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LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SANTA BARBARA ADVERTISEMENT. The immediate completion of Sir John Stoddart's Treatise on Universal Grammar has been prevented by the lamented death of the Author. The present volume contains the Second Branch of the subject, and was seen through the press by himself pre- vious to his last illness. The ample materials provided for the Concluding Division of this important design will be placed in the hands of a competent Editor, and published as soon as completed. CONTENTS. GLOSSOLOGY. Introduction . Chap. I. — Of Languages Chap. II.— Of Dialects . Chap. III. — Of Idioms Chap. IV.— Of the Voice . Chap. V. — Of Articulation Chap. VI. — Of Vowel Sounds Chap. VII. — Of Consonantal Sounds . Chap. VIII. — Of Accent, Quantity, and Emphasis Chap. IX. — Of Interjections Chap. X. — Of Onomatopoeias, or Imitative Woi< Chap. XI.— Of Roots .... Chap. XII.— Of Particles .... Chap. XIII.— Of Words .... Chap. XIV.— Of Parts of Speech . PAGE 1 26 45 70 76 93 125 150 180 231 275 297 308 376 GLOSSOLOGY. INTRODUCTION. 1. The term Glossology, though in some measure new to English Glossology literature, will be employed in the following pages to signify that an . applied applied Science which investigates the various languages spoken or written by mankind, with reference, on the one hand, to the pure science of Universal Grammar, as the source of principles in which they necessarily agree, and, on the other hand, to the historical facts which constitute or cause their differences. Every pure science emanates from an Idea in the human mind, which is permanently and universally true ; and every applied science combines with that idea the effect of circumstances, which, being partial and subject to change, necessarily fall within the domain of history. The applied science of Language, if confined to the speech of a single country or district, forms the particular Grammar of the language there spoken ; but if it embrace many languages, testing their formation, construction, and powers, by the common standard of Universal Grammar, it is termed by different authors Comparative Grammar, Comparative Philology, Sprachlehre, Linguistique, Glottology, or Glossology. I have adopted the last of these terms, because it is analogous to many PZnglish words derived from the Greek, such as Glossography, Geology, &c. ; and be- cause its derivation from yXwo-co, a tongue or language, and Aoyoc, reason, sufficiently indicates that its office is to open forth the reasons and causes of diversity in the numberless modes by which men, in different parts of the world, give utterance to their thoughts and feelings in speech. 2. I have elsewhere fully explained what I mean by the word Idea, idea, as a basis of pure science. 1 It may be sufficient here to say, that I do not use it in the vague and popular sense of " whatsoever is the object of the understanding when a man thinks \ H but I restrict it to its proper, original, and strictly-definite signification in the Greek lan- guage, from which it is taken, of a law, ox form of the mind, enabling 1 Univ. Grammar, s. 142. 2 In no instance lias the false use of a word become current without some prac- tical ill consequence, of far greater moment than would primo aspcctu have been thought possible. A strong instance of this is the misuse of the word idea, which became current from its use, in sheer ignorance, by Locke. — Coleridqe, Church and State, 22. [G.j B INTUOnUCTION*. History a test of science. us to contemplate a Truth as universal, and to employ thai truth as a standard-measure in testing the accuracy of subordinate conceptions. The idea of a Circle, for instance, is the mathematical standard-measure of our subordinate conceptions of external circles; and so, the idea of Language as "a signifying or showing forth of the mind," 1 or, in M. Eichhokf's terse and elegant definition, " l'expression de l'ame hiunaine,"* is the grammatical standard-measure of our subordinate conceptions of written or spoken language. 3. Glossology, on the other hand, presents to us the History of Languages as a touchstone of the Science of Language. If reflection suggest to me a grammatical principle, as involved in the idea of language, and I afterwards find that the same principle has been acted upon by men in all countries, and that it forms an essential part of the Grammar of every tongue, I may be assured that it is a law imposed on human nature by the All-wise Creator, and bears the stamp of infallible science. And on the other hand, though a grammatical rule may at first sight appear to me plausible, and may even be borne out by several examples in the history of nations, yet if, on extending my researches, I find it occasionally contradicted by experience, its character of universality will be at an end, and 1 shall be forced to confess that, in assuming it to be universally correct, I had not fully comprehended the Idea of which I had supposed it to be a develop- ment. 4. In the treatise on Universal Grammar, I proceeded by deduction from a universal law: in the present treatise on Glossology, I must proceed by induction from particular facts. It may easily be conceived, therefore, that the course of investigation will now be different from that pursued on the previous occasion. I then began with the forms which Language necessarily receives from the active energy of the human mind, and which, in their development, determine the charac- teristic properties of the Noun, the Verb, and the other constituent parts of speech ; and I reserved to the last the consideration of the matter of language ; that is, of the sounds which serve to express those parts of bpeech, and which result from the peculiar mechanism of the vocal organs. I must now reverse this order, first analyzing the matter, and then showing how that is and has been adapted to the forms by men in various stages of civilization. Previously, however, it will be necessary to notice another main distinction, which depends on the history of language. Men spoke before they wrote ; and though all men now speak, the great majority of the human race is still ignorant of writing. Hence there are two arts, the vocal and the graphic, which require to be treated diilcrently. The early chapters of this treatise will be confined to the examination of spoken language : afterwards, I shall notice the different systems of written language. So tar, my researches will be directed to matters oifacl ; but as many 1 Univ. Grammar, s. 51. 9 Paiallele des Langues de l'Europe et de l'lndc. INTRODUCTION. 3 interesting questions have arisen on the probable origin of language in times past, and on the possible adoption of an universal language at some future period, I propose, lastly, to offer on these what seem to me the results of reasonable conjecture. 5. It must be remembered that Glossology is necessarily an imper- Glossology feet study, in reference to the number of languages which have £tudy. hitherto been brought within its sphere, or to the degree of accuracy with which they can as yet be understood. Prior to the last age, few persons knew, or considered, whether the different modes of speech employed throughout the world could be reduced to any certain number ; much less, whether they could be arranged and classed in any rational order. But in the early part of the present century, the elder Adelung estimated their number at above three thousand, viz., 587 European, 937 Asiatic, 276 African, and 1264 American, besides very many either wholly lost, or extant only among barbarous and inaccessible tribes. To this deservedly-eminent Glossologist great praise is due, not only for his ' Grammatisch-kritisches Worterbuch der hochdeutschen MundartJ one of the most complete Dictionaries ever published in any language, but for his ' Mithridates,' compre- hending notices of all the then known languages in the world, arranged according to their localities. It is true that, in a more advanced stage of knowledge, a much better arrangement may be devised ; still it opens to our view a striking prospect of the wide extent of Glosso- logy, and casts into shade the acquisitions of Mithridates in ancient, or Mezzofanti in modern times ; though the former is recorded to have spoken with facility twenty-tioo languages, and the latter, whom I heard with admiration, six-and-twenty years since, among his scholars at Bologna, was then said to have acquired thirty-five. To collect together and compare all the modifications of the art of speech must be the work of many Glossologists in successive ages ; nor can it ever be performed without a perfect knowledge of those faculties of the human intellect and will, on which the science of language depends. Deprived of such guidance, all attempts to compare and classify languages, with reference to their excellences or defects, would be little better than groping in the dark. 6. Yet Glossology, in its present state, opens a wide field for General interesting research. The collections of Adelung, 1 Balbi, 4 and outlme - Prichard, 3 present general outlines of the whole subject ; and the laborious and useful compilation of Vater, ' Litteratur der Gram- matiken, Lexika, und Wortersammlungen oiler Sprachen der Erde,' with the additions of Julg (1847), points out the sources whence information is to be obtained of above two thousand two hundred Lan- guages and Dialects, concerning which Grammars, Dictionaries, partial Vocabularies, or Treatises, have been formed. These, indeed, are merely placed by Vater in alphabetical order, and consequently make 1 Mithriilat.es. 2 Atlas Ethnographique. 3 Researches into the Natural History of Man. b2 4 INTRODUCTION. no pretension to philosophical arrangement^ bul in combination with Adelung's great undertaking, they afford the besl general view of glossological works now extant I have therefore thrown into tin- Appendix (A) a Synopsis of the ' Mithridates,' subjoining to each article (where the works coincide) the number of* the corresponding page in Julg's edition of Vater's ' Litteratur.' To suppose that any one person could so much as peruae all the production- there specified would lie absurd; nor is it necessary here to offer more than a slight sketch of the materials which have been collected in the principal departments of glossological study. Nomcncia- 7. Slight, however, as such a sketch may be, it will be scarcely turu - intelligible unless due allowance be made for the defective state of "Nomenclature and Classification in Glossology, at the present day. In regard to Nomenclature, I have elsewhere said, " it is my object to change as little as possible received modes of expression.'" The prac- tice of very eminent Glossologists, however, has varied in this par- ticular. The justly-celebrated Grimm says, "I have abstained from all changes in grammatical terminology, whenever intelligible expres- sions have been generally received throughout Europe, even though some of them may have been perverted from their original significa- tion." 2 On the other hand, though Rask's is a name never to be mentioned without honour, it must be admitted that the writings of himself and his followers are often rendered obscure by their em- ploying novel terms derived from languages so little known as the Islandic and Danish, and even these abbreviated. Thus, for the well- known grammatical word " Case," they use " Fhf," meaning the Danish word " forholdsform " (form of relation) : for " Accusative," they put " G," meaning the Danish " gjenstandsform " (form of the object) : and from the Islandic they adopt many similar abbreviations. ►So Kleixschmidt, in his recent very able treatise on the Greenland tongue, emplovs, instead of the old and well-understood word " Article," the uncommon German word " Jhuteicort" (pointing or indicating word). Dr. Rush, of Philadelphia, has founded his whole system of the ' Philosophy of the Human Voice' on two terms, wdiich I confess I have been unable, after much consideration, fully to com- prehend. These are the Radical Movement and the Vanishing Move- ment, which two movements, he seems to think, belong to every articulate sound. This learned person has also introduced several other terms quite new, so far as my reading goes, to the science of Glossology; such as "the Wave of the voice," the " Median Stress," "the Thorough Stress" "the Drift of the Voice," "the Drift of the downmard vanish," " the Drift of vanishing stress," &c. His apology for these novelties in nomenclature is, "that when unnamed additions are made to the system and detail of an art, terms must be invented for them." This is undoubtedly true ; but then two requisites should lie observed : first, that the additions should be indisputably accurate 1 Univ. Gram. s. 312. * Deutsch. Gram. vol. i. p. 29. INTRODUCTION. 5 and necessary ; and secondly, that the new terms should, as for as possible, be analogous to those previously applied to the art m question. 8. The Classification of Languages, Dialects, or Idioms, with a Classified- view to their scientific arrangement in Glossology, may be said to be tlon ' as yet in its infancy. Dr. Latham, in his very able and popular work on ' the English Language,' divides all the actua. modifications of Speech into Tribes, each tribe into Stocks, each stock into Branches, each branch into Divisions, each division into Languages, and certain languages into Dialects. Thus, according to him, the natives of Somersetshire speak a dialect of the English language ; which lan- guage is a Low-German division of the Teutonic branch of the Gothic stock of the Indo-European Tribe. With sincere respect for the abilities of this eminent Glossologist, I must confess that I cannot entirely acquiesce in this classification, at least as a definitive scheme. Languages, dialects, &c, are here to be taken as matters of fact, which may be classed according as they fall under more or less general definitions or descriptions, in like manner as Linnaeus distributed all the objects of natural history into Kingdoms, Classes, Orders, Genera, Species, and Varieties. But to each of these gradations he gave its appropriate definition, or description, so framed that the higher desig- nation should include the whole of the lower ; and also, that " the genus should be found whole and entire in the species, and the species whole and entire in the individual."' It would therefore be necessary, were the above-mentioned classification adopted, that some clear and precise definition should be given of a Tribe of languages, a Stock, a Branch, &c, and that each definition should be framed in the manner just stated; which, perhaps, in the present imperfect state of Glosso- logy, would be scarcely possible. 9. I confess, too, that the terms chosen by Dr. Latham to express Trite, the various gradations in his scheme do not appear to me to be alto- familv > &c - gether suited to that purpose. The word " Tribe " is from the Latin Tribus, which is derived by some from tres, three, and supposed to relate to a threefold division of the Roman People in early times into Ramnes, Titienses, and Luceres. 2 But both the etymologv and the fact are disputed ; for some authors derive the word from a Celtic root, answering to the Latin terra, land ; and the Tribus was certainly at first a geographical division. Others, again, contend that, in the earliest ages, the Roman Tribes were only two; and, in fact, we know nothing of them distinctly before A. u. C. 259, when Livy says they were twenty-one, 3 immediately prior to which time Niebuhr con- jectures that they had been thirty. 4 The name " Tribe " may perhaps have been adopted by Dr. Latham in reference to Noah's three sons, Japhet, Shem, and Ham ; but that the languages of their descendants \\r\-o divided by any characteristics, which can now be traced, it 1 Univ. Gram. s. 177. 2 Liv. Hist. x. 6. 8 Ibid. ii. 21. 4 Niebuhr, vol. i. c. xxni. 6 INTRODUCTION. would he premature to assert in the present state or gioosological science. In modern limes, the word "Tribe" has generally been given either to a certain division of a known nation, as the Twelve Tribes of the Jewish People, or else to sonic smaller bodies of men, such as the North American Tribes, vaguely supposed to be derived from one or more original sources. Upon the whole, therefore, the word Tribe seems unfit to stand at the head of a classification of languages. Some authors employ the word "Family" in nearly a similar manner ; but neither the one nor the other of these expressions has ever received a clear definition. Much the same may be said of the terms Stock and Branch. All these words are merely figurative, and, if used at all, can only be taken in loose and popular senses. Indeed, whatever classification may be adopted at present, the different gradations will be found to be intermixed and connected with each other by such various analogies, that any positive arrangement of them would be liable to perpetual disturbance. For these reasons, although, in an advanced stage of glossological science, a more philosophical ar- rangement than by localities may reasonably be expected, yet, in the following sketch, I shall keep in view the divisions of Adelung into the Asiatic, European, African, and American tongues, with occasional reference to Vater and other sources. ( 7 ) CHAPTER I. OF LANGUAGES. 10. In drawing up a sketch, which must necessarily be slight, of European the various languages which it is the province of Glossology to inves- ^"su*^ 8 tigate, I begin with the European ; not only as the best known and most likely to interest the generality of my readers, but because the general connection of those tongues may be at once seen in the inge- nious map prefixed to Dr. Bosworth's interesting work on ' The Origin of the English, German, and Scandinavian Languages' (1848). He distinguishes them into, I st, the Basque, Iberian, or Euskarian ; 2nd, the Finnish, Jotune, or Ugrian ; 3rd, the Celtic, comprehending the Welsh, Gaelic, Erse, and Breton; 4th, the Latin and Greek, with their offspring, the Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and modern Greek ; 5th, the Western branch of the Germanic, Teutonic, or Gothic, including High and Low German, Frisic, Anglo-Saxon, and English ; 6th, the Northern branch, or Scandinavian, comprising the Islandic, Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish ; 7th, the Sclavonic, viz., Russian, Illyrian, Polish, Wendish, &c. ; and 8th, the Turkish. 11. In reviewing these, the classical Latin and Greek seem to Latin and claim the first notice; but it will be unnecessary to dwell much on Greek - them, as the literary discussions to which they have for several cen- turies given rise are well known. It is equally known that each of their derivative tongues has been separately treated with great ability by numberless Glossologists ; but it is only of late vears that the comparative Grammar of them all, including the Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Provencal, Daco-Romanic (or Wallachian), and Rhcetish, lias been brought into one general view by Raynouard 1 and Diez. 2 12. The two great branches specially treated of by Dr. Bosworth, German and the German and Scandinavian, were first brought under comparative Sca,ldinavian examination in the last century by Hickes, 3 Wachter, 4 and Ihre, 5 with much industrious research into the older European dialects, but without that knowledge of the Asiatic tongues which has contributed to the more accurate views of recent Glossologists, particularly of Grimm, 6 Graff, 7 Kaltschmidt, 8 and Dieffenbach. 9 13. The Celtic branch has been illustrated by many writers, both of Celtic, the last and present century. Among the former, we may particu- 1 Gram. comp. des Lang, de l'Europe Latine. 1821. 2 Grammatik der Roman. Sprachen. 1836. 3 Ling. Vet. Septentr. Thesaurus. 1705. * Glossar. Germanic. 1737. 5 Diction. Sueo-Gothic. 1769. 6 Deutsch. Grammat. 1819. 7 Althochd. Sprachschatz. 1838 8 Sprachvergt. Worterb. 1838. 9 Vergt. Wort. Goth. Sp. 1851 8 OF LANGUAGES. [CHAP. t larly notice Bullet 1 and COURT DK (!i:iiKi,i\, ! and, among the latter, Prichard," PiCTET, 4 and Edwards, 8 who have placed this study an much firmer grounds than their predecessors had done. Sclavonic. 14. The numerous Sclavonic languages are commonly divided into the Eastern, of which the Russian stands at the head, and the Western, of which the chief is the Polish. The: Polish was the earlier culti- vated; but political events have within a century widely extended tin- sphere of the Russian; and its literature is daily receiving Fresh ac- cessions, especially in Glossology. So early as the year 12M, Adam BOHORIZUS published his ' "ArcticiivHora -,' in which " he treated of the grammatical properties of the Sclavonic idiom, and the affinity of the Muscovite, Ruthenian, Polish, Bohemian, and Lusatisn tongues to those of Camiola, Dalmatia, and Croatia." 6 But these have been far better illustrated in recent times by Dobrowsky, 7 SCHAFFARIK,* Eichhoef, 9 &c. : a short introduction to the Russian, Illyrian, Polish, and Bohemian, has been recently published by FroLICH. 10 Basque, 15. The Basque, Finnish, and Turkish languages are found chiefly Turkish. m the extreme points of Europe, on the south-west, north-east, and east. The Basque is descended from the Iberian, spoken by tribes, which, in times antecedent to European history, are believed to have spread from Sicily to the Garonne ; but of which the remains are now confined to Biscay, the Asturias, and part of Galicia, in Spain, and to the Western Pyrenees, and their neighbourhood in France. Its earliest Grammar was by Larramendi, 11 its latest by YRIZAR y Moya. 18 The radical words evince some affinity to the Semitic family ; but the structure rather indicates a connection with certain American dialects. Some writers, however, endeavour to connect the Basque with the Finnish, and others with the Celtic tongues. The Finnish tribes, sometimes considered as a branch of the Tchudish, or Uralian, are distinguished into northern and southern. They are believed to have been driven from the coasts of the Baltic by the Germans and Scandinavians. The Northern Finns occupy Lapland; a Grammar of their language was published by Ganander in 1743. The language of the Southern Finns is said by Rask to be the most original, regular, well-formed, and well-sounding language in the world, and particularly rich in forms of declension, derivatives, and compound words- With both branches the Hungarian (or more properly Magyar) language is connected, as has been shown by 1 Mems. de la Langue Celt. 1754. 2 Monde Primitif. 1788. B Eastern origin of Celtic Nations. 1831. * Affinite' des Langs. Celtes. 18:37. 5 Recherches sur les Langs. Celtes. 1844. 6 Vide Eccard. Historia Stndii Linguae Germanica, p. 167. ? Entwurf /.. e. Allgem. Etymolog. der Slawisch. Sprat-hen. 1813 8 Geschichte der Slavisch. Sprache, &c. 1826. 9 Histoire de la Langue, &c. des Slaves. 1839. 10 Anleitung, &c. der vier Slawisch. Hauptsprachen. 1847. 11 El impossibile vencido. 1729. 14 De l'Eusquerc et de ses ciedes. 1841. CHAP. I.J OF LANGUAGES. GYARMATH ' nnd others. The language which wo call Turkish is the Osmanli; and, according to the late lamented M. Davids, it is the most perfect of all those commonly called Tartarian, but by him denominated " idiomes Turks" " It is " (says he) " rich, elevated, and melodious. Perhaps it has never been surpassed by any language in the delicacy and exactness of its expressions." * " Mirificam habet Turcica dignitatem," says Sir W. Jones. 3 Some of these excellences are no doubt owing to the admixture of Arabic, as a necessarv con- sequence of the adoption of the Mohammedan religion ; and others to its connection, from political causes, with the Persian. To the other Tartarian dialects I shall advert hereafter. 16. Of the preceding classes of languages, all but the last are Relation to supposed to be connected more or less closely with the Sanskrit, the In,lia "- sacred language of the Brahmins. The relation of any European tongues to those of India does not seem to have been suspected until the latter part of the sixteenth century, when Goropius Bkcanus (Johan Becan of Gorp) pointed out many resemblances between Teutonic and Indian words ; 4 but unfortunately the inference that he drew from these, was, that the conversation between Adam and Eve in Paradise was carried on in Flemish ! Little information of real value in Glossology was to be obtained from the more ambitious undertaking of Conrad Gesner, in his ' Mithridates, de diferentiis Linguarum, turn veterum, turn quce hodie apud diversas nationes in toto orhe terrarum in usu sunt' (1555), though he treated briefly of many different languages in alphabetical order, " Abasinorum, Abgazari, JEgyptiaca, JSolica, JEthiopica," &c. The true relations and affinities of these tongues remained long unknown and unsuspected ; but in 1784, when Sir William Jones delivered his inaugural Discourse as first President of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, it began to be perceived that the Sanskrit, the sacred language of India, would open to the Glossologist " an immense mine " of information. 5 And in exploring this, it was soon found, that it led to a better knowledge, than had ever before been attained, of most of the languages of Europe. Hence arose a classification of many languages, as well European as Asiatic, under one common head, called by different writers, Caucasian, Indo- Caucasian, Indo-European, Indo- Teutonic, Sarmatic, Japhetic, and, of late, Aryan. That this classification, under whatsoever title it may be ranged, has thrown vast light on the languages both of Europe and Asia, there can be no manner of doubt Out of the large number of woi'ks which have been written on this family of languages, there is none more remarkable than Professor Bopp's ' Comparative Grammar of the Sanskrit, Zend, Greek, Latin, Lithuanian, Gothic, German, and Sclavonic Languao-es,' which has been translated into English, and has formed the subject 1 Affinitas Lingure Hungaricaa cum Linguis Fennicrc originis, &c. 1799. 2 Grammaire Turke, p. xlvii. 3 Works, vol. ii. p. 360. 4 Origines Antwerpianse. l. r >69. s A.siat. Researches, vol. i. p. xiv. 10 OF LANGUAGES. (CHAP. I. of an able article in the ' Edinburgh Review.' ' The very title of this work serves to show how widely the relations of the .Sanskrit have spread, as well in Europe as in Asia. This was long ago contemplated by Sir William Jones as probable. He said, "that the old sacred language of India was more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to each of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of the verbs, and in the forms of the Grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident." He added, "there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanskrit," and " that the old Persian might be added to the same family ;" 2 all which has since been amply verified. Asiatic 17. The Asiatic languages considered as a distinct class may be languages. re( j uce( j to the following main stems: — 1. The before-mentioned Aryan ; 2, the Semitic ; 3, the Tatarian, or Turk ; 4, the Chinese and its derivatives ; and 5, the Malayan. Of these the three first alone seem to have been known to the Greek and Roman authors ; the fourth differs from every other family of languages, in the cir- cumstance that all its words are monosyllabic ; and the fifth is widely connected with the island tongues, which may be regarded as belonging to another division of the globe. Aryan. 18. At the head of the Aryan languages stands the Sanskrit; whether originally a spoken dialect, or one systematized by the priests for sacred purposes, has been made matter of doubt ; but that it has gone through several gradations is certain. It appears as a fully-developed language in those very ancient compositions, the ' Vedas.' It had undergone considerable change when it was sub- sequently embodied in the laws of Menu, and in those mystical epics, the ' Mahabharata ' and ' Ramayana.' It assumed a different form, about 500 years before our era, in the lately discovered in- scriptions on the rocks of Kapurdigiri, so ably deciphered by my learned friend Mr. Edwin Norms; 8 and it is manifestly the origin of most of the dialects still spoken over the hither peninsula of India, though they are more or less vitiated by an admixture of foreign idioms. The Sanskrit was little known in Europe before the pub- lication of Halhed's 'Code of Gentoo Laws' (1776), in the Preface to which a concise description of it was given, with plates of the Alphabet, and of various extracts from compositions in verse and prose. Shortly afterwards, the study of this language began to be pursued with eagerness, as well in England as on the Continent, and a Professorship of Sanskrit has since been established at Oxford, the chair of which is filled by that highly-distinguished Glossologist, Professor Hayman Wilson. Separate Grammars have been formed, both of the parent language and of its derivatives, e. g., of the 1 Edinb. Review, No. 192, p. 297. 2 Asiat. Res. vol. i. p. 422. 3 Journal Royal Asiatic Society, No. XII. 1, 154. CHAP. I.J OF LANGUAGES. H Sanskrit, by Colebrooke (1805), Carey (180(3), Wilkins (1808), Wilson (1841), and several continental writers ; of the Prakrit, by Lassen (1836), of the Bengali, by Halhed (1778), of the Urdu or Hindustani, by Schultz (1741), of the Hindi, by Adam (1833), of the Guzerat and Mahratta, by Drummond (1808), &c. In several parts of India there are dialects apparently different in origin from the Sanscrit, as the Tamul (improperly called Malabar), of which there was a Grammar by Ziegenhalg (1716), and the Telinga or Teloogoo, by Carey (1814). With these as well as with the older Indian and Malay, the Singhalese, of which dillerent dialects are spoken in Ceylon, seems to have connection. A Grammar of this mixed language was published by Mr. Lambrick (1834). The Pali language, in which the sacred books of the Buddhists of Ceylon, Ava, and Siam, are written, is supposed to have been once the spoken language of Magadha (now Bahar), and consequently related to the Sanskrit. See Burnouf and Lassen's ' Essai sur le Pali' (1826). The ' Zend ' and ' Pehlevi,'' containing the sacred doctrines of Zerdusht (Zoroaster), and comments thereon, have been treated as authentic by Anquetil du Perron (1771), Rask (1826), Burnouf (1832), Muller (1839), and other continental Glossologists ; but their au- thenticity was disputed by Sir W. Jones, Mr. Richardson, and Colonel Vans Kennedy; "so that the subject" (says Professor Hayman Wilson) " requires further and more deliberate investiga- tion." ' The subsequent labours, however, of Colonel Rawlinson, in deciphering the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, and showing their connection with the Parsi and modern Persian, may be thought to turn the scale in favour of the continental Glossologists, at least as to the Zend. The Armenian language is, in part at least, of an Aryan character, although it contains some traces of connection with the Finnish and other languages of Northern Asia. The oldest Grammar is that of Rivola (1(524), the latest that of Petermann (1837). Of the ancient and now almost extinct languages of Asia Minor, the Phrygian, Mysian, Lydiaii, Lycian, &c, the little that is known seems to rank them in general with the Indo-European. 19. As the Aryan family of languages has been assigned to the Semitic descendants of Japhet, so the next which I have to notice has been ascribed to those of Shem ; it is therefore styled Semitic. The pro- priety of the denomination has been questioned ; but the greater or less affinity of the tongues to each other is beyond a doubt. Thev may be classed as the Hebrew, the Aramean, the Phoenician, the Arabic, and the Ethiopic ; of which the first is commonly regarded as nearest to the original stock, and the last as most distant from it in purity. 3D. The pure Hebrew exists only in the books of the Old Testa- Hebrew and meat. From the time of the Babylonish captivity, the Jewish people, Aramean - who spoke it, were successively oppressed by mightier nations, until 1 Journal Koyal Asiatic Society, No. VIII. p. 347. 12 OF LANGUAGES. [CHAP. I. their political annihilation by the Romans, in the first century of the Christian era; since which period, the Hebrew has lost the character of a living language; but has been anxiously cultivated both by Jews and Christians on religious grounds, and in works too well known to need being here specified. Learned men, in general, for a long while, regarded it as a language of divine origin, which might reflect light on other dialects, but could receive none from them. This prejudice was first effectually shaken by ScHDLTENS, who, in his inaugural discourse in 1713, as Professor of Oriental languages, maintained that the primitive tongue taught to man by the Almighty no longer exists ; but that the scriptural Hebrew, the Syrian, Chaldaic, and Arabic, were derived from it, and served mutually to illustrate each other; and in his ' Origims Hebrew; sive Hebrece linguce antiquissima natura et indoles ex Arabia: penetralibus reiocato?' (1724), he explained many passages in the Bible, previously obscure, by reference to Arabic roots. The term Aramean is derived from Aram, the scriptural name of Syria, Mesopotamia, Chaldea, and Assvria, countries believed to have been originally occupied by the descendants of Aram, the fifth son of Shem. 1 Hence the Chaldaic is denominated the Eastern Aramean language, and the Syriac the Western. The study of the Hebrew tongue has naturally been much connected with both branches of the Aramean ; not only from their similarity of origin, but because the Jews, while they "sat down and wept by the waters of Babylon," gradually acquired both the speech and the letters of their conquerors ; and subsequently learned from their neighbours to converse in Syriac. " Ita has linguae" (says Martinius), "non tarn re quam ratione quadam diflerunt: Chalda^a lingua purior est, qua Daniel et Ezras scripserunt: Syriaca impurior, et ab analogia Chaldaica interdum discedens, qua Paraphrastae et Talmudici, ac demum Christi saeculum utebatur." 2 On the relation of all these dialects to each other, addi- tional light will no doubt be thrown by the energetic labours of Colonel Rawlinson and Mr. Norris, in deciphering the Babylonian portion of the cuneiform inscriptions. Thccnician. 21. Of the Phoenician language the few extant remains have given occasion to much learned controversy ; but the result of the whole is best to be gathered from the recent work of Dr. Gesenius, 'Scrip- tural linguaeque Phoenicia? monumenta, quotquot supersunt, edita et inedita' (1837), in which the inscriptions found at Malta, at Cieti in Cyprus, near Athens, in Sardinia, in Sicily, at Carthage, and in Nu- midia, as well as the seals, writings, and coins of Phoenician make, are carefully scrutinised and are represented in engravings. Arabic. 22. The Arabic is said to have been anciently distinguished into three dialects, the Ishmaelitie, in the northern pails of Arabia, the Hamyaritic, in the southern, and the Koreish, in the centre. Of these the two former were generally believed to be lost; but the Hamyaritic is said to have been recently recovered by means of some remarkable 1 Hazlitt, Classical Gazetteer, voc. Aram. 2 Chaldsca Grammatica Prref. CHAP. I.] * OF LANGUAGES. 13 rock-inscriptions on the coast of Aden. 1 The Koreish, having been adopted by Mahomet in the composition of the Koran, has made its way, with the spread of Islam, to the Indian Archipelago on the east, and the Steppes of Tatary on the north : it had once prevailed in Spain on the west, and is still taught and used in Central Africa on the south. Its Dictionaries and Grammars are too numerous, and too well known to need recapitulation here. 23. The name of Tatars or Tartars has been loosely given to many Tatarian. nations, or tribes, in Middle and Northern Asia, nearly in the same way in which the classical writers employed the term ' Scythian.' At present, most writers include under the designation of Tatars, the Tungusians, Mongols, and lurks, whose languages have many points of resemblance. A comprehensive view of these various dialects was taken by the late M. Abel-Remusat, in his ' llecherches sur les langues Tartares, ou niemoires sur diferens points de la grammaire, et de la litterature des Mandchous, des Mongols, des Ouigours,' &c. (1820). To the Tungosian race belong the conquerors of China, there called Mantchus, who possess a literature much studied in France, especially since the publication of M. Langles' ' Alphabet Tartare Mantchou* (1787), and his ' Dictionnaire Tartare Mantchou Fran?ais' (1789), compiled from a MS. of Amyot. Of the Mongol there are three dialects — those of the eastern or proper Mongols, the western or Calmucks, and the Buryaets. The Mongol Dictionary of Kovalevsky (1835) and his Grammar (1844) are among the latest compilations on that dialect. The several Turk dialects are ably ex- plained in the Turkish Grammar (1832) of the late Mr. Lumley Davids, of whose premature death I have before spoken. He classes them, as at present existing, under ten heads- — the Ouighour, Jagataian, Kabojak, Kirghiz, Turcoman, Caucaso-Danubian, Austro-Siberian, Yakout, Tchouvach, and Osmanli. Of these the first was the earliest cultivated, but as those who speak it have had little intercourse with foreigners, it retains its ancient simplicity ; whilst the Osmanli, the court and learned language of the Turkish empire, having been en- riched by a large infusion of the Arabic and Persian, and by numl »er- less literary compositions in modern times, has become far the most copious and refined. Of the Ouighour writings the remains are very few and scarce; the oldest appears to bear date a.d. 1434. It is in the Bodleian Library, but was entirely mistaken both by Dr. Hyde and Sir W. Jones. The Jagataian dialect was formerly very like the Ouighour; but in recent times it has approximated to the Osmanli. The Kirghis are also said to have been once a literary people, but they have retrograded to comparative barbarism. Of the remaining dialects some have a mixture of the Finnish ; and the tribes which speak them are generally uncivilized. Some or other of the Turk dialects are now used by nearly all the nations dwelling between the Mediterranean, Siberia, and the frontier of China, and between the extreme boundary 1 Forster, Historical Geography of Arabia. 1844. 14 OF LANGUAGES. [( IIAP. I. of Siberia and India. Moreover, the Turkish (Osmanli) is the pre- dominant language in Egypt and the Barbary States, and even in several provinces of Persia. Chinese 24. The languages of China and of some neighbouring nations and fado- constitute a family widely different from any of the preceding. In the vast empire of China the written language must be distinguished from the spoken. Of the former, which lias for many centuries been highly cultivated, I shall treat hereafter. The spoken language is entirely monosyllabic ; the syllables end either in a vowel or a nasal conso- nant, and several of our consonants are unknown to the Chinese. The number of words distinguished by articulation is very small, being reckoned by Fourmont at 3H3, and by Bayer at 352, whilst Remnsat says, " in the Dictionary which I have compiled for my own use, I have reduced the number, without inconvenience, to 272.' Most of the articulate words, however, admit of variation by the tones in. which they are uttered. The effect of these tones in pronunciation is scarcely perceptible to a European ear; but even taking them into account, the whole number of words does not exceed 1600. 4 Many words, however, in all languages, have different and unconnected significa- tions. As in English the word pound signifies " a certain money of account," an " enclosure for the confinement of straying cattle," and " to bruise in a mortar ;" so in Chinese the -word pe signifies " cloth," " a hundred," " a cypress," and " a prince." Such are the imperfec- tions of the language in respect to its vocabulary ; and the grammatical relations of the words, as will hereafter be shown, are equally inarti- ficial. There are, at least, five languages which fill nearly all the countries from China to the borders of Bengal, and which agree with the Chinese in three obvious characteristics, those of being originally monosyllabic, nearly all intonated, and without inflection. 3 These languages have been termed Indo-Chinese. 4 The designation Anarnitic is given to the language which prevails, with slight differences, in Cochin-China, Tonquin, and Camboya. Here the words are mostly of Chinese origin, and the written characters of the Chinese are in use, as is the case in Corea. In Laos those characters are disused, as they are in all other countries approximating to Bengal ; and alphabetical systems are employed, more or less similar to the Sanskrit. 5 In Tibet the words are intonated, as in China; but the writing approaches to the Bengal alphabet." The B unman language is radically monosyllabic, and the pronunciation leans to the Chinese ; in its formation, too, it seems to resemble the Chinese; but in its idiom and construction it resembles the languages of Hindostan, and may consequently be said to partake both of the monosyllabic and polysyllabic systems. 7 Dr. Leyden says 1 Remusat, Essai, p. 55. 2 Ibid. p. 56. 3 Marshman, Chin. Gram. 193. 4 Leyden, Dissertation on the Indo-Chinese Languages. s Marshman, 149. 6 Georgius Alphabet Tibetan. 7 Carey, Burmnu Gram. p. 7. CHAP. I.J OF LANGUAGES. 15 nearly the same of the Arracan language, which he calls the Rukheng} The Siamese use the Chinese intonations, but adopt the Sanskrit alphabet with small variation. Of the Peguan, otherwise called Moan, but little is known. There was, probably, a time, as Mr. Marsham thinks, " when all the countries west and south of China, up to the very borders of Bengal, comprising an extent of country nearly a thousand miles in length, used the Chinese colloquial medium." 2 How far this opinion may be found correct, — whether the present languages of those countries may not be, in part at least, of Tatarian origin, — and whether even Chinese itself may not be a Tatarian dialect, — must be left to be decided by the researches of future glossologists. Together with the Indo-Chinese are to be ranked the different dialects of the Japanese language, as spoken in Niphon, Jeso, and some smaller islands, among which is Loo-Choo. An English and Japanese vocabulary was pub- lished in 1830 by W. H. Meclhurst, and a vocabulary of the Loo-Choo language is to be found in Capt. B. Hall's voyage to that island. These languages differ radically from the Chinese, though they have adopted many Chinese words. The Chinese characters also are occa- sionally intermixed with those of Japan, though the latter differ from them in great part. 25. The term Malayan, pronounced by the natives Malayu, is given Malay. to many dialects prevailing on the southern part of the further penin- sula of India, and in the islands of Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Celebes, &c, as far to the eastward as the Moluccas, to the southward as Timor, and to the northward as the Philippines. In the greater part of these countries it is confined to the sea- coasts, while other tongues are spoken in the inland parts, and in these cases it is much mixed with Hindoo and A rabic ; but in Sumatra it appears to have been from a period of obscure antiquity the language of the dominant people in the interior. Whether it came from any and what other country to Sumatra is beyond the reach even of tradition ; but that it was brought from that island to the Peninsula, now called Malayan, is sufficiently proved, and that it was widely diffused in many other directions by the commercial activity of the Malavan race is incontrovertible. To Maesden's ' Grammar of the Malayan Language' (1812), is prefixed a very clear and full introduction, describing the circumstances of the language in reference to the countries where it prevails, and to the other tongues from which it has received accessions, and enumerating the attempts of Dutch and other writers to render it accessible to the European student. Subsequent treatises have entered more deeply into these researches. Among these one of the most remarkable is that of W. V. Humboldt (in the ' Transactions of the Royal Academy of Sciences at Berlin for the year 1832'), on the Kavi language, a dialect employed in the island of Java, but only, as it should seem, in the dramatic representation of certain mythological legends. To this is added, by the same author, a comparative view of the languages winch 1 Leyden, Dissert. * Chinese Gram. 151. IB OF LANGUAGES. CHAP. I. he regards as derived from or cognate with 1 1 »< - Malay, viz., those of .Java, Bugi, Madagascar, Tonga, New Zealand, Tahiti, and Hawaii (Otaheite and Owhyhee), the Tagala, &c. Indo-i'aciflc 2*». Of these last-mentioned languages; several have been classed with others under the title of IndQ-Pacific languages by Mr. Logan, the able editor of the ' Journal of the Indian Archipelago.' He divide., the whole into seven groups: 1st, Polynesian; 2nd, Micronesian; 3rd, Papuanesian; 4th, Australian; 5th, Eastern Indonesian; 6th, Western Indonesian; and 7th, North-Eastern Indonesian :' each group being named from the regions where a peculiar form of speech chiefly (but not always exclusively) prevails, so far, at least, as has hitherto been ascertained ; for in several instances the knowledge acquired of the different dialects is but superficial. The term Polynesian, which has been employed by several writers with a very various latitude of signification, is applied by this writer to the dialects of the Samoan, Tongan, New Zealand, Tahitian, Raro- tongan, Mungarwan, Paumotuan, Waihuan, Nukuhivan, and Hawaiian languages; and also to those of Fakaafo, Vaitupu, Potama, Figi, and the Trikopian and Vanikoran tribes. Of these many are well known ; as the Tonga, from Mariner's ' Voyage' (1817) ; New Zealand, from Kendall's ' New Zealand Grammar and Vocabulary' (1820); the Tahitian (Otaheitan), and Nukuhivan (Marquesan), from Buschmann's ' Apercude la Langue des Isles Marquises and de la Langue Taitienne ' (1843) ; the Hawaiian (of Owhyhee), which, seems little more than a dialect of the New Zealand, from Andrews's * Hawaiian Vocabulary' (1836), &c. Of the Micronesian group, only short vocabularies are known of Tobi, Pelew, Carolinia, Mille, Radak, and Ulea. The Papuanesian includes the languages of Tanna, Mallicolo, and New Caledonia. Of these islands, the southern, which are least known, are believed to retain in its purest state their ancient tongue, which in the northern are more mixed with a Polynesian element. In Marsden's miscellaneous works, notice is taken of the language of Tanna and Mallicolo, in the New Hebrides, and also of that of New Caledonia. The Australian includes Australia, properly so called, and Tasmania, of which many vocabularies have been collected from the neighbour- hood of Bathurst, Wellington, Peel River, Murray, Liverpool, Sidney, Macquarie, Moreton Bay, Mount Norris, Coburg, Croker's Island, Port Essington, &c. ; and it has been observed that some from the mosl distant localities are most like each other, whilst others from near vicinities are most widely different The native., who speak these dialects are blacks, sometimes called Negritos, to distinguish them from the African negroes, than whom they are much lower in the scale ot civilization. Some rudiments of grammar, and pretty full vocabu- laries, have been published, particularly by Teichelmann and Schurman (1840), and Moore (1842). 1 Journal Ind. Archipel. vol. v, |>. -86. CHAP. I.J OF LANGUAGES. 17 The Eastern Indonesian languages comprise those from Aroo, on the south-west of New Guinea, to Sumbawa, the Papuan Islands between. New Guinea and the Moluccas, the Moluccas, Celebes, Pulo Nias, and Zilanjang. The speech of the New Guinea islands is radi- cally of Negrito origin, but mixed by means of commerce with Malay words. The speech of Sumbawa is of a still more mixed character, and is reckoned by Marsden as a branch of the Mala)' ; as are those of the Moluccas and Celebes. The Western Indonesian comprise the dialects of Lombok, Bali, Borneo, the Malayan Peninsula, and Sumatra, which last-mentioned island, as I have before observed, is considered to be the earliest known seat of the Malayan language. The North-eastern Indonesian embrace the Philippine and Formosan. Of the Philippine dialects the most important is the Tagala, of which several vocabularies and grammars have been compiled. The Formosan is otherwise called the Sideiau, and is divided into several dialects. Klap- roth has written, ' Sur la Langue des Indigenes de V Isle de Formose? l In most of the seven groups above mentioned there are many languages or dialects as yet undescribed. The prevailing character of those, here called Polynesian, is vocalic, harmonious, and flowing, but with a small number of articulations, whence it often degenerates into excessive weakness. In most of the Eastern Indonesian the proportion of consonantal terminations is small. In the Western and North- Eastern Indonesian there are more consonants, and a tendency to nasal terminations ; indeed in the ruder dialects of these, strong nasal and guttural articulations abound, and the pronunciation is smothered and intonated. The Papuanesian and Australian are represented in general as highly vocalic : some of the latter are exclusively vocalic in their terminations ; but the information hitherto obtained of the various dialects of the former is but slight. Such are a few of the principal remarks made by Mr. Logan on the Indo-Pacific languages. 27. The vast continent of Africa being above 4,000 geographical African, miles in extreme length, and nearly as much in extreme breadth, and having been in very great part unexplored either in ancient or modem times, is consequently occupied by a vast variety of races, nations, and tribes, few of whom have attained any high degree of civilization, whilst many are sunk in barbarism, and others are wholly unknown to Europeans. Hence it may be easily inferred that their modes of speech are very various, differing widely amongst themselves, and from the more cultivated tongues of Europe and Asia, as well in formation as in construction. The number of languages and dialects, in this quarter of the globe, was calculated by Adelung, as I have mentioned, at 276 ; and of about 100 he gave short specimens. Subsequent additions to our knowledge have been made in the vocabularies, grammars, and treatises of missionaries, travellers, and others. To classify and arrange such a heterogeneous mass of materials, on any sound glossological 1 Journal Asiatique, 1822, i. 193. [G.] 18 OF LAKGO [CB kP. African. Nubian and principles, is beyond our present powers, not only from their numl er but from the changes which most cf them have und rgone from foreign influence, particularly from ancient I *li« . nician colonization, and from the tar more penetrating eflect of Mahometan proselytism, which has continued for centuries, and is still in active operation. Thai traces may exist here, as well as in other parts of the globe, of the great tripartite division of Japhetic, Semitic, and Hamitic tongues, or that nearly all Africa, south of the Equator, may be glossologically con- i as forming but a single family, it would perhaps be as wrong positively to deny, as premature dogmatically to assert These are possible results of an induction which we are not yet in a position to establish on certain grounds; and in glossology, as well as in other inductive sciences, | ireo >nceiv< d theories (such as Bacon, in his pedantic style, calls "idols of the theatre") are especially to be guarded against. It may therefore, for the present, suffice to begin with certain local divisions of the continent, as the North, the North-East, the Interior, the West, the East, and the South. 28. From Morocco to the bounds of Egypt, the languages now spoken in the North of Africa are of three kinds. Turkish is the dominant tongue at the few points where the Government officers are Turks. Arabic is the language of the cultivators of the plains ; but the mountain parts are occupied by an ancient people, supposed to be descended from the Libyans, Numidians, or Mauritanians of classical history. In Algiers they are known a.s Kabyles (literally tribes), in the northern parts of Morocco they are termed Berbers, and in the southern and western valleys of the Atlas they are called Shelboh or Amazirgh. The language of these three portions of the natives differs con- siderably at present, but is clearly the same in origin; and so is the ; dialect of the Tuaricks, the great nomadic tribes of the desert of Sahara. 1 With the preceding is sometimes reckoned the language, but, as it seems, incorrectly. The language of the Guauches, the former natives of the Canary Islands, is supposed to have been cognate with the Berber. 29. In Egypt, on the north-eastern border of Africa, occurs the Coptic language, which is supposed to bear to the ancient Egyptian relation as the Italian does to the Latin. It is divided ■ Sahitic of Upper Egypt, and the BaMric of Lower Egypt; the former is thought most to resemble the ancient language ; the latter has a subordinate branch, called the Bashmuric. The recent speculations of Young and Champollion have given a new interest to the study of the Coptic language, the grammar of which has 1 een ably I by Tattam, 2 Rosselini, 8 and 1'kykon. 4 30. Trai i Is the course of the Nile, we come first to the 1 Hodgson, Notes on N. Africa, &c. 1844. e Grammar of the Egyptian I 1830. Lexicon .Iv/yptinco Latinum. 3 lilementa Lingua: iEgyptiacaj. 1 * Lexicon Ling. Copt. 1835. Grammat. Ling. Copt. 1841. CHAP. I.] OF LANGUAGES. 1 9 tongues of Nubia and Dongola (which agree together in the main, btit differ from those of the neighbouring countries), and then to the Ethiopic. The term Ethiopic has at different times been employed with great latitude. The most ancient Greek writers confounded under it many nations as well Indian as African ; and what seems more remarkable, some modern glossologists have confounded Ethiopic with Chaldean !' At present, however, it is confined to Abvssinia and the neighbouring countries, and is well distinguished into the Axumite or old Gheez, the Tigre or modem Gheez, and the Amharic, the present popular and court language of Abvssinia ; besides some inferior dialects. The ' Ethiopic Lexicon and Grammar' of Ludolf (1661, 1702) afford the amplest information as to the radical formation and structure of the Ethiopic language, and show that it has some affinity (though distant) to the Arabic and other Semitic tongues. Dependent on the Abys- sinian Government are some tribes, speaking different languages, such as the Agows, about the sources of the Tacazze, or Blue Nile. 31. In crossing this vast continent, from the sources of the Nile to interior. the Western Ocean, the inland territories, so far as they are yet known to us, appear to be occupied by nations, which rapidly arise and decay in consequence of their frequent wars. Of late years we learn that Bornou, which lies between the central Lake Tchad, and the great mart of Timbtictoo,has become dominant over a large extent of country, including Houssa, Begharma, and Mandara. It is said that with the languages of Bornou, Houssa, and Yoruba, which differ from each other, anv one might travel from the Western coast to the very heart of Africa. The Bornou, Begharma, and Mandara tongues have been illustrated by Klaproth 2 , the Bornou by Mr. Norris. 3 Of the Houssa language, a very full vocabulary has recently been forwarded to this country by the enterprising traveller, Dr. Barth, and it has been thought to contain some remains of the old Punic. Of the Yoruba, a short vocabulary is given by Clatperton, and a much larger by Crowtiier, with remarks by VlDAL. 4 32. On the Western coast, from Senegal to Congo, are numerous west Coast, tribes or nations, differing more or less in language ; but how far their separate dialects can be traced to a common origin, it is at present impossible to say. The principal tribes, proceeding southward, are the Foulahs, Jalojfs, Feloops, Mandingos, Bulloms, Soosoos, Timmanees, Ashantees, &c. The speech of the Foulahs is soft and pleasant ; the Fellatah is a dialect of it spoken by a tribe which has spread its con- quests far into the interior. Of the Jaloff, called also Wolqfe, a Dictionary and Grammar have been published by Dard (1828) and Roger (1829). The Mandingo tongue is widely spread, in different 1 Victorius Chaldea? seu jEthiopicae Lingua; Institutiones. l. r j4S. 2 Kssai sur la Langue du Bornou, suivi des Vocabulaires du Begharmi, du Man- dara, et du Timbuctu. 1826. 3 Grammar of the Bornu or Kanuri language. 1853. * Vocabulary of the Yoruba language. 1>>52. c2 20 OF LANGUAGES. [CHAP. I dialects, including those of Bambouk and Bambara; but has received from the Mahometan teachers many Arabic words. Se< M icbriar's ' Mandingo Grammar' (1837). Of the Bullomhixgaage, a Grammar and Vocabulary were compiled by Nylander (1814); a Grammar and Vocabulary of the . v <<<< << language was published in 1802, and is said to be the first instance of writing (except, perhaps, in Arabic cha- racter.