174.
bylaw, 477.
byre, 418.
-c {sujffix)y 221.
cabin, 451.
caboose, 482.
cachinnation, 132.
cackle, 132, 278.
caesura, 290.
cairn, 449.
caldron, chaldron, 414
n,
calf, 132,141,252,407.
call, 453 «., 467.
callow, 264, 501.
calve, 374.
cam, 450, 4S0.
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, -cal je,
446, 449.
capon, 291, 439, 441.
caravan, 13.
care, 145, 226, 503.
cart, 451.
carve, 127, 141, 164,
165, 406.
cast, 127,467,475.
castle, 366, 434, 441.
cat, 23.
cateran, 448, 449.
caterwaul, 278, 421.
catkin, 224.
causey 34.
-ce {suffix), 274.
cedar, 439, 44 1.
cell, 442.
chafer, 503.
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, 40^-
charlock, 353, 406.
chary, 354, 503.
chatter, 278.
cheap, 68, 94, 176,
I90>434»44i-
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, 502 ; children,
252, 492.
childhood, 57.
chill, 354.
chin, 128, 227, 354.
1
■
^H
^^^^^^^^IJi/X)£X OF ENGUSH WORDS.
5«.^^^B
clod, clot, 3S6.
com, 137, 339.
^H
■^ diiM..83.3Sf:chiiJc.
cloth, clothe.
55:
coronach, 448, .
^^1
i8s, .154-
cloth, 173; clothes.
corrie, 448, 449.
chip, 191.
369.
cosecant. 389.
chl>cl, 190.
clongh, 363.
cosy, 448, 449.
choke, 504.
clout. 66, 451.
couch-grass, 133
chop, 191.
cloven. .1504.
'A&%
^H
choose, laS. 159, 166.
clover, 374.
^H
167. 169, 171 «.,
clown, 476.
37'. 377-
3i4i chovn. 153.
clumsy, 469.
counlerecarp, 19
ehorisiei, 156 n.
clutter, 450.
courtship, 430.
coal. <3>. 505-
cove, 336, 374. ,
^H
Christ. 439, 441.
cob. +51.
cow, fig. no,
Christmas, ifiS.
cobble, 4St.
133. 13J. 17s
^^1
chuckle, 178.
(oble, 450.
19s. 501.
chump, 191.
church, 355,439,441;
cobweb, 373, 4i
COW. v., 459,
cock (boat). 451
co*cr. 459.
kirk, 414.
="wl. 435> 44'-
cknfl, 303, 3S4> 407-
cockswain, 495,
cowslip, 433.
ehnrlish. »73.
codling, 333.
crackte. 378.
chyle, 186.
cognate, 84 n.
cold, 44, 137,
cradle. 451, 451,
^^1
chyme, 286, J89.
'77.
cr^LlA,
dccrone. 13.
370, 407.
-emit ^^H
dnder, 37B, 403.
cole (plant), 435, 441.
(j(ii^).3l8;crafty, ^^H
circle, 435, 44'.
colleen, 445.
371.
drcamciie, 190.
comb. 1^7,375,
crag, 446, 447, .
W>- ^H
cUchBD, 446, 447,
combe. 451.4s J
^1
449-
come, t33.
163;
cranberry, 433, ,
^H
cUmba, 469, 474.
come, 37.
crane, 11;.
cUn, 13. 446, 447,
comma, 391.
craots. 485.
449'
cetnmyxitiaun, 34,
crate, 443.
cl^P. '79. 3S». 38=.
compelled, 34-
crave, 503.
clatter. 17S.
concise, 390.
craze, 471. 47fi.
cone, 311.
creed, £9, 435. 441. ^^H
cUy, 68.
.o^fid^r^. 34-
creel, 447. 449-
cUymorc, 13. 448,
confound, 3B7, 3
89.
creep. 69. 158, 1
^1
449-
confute, 389.
cleni., 67.
cress, 376.
dcuise, 307. a 79.
cantray, 34! contrt.
crib. 339.
cleave (to spUt). 69,
3G-
cringe, 165, 365
^H
137,141, 167; (to
convey,convoy,3ilw.
cripple, J9, 186.
^H
adhere), 166, s4
cook, (54, 435,
44".
fZl't'"'-
deft.^.,i68;/,467.
601.
clerk. 407. 439. 44'
cool. so. 54. 63.
■ ■74.
crock, 453.
client, 385, 3S6.
177. 103,503,
506.
cromlech, 45a
cliff, 185.
coomb, 439, 441
crook, 64.
clift. eleft, 466.
coop, 43;, 441.
»7. ^H
climb. 165. 404.
cool. 451.
:6i : I., 336.
clinB. 163.
cope, v., 485.
crowd (throng),
■'7. ^1
clip. 137. 467-
copes- male. 485.
186; iliddle).
^^1
doun, id.
copper, 313,439,441.
[J wcrdi), 411
olock. 461.
eomcle,4io.
cniiic.481.
A
5^4
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
crumb, 183, 375.
crumble, 278, 375.
cruse, 459.
cub, 451.
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.
cuttle-fish, 352, 369.
czar, 14.
dad, 451.
daft, 269.
dagj^'le, 469, 470.
dahlia, 480.
daintiness, 430.
dainty, 443, 444.
dairy, 463.
daisy, 422.
dale, 418, 505.
Dalziel, 317.
dandriff, 451.
<langle, 469.
Danish, 272.
dapple, 469.
dare, 136, 379, 380,
505-
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,
35 1*364, 401; days,
499.
daze, 471, 470.
dazzle, 278, 469.
deacon, 439, 44 1.
dead, 154, 270.
deaf, 82, 86 »., 263.
deafen, 276.
deal, V.J 67 ; j., 415.
dear, 69, 263.
dearth, 241.
death, 81, 154, 245.
debt, 324.
decide, 290.
deck, V.J 368 n. ; s.
and V.J 485, 488 ;
thatch, 415,416.
dedj 35 »., 36.
deed, 68, 87, 175,
245, 340.
deem, 58, 90, 207,
210.
deep, 69, 82, 86 «.,
96 n.j 137, 263,
506.
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.
dervish, 13.
desert (2 words^j^w.
develop, 319.
devil, 439, 441.
dew, 231.
dibble, 469, 471.
didapper, 422.
die, 464, 467.
dig, 35 »» 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.
di»^> 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.
-dora {^suffix) J 218,
496.
don, 13.
Don (river), 404.
-don {suffix)^ 496.
done, 63, 92.
doom, 50, 63, 136.
233.
door, 116, 136, 1 46,
505-
doubt, 324.
dough, 56, 107, 136,
173, 184, 226, 361.
doughty, 271.
dove, 186, 20S.
down (hill), 65, 452.
down (of binls;, 459.
Downham, Dowrnton,
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, 506.
dreary, 69, 186, 379.
dregs, 465, 466, 470.
INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS.
S'it>
drench, 165, 182, 199,
210.
drew, 63.
dribble, 278, 373,466,
469, 471.
drift, 185, 241.
drill, 415 M. ; thrill,
416.
drink, 159, 164, 165,
169.
drip, 167, 189, 203,
210, 465-7.
drive, 60, 159, 166,
169; driven. 501.
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.
dragster, 256.
drunkard, 183.
dry, 401.
duck, »., 487, 488.
duckling, 223.
dudgeon, 451.
duenna, 13.
duet, 13.
dukedom, 430.
dumb, 263,^
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), 45 ».
each, 376, 422.
ear, j., 68, 175, 226,
379; (of com), 252,
362.
earl, 407.
earnest, s, (serious-
ness), 254, 407 ;
(pledge), 367.
earth, 240, 407.
earwig, 422.
cast, 68, 94, 175, 242,
343, 249, 269.
Easter, 68, 249.
eastern, 267.
Easton, 496.
eat, 108, 134, 164, 282,
504.
eaves, 252, 380, 504.
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» 128,506.
-el [sujffix)y 22a.
elbow, 371, 422.
eld (old age), 209,
229; eld, 35 n,
elder, adj., 209.
elder (tree), 370.
eleven, 44, 371, 422 ;
eleventh, 154.
elixir, 8.
ell, I99» 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, 2x4,361,
364.
entrance (2 words),
411.
envelop, 319.
-eO' (A.S. diphthong),
45, 503.
episode, 13.
equip, 480.
-^{suffix), 256; {^adv.
suffix), 274.
er, 36.
-em {suffix), 267.
em (eagle), 239.
errand, 228, 250.
«, 36.
escarpment, 291.
Essex, 494.
-est {suffix), 273.
Eston, 490.
etch, 85.
-f/ {suffix), 33.
eve, s., 303, 371;
even, 67, 251, 371.
even, adj., 266, 504.
evening, 67, 175!
ever, 274, 303.
every, 357, 423.
evil, 266, 504,
excerpt, 291.
excision, 290.
experience, 138.
ewe, 377.
eye, 44, 58, 226, 401.
eyelet-hole, 431.
eyren {eggs), z66, 4:0,
486.
fain, 266, 267, 364.
fair, 265, 266, 364.
fairylike, 430.
fake, 483.
falcon, 325 «.
fall,44»i39»i59»»^,
161, 167.
fallow, 264.
falsehood, 430.
fEimbles, 483.
fan, 435, 441.
5a6
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
fandian (A.S.)i 31 ».
in, 406.
fare, 138, 162, 168 ».,
174» 503.
FarodoD, 496.
farrow, 138, 257 «.
farthing, 258, 406,
423-
-fast (suffix), 261.
fasten, 276.
father, 82, 97, 98, 99,
103, 108,117, 138,
147-91 246, 369.
fathom, 138, 233.
fatling, 223.
fatten, 276.
fault, 325.
fawn, »., 276, 277,
468, 472.
fayle, 36.
fealyfeely v., 468.
fear, 67.
feather, 81, 136, 138,
236.
fcdypt. t. and pp., 492.
fee, 44, 69, 82, 139,
176, 227, 362.
feed, 59, 207, 211.
feel, 58, 173.
feet, 59, 90, 173.
feign, 136.
felawsy 38.
feldspar, 85.
fell, z/., 180, 201, 210,
s. (skin), 139.
fell (//. /. oi fall),
160; {pt.pl.\ 44.
fellow, 477.
felt, 268.
felun, 38.
female, 323 w.
fen, 199.
fend, 498.
fennel, 435, 441.
fetch, 318, 319.
fetlock, 477.
fetter, 279.
feud, 206, 210.
fever, 435, 441, 504.
feverfew, 435, 441.
few, 139, 265.
-flf (Jinal), 329.
Ffinch, 318.
fibster, 256.
fickle, 206.
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, »., 67, 208.
fill, J., 230 ; »., 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 n.
five, 60, 91, 374-5.
flabby, 471.
flag (banner), 470 ;
(stone), 470.
flagrant, 140.
flake, 472, 476.
flannel, 371, 450.
flatling, 275.
flaunt, 472.
flaw, 472.
flaxen, 264.
flay, 162.
flea, 68, 175, 401.
fledge, 466, 470.
flee, 167; fly, 401.
fleece, 378.
fleet, J., 69, 134.
flesh, 357.
flight, 244.
fling, 476.
flit, 465-6.
flitch, 355.
float, 134, 167, 188,
« 504.
floe, 480.
flokmel (M.E.), 273.
flood, 64, 246.
floor, 62, 174, 236.
florist, 254.
flotilla, 13.
flotsam, 477.
flounce, v., 480.
flounder, x., 480.
flow, 63, 139, 161.
flummery, 450.
flush, »., 471-2.
fluster, 463.
flutter, 278.
fly, J., 226; ZK, 167.
foal, 139, 465, 504.
foam, 56, 233.
foamy, 271.
fodder, 248.
foe, 5^* 506.
fog»47i.48o-
foison, 287, 289.
foist, 485.
fold, 2/., 161 ; sheep-
fold, 497.
.fold(:w/^x),44, 139,
261.
folk, 257.
fond, 370, 474, 497.
font, fount, 288, 405,
417, 435» 441.
food, 64, 177, 246.
fool, 20 ; -ish, 430.
foot. 64, 74, 79, 80,
83, 84, 86, 86 If.,
96, 109, 134, I3S»
194-5 ; ^ect, 96.
footpad, 483, 488.
fop, 485, 487-8.
fopline, 223.
for, 20, 138.
for- (^prefix), 215.
force ^.waterfiill), 472.
fore-, 215.
foreoistle, 498.
■BJii V
^B INDEX OF ENCUSH. WORDS. 53 J ^H
^H foiefronl, 430.
froward, 315, 363.
gcck, 485. ^H
^•■■ftttthead, 494,496.
fro WD. 4S0.
|ed.46£-. ^H
^ fotemost, 197, 365.
fniit, 140.
geeK, 90. ^^H
forset. -64.
fry (ipawn). 461.
|rU.tf,3.. ■
fodt, 436, 441.
fochsia, 8s.
forlorn, 15*, 15s. '88.
former, aSj.
fugUman, 85.
genius, 116. ^^H
gtntU, 34. ^^H
™^^.,.6.
fulfilk, 35-6; fulfil.
get, 164, 363. ^^H
^^faisake. ifiliforEoak.
303.
geysir, 13,388-9.464, ^^H
■ 64.
fall, 139,363.
4G6. 473, 475. 4S0. ^^H
Vfotth-.iij.
fuller. 436. 44:.
ghastly. 163, 333.363. ^^H
fumble, 4N5.
ghcrkm. ^^H
498.
f^i. 445. 46'.
gbo9t, 55, 173, 339. ^^H
forward, j6j.
lurloDg. 433.
^H
fotler, 348.
farlouEh, 477. 480.
ghoul. 13, 333H. ^^H
fother, 83.
fiinow, 3S7 n.
gibber, 37S. ^^H
fonl.6S.9». 139. '7S.
farzc, 378.
gibe, 458, 47 >■ ^H
166, 35».
fuse, K., 387, 389.
giody. 363, 501. ^^H
ro»nd,r,.,,88-9;j!!t.,
ID^, 389.
gift, 344, 363. ^H
_i^in„..
futile, 387, 389.
fnltocka, 433, 49s-
giggle. 178. ^H
gild, igo, 193, ao3, ^^H
^^^ fbtwt, 436. Sti font.
>io. 363. 407. ^^H
^■fonr. 113, 377.
gabble, 469.
gilder. 484. 485. ^H
^■inirli], 154, 368.
E'oy. 47'-
gill (1 «i>fvi'^), 411. ^^^B
^r fowl, 137, 353, 364.
gad, J., 473.
gillie, 13, 448MJ. ^^H
401.
g"e. 451-
gird, 363. ^^m
fox, 358.
e»ggle, IJJ, 278-
girdle, 337, 3^3, 379, ^^H
ftagment, 140.
gaiu, 468, 473.
give, 159, 164, 168, ^^m
ftBtemol, 97.
Ettin-say, 3i£.
363. 501- ^^H
frsught, 467, 473.
gail, 476.
girl, 487, 4S9- ^H
far, 69, 176, 363.
gall, 4^,133,131, 336.
galloglas, 444, 441;.
galloway, 44S, 449.
36.^. ^H
faeie, 69. 94, 139,
gladden, 376. ^^H
167. 378-
gladcn, gladden, 1., ^^^1
French. 193,310, 373.
gallows, 364.
436, 441- ^^H
^— fash, 101, »io, 373,
galore, 445.
gladness. 354. ^^^B
^L 357. 37^-
gamble, 375.
364. ^H
^B fasU, 376.
gambt^, 14,
gleam, 68, 184, ,34. ^H
H«et, 164.
game, n% 371. 503 =
gl«le (kite), ,^04. ^^m
^ Friday, 436, 498.
gammoD, 415.
glee. 69, 331.377. ^^H
ftiend, 139, n°' '5"-
gleed, glede, 59, 90. ^^H
ftiendship, 310-
gander, 370-
^H
frighl. 376.
gannet. 34J.
glen, 446, 449. ^^H
frighten, 376.
EantUl, 477, 480.
glib, J., 444. 445. ^^m
frisk, 4S0.
g«pe. 503.
glib, W/, 485. ^H
friih, 376.
garlic, 433.
glib. ^H
fro, frowsrd, 456;
garth. 399, 353, 369.
gaap. 467, 469, 47,^.
galher, 369.
glide, 63, 166. ^H
from, 401,416.
glimmer, 334, 378, ^^H
Il frolic, 4B4. 48s, 488.
^^H
^B from, fro, 4(6 .-from,
gaunllel, 477. 480-
gUm[)K. 373, 469. ^^H
^k-t°>-
gawky, 463.
^H
^Hfton, from. 155, 379.
B"e,467.
gllsien, 176, 381. ^^H
HEo.1. 188, 143'
B"". '31. 363.
glitter, 178. 469. ^H
5^8
INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS.
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.
gneiss, 85.
go, 54,110, 161, 173.
goad, 57.
goat, 57, no.
Godhead, 57.
godwit, 423.
gold, 192, 243. .
golden, 264.
gon^ 26.
good, 64, no, 263.
goodbye, 433.
goose, 50, 63, 82, 92,
no, 123, 131, 178,
i90> i94» 320, 371,
402.
gorcrow, 423.
gore, 55, 505.
gorse, 366.
goshawk, 423.
gosling, 63, 223,
492-3.
gospel, 370, 423.
gossamer, 424.
gossip, 370, 375, 424.
govcrpiaptcCy 25, 26.
gowan, 448-9.
gown, 451.
grace, 26.
grandee, 13.
grasp, 279, 382, 508.
grass, 226, 376.
grate, v., 480.
grave, z/., 162, 503.
gray, grey, 67, 364,
401.
graze, 353, 503 ;
grasier, 353.
great, 263.
greedy, 68.
green, 58, 174, 208,
211, 267, 340, 506.
greensward, 369.
greet, 59, 174.
greyhomid, 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.
grist, 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, 63, 159, 161.
growth, 240, 244.
grudge, 480.
gruesome, 459.
grunsel, 424.
guard, 417.
guelder-rose, 13.
guest, 81, 124, 131,
I99> 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 {iptitial)y sound ofy
3.^9-
hahbcp, 33.
had, hath, hast, 374.
haddock, 221.
Hades, 13.
haft, 242.
hail, J., 337, 364.
hail !, whole, 416.
hake, 476.
hale, 463 ; hanl, 480.
half, 44, 225-6, 407.
halfjpenny, 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.
handywork, 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, 503.
harebell, 424.
hark, 277.
harrier, 492.
harry, v.y 406.
hart, 130, 242, 406.
harvest, 130,254,292,
352, 374.
hasp, 382.
haste, 476.
hasten, 468.
hate, 252, 503.
hatred, 219,2 20, 496.
haolm, halm, 130.
233-4-
I
I
hawk, 358,374)).
450-
hawker, 956, 4S7-9.
hajwaid, 365 n.
y>a2e\, 130, 137, 378,
SOS-
be, s8.
IwM. 130, 143. 374-
headlong, 375.
he^. 67. 94-S. "75.
194, 305. »'0-
health, 150, 341.
hop, 68, 81, 86, 94,
'33. 138, 176.
bur, t;8, ,179; heaid,
44. SS, 49''
hearken, 177.
heart, 81, 110, 131,
a»6, 406, 417.
hearten, 17G.
hearth, 406,
beat, 68, 3o6, 110,
heath, 67, 130, 136-
heathen, 67, 267.
heathenish, ijt.
heather, 491.
heave, 130, l6:, 197,
j^°4-^ ,
heed, 59, 174.