-) ever practised in any of the languages of Western Africa. The Timmanee, of which the Logo and Krango are dialects, has an afhnitv to the Bullom, and both arc said to have a pleasing sound. The Soosoo, too, is as soft and vocal as Indian ; but proceeding south- ward the languages are found to be much harsher. The Ashantee, Fantee, and several other dialects, are closely connected together; but the first is described as the best sounding and best constructed. East Coast. 33. Proceeding southward from Abyssinia to Mozambique, we first meet with the Gcdlas, a savage people, of whose language K. Tut- schek lias compiled a Lexicon (1844) and a Grammar (1845). Dr. Krapf has published a Vocabulary of six East African languages (1S50). The Somaidis are thought to be a more civilized offshoot of the G alias, whom they resemble in language. The SowauHs, or Sua- helis, though so similar in name, appear to be totally different in origin and language. Many other tribes, of whose languages little is known, , occupy the inland parts and the coast as far as Mozambique. The great island of Madagascar, lying oft" this coast, is occupied by tribes speaking a Malayan dialect, of which several Vocabularies and a Grammar have been published. South Africa. 34. I consider South Africa as extending to the Cape of Good Hope, from Mozambique on the East Coast, and from Congo on the West. It seems probable that the earliest inhabitants of all this region were of a race called Namaquas, Koranas, or Hottentots, whose language was radically the same but distinguishable in dialect. A different race, of which the two branches are the Kafir and Sechuana, or Bech- uana, appears to have advanced from the northward, driving the weaker inhabitants before them. The languages of the two races are essentially different; but those of the Kafir and Sechuana tribes are evidently dialects of a common mother-tongue, which seems to have once prevailed, and perhaps partially does so still, from the northern boundary of the Cape Colony to the Equator. In Congo, Angola, and Loango, on the West Coast, the languages spoken are evidently of the same class; and on the East Coast the natives of Delagoa Bay, the Makooa tribes, and the Sowauli, speak languages but slightly different from the Sechuana. LlCHTENSTEIN published some remarks on the lan- guages of the Hottentots and Kafirs in 1808, and ARCHBELL's Bechuana Grammar appeared in 1 S37. Brusciotti drew up a slight grammatical treatise in Latin on the Congo language in 1659. De Caxxkkattim compiled a Dictionary and Grammar of the Angola language (other- wise called Bunda) in 1804-5. Whether the language of the wretched savages, called Bosjemen, be a corrupt dialect of the Hottentot, or an CHAP. I.] OF LANGUAGES. 21 entirely distinct tongue, has been matter of dispute. Those who main- tain the former, assert that the Bosjemen purposely changed their words, that their persecutors might not understand what they were saying. 35. It may be well supposed that the vast continent of America, America, above 10,000 miles in length, embracing every vai'iety of climate and of terrestrial formation, inhabited by numbers of tribes, many of them unknown to the other members of the same continent, and all, till a late period in history, cut oft' from intercourse with the other quarters of the globe, should exhibit modes of speech widely different from any of those to which I have hitherto adverted. Such, in fact, is the case. The modifications of expression may appear to us new and strange ; but on examination we shall find them emanating from the primary principles which belong to our common human nature. " Here" (says M. DiiPONCEAU) " we find no monosyllabic language like the Chinese, and its cognate idioms ; no analytical languages like those of the North of Europe, with their numerous expletive and auxiliary monosyllables ; no such contrast is exhibited as that, which is so striking to the most superficial observer, between the complication of the forms of the Basque language, and the comparative simplicity of those of its neighbours the French and Spanish ;" but yet " the American languages are rich in words and regular in their forms, and do not yield in those respects to any other idiom." 1 These remarks, indeed, were meant by their talented author to apply chiefly to the languages of North America ; but with some exceptions they may be considered applicable to the known languages of the whole continent, which are divided by Adelung into those of the Southern, Middle, and Northern parts of the Continent. 36. Conformably to the plan of the great Glossologist, I begin south with the Southern extremity of the American Continent. Here we America - find different tribes of the Moluches and Puelches. Of the language of the Moluches, or Araucans (the original inhabitants of Chili), a Grammar and short Vocabulary were published by Falkner (1774). Advancing Northward to the borders of Brazil, we meet with the Guarani, of whose language, which spreads to Peru, Paraguay, and the Rio de la Plata, a Vocabulary and Grammar were compiled by Ruiz de Moxtoya (1640). The Mbaya, or Guaykura, spoken on the left border of Paraguay, is said to bear a resemblance in its struc- ture to the Basque language. The Abipones, in Paraguay, have a peculiar and well-sounding language. The Quiche, or Quichua, the ancient language of Peru, has been illustrated by many writers, Spaniards, from De St. Thomas, in 1560, to Rubio and chiefly Figueredo, in 1754. It is a well-sounding language, suited both to Rhetoric and Poetry. The Aymara, which bears a great resemblance to it, is spoken by Indians in the Northern districts of the Argentine Republic and in the Southern of Peru. Of this language, a Grammar and Vocabulary were compiled by Bertonio (1603-1612). Of the Yunga, which is spoken in part of Peru, but is wholly different from 1 Preface to Zeisberger, p. 77. 22 OF LANGUAGES. IP. I. the Quichua, a Grammar was drawn up by De la Carrera (104-1). Among the languages Easi of Peru is die Mbxa, of which a Grammar was written by P. Marban (1701 ), and which has an affinity to the Maipuran, one of the mosl widely-diffused throughout the district of tin- Oronoko; whereas the Deighbouring Sapiboconi bears a striking resemblance to the Quichua. The Aguan, Omaguan, Enaguan, and Yur ,are branches of the languages spoken by a once-powerful people mi both banks of the Maranhou and Oronoko. The Achaguan, which has been mistaken for a dialect of the Maipuran, is a soft and well-articulated language; whilst the Salivan abounds in nasals. The To ura, Betoi, and Situfa, in New Granada, are cognate dialects: of the first-mentioned, a manuscript Grammar, from the collection of W. v. Humboldt, is preserved in the Royal Library at Berlin. On the North coast of South America are found the Arawaks, Tamanaks, and Caraibs. Of the A nival; language an account is given by G. Qoandt. 1 The Tamanaks, once a numerous, but now a diminished people, speak a language resembling that of the Caraibs, or Galibis, which is represented to be the most harmonious and best constructed of all the American languages, and to have this peculiarity — that the two >exes speak different dialects. A Caraib Grammar and Diction- ary by Raymond were published (1665-1667), and a Galibi and French Dictionary and Grammar (1763). In the Western Highlands of this coast was the Muysca nation, now extinct, of whose language a Grammar was written by B. De Lugo (1619). Middle '■'■!. Under the head of Middle America, Adelung includes the Islands called the Antilles, or West Indies, and the mainland North- ward from the Isthmus of Darien to the Rio Colorado on the Gulf of California, and the Rio Bravo on that of Mexico. The ancient lan- guages of the Islands are almost wholly extinct. The original name Haiti has been restored to the island named by the Spaniards His- paniola, or St. Domingo; but every other trace of the language has disappeared. The Carail> language, remains of which are found (as I have observed) on tin? neighbouring mainland, was formerly spoken in all the smaller Antilles, and is said to be partially extant in Trinidad and Margarita: its affinity to some Polynesian tongues is maintained by M. r>KK'i 1IKT.0T. 2 Proceeding to the mainland, we find a native language, the Kachikel, of which a Professorship was established in the University of Guatemala, and a Grammar and Dictionary compiled for teaching it. Of the Poconchi, also in the state of Guatemala, a Grammar was composed by GAGE (1655), and in this, as well as in the neighbouring Maya tongue, some words seem to l>e derived from a Finnish source. On the Table-land of Mexico the most remarkable language is that of the Aztecs, or proper Mexicans, a people as odious for their sanguinary human sacrifices as they were remarkable for their political power, their architectural works, Picture-writing, Poetry, 1 Nachricta von Suriname, &c. 1807. 2 Me'moires de la Socie'te Ethnologique, II. i. 2.53. CHAP. I.] OF LANGUAGES, 23 Music, and Astronomy. Their language was consequently very- copious, and many Grammars and Dictionaries of it have been com- posed, from the Vocabulary and Grammar of De Molina (1571) to the Grammar of Sandoval (1810). Grammars have also been formed of the Potonaka, Huaxteca, Otomi, and Tarasca tongues, spoken in the adjoining countries. In California are found the Waikur, and its sister tongue, the Cora. The Tarahurnara, in New Biscay, is cognate with the Mexican, and has received a Dictionary from Steffel (1791), and a Grammar from Telechea (1826). 38. The remaining Languages of America occupy that continent North from the North of New Mexico to the Frozen Ocean. Exclusive of Amenca - the English tongue, now dominant throughout nearly the whole of this vast extent, numerous native languages and dialects are still spoken, and several have become extinct, leaving few memorials of their existence. In classifying, or even enumerating, these different modes of speech, one great difficulty arises from the various names given to the Tribes by themselves and by foreigners, and from the confusion of generic with specific distinctions. Thus the Upsarokas are called by the English Crows, by the French, Souliers noirs, and by the Mandans, Wattasun; and are divided into the Ahndhaicays, Kikatsas, and Allakavceahs, the latter of whom are named by the English Paunch Indians, and by the French, Ventrus. So, those who call themselves Nadowessis and Dahkotahs, are by others termed Asseenaboines, Assinipoils, Asseeneepoytuks, Sioux, Escabs, and Stove Indians; and similar varieties occur in the designation of almost all the native tribes of North America. Many collections of vocabularies have been made, particularly by scientific bodies in the United States, and by individuals, especially Missionaries. President Jefferson is said to have collected fifty vocabularies of the aboriginal tribes within his reach. The American Philosophical Society possesses many Dictionaries and Grammars of a like nature. Grammars of various native Dialects have also been compiled, and Translations of the Scriptures and religious tracts composed, in those dialects. In 1666, the Missionary Eliot published his 'Indian Grammar begun;' a work, as the title implies, merely elementary. After a long lapse of time, Dr. Jonathan Edwards wrote his paper on the Mohegan dialect. In the then state of Glossology this was a contribution of some importance ; but its value was much lessened by the imperfect views which the reverend Author had taken of grammatical prin- ciple. He was succeeded by other Missionaries, Zeisberger, Hecke- welder, and Howse, who will be hereafter noticed. Among the writings of a more general nature, on these languages, may be remarked those of Messrs. Smith Barton, 1 Duponceau, 2 Pickering, 3 and 1 New Views of the Tribes of America. 1797. 2 Memoire sur le SysU-me Grammatical, &c 1838. 3 Remarks on Indian Languages of N. America. 1831. 24 OF LANGUAGES. [CHAP. I. Gallatin. 1 The classifications adopted by these and other writers arc as yet far from concordant; nor is any one of them perfectly satis- factory; which, imbed, iii the imperfect state of information on this subject, could not reasonably be expected. We may, however, in a loose and general way, distinguish several languages or dialects, some in the southern part of the United States, as Floridian ; some advancing in a north-eastern direction, as Delaware ; others inclining rather to the north-west, as Iroquois; and the most northerly of all, as Esquimaux. But besides these great branches, there are some on the west coast, and some in the interior and central parts of North America, of which too little is known to place them in any distinct Class. Floridian. 30. The Floridian tongues may be divided, according to Bartram, into three classes, of which he names the principal dialects, the Creek, the Uvhe, and the Stincard. The Creeks, otherwise called Muskogulge, came (as he thinks) from the south-west, beyond the Mississippi to the northern part of the Floridian Peninsula ; and their tongue was pleasing in sound, with a gentle and musical pronunciation altogether avoiding the letter R. The Cherokees, on the contrary, sound that letter fully, and their speech is loud and somewhat rough. The Chickasaw and Choctaw dialects are reckoned among the Floridian ; but they seem to differ considerably from the Creek. Besides the tribes here mentioned others of the Floridian class were the Shawanese, Natchez, Kikkapoos, Otakapas, &c, some of whom have now become extinct. Delaware. 40. The term Delaware, by which I have distinguished a whole class of languages, is strictly applicable only to a portion of them otherwise called the Lenni Lenape. The former name, however, has become known in Europe, as having been illustrated by the grammar of Zeisberger, and by the speculations of Duponceau, Pickering, W. Humboldt, and Vail. The country once occupied by numerous tribes speaking cognate languages called Algonkin, Chippeway Mo hegan, Lenni Lenape, Cree, &c, lies between the fortieth and sixtieth degrees of North latitude, and extends westward from the upper part of the Mississippi to the Atlantic. The earliest attempt to reduce these languages to rule was in Graviers' 'Illinois Grammar' (1690). Of the Algonkin a Dictionary was contained in the * Voyages ' of La HoNTAN (1735). Of the Chippeway a vocabulary was given by LONG, with "a table showing the analogy between the Algonkin and Chippeway languages" (1791). The Mohegan, or language of the Muhaeekaneew (i. e. Eastern people), was treated at large, as before said, by Dr. Jonathan Edwards (1788). Zeisberger's Grammar of the Lenni Lenape was translated from the German MS. by Mr. Duponceau (1827). Heckeweldku wrote on the same language; and an excellent Grammar of the Cree language by Mr. HOWSE, with an analysis of the Chippeway dialect, from the notes of Mr. Peter Jones, was published (1844). 1 Synopsis of Indian Tribes. 183G. CHAP. I,] OF LANGUAGES. 25 41. The Mohawks, who dwelt far to the west, near the falls of Iroquois. Niagara, claimed pre-eminence in the celebrated confederacy of the five, and afterwards six nations, called by the French Iroquois, and by the Dutch Maquas, Mengwe, or Mingos. The members of this con- federacy were the Mohawks, Senecas, Onondagos, Oneidas, Kayugas, and, subsequently, the Tuskaroras. Connected with them were several minor tribes, the Hurons, Hochelagas, Canaways, Nanticokes, &c. Heckewelder considers the Sioux to belong to this class ; but his opinion seems incorrect. 1 Primers have been framed in the languages of the Mohawks and Senecas. A vocabulary of the Huron dialect was given by La Hontan in his ' Memoires de l'Amerique' (] 70-4), and a complete Grammar of the Onondago was compiled by the zealous missionary Heckewelder. 42. The term Esquimaux is said to be borrowed from the Algonkin Esquimaux, language, and is applied to tribes dwelling along the northern coast of America from Behring's Straits to Labrador and Greenland, who call themselves Innuit. Their language has been distinguished into the Karalite or Greenland ; the Eastern Esquimaux, on the coasts of Labrador, and sometimes reaching to the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; and the Western Esquimaux from the mouth of the river Mackenzie to Norton Sound. Of these latter, or related to them, many various tribes are met with, as the Kinnai and Ugualyashmutzi, in Russian North America, the Ahwhaeknanhelett, the Ootkooseckkalingmaoot, the Kan- gorrmceoott, &c. Captain Washington compiled for the use of the Arctic expeditions (1850), a vocabulary, in three parallel columns, of the dialects spoken in Kotzebue Sound on the west, Melville Peninsula in the centre, and the coast of Labrador on the east. Of the Greenland tongue several Grammars have been formed, from that of Egede (1750), 2 to that of Kleinschmidt (1851). 3 43. Besides the North American languages which may safely be Uncertain, referred to one or other of the classes above mentioned, there are some of which it is doubted whether they can enter into this classifi- cation, or are of a totally different origin, thus Heckewelder reckons the Sioux or Nadowassie as an Iroquois dialect; but L. Cass showed it to be a separate and independent language. The last-mentioned Glossologist, too, considered the Pawnee to be a language belonging to no one of the classes above enumerated. Of the language of the Killamucks on the West Coast, south of the Columbia, the origin does not seem clear. And, finally, there are, in the interior, tribes of whose speech too little is known to give them any place in classification. 1 Gabelentz, Dakota Sprache. 1852. 2 Grammatica Grrcnlandica Danico Latina. 1750. a Grammatik der Gronlandischen Sprache. 1851. ( 26 ) CHAPTER II. OF DIALECTS. Language 44. The terms "Language," and "Dialect," which occur, in the very confounded, outset of Glossology, as distinctive, have nevertheless been left, by the generality of writers, without any strict definition. TJio word " Language" when used as an universal term, signifying a power which man possesses, in contradistinction to brutes, is sufficiently intelligible; but the case is different, when the same word is used as a particular term, signifying the mode in which that power is exercised by certain bodies of men, as " the English language," " the Algonkin language," &c. In this latter sense, taking a language as an integer, we may consider a Dialect as a fractional part of it, and an Idiom as another fraction ; but if Ave inquire minutely what it is that constitutes " a Language," as distinct from "a Dialect;" we shall often find great diversities of opinion among eminent glossologists. Many persons regard the Scottish tongue, for instance, as a dialect of the English ; but Dr. Jamiesox, a very able, though somewhat prejudiced writer, strenuously contends for its antiquity, as a separate Language. Similar diversities of opinion occur, as to the relation of the Portuguese to the Spanish, of tin.' Provencal to the Northern French, &c. So Vater says of the Indo-Chinese tongues, " whether they are to be called descendants of the Chinese language, or mere compounds or that and others, must, on account of our imperfect knowledge of them, remain for the present undecided." l 45. By the term Dialect, the Italian Dialetto, or the German Mundart, most writers intend only a provincial, or, at least, a local peculiarity of speech ; but Vater has, I think, judiciously ranked, with these, other peculiarities, which may be called personal, consisting either of vulgarisms (or at least low colloquialisms) ; or of technical terms and phrases; or of obsolete words and expressions. All these bear to the standard language of the country, where they are spoken, a relation similar to that which the local dialects bear ; and, like the latter, they often help to elucidate identity of origin in different languages, and to show gradual transitions, as well of signification as of sound, in them all. 46. In the general survey of Languages and Dialects, contained in un,1 t ;l 1,ia!cct the preceding chapter, these systems of speech are not attempted to be reduced to separate and permanent classes; because the distinction 1 Litteratura, p. 173. Dialects local and persona] . A Language CHAP. II. OF DIALECTS. 27 between a Language and a Dialect is not positive but relative. If a certain system of speech be taken as a Language, then it may serve as a standard to which some subordinate systems, agreeing with it in the main but differing in minor points, may be referred as Dialects. Thus if we assume an Hellenic language as having existed in ancient times, it may be regarded as the standard to which the Ionic, Doric, iEolian, and Attic Dialects may be referred. But the system which has been taken as a standard on one assumption, may be deemed a Dialect with reference to some more comprehensive standard, and vice versa. For instance, it may be supposed that there was, at a period beyond the reach of history, an Indo-Grecian language, of which the Hellenic and Pelasgic were but Dialects. And, on the other hand, if we assume tire Doric to be a language cognate to the Ionic, as the Danish is to the Swedish, or the Portuguese to the Spanish, then we may regard as subordinate Dialects of it the Laconic, the Cretan, and the Sicilian. In my remarks on particular systems of speech, which stand to each other in relations that I have described as integral and fractional, I shall call those belonging to the former category, Standard Languages, and those belonging to the latter, Dialects. 47. Dialects may differ from each other, and from their common h ow dialects standard, in sound, signification, construction, or general effect. They diXFer - may differ in sound, as to articulation of vowels, or consonants (in- cluding in the latter what the Greeks call breathings), or as to length of sound, or pitch, or emphasis. They differ in signification, when they employ different words for the same meaning, or give different meanings to the same word. They differ in construction, when they omit or insert words differently in a sentence, or employ the parts of speech differently, or in a different order; and, lastly, they may differ as to general effect, in point of expressiveness, gravity, vehe- mence, harmony, or the like. The comparisons which may be instituted between them, in these particulars, must be conducted in the same manner, and be governed by the same principles, as the com- parison of Languages, which will form the subject of a future chapter. 48. It has been sometimes objected to the study of Dialects, that it Use of tends . to perpetuate the corruptions of a standard Language, and ^^ mg employs, on a comparatively worthless object, that time and those abilities, which should rather be directed toward refining the modes of speech, already raised by cultivation to a high degree of regularity, energy, and beauty. But though this objection is not altogether without weight, yet there are other considerations which recommend the study, within proper limits, to serious attention. To the Glos- sologist it often opens interesting views, not only of the connection of one language with another, but of the formation, utterance, and arrangement of words, in language generally. In respect to general literature, we may observe, that in some languages certain authors devote themselves to the dialect of their age or province ; and conse- quently their works can neither be relished nor indeed understood 28 OF DIALECTS, CHAP. II. without some knowledge of the dialect in which they are written. Who, for instance, can fully enjoy the native humour of Borns or Scott without a knowledge of the Scottish tongue; or the charming simplicity of THEOCRITUS, if not conversant with the Doric? Even in matters of much higher import a knowledge of dialectic peculiarities may help to resolve important questions, such as that raised on the text, u(pitoi'T(ti not c'u bpapHai cm: 1 "Thy sins be forgiven thee" — where some learned men have contended that atyiwrui was to be understood as of the optative mood; whilst others more reasonably state cKpiwvrai, in the Att:c dialect, to be used for h^iivrai the perfect of the indicative mood. 49. Dismissing, for the present, the question how many of the known systems of speech, ancient or modern, ought to lie regarded as standard Languages, in the sense above explained, I shall proceed to notice some of those which are commonly so esteemed, together with the local dialects depending on them respectively. And first as to the Greek. This is regarded by most Glossologists as a standard Language; and its chief Dialects are said to be four, the Ionic, Doric, Attic, and Molic ; of which, however, the two first form the leading distinction; for the Attic and Ionic agree in origin and in their main characteristics, as do the iEolic and Doric. Some Gram- marians contend for a fifth Dialect, which they call the Common : and we find occasional mention of several which are denominated from various localities, as the Boeotian, the Cyprian, Pamphylian, < 'Imhidian, Sicilian, Cretan, Tarentine, Laconian, Argice, Thessalian, &c. s Kay, Homer seems to intimate that in Crete alone there were ninety cities each speaking its own dialect : — IvunxovTci ToXri'.s, " AXXti V olXXwv yXaitrira. fii/tiyftivn. Odyss. 19, 174. Where ninety cities crown the famous shore, Mixt with all-languaged men. Chapman. These inferior local Dialects may be ranked as subdivisions of the four principal ones ; but no written memorials of them are now to be found, except in a few instances, where comic writers have brought them on the stage, much as Shakspeare does the Welsh dialect of Captain Fluellen and Sir Hugh Evans. Some of the Grammarians, who maintain the doctrine of a Common Dialect of the Greek, suppose it to have been the tongue of the original Hellenes, who inhabited Hellas, a city of Thessaly, and were among the followers of Achilles to the Trojan war : — the troops Pelasgian Argos held, That in deep Alos, Alope, and soft Trechina dwell'd, In I'hthya, and ill Hellade, where live the lovely dames, The Myrmidons, Hellenians, and Achives. Chapman, Iliad, 2. But there is no proof that any such language was there spoken ; and probably the so-called common Dialect is only a modern result obtained 1 Matt. ix. 2. 2 Simonis' Introductio in Ling. Grac. Sect. 9, 5. CHAP. II.] OF DIALECTS. 29 by selecting from the various dialects used by authors, from Homer to Menander, those particulars, in which the majority of them agree. 50. In addition to those ancient forms, the Modem Greek may not Romaic, unreasonably be regarded as a Dialect of the ancient, though of course much corrupted by long intercourse with foreign nations. This is usually called Romaic, in contradistinction to the ancient, which, in that view, is termed by the natives Hellenic. " A perfect knowledge of the Romaic," says Colonel Leake, " cannot be acquired without the previous study of Hellenic ; but it would be a very suitable appendage to our customary academical pursuits ; and by leading to a better understanding of the physical and national peculiarities of Greece and its inhabitants, as well as to a variety of analogies in the customs and opinions of the ancients and moderns, it would introduce us to a more correct acquaintance with the most important branch of ancient history, and to a more intimate familiarity with the favourite language of Taste and Science." 1 The accomplished author of the ' Researches in Greece' has given not only an admirable analysis of the Romaic dialect, but of of one less known, which is called Tzaconic. The written Romaic has almost as many idioms as writers, taken partly from the vulgar dis- course, partly from a slight tincture of Hellenic education, or from Italian, or Turkish. With these latter tongues the spoken Romaic is more or less mixed, according to the geographical position or political state of the district where it is spoken. The Attic dialect of the present day (unlike that of ancient times, which was the most admired of all) is most of all corrupted by the intermixture of French, Italian, and Albanian ; but the other dialects, which have been estimated at no less than seventy, have not so marked a difference from each other as those of distant provinces in France or England. The Tzaconic was noticed by Gerlach in 1573, as spoken in a district between Nauplia and Monemvasia, and as materially different (which it still is) from the ordinary Romaic. The name of the district, Isakom'a, is probably corrupted from the ancient Laconia, of which province it formed the northern extremity. The dialect contains some vestiges of the ancient Doric, as r'av xpov-^av for the Romaic rr/v -^vyyjv; and also some old Greek words not found in Romaic ; but upon the whole it resembles the ancient language less than the common Romaic does. 2 51. Reverting to the ancient Dialects, it is to be observed that Greek though an author may have generally written in some one of them, it ]^ seldom happened that he did not occasionally adopt an expression from some other. " Frustra sunt," says Dammius, " qui Poetis Grsecis peculiarem aliquem linguam adsignant." 8 " They err, who assign to the Greek Poets any one peculiar dialect." The most striking example of such intermixture is in the productions of the greatest Greek Poet. Homer indeed (as Plutarch says) employed chieflv the Attic dialect, but borrowed largely from all the others. Thus he used 1 Researches in Greece, p. iii. 2 Researches in Greece, p. 198. 3 Lexicon Homer, voc. Xclfy/xui. alectic riters. I ' 30 OF DIALECT 3. [CHAP. II- the Dor:- 1 ellipsis 7 for £/]»/, iXOtiai for e\0»7, rovnof for rocro)', "Hpv for "Hpa, &c. This circumstance (as my learned and experienced friend Mr. Botes suggested to me), however much it may have added to the beauty of the poem, renders the Iliad very unfit to be employed in our schools as the pupil's first introduction to Greek verse; since the variety of dialects tends greatly to confuse him, in the outset of a task sufficiently difficult to the youthful mind. A knowledge of the Attic dialect is perfectly necessary to the read* rs of Thucydides, Plato, Demosthenes, Xenophon, Aristophanes, Sopho- cles, &c. ; that of the Ionic to the student of Herodotus or Hippocrates, &c. ; and of the Doric to understand Theocritus and Pindar, of whom, however, the latter seems to style his verse sometimes Doric, and some- times iEolic; for in the first Olympian he uses both expressions: — a.\Xa A&iPiav a. Again — v <\\>ii;u.i, Hofee, and Tsciiischka; the Schwabisch, by Schmid and Grater; the Schweitzerisch, by Stalder; the Slesich, by Berndt; the Westerwaldisch, by Schmidt, &c. &c. Among the Low Teutonic, the Bremisch treated by Okliuch ; the Hamburgisch, by RlCHEY; the Holsteinisch, by ScHUTZE; the Liylandisch, by BERGMANS and Hupel; the Mecklenburgisch, by Hitter; the Osnaburgisch, by StrODTMANN ; the Pommei'sch and Eiigisch, by DahnERT ; the Preussich, by Bock, Heknig, and Pisanski; the Sachsisch-Nieder- deutsch, by Scheller ; the Schleswig, by Geerz ; the West- phalisch, by MtJLLER; besides many other dialects of both branches. Some Teutonic dialects, too, it may be observed, have been raised by political or literary causes to the rank of standard languages. The Hollandish (to which we singularly enough restrict the term Dutch) has displayed a powerful literature. The Flemish has of late been much cultivated as a separate language ; and our own English, which has attained so high a rank among the standard languages of the world, had its first root in the Teutonic soil as a Mundart, or local dialect. 58. What I have last observed of the Teutonic is equally applicable to the Scandinavian tongues. According to Rask, " All the Northern tribes of Gothic origin formed in ancient times one great people, which spoke one tongue." This tongue he calls the Old Norse, and says that it was first termed D&nsk Tunga (Danish language); but that it decayed in Denmark, and was then called Norvoena (Norwegian). Afterwards the Norwegians and Swedes carried it to Iceland, where it remains least changed, and is called Islenka (Icelandic). A dialect of it, too, is spoken in the Ferro Isles. 1 From these statements it would appear that the Danish and Swedish, which are now standard languages, and have each a separate literature, were once mere dia- lects ; whilst the Norwegian, once predominant, has declined to a diversity of minor dialects in various districts. Among writers on the Danish dialects may lie reckoned Molbkcii (1833); on the Swedish, Ihre (1766), Arborelids (1818), and LENSTROM (1841); and on the Norwegian, WlLSE (1780). Of other 59. In all parts of the world we find principal, or standard lan- ianguages. guao-es, accompanied with their various dialects in separate localities. The Spanish, of which the Castilian is the standard language, has the 1 Icelandic Grammar, 227, 228. Scandina- vian. CHAP. II.] OF DIALECTS. 37 Catalonian, Valencian, &c, as dialects. On the Hungarian dialects, prize essays were published in 1821, by Gati and Horvat. Of these dialects the most distinctly marked are those of Raab and Bihar. If we pass to the Eastern nations, we shall find Arabic spoken very differently by the Persians, the Bedouins, the Syrians, Egyptians, Tunisians, Tripolines, Algerines, and Moroccans. Maltese, which is by most writers regarded as a dialect of Arabic, retains some peculiar marks of a Phoenician origin. My lamented son Henry, who was inti- mately versed in most of these dialects, found among the mountains of Lebanon cc rtain tribes whose language agreed with the Maltese, in several particulars, in which it differed from all other Arabian dialects. " In China" (says M. Remusat) " many towns, and even villages, have a particular dialect, in which are sometimes found words wholly foreign to the common language. Several of these dialects have sounds and intonations which are wanting in the pronunciation generally used. The best known are those of Tchdng-tcheou and of Canton. At Pekin they often change hi to dzi, si to chi, and hi to khi; In the South the pronunciation is more softened, — eul is changed into nl, and pou into m : and k, or r, is often added to the vowel terminations, b, t." [ Indeed, this author thinks, " that we may consider as dialects the corrupt pro- nunciation of the Japanese, Tonkinese, Cochin-Chinese, and Corcans, when they make use of the Chinese characters." 2 60. Hitherto I have spoken only of local dialects. I now come to Personal those dialectic peculiarities which I have called personal, as depending d^ 013 - not on the place where they are spoken, but on the class of persons by whom they are most frequently employed — namely, the vulgar, pro- fessional persons, or antiquaries. These form three classes of dialects, or quasi-dialects, the first called in English cant, flash, or slang, in French argot, and in Italian zerga ; the second consisting (as I have said) of technical terms ; and the third of obsolete words and phrases. In each class whole dictionaries have been formed. Of the first we have, in English, 'The New Canting Dictionary' (1725); 'The Scoundrels' Dictionary,' an explanation of the Cant and Flash words, &c. (1754); Grose's 'Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue' (1785); 'Memoirs of Vaux, with a Vocabulary of the Flash Lan- guage' (1819). In French, there are Artaud's ' Dictionnaire des Halles' (1676); Leclair's, Vidocq's, &c. ' Dictionnaires du Lang-age Argotique ;' Leroux's ' Dictionnaire Comique, Burlesque, &c.' (1786). In Italian, the 'Modo Nuovo da Intendere la Lingua Zerga' (1549); the ' Trattato dei Bianti, &c, col modo d'imparar la Lingua Fur- besca' (1828), &c, &c. Of technical terms we have many dictionaries and glossaries, as the ' Termes de la Ley' (1645); the 'Law Dic- tionary,' by Jacob and Tomlins (1809); Falconer's 'Marine Dic- tionary' (1769); 'A Glossary of Terms used in Architecture' (1840); Marshall's 'Glossary of Agricultural Provincialisms' (1796); Mander's 'Derbyshire Miner's Glossary' (1821), &c. Lastly, of 1 Grammaire Chinoise, s. 59. 2 Ibid. 38 OF DIALECTS. [CHAP. II. obsolete words we may notice Brady's * Glossary of Words in our Ancient Records' (1684); Tooxe's 'Glossary of Obsolete and Uncom- mon Words' (is:52); Tyrwhitt's 'Glossary to Chaucer's Canterbury- Tales' (1778), &c. 61. 1 have said, that a knowledge of dialectic or quasi-dialectic ,''" peculiarities must tend to illustrate not only the language to which they belong, but also its cognate languages. In civilised and long- established communities, the standard language is gradually cleared of those forms which are regarded as provincial or vulgar; whilst tech- nical terms are left to the professors of the respective arts or sciences, and obsolete words and phrases to the mere antiquarian. But this process of purification does not take place in all coun tries at the same time, or in the same order : and hence it may happen that, what in one of two cognate languages . is cast aside to the vulgar, or confined to a narrow circle of artists or scholars, is retained in the other as part of the ordinary discourse, or heard with pleasure as an elegant or poetical expression. A few examples will sufficiently explain my meaning. 62. First, as to Provincialisms. The word Aries, Earies, or AM- penny, is unknown to our standard language, and not to be found in Johnson ; but in the north and west of England, and also in Scotland, it signifies " money given in confirmation of a bargain, or by way of earnest for service to be performed." " The giving of arles for con- firming a bargain" (says Mr. Brockett) " is still very common in all the northern counties." 1 It is recognised in old Scottish laws, cited by Dr. Jamieson. 2 The word, as well as the practice, is found in various forms throughout Western Europe. It is the French Arrhes, the Italian Arre and Caparra (from capere Arrham), and the Spanish Caparra; and is adopted in German as Arrha, explained by CAMPE, " Geld welches auf die hand gegeben wird, urn einen geschlossenen vertrag dadurch noch bundiger zu machen." 3 " Money in hand given, in order thereby to make a closed bargain still more binding." It is of very ancient origin, being derived (as some think) from the Hebrew, arab, pledged. It appears, at least, in the Greek appufiiov, from which the Latin arrabo was early employed in a similar sense : — hunc arrabonem amoris primum a me accipe. ***** Ejus nunc mihi annulum ad te ancilla porro at deferrem dedit. Plautus, Mil. Glo. 4, 1, 11. Arrabo was afterwards shortened to Arm, and a Ring was fre- quently given, even in ordinary bargains, " arrcc nomine" " by way of earnest." Thus Ulpiax says — " Item si institor, cum oleum vendi- disset, annulum, arroe nomine, acceperit." 4 " So, if the manager, when he has sold a quantity of oil, has received a Ring, by way of earnest." And hence, in our marriage ceremony, we have the expression, " With 1 Gloss. N. Country Words, p. 6. s Etym. Diet. Scot. Lang. roc. shies. 3 Worterb. z. Erkfarung, he. voc. Arrha. * Digest. 14, 3, 5. CHAP. II.] OF DIALECTS. 39 this ring I thee wed," that is, " I give thee this ring as a pledge and proof, that the contract of marriage is made in earnest." 63. In Wiltshire, a rustic, who is terrified, will say that he is Gaily. gallied; and a scarecrow dressed up as a human figure is called a g ally-beg gar. These words are unknown to the standard literature of the present day, though Shakspeare uses the verb gallow — The wrathful skies Gallow the very wanderers of the dark. Lear, 3, 2. Now, terror leads to stupefaction and madness ; and the cross and the gallows, as modes of capital punishment, were naturally objects of terror. The radical gal, as signifying stupified, is found in the Islandic galit ; and as signifying mad, in the Danish gal, Swedish galen, and Islandic gall. To this origin, too, Verelius attributes the name of the river Gallus in Phrygia, mentioned by Ovid: — Inter, ait, viridera Cybelen, altasque Ceienas, Amnis it, insana, nomine Galius, aqua : Qui bibit inde/wii. 1 Betwixt green Cybele and high Celene, Gallus, a stream of pow'r insane, is seen : Who drinks thereof is madden'd. " Propter furorem igitur fluvius iste dicitur Gallus (ait Verelius). Unde recfe concluditur gal vocem Phrygkim esse, ut pote Phrvgio fluvio propriain, propter furorem ; et hanc vocem ex Phrygia in Sep- temtrionem usque migrasse, ubi pristino viget significatu." 2 " It is on account of madness then (says Verelius) that this river is called Gallus ; whence he reasonably concludes that Gal is a Phrygian word, being given to a Phrygian river in reference to madness, and that this word has travelled from Phrygia to the far North, where it still retains its pristine signification." The same radical, gal, appears in the Mceso- Gothic of Ulfilas, " atsteigadau nu af thamma galgin.'" 3 " Let him now come down from the Cross." And our word gallows is found in the old high German and old Saxon galgo, the old Frisian galga, the Dutch galg, Islandic galgi, Danish and Swedish galge, and many similar words of the same meaning, both Teutonic and Scandinavian. 04. Among vulgar and colloquial expressions derived from a high Nim. antiquity, we may notice the English nim. It was the remark of a very sagacious and experienced magistrate, that of the persons brought before him for theft, many confessed tliat they took the article in question, but none said that they stole it. In the slang or cant lan- guage of thieves, to ram is to steal (whence Shakspeare's character of Corporal Nym). Now this is the Anglo-Saxon niman, to take, Ger- man, nehmen, Swedish narna, Lettish nemu, &c. "All the ancients" (says Wachter) "have niman. It is used, in the widest sense, as ap- plicable to all things which may be taken, either by the hand, or by the mind, and of what is either given freely, or taken by force or fraud ; and, with this latitude of meaning, it appears in the particles 1 Ovid, Fast. 1. 4. 2 Wachter, voc. Gall. 3 Matt, xxvii. 42. 40 OF DIALECTS. [CHAP. II. nam and nunft.* 1 Hence, in our 'Termes de la Ley," Withernam was a writ which lay to the sheriff, when A had tortiously distrained B's cattle and driven them out of the county, authorising that oflicer to take in compensation an equal amount of A's goods. Hence, too, in German, vemunft (reason) is the power of taking into the mind; (as conception is from con and capere, to take). And this is still more directly derived from nim, in the Frsad^shfernwnest.' 65. A recent English vulgarism, "He has cut his stick" — meaning "he has gone off," "he. lias lefl his situation''— reminds us strongly of the French colloquial phrase, " rompre le fit a ctvee quelquun ';' 3 signify- ing "to give up all intercourse with any one ;" and, figuratively, to renounce the world. Qui jadi rompi le Festu Au monde.* Roman de la Charite. Here the word fe'tu, and in old French festu, is the Roman festuca, a twig, or straw, the breaking of which was a formality used at the manumission of a slave by the vindicta ; and it symbolically intimated that this was. the last act of dominion exercised over him as a slave by the master or praetor. Hence Pyrgopolinices asks — Quid ea? Ingenua, an festuca fractd ? Serva, an libera est? Plautus, Mil. Glo. 4, 1, 15. What is she ? Well-born, or of broken twig ? A slave, or free ? The Franks adopted a like symbol on various occasions. Where one renounced a right to prosecute another for the murder of a relation of the former, part of the proceeding was to break a festuca.'' So, where one renounced his right to certain lands — " Cum festuca semet exuit piwdio." 6 ffitmque. 66. Of the technical terms in modem use among the nations of Europe, manv have been borrowed by one people from another, though having no similitude to other expressions of the language into which they have been introduced. Such is the case with the word e'traque, which in the French marine signifies " the limited breadth of a streak or plank used in ship-building." 7 Now this word has no affinity to any other in the French language; but it is manifestly taken from the Dutch streek, and English streak, which form the verbs strekken in Dutch, stretch in English, sfra'cka in Swedish, and strecan in Anglo- Saxon ; e.g., "tha astrehte se hselend hys hand :" 8 "Then the Saviour stretc/ied forth, his hand." Bhouao. 67. In our military reports, especially since the beginning of the present century, we find frequent mention of a bivouac, a word pre- viouslv unknown to our lexicographers and standard writers. Of its origin and meaning different accounts are given. HlLPERT's definition 1 Wachter, voc. Nemen. s Kotker. Psal. 31, 9. 3 Leroux, voc. Fetii. * Ducange, voc. Festuca. 5 Marculfi, Formul. 121. 6 Chart. Otton. III. a. d. 997. 7 Falconer, Mar. Diet. voc. Etraque. 8 Matt, viii. 3. CHAP. II.] OF DIALECTS. 41 is simply " an encampment without tents." The following, by Campe, is much fuller, but somewhat doubtful — " A night-watch, held under arms." " To bivouac, to watch through the night under arms in the open air. The word is derived from the North German biwakuo (beiwakuo). The first syllable of this word, Id or bei (to, with, beside), perhaps related to the usual camp-sentries, who are invariably posted every time the army lies in the field : so that by bivouac might be expressed the whole host keeping watch together, a watching of all, along with, and in addition to, the usual sentries; and therefore the above word might be translated by the expression — army watch, or general watch. " The emperor himself took part (shared) in the army- watch." " The whole army were obliged to pass the night under arms in the open air ;" they were obliged to watch beside (beiwachuo) ; were obliged to hold a general watch. This may, however, have also some relation to the soldiers' iceapons, so that the idea of watching beside their weapons under arms may be intended to be thus expressed. In this case, which appears to me the most probable view, the last expression — to remain or to watch (under arms), or the High Ger- manized word, beiwachen, watch beside, &c, is to be preferred. 1 " Whether or not M. Campe's derivation and explanation of this word be correct, it is certainly not a word of English origin ; yet we find it adopted by eminent writers of the present age, and particularly by one so scrupulously accurate as Southey. 2 68. Lastly, the variations, wrought in the sound or signification of Eboeier. words by lapse of time, cause certain expressions to become obsolete in one language, which are easily explicable in another. Thus I find in French eboeier, "vieux mot, qui signifioit eventrer, arracher les en- trailles." "An old word which signified to eviscerate, to tear out the entrails." 3 " This word (says Leroux) is at present wholly unknown in our language." It is, however, the English word embowel, several times used by Shakspeare ; and is derived from the old French boeles, in English Impels, so named from their numerous bows, that is, curva- tures; as in the German steig-bugel, and Swedish steg-bogl, a stirrup, originally a ring, in which the rider placed his foot to mount his horse. " Bugel diminutivum, a bug, quatenus curvaturam et circulum signi- ficat. Inde steig-hugel circuli ferrei quibus equus adscenditur." 4 Hence also come our English word buckle, and the French boucle ; for buckles were anciently of a circular shape ; and " to put the hair in buckle," was to put it in curl. Alberti defines boucle " espece d'anneau a. divers usages ;" " a kind of ring for various purposes." The old Scotch broaches were circular buckles used for holding together the garments on the breast. The Latin buccula is explained to signify part of the helmet covering the cheek, and to be derived, as a diminutive, from bucca, the cheek, which last word may be connected with the above- mentioned radical bug (quatenus curvaturam significat), and may tend 1 Worterb. z. Erklarang, &c. voc. Bivouac. 2 Hist. Peninsular War, passim. 3 Leroux, voc. eboeier. 4 VVachter, voc. bugel. 42 OF DIALECTS. [CHAP. II. to confirm J a k el's theory of a Teutonic element in the Latin lan- guage >. Wailing. 69, We find in an old romance the word walling, used in describing the modes in which the people of a besieged town defended themselves against the besiegers — With hot water and walling metal They defendid heore wal. Kijiij Alisannder, v. 1622. That is, they poured on the assailants hot water and boiling metal. The only remnant that we have in English of the word wall, as sig- nifying to boil, is the franchise, now extinct, of certain small boroughs in the west of England, where even- ] lerson who could boil a pot (that is, who occupied an apartment with a fireplace), had a vote for the parliamentary representation of the borough. These voters were called pot-wallers, and corruptly pot-walliuers, pot-wabblers, and pot-wallopers : For, my Lord, I am promis'd by old Humphry Potwabbler The votes of three Tailors, two Smiths, and a Cobbler. Anstcj's Election Ball. " Tanodunii in agro Somersetensi vocantur pot-waMiners." 1 But wall (to boil) is largely connected with other languages and dialects. We find it in the Scottish " to wall up" (to boil up), wall (a wave), and wally (billowy). 2 Written in German, aastuare, fervere, in Anglo-Saxon weallan, in Frankish wallan, in Dutch icellen, in Icelandic valla. It is applied to the waves when they boil up, to water when it springs up out of the earth, or when it springs up in boiling. " Das wasser wallet, in den topfe, wenn es kocht; das meer wallet, wenn es sich in einer starken bewegung befindet. Das blut wallet, wenn es starker als gewohnlich umlauft." 3 " The water boils in the pot, when it reaches the boiling-point ; the sea boils, when it is in violent motion ; the blood boils, when it circulates more rapidly than usual." Some think that the Latin radical bid in bullire, to boil, is of the same origin as the Teutonic and Scandinavian wal. Continc- 70. I shall mention one more word of the obsolete class, and I mentiuu. no tice it the rather, on account of its importance in the earliest charter of our liberties, and of the mistakes hitherto made in its exposition. The word which I mean, has been generally written contemmentum, but should be written contimmentum. In the most authentic copy of the first Magna Charta (a.d. 1215), we find the following passage : " Liber homo non amercietur pro parvo delicto, nisi secundum modum delicti, et pro magno delicto amercietur secundum magnitudinem delicti, salvo contenemento suo, et raercator eodem modo, salva mercandisa sua, et villanus eodem modo amercietur, salvo wagnagio suo." 4 Of this Charter there is no published translation ; but in Ruffhead's Statutes a similar article, in Latin, of the Magna Charta of Henry III., a.d. 1225, 1 Upton cited by Halliwell, voc. Pot-wabbler. 2 Jamieson, ad voces. 3 Adelung. voc. Wallen. 4 Report Com. Public Records, 1819, vol. ii. pi. 3. CHAP. II.] OF DIALECTS. 43 is thus translated : " A freeman shall not be amerced for a small fault, but after the manner of the fault, and for a great fault after the great- ness thereof, saving to him his contenement, and a merchant likewise saving to him his merchandise ; and any other's villain than ours shall be likewise amerced, saving his wainage." The correspondent article in the charter of Edward I., A. d. 1275, is in French; and the words sauve son contenement are translated " saving his freehold." But it is evident that this cannot be right; for a man might have a very large freehold, and no other property ; and then, if his freehold were excepted from amercement he would not be amerced at all, however great his offence might be. It is to be observed, also, that in this French Charter, we have gainage, as corresponding to wagnagio. Selden, in his Table Talk, is reported to have said that the word contenementum signifies the same with countenance, as used by the country people, when meaning to receive a person with hospitality, they say, " I will show you the best countenance," &c. ; and in this exposition the Hon. Daines Barrington agrees. But the reporters of the Table Talk of celebrated men are seldom accurate. It is much more probable that Selden said contenementum signified the same as continentia ; for in his own edition of Fleta, the latter word is actually used in immediate quotation of the rule of the Charter : — " Qualiter fieri debent amercia- ments, declarant ha?c statuta ; liber homo non amercietur nisi secundum modum delicti, et hoc salva sibi continentia.' ' Furthermore, on a minute inspection of the Articuli Magne Carte, from which the Great Charter, after much debate, was drawn up, it may be seen that the word in question is spelt continernentum, 1 which removes it further from the notion of a tenement, or freehold, and approximates it to con- tinentia, which, as Fleta was written less than a century after the event, and by an author of very great ability and accuracy, was pro- bably the word really intended. We have, therefore, to inquire the meaning attached to the word continentia. And here it is to be ob- served, that, in the barbarous Latin of that period, the terminating particles entia or antia, and mentum, were employed quite arbitrarily, and without any regard to classical authority ; and the same may be said of the corresponding Italian, French, and English particles. We find in Italian, perdtenza and pentimento, continenza and contentamento, sostenenza and sostentimento. In old French, parlance and parlemsnt, both signified " talking." So in English, we find Milton using cum- brance, and the old romancers cumberment in the same sense : — Extol not riches then, the toil of fools, The wise man's cumbrance. Parad. Reg. 2, 453. He bad hire make hardy chere, He saide that Amnion was of powere To kepe hire fro cornhurement. Kyng Alisaunder, v. 470. In fact, the word continentia, answered to our modem word sustenance, 1 Report Com, Public Records, 1819, ut sup. pi. 2. 44 OF DIALECTS. [CHAP. II. being derived homcontinere,'m the sense of "alere, snmptussuppeditari;'' " ut in contineiitia pauperom reditus administretur ;"' "that the rente should be applied to the sustenance of the poor." This exposition makes the sense of the article in Magna Charta clear, and shows it to be consistent and reasonable. Amercements (fines to the king) had In •lore been imposed arbitrarily ; they were now to be proportioned to the offence : they had, perhaps, in some instances, deprived a freeman of his whole sustenance, a merchant of all his wares, and a husbandman of his minus of living; they were now to leave each of them .it least sufficient for his support. This humane principle is known to many systems of foreign law, under the title of deducto ne eyeat ; and it was recognised many years before Magna Charta, in an analogous case, by our oldest common-law writer Glanvill. Speaking of the aids which the heir of a barony might in certain events require of those who held under him, he says they must be "ita moderate, secundum facilitates eorum, ne nimis gravari inde videantur, vel suurn contenementum amit- tere." 2 " So moderately, according to their means, that they may not be too much aggrieved, or lose their whole sustenance." Concluding 71. From the preceding remarks it will be manifest, that in order to comprehend anv language thoroughly, both in itself and in its rela- tion to other tongues, it is not sufficient to confine our attention to the works of the most esteemed authors, or the discourses of the polite and learned; but we must carefully examine the local dialects, the obsolete and technical terms, and even the expressions of the vulgar, among which may often be found words and phrases connecting the particular language under examination with others, by affinities, which, but for such research, might have remained unknown. 1 Ducange, voc. Contineiitia. 2 Glanvill, 1. 9, c. 8. remark. ( 45 ) CHAPTER III. OF IDIOMS. 72. The word Idiom, as employed by different writers, is involved Meaning of in no less uncertainty than the words Language and Dialect are. tlie Urm Johnson, as usual with him in all cases of doubt, heaps together several inconsistent explanations. " Idiom," he says, is " a mode of speaking peculiar to a language or dialect;" or it is " the peculiar cast of a tongue;" or " a phrase;" or " phraseology." 1 The various modes of speech in use among the Tatarian tribes are called, by Strahlen- rsERG and others, " Languages;" but they are designated bv Mr. Lumley Davis, whose premature death was so great a loss to Glossology, " Jdiomes Turks." 2 Again, Zeunius has justly observed, that the very learned Treatise which Viger entitled ' De prascipuis Gracaa dictionis Idiotismis,' should have been entitled ' De Idioma- tibus ;' for Idiotismus is properly defined to be locutio seu forma orationis sordida et plebeia ; " a sordid and plebeian talk or form of speech;" that is to say, it belongs to the class of vulgarisms which I have reckoned among the personal dialects ; whereas Jdioma, an Idiom, is briefly defined proprietas lingua; ; that is, a peculiarity of a language, as Hebraisms are idioms peculiar to the Hebrew language, Hellenisms to the Greek, Anglicisms to the English, and the like. 4 To this description, however, two observations are to be added, with reference at least to the more cultivated languages ; first, that the proper idiom must be determined by the agreement of the best writers and speakers ; and, secondly, that it must refer to a definite period of time. " Of English, as of all living tongues," says Dr. Johnson, " there is a double pronunciation — one cursory and colloquial, the other regular and solemn:" the former "always vague and uncertain;" the latter " less liable to capricious innovation." 