*>«^Ee, 101, 365.
heel. s8, 138.
heft, 341.
heifer, 414, 494, 49'5-
height, 141, 36S.
heighten, 376.
hdnoom, 431.
held, 15S, 160.
hell, 199, 339.
helm, 334.
help, t6s, 34°-
belvc, 14S.
hemlock, 414.
hemp. 99 n., 109, iiS,
^ 37«. 4J9. 441-
hempen, J 64.
hen, 130, 199, 3ig,
VOL. 1.
heriot, 495,
hem, heron, 497.
herring, 358, 359.
best, 106, 3G7 ; itsiei,
35-6.
hew, 133, 161 ; hewn,
heyday, 401, 415 ;
Heydon, 496,
hiccough, 363, 435.
hid, ft, I. and pp.,
493.
hidiilgo, 13.
hide, i., 67, :30, 136,
175, 308, 312; I..,
67-
bictaglyphic, 391 n.
high,58,B9, 174, 363,
361, 401.
hill, 338,340.
hillock, 3 31.
him, 499.
hind (peBianC), 370,
403; [deer], 403;
adj., 403.
hinder, e., 403.
hindmost, 365.
hinge, 403, 465, 476.
hint, 40).
hip, >37.
hire, 67.
bireilng, 133.
his, 36.
hi the, 67.
hither, 369.
hitherward, 373.
hoar, 55, 3153.
boarbound, 435.
hoarse, 55, 173, Vl^-
bobble, 378.
hobbyhorse, 431.
hobnob, 435.
bock. 85.
hogshead, 4S5.
hoise, hoist, ^3, 4S5.
urn
529
bold, V,, 15B-9, 161 ;
holden, 158-9; held,
(of ship), 483,
485.
hole, 181, 340, 505.
holiday, boltbut, 495.
bolland. 13, 485.
hollow, 356.
holly, holm-oak, 37T,
497-
hollyhock, 495.
holy, ;5, 401.
home, 56, 89, 130,
■73. 135-
homicide, 390.
bande, 38.
boney, 357.
hood, 3 J, 174.
-hood, -head {suffix),
S7. 154. "8-9'
hooi; 63, 91. 174,
177.
hook, 64.
boot, 459.
bom, 130, 339.
hornet, 343.
hor^, 50 n.
hose, 504.
hot, 57, Kg. 263, 378.
bongh, 361.
honnd, 336, 40;.
houri, 13.
house, 65, l74~Si 19S,
34l,Ar)HKB,i95«.
hovd,'i3 3r374.
hover, 443.
bow (hiil). 473.
hoy, 484-3.
huckaback, 489.
hnckiter, 156, 4S7-S.
bne, 60, 338, 377,
409 : hues, 499.
hue and ciy, 480.
530
INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS.
huU, 482,485; (husk),
255- ,
humble-bee, 375.
humbug, 435.
hummock, 221.
hund-red, 122, 131,
320.
hunfi;er, 198, 237.
hurdle, 237.
hurtle, 278.
husband, 459, 478,
493.
husk, 25g.
hussif, husty, 425,
478» 493» 495-
hustings, 478, 493.
huzzah, 85.
^,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 z/^rx»j indices,
19.
-ing(J«#x), 222,259,
260 ; {pres. ^.),
250 ; 'ing (A.S.
suffix), 258.
ingle, 448-9.
ingot, 188, 288-9.
inmate, 357.
inmost, 265.
inject, 289.
intaglio, 13.
interloper, 431.
intersect, 289.
ioye, 36.
iron, 60, 174, 338,
379-
ironmonger, 425.
iron-mould, 370.
irrerocable, 280.
is, 26, 499.
-ise, -iic {suffix), 327.
-ish {suffix), 271-a.
isUnd, 30 »., 380, A25.
-ist-er (suffix), 256 ».
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.
jibe, 471.
jingle, 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, kails, 487, 488.
kangaroo, 14.
Katharine, 21.
keel, 69, 176 ; v., 208,
211.
keelson, 478.
keen, 58, 174, 263,
303-
keep, 190, 211, 436,
keg, 465.
ken, ia6, aoo, a 10,
465.
kept, 26S.
kemtoDe, 431.
kcme, 444, 445.
kernel, 203, 210, a a a.
kettle, 200, 436.
kex, 450.
kcy» 3^4. 401-
khan, 14.
kibe, 450.
kick, 450.
kidney, 478.
kilderkin, 334.
kiUi, 436, 441, 443.
kin, no, 1 30, I a a,
ia6, 303, aa8, 303,
35a-
-kin {suffix), 333.
kinchin, 483.
kind, 403.
kindle, 403.
kindred, 219, aao,
37o» 403, 496.
kine, 66, 93, 195,
king, no, 126, 259.
kin^om, 496.
kink, 480.
kirk, 469.
kiss, no, 203.
kitchen, 203, 340,
436, 441-
kith, 208, an, 341.
kitten, 222.
kn- {initial), 358.
knag, 451.
knave, 373, 503.
knead, 127, 164, 503.
knee, 69, 121, 137,
331. 377.
kneel, 278, 457, 469.
knife, 60, 127.
knight, 241.
knit, 203, 210.
knob, 373.
knop, 358, 373.
knot, 127, 417.
knout, I4«., 127,480.
know, 55, I a I, 136,
161.
knowledge, 219, 356,
494, 49^.
^B-mw
^^^^^^^^ INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS. 53 1 ^^|
^1 Icdhit, 4S7-<j.
lead, !•., 68, 15s, 106,
185, 360. ^^1
^H ky (cows), 66, 195.
j.o,368;0™™i).
v.. 13], 164. 365 ; ^^H
H irr^, 198.
(10 tell lies), 44, ^^B
leaden. 264.
16;, 4or. ^^H
H lack. s. mdv., 487,
leaf, 68, 176.
lief, 69, 94, 96, 141, ^^^H
■
leaguer, 485 j Icagore,
^H
■ lad. 451.
4S+.
^^H
■ ladder. ^S. 360.
leak, 473, 476, SOS-
tlfegnard, 43'- ^H
^H lode. >6i, 360, .S03:
lean, adj., 67. 367.
m. 303, 210, 465, ^H
H ladle, 1,17,360, 503.
360 ; v., 131, 360,
^^M
H lady, 186, 360, 374,
SOS-
light, I., 44. S'. 133. .^H
H
leap. 6S, 83, 161,17s,
133. i4< '303,363; ^^m
360.
adj., 44. >69. ^H
H Uir.'.8Vja7V364.
learn. 376, 377, 379.
liehler. 4S2. ^H
like. 61. ^H
■ Uke,436,44i.
learning, s., 3.119.
■ laioB, 13.
lease [itoerdi). i,\u
■like, -I7 {suffix^ 161. ^H
■ lamb. 10.
leasing, 187.
liken. 376, 456, 468. ^H
H lambkin, 113.
leather, 137, 148.
likewise, 374. ^^H
H lame. 503.
leathern, 364.
1«y. 439> 441- ^^1
H^ Lomams, 351, 360,
leave, 67,184, ao6.
^H
374, 435, 4i)3-
led, pt. 1. and ffi..
limbeck, 403. ^^H
lance-knighl. 484.
49'-
lime, 61,134: (tree). ^H
land, 325, 401.
ledge, 466, 47Q.
370-1,403. ^H
iMdan. 8s-
'ee. 331,457. 473-
limp, z'.. 404, ^H
liQclipin, 379- ^H
land-BCBpe, uo.
leech, fi8, 318, 3ss;
lane, 503,
{Haulitial ItnH] ,
line, 60 «. ^H
Iftnk. 31S0.
457-
linen, 364, 436. 44i- ^H
e-4"
linseed, 436, 441. ^H
Up, p., 360 «., 416.
Img, ^^H
lapwing. 360, 4J5.
left, adj., J69.
■ling, -long, 123, 17s- ^H
laik, ii77. .497 ;
1^, 470.
liDger, 401. ^H
{•port), at 9.
I^icestcr, 498.
link, 360. 401: ^H
liah, I-., 483. 487-8.
leman. 374. 416, 493.
(torch), 485. ^H
laaa, 451 i laaae, 357.
lemming. 4S0.
liDstock, 48s- ^1
lano, 13.
lend, 184, J06, 3IO,
^H
laA, I. {bordenl, JS4.
370.
llixigiam. 1(6. ^H
36oi adj.. 366.
length, 101, no, 341.
liip, 179, 360 n., 377, ^H
lalch. 355-
lengthen, 276.
^H
late, 503.
lent. I.. 365-
tisEom, 162, 36B. ^H
l«li,366.
Leominxer. 4QS.
list (please), 304,310; ^H
lather, 147.
-less (n#x), 187,
(Uaten), 360, ^H
langh. 161, 360-1,
161.
listen, 2SS. iTfii '^3. ^H
401.
UaaD, 176.
3S4, 386, 36a, 3S1. ^H
laughter, 148.
lesBona, 34.
lithe, 60, 371. ^^H
u™, .3.
let (hinder), 300,210:
366. ^^H
lamock. a 3 1.
(permil). 160-1.
live, adj., 430. ^^H
law, :Sa. 341,409.
lettuce. 441.
livelihood, 119, 416. ^^H
lay, c, iSi, aoo, no,
level, jjo.
liver. 336, £01. ^^H
36s.
lew (shelter), 457.
£4- ^H
■1e, -1 Ivtrhal amx).
lewd, 497.
loaf. £6, 236, 360. ^H
»7a.
lice, 67. '95. 378.
loo". 56, 134- ^H
^ Iw.36>,4<'i.
lich-gate, 3S5, 436.
urn a
loan, 184, 139. ^^m
53^
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
loath, 55, 173, 263,
368 ; loathe, 55,
368.
lobster, 357,373,417,
436,441.
loch, 13, 446, 449.
lock, 167, 188.
-lock, -ledge, a 18.
locket, 48a
locast, 417.
lode, 57, 184, 368.
lodestone, 426.
loft, 245, 476.
log» 470-
logic, 257.
loiter, 4S5.
loll, 487.
lone, 215, 498.
lonely, 56.
long, 402.
longage, 33.
look, 50, 64.
loon, 458, 487-8.
loop, 451.
lose, 187, 261, 263,
463.
loot, 139.
lop, 485.
lord, 303, 360, 374,
426.
lordling, 223.
lore, 55, 155, 173,
184, 379-
lorn, 379.
lose, 167, 188, 379.
lost, 268.
lot, 188, 360.
loud, 66, 131, 150,
154, 270, 284, 286,
360.
lough, 445.
louse, 65, 175, 195.
lout, 186.
love, 71.
low, z'.,63, 161; adj.y
56, 456, 472.
low (mound), 231 ;
(flame), 472.
lower (2 words) ^ 411.
lubber, 451.
Lucentio, 21.
luck, 487, 488, 489.
lake- warm, 360 n .
lumber, v., 285, 286,
A69, 474.
lurk, 277, 468, 473.
lust. 245.
lustig (Du.), 484.
Ay{siMx), 273; {fldv.
suffix), 49, 61.
lyking, 35 »,
macadamised, 431.
macaroni, 13.
macintosh, 448-9.
madden, 276.
madness, 254.
maid, maidati, 246 ;
maiden, 222, 364.
maidenhead, 57.
main, j., 132, 230,
364.
make, 503.
Malkin, 223.
mallow, 232, 436,
441.
malt, 182, 407.
maltster, 256.
malt-*us, 495.
man, 71, 340.
manakin, 485.
mane, 490, 503.
maner, 33, 36.
mangle, j., 238.
manhood, 57, 218.
manner, 313.
manms, 25, 26.
mannikin, 224.
many, 271.
maple-tree, 503.
mar, 406.
mar (more), 36.
marble, 441.
inarch, s., 355.
mare, 504.
marigold, 431.
marline, 482.
marrow, 257 «.
marsh, 272, 357, 406.
marten, 372.
martyr, 439, 441.
mass, 436, 441.
matador, 13.
match, 355.
mate, 357.
maternal, 97.
matins, 313.
matter, 313.
Matthew, 319 n.
mattock, 221.
maulstiGJc, 85.
maund, 405.
mavoomeen, 446.
maw, 364, 409.
maze, 472.
mazer, 487, 489.
me, 26^ 58.
mead, meadow, 231,
503-
meal (repast), 67,175,
273 ; (of com), 230,
503-
-meal {suffix), 273.
mean, adj., 67, 263;
v., 67.
meant, 268.
measles, 4S9.
meat, 200, 227, 340,
504.
meed, 59.
meek, 465.
meerschaum, 13, 85.
meet, »., 59, 207, 211.
meet, adj., 505.
mellow, 264.
melt, 165.
mellyng, 33.
men, 190, 192.
mense, 271.
Menzies, 317.
mere, 200, 504.
mermaid, 426, 493.
mesmerise, 85.
metal, mettle, 313.
mete, 164, 504.
metheglin, 450.
me- thinks, 402.
metre, 441.
mew,//./, (mowed),
48 n.
mewl, 278.
mezzotinto, 13.
mice, 67, 93,96, 175,
195, 378.
mickle, 266.
mid, 263.
HHi^^^^^^l
^^^^^ INDEX OF ENCUSH WORDS. 533 ^^^|
B midec, 365.
moon, so, 63, 95,177.
nariBim, %%, 16, 33. ^^|
midsl. jS?.
moor. 1... 481 ; 1., 63.
nag, 487. ^H
nail, 134. 14G, 137. ^^H
mooBc, 14.
midwife, 1:5. 436.
moot, 107.
naked. 133, 134, i7°> ^^|
migbt, 344- 36=-
mop, 485.
miehty, jjo, J71.
milch, 470.
mope, 4S5.
^^1
"ore, ss, 173.
nail (awl), 371. ^^H
mild. 407.
mora, 139 ».
nBme,a3S,340-i,4i7, ^^H
mildew, 416.
monow, 364.
S°3- ^^H
mile, 60, 61,433.436.
nap (on cloth), 35S ; ^^H
mUk, H9, 196, 416;
mortal, 436. 441.
v.. 360. .^H
milt, 357. 416, 471-
mosquito , 13.
napkm, 113. ^^H
milkiop, 416.
mosle, as, 16, 37.
natrow. 44, ,64- ^H
mill. M3, 371, 436,
mole, 50s.
narwhal, 47S. ^^^1
44'-
mother, 64, 97. 98,
nase (drank), 4S3. ^^H
roilUon, 19.
104, 108. 147^,
n3S9(ass).37]. ^^H
■nilt. 357, 416, 471.
174, 246, 369.
nasty. 471. ^^H
mince. 378.
mound, 40s.
naught,377 ; not,4]l3 ; ^^H
Mtnchin, 198.
moQot, 404-5. 436.
naughty, fj. ^H
mind, J45, 40J.
nauni, >I6. 371- ^H
mine, 61.
monm. 165. 177.
nave (of awheel), 141, ^^1
minEle,40i.
minFldii, 2M, 485.
moose, 65, 96. 17s,
5°3- ^H
mondi, 65. 91, 371.
navel, ail. 238.374. ^B
minster, 303, "0.439.
nay, 463. ^H
^ 44>-
mow. J., 364; v., 55.
near, 68. ^H
■ mint (hobl. 401.439.
t6t.
neat.r..e8, [87. ^H
B 441; (bt moneyj,
much,. 29.
neatherd, 494. ^H
■ 303,
mud. 487. 488, 489-
neck, 129, 360. ^H
V miM, 485. 488.
muddle. 4H7, 4B8.
need. 59.69. 212,145. ^H
■ n.i«;,46..
mug. 451.
needle, 68, 175, 249. ^^H
mlnh, 141.
ni"BE7. 47«-
needs, 274. ^^H
mirfeedr«6.
mugwort, 365. 4j6,
mulberry, 436, 441.
neeld, 249. ^^H
miMelthmsfa,38i,4a6.
neeze(losnecie),379. ^H
tniW, I5S-
mnle, 64. 69.
^H
mistletoe, 3™. 37i.
mullein, 364.
negro. 13. ^H
381. 4'6-
murder, 347.148, 351,
ncif, 3'''i,473. 476. ^H
mii, 3J8.
368.
neigh. 67, 3^, 364. ^H
miiile. 0.. 38a.
mnrky, 35 «.
^^H
mob. 7-
murther (murder),
Deighbour,65,7l,40i, ^^H
moccusics. 14-
136, J47. 351. 368.
495- ^^H
moirta.,J76-
mmcle, mussel, 436,
nepenthe, 13. ^^H
mole (ipot). 55 ; (ui-
441.
n'^h, 357. 361. ^^H
imil), 416. 497-
muit. j.,436, 44l;p.,
.ncss {fuffix), 3£3. ^H
Monday, 63, 37»,4»6,
63.
nesUiDg, 213. ^^m
496. 498.
mutter, J 78.
net, 71,81,200, 228. ^H
money, 203.
myriad. 13.
nettle, 81, 101. 23S. ^H
monger. 404; mon-
myth, 13.
^H
grel, 1)1,404.
174- ^H
monk, 198, 404, 439,
new, 163, 377. 409. ^H
44'-
imffix',, 176.
moolh,63, J40.
newt, 216, 371. 374. ^^1
llK»d, JO. 64, 143.
nab. 471.
nibble. a78, ^H
534
INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS.
nick, 487.
nickname, a 16, 426.
niggard, 361, 473.
nigeot, 3 16.
nigh,58, 89, 265, 361,
401.
night, 34^, 36a.
nightingiue, 37a, 4a6.
niffhtmare, 427, 503.
niU ^newill), 216.
nim, 40a.
nimble, 181, 375.
nine, 364, 401.
ninth, 154.
nip, nibble, 358.
nipple, aaa.
nit, 361.
no, a6, 54.
nod, 361.
node, 417.
noggin, 451.
nonce, 216.
none, 56.
nook, 451.
noon, 50, 63, 69, 436,
437» 441.
nor, 498.
Norfolk, 369.
Nonnan, 369, 480.
north, 268.
northern, 267.
Norton, 496.
Norway, 369.
Norwich, 369.
nose, 379, 504.
nostril, 368, 376, 427,
493.
not, 55, 362, 426.
notch, 487.
Nottingham, 258.
noon, 417.
now, 65, 92, 175.
nowise, 274.
nozzle, 222, 378.
nude, 417.
nugget, 216.
numb, 181, 375.
nun, 404, 437, 441.
nuncheon, 427.
nuncle, 216, 37a.
nursling, 223.
nut, 303, 361.
oaf, 45<^-
oak, 57, 17a ; oaken,
264.
oakum, 437.
oar, 55.
oast-house, 427.
oaten, a64.
oath, 55, 88, i7a-3,
aa6.
oats, 57.
odd, 47a.
of, off, 139, 373, 415,
498, 499-
offal, 4a 7.
offer, 348, 373, 384,
437» 441-
oft, 71, 81, 340.
old, 44, 154, 407, 50a.
-om {suffix), a75.
on, 71,340, 401; (/r«-
fix), ai6.
once. 274, 378.
one, 56, 173.
only, 56.
ooze, 377-8'
open, 276, 504, 506.
opera, 13.
opossum, 14.
or, 427, 498.
orange, a 16.
orchard, 364, 365,
437-
ordeal, a 16, 4a7.
organ, 441, 44a.
orlop, 48a.
orrery, 445.
orts, 217, 487-9.
ostrich, 431.
other, 63, 92, 108,
H9» 154, 178, 370,
37 1» 40a.
otter, 135, 236.
ouch, 216.
ought, 54.
ounce, 417.
our, 26, 65.
ousel, 252, 375.
out,6<5, i34;(/fT5/Jjf),
217 ; out and out,
489.
outcry, 430.
onter, utter, 415.
outlaw, 4do.
outmost, 265.
oven, 339.
over, 137, 139, 504;
{,pnfix\ 217.
overpower, 430.
owe, a77, 364.
owl, 65.
own, 56, 376, 277,
3^-
ox, 358-
ozlip, 437.
oyster, 44a.
pad, 483, 488.
padder, 483.
paddle, aaa, 380.
paddock, aai, 376.
pad-nag, 483.
pain, 61.
pall (I), 437, 441.
palm, 407, 439, 440,
441.
palter, 469.
pamper, 487, 489.'
pan, 437» 44i-
panoply, 13.
papal, 57.
paper, 440, 441.
paroxysm, 337.
parricide, 290.
partake, 431.
Pasch, 440, 441.
pash, 471.
pasha, 13.
patch, 487, 489.
paternal, 97.
path, 81, 8a, 137.
patter, 278.
pea, 380, 437, 441;
pease, 460.
peace, 314.
peach, 442.
pear, 437, 441, 503.
pearl, 442.
pease, 460.
pebble, 373.
peccadillo, 13.
penance, 25, 26.
penny, 201, 259,437.
441.501.
pent, ao8.