5 And what the learned critic says of pronunciation may be applied to all the peculiarities of the language. Neither the cursory nor the solemn modes of speech, how- ever, are permanent, and hence we have a different idiom of the age of Chaucer from that of the age of Shakspeare, of Addison, &c. 73. The Idiom of a language consists in some peculiar form, signi- Modes, lorm fication, or effect given to its words, or in the construction of its sen- of words 1 Johnson's Diet, ad vocem. 2 Grammaire Turke, p. xlvii. 3 Viger de Idiot, not. Zeun, p. 1. * North American Review, No. 52, p. 123. 8 Grammar prefixed to the Dictionary. 46 OF IDIOMS. [(.HAP. III. tences. In regard to form, the words of a language may be monosyl- labic or polysyllabic, as the Chinese is said to be monosyllabic, and the Cherokee to be polysyllabic. On this distinction I shall hereafter speak more at large. For the present it may suffice to observe of the Chinese, that there are two senses of the word monosyllabic ; it may signify either that every word in a given language consists of a single syllable; or that every syllable is a complete word. M. Remusat contends that the Chinese language is not monosyllabic in the first sense, but is in the second. 1 Its polysyllables (according to him) are formed by the junction of two or more monosyllabic words : in so tar, therefore, the Chinese idiom is assimilated to what occurs in English ; as in our words wel-come, wil-ful, and numberless others. In the Che- rokee language, on the other hand, words of nine and ten syllables often occur, and one is even mentioned of seventeen, viz. : Wi-ni-to-ti- ge-gi-na-li-sko-lv-ta-no-ne-li-ti-se-sti ; 2 but this probably, when analyzed, would be found to comprehend many words and particles combined. Thus we might employ, in English, a long phrase, instead of an adjective, agreeing with a substantive, as " my never-to-be-sufficiently- lamented Parent;" " my never-to-bc-too-gratef ully -remembered Patron," &c. But what the idiom of one language employs as a word of one syllable, may require two or more separate words in that of another. The French monosyllabic word chez, for instance, cannot be rendered by any single English word ; but we translate chez moi, by the phrase at my house. On the other hand, we use the monosyllabic word home adverbially, where the Germans say nach hause, as in the phrase nach hause gehen (literally, to go to the house). Now, in London, " to go to the House" is understood, among the higher classes at least, to mean going to the House of Lords, or the House of Commons. Hence a German nobleman returning from an evening visit in London, and ordering his coachman to drive " to the house " (meaning home), was surprised to find himself conveyed to one of the Houses of Parlia- ment. Signification. 74. As to signification, it often happens, that where a word of a certain meaning in an original language is thence derived to two or more other tongues, it receives, in the latter, idiomatic differences of signification which differ from, or are wholly irreconcilable with, each other. Take, for instance, our word fatigue and the French word facher. They are alike derived from the Latin fatigare ; whence also come our word fag (which Mr. Halliwell calls a schoolboy's term), and the Italian facchino and French faqwn, a labouring porter. The original, fatigare, in its primary classical sense, is defined " ad lassitudinem deducere," " to weary out;" as Veloces jaculo cervos cursuque fatigat. Virgil, .En. v. 253. Ho the fleet deer, with dart and hound, fatigues. And in this sense only has the word fatigue ever been known to the 1 Melanges Asiatiques, ii. 47. 2 Gabcleutz, Hoefer's Zeitschr. iii. p. 200. CHAP. III. J OF IDIOMS. 47 English idiom. But in the lower Latin, fatigare appears to have been used for annoying a person by raillery ; for when Thraso, the boaster, says to the Parasite, Quo pacto Rhodium tetigerim in convivio, Numquid tibi dixi ? Terent. Eun. iii. 1, 30. Did I ne'er tell you how I touch'd the Khodian Once at a feast ? ( Donatus, in the language of the fourth century, explains Terence's word tetigerim, by luserim, fatigaverim. Fatigare in this sense, was cor- rupted tofascker, and thence to facher ; but, in the course of time, it was applied to various kinds of vexation. The amusing comedy of Les Facheux, by Moliere, is founded on the annoyance caused by per- sons forcing themselves upon one's time and company in the manner so well described by Horace, in his " Ibam forte via sacra," and so coarsely imitated by Donne, in his fourth satire. Moliere, however, has expanded the original conception into a lively sketch of no less than ten characters, by whom, in different ways, his hero, Eraste, is annoyed. In the medieval Latin fatigare is explained " vexare, prce- sertim de litigatormn vexationibus," to annoy, spoken particularly of the annoyances of litigators. The word fash, though unknown to idiomatic English, has been borrowed in the Scottish dialect, from the French, and is used as an active verb, signifying to trouble the body or mind, or to molest generally ; or, as a neuter, to take trouble, to be weary of, or to intermeddle so as to subject one's self to trouble ; and a fashous person is, like the facheux of Moliere, one who causes trouble and annoyance to others. Take again a word which in the French idiom is not merely different from the English in signification, but directly opposite to it, although of the same form and origin. The word concurrent comes in both cases from the Latin con and currere " to ran together." But persons may run together in opposition, or side by side. So in Latin, concurrere is used in both senses : — 1. Abnueram bello Italiam concurrere Teucris. Virgil, Mn. x. 8. I would forbid Italia to oppose In war the Trojans. 2. Ccmcurrunt multa? opiniones quje mihi animum exangeant, Locus, occasio, aetas, &c. Terent. Heaut. act ii. so. 2, v. 3. Many circumstances concur to strengthen my opinion, The place, the occasion, her age, &c. Now a concurrent, is in the French idiom, " a competitor ;" whilst in English the adjective concurrent is explained " acting in conjunction, conjoined, associate." 75. With respect to the effect of words in marking idiomatic accuracy, Effect, great stress has always been laid on the proper use of the words called Synonyms. Words of this class accordingly attracted the attention of the early Glossologists. Ammontdb, a Greek Grammarian, of the fourth century, wrote a treatise, still extant, entitled " llepl ofio'uov 46 of idioms. [chap. m. K Locre', Esp. dn Code Nap. i. 34. 2 Scheller, 322. b Bos, Ellipses Graca?. Pnef. 4 Paradise Lost, 11,450. 4 Rich. II. a. i. s. 1. 6 Orlando Furioso, c. 10, st. 84. CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 51 In the Scottish dialect the following ellipsis, which is foreign to the English idiom, is easily supplied. " The interval beticeen and Monday was occupied in preparations for their journey;" 1 that is, between the day before named and the following Monday. Certain words in various languages are formed by omitting letters or syllables in a phrase, as in Latin sodes for si atydes (if you dare), sis for si vis ?' (if you will), and capsis, which Cicero says stands for three words, 2 probably cape si vis (take it, if you wish). 79. Having thus spoken of Idioms generally, it may be expected French that I should illustrate these remarks by examples from different ldloms - languages ; but to do this fully would be in fact to form a complete course of Glossology ; which neither my limits nor my means permit, and which all the living G lossologists, if associated in the attempt, would fail to accomplish. I may, however, present a few specimens of particular idioms, serving to show the different genius of languages in various parts of the world, and at different periods. I will begin with the French. In that language, avoir un tort (literally, to have a wrong), means " to commit an offence." Marshal Turenne writes to General La Ferte, who had beaten a servant, " II faut que ce valet ait eu envers vous un tort bien grave ; pour que vous vous soyez porte a line telle violence." " It cannot be but that this valet must have com- mitted a very serious offence against you ; otherwise you would not have acted with such violence." The same Marshal, meaning to advise that a large extent of country should be devastated, says, " Je regarde comme fort utile, que le pays entre Heidelberg et Mannheim soit mange " (literally eaten). Montesquieu, intending to express that Augustus granted very sparingly the right of Roman citizenship, says, " Auguste /w£ fort retemi a accorder (was very withheld to grant) le droit de Bourgeoisie Romaine." 3 Elsewhere, meaning that in a Monarchy the Ministers were more practised in business, than under a Despotism, he says, " Les Ministres y sont plus rompus aux affaires (more broken to affairs), que dans l'Etat despotique." 4 Again, that in India matters go on well under a female Sovereign : " Dans les Incles on se trouve tres bien du Gouvemement des Femmes :" 5 literally, " one finds one's self very well of the government of women." In a comedy of Moliere's, the proud Baroness addresses her plebeian son- in-law, " Apprenez que tout notre gendre que vous soyez, ily a grande difference de vous a nous :" — " Learn that although you are our son- in-law (literally, all our son-in-law that you be), there is a great difference between you and us." 6 Again, the injured husband says to the intriguing chambermaid, " Vous pourriez bien porter la folle enchere de tous les autres" (literally, " you might carry the foolish bidding of all the others") : meaning in the colloquial idiom, — you may perhaps have to pay the penalty for the faults of all the others. 7 1 Gait, Entail, ii. 242. 2 Orat. 45. B Grand, d. Rom. c. 13. 4 Esp. d. Loix, 1. 3, c. 10. » Esp. d. Loix, 1. 7, c. 17. 6 George Dandin, a. i. s. 4. 7 George Dandin, a. ii. s. 6. K2 52 OF IDIOMS. [chap. III. German. 80. From the German language Mr. James has collected many idioms, of which the following may serve as specimens: — " Er ist zu aufrichtig, als dass er eiich betrugen sollte." — He is too upright to deceive you. " Fragt man ihn, so schweigt er." — If you question him, he is silent. " Er tanzt gem." — He likes to dance. " Es sind eiue- menge Hasen gesctwssen warden."— A number of hares wore shot. " Die liaupe wird zu einem schmetterling." — The caterpillar becomes a butterfly. " Es kommen truppen an." — Troops are arriving. " In Polen sprichtman die sprache der Homer." — In Poland the Roman language is spoken. 1 Italian. 81. The Italian, may be said to be less idiomatical than most other European languages, its construction being very simple, insomuch that whole pages of Tasso or Ariosto may be rendered almost literally into English, with trifling variation of idiom. A few peculiarities, however, I will notice. " Pare che trema la foresta d' ogn' intorno." — The forest seems to shake on every side. 2 " llispondefo come da me si suole." — I will answer, as I am accustomed to do. 3 " Questioni troppo interessanti son queste per non essere trascurate in quest' opera." — These are questions too interesting to be overlooked in this work. 4 Ci danno I'albo di Giudici per la quintessenza di quanta di piu provetto e rispcttabile era in Roma." — They represent the List of the Judges, as the quintessence of the most distinguished and respectable persons in Rome. 5 " (Jn lavoro compito meno imperfettamente che per me sie potuto." — A work completed with the least imperfection that I could. 6 Greek. 82. The Treatise of Viger, de Gra?co3 dictionis Idiotismis, with the notes of Hoogeveen t and Zeunius; that of Bos, on the Greek Ellipses, with the comments of Schaeffer ; and Hoogeveen's Doc- trina Particidarum Grcecarum, afford' together ample materials for a knowledge of the Greek idioms. I will select a few from their very numerous examples, both of the peculiar force and meaning given to certain words, and also of peculiarities of construction in a sentence. Ao'yoc, which we commonly render " a Word," has many idiomatic uses. 7 Plato gives three : 1. hiavoiaQ iv <]>u>rri, &airtp 'iiCioXov — " An image as it were, of thought, in the voice." 2. dia a-oi-^tiov oIoq eiri ru o\ov — " A transition (or medium) from the element to the whole " (by which, I apprehend, he means a word considered as a medium between the mere articulations of which it is composed, and the sentence or proposition which it contributes to form). 3. anptiov w iuravTiov ciucpipii to tpwrr/3tV — " A sign, by which we distinguish the thing spoken of from all others" (that is to say, a logical Term, definable and distinguishable as such, from other terms, in reasoning). In construction with other words, Xciyoc receives from them dif- 1 Elements of Grammar, p. 145, &c. 2 Ariosto, c. i. 72. 3 Tasso, c. ii. 81. 4 Filangieri, Sci. Leer. i. 36. 5 Nicolini, Istr. pruov. 180. 6 Micali, Italia. Pref. 7 Yi r er, cum noti;, pp. 101-5. CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 53 ferent meanings. Aoyov dirftv, is " to ask leave to speak ;" \6yov cicoVcu, "to give such leave;" \6yov Xa&eiv, "to accept it." Again, Aoyov cilovai, may mean " to give a reasonable account of anything ;" or, in a different construction, " to give reasons to one's self," i. e. to weigh a question well in one's own mind ; \6yov Trupiyeiv, " to sug- gest to others, a reasonable plea ;" Adyoi, in the plural, may mean " some particular kinds of discourse ;" or again, " mere words," " mere pretexts." 'Etc Adyoue iXdelp, " to talk over a subject." 'Ey XoyoiQ livai, " to be talked of by men," to have your name " familiar in their mouths as household words." Adyoe tort, " there is a talk," " there is a report." Kar e/dovye \6yov, " according to my opinion however," " as I at least think." Adyoe ne^oe is differ- ently explained by the Commentators ; some think it means simply " prose," others, " any inferior style of writing." As general idioms of construction, we may notice these : 1. A participle with the article prefixed, descriptive of an individual, as 6 noirjarac, rd Awvvffiaica., the author of the ' Dionysiaca.' 1 2. A genitive case after a verb, instead of an accusative, where two objects are compared, dttcatOTepov eviroie'iv rout,' oikeiovq twv oQvdwv, — " it is juster ta benefit domestics than strangers "* (where the regular construction would be f/ rovg uDve'iovq). 3. An infinitive mood, used (with wc) for an indicative : wc Iceiv tov iydpov — " on seeing the enemy ;" instead of we dlev? " when he saw." But the most numerous idioms are cases of Ellipses, that is, where one or more words are omitted, as being understood from the context. Thus Plato says, 'Ov fiev ovde TOCt 7rapaAa'v//£iG- To ttoiov ', 'Kv/.iu6)}q ?/ Zvajiudyg — • " Neither will you omit this also. What ? Docile or indocile " (that is, wliether he be docile or indocile). 4 So Achilles says in the Iliad : — Ta/v ouk a!v ti (pilots olmiXuv aixovro; ifjr.iio' 'Ei V, tiyi fth wu^/iira.i : i. e., of these things you shall take and cany away nothing against my will ; but if (that is, if you wish to do so) come and try. 5 In com- mon discourse, the word ii/jLtpa (day) was often omitted after an ordinal number, as in the Acts of the Apostles (ch. iv. v. 4), "Eip»j/c£ ydp ttov iTipl rrjg lfic6fxr)c ovtw. — " For he spake, in a certain place, of the seventh (day) on this wise." 8 So the word Tifxi'ifiu (price) was commonly omitted. — Uoerov vvv 6 Trvpog lanv &vioq eirt ttjq 'E\\dc)oe — " How much is wheat sold for now, in Greece ?" (?'. e., at what price ?) 7 83. The Latin Idioms have been explained by very many writers : Latin, the following, among a number of others, are noticed in Scheller's Prcecepta Styli bene Latini. A substantive is frequently used as an adjective : Victor Exercitus — " the conqueror army," for the victori- ous army. Maris savitia — " the rage of the sea," for the raging sea. A whole phrase for a single adverb, summa cum diligentia, — " with 1 Viger, p. 18. 2 Ibid. p. 65. 3 Ibid. p. 201. * Hnogeveen, c. 20, s. 1. 5 Ibid. C. 10, s. 2. 6 Bos, v. hp-i^a. 1 Ibid. v. rifivpa. 54 OF IDIOMS. [l M \p. m. the greatest diligence" (for diligentissimS). The repetition of tin- con- junction et answers to our connection of both with and. Tims Cicero savs, Mt'iis in te animus ijniuii singulari officio fuerit, et Senatus et Populm Romanus testis est. — " How greatly my mind was attached to yoilj both the Senate and the Roman people arc witnesses." So the repetition of the disjunctive aut, answers to our disjunctives either and or. Cras aut scribam aut ipse veniam. — " To-morrow, I will either write, or come myself." A neuter adjective is used for a transcend' ental (or abstract) substantive; as Si verum scire vis (not veritatem) — " If you wish to know the truth." An adjective for an adverb, nullus dubito, for non dubito — " I doubt not." A pronoun for an adjective, Quae tua est hwnanitas, qui tuns est erga me amor; (for tanta humanitas, tantus amor) — " Snch (or so great) is your kindness, such your love towards me." An infinitive mood for an indicative, as Ccesar proficisci (for profectus est) — " Ceesar went." Among Latin idioms, too, many are elliptical, as ad Castoris (omitting oedem) — " to the Temple of Castor." Non habeo quo con- fugiam " (for non habeo locum quo confugiarn) — " I have no place to fly to." Boni pastoris est tondere pecus (omitting officium) — " It is the duty of a good shepherd to shear the sheep." Erat ciim ita cogitabam (omitting tempus) — " There was a time when I thought so." Ut paucis dicam (omitting verbis) — " To say it in few words." Victim et fugientem occiderunt (omitting euni) — " They slew him conquered and flying, &c. &c." Hebrew. 84. Of the Oriental idioms, 1 do not pretend to speak on my own knowledge. I will, however, advert to some passages in the writers who have noticed them. From the Hebrew, we have adopted some striking expressions, such as Hosanna, to which I shall hereafter more particularly allude. At present it may be sufficient to say, that the learned Schleusneu explains Hosanna, as an exclamation, formed of two words contracted into one, and signifying " We pray for salva- tion," "We beseech Thee to grant prosperity;" so that when the Jewish multitude shouted " Hosanna to the son of David ! " they idiomatically expressed a prayer to God to prosper Jesus, as a descend- ant of their great King David; and the Pharisees themselves, had before declared, that Christ (the Messiah) must be a " son of David." — (Matth. xxii. 42.) Ambic. 85. Mr. Richardson, in his Arabic Grammar, explains the follow- ing idioms of that language. " There is a singular manner of construction, which occurs sometimes, wherein the adjective agrees with the following substantive (a verb being understood) only in gender and number, and, at the same time, concords in case with another substantive placed before it ; in which situation (by an idiom similar to that which puts a verb when preceding a nominative with more elegance in the singular, though that nominative should be either dual or plural), the adjective is placed in the singular whatever may be the number of its substantive." CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 55 86. Aii idiomatic discordance of number, between different parts Persian, of speech, somewhat similar to that just noticed in Arabic, occurs also in Persian. Thus, Mr. Moises' Persian Interpreter states, that " Numerals, joined with a noun, require both the noun and the verb to be in the singular number." For " a hundred thousand tulips spring up," the Persian idiom gives " a hundred thousand tulip springs up." Again, " Two or more nouns have frequently a sin- gular verb after them, as Virtue and Excellence is lost " (for are lost). So, " the demonstrative pronouns are always placed before the noun, but continue in the singular number even with a plural noun, " as " this lips," for " these lips." 87. The excellent Grammar of the lamented Glossologist, A. L. Turkish. Davids, notices some Turkish idioms, which occur in no other European language. There is not only a comparative of diminution, as buyuk, " great," buyudjik, " less great," or great in a small degree; but a sort of superlative in diminution, as buyudjidjek, " much less great." On the other hand, there are some idioms corresponding to those of the English, though the two languages have in other respects so little connexion. Thus they say, demir kapou, " an iron gate," the substantive demir, " iron," being employed as with us in the manner of an adjective. As with us, too, the adjective precedes the substan- tive, as eyu ddem, " a good man" (eyu, signifying good), and not ddem eyu, as in Latin, vir bonus. 88. In the Malayan language, as in the English, Mr. Marsden ob- Malay. serves, that a contraction of the numeral of unity becomes the indefinite article. Sa, is " one," orang, is " man," and s'orang is " a man." This is the case in many languages, and particularly in English ; for our indefinite article a, or an, appears as ane in the Scottish dialect, where it is (or at least was) used equally for our a, and for our one : — And gart cine Hell my Paradyce appeir. 1 * * * * All, quod Experience, is ane. 2 Iii the Cherokee language, the numeral saquo, one, is used for the indefinite article. As there are no inflexions in the Malayan language to denote the case, gender, or number of nouns, the idiomatic differ- ences in these particulars must generally depend either on the position of the words, or on the context. Hence, as in English, the nominative, or case of the agent, usually precedes, and the accusative, or case of the object, usually follows the verb ; but, under certain circumstances, these cases may be transposed, as they may also be in English, under circumstances which are to be gathered from the context ; and which, in the Malayan language, are further marked by the indefinite par- ticle de. 3 89. The Sanskrit language abounds in inflexions as remarkably as Sanskrit, the Malayan is deficient in them. Its nouns, for instance, have three 1 Dunbar's Goldin Terge. 2 Montgomery's Cherrie and Slae. 3 Malayan Grammar, p. 102, 56 OF idioms. [chap. in. genders, three numbers, and seven or (including the vocative) eight cases. Hence, it necessarily follows, that the Sanskrit idioms must widely differ from those of languages, which, though of the same origin, either never adopted those inflexions, or suffered them in whole or part to fall out of use. The Sanskrit has a dual number unknown to the Mceso-Gothic, Islandic, and other ancient Northern tongues; it follows, therefore, that what the former expresses by inflexion, as respecting two objects, cannot be idiomatically rendered by the others, but must either be left to be collected from the context, or must be ex- pressed by a separate word. A similar remark applies to the cases. " The Islandic, as well as the Mo?so-Gothic," saysM. WestergaabI), " has only four casual terminations in each of the two numbers, viz. : nominative, accusative, dative, and genitive. The three remaining Sanskrit cases, the instrumental, ablative, and locative, have disap- peared ; and the notions marked by them are, in Islandic as well as Moeso-Gothic, expressed by prepositions, which generally govern the dative, but more rarely the genitive." ' Chinese. 90. In speaking of Chinese idioms, I must confine myself, for the present, to the colloquial medium, or spoken language ; to the written language I shall have occasion to refer hereafter. The former, as Dr. Marshman conjectures, existed " probably" in substance prior to the invention of the (written) characters." 4 The structure of this language is so different from that of anyone hitherto mentioned, that, to transfer a passage of any length from the one to the other verbally, would render it totally unintelligible. The words are \\-w in number, and consist almost wholly of a single consonantal followed by a single vocal articulation, and these varied only by four or at most five dis- tinctions of tone. Generally speaking, a word may be used as any part of speech, that is to say, a word' which in one passage has the force and effect of a noun, may in the next be employed as a verb, an adverb, preposition, conjunction, &c; but to this there are some ex- ceptions. " Chinese words, however (as M. Remusat briefly expresses himself), taken separately, are all invariable in their form: they admit of no inflexion, and of no change, either in pronunciation or in writing." 3 From these facts it may easily be inferred, that the idiomatic structure of the Chinese language is of that peculiar character to which I have above adverted. Thus, to answer to the English adverb " silently," the Chinese employ two words mull and yen; the former meaning silence, and the latter to consume;* but how the union of these two notions came to have such an effect, it is not easy to conceive. The word tela originally signified, as a noun substantive, "the sprout of a plant rising out of the earth," 3 but it is often employed as a sort of sign of the genitive case, as Thian tchi ming, Heaven's command; 6 where Thian is Heaven, and tchy answers to our 's (anciently is). 1 Mem. Antiq. du Nord, 1 840-44, p. 58. 2 Elem. of Chinese Grammar, p. 83. 3 Elem. de la Grammaire Chinoise, s. 60. 4 Marshman, 462. 5 Remusat, 78 6 Ibid. 40. CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 57 And M. Remusat cites a short phrase, in which tchy is repeated three times, and taken successively as a verb, a pronoun of the third person in the accusative case, and a mark of the relation between the verb and tire substantive which follows it. 1 Dr. Marshman has observed some curious coincidences between Chinese and English idioms. The veib to.-, " to beat, or strike," is often prefixed to a substantive, and forms in ordinary discourse a compound in which it loses its proper meaning : thus td-tsyeu (literally, to strike wine) is " to pour out wine." In one instance, it corresponds exactly with the English ; ta-ho, " to produce fire by striking a flint," answers to our phrase of " striking a light." We have also some analogous expressions, at least in collo- quial discourse, as " to strike a bargain." 2 91. From the endless diversity of Idioms in the Old World, I pass American, to those of the New. "The whole fabric of language ' ' (says Mr. Howse) "as exhibited in the American idioms, compared with European tongues, is of a very peculiar structure ; cast, as it appears, in a different mould from ours, and offering to the Grammarian a novel and singularly organized system, and to the Metaphysician a new view of the opera- tions of the human mind." 3 " Yet it is a system complete in the mechanism of its parts, and adequate to the end desired." 4 This is strikingly exemplified in the long, ingenious, and curious analysis, which Mr. Howse has made of the verb in the Cree language, and of which it may at present suffice to give the following examples. In treating of the matter of which the Cree verb consists, he (among other distinctions) separates primitive verbs from derivatives ; and of derivations he notices three classes, of which the first augments the action in different modes and degrees — ex. gr. Nippow, he sleeps ; Nippasku, he sleeps very frequently ; Nenippbw, he sleeps with itera- tion (indefinitely); Ndnippow, he sleeps at times (distributively) ; Nippdsu, he sleeps a little ; Ndnippdsu, he sleeps a little now and then. 5 Again, from a different root (ISfippa, water), there are several distinctions, some applying to things animate, and some to things in- animate, as Nippeewoo, he is water (t. e. possesses the nature of water) ; Nippeewun, it is water ; Nippeewissu, he is like water ; JSfippeewow, it is like water ; Nippeewissoo, lie is watered (wetted) ; Nippewetayoo, it is watered ; Nippeehdyoo, he changes him into water ; Nippeeiow, he turns it into water ; Nippeewchayoo, he waters (t. e. wets) him ; Nippceicetow, he waters it ; Nippeekayoo, he makes water ; Nippeeka- tayoo, he makes it water ; Nippeekatum, he adds water to it ; Nippee- kanyoo, he makes water of it ; Nippeeskow, there is abundance of water; Oonippeemu, he possesses water. 6 M. Duponceau ascribes to these languages a peculiarity still more discrepant from the ordinary European or Asiatic idioms. He says, " the manner in which the Indians compound their words was first observed by Egede in his account of Greenland ; and Mr. Heckewelder explains it at large in 1 Remusat, 78, note. 2 Marshman, 402. s Cree Grammar, p. 1 1 . * Ibid. p. 12. s Ibid. p. G9. 6 Ibid. pp. 17-21. 58 of roioMS. [chap. hi. the eighteenth letter of his corres] dence. — A multitude of ideas are combined togethi r by a process which may be called agglutination. I shall select a word from the Delaware language, which will con- vey a clear idea of the mode of formation of all others of the same kind. When a Delaware woman is playing with a little dog or cat, she will often say to it Kuligatsckis ! which I would translate into English, 117/'// a pretty little paw you have! This word is compounded in the following manner — A.' is the inseparable pronoun of the second person, and may he rendered by 'thou' or 'thy,' according to the context; uli, pronounced (oolee) is part of the word wulit, which signifies handsome, or pretty; gat is part of the word wtchgat, which signifies a leg or paw; schis is a diminutive termination, and conveys the idea of littleness." 1 "In the same manner Pilape, a youth, is formed from Pilsit, chaste, innocent, and Lenape, a man." 2 Instances like these have led to rather an exaggerated notion of the characteristic peculiarities of this class of languages. " If we search for the distin- guishing traits of our American languages," says Mr. Bancroft, "we shall find the synthetic character pervading them all, and establishing their rules. The American does not separate the component parts of the proposition which he utters : he never analyzes his expressions : his thoughts rash forth in a troop. The picture is presented at once and altogether." Synthesis governs every form : it pervades all the dialects of the Iroquois and the Algonquin, and equally stamps the character of the language of the Cherokee. This synthetic character is apparent in the attempt to express in the simplest manner the name of anything. The Algonquin, the Iroquois, could not say Father : fehey must use a more definite expression. Their nouns implying re- lation, always include the signification of one of the three persons of the possessive pronoun. They cannot say Father, Son, Master, separately ; the noun must be limited, by including within itself the pronoun of the person to whom it relates. The Missionaries, therefore, could not translate the Doxology literally; but chanted among the Unions, " Glory be to our Father, and to his Son, and to their Holy Ghost." 8 Mr. Bancroft was perhaps in some degree misled by Dr. EDWARDS, a writer on whom TOOKB and others have too implicitly relied. The following passages from Mr. Howse's very able work may serve to correct these erroneous views: — "Dr. Edwards, speaking of the Mohegans, one of the Algonquin tribes, observes, that they cannot say • I love,' ' thou givest,' &c. The examples (above given) of similar grammatical import, in both the animate and inanimate forms, will, I imagine, be sufficient to show that he is completely in error." 4 Again, " it would seem strange that the writers on the Algonquin language, viz. : Eliot, Edwards, &c., all deny the existence of the verb-substan- tive, in the dialects on which they have severally written. This mistake has clearly arisen partly from the idiomatic omission of the 1 Introd. to Zeisberger's Gram. p. 82. * Ibid. p. 83. 3 Hist. America, c. .\.\ii. s. 8. * Cree Grammar, p. 105. CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 59 verb-substantive in a certain kind of expressions, and partly from an entire misconception of the subject, as is evident from the tenor of their examples, which prove only that those dialects have no auxiliary verb-substantive." 1 In fact, the verb-substantive in the Cree language is i-ow, " he, or it is," i being the root, and ow the affix or characteristic termination ; which two parts belong essentially to every verb in that language. When Mr. Bancroft says that the synthetic character pervades these languages, he says no more than might be predicated of the Sanskrit, the Greek, and, in different degrees, of all polysyllabic tongues; for they are all synthetic. And when he says that the • American never analyzes his expressions, he might have added that no unlearned person does so in any language. When a child says to its nurse, " Give me a kiss," it speaks, as the American does, from mere imitation of a phrase which it has heard: and certainly does not analyze that phrase into a verb, a pronoun, an article, and a noun-sub- stantive, all of which nevertheless exist in the phrase. The same con- sideration may even be applied to the instances cited by M. Duponceau. The Delaware woman does not analyze her expression kuligatschis, as M. Duponceau has very ingeniously, and no doubt accurately, done. It is true, that in this case there is a process, which may not impro- perly be called agglutination, by which a phrase may be made out of parts of words melted down, as it were, together. But do we not find a similar proceeding among our own unlettered and unreflecting classes? It was formerly usual for return post-chaises to stop at the White Horse Cellar, Piccadilly, in the hope of picking up passengers ; and I well remember the rapid utterance, by the men waiting there, of certain sounds which can hardly be expressed in writing otherwise than by such a combination of letters as " Dthrodsa ?" by which they meant to ask " Are you going down the road, Sir?" In this question, D stood for " down," th for " the," rod for " road," and sa for " Sir." The same sort of abbreviations may be observed in many London cries, at the present day. A poor old man daily passes my window, crying something that sounds like fawatkes, by which, I believe, he means, " fresh water-cresses." And there is a well-known story of Coleridge, when a boy, asking an old clothesman why he cried o'clo, and not old clothes ; to which the man aptly replied, " I could pro- nounce old clothes, Sir, as well as you ; but if you had to repeat it as often in a day as I have, you would be glad to shorten it too." 92. Hitherto I have only spoken of Idioms as they vary localhj ; Words but, in all languages, they are also subject to constant, though scarcely f?™& m sensible changes, in the lapse of time ; and this in various ways — in the force and effect attached to particular words, in their grammatical use as different parts of speech at different times, and in their position and arrangement in a sentence. Whether or not a word used in old writers may be received with the same signification in the modern idiom, depends wholly on custom, according to the Horatian rale : — 1 Cree Grammar, p. 137. 60 OF IDIOMS. [chap. III. Sentences vary In construction. Malta renascentur quae jam ceeidere, cadcntque Qua nunc sunt in honore vocabula, si volet Ut . Quern penes arbitrium est, et jus, et norma loquendi. Horat. Art. Poet. 70. Some shall revive that now forgotten he, Others, in jn-csoiit credit, soon shall die, If Custom will, whose arbitrary sway Words and the forms of language must obey. Francis. Of this, in the present day, we have a remarkable instance in the word Handbook : it was the Anglo-Saxon handboc, which, until of late years, was entirely superseded by the word "manual;" but now we have handbooks in various branches of literature and art, as the handbooks of painting, of antiquities, of France, Italy, &c. Nor do words merely die out, or revive, according to the fashion of the day. The same word, continuing in use for along course of time, is em- ployed at one period in a primary, and at another in a secondary sense. Thus the word contrition derived from contero, " to wear down with bruising," had in its primary sense that mechanical meaning only. At the present day, it is confined to the secondary sense of " being worn down with sorrow from a sense of guilt." Bishop J enemy Taylor, however, the most eloquent preacher of his age, used it in the primary, or mechanical sense. " Serpents are curious to preserve their heads from contrition, or a bruise." 1 So, our verb to prevent (from the Latin prcevenio) is in its primary sense simply " to come before." In the form of Common Prayer drawn up in the sixteenth century, it is used forgoing before, as a guide and assistant — " Prevent us, O Lord, in all our doings, with thy most gracious favour." But in the present day it is used to signify exclusively the going before for the purpose of hindrance; as in our common proverb, " Prevention is better than cure." Again, the verb to rest is used at present only to signify remaining quiet in body or mind after exertion, or being sup- ported mentally or bodily by something on which we place reliance; but Hooker frequently uses the expression " it resteth" to signify that part of an argument, which remains to be proved, after certain points have been demonstrated or conceded; e.g. " By reason man attaineth unto the knowledge of things that are, and are not sensible; it resteth, ore, that we search how man attaineth unto the knowledge of such things insensible, as are to be known that they may be done." 8 And in the same manner it was employed by Bacon and Milton. 93. As the idiomatic use of single words varies in signification and effect at different times, so does the idiomatic construction of sentences. A short passage in the praver, common to all Christians, from the time of its injunction, will sufficiently illustrate this statement. In the original Greek, it stands tints, Toy aprov iifiQv tov tiuovmov coc fifiiv m]jj.tpov. 3 In the French of the thirteenth century it was rendered, "Nostre pain de chascun jor nos donne hui." In the Port Royal » Sermons, vol. ii. p. 136. '' Ecclcs. Pol, b. i. s. 7. 3 Matt. vi. 1L CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 61 version, it is, " Donne nous aujourd'hui notre pain cle chaque jour." By Wiclif, in the fourteenth century, it was rendered " Give to us this day oure breid ovir othir substauuce." And in our present form of prayer it is, " Give us this day our daily bread." It will be ob- served that the order of the words in all the five passages is different. The singular variation, however, which occurs in Wiclif 's translation (viz. ovir othir substaunce) depends on the various significations given to the Greek adjective i-xiovcnoQ, which some translate " substan- tial," others " supersubstantial," others "sufficient for one's support," others again " suited to our daily needs ;" and this last version is sup- posed to be corroborated by the parallel passage in St. Luke's gospel, to kciP fifiipav, translated in our present text, " day by day," and in the margin, " for the day." 1 94. 1 have stated that the proper idiom of a language is to be de- individual termined by the agreement in practice of the best writers and speakers p-c^anties. at a given period. But care must be taken to distinguish between such agreement, and the peculiarities of any individual writer or speaker, however deservedly eminent he may be. Thucydides, for instance, is the very first of Greek historians, and his great work has justly attained the distinction to which it laid claim as a xriifid eg atl, " an everlasting possession ;" yet in regard to his style, the very learned H. Stephanus says, " Minime contentus iis quae ex veteri sermone habebat, multa innovavit, phrasimque magna ex parte sibi peculiarem usurpavit," 2 — " Not content with what he found in ancient writers, he innovated much, and employed a phraseology which was in great part peculiarly his own." 95. So our own Milton's style both in verse and prose is incom- Hilton* parably powerful and majestic ; but it owes much of its effect to some striking peculiarities. He often omits the article, in order to bring out the substantive with greater force, as in describing the infernal regions : — dire hail, which on firm land Thaws not, but gathers heap, and rain seems Of ancient pile. Par. Lost. b. 2, v. 589. Many eminent writers of that and the preceding period, on the con- trary, introduce the article superfluously. Thus Spenser says : — Old Genius the porter of them was, Old Genius, the which a double nature has. Faerie Queen, 3, 6, 31. So Shakspeare : — In his brain he hath strange places cramm'd With observation, the which he vents In mangled forms. As You Like It, a. ii. s. 7. This, however, is probably copied from the French idiom le quel, and Italian il quale and locchs'. Milton's most obvious peculiarity is 1 Luke, si. 3. E Append, de Dud. Attic, p. 201. G2 OF IDIOMS. [CHAP. III. the frequent introduction of Latin words, " Romanizing our tongue" (as Dryden says) " but not complying with its idiom." This, which often gives his style a pedantic stillness, is sometimes, however, productive of a real beauty. It is harsh and formal when he describes the Angel partaking of Adam's viands : — . — With keen dispatch . Of real hunger, and concoctive heate To transubstantiate ; what redounds, transpires Through spirits with ease. Far. Lost, 5, 430. On the other hand, the Latin word consummate adds great beauty to the well-known simile, comparing the growth of mind to that of a flower : — So from the root Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves More aerie, last the bright, consummate floure. Par. Lost, 5, 479. He adopts too from the Latin, not only single words, but construc- tions, such as the imitation of the ablative case absolute. " The summer following, Titus then Emperor, Agricola continually with inroads dis- quieted the enemy ;" like imperante Tito (History of England, b. 2). And, by a similar analogy, he employs the accusative with the infini- tive, inverting the usual order of an English sentence. " For what though Brutus and the whole Trojan pretence were yielded up — yet those old and inborn names of successive kings, never any to have bin real persons, or don in their lives at least som part of what so long hath bin remembred, cannot be thought without too strict an incredulity." (Ibid. b. 1.) Poime. 96. Don t xe, an author somewhat earlier than Milton, has still more remarkable peculiarities, due indeed partly to the false taste of the time, but more to his own eccentricity. Of these, the following examples may suffice : — 1 . In the lines addressed to Lady Bedford on the death of her friend: — You that are she, and you that's double she, In her dead face halfo of yourself shall see. 2. In his letter to his friend M. J. W. : — ! how I grieve That men may not themselves their own good parts Extoll, without suspect of surquedrie ! (That is, witnout being suspected of overweening pride or self-conceit.) 3. In describing the darkness of a storm at sea : — All things are one, and that one none can be, Since all formes uniforme deformitie Doth cover. It is easy to see that peculiarities of this kind differ greatly from the proper idioms of a language; and while the latter should be carefully attended to in composition, the former should for the most part be avoided. 97. In the generality of cases, it will be found that the peculiarities CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 63 which distinguish individual writers are imitations of foreign idioms Ancient ancient or modern. Those of Milton were generally taken from the Copied classical or scriptural models, with which he was so conversant. Thus he describes our first parents :— Adam, the goodliest man of men since born, His sons : the fairest of her daughters, Eve. Par. Lost, 4, 323. This is correspondent to the Greek idiom in St. John's Gospel — 'O 6iri(Tear Madam, — I no sooner found mysdfhere, than I visited my new apartments, which are composed of Jive pieces : the small room which gives upon the garden is practised through the great one : and there is no other issue. As I was exceeded with fatigue, I no sooner made my toilette, than I let myself fall on a bed of repose, where sleep came to surprise me. My Lord and 1 are in the intention to make good cheer, and a great expence : and this country is in possession to furnish wherewithal to amuse oneself. All that England has of illustrious, all that youth has of amiable, or beauty of ravishing, sees itself in this quarter. Render yourself here then, my friend, &c. &c. 99. But the most disgraceful degradation of the modern English idiom is the adoption of rank vulgarisms into the discourse of the educated classes, and the standard literature of the country. It would perhaps be invidious to mention the writers, who have indulged of late in this low and unworthy habit ; more especially as in some in- stances their names "honour this corruption." But it may be allowable to say that Addison would have stood aghast to hear in polite company such barbarous terms as " snobbishness" and " Jiunkeyism," and would have been disgusted with the coarse familiarity of a young gentleman addressing his venerable father as " Governor." I presume that by " snobbishness" is intended vulgarity, the quality of a snob, which in the Suffolk dialect means "a journeyman shoemaker." 1 In the Somerset dialect it is said to mean "mucus nasi:"* and may per- haps be connected with the German schnauben, " per nares spirare, ' to breathe thick, or snore, and so with schnautze, the snout. Flunkeyism is of course taken from FlunMe, an equally vulgar Scotch word for a livery servant. In old French, Flanchier was one who waited at liis master's side, or flank from the Fr. flanc, and German Flanke, which Wachter derives from lank, the loin or side. As to the word " Governor," it was adopted within living memory from the slang of the thieves, who called the gaoler their governor. Certainly none of the associations connected with these words are so pleasing or elegant as to add to the English idiom either dignity or grace. Krrorsin 100. The imp< >rtance of studying the idiomatic peculiarities of a discourse. language is manifest from many considerations. The idiom gives to a language its identity and character ; it is indeed its very spirit, without which we possess as it were only the dead body of speech, and (speaking with due reverence) might almost apply to it the Apostolic text, "the letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life." 3 Hence, in what- ever way we have to do with a language, unless we understand its proper idiom, we are liable to fall into errors, sometimes ludicrous, often serious, and possibly fatal. The English no sooner began to flock to Paris at the Peace of 1814, than their mistakes in the French 1 Halliwell, voc. Suob. " Ibid. 3 Corinth, ii. 3, G. , CHAP. III.] OF IDIOMS. 65 language formed the subject of a very popular farce, ' Les Anglaises pour rive' (the Laughable Englishwomen), in which a lady, meaning to ask for tea (le the) desires to have I'athee (the Atheist), and intro- duces her niece as ma niaise (my silly one). Similar mistakes, how- ever, occurred at the same period to the French who affected to speak English. A young French gentleman entering a coffee-room, called for the waiter by the term Boy I which his dictionary had informed him was the English for Garcon. And when an English lady paid a visit at the house of a French lady, who happened not to be at home, the daughter of the latter said " Mamma will be very angry that you came in her absence," meaning " sorry ;" for these two very different significations are expressed alike in French by the word fachee above alluded to. 101. The case is still worse, if a work or document of any conse- intrans- quence is to be translated. Without an adequate knowledge of idiom, tIon ' the spirit of the original evaporates, or its sense is wholly perverted. Mr. Hazlitt has pointed out some ludicrous instances of this in Cotton's translation of Montaigne's Essays. Thus, a passage which begins En la plus espesse barbarie, lesfemmes Scythes, &c. (in an age of the darkest barbarism, the Scythian women, &c.) is rendered by Mr. Cotton, "The Scythian women, in the wildest parts of Barbary," &c. Again, Laissons cette autre secte, faisant expresse profession de la fierte (not to mention that other sect, the Stoics, who expressly professed haughtiness), which Mr. Cotton thus curiously perverts — " Let us leave that other sect, and make a downright profession of fierceness.''' Finally, he represents poor Montaigne as most whimsi- cally ungallant to his wife. Montaigne, who had been rendered nearly senseless by an accident, says, " Je m'advisai, de commander quon donnat un cheval a ma femme, que je voyois s'empestrer et se tracasser dans le chemin qui est montueuxet malayse." (I had so much sense about me, as to order them to give a horse to my wife, who I saw was toiling and labouring along the steep and uneasy road.) This, Cotton renders, " I had so much sense as to order that a horse, which I saw trip and falter on the way, should be given to my wife." 1 102. One laments to seethe natural ease, and unaffected good sense Homer. of a writer like Montaigne so distorted ; but it is worse when the great Epic Poets are so mangled. Virgil introduces the powerful and wonder-working Ethiopian Priestess thus : — Hinc mihi Massylae gentis monstrata sacerdos Hesperidum ternpli custos. 2 Which Stanyhurst translates : — in soil Massyla begotten, Sexton of Hesperides sinagog. 3 The simple and natural moonlight scene, given by Homer as a simile 1 Hazlitt's Montaigne, Prefatory Address. 2 ^Eneid, iv. 483. 3 Stanyhurst, ibid. [6.] F G6 OF IDIOMS. [CHAP. III. at the close of the eighth book of the Iliad, stands thus in tin- original : — 'fl;, V or ev aveavui a.o"Toa tpalnr,v aftp) ai%.ri\V)v iaivir A.oiirp'.iriu, on , 'F.k r 'iipavov av'ofav S' a.o ifiofayn oitrTiro; 'Ai$rig, Tlavra li pel) were all origi- nally written in Greek. It is sufficiently obvious, however, that the Apostolic writers did not employ the purest Greek idiom of the classic- ages; and this is easily to be accounted for. Their native tongue was Aramean or Syro-Chaldean. Those among them who had studied the Mosaic law must have been versed in the pure Hebrew. But there was a numerous class of Jews, who are described as Hellenists, that is, imitators of the Greeks. The word 'EWrfvtcrrac, indeed, is ren- dered in our translation "Grecians," and in the Vulgate Grcecis ; but being regularly formed from the verb eWrjvi^w, must mean persons who imitated the Grecians in opinions, language, or otherwise. 1 The Hellenistic Jews were spread, in great numbers, through many pro- vinces, whore the Gospel was eventually preached; and where various local dialects and idioms prevailed. Some critics even think that in the writings of St. Paul, the idiom of his native city Tarsus, or at least of his native province Cilicia, is to be detected. The idioms derived from the Hebrew and Aramean are indiscriminately termed by most critics Hebraisms. They have been distinguished, however, into perfect and imperfect. The former consists of such words. ] >hrases, and constructions, as belong exclusively to the Hebrew or Aramean language; the latter of such as exist, but are rarely found in Greek writings, or which the Apostles at least did not derive from that source. iology. 106. Lastly, I would observe that the comparative study of the idioms of different languages closely 'connects Glossology with the Philosophy of the Human Mind. It opens wide and various views of the modes in which men in different stages of civilization, and under different influences, habitually group together their thoughts and feel- ings, and connect them in certain modes of arrangement. A* the sami human organization is the basis of all our vocal sounds, so the same mind and spirit is the basis of all our grammatical forms; but the articulations in the one case, and the grammatical tonus in the other, are susceptible of great modification from external causes. The wider the field of our observation of idioms extends, the more correct and clear will be our perception of the connection between the faculties of the mind and the possible modes of their expression in speech. Within living memory the sphere of this observation has been immcnselv ex- tended, and great errors have in consequence been corrected. It was supposed by Lord Moxboddo, from the accounts given by La Hontan and others, " that the Huron tribes in North America had scarcely any articulation, but conversed chiefly by vocal cries aspirated, as in salutation, for example, ho, ho, ho ; and that their language was little better than animal cries from the throat, of different tones, divided 1 Simonis, Introd. p. 241. chap. ni.J OF IDIOMS. G9 now and then by a guttural consonant, and without composition or derivation." 1 These errors have come down to the present day. " Very strange notions" (says Mr. Howse), " and as erroneous as strange, have been entertained with respect to the American Indians and their lan- guages. It has not only been said that these tribes have few ideas, and that their languages are consequently poor ; but a writer in a re- spectable American periodical, of a recent date (' North American Review,' Jan. 1826), has even gone so far as to assert that this strange poverty in their language is supplied by gesticulation : that the head, the hands, and the body, are all put in requisition to aid the tongue in the performance of its duty. An assertion so extravagant, so diame- trically opposed to the truth, is only here noticed as evidence of the ignorance that still prevails on this very interesting subject." 51 Again, " The grammatical character of the Cree, as an inflected language on an extended plan, leads to the inference of a higher origin than the mere casual, irregular, invention of man : and an attentive analysis of its structure confirms this view. When I observe in the verb, the method and consistency of its various derivative modes (deriv. adject, imitat. augment, frequent and abund. iterat. dimin. distrib. transit. ; general, special, and particular ; causat. making, possess, instrum. and their various combinations), the regularity and exactness of their re- spective subdivisions (conjug. voice, mood, tense, .gender, number, person). Again, the manner, extent, and accuracy of the pronominal inflexions (defin. and indefin.) in their manifold, double, triple, quad- ruple, combinations ; the clearness of the correlative modifications (princip. and subord. absol. and relat. act. and pass, defin. and indefin. of person, time, and action, pos. and neg. &c), and the distinctness in form and signification through all the details ; — when I contemplate this complicate, but accurate mechanism, in connection with a concord and government, blending and connecting the several parts of the system together, and a peculiar idiom or genius presiding over all, I cannot but recognise in such a system a regular organization of vocal utterance, affording to my own mind a circumstantially conclusive proof that the whole is the emanation of One, and that a Divine mind." 3 1 Monboddo, Orig. and Prog, of Language. 2 Grammar of the Cree Language, Introd. p. 9. * Ibid. Pref. pp. xii. xiii. ( 70 ) CHAPTER IV. OF THE VOICE. •Speech a ci >mnion faculty. How to be analvzed. Phonetic quality. 107. Although, in a treatise like the present, it is impossible to enter into a minute examination of all the modes of speech which different bodies of men employ in the communication of their thoughts and feelings, yet the brief outlines above given suffice to show that there is no association of rational beings on this globe, to whom the Almighty has not granted the faculty of Voice. Those legendary races of men, who hissed like serpents, or sang like birds, or were mute as fishes, existed only in the imagination of narrators, and the credulity of auditors or readers. True it is, that besides the power of voice, mankind, in all ages and countries, have enjoyed other facul- ties, which are figuratively called the Language of Look, and the Lan- guage of Gesture ; but these, though occasionally coming in aid of words, or even supplying their place, as in the pantomimes and ballets of action, have never superseded their use in any community. It is needless to allude further to them at present ; but occasions may occur hereafter, in which their influence on speech itself may be noticed. Reverting to the consideration of the numerous languages, dialects, and idioms, noticed in the preceding chapters, I may observe, that different as they are from each other, and consequently unintelligible at first to persons to whom they are not habitually familiar, still it is always found possible to acquire a knowledge of them by study, and even to reduce them to certain rules. To trace up those rales to common grammatical principles, and to notice analogies in their development by mankind under different circumstances and influences, is the proper province of Glossology. 