■BJH V
^m INDEX OF ENCUSH WORDS, 535 ^^|
^H people, 33, 306, 316.
poppy-437. 44I.50I-
quendl, 165, lSl,loi, ^^H
^r pepper. 440. «'■
Por-t (poor), 38.
355- ^^1
p^- \h.
pork. 138.
qnem, 133. 939- , ^H
pomdge, 376.
quick, 133, 133. 163. ^H
periwinkle ^Sd>). 371.
pot. 433. 437-
quicken, 176. ^^H
Ptn [paroej, j8.
post(l), 437, 441.
quid.330, 409, 415. ^^H
A«.36-
pound, 404,438,441.
qoitch-grass, 113. ^^H
pheni., 440, 441.
prad (horse), 483.
^H
philibeg, 448-i).
prance, 3^6.
piBOofoTte, tj.
praltlc, 37S, 469.
^H
pibroch, 13,443-9.
preach, 443.
rabble, 487. 48S, 489- ^H
piecemeal, j;3.
preci»e. 390.
lacoon. 14. ^^H
pikerd, »..
present, 411.
rack (cloud), 473. ^^H
pilch, 437, 441.
prickle, 237.
raft. 467. ^^H
pildLml. 45..
pride, 66, 67. io8.
raid. 416, 463. 466- ^H
pie (J). 4J7. 44'-
3.1,366.
rail (oight^tiesa). 337. .^I
H piUion, 44$.
priest, 30, 69, 440,
364- ^H
H T»ll'>'*, J3j,437,44i.
441.
tbId. 7^1 '39. 364- ^^H
■ pilot. 4S>.
prime. 438, 441.
niie, i.ii, 305, 416, ^^H
■ pimple, »..
primero. 13.
prince, 350.
463. 4M, 472. ^H
■ pm, 437, 441.
rake, v., 416. ^^H
H pbdRr,i04, iioipio-
proud, 66, 308, 351,
takehcll, rake, 366, ^^H
■ ner, 104.
H piiw,f.,6i,433, 437.
366.
provDit. 438.
M'^SX.xm. ■
f pine (tree), 61, 6,.
psalm, 407, 440, 441.
lamsons, 361. ^H
" 437. 44«.
plarmigan, 448-9.
ransack, 473, 479. ^H
pinfold, 41-.
puck, 451.
n»>t, 48s. ^H
pok (beat), 481,484.
pug. 45'-
rap, v., 361, 473. ^H
pint. 403.
pumice, 438. 441.
rape, 473. ^H
rape (Sussex), 361. ^H
pipkia. j»3.
punster, 356.
pit.^^oS.4.,7. 441.
punt. 404. 438.44'.
lapparce. 445- ^H
pilch, 437, 441.
Mr chattle, 38.
rash, 173. ^^H
plaid, 448-9.
Pi. 469.
ralch, 355. ^H
pUnl, 437, 441.
iath,4SH.,,^6i;raIher, ^H
plash. 487, 488, 489-
quack, /..quacksalTer,
^^1
plaster, 440. 441.
484-
rattle, 378, 361. ^^H
plentiful, 430.
ilDfldroon. 13.
ravel, ^^H
plight, J44.
quaff. 447, 449.
raven, 339. 3^'. 374. ^H
plongh, 361. 458,459.
quagmiie, 437.
5031(1 W(<rijtt),4l I. ^^H
plough -share, jsa.
quaigh. 447.
r>». 36s, ^B
plover, 139.
quail, »., 163, l3l.
reach. 69, 355, 41<S) ^^1
plnm, 440. 441.
quake. S03.
(retch), 36'. ^H
S3vS,»,.
qualm. 133, 181, 134.
read, 59, 68, 161 ; pt. ^^H
407-8.
^^H
poetaster, 356,
qunndaiy, 473. 479-
read)', 184- ^H
pole, 437, 441.
qunrti, K5.
^H
pontoon, 404.
quash, 408.
reap, f66, 504. ^^H
pony, 451.
quean, 504.
rear, i'., 67, i;o, tS,i, ^^H
poodle. 85.
queasy. 464, 473, 476.
'•0. 379. 4ifi. ^H
pooli, 459.
queen, 58, 133, 317,
pool. 433. 437.
303, 3S8.
reave, .39. .871 be. ^H
pope. 57. 09. 440-1-
queU, 133. »i. "0-
reave, 139. ^^H
53«
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
red, 8iy 108,116, 136,
187, 263.
-red \suffix\ 218.
redden, 270.
reechy, 355.
reed, 69, 361.
reef, j., 482.
reek, 59, 167, 187.
reel (dance), 448-9;
(for yam), 361.
reeve, 482.
reft, 268.
refund, 287, 289.
refute, 289.
rein, 72, 73.
reindeer, 464.
rend, 303, 361.
rescind, 290.
retch, 361.
rhyme, 61, 91, 334.
rhymester, 256.
rib, 228.
•ric {suffix) i 218.
rich, 61, 129, 355.
rick, 59, 361.
riddle, 238, 253, 361,
380.
ride, 62, 166.
ridge, 228, 361, 365,
460 ; rig, 414.
Riding, 259, 473, 476,
479-
rife, 458.
rifle, v.y 361, 469.
rift, 241, 466-7.
rig (ridge), 365, 414,
470.
right, adj., 129, 269,
401.
righteous, 262.
rigidncss, 254.
rime, 61, 361.
rimer, 209.
rind, 361, 402.
ring, 131, 165, 361.
rink, 361.
rinse, 279, 469, 480.
ripe, 62, 184.
ripen, 276.
ripple, 361, 469.
rise, 60, 150, 151,
166.
rite, 442.
rive, 20, 166, 458,
467, 471.
rivet, 480.
rix-dollar, 85.
road, 57, 184, 416.
roar, 55.
roe,54, 173, 239,362,
473-3-
rokkedf 34.
rood, 50, 64, 83, 174.
roof, 361.
rook, 64, 128, 361.
room, 65. 71, 234.
roomy, 209.
roost, 63, 361.
root, 377, 416, 458,
473.
root up, rout up, v.,
377-
rope, 57, 89.
rose, 440, 441, 504.
rotten, 188, 467.
rouble, 13.
rough. 65, 71, 263,
361.
roughen, 276.
round (to whisper),
370-
rouse, 361, 459, 472.
rover, 482, 485.
row, v.y 63, 161.
row (noise), 459.
rub, 451.
ruck, 361, 472-3.
rudder, 247, 368.
ruddock, 221.
ruddy, 255.
rue, v., 167, 361.
ruffle, 485.
rumble, 278.
rummage, 492.
rumple, 361.
nm, 165, 376; runs,
499.
rung, s.f 226, 361.
runnel, 222.
rush, V.J 361.
rust, 254, 255.
rustle, 278, 469.
ruth, 240, 361, 466,
467* 473.
-s, //. suffix y 48.
-s, -cc, -se, 274.
sabbaUi, 10.
sack, 440, 441.
sadden, 376.
saddle, 337.
sadness, 254.
sag. 470-
saga, 480.
swl, 237, 364.
saint, 442.
sake, 207, 503.
saly 36.
sale, 202, 476, 503.
sallow, 264.
sally (willow), 257.
salt, 81, 269.
salt-cellar, 431.
salve, 407 n,
sapling, 223.
sark, 406.
sassafras, 289.
sat, 340.
Saturday, 426.
scevacioufiy 25, 26.
save, 38.
savine, 438, 441.
saw (tool), 202, 290,
364, 409 ; (saying).
202, 416.
saxifrage, 289.
say, 201, 341.
scab, 291 ; scabby,
381, 415 ; shabby,
415-
scald, adj.y 470.
scald (poet), 470.
scale, 291, 381.
scall, 291, 470.
scallop, scalp, 292.
scalpel, 292.
scant, 467, 470.
scantling, 223.
scape-goat, 431.
scar (rock), 291, 406,
470; scaur, 291.
scarce, 292.
scare, 470.
scarf, 291, 470.
scarify, 291.
scarp, 291.
scathe, 136, 162.
^BJHI^
^^^^^^^^ mOEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. Slz'^^^H
H scatter, 390, 415 ;
seamstress, 256.
share, t8t, 191. 503, ^^^|
^K shatter. 4111.
se>r, 58.
505 ; (ofa ptoughl, ^^H
scent, 318, 334.
seat, 182, 461-3. 466.
^^H
Mile l/ir site), 3>8.
sharp, S3, 138, 391. ^^H
schedule, 19=-
sharpen, 376. ^^^H
schifiin, vchjst, 200,
shatter, 290, 415. ^^H
school, 440, 44t.
sedge, 203, 310, 239,
sbave. 139, 163, 391. ^^^H
H_ schooner, 3S1, 481,
190. 365.
shaveling, 333. ^^H
■
see, 69, 164, 176,
Shaw. 364, 381. ^H
^B science, 318.
34°-l. 363.
she, 6g, 176. ^^B
■ sdou, )8g.
seed, 68, 17s, ^5-
sheaf, 68, 1S7. ^^1
H sciisors, 390.
seek, 59, 307,311,354.
shear, 163. 291, 504. ^^H
■ scoff. 487. 48S.
teem, 58.
sheath, 67, 290, 36R; ^^^B
■ icold, 487, 488.
seemly. 461.
sheathe, 390, 368. ^^^1
■ "oU, jj.
seethe, 69, I6S, 167,
shebeen, 446. ^^H
■ scoop, 4*8, 470.
/rrf/CA.I.),i79.>8o.
(76.
shed, 161, 390. 303. ^^H
Kg (sedge). 3^5-
sheen, ^^H
wore, tSi, 191. 504.
«™ent, 389.
sheep, 44, S3. ^^H
scorpion, 138,19'-
scid-t, 38.
sheer, 470. ^H
scotch, v.. 470.
itkt, 38.
sheer off, 391, 483. ^^H
^ scot-free, 188, 427.
seldom, 275, 430.
sheet, £9, 187. ^H
^ ScotlJBl), >7i.
sell. 303, 210.
sheldrake. 437. ^H
^H scoundrel, 370.
«niP»«e'. 373:»enip-
^H
H sconce, agl.
slress. 356.
shell, 200. 339, 391, ^^1
H scout, v., 460, 470.
send, 15s, 300.
^H
^H scowl, 460. 470.
semiiEht, 417, 498.
seraph. 10.
shelter, 437. ^^H
H scraggy. 470-1.
shelve, 470. ^H
shepherd, 494. ^^H
^B scrap, tcrapc, 291,
serrated, jBg.
V 470< SOJ-
semce-tree, 438,441.
sherd, 391. ^H
^H scratch. 470.
set, 181, 200, 210.
sheriff, 427. 493. 49;. ^H
GcrcBDi, 461, 470.
settle, J., iSi, 237.
shidc, 290. ^H
serecch,4i6, 457,470.
seven, 155, 340.
shield, 246. ^H
shielin, shealing. 46.;. ^^H
screed, 291,414.
seventh, IJ4.
scrip, 291, 470.
sew,^.A(sowe<l),48n.
shift. 344. ^^H
shillelagh, 44<;. ^^B
shabby. 391, 381.
scruple, 292.
shade, shadow , 132,
shilling, 359, ^H
scTTiliny, 291.
h°h-
shine. 61, 166, 303. ^^m
send, ^, 470-1.
shalt, 342, 291.
^H
icufflc, tSS, 411S, 469,
shah, 13.
shingle (tite), 39° 1 ^H
470.
shake, 159, 163, 16S,
(gravel), 466, 471. ^^H
ship, S3, 336, 417. ^^m
sculk, 277. 46a. 470.
3.13, .157. S«3-
scull (oar), 470.
shale, 85, 191.
•ship, 3 1 8. ^^H
sculpture, 191.
shin. 391, 416, 465, ^^H
«uin. 465 «.. 470.
shame, 357, 381. 503,
^H
scuille, v., 466, 469,
shamefaced, 361.
shive, 458. ^^H
470T J., 438, 441.
shamrock, lai, 444,
shiver,^^,. 4(H,; >., ^H
scythe, 290, 334, 378.
44S-
^^1
-a« {Vtrbal suffix).
shank, 136.
shoal, 440, 441, 504. ^^H
379.
shanty, 446,
shock (of com),' 487, ^H
sen, J2, 67, 94, 3JO,
shape, 163, 179, ;9i.
489. ^H
322. 340-1. J06.
.^03-
shoe, 63. 174, 226. ^^H
senm. 68, 176, 234.
shard, 391.
363 ; shoes, 44. ^^H
538
INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS.
shog, 451.
shone, 56, 299.
shook, 64.
shoot, 167.
shore, 291.
short, ao3, 291.
shorten, 276.
shot, 188.
shoulder, 381.
shove, 141, 167, 188.
shovel, 237.
shower, 65.
shred, 292, 414 ;
screed, 414.
shrewd, 497.
shriek, 416, 457.
shrift, 185, 241.
shrike, 458.
shrine, 61, 62, 69, 438,
441.
shrink, 165.
shrive, 60, 166, 438,
441.
shrivel, 469.
shroud, 66, 292.
Shrove-Tuesday, 184.
shudder, 48 7, 488, 489.
shuffle, 188, 416, 466,
469.
shunt, 473, 474.
shut, 189, 204, 381.
shuttle, 189, 237,239,
253.
shy, 461.
sick, 263.
sicken, 276.
sickle, 238, 289, 438,
441.
side, 62.
sideling, 275.
sieve, 334, 501.
sigh, 166, 356.
sight, 244, 368.
silk, 258, 440-1.
silken, 264.
sill, 229.
silly, 271.
silver, 44, 196.
silvern, 264.
simper, 469.
sin, 179, 229.
sin (since), 26.
since, 378, 430, 498.
sinew, 232.
nng, 165.
singe, i8a, aoa, aio,
365. 40a.
sink, 165.
sir, 20.
siren, 327.
sirloin, 5.
siskin, 223, 480.
sister. 247, 377, 468.
sit, 135, 164.
six, 358.
sixth, 154, a68; sixt,
268.
skarf, 291.
skates, 380.
skein, 444, 445.
skerry, 291.
skew, 487.
skewer, 470.
skid, 290, 470.
skiff, 417.
skill, 291, 470.
skim, 465, 470.
skin, 381, 470.
skink, 402.
skip, 451.
skipper, 482.
skirt, 291, 416, 465,
470.
skittish, 465-6, 470.
skittles, 465-6, 47a
skull, 291.
skunk, 14.
sky, 461, 470.
slabber, 487, 488.
slack, 130.
slacken, 276.
slag. 470, 480,
slain, 152. 154.
slake, 503.
slang, 466.
slates, 483.
slattern, 474.
slaughter, 248.
slave, 285, 286.
slaver, 469.
slay, 162, 362.
sledge, 472.
sledge-lmnimer, 365,
427.
sleek, 457.
sleep, 68, 8a, 158,
161, 175, 3a6.
sleeve, 58.
sleight, 244, 46a,
467.
slender, 487.
slept, 44, 268.
slew, 63.
slick, 457.
slide, 62, 136, 166.
slight, 269, 487-^.
slime, 61, 234.
sling, 165.
slink, 165.
slip, 167, 185.
slippery, 266.
slit, 166, 185.
sloe, 54, 173.
slogan, 13, 447, 449.
sloop, 481.
slop, 188.
slope, 184.
slot, 487, 488.
sloth, 241.
slouch, 459, 470.
slough (mire), 361,
452.
sloven, 485.
slubber, 469, 488.
slug, 470-1.
slughom, 448.
slumber, 367, 375.
sly, 245, 462.
smack (boat), 371,
482.
smallage, 431.
smart, v., 406.
smash, 471.
smatter, 469.
smear, 504.
smelt, X'.,38o, 465, 48a
smile, 277.
smirk, 277.
smite, 62, 166.
smoke, 167. 188, 226.
504-
smooth, 107.
smother, 376.
smoulder, 376.
smug, 470-1.
smuggle, 469,
^kfli^ ^
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS. 539 ^^|
s»ate, 485. 588.
«n«U, .137. 364.
»our, 65. .73.
sprightly. ^^H
Mulh. 6s, 93, i68.
spring, 163, ^^H
snap, 485.
sow, f., iS. 161,330
tprout, 487, 48S. ^^^H
loeali, 61.
40'; '1 364; (
spurn, ^^H
Jtmrds), 411.
sputter, 469. ^^H
sneeie, 378, 379, 381.
«pwlc, 503.
squab, ^^H
mip, 485.
sj>ild (A,S.), 349,
squabble, 469, 47 [. ^^H
•nipe, 4S8.
»niie, 461.
spalpeen, 445.
s(|aander. 469, 474. ^^H
span, 161.
sqnssh, 381. ^H
mWel, 465.
spangle, J J 2.
squaw. 14. ^H
snob, 471.
spare, 503.
squeak. 46]. ^^H
snuul, 4'"-
spark, 316.
squeal. 463. 469. ^^H
snow, 55, 331. 377.
sparkle, 113, 173.
•quee», 381. ^H
snub, 47:.
sparrow, jjj, 377.
squill, 190. ^^^B
srniff, 485.
space, 447, 449.
Blofr. slave, 4I3. ^^^1
unuffle, »78.
speak, 130, 157, 164,
slag, 470-, ^H
""g. 470-1.
376. .wj, {03, 306
stagger, 469. 471. ^H
stiur, t85, 106. 337. ^^m
»o, 16. i4, 377
sptar, 304.
»o«k.saf-
speech. 68, 175, 181
^m
lock, 43S. 44 1.
376.
stake, 336, 503. ^^H
speed, 59, 130, 308
sulk, ».. 177- ^M
(Od, 188.
34s. 3»o-
spend, 4j8, 441, 498
stalwart, 163. ib^. ^^H
■oddcD, 1^5-
^H
soft, J69, 375. 4oa-
spew, ipnc, 60, 166.
stand, v.. i;7. 163. ^^H
KjftCT, J 76.
spick and span-new
slang, i.. 183. 46*' ^H
^ sokciokcii. 180,139.
479-
spider, 368, 371.
Stanton. 496. ^H
^ sold, 44, 407.
^H
■ M,l^ ,., 438, 44'-
spikenard, 431.
staple, 137. 487 ".. ^H
■ Mio, 13.
ipille. ■I',, 16, iS.
^H
H .iome (»#<), 361.
spilt, 368.
star, 406. ^m
B son, 71, 340, 34t,
spin, 163.
starboard, 438, 494. ^^M
H 404, 411-3.
spindle, 137, 370.
starch, 35£. ^H
H lonatt, 13.
Epi osier, 156.
Stare. 503. ^H
^P UHlg, iSl, 30], 401.
spit, v., 44.
jfai/ 16, 36. ^^1
^ ionEaa, 356.
spittle, 137, J49,
soDgslreM, ij6.
iplay, 498.
starling. 113. ^^H
Kjon. JO, 63.
starve. 38. 165. 406. ^H
•ooth, 49, JO, 63, 178,
splice. 483.
Starveling. 313. ^H
'SO. 368. 401.
splint, 403.
staves.//.. 503. ^H
»ootbe, 36S.
split. 4ya
stead. I3<3. 30O, 34^. ^H
soothMyer, 438.
splutter, 469.
steadfast. 361. ^^H
lophiM, 154.
spoke. J., 57.
464. ^^H
spoken, i,';7- 504-
steal. 163. 340, foj. ,^^H
Midid, 135.
spool, 487, 488.
stcaltb, 340. ^^^B
•ore, 55. "73, "*-.
spoon, 63, 93.
steam. 334. ^H
«orty, 314.
sporran, 448-9.
stee, 61 ^^H
longhl, i68, 36a.
sonl, 55, a37. 377.
sport. 498.
steed, 39, 3o8, jii. ^^H
spout, 460.
345. ^^H
_ tooiid fof *ea), 343,
sprag, fl^;,47i.
^^H
^ 405 ; adj., 4es ; v.
sprat, 485, 489.
steelyard. 494. ^^H
H lU>plumti),48o:(3
sprawl, 469.
steep, v., 464. ^^H
H werrfr), 410.
»prig, 356.
steeple, 309,111,337. ^^H
540
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS,
steer, j., 191, 336.
stem (of tree), 375.
stench, 182, 202, 210.
step, 138, 162, 202.
stepchild, 428.
steppe, 13.