108. Speech being the expression of the mind by means of the voice, if we would analyze any particular system of speech, whether called a language, tongue, dialect, idiom, or the like, we must con- sider it both phonetically, that is, as to its properties of sound, and grammatically, that is, as to its properties of signification. In both respects, we must extend our investigation from the most obscure development of the faculty in children, savages, and peasants, to its most brilliant display, by "the poets, orators, and philosophers of civi- lized life. 109. To begin with the phonetic quality. It was shown in my former treatise, that the human voice is produced by certain organs, CHAP. IV.] OF THE VOICE. 7 1. so framed by the great Author of Nature, as to constitute a minute and delicate mechanism, every different movement of which produces a corresponding variation of sound. 1 But human beings are endowed with voice, to enable them to live together in a society different from that of mere gregarious animals — a society more or less closely united in the bonds of a common interest, and common duties. 2 Now, it has been well observed, " that as all instruction on our duties to each other, and to our Creator, has been from the beginning communicated bv the voice, and is still augmented by that admirable faculty, so from the beginning it was necessary that we should have a peculiar organ for receiving that instruction." 8 We speak to be heard; and the ear is given to us to discriminate sounds in general, but, above all, the sounds of the human voice.. Lastly, we must remember that, in the progress of society, most civilized nations have expressed the sounds of their language by letters well or ill contrived for that purpose. Hence have resulted three different modes of judging of the distinguishable sounds of any language. 110. The first mode assumes that the letters of a given language Distin _ have been formed on a correct system ; but when that is not the case, guished by this mode is of course productive of error. Thus Dr. Lowth reckons the English i as a vowel, and y as a vowel similar to i in sound ; 4 whereas i is often a diphthong, as in the pronoun I ; b and the English y is simply a superfluous letter. Again, an Italian considers the sound expressed by c in cento to be that of a simple consonantal articulation ; whereas it is really complex, and is expressed (though inaccurately) in English by Ck, as in Charles, or tch as in itch ; and in German by tsch, as in Deutsch and Tschako. 111. In the second mode, men rely principally, if not solely, on the By the ear. discriminating power of the Ear, disregarding alphabetical arrange- ment, and but slightly adverting to the form or action of the vocal organs. But the ear, like every other part of our frame, requires great care and attention to bring its powers to perfection ; and indeed can seldom be reckoned a sure criterion of sound. " Au cujuslibet amis est" (says Quintilian) " exigere literarum sonos ? Non hercule magis quam nervorum." 6 "Can every man's ear judge accurately of the sound of letters? No indeed, any more than of musical notes." We frequently meet with persons, who are said to have no ear for music. They may perhaps distinguish the ' Stabat Mater ' of Rossini from a jig, but they don't know a third from a fifth, or a flat from a sharp. In like manner, we find ears so obtuse, as to make " Morn" rhyme to " Dawn," and to call Her Majesty and the Prince-Consort " Wictoria" and " Halbert." Differences of this kind being transmitted from parent to child, often serve to mark certain local dialects. Besides 1 Univ. Gram. c. xvi. * Aristot. Polit. iii. 4. s Caswall, Physiology of the Organ of Hearing, p. 57. * Lowth. Eng. Gram. p. 4. * Univ. Gram. s. 461. 6 Instit. Orat. lib. i. c. iv. 72 OF THE VOICE. [CHAP. IV. which, the attention of the lower classes of the community is seldom directed to nice distinctions of vocal sound, as we ma} observe in the imperfect rhymes of many local proverbs, e. g. — Skiddaw, Helvellyn, and Catchedecam Are the three highest hills in all England. And in this way many of the rhymes of so exquisite a poet as Burns may be accounted for : such as — Wee, sleekit, cow'rin, tim'rous beastie, ! what a panic's in thy breastie! Again- So— Thou need na start awa' sae hastie, I wad be laith to rin an' chase thee. I gat your letter, winsome Willie, Wi' gratefu' heart I thank you brawlie. At kirk or market, mill or smiddie, Nae tawted tyke, tho' e'er sae ditddie. If this defect of ear leads to variations in our own language, it must operate much more forcibly on a tongue which is wholly new to the hearer, and in respect to words which he hears but seldom repeated. This consideration is of great importance to the Glossologist : first, because many of the languages which he has to examine are onlv known to him by the report of travellers, whose vocabularies often differ, as well in point of sound as of signification; and, secondly, because the alphabets, in which those vocabularies are written have been formed on no uniform principle, and by persons whose auditorial faculties were far from acute. Hence few individuals would at first sight re- cognize Owhyhee, the scene of our admirable circumnavigator's death, in the island of Hawaiia ; or suspect the Clierokee language to be meant by Tschirokisian. Our ancestors knew the Arabian Prophet by the name of Mahound: about a century ago he was uniformly called Mahomet ; and we now find him designated Makommed, Mohammed, Mahummed, Muhammed, Mahmoud, &c. In estimating the phonetic qualities of a language, therefore, the oar must not be taken as a certain standard of sound; and if defective, its incorrectness is seldom wholly cured. A foreigner does not easily acquire the fluent pronun- ciation of a native ; and the shibboleth of his provincial birthplace often sticks to the orator in the senate, and the courtier in the | . : -> e. By the vocal 1 12. We come to the third mode of judging, namely, by a consider- ation of the organs employed. Here it must be owned, that the anatomy of the vocal organs was but little known to the ancients, nor until of late years was it much attended to by the moderns; and even in the present day, the best anatomists confess that is far from being fully and accurately understood. Dr. Rush, of Philadel- phia, in his elaborate treatise on the ' Philosophy of the Human Voice,' observes "that there are no confirmed opinions among physiologists on the mechanism of the voice." ' M. Majendie, in his ' Elementary 1 Phil. Hum. Voice, ed. 1845, p. 99. CHAP. IV.] OF THE VOICE. 73 Summary of Physiology,' says, "the sounds which the larynx is capable of producing are extremely numerous : many celebrated authors have attempted to explain their formation ; but their explanations have been little more than comparisons." l And what the latter author asserts of one vocal organ, the larynx, is true of all the others. Yet he elsewhere observes, that " an exact knowledge of the anatomy of this organ is indispensable to a complete comprehension of tlie mechanism of the voice"* It follows, therefore, that in the present state of science, a complete comprehension of the powers of the voice is not to be at- tained. But yet it is clear that the observations and experiments, which have already been made on the vocal organs, have brought us .iearer and nearer to the desired knowledge of their powers ; and hence we may reasonably expect that a continued prosecution of those re- searches will eventually place this portion of glossological science on a firm basis. 113. Admitting that the study is still beset with difficulties, I have Lower and nevertheless elsewhere briefly treated of "the Mechanism of Speech." u PP er - And therein I stated a distinction which is most important to be kept in view, but of which too many authors have unfortunately lost sight ; I mean the distinction between the lower and the upper organs of the voice. 3 The former, which reach from the lungs to the opening of the windpipe, called the glottis, supply the air necessary for the pro- duction of sound, and render it audible : the latter, which extend from the glottis to the apertures of the mouth and nose, render the sound articulate. The lower organs give to the voice those properties which different authors have described by the terms quantity, quality, pitch, elevation, depression, force, emphasis, accent, tone, &c, and which chiefly serve to express our feelings ; the upper organs divide the voice into articulations, that is, those modifications of sound which we call words, syllables, and letters, and which enable us to communicate to each other the thoughts that elevate man above the irrational animals. The vocal organs, both upper and lower, among all the races and families of mankind, approximate, as nearly as any other portions of the human frame do, to a normal construction and a common purpose. There are some considerable differences, no doubt, among individuals, and perhaps among races ; but they are principally in the upper organs, and more particularly in the oral and nasal apertures. Of the sounds produced by the lower organs, Dr. Bush justly says, " those vocal signs of expression have a universality consistent with the prevalence of human feelings."' 4 114. The principal modifications of the voice are thus enumerated Modifications by M. Majenclie : — 1. The Cry ; 2. The acquired Voice, or the voice of voice - properly so called ; 3. Speech, or the articulate voice ; and 4. Singing, or the appreciable voice. I shall notice the three first of these divisions in their order ; the last lies out of the sphere of the present inquiry. 1 Elem. Sum. Phys. p. 1-U. 2 Ibid. p. 13G. 3 Univ. Gram. s. 4.51. 4 Phil. Hum. Voice, p. xxxiv. 74 OF THE VOICE. I li LP. IV. Crv - l L5. " Whatever may be tin- condition or age of man" (says the last-mentioned author) "he is able to produce Cry, The new-born infant, the idiot, the savage, tin- person d.-af from his birth, the civi- lized man, the decrepil old man, can all otter cries. 1 M. Majendie, indeed, has not defined Cry ; bul from the context we can easily un- derstand that he means those emissions of sound from the vocal organs, which arc produced as it were mechanically, and without, reflection, by the uncontrollable sense of pleasure or pain, bodily or mental. We may distinguish in Cry all the varieties of sound, which Dr. Rush enumerates as noticeable in the human voice, namely, quality, force, time, abruptness, and pitch. 2 These are chiefly produced by the action of the lower organs; occasionally, indeed, slight modifications of the sounds produced by the upper organs may be observed in Cry, but these seem to be merely involuntary. Infinitely varied as are the feelings of mankind, the cries which they extort may be of the most opposite kind, from the lighl burst of merry laughter to the deep groan of racking agony, and from the feeble wail of a sick infant to the horrid roar of the blinded Cyclops, at which all his cavern brake In claps like thunder. Chapman, Odyss. b. 9. These, it may be thought, are foreign to the province of Glossology ; but they are not entirely so, for they present the first dawning of the light of language — they indicate those feelings which pass by nice shades into distinct conceptions and assertions, causing a correspondent gradation in the modes of their expression, whence the grammatical form which we call an Interjection may arise from an incondile sound, and may pass into a Noun, a Verb, or a Phrase ; as the phrase, verb, or noun may fall back into an Interjection, or a mere Cry." This is observable in all languages, but most frequently, no doubt, among those individuals who have not been compelled, by the usages of their race or station, to cloak their feelings in stubborn silence or affected insensibility. The Spartan youths endured without a cry the pain of the scourge; the North American savage utters no cry amidst the tortures of the stake; and the wily diplomatist hears with imperturb- able calmness the failure of his most deep-laid schemes. But where such motives of restraint are wanting, or overpowered by a stronger necessity of nature, both sexes and all ages give vent to their feelings by Cries. The Cimbrians and Teutons (says Pliny) rushed to battle with terrific bowlings. 4 The mournful shrieks of women re-echoed through the palace of Priam, when it was stormed by the Greeks: — penitusque cava- plangoribus icdes Faemineis ululant. 5 And when the first-born in the land of Egypt died, there was "a great Cry throughout all the land." 6 In short, we may consider Cry 1 Elem. Sum. Phys. p. 151. 2 Phil Hum. Voice, p. 43. 3 Univ. Gram. s. 422. 4 Nat. Hist. xxvi. 9. 5 Virg. .-En. ii. 487. " Exodus, xi. 6. CHAP. IV.] OF THE VOICE. 75 as the first stop in what Dr. Rush calls Exclamation. " Exclamations" (says he) " are but forcible expressions, and there may Lie as many kinds as there are modes of feeling and thought. Thus every mental energy and passion may be found in discourse, under the exclamatory form." 1 116. We pass from the Cry to the acquired Voice, Why do we Acquired call it acquired ? Because the power of exercising it is in fact acquired voice - by observation and repeated attempts at imitation. Let an infant be born in the most savage or most highly-civilised state, nay, even let it be born deaf, or blind, or both, yet it will utter cries ; and the same sense of pain will occasion the same cry in the child of an Esquimaux as in that of a Parisian ; but if the infant possess the sense of hearing, it soon begins to observe, or, in the nursery phrase, " to take notice." It discovers that those about it utter sounds, which are not mere cries, but articulations. As its intellect develops itself, and its sympathies expand, the desire of imitating leads to the power and the practice of imitation, at first partial and imperfect, until at length the child possesses an acquired voice. What is true of the infant, in this respect, is proportionably true both of the savage, whose opportunities of observation are almost equally limited, and of the civilised man, to whom a far wider sphere is opened. The sounds, which those about the individual utter, those sounds, and those alone, he will imitate. But a variety of circiunstances, in different parts of the world, have tended to affect either the power or the inclination to utter certain sounds. The hardy Teuton, in a cold northern climate, and the luxu- rious Ionian, under the mild influence of the south, spoke as they lived ; the one articulated with a rough energy, the other with a vocalised softness. Every successive generation imitated the tone and manner of its progenitors ; and thus in time the acquired voice of the one people differed widely, in quality and practical power, from that of the other. 117. Whilst the acquired Voice thus becomes articulated, the Cry Speech. is softened down to Accent and Emphasis, and varied in the time of its production. These gradual changes accompany and mark a gradua. development of the mental powers, and the result is entitled to be called Speech. The elements of speech, then, are Articulation, Time, Accent, and Emphasis, all which must be considered separately. 1 Phil. Hum. Voice, p. 291. ( 76 ) CHAPTER V. OF ARTICULATION. Meaning of 118. The term, Articulation, is used to signify primarily a certain the term. faculty of modifying the sounds of the human voice; and secondarily, any articulate sound so produced. In the first sense it signifies the faculty of modifying the voice by the upper organs, independently of the modifications effected by the lower organs. Every chi of position or movement in the upper organs causes a different modi- fication of sound, whether or not the sound may also be modified by the lower organs. Thus a certain position or movement of the throat and lips combined produces the sound o, another position or movement of the tongue and lips produces the sound t: each of these sounds is here called an articulation, or articulate sound; and it retains its peculiar character as such, whether it be utfa sr< I ( > >y means of the lower organs) in a high or low key, continued for a longer or shorter period of time, or pronounced with more or less emphatic force. The word is of Latin origin, being derived from articvlus, a diminutive of artus, any juncture of the bodily organs; which latter word is only a dialectic variation of the Greek apOpov (with the same meaning), the latter (p) being dropped, as in lectus from Xektoov. Its earliest known application to the divisions of the voice was by Lucretius, whose notion of it, however, seems to have been somewhat vague : — Hasce i<;itur penitus voces, cum covpore nostro Exprimimus, rectoque foras eraittimus ore, Mobilis articulat verborum dtedala I Formaturaque labrorum pro parte figurat. 1 These voices thus by our corporeal frame Are fashion'd ; for the mouth pours forth the same, The tong each word with skill, And lips their portion of the task fulfil. And again :- Ac, ubi non longum spatium est, unde ilia pr< Perveniat vox quseque, necesse est verba quoque ipsa Plane exandiri, discernique articulat im.* Hence, when the spot, from which the voice proceeds, Is near to him who is addrest, it needs Must happen, that each syllable and word Is plainly and articulately heard. > Lucret. iv. 548. 2 Ibid. iv. 554. CHAP. V. OF ARTICULATION. 11 119. To divide the voice into articulate sounds was very early How far noticed as a faculty peculiar to mankind. Eustathius says :" Men Jnan. are described by Homer as nipowtc, (from ^eipu), to divide), because they, by nature, divide the sounds of the voice into words, syllables, and letters, which no other animal does." Several other animals have vocal organs, which, though differing in some degree from the human, enable them, nevertheless, to pronounce words or sentences with considerable accuracy ; but they do not exert this faculty " by nature," or at least from any mental association of the sounds with their signification. Ccelius Rhodigixus, a learned author of the fifteenth century, asserts, " that in his time a parrot was to be seen at Rome, which Cardinal Asconio had bought for a hundred crowns of gold, and which could repeat articulately, and in regular order, all the articles of the Christian faith, as accurately as any learned man." 1 In this, perhaps, there may be some exaggeration ; but that parrots may be trained to utter whole sentences as distinctly as they could be pronounced lay a human voice, is matter of ordinary experience. It is even recorded in Scripture that an ass once spoke. 2 This, indeed, is stated as a miracle ; but that the miracle consisted in any change wrought in the beast's organs of sound does not appear : to confer the power of reason for a momentary purpose on an animal, however organized, if otherwise irrational, would in itself be sufficiently miraculous. But the normal state of man's organization is clearly adapted by an All-wise Creator to that faculty of articulate and intelligent speech, without which society could never have attuned its present moral and intellectual elevation. 120. It may seem at first sight extraordinary, that a faculty, Distinctions common to all the races of mankind from the earliest known period vanous - of their existence, and in every stage of their progress from the rudest barbarism to the most refined civilization, should not have been, long since, minutely analyzed, and its exercise reduced to systematic rales commanding the acquiescence of the learned in all countries ; but the fact is far different. Men are not even yet agreed on the best mode of analyzing articulate sounds; and the consequence is that different authors apply to that analysis methods and nomenclatures so different as to involve this part of Glossology in much confusion. 121. In the first place, the articulate sound and the mark of that Elements, sound have often been confounded together under the term " Ele- ments " (orotx«a) 5 which was applied both by Plato and Aristotle to letters, as the constituents or first elements of syllables. Hence, teaching the first elements was an expression used by Horace to signify teaching to read. 3 And the same usage was followed on the revival of literature; as we find from Aldus Manutius, who, how- ever, accurately distinguishes the proper significations. " Elementum " 1 Lectionum Antiquarum, 1. iii. c. 32. * Numbers xxii. 23. 3 Horat. Sat. I. i. 1, 26. uonsuiuuits. 78 OF ARTICULATION. CHAP. V. (says he) "est ipsa pronunciatio, liters autem elementi nota ; Bed abusive alteram pro altero ponitur." 1 " The Element is the uttered sound Lfself; the Utter is the mark of an element; but by an abuse of language the same term is used both for the one and the other." Vowels and 122. Secondly, and what is still more annoying to the student in Glossology, eminent writers differ as to the very fundamental dis- tinction between articulate sounds. The earliest and most generally- received distinction of them is into vowels and consonants. This doctrine may, with great probability, be ascribed to Aristoxenus, who was a pupil of Aristotle, and wrote a treatise on the ' Elements of Harmony,' still extant. 2 Priscian, who wrote in the fourth cen- tury, Aldus Manutius in the fifteenth, and all subsequent gram- marians, till very recent times, adopted this distinction ; but in our day there have not been wanting individuals who have called it in question. " Grammarians," says M. Majendie, " distinguish letters into vowels and consonants ; but this distinction cannot suit physi- ologists." 3 "Whatever motive," says Dr. Rush, "connected with the vocal habits of another nation, or the etymologies of another tongue, may have justified the division into vowels and consonants, it does not exist with us." 4 Accordingly, the former author divides letters into " those which are truly modifications of the voice, and those which (as he thinks) may be formed independently of the voice." 5 And the latter arranges the elements of articulation under three heads, which he designates as tonics, subtonics, and atonies. 9 Other grammarians introduce a peculiar element which they call a breathing ; and in Greek a distinction is even made by some between a rough and smooth breathing ; whereas others contend that the mark of the smooth was only meant to imply that the rough was not to be used. Now, as all articulations are modifications of the breath, the so-called breathing does not differ in this respect from a consonant, and is in fact the consonant h in the English word hat, the French halle, the German hand, hund, &c. " It is beyond all doubt " (say the Port Royal Grammarians) " that the Romans sounded the h with a strong breathing ;" and they prove this by the indisputable authority of Catullus and St. Augustine — the former ridiculing a person who pronounced insidias as if it were written hinsidias ; 7 and the latter remarking on the error of pronouncing hominem as if it wen' written ominem. 8 Still the Port Royal writers say that h is only a breathing. 9 But it is justly observed by Beauzee, that " the breathing is a real articulation, and the letter h, which represents it, is a true consonant." " When wo say, for instance, la halle, the second a is distinguished from the former as perceptibly by the breathing h, as it is by the 1 Inst. Gram. p. 18. B Dionys. Halicar. Op. vol. ii. p. 11. a El. Sum. Physiol, vol. i. p. 154. 4 Phil. Hum. Voice, p. 71. 5 El. Sum. Phys. vol. i. p. 154. 6 Phil. Hum. Voir,., pp. 73, 76. 7 Catull. Carm. 78. 8 Aug. Confess, i. 18. 9 Lat. Gram. b. ix. c. xii. CHAF. V.J OF ARTICULATION. 79 consonant (b) when we say la balle. 1 The primary and simple dis- tinction of letters, and consequently of articulate sounds, into vowels and consonants, is not peculiar to the Greek and Latin languages and their derivations ; but is recognized in many tongues of very different origin. In the spoken language of the Chinese, consonants are called Tsee-Moo (mother sounds), and vowels Nyeh (auxiliaries), 2 answering to the German Hauptlaute and Hulfslaute. It is also the main distinction in the Sanskrit letters depicted by Halhed. 3 And it is substantially that of the Hebrew alphabet; for the Jewish gram- marians call . vowels " the souls of letters," and consonants " the bodies of letters." 4 Substantially, too, it is admitted by Girard and Beauzee ; only they confine the term " articulations " to the con- sonants, and designate the vowels by that of " sons " (sounds.) 9 And lastly, the great Teutonic Glossologist, Grimm, founds his whole scheme of phonetics (lautenlehre) on this basis. " All the sounds of speech" (says he) " divide themselves into vowels and consonants. The former are more flowing, the latter more solid ; we may call con- sonants the bones and muscles of speech ; the vowels are that which penetrates and animates the firmer portions ; they are the blood and breath. Again, consonants seem to represent the body; vowels the soul. On consonants depends the form, on vowels the colouring: without vowels speech would be destitute of light and shade ; without consonants it would want the substance on which licrht and shadows rest." 6 123. Even those Grammarians, who divide all letters into vowels Confounded and consonants, are not always agreed, as to the class in which a to s ether - particular articulation should be placed. In the Sanskrit arrange- ment, Halhed observes that the mark to which he ascribes the sound ung, " though it be not a vowel is always reckoned in the vowel series." 7 So in Hebrew, Dr. Andrew says that the Jews of Tiberias in the tenth century "boldly disavowed the old vowels, Alef, He, Vau, Jod, and Aign, sinking them under the ungrammatical and absurd title of quiescent consonants." On the other hand, Spinosa says of the letter Vau, " Nee tamen vocalis est, sed litera indicans soni principium in labiis audiri." " It is not a vowel, but a letter indicating that a commencement of sound is to be heard in the lips." 8 Now Vau and Jod answer to our w and y, which Dr. Rush ranks among subtonics : 9 and Dr. Latham treats among consonants, 1 Gram. Ge'ne'r. vol. i. p. 67. 2 Marshman, Chin. Gram. 88. s Gentoo Laws, pi. i. 4 Spinos. Gram. Hebr. p. 1. s Gram. Gen. vol. i. p. 5. 6 Alle Laute der Sprache zerfallen in Yocale nnd Consonanten, jene sind fliis- siger, diese fester. Man darf die Consonanten Knochen und Muskeln der Sprache nennen : die Vocale sind was die festen Theile durchstromt und belebt, blut und athem : Consonanten scheinen gleichsam den Leib; Vocale die Seele herzugeben : auf den Consonanten beruht die Gestalt, auf den Vocalen die Farbung: ohne sie wiirde die Sprache des Lichts und Schattens, ohne consonanten des Stctfes erman- geln, an den Licht und Schatten sich setzt.— Deut. Gram. i. 30. 7 Gentoo Laws, pi. i. s Compend. Gram. Hebr. p. 2. . 9 Phil. Hum. Voice, p. 74. tern 80 OF AIM I. M.AHOX. [< II VI'. v. as a | of semivowels.* Adelung reckons t li< • German j (answering to our y) as a palatal consonant (Gaumenlaut^f Lowth says that y " is always a vowel ;" and that " w is either a vowel or a diphthong. 8 Lindlev Ml i;i:.vv takes a different view of these letters : In- says •• w and y are consonants when they begin a syllable or word, and vowels when they end one;"'* whilst TUCKER (under the name of SEARCH) says " zt is always esteemed a consonant, though sounding as much like a vowel in the old perswade as (u) in the modern •persuadeT But he adds, " y is rejected, for being an amphibious animal, onewhile a liquid vowel, then again ranking with the solid consonants." 3 In the Sanskrit system there are several sounds reckoned among simple vowels, which should rather perhaps be considered as combinations of one or more liquid consonants with a vowel. Thus Sir W. Joxes describes r'i, the seventh letter of the vowel series, as " a sound peculiar to the Sanskrit language, formed by a gentle vibration of the tongue preceding our third vowel i, pro- nounced very short," as "in the second syllable of merrily." The next to this is "the same complex sound considerably lengthened (ree)," 8 and then follow two others, Wand Iri, which he describes as "short and long triphthongs, peculiar to the Sanskrit language." 7 Specific 124. The specific terms employed to characterize the respective articulations, both vowel and consonantal, afford nothing like a uniform systematic nomenclature. The vowels are distinguished sometimes by the organs supposed to conduce to their production, as guttural, palatal, labial ; 8 pharyngal, lingua-palatal ; 9 sometimes by their duration, as long, short, doubtful; 10 sometimes by their effect on the ear, as broad or slender ; 11 full or small, 1 * crassus or exilis, Vd tvrixps, or ovtrr]xi.c ; u flat, &c. ; 15 and sometimes by their relation to other sounds, as independent or dependent ; 16 perfect or imperfect. 17 The terms used as descriptive of the specific consonantal articulations are no less numerous and equally destitute of systematic uniformity. They also are named (like the vowels) sometimes from the organs; as labial, palatine, guttural ; 18 pulmonary, lingual, dental ; 19 nasal, oral, 30 lingua-dental, lingua-palatal, lingua-palato-nasal, pharyngal ; n cere- bral ; 22 sometimes from the time occupied in their utterance, as CODr tinuous or explosive; 13 sometimes from their effect on the ear, as sweet, harsh, noble, unpleasant, smooth, rough** sharp or flat, hard or soft, lene or aspirate, mute or liquid, 2 * muette or sijflante, forte or i Eng. Lang. p. 112. s Gram. Allem. p. 7. 8 Eng. Gram. p. 4. 4 Murray, Eng. Gram, p. 18. 5 Vocal Sounds, ]>. 19. e Asiat. Res. i. 17. 7 Ibid. 8 Wallis de Loquelli, s. 2. e Bishop's Artie. Sounds, p. 18. i° Vossius, A. G. lib. i. c. xii. " Latham, 110. '• Ibid. 157. 13 Vossius, lib. i. c. xii. ll Dion. Halic. de verb. col. s. 18. '« Latham, 104. '« Ibid. 110. >" Ibid. 111. 18 Wallis de Loq. s. 3. 1! > Adelung, i. 1, 6. 20 Reauzee, i. 51. *t Bishop, p. 39. 2i Price, Sanscr. p. 3. 28 Miiller, 1052. 2 < Dion. Halicar. s. 19. * 5 Latham, 103-108. CHAP. V.] OF ARTICULATION. 8 1 foible? sibilant or buzzed ; 2 and sometimes, from their relation to other sounds, as semi-vowels or semi-mutes. 3 It is not to be understood that all these expressions are incorrect. Many of them are properly applied in certain instances, though not in others ; and some have no relation at all to the power of articulation. 125. Grammarians differ widely, too, in their estimate of the Number of number of distinct articulations, both in the vowel and consonantal artlculatl0Ui " sounds : the former are stated by Grimm - - as 3 organic and 2 medial. Vossius - - - 5 Aldus Manutius - - 6 Dionysius of Halicarnassus 7 Adelung - - 8 Wallis - - - 9 Chladni - - - 10 Lindley Murray - - 12 Bell - - 13 The Sanskrit Grammarians 14 or 16. And with each of these authorities some others may be found to agree. Nor does less diversity occur in the enumeration of con- sonantal articulations ; in so far, at least, as we may judge from the various alphabetic systems which have existed in the world. Thus we find the consonants reckoned, in Ancient Greek, at 17 Arabic at 28 German - - 18 Malay - 30 English - - 20 Armenian - 31 Russian - - 26 Sanskrit - - 34 But it must be remembered, that these distinctions are formed on very different principles : that in some cases double articulations are marked by a single character, and vice versa ; that some letters are deemed at one time vowels, and at another consonants ; and that the consonants in most Asiatic systems include (unless otherwise marked) an inherent short vowel, which they do not in any European system. 126. Most persons, on first turning their thoughts to this subject, no fixed are apt to suppose that the articulate sounds of the voice are reducible number - to that particular number which the usage of their country has deter- mined : and if their experience is extended to foreign languages, they still think that the number is definite ; that every articulation is an integer naturally divided by a fixed limit from every other. But this is a delusion. We articulate by certain vibrations of the muscular fibres in the vocal organs, and we hear by correspondent vibrations of similar til ires in the auditory organs. The fibres of the tongue, faua s, palate, and lips, are put in motion on the one hand, and those of the 1 Beauzee, i". 54, 58. - Bishop, p. 39. 3 Wallis, p. 1G. [G.] G 82 Or AKTICl'LATIOX. [chap. V. tympanum and ossicula (the drum of the ear and its small bones) on the other. A similar correspondence of effect indeed takes place be- tween the vibrations of the glottis and those of the ear; but in the latter case the vibrations are measurable, because they depend simply on the greater or less tension of a single organ ; whereas articulation always puts in motion several organs at the same time. Hence it is, that a natural scale of musical notes is furnished by the glottis singly; while the combined organs of articulation can furnish no scale of pro portionate sounds. Hence too, as Mr. Bishop has observed, " it re- quires an ear well practised in articulate sounds to be able to detect their acoustic differences with any degree of precision." 1 A rational glossologist, therefore, will not assume any fixed number of articulate sounds, as established by a law of nature for all mankind ; but will content himself with endeavouring to ascertain, in any given language, how many practical distinctions are to be found in the articulations of the natives. Structure of" 127. The confusion which is apparent, as well in the terms em organs. ployed to describe articulate sounds, as in the opinions concerning them, chiefly arises, I am persuaded, from that imperfect knowledge of the structure of the vocal organs, which has hitherto prevailed among glossologists. No doubt, it could not but be perceived in the very earliest times, that some organs were employed on certain arti- culate sounds and not on others ; that t, for instance, was properly called a dental letter, and b a labial. No doubt, too, very able men had framed systems distinguishing articulate sounds more or less accurately by certain organs obviously employed in their production. Amman, Haller, Bishop Wilkins, Wallis, Holder, and others, had written, so early as the latter part of the seventeenth and begin- ning of the eighteenth century, their respective treatises, which may still be consulted with advantage. But if we examine them minutely, we shall find not only that the authors differed on many important points, but that there were facts, of great moment to the accuracy of their researches, on which they confessed themselves in want of further information. In this, too, as in many other sciences, technical terms have been employed with much vagueness, and even to this day the same words are often applied to very different conceptions. Thus, in the ancient Greek we find 0apu£, rendered pharynx, larynx, and fauces. Again, in German, Bachen is rendered by Wachter, " fauces, palatum ;" and by Hilpert, " the jaws or mouth of a beast, the mouth or throat of a person." In pursuing this subject, I shall endeavour as much as possible to use words in their popular sense ; but to avoid confusion it will be absolutely necessary sometimes to confine them to their signification in modern anatomical works, ignorance of 128. It is remarkable how ignorant the ancients were of these parts the ancients. Q £ ^ Q h uman f ra me. Homer, indeed, in describing the death of 1 Bishop, Artie. Sounds, p. 13. CHAP. V.] OF ARTICULATION. 83 Hector, mentions the aafapayoc as the proper passage of the voice ; l and the term arrcpapayog is by some commentators rendered Larynx, by some Trachea, aspera arteria, or fistula spiritalis, which last is the origin of our word Windpipe. Yet, some centuries later, Plato seems to have expressed himself as if he considered one and the same organ to serve as a conduit both for the breath and also for liquid food. 2 So, at least, he was understood, and his opinion to that effect defended by Plutarch, in the Symposials (b. vii. qu. 1). Yet nothing can be more certain than that there are two distinct passages, the Larynx for conveying air to and from the lungs, and the Pharynx for conveying food, both solid and liquid, to the stomach. Of these two passages, the former is called, in English, " the Windpipe," and in German, der Kehlhopf ; the latter, in English, "the Gullet," and in German, der Schlund. 129. In examining this part of my subject, I must repeat, that I lay Authors claim to no other knowledge of anatomy, than what any one may c,ted ' collect from a perusal of the passages in eminent authors relating to the vocal powers. Some, whose works I have consulted, are men- tioned in my former treatise : and to them I would now add, among early anatomists, Bartholinus and Haller, and among the recent, Quain and Cruveilhier ; nor should I omit to notice Mr. Bishop's ingenious treatise ' On Articulate Sounds, and on the Causes and Cure of Impediments of Speech.' The celebrated Haller, who had devoted much attention to this subject, thus states the theory of articulate Speech : — " In order that the air breathed from the lungs by expira- tion should produce Voice, it must necessarily issue from the narrow aperture of the larynx ; and in order that the voice should be arti- culated into words, it is necessary that the tongue should be pressed, in various ways, against the walls of the mouth." 3 This statement, however, must be understood with some latitude. The air of the breath (as I have shown) is not rendered audible by merely issuing from the aperture of the larynx, but by issuing from it when its muscular fibres are in a state of vibration. And again, a vocal sound may be rendered articulate not only by a pressure of the tongue against the walls (that is, the inner sides or roof) of the mouth, but by any movement of the tongue and other organs, which alters the form of the vocal tube, that is to say, of the passage through which the breath flows from the throat to the lips. Here I must again advert to that part of my former treatise, which Analysis of organs. 1 Oho 0.0 aft ucrtpoigeiyov //.sXin Tccfii ^a.Xx.olia.otict, "OQ^a Ti ftiv vrgoriiiWoi a.ftti(iiftsvOi Ivr'ao-im. Iliad, 22, 328. Nor did the brazen lance the windpipe wound, Through which his dying words a passage found. a To Ti irvivfta, KU.) stance and structure of each organ separately; and in this way different schemes of articulation have been formed, some of which may, perhaps, siilliriently account for the sounds of one or a few cognate languages. But if we are to extend our views to the great variety of articulate sounds that may be met with in the world, a. further analysis will be found necessary, towards which hard y an attempt has yet been made. It is only within a century and a half, that Natural Philosophy has shown the air to !■<■ the vehicle by ids are conveyed to the ear; and much more recent CHAP. V.] OF ARTICULATION. 85 experiments have determined the very minute distinctions of sound which the human ear can appreciate. In this, as in many other respects, individuals possess, in different degrees, their faculties natural or acquired; but it is said that a practised ear, commonly well organized, can distinguish a sound which lasts only the 1 -24000th part of a second. 1 Now the sounds of the human voice are produced by undulations or vibrations of the air striking either on the fibres or more solid parts of the vocal organs. The analysis, therefore, to which I just now alluded, should determine first the form and sub- stance of each particular organ ; then its moveability or immoveability ; and if moveable, the possible direction and extent of its motions, which must chiefly depend on the muscular fibres that enter into its composition. These points being ascertained by anatomical research, it will follow that the air, whether rendered audible or not, by the vibrations of the glottis, must be modified in articulation by every subsequent change, however minute, in the relative position of the upper vocal organs : and it will be for the Glossologist (enlightened by the Anatomist) to determine how far these modifications can be properly taken as the foundation of a comprehensive system of articu- late sounds. 131. By reference to Plate L, it will be seen that the Larynx and Larynx and Pharynx form two tubes in the neck, the former in front, the latter p aI immediately behind it. From the brief description of these organs given in my former treatise, it may, perhaps, have been thought that the larynx opens into the pharynx ; but this is not the case : both organs commence at the same level below, and both open above into the posterior fauces, or back part of the mouth connected with the throat. The larynx ends there ; but the pharynx continues upwards until it terminates in a sac, with openings into the inner part of the nares, or nostrils. The breath, therefore, may be emitted either wholly through the mouth or partly through the nose ; and as the two passages modify the articulate sounds differently, the respective articulations may be distinguished as oral and nasal. The oral articulations admit of much variety ; because, in that portion of the vocal tube where they are found, the air may be propelled in very various directions, between the Tongue, and the Fauces, Palate, Teeth, and Lips ; and therefore, on the general principles of acoustics, the sounds may be almost infinitely diversified ; whilst in the course of the air through the pharynx, fewer organs are encountered, and the nasal articulations must consequently be fewer in number. 132. First, as to the form and structure of the organs employed Tongue. in producing the oral articulations. The authors, whose works I have consulted on these points, differ in many particulars. Without pretending to judge between them, I have endeavoured to collect from the respective sources, if not the most comprehensive view, at least an intelligible one, of these organs, so far as they are concerned 1 Anatomie Descript. ii. 408. 86 OK AP.TICULATION. [CHAP. V. in articulation. The most efficient organ for this purpose is the Tomine, a fleshy substance, occupying, in man, great part of the cavity of the mouth, yet so as to leave sufficient room for its own elevation, depression, or other movements. In form it is nearly oval, but broader at the inner extremity than at the tip. The direction of its sides follows the curves of the lower jaw. It is moveable throughout the whole of the upper surface, but only for about a third part of the lower. 2 At the inner extremity it rests on a bone (or rather combination of small bones), called I'mm its resem- blance to the Greek letter v, Os-hyoides, or hypsiloides, which, as Haller says, " is a kind of foundation, as it were, both to the tongue and the larynx." " It consists" (he says) " of a basis and two greater horns." " The basis is somewhat curved, convex in front towards the tongue, and concave behind towards the larynx." 3 " Since it is not immediately joined to any other bone, and is only suspended by the styloeidean ligaments, it is easily moved, and obeys the motion either of the tongue, the larynx, or the pharynx." 4 The muscles which contribute to move not only the Os-hyoides itself, but the tongue, larynx, and pharynx, in connexion with it, are described at considerable length, and their uses specified, by Haller, who names them the Sternohyoides, Coracohyoidei, Stylohyoidei, Biventres, Mylo- hyoideus, and Geniohyoidei. The tongue itself is still more moveable, abounding, as it does, with muscular fibres, in different directions. " The tongue," to use the forcible expression of Cruveilhier, " is an organ essentially muscular ; so that I know of none " (says he) " to compare with it in this respect, except the heart." 5 " The sul 'Stance of the tongue " (says Mr. Quain) " is chiefly composed of muscular fibres running in different but determinate directions ; hence the variety and regularity of its movements, and its numerous changes of form." 6 "It is moveable throughout" (says Haller) "and fitted to take every position and shape ; it is capable of applying itself to the upper or lower teeth, to the foremost, middle, or hinder palate, or to the gums; it is able to draw back its tip, or to protrude it through the opening of the teeth, to thrust itself into the hollow of the cheeks, and move about in every part of that cavity ; to stretch itself even beyond the lips, and to draw back from them ; to elevate its surface, and again become concave; to spread out its sides, or to assume a cylindrical form, and all with wonderful agility." 7 The muscles which enable it thus variously to act are partly intrinsic, and 1 Anatomie Descript. ii. 404. 2 Ibid. ii. 407. 3 Os-hyoides et Lingua: quoddam quasi fundamentum, et Laryngis est. Basi constat etcomubus duobus majoribus. Basis curvula, antrorsum ad linguam con- vexa, retrorsam ad laryngeal concava est. — Elem. Physiol, vol. iii. p. 411. 4 Cum nulli ossium cominus committatur, et de solis ligamentis styloeideis sus- pendatur, caeterum liberum, facillime emovetur, et aut lingua?, aut laryngis, aut pharyngis motui obsequittir. — Elem. Physiol, vol. iii. ]>. 413. 5 Anat. Descript. ii. 408. 6 Elements of Anatomy, p. 1001. 1 Elem. Physiol, vol. iii. p. 422. CHAI\ V.] OF ARTICULATION. 87 partly extrinsic. The former consist of, first, longitudinal fibres, extending from the base of the tongue to the tip ; secondly, vortical fibres, directed from the upper to the lower surface; and thirdly, transverse fibres directed from side to side. 1 " These intrinsic muscles of the tongue serve principally to alter its form, retracting or elono-ating it in various directions. The superficial longitudinal fibres can also curve the tip of the tongue upwards, and the lower set can curve it downwards. The extrinsic muscles form at least three pair, called stylo-glossus, hyo-glossus, and genio-glossus, and some writers add to this number." 2 The stylo-glossus (says Bartholinus) " arises from the external surface of the styloid process, and terminates in transverse fibres on each side of the tongue near the middle. Its use is to draw the tongue inwards, but by reason of the intertexture of its fibres, if both muscles act together, they lift the tongue straight upwards ; if only one acts, it lifts the tongue on that side only." 3 The hyo-glossus (which is distinguished by some writers into the basio-glossus and the cerato-glossus) is considered by others as a single pair originating at the os-hyoides, partly from the basis of that bone, and partly from its horns. 4 It serves to depress the corre- sponding border of the tongue, and to draw it nearer to the os-hyoides. When the tongue has been projected out of the mouth, it co-operates in drawing it back ; and when the two muscles are contracted, the tongue is depressed, and confined within its transverse diameter. 5 The genio-glossus is allowed, as well by the later as earlier anatomists, to be the most important of the extrinsic muscles of the tongue. According to Haller, by whom it is minutely described, it is of a complex nature, being common to the tongue, the os-hyoides, and the pharynx. " The common origin of its fibres" (says he) " is in the chin, that is to say, in the hollow inner surface of the lower jaw, from either side to the middle." " Thence it spreads backwards, dilating its fibres, and separating them into three parcels. The first and lowest tends to the os-hyoides, and terminates at the anterior and superior surface of the basis (being the last of the muscles there terminated), and in the lesser horns. The fibres of the second parcel are obscure, scattered, separated, and not very numerous : they ascend, being bent backwards into the anterior membrane of the pharynx nearest the tongue, between the os-hyoides and the stylo- glossus ; and they partly meet the stylo-glossus and are continued with its fibres. The third and exterior parcel are shorter but very strong : they insert themselves widely into the roots of the tongue, and are radiated, so that the anterior incline forwards, the next are transverse, and the posterior chiefly tend backwards." " When the lower jaw is fixed firmly against the upper, then, the first parcel co- operating with the biventer and genio-hyoides (previously described), 1 Anat. Descript. ii. p. 410. 2 Elem. of Anat. p. 1003. 3 Anatome, p. 549. 4 Cruveilhier, Anat. Desc. ii. 413. s IhiJ. 414. 88 OF ARTICULATION. LP. V. draws the os-hyoides forwards and upwards. The second parcel draws the pharynx forwards, and as much as possible constringes its sides. The third impels the tongue forwards, and under certain circumstances protrudes the tip of the tongue forwards between the teeth, and even beyond the lips; it may also, by bending its fibres forwards, withdraw the tongue inwards. On the other hand, if the inferior jaw be relaxed, and by its powers of elevation or depression the os-hyoides be drawn back, the genio-glossus may also bring down the lower jaw, and open the mouth." 1 Fauces. 133. "The term Fauces" (says Bartholinus) "is sometimes used (loosely) to express the whole cavity of the mouth ; but in strictness it signifies the posterior and interior part, which can only be seen when the mouth is wide open." 2 Haller's description is more minute. He represents the throat (guttur) as terminating upwards in an ample muscular sac, which opens above the tongue and leads into two cavities. " Of these, the lower opens between the tongue and the palate, at a small distance above the epiglottis, and is capable of being opened and shut. Above the palate is the other cavity, less subject to change of form, opening into the pharynx, and so leading to the nostrils. The air, therefore, whether it be breathed from the larynx widely opened, or through the glottis when more contracted, has no other way of escape than through either the mouth or the nostrils." 3 Hence we may observe, that the fauces contribute partly to the oral, and partly to the nasal articulations. Palate. 134. The Palate is divided into soft and hard, which together form the roof of the mouth; the soft palate being the inner part, approximating to the fauces, and the hard palate being the foremost part, bounded by the front teeth. " The soft palate (otherwise called velum pendulum palati) is formed of mucous membrane enclosing muscular fibres and numerous glands : it constitutes an incomplete and moveable partition between the mouth and the pharynx." "Its lower border is free, and has, depending from the middle part of it, a red conical process called the uvula." " The anterior or under surface of the velum, which is visible in the mouth, is concave." " The posterior surface, slightly convex, is continuous above with the floor of the posterior nares."* " Between the two layers of mucous membrane, of which the velum is composed, are situated the muscles of the soft palate. They consist of five on each side — two superior, viz., the levator palati (raiser of the palate), and the circumflexus, or tensor palati (stretcher of the palate); two inferior, viz., the palato-glossus, and the palato-pharyngeus ; and one median, which descends into the uvula." 5 This last-mentioned organ was formerly supposed to contribute to the faculty of speech, and was thence called vocis plectrum ; but Bartholinus says that "this 1 Elem. Phvsiol. 1. 9, pp. 422-424. 2 Anatome, p. 543. 3 Elem. Physiol. 1. ix. pp. 429, 430. * Quain, p. 1005. s Ibid., p. 1006. CHAP, V.J OF ARTICULATION. 89 is a mere error ; and that the defects of voice supposed to have been caused by injury to the uvula were occasioned by defect in some other organ." 1 135. The Teeth, when permanent, form in each jaw a row of six- Teeth, teen, of which however only the front teeth contribute to articulation ; and this, according as the tongue approaches to the edge or the root of the teeth, or is protruded beyond them to the lips, and as the passage of the breath between the upper and lower teeth is either wholly free, or partially or entirely impeded. To render the articu- lations thus produced quite distinct, it is necessary that a continuous row should be formed in front of each jaw, either by the teeth, or, where they are totally deficient through age, by the hardened gums, and that the two rows should nearly meet together, otherwise the air passing between the interstices causes a whistling sound. 136. The Lips bound the anterior aperture of the mouth, forming Lips, what Homer calls epKoc oZovtwv, " the enclosure or wall of the teeth." " They are composed of an external layer of skin, and an internal layer of mucous membrane, between which are found muscles, vessels, nerves," &c. " The principal muscle is the orbicularis 07'is ; but several others are inserted into this one at various points, and enter more or less into the formation of the lips." 2 The whole number of the labial muscles, including the orbicularis, has been estimated at twenty-five. 3 Of these some elevate and some depress one or both of the lips, and some draw one or both of them obliquely. Bartholinus observes, " that all the muscles of the lips are so mixed with the skin, that the fibres cross and intersect each other, and hence the motions of the lips are extremely various." 4 In the Ethiopian race, the volume of the lips is owing exclusively to the muscles. 5 137. After considering the organs producing the oral articulations, Nostrils. we must notice those which produce the nasal. And here it is to be observed, that if the mouth be entirely closed, no distinct articulation, nasal or oral, can be heard, but only a murmur proceeding from the Nostrils. When the mouth, however, is more or less opened, if the air be directed to the pharynx, nasal articulation may take place. The situation and general construction of the pharynx have been already adverted to. 6 In front its walls are attached in succession to the sides of the posterior nostrils, the mouth, and the larynx, with which (respectively) they are connected by muscles and fibrous membranes. The muscles of the pharynx are the superior, middle, and inferior constrictors, the stylo-pharyngeus, and the palato-pharyngeus. This organ, moreover, is at times narrowed by the soft palate, which pro- jects backwards into it, and during the passage of the food is applied to its posterior wall. Hence it may easily be inferred, that there are some possible diversities of nasal articulation, though they cannot be 1 Anatome, p. 542. 2 Quain, Elem. Anat. p. 966. 3 Cruveilhier, ii. 381. 4 Anatome, p. 534. 3 Cruveilhier, ii. 379. 6 Supra, s. 131. 90 OF ABTTl ll.M'luN. I n vp. V. bo various as the oral articulations, in the production of which so many more organs may be employed, mces, 138. From this cursory examination of the articulating organs, and from the previous remarks on them, the following inferences may be drawn : — 1. That as the breath is merely rendered audible at the glottis, but not articulate, the distinctions of sound, which we call articulations, must depend on organs affecting the breath alter it has left the glottis, and before it has entirely escaped from the lips or nostrils. 2. That as sounds are rendered audible by vibrations of the air on ihejibres of the glottis, it is presumable that sounds are rendered arti- culate In- vibrations of the air on the fibres of the articulating organs. 3. That as the fibres of the articulating organs differ greatly in length, direction, and other particulars, they musl be capable of pro- ducing very different vibrations, and consequently very different arti- culate sounds. 4. That whilst the greater or less aperture of the glottis furnishes a natural scale for measuring the pitch of the voice, and reducing that faculty to certain positive degrees, the complexity of the articulating organs renders the application of any such positive scale to the mea- surement of all articulate sounds, as such, impossible. 5. That as some perceptible differences of audible sound may be caused by vibrations extremely minute in respect to time, it is pre- sumable that some perceptible differences of articulate sound may be caused by vibrations extremely minute in respect to the form and direction "of the vibrating fibres: to which cause (in part at least) is to be ascribed the personal character of every individual voice, which is such as often to furnish proof of identity in courts of justice, and which (as Haller observes) even domestic animals can distinguish. 1 (3. That the difference of articulate; sounds, as such, can only be determined by observation either of their effeefs or of their causes; that is, either of the impressions which they make on the ear, or of" the form and action of the articulating fibres. 7. That the method of judging by the ear, though it is the most obvious to uncultivated minds, has this special ground of inaccuracy, that it involves a possible defect in the powers of two organs (the tongue and ear) instead of a defect in those of only one. 8. That the method of judging by the articulating organs, though at present imperfect, must become less and less so, as the anatomical knowledge of those organs is improved, and directed towards the pur- poses of Glossology. 9. That in the present state of physical science, the two methods must be necessarily combined ; but the determinations to which they lead can be only approximative. 139. Anatomical knowledge may be applied to the advancement of 1 Ipsos inter homines, cuique sua vox est, quam etiam animalia dornestica dis- tinguunt. — Elem. Physiol, iii. 458. CHAP. V.] OF ARTICULATION. 