-ster {^suffix), 256.
sterling, 223.
stern, adj.y 267.
sterueuy 28.
steward, 60, 364,409,
428.
stick, 129, 164.
stickle, 237, 253.
sticklebadc, 428.
stickler, 366.
stiff, 263.
stiffen, 276.
stifle, 469.
stile, 61, 13^, 185,
337' 327, 304-
stiletto, 13.
stilt, 467.
sting, 165.
stingy, 365.
stink, 165.
stint, 165, 204, 210.
stirk, 191, 195, 209,
211, 221.
stirrup, 61, 184, 428,
494-5-
stole, 440, 441.
stolen, 504.
stone, 56, 87-8, 172,
I73» 239» 309, 310-
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),
4S2.
strange, 33.
strap, strop, 417,438,
441.
strath, 446, 447, 449.
straw, 231.
stream, 68, 93, 96,
175, 334-
street, 68, 432, 433,
438.
strength, 150, 302,
210, 141.
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, 184,409,504.
snch, 355, 376-7,
428.
suck, 167, 492,493.
suckling, 223.
suds, 187, 368.
Suffolk, 494.
sulky, 371.
sultry, 377.
summer, 236, 501.
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- {7vords beginnings
with), 408.
swab, 482 ; swabber,
485.
swagger, 469, 470.
swain, 464.
swallow, J., 23a ; r.,
165, 3^4-
swamp, 183.
swarm, 234*
swart, 135, 260, 366 ;
swarthy, 360.
swash, 471.
sway, 464, 466.
swear, 162, 197, 200,
503.
sweat, »., 135, 206.
swell, 165.
sweep, 161.
sweet, 59, 135, 174,
263-4.
sweeten, 276.
sweetheart, 428.
swept, 268.
swift, 26p.
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; jrc/wr
38.
sylvan, 327,
syncope, 291.
syren, 327.
-t (//. suffix), 268.
table, 442.
tadpole, 428.
tag, 470.
tail, 238, 364, 401.
take, 20, 162, 467,
503-
tale, 503.
talk, 277 «.
tamarind, 431.
tame, 81, 134.
tanist, 445.
tantalise, 13.
taper, 451,503.
tapster, 356.
tar, 230, 331, 4cd.
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS,
541
tart, adj.y 369.
tartan, 449 n,
tattle, 132, 278.
tattoo, 14.
taught, 268.
Taunton, 496.
tawdry, 366,
tea, 13, 21.
teach, 68, 355.
team, 68, 23^
teamster, 256.
tear, s., 68, 115, 134,
236, 362, 411 ; v.,
134. 163,411,503.
tease, 67.
teasel, 67, 237.
teem, 58,. 209, 2ri.
teen, 240.
-teen, 58.
teeth, 58, 90.
tegument, 135.
tell, 202, 210.
temple, 438, 441.
ten, 58,108,131, 134.
tether, 369.
-th (ordinal), 268.
thane, 239, 364.
thank, 81.
that, 26, 81, 135,
467.
thatch, 128, 135, 355#
415-6.
thaw, 55, 161.
the, 26, 499.
thee, 58.
theft, 209, 211, 241,
368.
their, 464.
thence, 378.
they, 33, 304, 464,
499, 501 ; 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, 41 5; thrill,
415-
thirst, 135, 245.
thirteen, 376.
thistle, 237.
thither, 309.
thole, 135, 505.
thong, 183, 377, 402.
thorn, 86 n., 135, 240.
thorough, through,
361.
thorough-fare, 217.
thorp, 82,83, 135, 137.
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, 135.
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, 504.
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, J., 369.
tilth, 240.
timber, 134, 237, 375.
time, 61, 235.
tind, v., 402.
tinder, 237, 403.
tine, J., 370.
tinkle, 278.
tippet, 440, 441.
tipple, 469.
tipsy, 469.
tiro, 327.
tithe, 371.
titmouse, 428.
titter, 278.
to, 26, 62, 134, 341,
415, 498, 499; too,
62, 174, 341, 415,
498, 499, 506.
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 {sujffix\ 496.
tongue, no, 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, I95»
371. 402.
topsyturvy, 428.
54a
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
tornado, 13.
Tory, 445-
Tottenham, 496.
totter, 3i3» 377-
touch-wood, 488.
toagh, 62, 361.
toughen, 276.
touse, tease, 415.
tow, 134.
toward, 262.
town, 65, 134.
toy, 485.
trade, 181.
tramp, 134.
trample, 278.
trap-rode, 480.
trauayU, 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.y 487.
Tuesday, 426, 496,
498.
tug, 134,167,187,487.
tumble, 278.
Tunbridge, Tunstall,
Tun worth, 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, 403.
twirt, 254,
twit, 166, 217.
twitch, 355.
twitter, 278.
two, 54, 108, 134, 173,
408.
two-pence, 494, 495.
tyru, 198.
ndder, 116, 136, 237.
ngly, 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; (/r/f-
Jix\ 217.
upbraid, 364.
upholsterer, 370.
upper, 137.
uproar, 485.
urge, 129.
us, 92, 371.
usquebaugh, 445.
vain, 321 n.
Valhalla, 475, 479.
vane, 373, 503.
vanilla, 13.
varmin, 407.
'varsity, 407.
vat, 373, 374 »., 488.
vault, 32.«j «.
-ve {for final -y), 329.
veneer, 85.
verb, 417.
verbal, 136.
Tcrmicelli, 13.
ver»e, 438, 441.
yerst, 13.
victuals, 325.
vikingf 475» 479-
yinewed, 373.
vineyard, 360.
vista, 13.
vixen, 29, 203, a 10,
339 »•» 374.
understond'€^ 38.
vsage, 34.
vsethy 34.
wa- {words beginning
v.nth\ 408.
wabble, 373.
wacke, 85.
waddle, 278.
wade, 162, 503.
wag, v., 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,
503; 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.
wane, 503.
wanion, 370, 497.
want, 408, 468, 475.
wanton, 217, 408, 497.
wapentake, 479.
■ ■
1 ^1
^^^^^ INDEX OF ENGUSH WORDS. 543^^^B
■ wapa-wasp, 38J.
wedge, 128. 36s.
whirl, 469, 473, 473. ^^H
■ wur, 408.
wedlock, 319, 496.
whisk, 471, 474. ^^H
wuble, 178.
Wednesday. 370, 416,
whiskey. 13,448-9. ^^H
word, a43, 40S, 4:7.
498.
whisper, 278. ^^H
-ward (/«#t), 1S3,
weed (1), 68 [ (i),69.
whistle. 27S. ^^H
16a, 173.
week. 226,504.
^^H
W»Tl0ck,'408.
w«r>, 58.
Whitby, Wbitchtircb, ^^1
waim, »6;, 408,
weep, 39, 15B. 161,
494- ^^H
wannth, 241.
J07.
white, 6>, 81, 263. ^^H
warn. 408.
weet, :3s.
whiten, 276. ^^^1
warp, 16s, 183, 408.
weevil, 504.
whither, 369. ^^^1
■ watraat, 360 n.
weft, 24<.
whiting, 239. ^^^H
H watt, 408.
weieh, '64, 364.101-
whitlow, 480. ^^1
■ -wart [«#!■. .6j.
weight, 342.
whitster, whitleathet. ^H
H was, 164, 408, 499.
^H wash, 16], 357, 408.
weird, 227.
491' ^H
weld, v^ 480.
Whitsimday. 494. ^H
H waib-'na, 495.
well, !■., 161; J., 229;
whittle, 185, 369. ^^H
H wasp, 383, 408.
(sa«n6),4.».
who, 34, 123, 133. ^H
■ wa.»il,^>8.
H vraste, 169, J70.
wellaway, 428, 462.
361, 377, 408. ^H
Welsh, 202, 2.0, 272.
whole, 35, 88, 95. ^^H
H watch, 355. 408.
36>.
171-3. 190, 194. ^H
^H water, 81, 133, 137,
welter, 378.
iSj. 377-8, 4t<i- ^H
■ 40S, 503-
wend, 183, 990, 210.
whoop. 64 «., 378. ^H
^K watUc, J37, 408, 415.
wept, 268.
whortleberry, 363. ^^H
^m wauch, v^ 447.
were. 379, 506-
whose, 379. ^H
^H waacht, s., 447.
wen, 145 n.
why, 66, 303, 430. ^H
^H waul, 178.
werwolf, 428.
wick, 433, 438. ^H
^1 wan. »., £03.
west, 269.
wicket, 186, 480. ^^H
^r wax, v., 131, 162,
Weston. 496.
wide, ^H
^ MS: ^.,358.
whale, 304.
widow, 116, 136, 232. ^H
waxen, 264.
wharf. 408.
width, 241,492. ^^H
wield, 161. ^^H
way, jifi, 401.
what, 134, 362. 408,
-way.-ways. 173, 174.
467; who, 362.
wight, t.. 245, 362: ^^H
wajwaid, 361.
wheal, 68.
^/.4(i8' ^1
we, 58, 89. ^
weak, 183,464, 475.
wh^! \^
wigwam, 14. ^^H
wife, 60. ^H
weatfCD, 176.
wheel, 69.
wild, 263, 407. ^^H
weal. 503.
wheew,i33,i6i,379.
weald, wold, »46.
whelk, 258, 362 ; (1
wile,6o,4'7- ^H
wealth, 150, 340.
words), 410.
mlk, 25S, 362. ^^H
weapon, J39.
whence, 378.
will. 22^9. ^H
wear, 138, 163, loo,
wheny, 473.
■wiiu, 23-6. is, 38. ^^1
503; worn, 158.
whether, 27a.
wimbenr, 370, 494. ^^H
weary. 58, J7J,379.
whey, 67.
wimble. 474. ^H
which, 335, 376- 4'y-
^H
wealhe'r,"s48, 369.
while,6o,90,95-'33.
winch, tig, 335. ^^H
174. »3S.
wind, s., 130, 231, ^^^H
weave, 141, 164, 504.
whilom, 273.