91 this part of glossologies! science in various ways, according as it relates Anatomy to the perfect state of the organs, to their growth and decay, to mal- Glossology conformation, disease, or injury, to post-mortem dissections, or to com- parative anatomy. In the instruction of the deaf and dumb, the vocal organs are assumed to be perfect. In an account of the methods pur- sued for this purpose by Messrs. Braidwood, of Edinburgh, in 1783, it is stated that they began with their pupils, by first showing them how the mouth is formed for production of the vowels, letting them see the external effect that vocalised breath has upon the internal part of the windpipe, and causing them to feel with their thumbs and fingers the vibration of the larynx, first in the teacher, and then in themselves. 1 The only instrument made use of, except their own hands and the fingers of the instructor, was a small round piece of silver, of a few inches long, the size of a tobacco-pipe, flattened at one end, with a ball as large as a marble at the other. By means of this the tongue was gently placed, at first, in the various positions respec- tivelv proper for forming the articulations of the different letters and syllables ; until the pupils acquired by habit (as we all do in learning speech) the proper method. 2 The pronunciation of children is far from resembling that of adults ; but what a difference is there not also in their organs ! In infancy, the teeth have not risen from the gums ; the tongue is comparatively very large ; the lips are larger than suffi- cient to cover the front of the jaws w T hen approximated ; the nasal cavities are but little evolved, &c. 3 Add to this, the still more material consideration of the slow and irksome efforts by which the infant learns to adjust his voluntary muscles to the action which he intends to per- form. The inferior animals have the adjustments which their several natures require provided by instinct. The locomotive and voluntary muscles of many young animals are accurately adjusted a few hours after their birth. With the human race it is otherwise : the awkward and ineffective movements of the infant's eyes and hands prove that his adjustments have to be learned by many ineffectual trials ; 4 and months elapse before the forms of the articulating organs are fully de- veloped, and their muscular action adjusted. In old age the decay or debility of several of these organs produces correspondent changes of effect : — The words are mumbled by the trembling lips. 5 The fibres of the windpipe, too, refuse their office ; and the big manly voice, Turning again tow'rd childish treble, pipes And whistles in the sound. 8 The anatomist, therefore, tracing the imperfection of the sound to its cause in the undeveloped or debilitated state of the organs, is enabled 1 Vox oculis subjecta, p. 142. 2 Ibid. p. 147. 3 Majendie, i. 161. 4 Dr. Fowler, Physiol. Proc. of Thinking, p. 34. 5 Cum voce, trementia labra. — Juvenal, Sat. 10, v. 198. 6 As You Like It, act 2, sc. 7. 92 OF ARTICULATION. iP. V. thence to infer the connection which must exist between the same is in their normal state, and the sounds which the} are then fitted to produce. A similar remark may be made on cases of malconfbr- mation, disease, or injury ; for if, in the surgical treatment of these, the causes which prevent the distinct utterance of a particular articula- tion should be discovered, the operation of the perfect organ in pro- ducing a perfect articulation would Income at the same tune manifest. In respect to experiments which have been tried on the organs of the human voice after death, Haller observes that a better and clearer voice is uttered by a living subject, than art am produce from the organs of a dead body: the reason for which is, that in the former the vital power so acts on the muscles of the larynx as to cause them to vibrate, with the percussions of the air, much more quickly and readily. 1 And as these experiments on the larynx illustrate the effect of its vibrations on the audible quality of sounds, so it may reasonably be anticipated that future experiments on the articulating organs of a dead body will illustrate the effect of the vibrations of the same organs, in a living subject, on the physical laws of articulation. Lastly, as several animals having tongues sufficiently broad have been found able to imitate arti- culations of the human voice — and as Haller states (what indeed I have myself seen practised), that the master of a dog, by squeezing its jaws into certain positions, may make it utter some articulate sounds nearly approaching to the human 2 — it seems not improbable that Comparative Anatomy may eventually contribute its share towards illustrating the philosophy of articulation, as it certainly has done towards ascertain- ing the causes of the pitch and strength of the voice. 3 1 Adparet etiara quare in vivo melior et clarior vox pvoducatur quam quMc-m in cadavere — nempe vivo homini larynx a viribus museulosis, quam anima regit, ita libratur, ut ab aere percussus long£ trernat celerius et expeditius. — Elem. Physiol, iii. 435. 2 Elem. Physiol, iii. 461. 3 Univ. Gram. s. i. 452. ( 93 ) CHAPTER VI. OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 140. I have said that the earliest and most generally-received Vocal tube, distinction of articulate sounds is into Vowels and Consonants ; but as these terms, when used substantively (as they generally are by grammarians), signify the respective classes of letters, I shall here employ them to signify not letters, but sounds, and make use of them only in an adjectival form, dividing articulations into vowel articu- lations, or vowel sounds, and consonantal articulations, or consonantal sounds. In the animated hymn on Christ's Nativity, which, at. an early age gave proof of Milton's high vocation as a poet, there occur two lines, which, by a striking analogy, illustrate the production of vowel articulations, and their difference from the consonantal. " The oracles," says the young bard, are dumb, No voice or hideous hum Pains through the arched roof. Now, when the human breath " runs through " the vocal tube, or cavity of the mouth above described, it may be likened to a current of air running through "the arched roof" of a lofty hall or gallery. If, when it issues from the glottis, the fibres of that organ approxi- mating together are in a state of tremulous vibration, the breath becomes a " Voice ;" if they are quiescent, and wide apart, it utters only a " Hum." And as, according to the form of the arch and walls of the building, the air, though it meet with no impediment in its course, yet yields different echoes ; so, according to the form of the space between the tongue, and the fauces, palate, teeth, or lips, the voice, though unimpeded, produces a diversity of sounds. Such is the origin of the different vowel sounds, or vowel articulations. But if the breath be impeded, as for instance by a closing of the lips, or by a tremulous motion of the tongue, or if it be turned partially toward the nostrils, the effect is similar to what would happen in the supposed building, if the air should encounter the obstacle of a door, or fluttering curtain, or be forced to escape through a side window ; and it is by such impediments that the consonantal sounds, or consonantal articulations, are produced. To the vowel sounds M. Court de Gebeun's expressions are peculiarly applicable. He says the voice 94 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [CHAP. VL at one time expand- itself majestically in a vast palace, and at another time is compressed between two planes which scarcely leave it a free passage." 1 But the analogy between the vocal tube and an architectural edifice, however striking in some points, is in- applicable in others; for, in the first place, the form of the arched roof remains unchanged, whilst that of the vocal tube is undergoing perpetual variation by the movement of the tongue in all directions; and secondly, the roof simply reflects the sonorous air which it has received, whilst the oral organs contribute largely to the vocal character of the sound: for, as Mr. Bishop remarks, "if we atten- tively examine what tikes place whilst the organs change from one vowel sound to another, we can easily detect different parts of the membranous lining of the pharynx, tongue, lips, and other soft textures of the mouth, forced into vibratory motion, attended with a variety of configurations ; and these different motions and vibra- tions may, by disposing different membranous surfaces to a state of vibration coexisting with that of the glottis, determine the qualitv peculiar to the several vowel sounds." 2 On this theory, to which I fully subscribe, every vowel sound requires the concurrent operation of two sets of muscular fibres, those of the glottis, and those of some portion of the vocal tube. We see, therefore, that the living organization possesses requisites for the production and ready use of articulate sounds, which no effort of architectural, or probably of any other mechanical skill, can fully attain. Distinction 141. In stating that the main distinction of articulate sounds is into rounds? 1 * 6 v °wel and consonantal, and that these are respectively produced in the manner above described, the majority both of anatomists and grammarians agree. " Vowels," says Haller, " are solely formed by a greater or less opening of the mouth." 3 " It is the common character of consonants to be produced by the collision of the tongue or other parts of the mouth." 4 So, Bishop Wilkins says: "Those letters are called vocales, vowels, in pronouncing of which by the in- struments of speech the breath is freely emitted." 5 " Those letters are styled consonants in the pronouncing of which the breath is inter- cepted, by some collision or closure amongst the instruments < >t' speech." 6 It is of importance, in glossological pursuits, that the one class of arti- culations should not be confounded with the other. As we should remember that the sound of the voice is generated at the glottis, and neither above nor below this point," 7 so we should remember that whenever that sound passes on freely and without interruption through- out the vocal tube, the modification of it produced by the articulating 1 Monde Primitif, vol. iii. p. 93. 2 Articulate Sounds, p. 28. 8 Vocales unice apertura oris majori et minori formantur. — Elem. Physiol, iv. p. 362. 4 Consonantibus commune est ab allisu linguns aut aliarum partium oris gene- rari. — Elem. Physiol, iv. p. 465. 5 Real Character, p. 363. 6 Ibid. p. 363. 7 Miiller, Elem. Physiol. 1023. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 95 organs is a vowel articulation, and whenever it is impeded by a collision of those organs, it is then, and then only, a consonantal articulation. It is true, that in some consonantal articulations, the impediment is so slight, that the passage of the breath is left almost open; as in our v, which is the German 10, and the Romaic fi. And in some vowel articulations the free passage of the air is so brief, that they approach in effect to consonantal articulations ; as in oiu initial y, which is the German j. Hence, we see the justice of Quintilian's remark, that even in vowels it is the duty of the grammarian to consider whether custom may not have received some of them for consonants, since jam is written as tarn is." 1 "Observe," says Volney, " that Quintilian does not say that/ is a consonant; but only that usage had allotted to it the function of a consonant, by pronouncing jam in one syllable, as it does tarn." 2 This, however, will be more fully considered, when I come to examine the respective articulations in detail. 142. To begin with the vowel articulations. — It is not surprising Number that their number should be so differently estimated, as I have above sound! ' shown it to be by different authors. Mr. Bishop justly remarks, that " those who have not studied the subject can have little idea of the nice distinctions by which the vowel powers are separated." The reason is, that they are not separated by any natural limits. " I do not deny (says Wallis) that in each part of the organs producing vowel sounds, certain intermediate sounds may be produced ; for the measure of the (oral) aperture is of the nature of continuous quantity, and there- fore divisible in infinitum." 3 Nor is this all : every articulate sound requires for its production, not only a certain form of the " oral aper- ture, and, indeed, of the whole vocal tube, but a certain action, as I have above shown, of the muscular fibres both of the tongue and other organs ; and as neither the form nor the action is reducible to any fixed scale of measurement, all positive gradations in the distinction of articulate sounds by the human voice must be impracticable. 4 Messrs. Willis, De Kempelen, and others, have, indeed, produced different vowel sounds (or something like them) by a measurable apparatus ; but the results of these artificial means can hardly rival the delicate and almost imperceptible shades of sound, which are to be found in human articulation. In this view, therefore, the estimated number of vowel sounds may be as great, or as small, as the practice of any nation, or the theory of any private individual, may determine. The celebrated 1 Etiarn in ipsis vocalibus, Grammatici est videre, an aliquas pro consonantibus usus acceperit ; quia jam sicut tarn scribitur. — Inst. Or. i. 4. * Alfabet Europ. p. 55. 3 Non nego, in qualibet vocalium sede posse sonos quo.sdam intermedios efferri — est enim aperturae mensura, instar quantitatis continue, divisibilis in infinitum. — Gram. Angl. p. 12. 4 It must be remembered that vowel sounds are not fixed and definite sounds, but that they gradually glide into each other. — Proc. Ch. Miss. .Soc. 1848-9, cxcviii, — In alien Sprachen sind die Vocale nur stufenweise von einander unterschieden. — .Adelung. Worterb. p. 3. 96 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [< BAP. VI. Grimm founds his system on the narrow basis of what he call an or- ganic Triad. Assuming, that the short rowels were the original ele- ment of speech, he proceeds thus: " The organic Triad of the short rowels is pronounced A, I, U; or to arrange them more properly, so that out of A, as the source and middlemost of all vowel sounds, may spring, on one side the lowest point U, and on the other the highest peak I, it may be represented thus: — A I U From the break between A and I is formed E, and from that between A and C, (J is produced, which completes the scheme thus : — A E I U. E and I are the high and clear vowels, and U the low and obscure ones, the middle place between them being held by A ; which pro- nounced incorrectly in the one case degenerates into a, and in the other into a. The three original vowels, A, I, U, only are capable of a 1 >reak, the intermediate ones, E and 0, being not susceptible of any further variation." 1 Here I must at once say, that greatly as I admire the mental activity and indefatigable perseverance of Professor Grimm, and deeply indebted as I consider the science of Glossology to be to Ins valuable works, I must entirely dissent from the fundamental principle of his vocalisms. It not only does not pretend to rest on any ana- tomical research ; but, as appears to me, it is inconsistent with the structure and power of the vocal organs. Professor Schmitthenner, indeed, who agrees with Grimm as to the number of primary or ori- ginal vowels, asserts it, as a natural fact in language, that there can be only three original vowels, owing to the form of the Epiglottis; but this (as I am assured by very able anatomists) must be erroneous; for the whole of the Epiglottis may be removed, without affecting the pronunciation. In favour of the division of vowel articulations by the 1 Die organische dreiheit der kurzen vocale lautet A I U ; oder um sie richtiger auszufassen, so dass aus den A, als der quelle und mitte, aller vocallaute, einerseits der tiefpunct U, and erseits der hochste gipfei I, entspringt I A U : was noch sinn- A licher dargestellt 1st, y^\ . Aus der brechung zwischen A und I wird E I U A zwischen A und U wird ; und das verh'altniss erfullt sich E , E und I I U sind die hohen, hcllen, und U die tiefen dunkeln vocale; zwischen A die mitte halt unrein gesprochen dort in a, hier in a ausweicht. Nur die drei grundvocale A I U sind brechbar, die gebrochnen E und keiner neuen brechung fahig. — Deut. Gram. i. 33. CHAP. VJ.l OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 97 number seven, it has been argued that this results from the same cause which produces the seven notes of the Gamut ; l but though the vowel sounds of several languages, and of oui own in particular, may be con- veniently so distributed, it is for a very different reason. The musical notes are caused by the vibrations of the glottis; the articulate by those of the vocal tube. The scheme of our distinguished countryman, Wallis, who adopts nine as the number of vowels, appears at first sight one of the simplest. " I judge " (says he) " that they may be distinguished into three classes, gutturals, palatines, and labials, according as they are respectively formed in the throat, the palate, or the lips. In all they are nine, viz. : three in the throat, three in the palate, and three in the lips, according as they are accompanied, in each case, with a greater, middling, or less opening of the mouth. 2 How far I dissent from this view of the subject will be seen hereafter. The most recent arrangement is that of Mr. Bishop, in his able treatise on ' Articulate Sounds,' above referred to. Having observed that Sir John Herschel considers thirteen vowels to be essentially necessary for the expression of the English language, Mr. Bishop says, that among the exam [ties given of those thirteen, several admit of consider- able doubt : 3 and he finally concludes, that " in the English language there are ten distinct vowel sounds," of which he presents the following diagram : — Pharvngeal. Lingua-palatal. Labial. ball bate bar bet bone bat beet boot 4 but bit Mr. Bell, in a treatise (also very recent) on ' The Principles of Speech and Elocution,' adopts the number thirteen, in the following table of English vowels : — 1. 2, :;. ee(l) i(ll) a(le) pu(ll) poo(l) 13. oh 12. o(re) 11. 4. 5. 6. e(ll) e(re) a (an) a (ask) 7. ah 8(n) a(ll) 10. u(p) u(rn) 9. ear(n) 8. 143. Estimates so different of the number of vowel sounds must Longs and have proceeded on different views of their qualities. Hence they shorts ' 1 Court de Gebelin, vol. iii. p. 112. 8 Ego illas omnes in tres omnino classes distinguindas esse judico, Gutturales, Palatinas, et Labiales, prout in gutture, palato, aut labiis fonnantur — omnino Kovem esse, tres in gutture, tres in palato, et in labiis totidem, pro triplici nimi- rum in singulis sedibus oris apertura" majori, mediocri, minori. — Gram. p. 5. • Articulate Sounds, p. 12 * Ibid., p. 18. L G.] H 98 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. L CIIAP - VL have been distinguished by some, as long and short, by others, as broad and slender, or as open and close, &c. The quality of length has been considered to two points of view, either as distinguishing the sound produced by one position of the organs, from that produced by another position; or else as distinguishing the sound produced by a given position of the organs during a longer space of time from that produced in less time by the same position of the organs. In the first point of view, a in all might be deemed longer than ee in eel. In the other view, n in hall might be deemed longer than o in holly. The majority of grammarians seem to have adopted the latter view. Bishop Wilkins says that vowels " may be distinguished — 1st. For- mally, by the manner of configuration in the instruments of speech required to the framing of them; 2nd. Accidentally, by the quantity of time required to their prolation, by which the same vowel j& made either long or short." 1 Wallis maintains that every separate vowel sound may be long or short ; instancing the words hall and hoUy abovementioned. 2 The more recent writers adopt the same principle. Mr. Steele says, " Though the grammarians have divided the vowels into three classes, long, short, and doubtful, I am of opinion that every one of the seven has both a longer and a shorter sound." Mr. Rush applies it to the sounds which he calls Tonics, and which, as I have shown, answer to our vowel sounds. These, he says, " have a more musical quality than the other elements : they are capable of indefinite prolongation." 3 To the same effect, Mr. Bishop says, " These modifications (of vowel powers) are of two kinds, the one, in which the articulation being the same, the difference lies in the time during which it is sustained, which constitutes the vowel either long or short : the other depends on an alteration of the position of the articulating organs, whereby perfectly different sounds are represented."' 1 Mr. Bell says " long and short are qualities that cannot be predicated as essential characteristics of any simple vowel ; for every vowel may be indefinitely prolonged by those who have sufficient power over their vocal organs to retain them steadily in the vowel position. 8 In the plan of the Church Missionaries, it is said, "the same letter repre- sents slight modifications of each sound, such as are called full, or long sounds, and short, or stopped sounds." 6 Grimm says : " Vowels are either long or short, a distinction which relates to the time of their utterance." So far he is borne out by numerous authorities ; but he adds certain propositions on this subject, which, to say the least, are by no means clear. " The long vowel " (he says) " has twice the measure of the others." But " the short vowel has precedence over the long ; for it is the simple original element — it is a first power, the 1 Real Character, p. 363. 2 In hall, hull;/ aliisque similibus, idem prorsus vocalium sonus auditur nisi quod illic producatur, hie corripiatur. — Gram. Ling. Angl. p. 6. 3 Phil. Hum. Voice, p. I'd. * Articulate Sounds, pp. 16, 17. 5 Principles of Speech, p. 30. 6 Proc. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9, cicvii. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 09 long is a second. And inasmuch as that which is the simpler, is at the same time the elder, nobler, and purer ; therefore, in the history of language, there arises this important proposition, that in its early state short vowels aboimded, and the long were not adopted till a later period." 1 The different modes which have been adopted in written language to express different degrees of length in the same vowel sound will be examined in detail when I come to speak of alphabetical systems. It may be sufficient here to observe that they sometimes have two distinct letters for that purpose, as in the Greek i? and e ; sometimes different arrangements of letters, as our aw in awl, long, and o in doll, short; sometimes a peculiar mark is added, as (*) in the French Pretre ; and sometimes the distinction is only to be learnt by experience, as in our a. In the foregoing passages only two degrees of this quality are men- tioned, a long and a short ; and in accordance with general usage I have heretofore employed the same phraseology ; and have used (and shall use when necessary) the customary marks of long and short, and w . Few if any nations have expressed, by different letters or marks, a greater number of degrees. Yet it is evident from the struc- ture and powers of the vocal organs, that any vowel sound may be indefinitely prolonged or shortened, and consequently that there may be at least three gradations — a very long, a very short, and a medial sound. When the grammatical lengthening or shortening of a vowel articulation is spoken of, it must be remembered that this is very different from the lengthening or shortening of a syllable ; though these two circumstances are often confounded. M. Volney, for instance, says it is wrong to call a in ami short ; for it may be sustained musi- cally through a whole bar 2 — or to call a in arm long, for it may occupy only a quaver. 3 No doubt, musical composers take great liberties with the grammatical distinctions of the words to which their notes are to be adapted. How far they may be justified in so doing depends on the rides of their art ; but in respect to the grammatical structure of language, Mr. Tucker has justly said, " a man may speak quick or slow without changing the quantity of his vowels, which depends not so much upon their absolute length, as their comparative among one another." 4 I take the true rule to be this — a vowel sound is to be deemed long, when it is capable of indefinite prolongation, without reference to the articulation (if any) which may follow it : and it is to be deemed short, when it is no sooner uttered than it is combined ivith or overborne by a succeeding articulation. This at once shows the difference be- 1 Die vocale sind entweder kurze oder lange, ein untersclued der sich auf die zeit bezieht, binnen welcher sie ausgesprochen werden. Der lange vocal hat das doppelte mass des kurzen. Dem kurzen vocal gebiihrt der rang vor dem langen : es ist das einfache urspriingliche element — der kurze vocal ist erste potenz, der lange zweite. Da nun das einfache zugleich das altere, edlere, reinere ist, so ergibt sich fur die geschichte der spraclie der wichtige sntz, das in ihreru alterthum die kurzen zahl- reich sind, allmalich die langen uberhand uehmeu. — Deutsch Gram. i. 32. 2 Alfabet Europe'en, p. 32. 3 Ibid., p. 34. * Vocal Sounds, p. 10. ii 2 100 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [CHAP. 71. tween a longvowel and a long syllable : for instance, the syllable Paid, and the first syllable of PoZly may both be long, as syllables; but the vowel sound au in Paul is long, because it may be indefinitely pro- tracted, as if it wen.' written J'au-au-au, and during that time it re- mains uncertain how the syllable may terminate; whereas the vowel sound o in Polly is short, because it is at once absorbed in the conso- nantal articulation /: and if the syllable be drawn out to any length it will sound as it' it were written Pol-l-l. So in the two expressions "Ah! Mother," and "a Mother," the interjectional ah ! is long, and till it ceases the m is not heard ; but the article a is necessarily short, because it is closely followed, and overpowered as it were, by the word "Mother," on which its significant effect as an article depends. We may observe, too, that the verj same vowel sound, in two words im- mediately succeeding each other, may be uttered and scanned in one as long, and in the other as short. Thus it is in the * Hebrew Melo- dies' — For the Angel of* Death spread his wings on the blast ;' where the ea makes a long syllable in "Death," and a short one in " spread," though the vowel sound is precisely the same in articulation. Again, as we distinguish the vowel sound au in Paul as long, and o in Polly as short, so we may distinguish the vowel sound au in audacity as of intermediate length — thus forming three degrees. In like manner, M. Beauzee distinguishes eu as grave in the first syllable of jeumur ; aigus in the first of jeunesse ; and muette inje. And it is clear, that under the term grave he means to include the notion of a very long sound; under aigue that of a sound comparatively short; and under muette of a very short sound; for he thus explains the two first of these terms — " An oral voice (vowel sound) is grave, when being obliged to draw out the pronunciation more, and to press, as it were, upon it, we feel that the ear, independently of the longer duration of the sound, perceives in it something fuller, richer, so to speak, and more marked. On the contrary, an oral voice is aigue, when its pro- nunciation, being lighter and more rapid, the ear perceives in it some- thing less rich and less marked, and is in some sort rather sharply struck than satisfied." 2 These nice distinctions of the learned French- man tend to show that the quality of length or shortness in vowel sounds is commonly affected by several circumstances with which it may coincide. The same vowel may appear long or short according as "it is combined with different consonants, or with an accented or 1 Byron. 2 Une voix orale est grave, lorsqu'e'tant oblige' d'en trainer davantage la pronon- oiatif/n, et d'appuyer, en quelque sorte dessus, Ton sent que l'oreille indo'pendam- ment de la durce plus longut du son, j appercoit quelque chose de plus plein, de plus nourri, pour ainsi dire, et de plus marque. Une voix oralo, au contraire, est aigue, lorsque la prononciation en etaut plus le'gere, et plus rapide, l'oreille y ap- pereoit quelque chose de moins nourri, et de moins marque", et qu'ellc en est, eu quelque maniere pique'e' plutot que remplie. — Gram. Gene. i. 9. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 101 unaccented syllable : a in mast is long, a in the auxiliary has, is short : and so, even in diphthongs ow in powder is long, ow in gunpoicder is short. 144, The terms broad, open, full, grave, &c. are often confounded Broad, opei with long. That grave, as used by Beauzee, included the notion of length, and aigue of shortness, has been just shown. At first sight, it would seem, that these words grave (weighty) and aigue (sharp) were neither opposed to each other, nor had any natural reference to the qualities of sound. They were, however, used in a similar manner from very early times. Aristotle says of sounds — " The acute (o£0) stimu- lates the sense much in a little time, but the weighty (ftapv) does so but little, and for a long time. 1 Suidas explains this use of the words very fully. '0£v and fiupv (says he) " are metaphorically applied to acoustics ; for in magnitudes there are both acuteness and weight. In respect to touch, that is said to be sharp, which acts quickly ; as a dagger is sharp, which stabs quickly : and that is blunt, which acts slowly and does not prick, but presses, as a pestle." " So, in sounds, we call that acute which comes quickly to the sense, and soon ceases : and we call that weighty which is analogous to the blunt, and comes slowly to the sense, but does not quickly cease." 2 Hence we see how a vowel sound, which was comparatively long in utterance, came to be called grave, and one quickly uttered came to be called aigue ; but yet as these designations originated in a certain analogy between the senses of touch and hearing, which analogy is by no means strict, we find several other notions involved in Beauzee's above-cited definitions of grave and aigue. The terms broad and slender are employed by Dr. Latham in his Vowel System ; 3 but on what principle I do not well comprehend. He objects to the words long and short : but it seems that the three sounds which he calls broad are all long ; whilst of the fifteen, which he ranks as slender, two are marked by him as long, three as short, and the rest are left without a mark. It would seem that the terms broad and slender, if applied to vowel sounds, should naturally serve to distinguish those formed by a large expansion of the vocal tube, from those which flow through a narrow passage. Thus a in all and o in doll might be called broad, and ee in eel or i in ill slender, without reference to their being long or short in the utterance. Mr. Shaw says, that, in Galic, " the vowels are five, a e i o u, and are either broad or small : a o u are broad, e and i are small." 4 A 1 To ftiv o\v xivu tJjv ou, &c. 2 '0|i/, xai (Sa^u ixXtninrav, xaTa ftZTatpopav, \. 57. 9 Traite d'Accustique, p. 69. 10 Eng. Lang. p. 110. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 103 of the e ouvert as in tenia, theme." On the other hand, they say the o open is pronounced like the French short a in bocage ; but the closed o has a grave sound approaching to the Tuscan u; as in sole, giovane," &c.' The Church Missionaries use the word " stopped" as synony- mous with " short" applied to vowel sounds. 2 It is manifest that whilst the technical distinctions of vocal sound continue to be so variously expressed, the systematic pursuit of Glossology must be greatly impeded. 145. Fullv impressed with a sense of these difficulties, I never- The Authu I'll*/' J. ' I I < ' I 1 M ' theless ventured in my former treatise to present a slight outline ot that system of articulate sounds which appeared to me most suited to the present state of glossological science. The arrangement, founded chiefly on that of Bishop Wilkins, but with many material correc- tions, was not intended to apply to all languages, but merely to those European tongues with which I was more or less acquainted. I must now take a somewhat wider range, and first examining the articulations of the English language, shall afterwards notice several of those to which our vocal or auditorial organs are unaccustomed. On this, as on the former occasion, I shall take the articulations, both vowel and consonantal, in the order in which they occur, beginning with the sounds produced by the organs nearest to the opening of the larynx, and proceeding gradually to the opening of the lips. Of the English vowel sounds I reckon seven, besides the French labial u, which in the former arrangement made an eighth. Of the seven, I consider five to be oral and two labial ; and of the oral I call two guttural and three palatine. As it is necessary to affix some mark or sign to each of these sounds, I have adopted the eight following letters, y, a, a, e, i, o, w, u, adding to each, when necessary, for dis- tinction's sake, a number, as y (1), a (2), a (3), e (4), i (5), o (6), w (7), u (8). To these distinctive marks I shall have frequent occasion, in the sequel, to refer. For further clearness, there will be found in Plate I. some rough diagrams of the principal vocal organs, five of which show, by dotted lines, the course which the breath takes, in the interior of the mouth, to form the oral vowel sounds, and three show the external appearance of the lips, in forming the labial vowel sounds. It is justly observed by Mr. Bell, " that though the arrangement of the lips produces one set of vowels and that of the tongue another, few of them owe their formation to either organ independently of the other." s The terms labial and oral, therefore, must be understood with some latitude : and the same may be said of the above-mentioned divisions of the oral, viz., the guttural and the palatine. The term guttural, indeed, from guttur, the throat, is not strictly applicable to any articulation, for it implies the action of the larynx, which is not 1 Peretti ed. Ballin. pp. 11-13. 2 Proc. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9, p. cxcvii. 3 Principles of .Speech, p. 24. 104 OF VOWEL SOUNBS. I HAP. VI. an articulating organ; but long-continual u age has made i\ those articulations which are produced by the vibration of muscular fibres in the interior fauces, and near the opening of tin' larynx. Of the two guttural vow< 1 sounds 1 indicate, by the letter y, that which is produced immediately on the emission of the air from the larynx, by the vibration of the adjacent fibres; and I indicate by the letter a, that vowel sound which is caused by the vibration of the fibres nearer to the palate. On the first of these two, it will be nee for me to dwell at some length; for though actually sounded by many nations as a single articulation, it enters into few graphic syst ms, as such. 14i>. As the letter y is adopted in the penultimate and antepenul- timate syllables of Welsh words, to express the vowel sound which I have reckoned as the first guttural, it may be convenient here to adopt it for the like purpose generally. The sound, when long, though common in France, is almost unknown to mere English ears; but at a medium degree of length, as in sir, hut, young, &c, it occu- pies a great part of our language: and almost all our vowel sounds are apt to subside into it, when very short and unaccented; so that if we were to adopt for it the Welsh y, we should in such cases write altyr, fathyr, thyr, covfusiyn, honyr, instead of alt&r, fat confusion, honour: besides which it may be considered as su] p that slight and scarcely distinct vowel sound, which accompanies I, r, and n, in such words as handle, metre, listen. Sir W. JONES has observed, "that in our own anomalous language we mark n strange variety both of vowels and diphthongs, as in the phi mother bird hovers over her young:" 1 where we may observe that a, e, i, o, and u have this sound given to them all. Of our grammarians, Bishop Wilkins notices it as short in but, mutton, rudder, and long in amongst. 2 Wallis says " the French utter this sound in the last syllable of the word serviteur," &c. : " the English (he adds) chiefly express it by u shoi*t in turn, duU" &c. : ome- times pronouncing negligently o and ou, they give them this sound, as in come, couple, &c. 3 In order to produce this articulation, the tongue must be nearly on a level, the I -ark part being rather and the lore part rather below the line of the teeth, and i1 - m must be relaxed; the teeth and lips must be moderately open; and the whole passage, through the oral cavity, of a medium amplitude. The effect in pronunciation is best heard in the French language; for there it is uttered in several gradations of length, as a simple vowel, though chiefly written as a diphthong. M. Beauzee gives it four sounds, three oral and one nasal. The oral are, 1st, grave, in jeu- 1 Asiat. Res. i. 13. 2 Beal Character, p. 363. :! Eundem soman fere proferunt Galli in postremd syllabi vocum serviteur, &c. Ancjli plerumque exprimunt per u breve, in turn, dull, &■>■■ Nonnunquam o et on negligentibs pronuntiantes eodem sono proferunt in come, couple, &c. — Gram. Angl. ['. 7. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 105 neur ; 2nd. aigue, in jeun-esse ; and 3rd, muette, in je : and the nasal is in /e»«. ' M. Volney gives three sounds of it, which he distin- guishes thus : eu clear, as in peur, coeur, &c. ; eu deep, as in je veux ; and a medium eu, in peu. He in effect adds a fourth degree, by comparing the French e mute, when strongly uttered, to the English vowel sound in sir, bird, &c. 2 Haller also reckons it as a simple vowel expressed by the 6 of the Swiss, the Swedes, and the Lower Saxons. 3 Adelung says that the sound marked in German 6 is not a diphthong, because it is pronounced by a simple opening of the mouth.' 4 And my late valued friend, Dr. Noehden, explains the German 6 by the English u in gull. 5 Sir W. Jones describes it as the first Sanskrit vowel, and as " the simplest element of articulation, or first vocal sound." 6 According to Halhed, the Bengalese has a short vowel invariably subjoined to the consonant with which it is uttered (as indeed is the case with all or most oriental graphic systems). This inseparable short vowel, he says, is differently uttered in dif- ferent languages, according to the genius of each, and perhaps in Some degree to the organs of speech in the various nations by which it is used. In Hindostan it has the sound of the short e of the French. In Bengal, where a very guttural accent prevails, it has a more open and broad sound like the second o in chocolate. 7 " The Arabic futtah or fatha (adds he) is generally expressed in European languages by the "short a ; but in utterance it much more resembles our u in butter.'" 8 Richardson gives a different account of the mark fatha ; but he says that the mark damma over certain letters gives them a sound like u in but, o in above, or ou in rough. 9 To the Arabic damma corresponds the Turkish euturu, which, according to Davids, gives to the letter, which it governs, the sound of (the French) u, o, or eu. 10 The Malays, who, like the Turks and Persians, have adopted, with some variation, the Arabic alphabet, give to alif, when marked with clammah, the English sound of u in up, utter, or else of o mobey. 11 In Persian, the inherent vowel has several different sounds, but among them is that of the short English u. 12 In Albanian, the sound marked e is said by Colonel Leake to be " uttered deep in the throat, being the same vowel sound in the English words bum, son, but generally very short." 13 In Armenian, the letter yet (the eighth in that alphabet) is sounded " like the French e mute, or the English u in us. ,,u That this articulation exists in Chinese, seems evident from Dr Makshman's account of the vowel sounds of that language. Those sounds, according to the native arrangement, are twelve in number, 1 Gram. Gen. i. 11. 2 Alfabet Europ. 41, 42, 45. 3 Elem. Phys. iii. 464. * Reichel, p. 8. 5 Elem. Germ. Gram. p. 2. 6 Asiat. Res. i. 13. 7 Bengal Gram. p. 7. 8 Ibid. 9 Arabic Gram. p. 13. 10 Grammaire Turke, p. 7. 11 Marsden, Malay Gram. p. 6. 12 Moises' Pers. Interp. p. 9. 13 Researches in Greece, p. 260. u Aucher, Armen. Gram. p. 8. 106 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. I B \l'. VI. and tfo pari of them have four modifications; viz., an open and a close modification, with a primary and secondary sound in each of tli.' two divisions. Among tin — -, the fourth open primary is de- scribedas "the sound expressed in English by ung, in sung, flung."' And tli.' fifth open primary " answers to thai of the short u in Eng- lish." 2 In the IndO'l 'hinese languages also it is probably to be found; for De Rhodes thought it necessary, when expressing in Roman cha- racters the Annamitic sounds, to add to the o a modified character, which he explains as " a kind of o and e, a sort of sound compounded of two vowels;" 3 — a description which, it will be observed, agrees with the German character 6, expressing this same articulation. In the Burman language, the ninth vowel, according to Carey, has a sound which he describes as " au both short, and the u like the Eng- lish u in but* In Captain WASHINGTON'S Eskimaux vocabulary, the dotted is said to be " a thick sound of a, common among the Datives, as the u in but." So among the simple sounds, which are said by the Church Missionaries to require, in some African languages, a distinct letter, there is one described as "an obscure sound between a and u, as heard in the English but, sun."* This list of examples might easily be extended much further; but I have said enough to show that in the most distant parts of the world, and by men of different origin, race, habits, and acquirements, this articulation (allowing a reasonable latitude to the movements of the vocal organs) is pronounced as a simple vowel sound, though with different degrees of length, and other incidental modifications. 147. The second guttural vowel sound I have marked with the Greek a. It is well known to English grammarians, who generally admit it to be a simple vowel, though diversely expressed, in our ortho- graphy, when long by a, or aw, as in all, awful ; when intermediate by au, as in auditor; and when short by o, as in lock, odd, hog, &c. Grimm, however, seems to consider it as an impure utterance of a, which he regards as the purest of all vowel sounds. 6 And Haller (which is more extraordinary) reckons it among the "surd," or "not true vowels." 7 In its utterance the tongue is kept at a distance from the palate, throughout its whole length, and is flattened, or rendered somewhat concave: the lips, too, are widely opened, so that no im- pediment is offered to the volume of breath, which forms an impres- sive echo from " the arched roof." In adapting the tongue to the requisite position, all the fibres of the genio-hyoglossus muscle are put 1 Elem. Chinese Gram. p. 101. 2 Ibid. p. 102. 3 Diction. Annamit. App. p. 6. 4 Burman Gram. pp. 1, 2. 5 Proc. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9, App. 1. 6 A der reinste aller vocale. A die mitte halt (zwischen I und U) — unrein ge- sprochen aber dort in ii, hier in a ausweicht. — Deutsch Gram. i. 33. 7 Totidem quot vera- vocales. Deinde possunt totidem vocales surdm nuinerari, sive breoes qua in gntture fere pronunciantur. Utcunque diu products, surdaj manent n, with some slight additions. In forming the first palatine vowel sound (that marked with the Saxon a), "the teeth are separated to the same distance as in a ; the tongue is rendered broader, the tip of the to mgue is immediately behind the incisor teeth of the lower jaw; but thi of the tongue is raised above the level of the grinding teeth, so that the space between the tongue and the bony palate is narrower than in a."' To this I have only to add, that the vibrating muscles of the mouth, which give to the vowel sound its peculiar character, seem to be those of the back part of the palate. I consider the vowel - in bar and bat, axe and ask, to be medials in this palatine articulation ; but Mr. Bishop designates the two first as guttural, 2 and afterwards as pharyngeal, 3 and treats them as distinct vowel sounds. 4 Mr. BELL considers the vowel sounds in axe and ask to be distinct, and reckons them his fifth and sixth in order. 5 Mr. MARSDEN, on the contrary, treats our a in far, sad, lasting, &c, as affording examples of one and the same sound, which he regards as "the most general and familiar of all the vocal utterances." 6 Whether nice anatomical investi may hereafter detect such distinct organic powers in the production of 1 Univ. Gram. s. 459. 2 Articulate Sounds, p. 17. 3 Ibid, p. 18. * Ibid. 5 Principles of Speech, 96, 100. ,; < lonvent. Alphab. p. 7. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 109 these, as may authorize their being reckoned different vowel sounds, I will not presume to decide; but the contrary appears to me to be the more probable result. Those who consider the vowel sounds in hard, laugh, lamb, hang, &c, to be different, seem to me to overlook the effect of the accompanying consonants; but Grimm, speaking of the Anglo-Saxon vowels, observes that " of all consonants in g< meral, m and n are the most favourable to a pure pronunciation of the vowel which precedes them." 1 And in English, he says, the pure sound of a (reine laid) is heard before in and n in sham, ban, &c. 2 The same sound occurs, as I think, in hard and laugh ; but less pure on account of the i'd and the gh. " In the German of Saxony " (says Mr. Marsden) " and more especially in the Italian of Rome, this is the predominant and almost the exclusive a." 3 In Italian, its three degrees of length seem to me to be perceptible, the long in Padre, the medial in the first syllable of mamma, and the short in the last ; or, to take examples from the opening stanza of the Orlando Furioso, the long in Pomdno, the medial in arme, and the short in amori. In the French pronun- ciation it is universally allowed to exist ; and I think we may distin- guish the three degrees of length in male, mat, and the first syllable of drnant. The long or grave sound in male seems, indeed, to have a somewhat broader sound than is known to the English language ; so that it may probably be produced by a somewhat wider opening of the interior of the mouth than our a in father, or au in aunt, and may cause the vibration of muscles rather nearer to the fauces ; but still it is palatine, and not guttural, and more resembles our au in aunt than our aw in fawn. I collect from Grimm's account of a, in the modern High German, that a somewhat similar distinction of this pure vowel sound is to be observed in that language ; that it is short in ab, less short in man, and longer in gnade; but in wahr it somewhat approaches our aw* Adelung, however, says a has but one sound, which is either prolonged (gedehnt) as in da, Gabe, laben ; or sharpened (ge- schdrft) as in was, raffen, Pallast. 5 Marsden says that this a is the fafha and the alif with hamza of the Arabic. 6 In the Romaic or modem Greek, the a is sounded as the English a in far. 7 In Por- tuguese, it is sounded as the English a in rat, fat, &c. 8 In the Sechu- ana language, in South Africa, we find the longer sound of a as in rather, and the shorter, as in lad. Among the Eskimaux the sound of a, like the English a in father, is very prevalent. 10 The same sound occurs in the Armenian language. 11 In the Tonga (a Polynesian tongue) it seems to be heard in two degrees, a longer, as in the last syllable of our Papa, and a shorter, as in man} 9 In Russian, there is our medial 1 Deutsch Gram. i. 327. 2 Ibid. i. 383. 3 Convent. Alpliab. pp. 7, 8. 4 Deutsch Gram. i. 218. 5 Worterb. lit. A. 6 Convent. Alphab. p. 8. 7 Scott. Gram. p. 7. 8 Vieyra, Gram. p. 1. 9 ArchbelJ, Gram. p. 1. 10 Washington's Vocab. 11 Aucher, Gram. p. 8. 12 Mariner's Tonga, ii. p. 344. 110 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [ CnAP ' vr ' a, as in Tsar, a sovereign. 1 So in Polish, the medial a is common, a* in plac, place, smak, taste; 9 and a somewhat Longer pronunciation ot the same vowel sound serves to distinguish certain grammatical forms, as lata, from lata. 3 In Danish, the a is sounded as our a in father, part.* In Welsh it is sounded as our a in man, pan, lad, bad. i These instances sufficiently prove that an articulation identical with, or at least very similar to, that which I have called the first palatine vowel sound, is practised by many nations wholly unconnected and widely distant from each other. 149. The second palatine vowel sound may be considered as a medium between the first and third, in reference to both its organic causes, the form of the vocal tube, and the situation of the vibrating fibres. Bishop Wjlkixs says, " this vowel is formed by an emission of the breath between the tongue and the concave of the palate, the upper superficies of the tongue being brought to some small degree of convexity:" 6 to which I add, that the amplitude of the vocal tube is rendered considerably less than in the preceding articulation, inasmuch as the teeth are less separated ; the tongue is rendered broader and elevated more toward the middle of the palate ; by the action of the anterior and posterior fibres of the genio-hyoglossus, those of the centre being relaxed : the fibres that co-vibrate with the glottis, are those of the middle of the palate. Haller's account of the formation is short, and agrees nearly with Bishop Wilkins's. 7 Our English glossologists generally agree in recognising the long sound of this articulation ; and some of them admit its connection with what I have stated as its short sound, which others regard as a separate vowel. Mitford considers that the vowel sound of e in where, there, is Johnson's slender a as in face, create ; and that this is only a lengthened sound of the e in men, separate, &c. 8 Steele gives to his third vowel e, when long, the sound of a in may and make. 9 Sheridan places hate, his third vowel, as a medium between hat and beer. Turning now to foreign lan- guages, we find a full account of this vowel sound in German given by Adelung. " This vowel (says he) has two sounds in German ; one resembling the Latin e in mens, and the other Kesembling our a. The first is also called the high e: when the accent (der ton') is laid on it, it resembles the French e ferme ; and this is its most frequent use. Before h, it is usually high, and accented, as in gehen, &c. ; but sometimes takes the sound of a as in fehlen, stehlen, &c. The other (or deep) e, is the French e ouvert, and sounds like a. It is met with in the first syllable of many dissyllabic words, as leben, reden, &c., in which it is prolonged and accented ; but in some it becomes sharp, as 1 Heard, Gram. pp. 1, 2. 2 Yater, Gram. abr. pp. 9, 18. 3 Ibid. p. 9. «Bask, Gram. p. 1. 5 Richards, Gram. p. 2. 6 Real Character, p. 364. 7 Multo angustior oris canalis est ; pars enim lingua? posterior ejusque later.i aut elevantur, ant omnino ad dentes superiores adducuntur, et apex ab iis dentibus modicfe distat. — Elem. Phys. iii. p. 463. 8 Harmony of Language, &c. p. 33. 9 Melod. and Meas. of Speech, p. xii. CHAP. VI,] OF VOAVEL SOUNDS. Ill in Berg, Werk, Kessel, &e. Where the e is doubled (ee) the sound is in most cases high and prolonged, as in see, meer, &c.'" In French, Volxey compares the e ouvert in fete to the English vowels in nail, where, fair, bear, and the German a in alter, &c. ; the feminine termi- nation ee to the English a in take, make, scale, gate ; and the German e in stehlen, sehen, &c, and the masculine termination e ferme in ne', repete, to the English e and ea, in red, bed, head, and German e in etwas and besser. 2 Beauzee also gives three sounds of the French e, viz., the grave in tete, the aigue in tette, and a third (the e ferme) in bate. 3 In Italian two sounds of e are distinguished, one as in tenia, theme, answering to the French e ouvert, the other as in tema, fear, answering to the French e ferme* The Spanish e has always the sound of the French e ferme', as padre, father, pronounced as if written in French padre. 1 The Portuguese e is compared to the English a in care. 6 The Russian language has two sounds of this articulation, that of our a in fate, as sherste, wool, and that of e in met, as pepell, ashes. 7 The Armenian has our e in met ; as in temk." Our short e is wanting in Sanskrit ; but a long e is found in Veda. 9 In Bengalese, also, they have our a in labour. 10 In Persian our short e is represented as an- swering best to the vowel inherent in the consonants of their alphabetic system. 11 In Chinese Dr. Marshman gives the sound of ai in hail to the seventh open primary vowel, as kai, to turn ; and that of our short e to the tenth open primary vowel, as kyen, firm. 12 In the Burman language the seventh vowel has the sound of a in name, or ai in air, and the eighth that of ei in their.™ In the Sechuana there are two sounds, the longer, that of a in hate, and the shorter, that of e in met. 14. So, in the Tahitian, as in the word Tebela, taken from the English, table. li In the Australian, e, whether at the beginning, middle, or end of the word, is sounded as in the English there: 16 and the same direc- tion is given in the preface to Captain Washington's Eskimaux Vocabulary. The African Missionaries seem to consider that there are three sounds nearly approaching to each other, and answering to the English bait and bet, and the German a in vater, father. 17 Thus we see that the vowel sound which I reckon as the second palatine occurs in many (probably in all) languages, though to some it is known in more, and to others in fewer, gradations of length. 150. The third palatine vowel sound is that which I have marked i, and of which I think three degrees of length are to be distinguished, as in eel, merry, and it, as above stated. Wallis gives only two, a 1 Dictionary, pref. p. adv. 8 Alfabet Europ. p. 33. 3 Gram. Gen. i. p. 11. « Peretti, Gram. Ital. p. 11. 5 Martinez, Span. Gram. p. 6. 6 Vieyra, Portug. Gram. p. 2. 7 Heard, Russ. Gram. pp. 1, 2. 8 Aucher, Arm. Gram. p. 8. 9 Jones, Asiat. Res. i. 15, 18. I0 Halhed, Beng. Gram. d. 25. 11 Moises' Pers. Interp. p. 9. ,2 Chin. Gram. pp. 103, 105. 13 Carey, Bur. Gram. p. 6. M Archbell, Sech. Gram. p. 1. lD Buschmann, Vocab. Tait, p. 91. 16 Moore, Austr. Vocab. p. vii. 17 Proc. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9, p. cxcvii. 112 OK VOW EX OUNDS. P. 71. long and a short. 1 Wilkins a'. the short, a- in bit, and th( long, as m beet* So Steele says i is long in be and short in bit.' ButMAESDES says "the third vowel i has three prosodial diatino- tionsof sound, the longest being usually represented in our language by ee, as in meet, or by ea as in leave, by tie, as in believe, or by et, mreceive. The distinction in length of sound between that of the longest and the middle i is not so well defined as to be free from doubt, in many instances, as to which of the two 'hisses certain words should be referred to; but in the following it will probably be thought that the vowel is so much shorter, than in those last enu- merated, as to justify their being distinguished from each other, as in Italian ivords denti, niente, &c., and the French limiter, petit, &c. The third or shortest sound of the vowel i is common to all the languages in Europe, the English not excepted, where it is found in sit, bit, thin, titular, spirit. In Italian, where it is comparatively ran', it occurs in piccolo, scritti, piu, gia ; and in the French, in the w< in Is q uitter, piece, permission, plusieurs." 4 The opinions of writers, whose attention is directed rather to the letter than the sound, are of less weight: still it may be proper to observe that JoHNSOH gives i in fin as the short sound of i* and that MlTFOED states the short i to be the long e (as in adhering) shortened. 6 Getmm compares our ee to the (German) long *, and cites as the short i, hit, wit, &c. 7 The African Missionaries give, as sounds of i, in English, ravine, lit, answering to the German lleben, sinii. 8 I have cited these several authorities, of different dates, and from very different sources, chiefly to show that my view of the shortest sound of this articulation in the English language is neither singular nor novel : though I shall here- after have occasion to notice the opinions of those recent glossologists who have treated that sound as a separate and distinct vowel. Of the mode of forming the vowel sound i, Bishop Wilkins speaks thus : " It is framed by an emission of the breath betwixt the tongue and the concave of the palate, the upper superficies of the tongue being put into a more convex posture, and thrust up near the palate."* 11 LLLEE adds: "The lips are less expanded; the sides of the top touch the first molar teeth, and its tip is quite curved and elevated, so as to be a little distant from the front teeth." 10 I add that the oc-hyoides is slightly raised, and consequently the whole tongue is elevated : and all authorities admit (at least as to the long degree of this sound) that the vocal tube is nan-owed to its least extent. There 1 Hunc sonum quoties correptus est, Angli per I breve exprimunt, quum vero producitur, seribunt at plurimum per ee. — Grain. Ang. p. 9. * Real Character, p. 363. 3 Melod. and Meas. p. xii. * Convent. Alphab. p. 10. ft Eng. Gram. p. lxvi. 6 Harm, of Lang. p. 33. 7 Dents, h dram. i. 383, 386. 8 Proe. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9. p. cxcvii. 8 Real Character, p. 364. 10 Et labia minus diducuntur, et latera lingua! Dentes molarium priores contm- gunt, et apex omnino curvatur, et elevatur, ut modicfc a dentibus prioribus distet. — Elem. Physiol, iii. 464. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 113 is probably no language in which this vowel sound is entirely un- known, though there are some in which one degree of it prevails, and in some another. Beginning with the Welsh, we find the letter i with two sounds, the long, as ee in the English free, and the short, as i in the English rich : the former sound is expressed by y or u, when they are circumflexed, the short by u not circumflexed, and by y in the final syllable, and in monosyllables, with some exceptions. 1 The Welsh language, says Mr. Edwards, differs from the Breton by a shade in the pronunciation of i. It is an i excessively short, as in the English busy, and its shade of distinction, in utterance, from the short e, is almost imperceptible, except to a very fine ear."" Elsewhere he contends, that, being unknown to the continental Saxons and to the Normans, this fine modification of sound can only have been communicated to the Anglo-Saxons (and so to the English) by the ancient British inhabitants of England. 3 Of the German i, Adelung gives this account : — " With respect to pronunciation, it is sometimes lengthened and sometimes sharpened. It is sharpened in hin, in, wirken, sinnen, &c, and lengthened in mir, dir, wir, in the first syllable of Lilie, in the third of Petersilie, and in the foreign words Debit, Titel, &c. In ihm, ihn, Sue., it takes the h, as a mark of its being lengthened." 4 This author considers the very short i, or German,;', before a vowel, as a middle sound between a vowel and a consonant. 3 In that case, he says, the i (with some exceptions) "melts into the following vowel, and becomes the medium sound (before described) of jod, as in jahr, jeder, jetzt" 6 (the German j, called in that language jod (i. e. yod), answers before a vowel, as is well known, to the English y). The Danes, in like manner, give to their vowel i the two sounds of the English ee in bee, and i in bill; and employ the j, or je, as our (so called) y consonant. 7 The French language is considered by M. Volxey as having our ee in tie, and our short * in midi? It is true that the French tie is pronounced exactly like our word eel; but midi is not pronounced like our middy (diminu- tive for midshipman), but rather as an intermediate vowel sound: and I am inclined to think, with several grammarians, tiiat tne French do not possess our short i in it. In Italian the gradations of this vowel sound are not very distinctly marked, yet the long i in cos* is exactly equal to our ee in see. Mr. Marsden distinguishes a 1 Richards' Gram. p. 3. 2 Reeherches sur les Langues Celtiques, p. 10. 3 Ibid. p. 13. 4 Es ist, der Aussprache nach, bald gedehnt, bald gescharft. Gescharft ist es in hin, in, wirken, sinnen, &c, gedehnt in mir, dir, wir, in dcr ersten sylbe von Lilie, in der dritten von Petersilie, und in der fremden Wortern Debit, Titel, &c. In ihm, ihn,kc. nimrut es zum Zeichen seiner Dehnung das A an. — Deutsch. Wbrterb. vol. ii. p. 1347. 3 Eiu mittellaut zwischen einem Vocale und einem eonsonantem. — Adelunc ibid. ,; SchmiLset es mit demselben (V T ocalen) zusammen, v.nd gehet in den Zwischen- laut Jod iiber. — Ibid. 1348. 7 Rask, D <™. Gram. p. 1. « Alfab. Europ. p. 33. !>•] i ] ] -I OF VOWE1 .,'. Vf. medial i in priwii, and a shorf i in piccolo, answering to i but I rather doubl the accuracy of the last parallel. The shortest Italian i, perhaps, is that d before words beginning with sf, st, Sue., to soften the sound, as isfuggire for sfuggire, istato for state, and the like. 8 In Spanish, as in Italian, the accented t has of cour i' sound, as in □ the t preceding a rowel, as in hierro, iron. In Portuguese, the / has also two sounds, a long- one like our ee, and a shorter, compared (though perhaps with some inexactness) to the I - 1 1 . lish i in still. La Romaic, die modern Greeks express this articulation by r? (ee), differing from their ancestors, who in the classic ag s undoubti dly gave to thai li " r the sound of our a in «/-re are two letters, i expressing a very cl( ar sound (like, our ee), as in psiarnl, of a dog-kennel (genitive), the other (y), a more obscure sound (like our terminating y), as in ogrody, gardens. 8 The Bohemi to follow the Polish in this particular." The Sanskrit has, besides its characters for the compound sounds li, ri, and /;•/, two characters, its third and fourth vowels, the former for a short, and the latter for a long i. 7 And the Bengalese alphabet adopts the same distinction. 8 In Persian, Arabic, Turkish, and Malayan, the articulation exists both in a long and short degree, and is marked in all the alphabetic systems (of which the Arabic is the original) by the same letter, ya, or else by a peculiar vowel mark. Thus in Persian the letter ya has two sounds, a long sound, as our ee in green, and a short one, as y in yet: and its place is sometimes sup- plied by the mark hamza. 9 In Arabic the letter ya has the same powers as in Persian ; and the mark casr takes either the long sound of ee in seen, or the short one, of i in thin.™ In Turkish the letter ya is retained, and the mark e.v/r// answers to the Arabic casr. 11 In Malayan, the same letter ya has in the word fc^awtf, tell, the sound of our ee in Z>ee, and in yakut, a precious stone, that of our y in young: and our short i, as in mwifoz, to ask for, is indicated by the mark kesrah, either supplied or understood. 18 This articulation, when short, seems to be little used in ( 'hinese, except in combination with some other vowel, or with a nasal consonant. Thus Dr. Marshman marks the fourth open secondary vowel as Jang, and the ninth open secondary as kin, and prefixes a short y to eight of the twelve open secondary vowels, and to five of the close secondary ones. In only one instance he admits the sound ee, namely, in the fifth open 1 Convent. Alphab. p. 26. ! Albert. Dizion. p. xi. 8 Leake's Researches, p. 2. 4 Heard, p. 'J. 5 Vater, p. 9 and table 1. 8 Frdhlich Anleitung, 4 Slav, hauptspr. p. •''>. • Sir W. Jones, Asiat. Res. i. p. 15. " ffalhed, Ben-. Gram. p. 4. '■' Muses, pp. 3, 8. "' liichardson, Ar. Gran), pp. 11, 13. 11 David's Turk. Grain, p. 7. '-' Marsdeu, Malay Grain, p. 13. CKAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 115 secondary. 1 In the Burman language the third vowel is sounded as our i in till, and the fourth as ee in eel. 3 In the Xichuana language there are two sounds of this articulation, a long one, as in bltsa (pro- nounced beetsa), and a short one, as in lintsi (pronounced lintsy), both which Mr. Archbell marks with the letter I : and it seems that there is a very short sound which he marks with our y. 3 The other African missionaries use i in like manner for our two sounds in beat and bit.* In the Tonga, a Polynesian language, the same two sounds are found, both expressed in Mr. Martin's Grammar by the letter i, but sometimes with an accentual mark, when long, as aft, to open the mouth, &c. 5 In the language of Western Australia the sound of our i in fatigue is used, as in ira, upwards : 6 and the same occurs in the Eskimaux language. 7 In the aboriginal American languages in general, the sounds of our ee and * appear to be general] v prevalent. 8 In fine, I have not found mention of any language, in any part of the globe, where this articulation is wholly unknown. And thus we conclude the survey of those vowel articulations, which I have styled oral, as distinguished from labial. 151. The labial vowel sounds in the English language, as I have o. said, are two, most frequently written o and oo, but of which I have marked the latter with w, being the letter employed for that purpose in the Welsh alphabet, o is sounded in English, long, in coat, and short in nobility : in a still shorter sound it nearly sinks into the first guttural, as union, person, timorous. It is framed, says Wilkixs, by an emission of the breath between the lips, a little drawn together and contracted. 9 The lips, says Haller, are drawn nearer together than in a ; and the greater part of the tongue approximates to the anterior and interior teeth. 10 We may add that the position of the tongue and teeth is nearly the same as in the second guttural vowel sound (a) ; the tongue is slightly raised at the back part, but the sound is distinguished from a by the contraction of the lips which generally assume some- what of a circular form, owing to the action of the muscle called orbi- cularis oris : hence the fibres of the interior fauces appear to vibrate together with those of the lips in giving the sound its peculiar character. The prevalence of this sound in human utterance is universal : and in most written languages it is expressed by one or more characters, which renders it the more remarkable that such a character should have been wanting in the Hebrew alphabet until supplied by the so-called Masoretic points, if such was really the fact. 152. The other labial vowel sound known to our language is heard w. long in our word pool, and short (or rather medial) in pull ; but we 1 Chinese Gram. p. 107. 8 Carey, Burm. Gram. p. 5. :: Sechuana Gram. pp. 1, 3. 4 Proc*. Ch. Miss. Society, 1848-9, p. cicvii. ■' Mariner's Tonga, vol. ii. p. 345. 6 Moore's Vocabulary, pref. &c. ' Washington's Vocabulary, pref. 8 Vide Zeisberger, Howse, &c. 9 Meal Character, p. 364. 10 Labia arctius adducuntur qnam in a; et lingua; major pars anterioribus et in. teroribus dentibus vicina est. — Elexn, Phys. iii. 464. 12 HQ OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [CHAP. VI. have also a very short sound of it before another vowel when it nearly approach s to a o asonant, and has therefore come to be considered in English as a consonant. This is generally expressed by w, as in water, wet, win, w rre, w • I : sometimes however it is written u, as in quality, quail, que, '. quill, quorum, persuade, &c.: and in all cases, it is pro- perlyand strictlya vowel sound; fur the air passes unimpeded through the vocal tube, though for an extremely short space of time. " This vowel," savs Wii.kins. " is the second of the labials, requiring a greater contraction of the lips.'" "The lips," saysHALLER, "are drawn some* what nearer together than in o, and the tongue is applied to the teeth." 2 All agree that the labial aperture is less than in the preceding vowel sound, but it should be added that it loses the tendency to circularity, the lips being drawn out in length. The tip of the tongue also is more elevated", and brought a little more forward, the teeth remaining nearly at the same distance apart, as before. English students are apt to be misled by the mode of designating our fifth vowel u, which is reallv a diphthong, when pronounced in mule, including the two vowel sounds of ee and oo ; whereas the pure articulation both long and short abounds in our language, as it does in most other European tongues: thus in rule, moon, shoe, moor, woo'd, though spelt so differently, it is long : in puU,full, good, wood it is short: so in the French foule, sou" ; the German Qhr, mund, &c. The Sanskrit has two distinct vowels, the fifth for the short, and the sixth for the long articulations. In some countries, and particularly in Italy, the o is often softened so as nearly to approximate to the u. -. i. ii, Fr. 153. These seven are all the sounds into which it appears to rne that the English vowel sounds may be most conveniently divided, allow- ing to each two or more degrees of length in pronunciation. Among these, however, there are some which certain grammarians hold to be specifically different vowel sounds — or instance, that in bet, which I deem to be a short e, and that in fit, which I deem to be a short ee. The majority of glossologists agree in the opinion which appears to me to be correct ; nevertheless I am far from saying that a more minute examination of the vocal organs than has hitherto taken place may not show a necessity for some correction of the above arrangement. An addition to it must be made of the French u, if the system be ex- tended to that language, and possibly some other vowel sounds, which I cannot well appreciate, such as the Hebrew ghain, should also be taken into the account ; but in this, as well as other respects, the study of Glossology requires, and will doubtless obtain, more precise infor- mation than it has vet acquired. . wngs. 154. It is not sufficient that we acquire the separate pronunciation of single vowel sounds ; for a great portion of many languages is taken up with combinations of those sounds. When two simple vowel 1 Real Character, p. 364. s Aliquanto propius labia adducta habet quam in o, hnguam vero dentibus adpli- cafcim. — Klein. Phys. iii. 464. CHAP. VI.] OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 117 sounds are combined, they usually receive the not very appropriate designation of diphthongs, and when three (which more rarely happens), of triphthongs. If two vowels following in immediate succession are both pronounced distinctly, they form separate syllables, as the i and o in iodine, or the a and e, in aerial ; but they may be melted together, so as to form only one syllable, as the o and i in oil, which constitutes a diphthong. The great confusion of our alphabetic system renders it scarcely possible to give an intelligible explanation of many diphthongal sounds, by means of English letters in their ordinary use. I must therefore either resort to the peculiar powers, which I have above given to those intended to signify the seven vowels of our language, viz. : y, a, a, e, i, o, w ; to which may be added u for the French u ; or else I must employ for these letters respectively the Arabic numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8. Now, in order to understand a combined sound, we must first ascertain the elements of which it is composed ; we must not for instance suppose the combination yi (1, 5) to be made up of ai, (2, 5) or of ai (3, 5) ; nor must we suppose the combination yw (1, 7) to consist of the elements aw (2, 7) or aw (3, ?). When- ever we observe an individual uttering a diphthongal sound, as it is pronounced in a foreign, provincial, or rustic dialect, we may generally presume that he has an inaccurate conception of the elements of that sound. And on the other hand, one who misapprehends an elementary sound, cannot form an accurate judgment of the diphthongal sound which it helps to produce. M. Volney supposed the English vowel sound u in cut to be identical with the French o in hotte, and the English o in rod ; l but as the French o in hotte answers to o (6) in my system, and the English o in rod answers to a (2) and u in cut to p (1) in the same system, I cannot conceive that M. Volney fully un- derstood the. English diphthongs, into which either of those vowels enters as a constituent. When a student has fully ascertained the elementary sounds of a diphthongal articulation, his next care must be to acquire a facility in uttering it correctly. This is best done in the mode adopted for the acquisition of many other mechanical movements, for instance, that of the roll of a drum, which is effected by giving alternate taps of each drumstick, with a certain interval of time, and gradually lessening that interval till the difference of the sounds ceases to be perceptible by the ear. So, to acquire a proper pronunciation of our first personal pronoun, I, which on my system, is the diphthongal sound yi (1, 5), the learner should begin by pronouncing y (1) and i (5) separately, and each at some length, say in the time of a musical crotchet ; and this time he should gradually reduce to a quaver, semi- quaver, demi-semi-quaver, &c, till the ear ceases to distinguish the rapid movement of the vocal fibres, and the two sounds seem melted into one. The vowels constituting a diphthong were distinguished by the Greeks, in respect to their relative position, as the prepositive and the postpositive or subjunctive. M. DrjCLOS supposed, and in this he 1 Alfab. Europ. p. 33. IIS OF VOWEL SOU2JDS. LP. Vi. was followed by M. Beauzre, 1 that the prepositive should always be pronounced more rapidly and less emphatically than the postpositive; but this, whether true or not of the French language, is by no meant; a general rule; as will presently be seen by the examples which 1 shall notice. It has been mad.' a question whether a diphthong may be formed by duplication of the same vowel. Quintilian answers it in the affirmative, adducing tin' instance of conjicit (which must be read conyicit),* and it is common in English with the two vowels of a narrow oral and labial aperture i (5) and w (7), as in //•' and wood ; but with vowels of a larger aperture it cannot easily be don.-, and does not seem to have formed in any language a true diphthong. It was held by the Greek grammarians that all diphthongs must end with i or o, which two vowels were therefore called subjunctives, or p positives, and the others prepositives. But this is by no means a common rule with languages in general. Other 'writers somewhat extend the principle, holding that one or other of these two vowels, either as a prepositive' or subjunctive, is a necessary ingredient of every diphthong, and alleging as a reason, that "being the most contracted of vowels, they approach very near to the nature of consonants." 3 That feet indeed is true, as I have before observed; and it no doubt facilitates the pronunciation of the diphthongs into which either of these vowels enters as an element; but the want of them does not wholly preclude the formation of a diphthongal articulation. loo. As nations do not all agree in their distinctions of simple p t ong 3 , vowe i soun ds they must sometimes, of course, differ in the combina- tions of two or more such sounds. Hence diphthongs are known and practised in one country, which in another country are either vaguely comprehended or wholly unknown. Before examining these, however, we must notice the false diphthongs, that is, those combinations of vowels which many grammarians treat as diphthongs, because they are written with two letters, though they do not in fact produce a mixed sound partaking of each, as all proper diphthongs do. These false diphthongs may be ranged in four classes: — first, those which serve merely to prolong a single vowel, as act pronounced like the long a; secondly, those which drop one of the two vowels altogether, as Cava in Normandy (pronounced Can); thirdly, those which produce a simple sound differing from both the elements, as air ('pronounced er); and fourthly, those which do not combine the elements at all, but pronounce them separatelv, as ea in the Italian giungia. These defects, indeed, properly speaking, are defects of graphic system ; but as they might tend to confuse our notions of articulate sound, if not explained, I shall notice some of the most prominent instances of each class. 1 Oram. Gen. i. 4.0. 2 Quseret etirtm hoc, quomodo duabus rlemurn vocalibus in seipsas coeundi rintura sit, cum consonantium coeat nulla, nisi alteram frangat. Atqui litera I, sibi incidit, conjicit euim, &c. — Inst. Orat. lib. i. c. iv. 3 Wilkinl, Real Character, p. 370. CHAP, vl] of vowel sounds. 119 156. " art," gays Adelung, " is the sign (in German) of a prolonged Merely a. Those who confound the sign with the sound have called this ;i 1 """ !L diphthong. But if, as reason directs, we regard the sound alone, we shall as little be able to reckon this a diphthong as ah, or any other prolonged vowel." 1 The German word aal therefore (an eel) is pro- nounced as a very long a, with the prosodial mark of length, and it would be desirable that it should be so written, if custom permitted. The same word aal is pronounced in nearly the same manner in the Dutch language. 2 Halhed adopts aa to express the long a, which is the second Bengalese vowel 3 But on this .Sir W. Joxes says, " if anything dissatisfies me in his clear and accurate system, it is the use of double letters for the long vowels, which might however be jus- tified." 4 From this last remark I must differ. I cannot think it jus- tifiable to express a single vowel sound by two marks, each of which elsewhere expresses a distinct sound ; though the practice appears to have been very ancient, for we find in a Samnite medal Paakul for Paculus, and many like instances. 8 ee. " The doubled e or ee (in German) is the sign," says Adelung, " of the lengthened e, and it is in most cases pronounced high, as in see, meer, beete," &c. 6 In Dutch, it has a like effect, as in steen, icee, &c. 7 ; and also in French, as in nee, and other feminine participles. 8 ft does not appear to have been used for mere prolongation. oo. This has been used by some German writers for a long o. Adelung says, " the long o was formerly expressed by an e subjoined to it, which spelling has been preserved in some few proper names onlv. More recently the long o began to be expressed by oo, and this sign of a single vowel prolonged was called a diphthong, which it could not really be. Thus Gottsched wished to write boot for both (a boat), and room for rohm or rahm (cream). But the doubling of the vowels is the most awkward way possible of marking prolonga- tion." 9 Nevertheless, this awkward system has been adopted by many nations. It is probable that the Greek u>, or long o, was first formed from a redoubled o, or oo closely joined. It appears in num- berless Dutch words, such as book, hoop, stoof, &c. 10 ; and Halhed adopts it to express the long o of the sixth Bengal vowel. 11 uu. " In the modern German," Adelung observes, " that though the u, like all other vowels, is pronounced sometimes long, as in buch, and sometimes short, as in lust, the u is not doubled to express pro- longation."'" 2 In the old Frankish, however, the uu (or u repeated) evidently answered in effect to the single w (No. 7) of my system, or the French ou and Italian u, when preceding another vowel, as uuachtuv, 1 Worterb. p. 3. a Sewel, Woordenboek, p. 82. 3 Bengal. Gram. p. 4. 4 Asiat. Res. i. 8. 5 Lanzi, Ling. Etrusc. vol. i. p. 215. 6 Worterb. vol. i. p. 1625. 7 Sewel, Woordenboek, ad voces. 8 Volney, Alfab. Europ. p. 33. 8 Worterb. vol. iii. p. 551. 10 Sewel, Woordenboek, advoocs. u Bengal. Gram. p. 4. u Worterb. vol. lv. p. 729. rowel. .1 different sOUilll. c mi! hie I. 120 OF VOWEL SOU N IS. [CHAP. VI. watching, vigil; selpuuillin, self-willing, spontaneons ;' and probably the Anglo-Saxon »■. which we till retain, is of like origin, though I- in this nor in the Frankish orthography does it seem to pro- long tin- sound. L57. The vowel " is dropt in the English bear, bread, coat, beauty, &c. Tin' vowel e is dropt in the English toe and blue, in the German knie, in the French poesie, &c. The vowel i is dropt in the English fruit, freight, friend, &c. The vowel o is dropt in tin- Enghsh leopard and 1'ivad, in the first syllable of oeconomy, ami in amour. The vowel M is dropt in the English laugh mdfratid, and is scarcely pronounced in the Italian fuoco, luono,&c. All these, therefore, ami the like com- binations of letters, are to be excluded from the class of diphthongs as above described. 158. The combination of two vowel letters to produce either a simple or diphthongal sound differing from their elementary powers is manifestly irrational; yet it occurs in many alphabetic systems, and more especially in our own, as will be seen by the following table con- taining, first, the combined vowels as usually written; secondly, the sound produced by them, which I must unavoidably explain by refer- ence to the arrangement of vowel sounds above proposed, with the numerals attached to them respectively, and the marks " long, and " short. ae ai ai au au ea ee ei eo eu eu oe e, 4. e, 4. e, 4. 5, G. 0, •;. 1, 5. i, 5. yi, 1, 5. I, .">. 7.1. ai, 2, 5. w, 7. Aebte (Germ.) plaire (Fr.) air (Engl.) autre (Fr.) hautboy (Engl.) appear (Engl.) eel (Engl.) stein (Germ.) people (Engl.) jeuite (Fr.) freund (< rerm.) oe'ster (Dutch) oe w, 7. shoe (Engl.) oe y, 1. ohr (Germ.) oo w, 7. cool (Engl.) oo w, 7. good (Engl.) on w, 7. nous (Fr.) ou y, 1. rough (Engl ) on a, 2. cough (Engl.) ou o, (5. though (Engl.) ou y\v, 1, 7. plough (Engl.) ua we, 7, 4. assuage (Engl.) ue Iw, 5, 7. hue (Engl.) 159. When two succeeding vowels are pronounced separately, they, of course, cannot form a true diphthong ; but as this circum- is not always apparent on the face of the letters, it becomes jary, especially for the student of a foreign language, to ascertain the proper pronunciation : as ai, in paiz (Portuguese |; raiz (Spanish); ea, lamprea (Portug.); ee, reenter (Engl.); ia, dementia (Portug.); ie, rien (French); fiery (Engl.); io, brio (Span.); prior (Engl.); iu, viuva (Portug.); oa, Lisboa (Portug.); coalesce (Engl.); oe, coemp- tion (Engl.); moelle (French); oi, coincide (Engl.); roim (Portug.); oo, cooperate (Engl.); cooptcr (French); ua,efectua (Span.); ue, cruel ( Engl.); wi, rui a < Portug.); ruin (Engl.). &c. 1 Gloss. Keron. Goldast. vol. ii. 04, 92. CHAP. VI.J OF VOWEL S0UNES. 121 160. Having thus disposed of the false diphthongs, we come to the |™ e true diphthongal sounds. And here again it will be necessary to refer ' p to the above proposed arrangement of vowel sounds. These being eio-ht in number would, of course, give sixty-four diphthongal articula- tions, if all possible combinations of them were to be taken into the account ; but some of them must be excluded as mere duplications : and, in regard to others, the usage of different nations, in adopting or rejecting them, are widely different. I will consider eacn vowel, in order, as a prepositive, beginning with the gutturals. 161. We have in English three diphthongal sounds, with guttural Guttural • ,- ,- ° x, r,x i • m *\ prepositives prepositives, yi (1, 5;, yw (1, 7), and m (2, 5). 17 (1, 5) is our i in mine, as properly pronounced; but in the north of England it is often pronounced ai (2, 5), like boy, and in some parts of the West it is softened to ei (4, 5). It is heard in the French oeil, the Danish ej, in the German stein, and (as it seems) in the first syllable of the Sanskrit vaidya. 1 The missionaries in Africa find it in several of the languages there spoken ; 2 it seems to have formed the third syllable in Otaheite (as first named by Captain Cook) ; and it appears in the recent Eskimaux vocabulary, and in many other vocabularies of unwritten tongues. Yw (1, 7), the second of these diphthongal sounds, is heard in the English pound. Both this diphthong and the former are generally mispronounced by foreigners; for as the elementary sound y (1) has no proper letter in our alphabet, most writers who attempt to explain the combined sounds yi and yw employ the letters ai and an, by which the unfortunate foreigners are of course misled : and hence a foreign accent is easily detected in the sound of these diphthongs ; a Frenchman, for instance, who trusts to his grammar, pronounces the English word bile, as he would the French bail, and a German pro- nounces now as he would genau. Our third diphthong, ai (2, 5) as in boy, is also apt to be mis- taken by foreigners for ai, (3, 5) ; and this too is, in a great measure, owing to the defect of our alphabetic system in employing the same character a for vowel sounds so different as those in hall and hat. Besides these three diphthongs known to the English language with guttural prepositives, there is a fourth not practised in England, but used in many foreign tongues, aw (2, 7), as in the German blau, the Italian Aurora, the Persian Firdausi, and (as it seems) the 14th character in the Sanscrit vowel series, which Sir W. Jones says is " a proper diphthong compounded of our first and fifth vowels." 3 This is the sound, which, as I before observed, foreigners commonly pronounce for our ou in pound, or oio in owl. 162. The palatine vowels a, e, i (2, 4, 5) are more frequently Palatine employed as prepositives in the generality of languages. propose \ 1 Asiat. Res. i. p. 18. 2 Archbellj p. 4 ; Proe. Ch. Miss. Society. 1848-0, p. cxcviii. 3 Asint Res. vol. i. p. 19. 122 OF TOWEL BOUNDS. B \l'. VI. ai (3, o) is not much used in English. It is, however (or at least was, when I loi beard a Parliamentary debate), pro- nounced by rlic Speaker, as the legislative affirmance of a propo- sition; and it is common in the Wiltshire dialect, as spoken by the labouring classes, who pronounce pail like pail. It was probably used by the Greek as in uura, and by the Latins as in Maia; and it is beard in the French payen, the Portuguese pay, the Spanish dabais, the Russian tchanaik, &c. The diphthongal sound ao (•'!, G) is found in the Chinese few. 1 The diphthongal sound aw (3, 7) is unknown in correct English; but is common in some other languages; as in the low French saoul? and in the dialect of Verdun maou. 3 The diphthongal sound ea (4, 3) was perhaps heard in the Angle* Saxon earm; for the ana is still so called in the West of England, It is found in the Italian and Spanish lima. The diphthongal sound ei (4, 5) is common to many languages, but has subsided to modern English pronunciation into the simple vowel sound e (4). Hence our poel • commonly make pail rhyme to pale, &c; but anciently uo doubt the diphthong differed from the simple vowel as it still does to Wiltshire, where the labouring classes, as I have said, pronounce that word pail, (with ai, 3, 5); but the middle ranks pronounce it peil, (withe?, 4, 5). And cer- tainly it would be desirable to make a distinction in pronunciation between the numerous words so differently written, and differing so much in signification, as ale and ail, bale and bail, hale and hail, male and mail, sale and sail, tale and tail, vale and veil; or as cane and Cain, Dane and deign, fane and fain, mane and main, pane and pain, vane and vain, wane and wain ; or as fare and fair, hare and hair, pare and pair, &c. This dipthongal sound ei (4, 5) is found in the Russian kaznatchei, in the Polish Idey, in the Spanish^, in the Por- tuguese amei, &c, &c. The diphthongal sound eo (4, G) is not used in correct English, for in deodand the two first vowels form two syllables, and in pigeon the e is dropt. It may, however, probably have been employed in the Anglo-Saxon beon, to be; for a Wiltshire peasant still says "I beont" for "I be not." This sound seems to terminate the I loin -ric IL/Aj/Vucew, and the Latin vin/ineo ; and it occurs in the Portuguese ceo, in the Galic seal, &c. The diphthongal sound ew (4, 7) is not used by us; but it occurs in the Spanish deuda: the French eu, as has been seen, is altogether a different sound. Probably the tv to 'A)(iA/\£iic rather gave the sound of eu (4, 8), and the same may be said of the Greek tZye and Latin euge. Of all the prepositives i (5) is the most prolific of diphthongs. The first combination iy (/•>) occurs in our words young, precious, &c. ; and in the French yeux, cieux, &c. 1 Marshman, p. 103. * Leronx, vol. ii. p. 454. 3 Beauze'e, vol. i. p. 41. CHAI\ VI. J OF VOWEL SOUNDS. 123 The next combination ia (5, 2) is found long in our yawn, yacht, yawl, and short in yon, yonder: it occurs in the French viande. We have ia (5, 3) in yard and valiant; the Germans in jagel, the French in fiacre, the Italians in piano, the Welsh in iard ; in the Gallic dia is but one syllable; in Spanish the termination ia is a diphthong, as in gracia; so in Polish, as Psiarnia. ie (5, 4) is heard in the English yea and yet : it is in the French del, and the Italian and Spanish cielo ; in the German jager ; in the Polish panie, &c. ii (5, 5) is heard in the English ye and yield. It appears in the German jischen, which, according to Adelung, is used in ordinary life for gdschen, to froth up. 1 io (5, 6) is heard in the English yoke, the German joch, the Italian sciocco, the French aimions, the Spanish precio, and the Portu- guese vio. In Chinese kyoh is the 12 th close secondary final sound. 2 ho (5, 7) is heard in the English yew, you, curious, mule, duty ; in the German Jude and Jugend ; in the French chiourme ; in the Italian pm ; in the Spanish ciudad, and in the Chinese kyooon. 3 iu (5, 8). 163. We do not possess oe (6, 4) in English as a diphthong; Labial but it occurs in the Spanish heroe, and in the French moelle. prepositive* Neither have we the diphthongal sound oi (6, 5), for our oi in hoil, point, &c, is meant to express the sound ai (2, 5). But it seems to have been used in Greek, as in olog, oTrog, &c. So in Latin Troia ; in French loyal; in Spanish sois, in Portuguese boy. The sound ow (6, 7) must, from the position of the organs, nearly resemble the sound yw (1, 7) above described. It is, however, considered as a proper diphthong in the Portuguese dou : and was probably such in the Greek, ovpov, ov\opevr)v, &c. The vowel sound w (7) is a prepositive in many diphthongal sounds. wy (7, 1) is found in our work, wonder, &c. In the Wiltshire dialect it is substituted for the long o, as in oats, coat, (pronounced wuts, kwut). In Chinese, the ninth close primary vowel sound is written by Marshman kuwn. 1 wa (7, 2) is found in our wall, water, &c. ; in the Italian guasto ; in the French moi, besoin, in the Spanish fragua, &c. wa (7, 3) is found in our wag, wax, &c, and in some provincial pronunciations of water. It is heard in the last syllable of the French bahouin . we (7, 4) is long in our wake, and short in wet. It is sounded in the French ecuelle, in the Italian questo ; in the Spanish dueno, and in the Portuguese azues. 1 Adelung, Worterb. vol. ii. p. 1435 and 425. Hence probably come our words yeast and r/esty. * Marshman, Chin. Gram. p. 107. 3 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 124 OF VOWEL SOUNDS. [CHAP. VI. wi (7, 5) is long in our we, and sho:1 Id wit. It is heard in the French out, bruit, and in the Spanish cv/o and ruido. wo (7, Alfab. Europ. p. 55. 4 Alberta, Diet. pref. hinatiuus. ( 125 ) CHAPTER VII. OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 166. In comparing the production of articulate sounds, by the vocal How to ba organs, to the passage of air through a vaulted edifice, I said that ,reat, which were supposed (but, as I shall hereafter show, erroneously) to be rough or thick utterances of the smooth consonants k, t, and ~. This notion, however, has led some critics to suppose that the so- called rough or aspirated consonants expressed combined sounds ; that ■% expressed the sounds of k and h, d of t and h, and (p of p and h; and that they were, therefore,properly written in Latin, ch, th, and ph, re- spectively. But it is more probable that they expressed the single con- sonantal sounds of the German guttural ch, the Anglo-Saxon £ or \ , and the Latin/: and if so, there is no ground for calling them, as a class, aspirate's, though the term aspiration may still be employed to indicate the stronger or weaker force with which certain guttural con- sonantal sounds may be uttered, as will presently be seen in detail. 170. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus, and most subsequent Triads Grammarians, there were between the above-mentioned rough and smooth consonants three intermediate, viz. : y, £, and /3 ; so that this part of the graphic system formed three Triads, thus : — Smooth - - - v. r, -. Intermediate - y, c, $. Rough - - - ^, 6, (/). But if consonantal articulations are to be arranged, as well as vowel articulations, with reference to the organs producing them, this arrange- ment by triads will become impracticable; for not only the nine articu- lations above mentioned, but all the oral consonantal sounds, except I and r, are produced in pairs, each pair having the same position of the organs, but with a certain difference of effect ; which some gram- marians indicate by the terms mute and sonorous, and others by surd and sonant. Those of the first class are commonly represented in our pronouncing dictionaries by ch, h, t, th, s, sh, p, and /; those of the latter by gh, g, d, dh, z, zh, b, and v. The difference of effect in each pair is produced in the same manner throughout the whole, but the explanation of it given by different glossologists is very different. Some attribute it to the material, viz. : the air, distinguised by them into breath and voice, whilst others ascribe it to the mode of action in the organs employed. However this may be, it is obvious that to form triads out of these pairs of articulations, it would be necessary to take either three sounds formed by three different positions of the organs, or two formed by one position, and one by another. The triad system which has been applied to the Sanskrit, the Greek, and the German, is in this view fundamentally erroneous. As to the difference of effect in each pair, I cannot admit that this is produced by a difference between a breath sound and a voice sound; for that would be to transfer the articulating function (so far as concerns ail 123 OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. [CHAP. Vll. these pairs of sound) to the glottis, the functions of which are alto- gether different. I am inclined to think that M. Volney's statement is cornet (at least so far as regards the articulations in question), that " each contact (or near approximation) of two organs Conns two con- sonants, which differ only by the degree of intensity of that contact, and which, tinder the name; of strong and weak (or the like), are ab- solutely of the same family." 1 I would add that the intensity (to use Volney's term) may imply, on the one hand, a quicker impulse, and on the other hand, a larger spa.ee of the organs covered, as will be more particularly explained in the respective cases. 171. I proceed to examine the consonants called gutturals; and I begin with the sound generally expressed in modern Europe by h. According to Haller, this articulation " is formed by a gentle pres- sure of tlie breath against the glottis." Mulleu describes it as a con- tinuous oral sound, with the whole oral canal open." Neither of these explanations is sufficiently full. I think that a pressure of the glottis cannot produce this sound, for two reasons; the constriction of the glottis in different degrees produces the different notes of the musical scale; but the sound h may accompany any note indifferently. Again, by exerting the muscles of the glottis in a greater or less degree, more or less loudness is produced, and if the muscles are relaxed, nothing can ensue but a whisper. Hence it is maintained by some that the sound of h is always a whispered sound; a doctrine to which I can by no means accede, when I find that in our translation of the Bible, this very articulation is employed in the interjection Ho ! evidently meant to be uttered as loud as possible, in order to command attention, — " Ho ! every one that thirsteth, come to the waters."* So much for Haller's description. With respect to Midler's, it is to be remembered that if the whole oral canal (strictly speaking) be open, and no other operation of the organs take place, there will only ensue an unmodified vowel articulation ; but that this is not the case when h is inteqiosed, has been shown by comparing the French words la halle and la balle. In each of these, the second a is modified by the preceding letter ; and consequently the oral canal has not remained, in either articulation, wholly open. The sound immediately after issuing from the glottis is in this case affected by the operation of some other vocal organ, chiefly, perhaps, by the fibres. But in the utterance of this articula- tion different degrees offeree are perceived in different languages and dialects. Dr. Lee gives to the Hebrew alif the con sonantal power of our unaspirated h, as in humble, hour, &c. ; and to he, that of our aspirated h, as in hard. 3 In the Arabic alphabet the stronger aspira- tion is marked by the 6th letter, hha, and the weaker by the 26th, he* In German, Adelung distinguishes a strong aspiration (hauch) at the beginning of a word, as in habe, have ; and a weaker in the 1 Alfab. Fairop. p. 71. 2 rsaiah, 55, t. 3 Hebr. Gram. p. 3. " Alfab. Europ. pp. 170, 181. CHAP. VII.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS, 129 middle of a word, as in gehen, to go. 1 In Volney's table of the con- sonants used in Europe, h forms the 14th class, and is distinguished by him (as by Adelung) into the strong and the weak aspiration ; the former being used in the Tuscan dialect, as liasa (strongly aspirated) for casa, a house, and the latter alone being used in the French or English language. 2 More minute observation might probably detect several nicer shades of distinction in the pronunciation of different countries ; but in the present state of science it may suffice to adopt the division made by Adelung and Volney, of " strong " and " weak." And even this will show that in treating of the letter h, as it occurs in diilerent languages, ancient and modern, something more is necessary than to call it merely a " breathing." In regard to this, as well as other gutturals, the practice of nations varies in the course of time. The Alemannic and some other old dialects gave, in many instances, an aspiration to h in the middle or end of words, nearly equal to the more modern ch, as floch for floh, a flea. 3 So, we have altogether dropt the guttural gh which our ancestors, no doubt, pronounced in night, light, &c. In France, Volney says, that within his own experi- ence, the use even of the lightly-aspirated h had sensibly decreased ; so that vou might hear persons speaking of fromage cf Ollanch (Dutch cheese) instead of fromage de Hollande. "Doubtless," (he adds) " men, softened by civilization, deem those efforts of the lungs painful and useless, which the vehement passions and strong desires of the savage or rustic demand." 4 This principle, however, will scarcely account for the very unequal powers which we give to h in our own language, where it is sometimes wholly unnoticed, as in honest, shep- herd ; sometimes slightly aspirated, as in behold, and sometimes so strongly articulated as to cause a delay of the voice equal to any con- sonant, as in hand, home. Hence we say a hand, but we cannot say a honest man : we say an Jionest man, but we cannot say an hand, though the cause of these differences it may now be difficult to trace. 172. From the stronger aspiration of h to the pair of articulations x. generally expressed in modern Europe by ch and gh, the transition is easv, in languages which possess the two latter. In English we have neither distinctive letters for those sounds, nor the sounds themselves. I have therefore adopted as marks of them the ^ (chi) and the Arabic I (ghain). One or both of these articulations are expressed in diilerent shades of utterance by the Hebrew kheth and caph; by the Arabic cha and ghain ; by the Greek ^, as in ^ri^a, a chasm ; by the Spanish jota, as in joven, young ; by the Russian x, as in xitrost cunning ; by the Germane/*, as in hoch, high, &c. They are unknown as sounds, not only to the English but to the French and pure Italian tongues, though common both to the Highland and Lowland Scotch, the Welsh, the Semitic in general, &c. Wilkins describes the common formation of this pair of articulations as owing to " a vibration of the, 1 Worterb. vol. i. p. 1319. 2 Alfab. Enrop. p. 104. :i Worterb. vol. ii. p. 805. 4 Ali'ab. Europ. p. 105. [G.] 130 OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. [CHAr. VII. root or middle of the tongue against the palate." 1 Mullee says of ch, " the tongue is applied to the palate and the air is pressed through the narrow space left between them." 8 Taking those two explanations together, a tolerably accurate notion may be formed of this pair of articulations in their general character, but they are evidently suscep- tible of modification by slight differences in the position or action of the organs. In Hebrew, Dr. Lee compares kheth (the eighth letter), to the German ch in nichtf but he adds that it probably had two sounds originally, the one more, the other less aspirated. 4 In German Adelung distinguishes the articulation ch into two degrees, a stronger and a weaker ; 5 and Midler reckons three modifications of the same, which he thus explains: — 1. " In the first modification the fore-part of the tongue is applied to the fore-part of the palate, as in pronouncing the Ger- man words, lieblich, selig, &c. 2. " In the second, the dorsum of the tongue is approximated to the middle of the palate, as in the German word tag, suchen, &c. 3. " The third is uttered by the Swiss, Tyrolese, and Dutch : in producing it the dorsum of the tongue approaches the back part of the palate.' 16 Volney distinguishes the strong and the weak articulation as consti- tuting his thirteenth class, the former hard, as in the German buch, the latter soft, as in Metternich, Jarnovich. This latter sound he says is often given in Romaic Greek to the letter yj! It should be observed, however, that between this class and his eleventh, com- prehending ga and ha, he places a twelfth, distinguished by the French term grasseyement (thickening of utterance), which has also a strong and a weak pronunciation. The former he compares to the 19th Arabic letter ghain, and says it is common among the Parisians and Provencals, and predominates among the Berbers. 8 It is formed (he says), by a near but not quite close contact of the soft palate with the dorsum of the tongue in which these organs are placed, as if preparatory to the act of gargling; and so that, if the contact were complete, it would produce the sound of ga. In the weak grasseyement, the tongue is drawn a little backward, and forms only a partial contact of the middle of the dorsum, with the palate near the uvula ; and, as this position of the organs is very similar to that which produces the vowel i, a transition often takes place from the one to the other of these articulations ; in like manner as we find the Hellenic ye\aj>, in Hesvchius, lumen solis, become in Romaic yelan, splendour. These grasseyemens are justly regarded in France as vices of pronunciation, but among the Arabs and Berbers they are legitimate and distinct articula- 1 Real Character, p 3, c. 12. 2 Elem. Phys. vol. i. p. 1048. 3 Hebr. Oram. p. 3. 4 Ibid. p. 7'. s Worterb. vol. i. p. 1319. 6 Elem. Phys. vol. i. p. 1048. ' Alfab. Eui op. p. 104. 8 Ibid. p. 100. CHAP. VII.] OF COXSOXAXTAL SOUNDS. 131 tions : a due observation of which is necessary for accuracv in the signi- fication of the words to which they respectively belong. 1 Manv other modifications of similar articulation, might, no doubt, be discovered in the practice of different tribes or nations ; for instance in the Maya, or Yucatan tongue, which Adelung describes as extremely guttural. 2 But they would probably be found to approximate in sound either to the Greek ^, or to the Arabic £, which to mere English ears sound respectively like a strongly-aspirated kh or gh, though it must be re- membered that these double letters are but imperfect attempts to express sounds, which have, in our graphic system, no proper exponents. 1 73. Proceeding from the interior part of the oral canal toward the K, g. exterior, the first pair of consonantal articulations for which we have in the English alphabet distinct signs, is that which I have marked with k and g, pronounced as in our ha and ga. These are placed by Wallis in the class of gutturals? and they are so designated in the Sanskrit system. In the Hebrew grammars they are called palatals* and also by Adeluxg. 5 By Mr. Bishop they are stvled pharyngeals, , 6 It is universally allowed, that the position of r the organs is the same in the articulation k as in the articulation g ; and that, in both, the contact of the organs is such as to form a complete obstruction to the issue of the vocalised breath. The contact is between the tongue and the palate; but the exact point of junction in this, as in the preceding pair of articulations, is differently stated by different glossologists, and does, in fact, vary according to circum- stances. By Wilkixs it is loosely described as " an interception of the breath inwardly toward the throat, by the middle or root of the tongue." 7 Adeluxg says of h, " the sound is a palatal one, produced when the back part of the tongue is pressed firmly against the palate." 8 Of g, he only says, it is uttered " from the palate, and sounds harder than j (our y,) and softer than ch or k." Mr. Bell says of k, " this articulation is formed by the silent contact and audible separation of the back of the tongue and the posterior part of the palate ; the precise points of contact vary before the different vowels ;" 9 and of g, that " the formation of this element is precisely the same as that of the preceding, but with the addition of an effort of voice during the contact of the articulating organs/" Perhaps, on com- paring these and other authorities with personal observation, we shall not greatly err if we describe the common position of the organs in this pair of articulations thus : the tongue is rendered convex and nar- row, and the middle or back part of the convex surface is placed in close contact icith the palate, so as completely to interrupt the passage of the 1 Alfab. Europ. p. 101. 2 Mithridat. vol. iv. p. 16. 3 Gram. Ling. Angl. pp. 13, 15, 16. 4 Lee. Hebr. Gram. p. 10. 5 Worterb. vol. ii. p. 1457. " Articul. Sounds, p. 39. 7 Real Character, p. 3, c. 12. 8 Worterb. vol. ii. p. 1457. 9 Principles of Speech, p. 188. lu Ibid. p. 192. k2 132 OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. [OHAP. VH. air: and the marked distinction of sound between the two articu- 1 ons I apprehend may be sufficiently accounted for, it' we say that the muscles of the tongue, aided perhaps, by the co-operating action of those of the pharynx, .strike the palate more quickly and on a narrower point, in producing the articulation k ; but more slowly, and over a larg r space, in producing ^. It is obvious, that as all the diversities of action m the vocal organs are the result of imitation, experiment, and habit, not only individuals or families, but whole tribes and nations may acquire one of these articulations and not the other, or may be destitute of both, as will be hereafter shown in a variety of in- stances. It is also obvious, that if k and g totally intercept the breath, whilst x an d l admit, it to pass between a narrow space, ^ is not merely a rough pronunciation of k, but a distinct articulation. Though I have spoken of the articulations k and g, and also of x an( ^ £> a - s pairs of articulations, it is not to be understood that either the one or the other articulation in each pair does not admit of nice shades and discriminatory touches as it were, perceptible to some ears and not to others. How far the caph and coph (the 11th and 19th letters) of the Hebrew alphabet may have originally differed, I pretend not to say. Adelung declares fchat the German /.• has a double sound ; that it retains a hard sound at the beginning of a word before a vowel, as in kaum, scarcely, and in the middle or at the end of a word altera short syllable, as in sack (a bag) ; but that it sounds somewhat softer before a liquid consonant, as in M&in (little), and after a long vowel, as in haken (a hook). 1 And on the letter g he makes somewhat similar observations. 2 So, in the French language, Volxey reckons two classes of consonants, his tenth, expressed by que and hue, and his eleventh by ga and ka. In the tenth, he says, the tongue forms its contact with the anterior and middle part of the palate ; in the eleventh with that part of the soft palate which is near its root. 3 I do not pre- tend to dispute the accuracy of these nice distinctions ; though I con- fess they are not quite clear to my perceptions; and the same I may say of Mr. Bell's observations, that in k before the close lingual vowel ee, the tongue strikes the palate much further forward than before ah or aw, and that the same will apply to g* As to ayin (the sixteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet), " the true sound being unknown, it is usually passed over in silence." I shall only observe, under the high authority of Dr. Lee, "that it probably had two sounds originally, one approaching to that of g mixed with h or r ; another to that of 'alef, just as is the case with the Arabs, who have both ghain and ain." 6 t, d. 174-. Having thus considered the consonantal articulations, loosely termed guttural, and including those called by some writers palatal, or pharyngeal, I turn to a class which may not improperly be called dental ; inasmuch as the tongue, in producing th< se sounds, approaches more or less towards the teeth. In this class I include the articula- 1 Worterb. vol. ii. p. 1457. - Ibid. p. 383. a Alfab. Europ. p. 91. 4 Piinciples of Speech, pp. 188, 192. 5 Hebr. Gram. p. 8. CHAP. VII. j OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 133 tions marked by me, t, d, 0, c$, s, z. c, and j (vulgo, t, d, th, dh, s, z, sh, and zh). For distinction's sake, the two first may be called pure dentals, the two next, lisping dentals,' and the four following, sibilant dentals. It is customary, indeed, with many grammarians to make the sibilants a distinct class from the dentals ; but as the generic terms guttural, palatal, dental, and labial are employed with re- ference to an anatomical classification, it seems contrary to sound principles of nomenclature, that any other class should be generically distinguished with reference not to the organ producing them, but to the sound produced. At the same time there can be no objection to name the subdivision of a class from the latter circumstance. In sub- dividing the class of dentals, as above, I begin with the pure dentals, t and d, which are alike produced by an appulse of the margin of the forepart of the tongue against the inside of the teeth of the upper jaw, at their juncture with the bony palate, the teeth and lips being slightly separated. The articulation t, however, differs from the articulation d, just as k does from g; that is (according to Volney) by a stronger pressure of the tongue in t than in d against the organ to which it is applied; whence (as Adelung thinks) there results a quicker and stronger expulsion of the breath in t than in d. 2 But, however this may be, the sound expressed by t throughout Europe is unvaried, and the same may be said of the sound expressed by d. The case is different in the Sanskrit consonantal system ; for in that there is a series called cerebral, containing a t and a d, and another series called dental, containing also a t and a d. The reason of applying the term cerebral to any of these letters I never could discover; nor does Dr. Lee's remark render it to me more intelligible. He says, of the Hebrew teth, " it should be pronounced with the tip of the ton one against the roof of the mouth, just as our own t is, and hence it may be termed cerebral^ 3 To the English ear the sounds expressed by the two Sanskrit series appear scarcely, if at all, distinguishable ; but to the native ear they are perceptibly different. According to some persons, this arises from a slight lingual vibration in the (so called) cerebral series, somewhat approaching to the Mexican tl. It is said, however, that the native writers employ the characters of this, but not of the other series, to express the t or d in English proper names. 175. The next pair of consonantal articulations is that which I have called lisping dentals, viz. our th in thing and youth, and th in 0, ! S. this or smooth, distinguished by some of our lexicographers as th in the former articulation, and dh in the latter. To any correct Pmglish ear the difference of these two sounds is very perceptible ; yet some poets of no small repute confound them in their rhymes ; ex. gr. : It is a sight, the careful brow might smooth, And make age smile, and dream itself to youth.* 1 So called by Walker, Pron. Diet. p. 63. 2 Worterb. vol. iv. p. 511. 3 Hebr. Gram. pp. 7, 8. 4 Byron. 134 OP CONSONANTAL 801 f. IIAI'. VII. The incorrectness of such rhymes would be at once perceived, it the final consonants were pronounced with the opposite articulations; that is, if smooth were pronounced as youth, and youth as smooth. For the articulation th in thing, 1 adopt, as a mark, the Greek ; tor the other, the Anglo-Saxon S. The position and action of the organs, common to both, consist in applying the tip of the tongue, either at once to the upper and lower incisor teeth, or at least to the upper, leaving an aperture on both sides, and thence expelling the air. Here it will lie observed, that the impediment to the escape of the breath is not so complete as in the two last-mentioned pairs of arti- culations ; and consequently both 6 and 3 are reckoned among semi- vowels. The organic process just described was known to the Anglo-Saxon and Islandic, as well as to the Semitic, and some other Oriental tongues : and though little used by the Teutonic branch of the Germans, and not at all by the Romans or many of their descend- ants, vet we find it strongly pronounced by distant tribes of the New World, "by the Cree of the Forest on the coast of the Atlantic, by the Huron of the great Lakes, by the Rapid hwlians of the great Western Plains, and by the Flat-heads of the rocky mountains bor- dering on the Pacific Ocean." 