403 v., 163, 401. ^^H
^1 web, lot, laS.
whiut, 367. 430,
windlass, 474, 4S0. ^^H
B Webitn, >s6.
whimper, 371, 373 «.
window, 480. ^^^H
^H wed,!'., 300; f„ 300,
whin. 431.
wine, fit, 61, 175, ^^H
^K
whiprtw, 256.
340-1 . 433> 438. ^^H
544
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS,
wing, 475.
winkle, 129.
winnow, 373.
winsome, 305, a 10,
26a.
winter, 237.
wire, 60.
wise {suffix) f 274.
wise, 60, 263; J., 417.
-wise (suffix), 262.
wiseacre, 85.
wish, 67, 71, 208-9,
357-
wist, 268.
wit,».,i35, 340. 415;
J., 228; (wise man),
226.
witch, wicked, 355.
with, 304, 499.
within, 372.
without, 372.
withstand, 218.
witling, 223.
wittol, wit wall, 409.
wivern, 360 «.
wizen, 379.
wo- (words bcginniftg
with), 408.
woad, 57.
woe, 54, 173.
woke, 64, 158.
wold, weald, 246, 415.
wolf, 123, 226.
woman, 374, 429 ;
women, 60.
womb, 226, 408.
wombat, 14.
womman^ 26.
wonder, 237, 248.
tuofie}, 33.
wont, 30 «., 269 ;
wonted, 369.
woo, 63.
wood, 409.
woodbine, 370, 402-3,
409.
wooden, 264.
woodruff, 429.
wood wale, 409, 429.
woof, 378, 429.
woollen, 264.
word, 136, 417.
work, 5,, 129, 209,
yawl, 482.
228, 406.
yawn, 131, 363.
work-*us, ^95.
world, 400, 429.
y-clept, 218, 363.
ye, 58, 303, 363* 375-
worldling, 223.
yea, yes, 363, 375.
worm, 235.
yean, 364,
wormwood, 429.
yeanlinjj, 223.
worship, 368.
year, ^, 226, 363,
wort, root, 416.
375 ; yore, 375.
worth, v., 165 ; adj..
yearling, 223.
263 ; J., 406.
yearn (to desire), 131,
wot (I), 57, 88, 135.
363; (to grieve).
wound, //., 405.
364.
woven, 504.
yeast, 363, 506.
wrack, 202.
yede, 48 «., 363.
wrangle, 183.
yell, 165, 363.
wrap, lap, 415, 416.
yellow, 131,264,363.
wreak, 129, 164, 503.
yellow-hammer, 429.
wreath, 67, 185, 206,
yelp, 363.
210, 368; wreathe,
yen (eyes), 38.
368.
yeoman, 429.
ivrecchc^ 25, 26.
yes, 363, 430.
wreck, 182, 210.
yesterday, 132, 274,
wrench, 355.
363* 372, 430.
wrest, 206.
yet, 363, 375-
wrestle, 278, 366.
yeue, 26.
wretch, 182, 202,210,
yew, 377, 409.
229, 318, 355-
yex, 358, 363-
Wright, 245, 376.
yield, 165, 363.
wring, 165.
y-knou^c, 33.
wrinkle, 237.
y-melkd, 33.
wrist, 254, 368.
yoke, 44, 122, 133.
writ, 185.
226, 299, 375, 505.
write, 62, 166, 377.
yolk, 258.
writhe, 60, 91, 166.
yon. 363, 375-
wrong, 183, 402.
yore, 55.
wrote, 57.
you, 375, 377 ; your.
wroth, 55, 184.
375-
wrought, 268, 376.
young, 263, 303, 363,
wuss (Scotch), 209.
375-
youngling, 223.
your, 26, 375.
y {letter^, 66.
youth, 44, 241, 250-1,
y- {prefix), 33.
375-
yacht, 481.
Yule, 363.
yard (court), 131, 299,
ywis, 218, 363.
352, 353, 363,369;
(rod), 44, 352, 363.
yare, 44, 231, 265,
zanana, zenana, 133.
363.
zest, 290.
yam, 239, 363.
zinc, 85.
yarrow, 232, 265.
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, 515.
Anglo-French writing, influence
of, 308.
Anglo-Saxon or Wessex dialect,
45, 77 ; specimen of, 47-8.
Aphesis defined, 385 ; examples
of, 385.
Apocope, 390.
Aryan family of languages, 101-2 ;
Aryan types, 11 3-4; dental
sounds, 115; labials, 117-9;
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, 480, 517.
Chaucer quoted, 24, 25, 26, 516.
Chronology, use of, 5-7.
Cognate words explained, 85-6.
Compound words, 418-420; lists
of obscure compounds, 420-
430» 476-480.
Confluence of forms, 351-2, 409;
the term defined, 409.
Consonants, classiflcation of, 344 ;
changes in sound of, 350;
changes in symbols for, 35 r ;
hbtory of, 353-383; table of
regular substitution of, 1 25 ;
VOL. I. N
insertion of, 395 ; influence of,
on vowels, 476.
D, history of, 369.
Danish language, 76 ; words bor-
rowed from, 480.
Dates, useful, 14.
Doublets, 41 4-8.
Doubling of consonaiitt, 35i-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 ;
S>uroes of, 8-18 ; brief History
o^ 15-18; Dialects, 19-49;
Pronuncuition, 17, &c.; modem
period of, 17.
Excrescent letters, 351-2, 396 ; /,
366; d, 370, 474; «, 372; A
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, 509-14; list of
English words borrowed from,
84-5 ; Low German, 486-490.
Germanic, used to mean Teutonic,
74.
n
546
GENERAL INDEX OF THE
G tost- words, 399 {nuti).
Gothic langoagc, 75 ; Gothic
stems, 79.
Gradation of vowels, ch. «., p.
156 ; in IceUndic, 466.
Graphic changes, 396, 474.
Greek licguAge, 99, too ; bonow-
iogs from, 438-440.
Gnmm'a Law, 1041 the same,
simplified, 115, &C. ; examples,
ta6, Ac,
n, hiitory of, 359.
Hampolc qnotcd, 34.
Homograptu, 411.
HomOQVQlB, 4U-1.
Homophones, 4n-3.
Hybrid words, 430-1.
Icelandic language, 76, 454-,') :
won)s borrowed from, 4S0.
Influence of consooants apon
vowels, 351-a, 400-9.
Irish origin, words of, 444-6.
K, hUlory of, 353 ; >rf, 354 ;
kk->tch, 355; *>/ 3s6; >g.
356, &c.
L, history of, 376; affects a vowel,
407.
Latin forms compared with Eng.
lish, 97, &C.; early borrowings
G-om Latin, 9S, 431-441.
M, history of, 37s; affects a vowel,
401-4,
Mcrcinndialect, 41-44; specimens
of Old Mereion spelling, 44.
Metathesis, 351-a, 385, All-
Milton quoted (for spelling), 518.
Mutation of vowels, ch. li., p.
190 ; in IceUndic, 460, 461;.
N, history of, 370; affectsa vowel,
401-j, 404.
Noilhcra dialect, 34-6,
Northumbrian dialect, 41.
Norwegian, word borrowed from,
480.
Palatalisation, 350, 351, 304, 4
Phonetic spelling; glossic, 33^
romic, 336 ; ipecimea of, 339 j
use ot; 340, &C.
Prefixes, 113-118.
Pronunciation, changes in, j i, &c.
R, histoiyof, 376; affects a Towel,
40s.
Robert of Brunne qnotcd, 37.
Romic ipelliag, 336.
Roots, theory of, 180-181 j L
fifty Aryan rooti, iSj-3|«
amplea. iR3-i93-
S, history of, 378.
Sanskrit langnagie, 99.
Saxon, Old, 77.
ijcandian origin, words n^ j
«JiL. p. 453.
Shikespeaiw quoted, i, 10, 517,
Sk, initial, 357, 381 ; final, 381.
Sonnd-shifting, 85 ; triple, 105-6.
Sontbem dialect, 19-34.
Spelling, changes in, 16-18; oc-
coont of the growth of English,
»94-333: 'etymolc^caVjiS-
8; phonetic, 334-343! glossic.
335;
'- 3S^
SubstitntioD orcoDMnants, \51-a,
3»5. 47»-
SuSixcs : substontivBl, 1 1 8-ifio ;
adjectival, 161-171 ; adverbitl,
173-5; VEibal, 375-9; (Scand.).
467 ; suffixed /, 467 ; vert»l
(Scand). 468-9.
Swedish language, 76 ; tfoidi
borrowed from, 480.
Symbols, change <^, 351-1
misuse of, 397-9, 476.
Syllabic division, efTcctl of, ^
Syncope, 389.
1 , history of, 366.
Teutonic group of U _
types, 78-9; denlS
Bo-i ! labial sad gnttl.
sounds, 81-3; long vowtlj ■___
diphthongs. S7-95; table al,
95-6 : dental souiKlf; 1 16 ;
labial sounds^ iigj gDimnl\J
iounds, 119, Src-
PRINCIPAL MATTERS DISCUSSED,
547
Th, history of, 367.
Trevisa quoted, 29, 30.
Unvoicing of voiced consonants,
351-3, 392, 473-4.
Velar and palatal sounds, lao.
Vemer's Law, 146-153.
Vocabnlaiy of English, a-4 ; ad-
ditions to the, 6, 7.
Vocalisation of voiced letters, 350,
35i» 384* 473.
Voicing of voiceless letters, 350,
35 1» 384. 471-
Vowel-gradation, ch. x., p. 156;
vowel- lengthening, 500 - 6 ;
vowel-matation, ch. xi., p. 190.
Vowek in Middle-English, 25;
comparison of, in Old, Middle,
and Modem English, 340 ; long
vowels discossed, 50-70; short
vowels, 71, 500-6; vowels in-
serted, 393.
W, history of, 377 ; affects
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 nseful dates, 14; of Old Mercian words, 44 ; of long vowels,
95> 9^ > of regular substitution of consonants, 1 25 ; of the seven Teutonic
conjugations of strong verbs, 167-9 * ^^ vowel-sounds, as deduced from
verbal stems, 170 ; brief table of gradation, 189; of mutation, 191 ; of
the principal vocalic changes, 340 ; of the principal consonantal changes,
382 ; of mutation in Icelandic, 460.
THB END.
N n 2
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