1 Some people knew only one of its sounds; the ancient Greeks, for instance, seem to have had only the 6, and the modern Spaniards only the 3. The dillerence of sound between these two articulations is manifestly the same as between k and g, or t and d: it is variously characterised by different authors. MARSDEN calls the former "hard;" 2 VOLNEY calls it "firm and dry;" a and both call the latter "soft:" but the proper organic distinction seems to be that is produced by a stronger but narrower pressure of the tongue against the teeth, S by a weaker and broader. It is a common notion, that these articulations are merely aspirates <>t t and d: and this error has perhaps been encouraged by the circum- stance that t is employed in the English written expression of them. Not only is the position, however, of the organs different, but the sounds approximate less nearly to t and d than to s and z ; whence Volnev not improperly calls them demi-sijjlantes.* And we may observe, that by those who lisp, th is substituted for s, as mith for miss, thpell for spell, and the like : but math is not pronounced for mat, nor thongs for tongs. 5./.. 176. The first pair of articulations which I have called silnlant dentals, and for which I have adopted as marks our letters S and z, are deemed, like the preceding, semivowels. It might be inferred from Volney's account of their formation that there was a close contact between the articulating organs; 5 but this is not the fact. The sound is produced by an appulse of the tongue toward the upper teeth or minis: the tongue, however, is not in entire contact with those organs; but the breath is forced through a small channel, as it 1 Howse, Cree Gram. p. 318. 2 Convent. Alphab. p. 20. 8 Allah. Europ. p. S4. 4 Ibid. p. 83. 6 Ibid. CHAP. VII.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 135 were, of the upper surface of the tongue to an aperture in front. This occasions a sort of tremulous reverberation against the palate, and produces a hissing sound, whence these letters are commonly termed sibilants. Mr. Bishop, however, makes a distinction, calling 8 the hissing, and z the buzzed sound. 1 That there is a distinction is evident ; but the latter term seems neither elegant nor appropriate. The cause of the difference of sound is, I doubt not, to be found in the difference of the tongue's action, by which the breath seems to strike rather more forward and upward in s than in z. Be this as it may, the existence of the two cognate sounds is recognised in most alphabetic systems, by different characters, as the Hebrew samech and zain, the Arabic sin and ze, the Armenian sa and za, the Greek sigma and zeta, the Coptic sima and zida, the Russian semla and zui, &c. ; though in many instances the characters are misapplied, as we write our plural termination es but pronounce it ez, write rose but pronounce it roze, write houses but pronounce it houzez. So in German, Ade- lung distinguishes three sounds of s, describing one as very soft (like our z), as in rose (a rose); one harder (like our s), as in haus (a house) ; and one still more hard, as ross (a horse). 2 177. The remaining pair of sibilant dental articulations is nearly c, J. related, in sound and organic production, to the preceding. We have both sounds in our language, as the ti in nation, and the si in vision ; but we have no proper letter for either ; our lexicographers, however, express the former generally by sh, and the latter sometimes by zh. To avoid the use of double letters for single articulations, I employ c for sh, it being so used in precious, and j for zh, such being the pronunciation of j, in the French Jean, jeune, &c. It is probable that the Greeks and Romans wanted these articulations, at least they had no letter for either. The Hebrew shin (the 21st letter) answers to our sh in shine, though by a difference in the pointing it is some- times made to stand for s in son. 3 A corresponding letter is found in the Syriac, the Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Amharic, and Arme- nian systems, which last has also a character (she) answering to the French j. The Sanskrit consonantal system, too, has in its 7th series (according to Ballhorn) both a sha and a zha* Bishop Wilkins, speaking of the sound common to these two articulations, says, "it is produced by a percolation of the breath betwixt the tongue rendered concave, and the teeth both upper and lower." 5 It must be added that the surface of the tongue is raised so as to approximate nearly to the bony palate, leaving, however, an aperture for the passage of the air, which vibrates, in the same tremulous manner, as in s and z ; whence this pair of articulations also are commonly termed sibilant, Mr. Bell observes that in sh " the point of the tongue being drawn inwards (from its forward position at s), slightly enlarges the aperture through which the breath hisses :" and that in zh " the formation is 1 Articul. Sounds, p. 39. 2 Worterb. vol. iii. p. 1228. 3 See Hebr. Gram. p. 3. * Alphab. Oriental, p. 16. 5 Real Character. 136 OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. [CHAP. VH. ely the same as the preceding.'"' He ascribes, indeed, the difference between the two articulations to an addition oi' glottal sound to the latter; but, as in the preceding cases, I incline to think thai it is owing to a different action of tiie tongue. In both articu- lations, however, the tremulous vibration of the air produces a hissing sound, and as the passage of the air is but partially impeded, the letters, where they exist, are deemed semivowels. 178. The consonantal sounds called labial form two pairs, which I express by the usual English letters p and b, f and v. I begin, as before, with the pair which present a complete impediment to the passage of the vocalized breath, viz., those marked by the letters p and //, as in pall and ball. The common position and action of the organs in these two articulations consist in an interception of the breath by the complete closure of the lips, and a subsequent expulsion of it by their aperture. So long as the closure lasts, if the consonant be an initial, no sound whatever can be heard, and if it be preceded by a vowel, the consonantal sound cannot be heard till the lips have been closed and reopened. On these points glossologists are in general agreed, but in respect to the causes of diilerence between p and b, their opinions vary. Mr. BELL having given a clear descrip- tion of the mode in which the sound ;) is produced, >ays of b : " This articulation differs from the preceding in no degree, extent, or continu- ance of labial pressure. 8 Volney's account is different ; according to him the contact of the lips is more firm in p than in i. a So MABSDEN says: "In the mode of its articulation, the letter p differs from b in little else than the harder compression of the lips and resistance to the passage of the breath." 4 And with the opinions of these able glossolo- gists I am disposed to agree. As to the sounds produced, they are variously characterised. Adelung calls p hard and b weak ; 5 Rush, p, atonic, and b, sulfonic ; Bishop, p, mute, and b, semimute ; Latham, p, sharp and b, flat; the Greek writers/), smooth, and b, intermediate; the Sanskrit grammarians p, surd, and b, sonant, &c. Some of these terms, however, are inapplicable to articulation, and none of them throw much light on the organic cause of distinction to which I have already adverted. We are apt from habit to consider the labial consonants the easiest to be formed; yet of some of them whole nations are destitute, or possess only one of a pair, whilst others observe nice shades of discrimination which we can hardly distinguish. "The Armenian alphabet has two letters to which we refer our;;; but one of them, called piur, is harsher, the other, called pieu, is softer.'"' The characters also differ greatly in form, and are used very differently as to the signification of the words into which they enter. The Mohawk and Huron languages have neither p, b, f, nor v. 7 The 1 Principles of Speech, pp. 183, 186. * Ibid. p. 136. 3 Alia!.. Europ. pp 7."., 7-!-. 4 Convent. Alphab. p. 18. 5 Addling, Worterb. vol i. p. 077. fi Volney, Alfeb. Europ. p. 74. 7 Howse, Cree Gram. p. 317. CHAP. Vll.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 137 Mixteca has neither p, b, nor f; 1 the Totonaca neither b, f nor v ; 2 the Chinese, Tibetan, and Mexican neither b nor f? And as articu- lations agreeing, or nearly agreeing together, easily pass into each other, we frequently meet with such transitions of the labials, not only in derivative languages from a common source, or dialects of a common standard tongue, but even in the grammatical changes of words in the same language. Thus in our own language f passes into v as wife, icives, and in the Wiltshire dialect vine for fine. The Greek -k passed into the Latin b, as nvEov, buxum. 4 The Hellenic beta became the Romaic veta. The Greek

S. ,'. VII. palate, Dear the teeth, and the soft palate bt ing removed from the nasal apertures, the greater pari of the breath passes through the nose; a small portion, however, commonly escapes through the mouth. The position of the tongue being similar to that employed in d, shows a certain affinity between these articulations, and justifies us in consider- ing n as a dental-nasal. In the Sanskrit system it is ranked with the t and d of the dental series, and is said to be a surd ; by Dr. RUSH it is called a subtonic, by Mr. Bishop a lingva-pdlato nasal, and by Adelung a semivowel. In Hebrew, Greek, &c., it is (as I think, im- properly) reckoned among the liquids. Adelung observes, that the impulse of the breath through the nose is given more strongly in some languages and dialects than in others; and even in German more strongly before some consonants than others. 1 Other circumsi concur to vary this articulation in German. Before g and k, in the same radical syllable, it has in that language somewhat of the nasal articulation, which I shall have next to mention, markedly, as in langeh pronounced Ian g-en, and not lan-gen), because lang is the root. But it is pronounced simply as our n, where those letters do not belong to the radical syllable, as in an-genehm. % The English letter n, too, is used in the expression of two articulations, that of n», to which I shall pre- sently advert again, and that which I consider as the dental-nasal, or proper n. In the latter, indeed, Professor Hay.max WlLSON makes three distinctions (besides the other which he calls guttural), viz., a palatal in singe, a cerebral in none, and a dental in content ; a but, not- withstanding the very high estimation in which I hold that learned gentleman's great and uncommon talents, I must own that I see no ground for those distinctions in the proper pronunciation of the Eng- lish language. Like many other articulations, n is unknown to several languages, as the Mexican,* the Tarahumacan? and the Huron. 6 In many it is omitted, where in other cognate tongues or dialects it is inserted, as in our mouth for the German mund, and in the German luchs for the Greek and Latin lynx, &c. So in the old Latin, frago and tago became in a subsequent age frango and tango ; and it is clear that the n was a late introduction, because the radicals frag and tag not onlv answer to the Teutonic brechen, and the Italian toccare, but are retained in the past tenses fregi and tefigi. 7 184. The last nasal articulation is that which I have marked n^>, as our graphic system affords no proper character for it. The sound of i: tx -t known in English is the terminating articulation in our words song, vsing, &c.,and the middle articulation in conquer; but we do not now employ it as an initial. It is produced by applying the tongue to 1 Das n win! init einem durch die Nase gelassenen Hauch ausgesprochen, doch in einer Sprache, in einer Mundart mehr als in der andern : selbst im Deutschen vor einigen Mitlautern mehr als vor andern. — Worfa rb. vol. iii. p. 353. * Worterb. vol. iii. p. 353. 8 Sanscrit Gram. p. 5. * Mithrid. vol. iii. pp. 3, 93. 5 Ibid. p. 164. 6 Ibid, p. 323. 7 Adelung, Worterb. vol. iii. p. 353. CHAP. VII. J Ci< CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 143 the posterior part of the bony palate, so as to prevent the air entirely from entering the mouth, and thus cause it to pass through the nose. In other languages it undergoes various modifications, and has been very variously treated of by different glossologists. The Sanskrit grammarians call it an aspirate, Dr. Rush a subtonic, and Mr. Bishop a Ungua-palato nasal. Of the Hebrew ayin, the true sound of which is not certainly known, Dr. Lee says, " the sound of ng in king, given to it generally by the Jews, may probably have prevailed in ancient times." 1 To the Greeks and Romans (though they had no character for it) it was manifestly known in the pronunciation of such words as "AyyeXog, Anchora, &c. In the Gothic, it was expressed by gg, as gaggan (pronounced gangan), whence the Scotch gang, to go, retained in our word gangway. It seems to have been anciently used in English as an initial, if we may judge from such words as gnaw and gnat. In Sanskrit it forms the fifth consonant of the guttural series ; in the Amharic it has the character gnahas ; in the Malayan it is sounded in many words, as nganga, to gape, and has a special character, Avhich is a modification of the Arabic can? In Europe we find it in the French sang, dedaigneux, champignon ; the Italian sognare, pugno, bisogna ; the German zunge, zeitungen, bringen, &c. Volney distinguishes two modifications of it: — " 1. If we introduce i" (says he) "into the syllable na, making nia pronounced at once, and if (in so doing) we press the tongue against the palate, we form a consonant which the French express by gn, as in signe, ignorance, &c. ; the Italians in degno ; the English, transposing the letters, by ing, as in ring ; and the Spaniards by n, with tilde, that is, a circumflex. 2. If we press the middle of the tongue against the velum of the palate, and cause more of the sound to pass by the nose than by the mouth before re- moving the contact, we shall form another nasal consonant unknown in Europe, but said to be much used in India, and called in the col- lections of Indian alphabets nga." 3 How far this statement may be correct in respect to the Indian nasals, I pretend not to say : but a marked difference may undoubtedly be perceived between the English nasal in song, and the French in sang, blood. Mr. Bell considers the French sounds en, in, on, &c, to be seminasal vowels. I should rather call the n in them a semivowel-nasal consonant. His account of the different formation of the sounds, however, is the most satisfactory that I have yet met with. It is as follows : — " In forming the French sounds, the soft palate is depressed sufficiently to open the nasal pas- sages, but not so much as by contact with the tongue to obstruct the passage into the mouth. The English ng brings the tongue and soft palate into contact, and consequently prevents the issue of breath by the mouth. This is the difierence between the English ng, and those French elements which give so much difficulty to English learners of French." We may add, that the different effect on the organs is very 1 Hebr. Gram. p. 9. 2 Marsden, Convent. Alphab. pp. 17, 18. 3 Alfab. Europ. pp. 7b, 79. 144 OF CONSONANTAL 80UND8. CH LP VII. perceptible; bhe English sound being accompanied with a strong vibration in the nasal passages, which in uttering the French sound is little, if at all, felt. 185. Besides these articulations, which arc more or less known to Europ . ome modifications of the articulating power have been found in use among barbarous tribes, in various parts of the world, which Europeans ran with difficulty imitate. Among these the most remarkable are those Hottentot sounds commonly described in books of travels by the word clucking. They are produced by suddenly pressing the tongue against different parts of the mouth, and as sud* denly withdrawing it : " the first pronunciation is dental, and requires that the tongue should be struck against the teeth: the second is palatal, and is produced by striking the tongue against the palate: the third, which is the most difficult to be acquired, is drawn from the lower part of the throat (probably the pharynx) by the root of the tongue. These different duckings must be executed in pronouncing the syllable, and not before or after; and there are sometimes two in a word of three syllables." 1 Such is the account given by Thunberg; and so far as I could judge, by hearing the duckings imitated by a reverend gentleman, who had acquired the Hottentot language by some vears' residence in South Africa, it appeared to me to be correct. It is difficult, however, to say whether these duckings should be regarded as separate articulations, or as mere modifications of the three known letters t, s, and k. The name, for instance, of the chief whom we call Macomo might as well be written Tmacomo ; and lias, in fact, an intermediate sound between those two modes of European pronunciation: and, in like manner, the name of the lambookies might be (and, in fact, sometimes is) written Tsambookies. The facility of uttering these sounds depends altogether on practice ; for the organs employed in producing them are the same in a European as in a Hottentot : and whilst the former finds the sounds extremely difficult to be imitated, they seem as easy to the latter as any in his language. Nor is the habit of clucking peculiar to the Hottentots : most of the Kaflre tribes use it, though less frequently, and in a slighter degree. 186. The articulation called Castanuelas, in the Quicha and ( >thomi languages of America, seems, from the description of it by the Spanish- Amerioan grammarians, to have much affinity with the Hottentot guttural clucking. It is likened by those learned writers to a k with a double articulation in the throat; and they compare it to "the n i which a monkey makes in cracking chestnuts." 2 "The great North American tribe, the Lenape's, have a sound which has been called a whistling w; for, in fact, those who endeavour to imitate \\ generally do nothing but whistle. 3 This is a labial articulation: but the . Ihenaki dialect has a like whistling sound, which seems to pro- ceed not from the lips, but from the throat. 4 The sound of / in 1 Voyages de 0. P. Thrmberg, vol. i. pp. 395, 396. 2 Dupuii.vait, Mem. }». 801. 3 Ibid. * Ibid. CHAP. VII.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 145 the language of the Othomis, a Mexican tribe, is purely labial, the teeth taking no part in it. We may therefore call it anf souffle. The Spanish grammarians treat it as a double letter, and write it ph; perhaps the sound of the Greek was nearly the same.'" "A some- what similar description is given by Kleinschmidt of the Greenland v, which " (he says) " answers to the German w, except that it is pro- duced by the lips alone, without any assistance from the teeth." 2 In the Cherokee language there is an articulation between d and f. 3 In fine, "Among the barbarous languages of America" (says Du- PONfiEAu) " there is a multitude of other sounds equally strange to our ears, but which the Indians pronounce with the utmost ease ; nor do they seem to us more barbarous than some of those which are to be heard in different parts of Europe : as the barred I of the Poles, the yervi of the Russians, or the do and bes of the Portuguese." 4 187. Having thus taken a general view of the separate consonantal Combined articulations, I come to consider their combinations. And here I articulations, find it necessary to recur to the characters by which I have endea- voured to distinguish consonants in the preceding pages, viz. : H, •%, i, K, G, T, D, 0, 3, S, Z, C, J, P, B, F, V, L, R, M, N, n,. Each of these, it will be remembered, is meant to indicate an ele- mentary articulation more or less generally known in Europe. With respect to other articulations found in various parts of the world, it is not always easy to say whether they should be considered as combi- nations of the preceding, or as modifications of them, or else as sounds essentially different. Assuming, however, that the twenty-two characters above described may be taken as indicating so many elementary sounds, I have to examine the combinations of them which occur in various languages. Of the combined vowel articu- lations, commonly called Diphthongs and Triphthongs, I have spoken in a former chapter : the consonantal combinations will require separate discussion. 188. There are two causes which lead men to combine consonantal imitative articulations — a desire to imitate sounds which they hear, and a desire to signify by the voice other impressions on the senses, or thoughts of the mind. It is of importance to glossological science that these causes should be separately considered. To coo like a dove requires, in addition to a vowel sound, one consonantal sound. To imitate the cry of the cuckoo, requires two consonantal and two vowel articu- lations ; and in expressing the sound of a trumpet, the old Latin poet employs a long succession of articulations of both sorts — At tuba, terribili sonitu Taratantara dixit. Ennius, Annal. ii. 124. It is obvious that in many imitations of this kind a single articulation would be inadequate to the intended purpose, and that two, three, or more may be combined. Such imitative sounds may indeed lead (as 1 Dupon<;eau, Mem. p. 102. * Gram. d. Gronlandisch. Sprache, p. 1. 3 Gabelentz, p. 259. 4 Duponceau, p. 102. [G.] L i ;<; OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. ^iinificant Adelung's rule. Law of ■ . VII. will be shown hereafter) !■ . the formation of a class of words distin- guished by the Greek term Onomatopoeia; but whether these are to consist of few or many articulations depends neither on the will of the speaker nor on any supposed significance of the separate articu- lations employed, but solely on the sound or sounds meant to be imitated. L89. The case is very different when an attempt is made to signify by tli.' voice any sensible objecl (other than a mere sound), or any mental acl or feeling. Here the mind may make choice of such articulate sounds, simple or combined, as it deems lit to convey the intended impression. T shall hereafter speak of the motives by which such a choice may be determined: at present 1 have only to consider tli.' greater or Less number of articulations which may lie employed for this purpose, under different circumstances. The simplest mode of combination is to prefia a consonantal to a vowel sound; a- v. in the early attempts of infants to use the sounds Pa and Ma, as significant words. The whole spoken language of China is thus formed of monosyllables, the consonant preceding the vowel; and the same simple structure is found in part of the radicals of most languages, as in our go, the German geh, and the Sanscrit ga, which last Bopp detects in the Latin navigAre and fatigkre} A single consonant following a vowel is also a frequent combination in the radical forms of various languages: as the Sanscrit ed or ad, which is the Latin ed in edo, the German es in essen, and our eat. But in our own and many other languages, the greater number of roots have two or more consonants either preceding or following a vowel, or both preceding and following one, as soul, slow, pride, harp, stray, spring, &c. 190. It has been contended that all these complex combinal are derived from others more simple; and even the great authority of Adelung is invoked in support of this theory; for he says, "it is a fundamental rule in Etymology, that if a word begin with two or more consonants, only the last belongs to the root." 2 Now this sup- posed rule cannot possibly apply to words formed by Onomatopseia ; nor do I find anything in the history of other words to support it as a general principle; though in particular cases it may be agreeable to the fact, as will be more folly shown when 1 come to treat of Koots. 1 '.i 1. The following rule is more correct, because founded on anato- mical researches, viz., that in all languages it becomes difficult, if not impossible, to pronounce a (so-called) surd in combination with a sonant, an s, a p, or a h, for instance, with a d. Hence an accurate ear will easily perceive that the plural of our substantive hat should be pronounced, as it is written, hats; but the plural of head, though 1 Vergl. Oram. i. 109. 2 Es ist cine < I rundregel in Jit Etymologie, ilnss, wonn sich ein Wort mit zwey oder nrhn-ni Mitlautem anfangt, nur der letzte znm Stammegchoret. — Wortcrb. vol. iii. p. 1230. CHAP. VII.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 147 written heads, should be pronounced hedz. So the plural of saint is pronounced saints ; but that of land, landz : the past tense of iceep is not pronounced icep'd, but wept ; and that of black is not pronounced blakd, but blakt. This is what Dr. Latham calls " the Law of Accom- modation." 1 192. Where an individual or a people has not acquired the faculty simple sound of uttering a particular simple articulation, he or they must of course wantm & be unable to utter any combination of which that articulation forms part. Thus, Englishmen in general cannot pronounce the ^, which is the German ch ; and consequently they cannot give its proper utterance to -)(XapvQ (a cloak) or to nacht (night). So Frenchmen in general, who want in their phonetic system our d and ft, cannot well pro- nounce our words three and worthy. In several languages a large portion of our simple articulations is altogether wanting. Hence a Chinese cannot pronounce any combination of which our g, j, d, b, or r 3 makes part. The same may be said of a Huron, in regard to com- binations including a b, p, f, v, g, in, n, or r : 3 and of a Mexican, when a b,f, d, g, r, or s enters into any combination. 4 193. On the other hand, though both the German and English idiomatic languages possess the articulations, which I have marked s and c (vulgo, dlfference,; - s and sJi), the idiomatic use of them differs in the different languages. Where the English idiom requires, as initials, si, sm, or sn, the German requires cl, cm, or en (vulgo, schl, schm, schn), as in the English sleep, smack, snow, which in German arc written schlaf, schmack, schnee : and even in some cases where the German and English adopt the same initial combinations in writing, they differ in pronunciation, as in our spin and stand, written in German spinnen and stehen, but pronounced as if written schpinnen and schtehen. The causes of these idiomatic differences between sister languages, or dialects of the same standard language, generally lie bid in the obscurity of early times ; but the habitual preference of one combination to another is found, with few exceptions, to characterize every separate language. In some idioms, a particular combination may be admitted as medial or final, but dis- allowed as initial; or vice versa. The articulation c (vulgo, sh) is never found in English, combined with /, m, or n, in the beginning of a syllable. In the Spanish language st, sp, and sc, are never found as initial combinations; but they are preceded by e, as estar, to stand, from the Latin stare ; espacio, space, from the Latin spatium ; escala, a ladder, from the Latin scala ; escrupulo, a scruple, from the Latin scrupulus ; esfera, a sphere, from the Latin sphosra. In Greek there are many words beginning with ps and pt ; in English, if we except the incondite interjection pshaw (where perhaps the p may be some- times heard), we have no such initial combination. We write indeed certain words of Greek origin, such as psalm, psychology, ptisan ; but the p is dropt in pronunciation. So, the German language has many 1 English Language, p. 115. 2 Marshman, p. 90. 3 ^delung, Mithrid. iii. 3, 323. 4 Ibid. 93. L2 148 OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. [CHAP. VII. words beginning with pf: in English we have none such; but when: we have words of correspondent signification, we drop either the />, as in Pfeifer, Piper; or the/", as in PfefjFer, Pepper. 104. Among Beveral ingenious remarks by Dr. Latham on the combinations of articulate sounds, there are some which may perhaps be thought questionable, more especially when this learned person appeals only, for their accuracy, to "the observation of our own lan- guage, as we find it spoken around us, or by ourselves." 1 On this ground, which even if correct, as to the English language, may not apply to others, it is said, " that certain sounds in combination with others have a tendency to undergo changes," and may therefore be called " unstable combinations."* So far as my own observation goes, I cannot say that " there is a natural tendency to change the ew in new, into 00." I conceive that the words news and noose are seldom pronounced alike: and though some persons may pronounce "picture, pictshoor,'" 3 I apprehend that the latter pronunciation is by no means the more elegant. Still less can I think, that " between the words pitted (as with the small-pox) and pitied (as being an object of pity) there is a difference in spelling only." 4 In questions of this nature, the accidental associations of individual experience must more or less affect the speculations of the ablest glossologists. Ts, i>z, Tc, 195. There is a class of combinations which are naturally so easy r 'j- of pronunciation that they are not only found to exist in the most distant parts of the world, but are marked in many alphabetic systems by a separate character, as if they were simple consonants. The class which I mean consists of pure dentals combined with sibilants, always however observing the above-mentioned rule of combining surd with surd, and sonant with sonant, viz. : ts, dz, tc, dj. I shall notice these in their order. Ts is not found in English as beginning a syllable. In Italian it is sometimes written zz as in prezzo (price) ; in German, tz as in Platz. In Hebrew, Russian, Ethiopic, and Mongol, it is expressed by a single letter. Dz is a sound which we do not use in English as an initial com- bination, and rarely as a final (e. g. adz), except in the past tense of a verb, as gadz, wedz (i. e. gads, weds), or in the plural of a sub- stantive as nodz, bedz (i. e. nods, beds). In Italian it is sometimes written zz, as in rezzo (shade) ; in Romaic sometimes t'( ; in Polish dz ; in Hungarian cz ; and it has a special character in Arabic, Ethiopic, and Mongol. Tc, in English, as an initial, is written ch, as in chin; as a medial or final, tch, as in hatchment, watch ; in Italian, before e or i, it is written c as in cento cinque ; in Spanish it is written ch as in mucho (much) ; in German it is written tsch, as in Tscherper ; in Polish, cz, as in czerwony ; in Hungarian, cs, as in liocsi ; in Romaic and Alba- 1 English Language, p. 115. 2 Ibid. 3 Ibid. * Ibid. p. 117. CHAP. VII.] OF CONSONANTAL SOUNDS. 149 nian, r£. In Russian, Turkish, Persian, Armenian, Amharic, Malay, Sanskrit, Manchu, Tibetan, Burman, and Cingalese, it has a special character. Dj is a frequent combination in English. When an initial, it is written / as in James, or g before e or i, as gentle, gin : when a medial, it is written g as in magic, or dg as in drudgery, and when a final, ge or dge, as in page, badge. In Italian it is written g before e or i ; in Romaic and Albanian, vt£. In Sanskrit, Persian, Turkish, Arabic, Armenian, Amharic, Manchu, Tibetan, Burman, and Cingalese, it has a special character. In the English pronunciation of these combinations, the pure dental, t or d, is very slightly dwelt upon, yet so as clearly to modify the sibilant which follows. ( 150 ) CHAPTER VIII. OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. Various qualities of speech. 196. Articulation, the only quality of speech which I have hitherto examined, is by no means sufficient alone to communicate the operations of the human mind. Even in ordinary discourse, if there were no rising and falling of the voice — if every syllable were pronounced in an equal portion of time, and were delivered with the same decree of loudness, force, and emphasis, and with the same intervening pauses — it would be intolerable alike to the speaker and to the hearer. Natural impulses never dictate to men, in any state of society, such a mode of utterance : and the only thing at all like it, in the rude attempts of art, is that painful monotony which is some- times heard in the first efforts, of poor rustic children, at a parish school, to read aloud. The nobler exercises of the vocal faculty, in Poetry and Rhetoric, would lose in recitation their whole force and beauty if the articulate sounds were destitute of measure and melody, of softness and energy, in their appropriate degrees and relations to each other. Let an English reader attempt to give, in the drawling and unvaried manner just described, the artful oration of Antony to to the people over Caesar's body ;' or the morning orison of our first parents, whose prompt eloquence — , Flow'd from their lips, in prose or numerous verse, More tunable than needed lute or harp To add more sweetness. 2 Or even the pathetic lines of Goldsmith — When lovely woman turns to folly, And finds too late that men betray, What charm can sooth her melancholy ? What art can wash her guilt away ? The only art her guilt to cover, To hide her shame from ev'ry eye, To give repentance to her lover, And wring his bosom, is — to die ! 3 Or let the Grecian scholar read aloud, in its exquisite original, the lament of weeping Helen for the death of the brave, the kind, the i Shakspeare, J. Cas. A. iii. sc. 2. 3 Vicar of Wakefield. * Milton, P. L. v. 150. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 151 gentle Hector; 1 or any one of those irresistible harangues to the Athenian people, with which Demosthenes — Wielded at will that fierce democratie, Shook th' Arsenal, and fulmin'd over Greece To Macedon. 2 Or let us hear, in Cicero's own words, his majestic oration beginning with that burst of indignant eloquence, " Quousque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia, nostra ?" 3 Every one must feel that the beauty, the pathos, the sublimity of these, or the like addresses, in any language, to the sensibilities of mankind, would be lost in recitation, were they not delivered with the modulation, cadence, and emphasis, which the respective sentiments demand. A pure, clear, distinct articulation, such as that of the late Madlle. Mars of the French Theatre, is, indeed, no mean beauty, and absolutely essential to the hio-her influences of speech ; but it contributes only in part to those in- fluences; and if we would render it fully effectual, it must be ac- companied with the other faculties, of which I have now to treat. 197. But here occurs a fresh instance of that impediment to the Dimensioi facility of discussion in all matters concerning language which I have of somul before noticed : I mean the confused and irreconcileable terminology applied to the subject by different writers. We hear of Accent, Quantity, Emphasis, Tone, Stress, Cadence, Rhythm, and other like expressions (to say nothing of Dr. Rush's Concrete and Vanish) ; but whole volumes have been written on the disputed signification of several of these terms; to which, nevertheless, the ordinary run of grammarians refer, as if they were as obvious and universally admitted as the definitions and axioms of Euclid. The onlv clue to guide us out of this labyrinth is recurrence to the first principles of the philo- sophy of sound. Sound has three dimensions, which, with reference to Speech, may be called Tone, Time, and Force. By Tone I mean that pitch of the voice in rise or fall which, in speaking, is analogous to a note in the musical scale; by Time, that duration of a vocal sound, which, in music, determines the comparative length of a crotchet, a quaver, &c. ; and by Force, I mean that exertion of the voice which either answers generally to the musical terms forte and inano ; or if applied to one syllable to distinguish it from others, gives it the effect of what is called in musical phraseology an accented note. These three dimensions of sound are compared by the older grammarians to length, breadth, and height, the dimensions of space. "A letter" (says Priscian) " has altitude in pronunciation, latitude in breathing, and longitude in time." 4 And Scaliger adopts the same analogy. 5 All other qualities of speech (except articulation) are made up of these, either in the way of combination or of modification. 198. I have elsewhere said, that the vocal' organs may be dis- Organs tinguished into the upper, namely, the Lips, Teeth, Tongue, Palate, em P lo y ed> 1 Horn. II. xxiv. 762. 2 Milton, P. R. iv. 269. 3 Orat. I. in Catil. 4 De Accentibus, s. 1. * De Caus. Ling. Lat. ii. 52. 152 OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CHAP. V11I. Throat, Pharynx, and Nose; and the lower, consisting of the Glottis, with its cover the Epiglottis, the Larynx, Trachea, and Lungs; that articulation is effected by the upper organs; and that the elevation or depression of tone is produced by certain muscles of the glottis, which enlarge or narrow the opening of that organ. 1 The variations of tinii,' and force depend chiefly on the lungs, and the vessels con- veying the air from them to the glottis. I say chiefly, for some of the upper organs musl occasionally co-operate to produce the intended effect. On this point an observation of Mr. Bell's is well worthy of attention. "Those speakers" (says he) "who complain of weak and powerless articulation, and of pain after protracted or forx ible efforts, are sufferers only from ignorance. An organ of power lies dormant within them, the want of whose natural action is painfully and ineffectively supplied by unnatural and debilitating efforts of the organ of respiration. This apparatus is the pharynx, a distensible muscular cavity situated at the back of the mouth," &c. " When the soft palate covers the upper pharyngeal openings (the nares), the effort of expiration sends the breath into the mouth, where, if it be obstructed in its passage, it will collect." 2 Though this observation is applied, by its ingenious author, to articulation only, it is no less important in reference to the time and force of syllables. Tone. 199. We have first to examine that quality of voice which I have called Tone. This word, and others connected with it, have been employed with various shades of signification. The original was the GreekroVoc; from this were derived the Latin tonus, Spanish torn, Italian tuono, German and French ton, and our English tone, which I here use, in the sense of the Greek original, for the pitch of the voice in rising or tailing. It was primarily a musical term, expressing an effect on the strings of the harp ; and was regularly formed from the verb tei'i'w (in Latin tendo), to stretch. As every degree of tension or relaxation of those strings produced a correspondent degree of elevation or depression of sound, every such degree of sound was called Tovot; (a stretch), equivalent to what we call a note. And as the voice, when ascending or descending in singing, proceeded by the same degrees, these also were called tovoq. In speaking, the voice ascends and descends, as in singing ; I mt with the remarkable difference, which I have elsewhere explained^ that the movement is not carried on by those definite steps, or degrees, which constitute musical notes, but by continuities of sound, upwards or downwards, which Mr. Steele has aptly denominated slides. 4 By the Greek grammarians an as- cending tone, or slide, was said to be o£ve (acutus, sharp), a descend- ing one fiapvg (gravis, heavy), and a union of both (first ascending and then descending) on the same syllable, 7r£oio-7ra»jU£Voc (circum- flexus, bent round) : and hence a syllable, with a rising tone on the 1 Univ. Gram. s. 450, seq. 2 Principles of Speech, p. 41. 3 Univ. Gram. s. 455. 4 Prosod ; a Rationalis, p. 2. CHAP. VIII. J OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 153 last syllable, is still called by grammarians an oxytone, and one with a falling tone on the last syllable a barytone. 200. In reference to speaking, the word tovoq seems to have been Double use applied to two objects widely different: the confounding of which has of It- led to much collision of opinion among glossologists ; first, the ex- pression of human feelings in sentences and words; and secondly, the distinction of syllables by their relative rise and fall of sound. This double use of tone Mr. Foster indicated by the terms oratorial accent, and syllabic accent :' and adopting a like distinction, it may be allowable to divide tone into the oratorial tone, and the syllabic tone. Mr. Steele, who applied the term Accent only to the rise and fall of voice expressive of feeling, characterised it as the " Melody of Speech." 2 201. That there must be, in all languages, such a melody, such an Melody of ascent and descent of tone, in the utterance of sentences, cannot be speech - doubted ; for without it there could be no adequate expression of the passions, emotions, or sentiments which belong to human nature in all its stages of civilization or barbarism. The Esquimaux must needs utter the exclamation Ippe-rar-nago (hold fast) in a different tone from that used in the question Sap-ing-ippik (Can I ?) 3 The Australian asking Nyundu (Will you?), or replying Kwa (Yes),* must vary the tone, just as an Englishman would in a like question and answer. The same may be said of a Japanese asking, by way of reproof, Nassini osoki vidinaserrimakas ta ? (Why did you return so late?) or asserting with approbation Fayo gotchaks naserrimas ta (You have returned quickly). 5 Let us take a dramatic scene, in any language, and observe the necessary elevations and depressions of voice according to the different emotions of the speakers. Philoc- tetes, in the wretched solitude of Lemnos, sees strangers landing, and anxiously inquires who they are, and whence they come — Tires nor' is ~yr]v r^vSe volvtiXoi irXaTTi KaTf °v T ' evop/xov, ovr 6iKovfj.€v7]v ,-' And when he learns that they are his countrymen, and hears them speak in his native tongue, he exclaims in tones of joy, — Tl (piKraroy (pdovrjfia- 4 01 ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [( BAP. VJI1. The Dauphin Lewis, in tones of deep dejection, expresses a gloomy indifference to the whole course of human events : — Life ' a !\\ ice-to] \ - ring the doll ear of a drowsy man.' So, in comic passages, Horace dramatically describes the eager saluta- tion of an importunate fellow claiming intimacy will) him, and the cold politeness of his own answer repelling the intrusion: — unit qnidam notus mini nomine tantnm; Arreptiquc manu, < juit' harmony in tones, and numhers, hit By voice or hand, and various-measured verse. 9 So much t'nr tone as an expression of feeling; I shall advert to its syllabic use, when I come to treat more particularly of Accent. Time. 205. When we speak of Time as an element of language, we do not mean a positive, but a relative duration of sound. The positive time of uttering a syllable or word may be indefinitely prolonged or shortened, not only by the habits of different nations, but by indi- viduals of the same nation, profession, age, or sex. It is said that good speakers do not pronounce above three syllables in a second, and generally only two and a half, taking in the necessary pauses; and though some persons may speak twice, or even three times as fast, it becomes difficult for an auditor to keep up with so rapid an utterance. 3 And I have been assured by short-hand writers, that one advocate will utter above 6,000 words in an hour, whilst another, at the same bar, in the same cause, and on the same side, will not utter above 3,000. So a Spaniard will generally be less rapid in utterance than a Frenchman : and a North American Indian will be slower than either. Rhythm. 206. Relative time, on the other hand, depends on a principle called by the Greeks pvdfxor (Rhythm), a word which, following the example of the Italians and French, we have incorrectly applied to our alliterative Rhyme; but in the original it signified that ideal conception by which we mentally perceive, in a succession of external movements or sounds, a continual reference to some integral portion of time as their standard measure. Plato thus distinguishes rhythm from tone — "To the order perceivable . in motion" (says he) "let us give the name of Rhythm, but to that felt in the mixture of acute and grave in the voice, the name of Harmony."* And elsewhere he . of certain deities, " It was they who conferred on us the sense of rhythm and harmony, with the pleasure which it produces."* Hence there is a rhythm in the beatings of the pulse, in the inspira- tion and expiration of the breath, and in the movements of dancing, 1 Principles of Speech, &c, p. 257. 2 Paradise Regained, 4, 254. •"' Steele, Pros. Ration. * Tij 5e T7)s Kivf)ff((iis -ra£ei fruBixbs uvofj.a ill), rrj 5' 5u rrjs ipa>vrjs, rov re o^fos a/io koX fiapeos avyKspavvvfAfvoiv ap/xovlas uvofxa TrpocrayopevoLTO. — I-cg. 2, 795. 5 Tovtovs Zivcu koI robs ScScdk-^tos ttjj/ ivpv&^ov re Kal iyap/xSviov &iff6rivd)j.$ hvaitv eovo t. 4 Hymn to Apollo, v. 313. 5 Par. Lost, 1, 549. 158 OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASES. [CHAP. VIM. known;" 1 ami when Milton, describing Eve, adds to her other charms, that "grace was in all her steps?* we cannot doubt but that loth poets meant t.> describe a rhythmical movement, the very oppo- site tn an unequal, hobbling, or shuffling pace. Music 209. Tin' rhythm of Music, instrumental ami vocal, refers to an integral portion of time, which in modern phraseology is called a bar; ami is <>f' greater or less positive durst irding as tin- whole piece, or a given portion of it, i- meant to be quick ami Lively, or slow ami solemn, or of an intermediate character. These diversities are loosflv indicated in our musical Dotation, by the terms allegro, itit, 'agio, or the like: indeed attempts have been made to fix tin- length of a liar, by reference to the oscillations of a pendulum; but this is hardly found to answer in practice. Each integral portion is divisible into two, or else three pa ig to the whole composition the de- signation of common or triple time respectively. Other divisions might, no doubt, be made, as into five, or seven parts; but th<'s< would only be resolvable into a mixture of' the two former, and would not fully satisfy our natural sense of rhythm. The bar, or integral portion of time, includes as well the time occupied by sound, as the sik-nt intervals, which the particular melody may require: and in each case it may be divided and subdivided into fractional parts, audible or inaudible; the audible being called Notes, and the inaudible Rests. Thus a note, or a rest, may occupy a whole bar; or the bar may comprise one or more notes, and one or more rests. The rhythm of singing is the same as that of the instrumental music to which it is adapted; but the division of words and syllables in a song do not necessarily agree with those of the instruments ; for instance, in the national song of "Rule Britannia," beginning "When Britain first at Heaven's command," the third word in this line is a monosyllable; but in singing, it is divided into five notes : and the fifth word, though a dissyllable, forms but one note. These particulars are very generallv known; but 1 mention them briefly here, because they help to explain the uses of rhythm in the composition of verse and of measured prose. Verse. 210. The rhythm of Verse, apart from music, proceeds differently. To understand it fullv, we must distinguish it into two kinds, which we may call the grammatical, and the poetical : in the former, the audible sounds alone are estimated; in the latter, the silent pauses are also to be taken into account. Of the poetical, I shall speak more fully hereafter. In the grammatical, the integral portion of time, on which the rhythm depends, is called a Foot, and contains a certain number of syllables, every syllable consisting of a vowel or diphthong, either alone, or modified by one or more consonants. It is manifest, that for the judicious delivery of a sentence, there must needs be a considerable difference of time in the utterance of different syllables, some occupying a longer, and some a shorter space of time. These 1 JEneid. 1, v. 405. Incessu patuit Dea. * Par. Lost, 8, 488. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 159 differences are in fact various ; but for the purpose of versification, grammarians have agreed to consider every long syllable to be equal to two short syllables, neither more nor less. Hence the Greeks and Romans reckoned as different rhythms, or feet, the equal, the ses- cuple, and the double. The equal consisted of two equal parts, as Trojce, a Spondee of two long syllables ; or Tityre, a Dactyl of three, one long and two short ; the sescuple was in the proportion of two to three ; as ooncipere, a Peeon of four syllables, one long and three short ; and the double was in that of one to two, as legunt, an Iambus, of one short syllable and one long. 1 The equal and the double, it will be observed, bear an analogy to our common and triple time in music : and the ancient writers say, " that these alone are fit for versification," the sescuple finding a more proper place (intermixed with others) in rhetorical compositions. In English we usually apply the term Metre to the rhythm of verse, when considered without reference to alli- teration or accentuation. This term is taken from the Greek ^irpov, which originally signified simply "measure," but was subsequently employed to signify " the measure of a verse," either in contradistinc- tion to rhythm, or else as a species of that genus. Metres, in this sense, differed as to the number of feet which they admitted, either simply as Hexameters, consisting of six feet, Pentameters, of five, &c, or by duplication as a Dimeter contained four feet, a Trimeter six, and a Tetrameter eight ; and again they differed as to the kind of feet, as Dactyls, Spondees, Anapaests, &c, terms suited to Greek and Latin verse, but of which, when applied to English poetry, the fitness has been disputed. Verses, that is lines, arixot, may be of unequal or equal length ; but every kind of verse has its fixed number of feet. 211. All spoken language which is not verse, is Prose, either ordinary Prose, or measured. The ordinary prose is that used in common conversa- tion, and cannot be bound down to any fixed rhythm, but in measured prose, which is employed in oratory, a degree of rhythm always is, or should be observable. To use the words of Tucker, it has "a certain rhetorical measure corresponding in all its parts, like the several portions of a tune, and lying half way between the music of poetry and the plain language of familiar discourse." 2 So Cicero speaks of it — " The ancients " (says he) " thought that, even in this lower form of speech (viz. oratory), there should be an approach to verse, that is to say, we should apply to it a certain system of numbers." 3 As poetry (says Demetrius Phalereus) is divided by verses, so is prose by periods and members of periods. The verses have each a fixed number of feet, the periods have an uncertain number, but their members or 1 'Pv9/xbs, aut par est, ut Dactylus, imam enim syllabam parem (duobus) brevi- bus habet ; aut sescuplex, ut Paeon, cujus vis est ex longa et tribus brevibus — aut duplex ut Jambus, nam est ex brevi et longa. — Quintil. I. 9, c. 4. 2 Searcli (Tucker), on Vocal Sounds, p. 90. 3 Versus enim veteres illi in hac soluta oratione propemodum, hoc est numcros quosdam, nobis esse adhibendos putaverunt. — De Oratore, 1. 3, s. 44. 160 OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AN1» EMPHASIS. [CHAP. Vlll. clauses have frequently or near correspondence of measure with each other. Even this, however, should not occur too frequently, much less should the known rhythm of whole verses be often admitted into prose, though it musl sometimes unavoidably happen; but ac rhetorical or solemn prose should not be void of rhythm, so neither should it have so regular and conspicuous a rhythm, as to betray the existence of poetical art in its composition. In monosyllabic languages there can be little room for this kind of rhythm. In the polysyllabic tongues of the North American Indians, then- are indeed means of much rhythmical arrangement; and to this their best orators are led by an instinctive sense of fitness; bu1 not every Indian is an orator. It is no uncommon thing to see a distinguished Chief employ some other person to deliver his harangues.'" The early Grecians must have had their instinctive sense in a much stronger degree, when we find Homer (in Chapman's words) thus describing "sweet-spoken Nestor," The cunninc Pylian orator, wlio.se tongue pour'd forth a flood Of more than honey-sweet discourse. 2 But it was not till the time of Isocrates, that the rhythmical arrange- ment of syllables in an oration was brought to the perfection of a system, 3 which, though carefully studied by so accomplished an orator as Cicero, is in our days almost wholly neglected. Force. 212. The third quality of vocal sounds which I proposed to ex- amine is that which I have called Force, and which nearly answers to what is termed by Peiscian Spiritus,* and by Scaligee ajjlatio in latitudiw.* Mr. Fostee says, " it constitutes what we call Emphasis, a mode of sound requiring a greater profusion of breath. An in- stance" (adds he) " of two persons blowing the same note on a flute, the one with more, the other with less breath, will perhaps set this dis- tinction in a clearer light." 6 " It is" (as he also observes) " very dis- tinct from accent and quantity, though occasionally joined with them." And as in tone and time the oratorial has been distinguished from the svllabic, it may not be amiss to distinguish oratorial force from syllahic force, the former serving (together with the appropriate tone and time) to convey to the hearer certain feelings of the human mind, as expressed in whole sentences or particular words ; the latter to give pre-eminence to some one syllable in a polysyllabic word, and thus to distinguish words grammatically, as the substantive, a present, from the verb to present. Sir C. Bell very clearly points out the difference 1 Howse, Cree Gram. p. 11. 2 'HSu67ttjs \tyvs ni/A-iW ayopT)T7]s, Tov iced airb yAuxrarjs ixeKtros yAvniwv fiiev avSij. Iliad, 1, 248. 8 Idque princeps Isocrates instituisse fertur, ut inconditam antiquorum dicendi consuetudinem, delectationis atque aurium causS,— numeris adstringeret.— Cicero, De Oratore, 3, 44. . * De Accentibus, 1. 1, c. 1. 5 De causis lingua; Latime, 2, 52. « Accent and Quantity, 3rd ed. pp. 10, 11. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 161 between these two exertions of force, and ascribes them to the opera- tion of different organs. He says, " there are two sources of the Force with which words are uttered, the chest and the pharynx. The emphatic delivery of several words or syllables must proceed from the forcible expulsion of the breath by the effort of expiration ; but the emphasis on the single syllable, and the forcible enunciation of the letter, on which the clearness and distinctness, and sometimes the meaning, of words depend, must be produced by the effort of the pharynx." 1 213. Of oratorial force I shall speak hereafter. Syllabic force is Syllabic often confounded, under the name of Emphasis, with oratorial force, fcirce - and under the name of Accent, with elevation of tone ; and is some- times described as a " peculiar strength of tone ;" 2 or " a peculiar stress of the voice," 3 or an " inexpressive distinction of a syllable," 4 or " a sort of subdued straining chiefly on the articulations." 5 Unless it happen to coincide with the oratorial force, it adds little to the loudness of the sound, yet enough to mark a stronger exertion of the vocal organs in its utterance ; and though essentially different from a prolong- ation or elevation of sound, it seems capable of uniting with a slight degree of both. Thus, in the word contemplate, the stress or empha- sis rests on the syllable tern, and in contemplation, on the syllable pla ; and each of these syllables is sufficiently distinguished from the others in the same word ; but this distinction is effected by a degree of loudness, elevation, or prolongation scarcely appreciable. 214. The elementary qualities of articulate speech, then, are Tone, Accent. Time, and Force. But of these the principal modifications are commonly called by grammarians Accent, Quantity, and Emphasis. The term Accent is one which has given occasion to much collision of opinions : and indeed we may still say of it — Grammatici certant, et adhuc sub judice lis est. 6 In most ordinary grammars, and generally in works where accent is incidentally mentioned, we find it spoken of as a thing perfectly well known, and, therefore, needing no explanation ; but if we examine it more narrowly, we shall soon perceive that the different authors have no very clear, and certainly no uniform notion of it, as a property of speech. Our word accent is the Latin accentus, from ad and cano, to sing. Hence we may infer that accentus originally expressed an elevation and depression of tone in words intended to be sung. Con- sequently it must have been first employed in verse ; but afterwards, as it seems, in measured prose ; which kind of speaking, Cicero calls a sort of obscure song. 7 At subsequent periods, the signification of the word accent underwent some change. The definitions of it given by some writers, both ancient and modern, are extremely vague. "Accent," says Atjrelius Cassiodorus, "is a skilful pro- 1 Philos. Trans. 1832, 314. 2 Mitford, Harm. Lang. p. 28. 3 Ibid, p. 30 4 Rush, Phil. Hum. Voice, p. 325. ^ Be]i ^ p rinc _ s peec h, p . 297. 6 Grammarians contend, and the suit is still undecided. — Horace, Art. Poet. 78. 7 Est in dicendo etiam, quidam cantus obscurior. — Orator, s. 18. Classical terms. Greek accents. 162 OF AC< ENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CHAP. VIII. minciatioa without fault." 1 Nbi much more distind is Dr. Johnson's, •■A modification of the voice expressive of the passions or senti- ments." 1 Whether this modification consists in lengthening or shortening the time, or in elevating or depressing the tone, or in strength or weakness of utterance, or in any combination of these, i loss to discover. The example, which the Lexi- cographer gives from Prior, seems to restrict the meaning exclusively to loudness or weakness of utterance — The tender accent of a woman's cry Will pass unheard, will I die, While the rough seaman' 'AxiA\t)os. The a in tieice was thought to have a rising, and the a in Qui a falling tone. In order to express this circumstance generally in writing, certain marks were placed over the letters (by Aristophanes rammarian, it is said, about 200 years before Christ) namely, • the rising tone, ( x ) for the falling, and (*) for the circumflex. The propi r use, however, of these marks has 1 n disputed. In a treatise entitled 'Arcanum Accentuum Grcecorum,'' published in 1715 by H. VANDERHAKDT, it was contended that the marks in question 1 Accentus est vitio carens artificiosa pronunciatio. — Cassiod. de Arte Gram- matical 2 Dictionary, art. Accent. •' [hid. 4 Adhuc difficilior observatio est per tcnores, quo; quidem ah antiquis dictos tonores comperi, nt videlicet declinato a Grsecis verbo, qui t6vovs cunt, vel ac- ts Grseci TrpoffwSias vocant. — Quinti]. 1, 5. 5 Mira est quadam natura vocis, cujus quidem e tribus omnino sonis, inflexo, acuto, gravi, tanta sit et tarn suavis varietas perfecta in cantibus. — Cic. Orat. 17. « Cic. Orat. t8. CHAP. VUI.J OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 163 were not properly syllabic, but oratorial. But this hypothesis is contradicted by the fact that the same word is found to be syllabically accented in the same manner, whatever may be the passion expressed by it. It has been, therefore, generally admitted that the accents were syllabic. Still a question remained, in what manner they were intended to distinguish syllables, and this was treated with much ability, about the middle of the last century, by Dr. Gally, Mr. Foster, Mr. Primatt, Lord Monboddo, and others. The prevalent opinion was, that the accentual marks related solely to the rise and fall of the voice. Dr. Gally, however, maintained that the acute accent was not intended to mark a mere elevation of the voice :' and Mr. Primatt said, " that the ancient grammarians had certainly no conception that there could be any elevation of voice without an addition of time." 2 It should be observed that the acute accent was always considered as most important, and often spoken, of as "the accent," simply, whilst the grave was only regarded as a mere nega- tion of the acute, and therefore not marked, unless for some special reason. The circumflex, too, implied an ascent before the descent, as if a long vowel had been divided into two short ones differently accented, the w into 6, 6, whence a syllable having a single short vowel could not be circumflected. 3 The rules by which the syllabic accentuation was governed were different in different dialects. The Greeks in general regulated the position of the acute accent by the quantity of the last syllable, but the iEolians by that of the penulti- mate. Hence the Latin language, which was derived in great part from the vEolic dialect, differed in its rules of accentuation from the common Greek. In Greek, the acute accent might be placed on the last svllable, as Qeog (God), or on the penultimate, as Xoyoc (a word), or on the antepenultimate, as (piKoao^oQ 4 (a philosopher) : in Latin it could never be placed on the last. 5 In neither language could the acute be carried further back from the end than the antepenultimate. 6 In several modern languages a principal accent may be placed even on the fourth svllable from the end, as in the English consolatory, in the Italian ammonitore (an admonisher), and in the modern Greek avayyaXiaaic (exultation). The various rules and exceptions of the Greek and Latin accentuation it is unnecessary here to enumerate : 1 Second Dissertation against pronouncing the Greek language according to ac- cents] s. 56. 2 Accentus redivivi, p. 71. 3 Tenor flexus est acutus et, gravis in eadem syllabi eonjunctus, ita ut acutus prior sit, posterior gravis ; Si est oo. Uude nee syllaba quae vocalein brevem habet intleeti potest. — Keisk, Prosod. Gr. Accent, inclin. p. 1, s. 1. 1 Sedes accentuum possibilis est vel in syllaba ultima, vel in penultima, vol in antepenultima. — Simonis, Introd. s. 2, 28. 5 Ultima syllaba nee acuta unquam excitatur nee flexu circumducitur. — Quintil. 12, 10. 6 Notandum etiam, quod acutus accentus duo loca habet, penultimum et ante- penultimum : Graecos autem penultimum, antepenultimum, et ultimum. — Friscian, de Ace. c. 2. M 2 164 EST, QUANTITY, ANi> EMPHASIS. ( HAT. VIII. Other languages. tliuv will be found in great detail in the Port-Royal grammars of those languages. In Hebrew, the tonic accent can affect only the ultimate or penultimate syllable of any word. 1 217. It was observed above, that theancienl Greeks called a rising tone or accent acute, and a falling one grave. Why these term.-,, borrowed from the tangible properties of matter, were applied to the audible sounds of speech, it is not easy to say ; but that they wore so applied, a- early at leasl as the time of Plato, is evident from the dialogue entitled 'Cratylus,' in which he speaks of an acute syllable (o£eia) being changed, in certain words, into a grave (tfapaa).* Whether or not this distinction has been retained in modern Greek, is disputed. Lord MONBODDO says that "the modern Greeks have lost the tones abovementioned, and in place of acute and grave have substituted loud and soft;" adding, "that they constantly sound every syllable hud, which is marked in the Greek books with an acute accent." 3 Colonel LEAKE, however, who is a far superior authority, being not only a profound scholar in the Hellenic, or ancient Greek, but perfectly versed in the Romaic, or modem Greek, from long residence in the country, strongly contends that the inhabitants retain the same accent as their ancestors, and he defines it as " the elevation or depression of tone in a syllable." 4 218. In other modern languages, the generality of grammarians speak merely of accented and unaccented syllables, without stating in what particular property of the voice they conceive accent to consist ; or if they add the terms acute and grave, they seldom explain the nature of the distinction intended. In the French language, the Abbe D'Olivet denies that there is any prosodical (that is, syllabic) accents at all: 5 whilst M. Beauzee asserts that there are both acute and grave, but not circumflex. 6 The very eminent glossologist, Rask, distinguishes no less than six varieties of accent (Tonehold) in the Danish language: three long — the trailing, the advancing, and the abrupt : and three short— the rolling, the running, and the rebounding. It would seem, from this arrangement, that he considered ti the principal element in accent; but as he admits that some of the six can only be learnt by oral instruction (an advantage which I have not had), I must pass them over with a simple notice of the enu- meration. 7 M. BEAUZEE arranges the accents of the French language under five heads, the oratorial, prosodial, musical, national, and written. 8 The two first answer to the oratorial and syllabic above described, the others are irrelevant to the present consideration. Adeluxg says that in most languages accent signifies that marked raisin- of the voice (Ehrebung der Stimme) by which one .syllable is pronounced above the others, as the ge in ge'hen, and the Ids in 1 See Hebr. Oram. p. 26. r > Steele, Prosod. Elation, p. 191. 5 Beauze'e, Gram. Gen. 1, 139. 7 Danish Gram. p. 7. 2 Platon. Op. ed. Ficin. 275. 4 Researches in (lieece, p. 220. G Ibid. p. 1 35. 8 Gram. Gen. vol. i. 134. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 165 verldssen. He thinks, however, that this should rather be called, in German, Ton, and that the word Accent should serve to express the longer or shorter time of dwelling on a vowel. Consequently he pro- poses to divide accent into long and short; da, gar, and the first syllable in ge'/ien being examples of the long accent ; and ab, ob, and the first syllable in treffen, of the short." 1 Peretti explains Accento in Italian, " A kind of chant, which raises or depresses syllables, and detaches them from each other."* Vater says of the Polish language, they lay a stress (on appuie) on the tonic syllable, which is always the penultimate, as in sylam, except in words ending in by, ly, and the like, as Jdkoby, where it is on the antepenultimate. 3 And Mar- tinez uses the same word, stress (appuie), of the Spanish accent placed over a syllable, " On appuie sur cette syllabe." 4 219. Our English glossologists leave the nature of accent as ob- English. scure as the authors do to whom I have referred. Johnson expresses himself as vaguely in his Grammar as I have before shown that he does in his Dictionary. " Pronunciation " (says he) " is just, when every letter has its proper sound, and when every syllable has its proper accent, or which in English versification is the same, its proper quan- tity."* Sheridan applies the term accent neither to tone nor time, but to force. He says : " Accent, in the English language, means a certain stress of the voice on a particular letter of a syllable, which distinguishes it from the rest, and at the same time distinguishes the syllable itself to which it belongs from the others which compose the word." 6 Murray, to the same effect, says : " Accent is the laying of a peculiar stress of the voice on a certain letter or syllable in a word, that it may be better heard than the rest, or distinguished from them." 7 So Mitford says : " In English pronunciation every polysyllable has one syllable distinguished by peculiar strength of tone. This strong tone is commonly called by way of eminence the accent." 8 Walker says more vaguely : " The true definition of accent is this, if the word be pronounced alone, and without any reference to other words, the accented syllable is both higher and louder than the other syllables either before or after it ; but if the word be suspended, as at the com- ma ; if it end a negative member followed by an affirmative ; or if it conclude an interrogative sentence beginning with a verb, in each case the accented syllable is louder and higher than the preceding, and louder and lower than the succeeding syllables." 9 From this very illogical definition, we can only collect, that the author considered loudness to be the essential quality of the accent ; and though it might be accom- panied in some cases with an elevation of voice, and in others with a depression, yet neither of these qualities, nor length or shortness of 1 Worterb. vol. i. 142. 2 Gram. Ital. ed. Bailie p. 214. 8 Gram. Polon. p. 8. 4 Gram. Espagn. p. 11. 5 Gram, prefixed to Diet. v. 1, lxxxviii. 6 Ibid. p. xlvi. 7 Eng. Gram. part. iv. c. i. s. 1. 8 Harmony of Language, p. 28. 8 Observations subjoined to Diet p. 90. 166 CENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. . Villi duration, was in his opinion m cest try to tho grammatical character of accent. ^Ir. Bell, the latesl writer on this subjeet, says: "Accent is a superior degree of prominence (in a word of more than one syl- lable) by stress, or inflexion on one of its syllables." 1 Still this leaves os in doubt whether an acceni must necessarily receive inflexion (by which this writermeans the rise and tall of the voice), or must di - sarilv receive a stress, or forcible effort of the voice ; so that, practically, a learner would be in doubl whether he ought to pr unce an cented syllable in a louder and more emphatic \roice,or in a more elevated tone, answering to a higher note in music. om 220. The term Acceni lias been applied not only to cultivated, but to barbarous languages. M. Duponceau, the able American glo gist, says " thai the Indians of the Algonquin family accentuate th< ir syllables." " The manner in which they and all other Indians of North America pronounce the last syllable of a sentence is remarkable, especially in their oratorical harangues. They cast forward this s\ 1- lable with such force, that we can only compare it to the military words of command, as when an officer cries to his soldiers, 'Port arms!' There is, however, a certain preparation for it on the preceding syl- lable." 8 This author distinguishes accents into appuye (rested on), and frappe (struck \, and lie says that the Iroquois have both kinds." In barbarous, as well as cultivated languages, a variation of accent often alters either the signification or the grammatical form of a word. In the Mexican, many words receive by a different accent a totally different meaning. 4 In the Rarotonga, a Polynesian ton; ne, a trans- position of the accent alters the signification, in some instances, from singular to plural, as Tandta, man; Tdnata, men; and in other in- stances from one object to another, as Mardma, the moon ; 3/drama, bght. 5 In ancient Greek, tin- examples of such changes arc numerous, ex. gr., ayopalor, a person employed in the forum; aynpawc, a day when trials are had in the forum; ayopaiav Ukt)v, a forensic judg- ment. 6 A list of several hundred words, so varied in meaning, was collected either lw Cyrillus or Philoponus. 7 In Latin, quantum and quak, when used interrogatively, were by some persons terminated with a grave accent; but, when otherwise employed, with an acute. 8 In our own language the effect of such transpositions of accent are frequent and well known. We say, to be present at a place, and to make a pre'sent, at the present time; but to presdnt a gift. We say, a person is converted, or that he is a convert, &c. i«,uife 221. As accentuation seems to be chiefly necessary for separating ttcceDt words from each other, it came to be considered as a rule in the Greek 1 Principles of Sppech, p. 222. s Mem. s. 1. Lnn^ues Americ. pp. 105, 106. a n,i,i. ],. [05. ' Adelung, Mithrid. 3, 3, 93. 5 Logan, Journ, Indian Archipel. •">. 232. 6 Suidas, voc. ayopaios. 1 H. Stephan. Thes. Graec. vol. iv. p. 31, seq. 8 Item quantum, quale interrogantis gravi ; comparantes acuto tenore concludunt. — ' y, liutii. lib. i. c. 5. CHAP. VIII. J OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 167 language that no word should have a double accent, that is, two acute accents. But in the first place, this rule admitted of an exception where the word was followed by one of those short words called En- clitics, as aydpwirog tiq, a certain man. 1 And secondly, in many lan- guages polysyllables have often more than one accent. Such is the case in our own tongue. " Every trisyllable, with the strong accent on the first" (says Mitford), " has the last uttered with a tone very sensibly stronger than that of the second, as in confident ; and when the last has the strong accent, the first has a stronger one than the second, as in entertain. Every word of four or five syllables has two secondary distinguishing accents, as in ordinary, determination : and those of six syllables, or more, have more accents in proportion, as in Interrogatory, insensibility, excommunication"* Similar observations have been made even in tongues comparatively uncultivated. " The accent of the Syryaman language, and of other languages of the same origin, falls on alternate syllables, the first, third, fifth, &c, most strongly on the first, but on the others so slightly as to be scarcely distinguishable by the ear." 3 In the Tscheremissian a similar circumstance is remarked. In dissyllables, if the first syllable has a stronger accent, the second has often a slighter accent, and in polysyllables the same weak accent is often applied to the terminating syllable. 4 222. When we reflect on the difterent characters which learned and Results, able writers have given to accent, as a quality of spoken language ; some of them having attributed it solely to Stress or Emphasis, that is, Force ; others to elevation or inflexion of voice, that is, Tone ; and others to the act of dwelling on a syllable, that is, Time; it seems reasonable to conclude that each has some ground for his opinion, and that the syllabic distinction in question partakes of all these qualities ; as Vossius indeed has estimated. 4 The most obvious characteristic of accent, as well syllabic as oratorial — that which in both kinds seems to strike the most casual observer — is emphasis, a forcible kind of utterance. Now, that the effort toward forcible utterance necessarily produces an elevation of tone; and that this as necessarily occupies some space of time, seems to result from the natural connexion be- tween the action of the respiratory organs and that of the glottis. It must be remembered, that the elevation of the voice in speaking is effected, not as in music, by passing at once from a low to a high note, 1 Nulla dictio duplice, nisi sequente enclitica, notatur accentu, ut yeypa/j.fj.ivos &p6panros tls. — Viger de Idiots, ed. Zeun. 671. * Harmony of Language, p. 29. 8 Accentus linguae Syryasnee, ufc aliarum linguarum ejusdem originis, cadit in syllabas impares, primam, testiam, quintain, e. s. p. in primam fortius, in aliis vero adeo molliter ut aure vix capiatur. — Carste'n, Elem. 1. Syiysen. p. 15. 4 In bisyllabis — si prior syllaba acuta est, admittit posterior ssepissime accentum leniorem — (in polysyllabis) lenior ille accentus terrninationi facile adjicitur. — Idom. Elem. 1. Tcherem. pp. 8. 9. 5 Comprehendit utraque vox (Accentus el UpoaaiSla) prater tenorem, etiam spiritum et quantitatem. — Vossius, Etymol. voc. Accentus. 1G8 OK ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CH LP. VIII. but by sliding continuously through the whole interval, an operation as necessarily requiring time as sliding on the ice does, or th< more rapid motion of skating, which the poet has so happily described — all shod with steel, We ftiss'd along the polish' d ice, in games Confederate, imitative of the chace And woodland pleasures. 1 The degree of force, and consequently of tone and of time, must manifestly be proportioned to the mental motive which gives the im- pulse ; and this in the oratorial accent may be very strong, but in the syllabic can be but weak. When Cassius, in the celebrated scene with Brutus, exclaims — " I, an itching palm !" his vehement indignation must necessarily cause a forcible pulmonary action. But where we have to use one of two differently accented words, as aypoiofiog (reeding in a pasture), or aypciro/xoc (pasture- feed), the mere difference of accent affords no ground for stiong passion ; and the only motive for varying the sound is to acquiesce in the ordinary pronunciation of the word. It seems probable, therefore, that when the Greek grammarians spoke of the acute accent being raised a fifth, and the grave depressed as much, they contemplated the possible extent of the oratorial accent, and not the ordinary difference of the syllabic. And finally, as the acute accent was always considered the principal, we may adopt Mr. Mitford's scheme, distinguishing English syllables into accented and un- accented, and dividing the former into the stronger or acute, and the weaker or grave. 2 Permanence. 223. In whatever way the syllabic accent may be explained, it un- doubtedly performs an important part in the operations of language. It not only marks the grammatical character of particular words, but by that means it gives permanence to them through long periods of time. Colonel Leake enumerates Xaptaaa, oXv/xiroc, Kopirdog, &C, with the tone on the accented syllable, in modern Greek ; and he states that when the names remain unaltered to the present day, " in all in- stances, the accent is placed precisely as it has been preserved in the manuscripts from which our copies of the Greek authors have been formed." He adds : " In tracing the vestiges of ancient names of places in Greece (an inquiry very important to the geographer), accent will generally be found the surest guide to identity. Letters and svllables are often lost, and vowels changed ; but where any trace of the ancient name remains, the accent is generally the same as it has always been. Thus, Qav/du^ui is now Dhomoko, OXoorrrriLv, Elasona, &c. 3 Quantity. 224. The word Quantity has been applied to language in two senses. Scaliger uses it as a general term to express all the three qualities of tone, time and force. " Since we measure the voice by quantity" (says he), "and a syllable is in its voice, as in its subject matter, and quantity consists in a threefold dimension, long, broad, 1 Wordsworth. 2 Harmony of Language, p. 30. 3 Researches in Greece, p. 221. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 169 and high, it necessarily follows, that a syllable is affected in the same ways ; so that there is elevation or depression in height, emphasis or weakening in breadth, and extension in length." 1 But both the more ancient and the more modem grammarians understand by quantity a measure of the time of utterance only ; so that if a syllable compared with others occupy a long time in utterance, it is said to be long in quantity, and if it occupy a time comparatively short, it is said to be short in quantity. The Greeks and Latins, as has been above men- tioned, recognised only two of these measures, the short and the long, the former being estimated as one time, and the latter as two times. It must be remembered, however, that quantity was applied, on this system, to syllables, and not merely to vowels, as some have errone- ously supposed. 225. Our word Syllable is from the Greek trvXKafiy, which in strict- Syllabic, ness only signified " a combination of letters ;" 2 but must always have been understood to contain at least one vowel. In process of time, how- ever, authors, disregarding its etymology, applied the term syllable even to a single vowel or diphthong, 3 as a in a (I call out') ; and hence a further definition was given thus, " A syllable is an articulate sound, which is at once pronounced with one accent, and one effort of the breath." 4 Possibly there may have been a more recondite reason for the division of most Greek and Latin words into syllables, to be found in the early history of those languages. For, with certain exceptions, which will be noticed hereafter, every separate syllable had a separate origin ; the a in aw, for instance, being derived from one source, and the w from another; just as in the English word guerdon, the syllable guer is derived from one source, and the syllable don from another. 5 But in this part of Glossology, the grammarians of Greece and Rome were little versed. What number of vowels and conso- nants may be combined in a syllable, in any given language, depends on the usage of the people who speak that language. In Latin, not more three consonants can either precede or follow a vowel : and if three precede, as s t r in the last syllable of monstrans, not more than two can follow, as ns ; or if three follow, as rp s in stirps, only two can precede, as st. 6 In the South Australian language, though sylla- 1 Cum vocem quantitate metiamur, et syllaba in voce sit, ut in subjecta materia^ et quantitas triplici dimensione constituatur, longa, lata, alta : necessarib quoque iisdem rationibus syllaba affecta erit ; ut levatio aut pressio in altitudine, afflatio aut attenuatio in latitudine, tractus in longitudine sit. — De Causis Ling. Lat. 1. 2, c. 52. 2 a irb rod ffvWajx^dvetv ra ypdn/xara. — Sergius. 3 Abusive tamen etiam singularum vocalium sonos syllabas nominamus — Priscian, 1. 2, c. 1. 4 Syllaba est vox literalis, quas sub uno accentu, et uno spiritu, indistanter pro- fertur. — Priscian, 1. 2, c. 1. 5 Univ. Gram. s. 338. 6 Si tres consonantes antecedunt vocalem nonpossunt nisidua? consequi, ut mon- strans, nee si consequuntur tres possunt antecedere nisi dua?, ut stirps. — Priscian, 1. 2, c. 1. 170 OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CHAP. VIII. bles may terminate in a vowel, or in one, or even two consonants, those which terminate in more than one consonant are very few, and it appears, from the vocabulary, that not more than one consonant ever precedes a vowel.' tn the Marquesan and other insular Polynesian languages, every syllable is formed by a vowel, either alone, or pre- ceded bj a single consonant. Two consonant., together, or one termi- nating a syllable, are unknown in those langua i . Hence Amen, at the end of a prayer, is pronounced Ame-ne.* In the Chinese language, in which every syllable forms a word, a vowel can have before it only one consonant" (or a complex i onsonant considered as one), and can be followed by none, except a nasal. esof 226. The division of quantity, into short and long s : mply, was first ' iUmt!,y - employed by grammarians with reference to metre; but the more philosophical glossologists observed (as Dr. Gaily notices) several de- grees, in each of the orders of short and long. 8 Thus Dionysius of Halicarnassus says— " There is not merely one degree of length and shortness in syllables; hut among the long some are longer than others, and among the short some are shorter." 4 This he exemplifies by a progression in length, first on the short vowel o, as occk- poBoc, toottoq, orpotyog, and again on the long vowel ij, as jj\aro, A//>w, 7r\»jyjj, (TTrXi)y. Here it is to be observed, that the several consonants which are joined in the same syllable with the vowels and 7?, are so many actual, though minute additions to the vocal effort in utterance ; and thev are therefore described as TrpoadrjKui ukovutcu and uia6r)Tai, in- crements audible and perceptible. Similar differences may be per- ceived, by a nice ear, in our own language ; as in the syllables it, bit, Briton, spritsail, with the short 1; and in idle, sidle, bride, stride, with the long i. Mr. Walker, therefore, is not correct in his observation, " that in English we have no conception of quantity arising from any- thing but the nature of the vowels." 5 On the contrary, much of the beauty of our poetry depends on a due mixture of syllables rendered long or short in different degrees, by means of their consonants. It is said, that the Sanskrit grammarians make four distinctions of quantity in a syllable, which thev determine by reference to the sounds uttered by different birds, and mark by a sign called Matrang. A consonant without a vowel is said to be in length half a matrang ; a short vowel, answering in length to the note of a small bird called a Ghosh, is in lenv fiaKpwv, Kal fipaxdrtpai r&v ^po-x^oiv. — Aiov. tt. crvvQeff. ovo/x. s. 19. s ( (bservations on the Greek and Latin Accent and Quantity. 6 Halhed's Gentoo Laws, Pref. p. xxv. CHAP. VIII. j OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AXD EMPHASIS. 171 conceivable that ordinary discourse could be governed by such arti- ficial restraints ; but in verse, or measured prose, such a system might, no doubt, be adopted. Indeed, something like it is practised, not only by the Hindoos in reading the Vedas, and the Mahometans in reading the Koran; but by the Jews in reading the sacred Scriptures of the Old Testament. 227. The length or shortness of syllables in any language is deter- How mined either by certain general rules, or by the practice of the best detennined « authorities. The rules of the Greek grammarians as to quantity have a particular relation to the grammatical system of their language. The Greek alphabet having two long vowels, ?j and w, two short, e and o, and three which may be pronounced sometimes long and sometimes short, a, t, and v, Greek syllables were said to be long or short, either (pvaei or Otertt (by nature, or by position). A syllable was said to be long by nature, if it was written with 77 or w, or with a, e, or v pro- nounced long, or with a diphthong. It was said to be long by position if it was written with a, e, t, o, or v, followed by two or more single consonants, or by one double consonant, as £ or ■&/ (answering to ks and ps)} All other syllables were said to be short. I speak, of course, as to the most general rales, not meaning to enter into the detail of subordinate rales or exceptions to be found in the common Grammars. The Latin rules were in like manner framed with relation to the Latin alphabet, and consequently differed in many particulars from the Greek; but they both agreed in the general principle (with certain exceptions) that a vowel followed by two consonants rendered the syllable equal in quantity to two short syllables. 2 This, however, is far from being a rule universally applicable to languages in general. Some nations acquire by habit a greater facility than others in uttering with rapidity certain combinations of articulate sounds. " A German can precipitate his voice over four or five consonants without lengthen- ing the sound of the preceding vowel, where a Greek or Roman voice would be retarded by only two." So in English, we can easily pro- nounce such words as strengthless, strengthener, which an Italian could pronounce with great difficulty, if at all ; and a Chinese must break each of them down into six or seven syllables, and those very imper- fectly articulated. Still, in English, and many other Northern tongues, though a vowel followed by two or more consonants may remain short, the syllable containing it must necessarily be longer than if the vowel had been followed by a single consonant ; for every articulation, whether vowel or consonantal, requires a separate movement of the organs; every such movement occupies a portion of time, however minute ; and the time so employed on a consonant must be added to 1 Oe'erei 5e fxaKpal ylvoviM, orav fipaxeos ovtos, ?) fipaxwo/Jiivov (pwwfjevTos, crvjxcptova in-mf), /xera^v avrov re km tov ttjs e|^s (rvWafirjs (pwvfifVTOs, irKiiova evbs airAov, 3) %v SnrXovu. — llepha'stion, ed. Gaisford, p. 3. 2 Longam (svllabam) esse duoruin temporum, brevern univts, etiam pueri sciunt — Qnintil. 9, 4. 172 OF Aii EST, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CHAP, VIII. that of the vowel, and must consequently augment the length of the syllable. Authority. ' 228. We find in all languages, that deviations take place from the most general rules, and it then becomes necessary to consider on what authority they rest This is the case in regard to the quantity of syllables, as well as to other properties of language; and whenever it occurs, we must be guided by the example of the best writers and most accomplished speakers. "Tin- goodness of words considered in itself," says Sciiellek, "rests on the custom of good writers." 1 When it happens that a syllable is found with different quantities in two authors, it may be proper to follow the example of the more celebrated writer, even though deviating more widely than the other from a general rule. Diphthongs in Latin are usually, but not always, long; and, agreeably to that rule, we find prce in pra'iret made long by Statius, — Cum vacuus domino prairct Arion. 2 But by Virgil (as well as others) it is made short — Nee tota tamen ille prior prceeunte carina. 3 We should, therefore, generally prefer the latter quantity, since Virgil lived in an age of purer taste than Statius, and was himself a most correct and polished writer. Sometimes the authorities are few, and not very weighty on either side. It is related of Sir James Mackintosh, that being on a visit to Cambridge, and reading in one of the colleges an inscription containing the word accidentia, he pronounced it academia, shortening the i. Professor Porson thereupon observed, " We are in the habit here of saying academia," with the i lengthened. Sir James might have cited the authority of Claudian — In Latium spretis Academia migrat Athenis. 4 On the other side, the authority of Cicero might have been appealed to— Inque Academia umbrifera, nitidoque Lyceo. 5 But neither Cicero nor Claudian was -of the first authority as a poet; and though the word in question was of Greek origin, a doubt might still remain; for we find it in th.it language written differently 'A(v-ac?/^£ia and A. ectopia. 8 Aristophanes uses the former, Plutarch and Athenaeus the latter, which however may probably have been read with a long quantity on the t. R. Stephanus says of the Latin word, "it varies the penultimate," and he therefore leaves the syllable wirhout a mark of quantity. 7 A vowel is usually termed common in such a case, and with still greater reason when we find (as we some- 1 Bonitas vocabalorum, per se considerate consuetudine bonorum scriptorum nititur. — Scheller, Styl. Latin, p. 1, c. 2, s. 1. 2 .Statius, Th. f>. 3 Virgil, /En. 5, 186. * Claudian, Carm. 17, 94. 5 Cicero, de Divin. 1, 14. 6 II. Stephan. vol. iv. p. 323. " R. Stephan. vol. i. voc. Academia. CiLVI 1 . VIII.J OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 173 times do) the same author using a syllable with a different quantity in the same word, ex. gr. — Nulllus addictus jurare in verba rnagistri; 1 and elsewhere — Dante minor quamvis fers te nulllus egentem. 2 229. That quantity being a measure of time, must essentially differ Relation to from accent, considered as a measure of tone, is self-evident. Never- ccen ' theless, these two qualities may coincide on the same syllable ; it being pronounced, perhaps, somewhat longer, if accented, than it otherwise would be, and somewhat shorter if unaccented. Several causes, how- ever, render accuracy on this point a matter of some nicety. In the first place, the rise or fall of the syllabic tone (as has been already explained) is extremely slight; whereas that of the oratorial tone, which may happen to be combined with it, may be strongly marked. In the words honour and dishonour, as occurring in ordinary discourse, the syllable hon may be pronounced with an equal tone, and of equal length. But if in argument these words be set in direct opposition as to their signification, the oratorial tone must be thrown on dis, and will render that syllable not only more elevated and more emphatic, but also longer in utterance. So, when Othello, surprised at Iago's mention of Cassio, hastily asks, " Is he not honest V the syllable hon, having only the syllabic tone, or a very slight oratorial tone, is com- paratively short in utterance. But in Iago's hesitating repetition of honest ? as if reluctant to answer directly, the same syllable has a strong oratorial tone, and must by any skilful actor be considerably lengthened. 3 A third circumstance, which renders the correct adapt- ation of quantity difficult, is the diversity of habitual pronunciation in different nations and districts. Mr. Foster has dwelt on this point with great minuteness. "The English" (says he) "join the acute (accent) and long time together, as in liberty. The Scotch observe our quantity, and alter our accent, as liberty'. They pronounce the same syllable long which we do, but they make it longer. The Irish observe our quantity and accent too, but with a greater degree of spirit or emphasis, giving to most syllables an aspiration, li'berty. The Welsh keep our quantity and alter the accent, with a manner of voice, which Cicero calls aspera, fracta, scissa, flexo sono, llber-ty." 4 Elsewhere indeed, he says, " We English cannot readily elevate a syllable without lengthening it ;" 5 but this rule at all events does not hold good in all languages ; for, as Bentley observes, the first syllable of tyvaig (nature) is short, and the first of be, a pause, the sound being intermitted. We make, indeed, a slight intermission of sound between every word, but that is so extremely minute, as to be scarcely percepl on the contrary, tin 1 pans.' at tin- end of a sentence must be distinctly made by all persons, in all stat*'.-, of life, 1. 1 render themselves intel- ligible: ami this, whether the sentence be simple, like the two above stated, or as complex as the first sentence in Thucydides. Let us then render the two sentences complex, by developing the idea expo in each, thus, " God is infinite in power, in wisdom, and in love ; but man is finite in all these energies." Here we see the two simple sentences combined into one. There is a pause between each of the two portions, though less than if either stood singly ; and there are still minor pauses after the words " power," and " wisdom :" all which are necessary to the full and clear expression of the thought meant to be communicated. Again, the thought may be expanded into an argument, thus : " If God be infinite in power, in wisdom, and in love, and man be finite in all these energies, how can mere human power measure the power of the Almighty, or mere human wisdom comprehend the wisdom of the All-wise, or mere human love appreciate the love which embraces at once the loftiest and the meanest of created beings?" The different portions of this and of all other complex sentences require, for their clear and forcible utterance, pauses of different lengths ; the relative proportions of which it may not always be easy to adjust. Speaking generally, the languages which afford a large scope to the inflection, derivation, and composition of words, must furnish means for complexity of sentences ; and may consequently be expected to adopt a variety of pauses. Now, the Greeks possessed a language extremely rich in this wealth of words, and their poets, orators, historians, and philosophers produced from its stores works of immortal genius. Yet so little had their gram- marians studied this part of glossological science, that they distin- guished only two subordinate members of a period ; and these they named ko/u/mra and kCjXu, construed by Cicero incisa and membra? and giving name to our commas and colons. To these we have added the semicolon : and our ordinary Grammars have adopted the absurd rule, that the comma requires the shortest pause, the semicolon a pause double that of the comma, the colon double the semicolon, and the period double the colon ; on which, however, Bishop Lowth judiciouslv observes, " that in all cases the proportion of the several points in respect to one another, is rather to be regarded, than their supposed precise quantity, or proper office when taken separately. "* Impressive. 233. So much for the grammatical pause ; but a pause may have a different and far more impressive effect, when it serves to confirm and to strengthen the feelings expressed by the words which it follows. This latter sort of pause, then, I would call the impressive. The occasions on which it may be introduced, and the different 1 Orator s, 62. 2 English Grammar, ed. 1762, p. 171. CHAP. VIII.] OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. 177 lengths of time which it may occupy, are as various as the passions which it serves to mark. I will cite a few examples, with the usual sign — for the pause. Cicero pauses, with indignation, at the mention of the Senate's having offered to treat with Antony, then a rebel in arms against their lawful authority — " But we have sent ambassadors to him ! — Miserable that I am ! I who have always been the Senate's eulogist, why am I now compelled to reproach it?" 1 The poet thus describes Satan pausing, in gloomy melancholy at the sight of his fallen comrade — If thou beest lie — But oh ! how ehang'd ! — how fall'n ! 2 The agitation of crime is seen in the hurried pauses of Lady Mac- beth, whilst her husband is murdering Duncan — Hark !— Peace !— It was the owl that shriek'd , 3 The anxious trepidation of intended guilt is still more strikingly de- picted in the hesitating pauses of King John, when hinting his bloody purpose to Hubert — I had a thing to say — But let it go. And again — Good Hubert. — Hubert — Hubert — throw thine eye On yon young boy — I tell thee what, my friend — He is a very serpent in my way. 4 Lastly, the awful solemnity of a pause was never, perhaps, more strongly felt, than it is in Milton's description of the Lazar-house, where, amidst the dreadful train of human maladies, in all their ghastly forms — Despair Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch ; And over them triumphant Death his dart Shook — but delay 'd to strike. 5 There is a third kind of pause, which we may call prosodial ; but as its effect relates to versification alone, it will be best noticed under the head of Prosody. 234. Before I conclude this chapter, however, it may be proper to Harmony. notice some terms relating to this part of Glossology, which eminent writers have employed either vaguely, or with some peculiar and un- authorized signification. And first, in reference to Tone, I have noticed above that Plato uses the word appoiia (harmony) for the elevation and depression of the voice. This, however, was only his peculiar application of it to language. The ancient meaning was far more comprehensive, denoting any fitness or agreement of things, from cipw, to fit. Hence Homer uses appovia for the fitting of planks 1 In M. Anton. Phil. 7, 4. 2 Par. Lost, 1, 84. 3 Macbeth, a. ii. sc. 2. 4 Shakspeare, K. John, a. iii. sc. 3. * Milton, Par. Lost, 11, 489 [G.j 178 OF ACCENT, QUANTITY, AND EMPHASIS. [CHAP. VIII. in a ship; 1 ami elsewhere for the compacts binding men together, which the Gods were called to witness.' And in the Homeric hymns the Goddess Harmonia seems to represent the general fitness of things in the universe. 3 Harmony, therefore, is improperly applied to the degrees of a single quality, for instance Tone, which constitutes what Mr. Steele and Mr. Mitford more properly call the " Melody of Speech;" 4 whilst the latter seems to mean by the " Harmony of Language," a pleasing result of all its qualities judiciously combined. Even this, however, is by no means what is meant by harmony in its modern application to music; for in that art it signifies the fit adaptation of concurrent notes (that is tones) in different parts, of one or more instruments or in voices of different pitch, with or without instruments: and that in certain mathematical proportions. And as the musical acceptation of the term is so well and so generally known, it would be advisable not to apply it in a different sense to speech ; whilst the term melody, as used by the two glossologists above- mentioned, agrees well enough with the use of the same term in music; and moreover answers to the terms jutXoc and ivfiiXeia of Dionysius of Halicarnassus. 5 Cadence. 235. In respect to time, the word Cadence has, I think, been in- judiciously adopted by some writers for rhythm. Cadence is used, in the standard works on music, to signify a certain progression of sounds at the end of a piece, without which the hearer would expe- rience a sense of incompleteness. It is derived from the Latin cado, to fall, and is alluded to in the beautiful speech of the enamoured Duke to the musicians — That strain again — it had a dying fall ! ! it came o'er my ear, like the sweet south, That breathes upon a bank of violets, Stealing and giving odour. 6 Mr. Steele uses it as analogous in speech to a bar in music, which fs a measure of time; nevertheless he calls it emphatic, because, accord- ing to him, it is determined by the arsis and thesis, the raising and lowering of the hand or foot, in beating time ; the raising being termed by him light, and the falling heavy. 7 Mr. Mitford, though he does not confound cadence with emphasis, does with rhythm. " 'Pvduoc," he says, " which the Latins call Nwneri, may perhaps in 1 T6fj.(poifj.eda, rbi yap &piffroi MapTvpot eaffovrai ie fined. Xecess.iry. tions." 1 M. COURT DE Gebelk has still mo fcely distin- guished the place of this part of speech. " The grammarian" (says he) "should place interjections last; but the etymologist should begin with them, because they (often) furnish the origin of words whose liliation he seeks; they form an energetic source of language ; and without tin' knowledge of them he would make vain efforts to give his researches the depth and certainty which they ought to haw."* 242. An interjection has been defined, "a part of speech, showing forth a human feeling without asserting it," 3 or rather, without asserting anything whatever. It is therefore no part of a proposition, it is no element of the unit of thought; but it does not follow from these premises that it may not have relation to thought, or that it may not even modify the proposition or propositions to which it relates. I will illustrate my meaning by two examples; first, the opening of Horace's pathetic ode — Eheu ! fugaces, Postume ! Postume ! Labuntur aimi. 4 Ilorat. Carm. 1. ii. 14, 1. Here is only one proposition directly asserted, " that the years of our life flow on," labuntur anni, a truism which, if it stood alone, would certainly add but little even to our knowledge, and nothing at all to our feelings. It becomes somewhat more expressive when we join the adjective fugaces, amounting to the implied proposition that our years are rapid in their flight ; but when these propositions are intro- duced by Eheu! they assume a degree of interest from the feelings of the poet; and when to this is added and repeated the vocative Postume! Postume! the force both of labuntur and of fugaces is doubly augmented, by their relation to the sorrow of the person so tenderly addressed. And it will be observed that these vocatives are quite as interjectional in their nature as the word Eheu! for they assert nothing whatever, and form no part of any proposition. My other example is from Theognis — ZeC Trdrep, i(6e yevoiro 6eo?s s or nouns, as hark ! peace ! pax!^ yes ! — and lastly, entire phrases, as " Amabo te .'" " God bless me !" " Vita Deum immortalium!" Of the first class, I have said I should scarcely rank such half-uttered sounds among parts of speech ;'" yet we find them used by Terence and Cicero, and acknowledged as interjections by some able grammarians. On the second, third, fourth, and fifth classes there can be no doubt. The sixth and seventh are often denied a place among interjections. Thus, Vossius says, " there are other words, which, although they evince an affection of the mind, do not, however, belong to this class, as malum ! which Ccelius Calcagninus, 1. 2. epist. 8, excludes from the number of interjections. But it is an tTr«pu>i>ripa by interposition, as Donatus has noticed on several passages of Terence ; and the same reasoning applies to miserum! infandum! nefas! and others." 2 What the precise grammatical function of an iirupuvripa. by interposition may be, or how far it may differ from an interjection, I cannot pretend to say ; but when any word showing forth an emotion of the mind, be it noun, verb, or other part of speech, is either thrown into a sentence, or placed at its beginning, more especially if not connected with it grammatically, I think it may not improperly be called an interjection, as it is in fact called by many grammarians, in different countries. This is the doctrine of Priscian, 8 which he instances in the line — Navibus, infandum ! amissis unius ob iram. 4 Our ships, monstrous ! lost through fault of :tte. where the verbal adjective, infandum, however it may be explained ellipticaUy, as part of a separate sentence, is here in fact thrown into the principal sentence interjectionally. Priscian adds, that " one or more" words may be so applied, " singuloe vel plures." Nor is this peculiar to the Latin language, of which he treats ; for Mr. Marsdkn, > Univ. Gram. s. 412. * De Analogia, 1, 2. 3 Priscian, 1. lo, c. 7. Alia tamen quoquc partes, singula; vel plures, Foleiit interjective proferri, ut Viigilius, in l.-Eneid; infandum! pro interjectione protiait. 4 Virgil, -Kneid, 1, 251. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 187 enumerating the Malayan interjections, observes, " that in some in- stances -the exclamation itself consists of more than one word, as Hei-pada-ku ! woe is me !' Even where it is a single word in one lan- guage, the correspondent exclamation in another language often com- prises several words ; as the Turkish interjection solah ! is expressed in French by alkz-vous-en P for as the feelings themselves have no distinct gradations, nor any positive separation from each other, so the modes of expressing them are purely arbitrary. One person breathes out his passion indistinctly ; another fashions its expression into syllables and words. In one language a feeling is indicated by a simple vowel ; the same feeling is expanded by the idiom of another language into a phrase or an insulated sentence. The examples already given, and those which I shall presently adduce, will show how impossible it is to fix one and the same mode of expressing in all languages any particular shade of emotion or passion. More espe- cially would the simple articulations be unfit for such a purpose, since in many languages they undergo various and even opposite changes of signification. Hence Suidas and H. Stephanus give to the Greek a the effect of expressing admiration, consternation, indignation, and commiseration, and of deterring, dissuading, reprehending, wishing, and rejoicing. So Martinez says of the Spanish ah ! ay ! o ! that they denote sorrow, joy, indignation, or astonishment. 3 Nor must we be surprised to find that Ciconio ascribes to the Italian ah ! and ahi ! the expression of more than twenty different affections ;* for the effect of an interjection depends far less on its articulations than on the tone, time, and force with which it is uttered. " Their accents," savs Priscian, speaking of interjections, " are not certain, for they are varied according to the nature of the feeling excited." 5 And I have heretofore observed, that a slight degree of elevation or depression, of length or shortness, of weakness or force, may indicate a marked difference in the emotion producing it — a difference felt by infants long before they can distinguish articulate sounds; and even by domestic animals, to whom articulation is an unfathomable mystery. 247. Some grammarians have reckoned among interjections certain Imitative sounds, articulate and inarticulate, which are merely intended as imi- soun & ' tations of other sounds, not expressing any human passion or affection. These, however, do not fall under the proper definition of an inter- jection, though thev may sometimes be introduced into discourse, as nouns, verbs, or the like. " If an interjection " (says Vossius) " be the sign of a mental affection, as Charisius admits it to be, the sounds produced by irrational animals cannot be reckoned in this class. Charisius, therefore, improperly enumerates under it trit, which in the ' Corollaria ' of Nsevius is meant to represent the squeak of a mouse. 1 Malay. Gram. p. 97. 2 David's Gram. Turk. p. 110. 3 Gram. Espagn. . 177. * Univ. Gram. s. 413. 5 Accentus (interj ctionum) non sunt certi— quippe pro aftectus eommoti quanti- tate confundantur in eis (interjectionibus) accentus, — Priscian, 1. 15, c. 7. 188 OF INTERJECTIONS. [( BAP. IX. In the same light we may consider /3peice*:e$, used by Aristophanes for the croaking of frogs: and the like may be said of sounds caused by inanimate bodies, or even by mankind, when they have no distinct signification, and express no mental affection." 1 So far Vossius — but on this subject 1 shall speak at large m a future chapter. ciasBiflca- 248. As it is impossible to reduce the infinite variety of feelings, t1 ""' emotions, and passions, which affect mankind, to a strict and minute classification, so neither can the interjections which express those movements of the mind be minutely and strictly classified. Yet a general survey of the interjections and interjectional forms, in a variety ofku . will suffice to show that they have their source in feelings common to the whole human race. At the same time it will be seen, that if nouns and verbs are sometimes used interjectionally, simple interjections pass no less frequently into verbs or nouns, with long trains of derivatives, in the same or cognate languages. Bishop Wilkins' distinction of interjections into solitary and social will form a first step towards an arrangement of them ; the former being (as he explains them) those used by us when we are alone, or not directly tending to discourse with others. In the first, the individual gives forth a sound evincing some change in himself; in the other, he designs to procure some mutation in his hearers.* Even this primary distinction, however, is not to be taken strictly, as if the same inter- jection, which we might utter in solitary pain, could not also be used so as to excite the sympathy of others; or as if the pleasant com- panionable laugh might not sometimes break out, in our moments of joyful recollection, when alone. " 249. I have now to show that interjections of the several kinds pa '" f ' above described are in fact to be found in languages the most uncon- nected, locally and historically. I shall begin with those which the good bishop calls solitary, and of which the earliest uttered express pain. These gradually pass from simple articulations, more or less accentuated, prolonged, and emphatic, to distinct words single or com- bined. Of such I have elsewhere instanced the English Ah! Oh! Alas! WeUaday! Woe's me! the Scotch. Wdy, waly ! Wae's my heart! the Anglo-Saxon Wa! Walal Walawal the Gothic Wai! the Welsh Gwail the Greek Ouoi, d, al, ira-K-xa, Trmrnl. lit; the Latin Ah! oh! to! vec! heu! pape! and the Italian Ah! ahi! ahi-lasso! a Interjections of the same character are to be found in every other language that I have been able to consult. Thus we have in French, AM Oh! Hai! Helas !* in Spanish Ah! Ay! 0! Ah que disgraoia! Ay que pena! desdechado de mi! Cielos! b 'm Por- tuguese Jiy/ Ay de mime! MeaDeus'. 6 in German, Ach! Weh! au! auweh! 7 in Danish, Aa! ah! o! desveerre ! a in Swedish, Ack ! ack 1 Vossius, De Analogia, 1. 4, c. 28. 2 Heal Character, p. 308. 3 Univ. Gram. ss. 413, 418. 4 Court de Gebelin, vol. ii. p. 355, &c. '■• Martinez, p. 177. ,; Vi.vn, p. 120. Nochden, Klem. p. 108. 8 Dansk. Ordbog. ad voces. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 189 himmel ! ajdal var! ice mig /' in Gaelic, Och! och mo chreach ! mo thnididh! 2 in Russian, Uvue! Ach ! AH* In Hebrew there an; interjections answering to our 0! Alas! Woe!* in Arabic to Ah! Alas!* in Persian to 01 Alas! 9 in Turkish to Oh! Ah! Alas! Woe ! (a hai, derigh, eivah, behei, ah, vai ! 7 ) in Armenian to Oh ! alas! woe be to me! wretch that I am ! B in Sanscrit to Oh sad! woe! alas! ah! 9 in the mixed Indian to Ah me! (hay ma!) 10 in the Tamulic there are different interjections of weeping and grieving. 11 In Chinese Eel and Oo-hool express grief; 12 in the Annamitic of Tonquin and Cochin China, Thu ung-he! Kho-he ! cha-oi! and hi-oi express grief, 12 and ho-i-heu-heu ! lamentation; 18 in the Thai language of Siam we find no less than six interjections described as exclamatio doloris ; o infortunium ! o cor meum ! o miseria ! o instabilitas rerum J 14 in the Barman language we find an interjection answering to our Oh ! and two others expressing pain and anguish. 15 In Japanese, aware marks grief, aware moutsouhasii io no naka kana ! (literally, Oh world full of trouble!) ha! aa! regret or repentance ; hat ! fear ; sara ! sometimes pain. 16 In Hungarian we have yai! all! yai nekem szegenyneh! Oh wretched me! Hai, hai! alas! Yai szegeny ! Oh miserable ! 17 In the Tscheremissian (a Finnish or Tschudish tongue), we find for pain and grief, OH AH Ai, ai! Oi, oi! and for terror, Ui! ai. ns In the Syrysenian (a kindred dialect), the interjection of pain is Oi! oi! 19 In the Greenland tongue we find A! Oh! Ahasik! O lamentable! 20 In the Lapponic, Woil Oi, oi! Ai, ayai! n and in the Malayan, Adoh ! Adolic ! ah! alas! Hex I alas! Hei padehu! Woe is me ! Weh ! alas ! 22 In the Tonga language, Seeooke Seeookele ! Oiaoo ! Oiaooe ! express pain or distress. 23 In the Otaheitan, Aoue expresses pain. 24 In the South Australian, Yakka alya! Oh dear! 25 In Coptic, Ouoi! alas! Woe to me! O! oh! 26 In the Wolof lan- guage, Ola man! alas! (Mai! Alas! Oh! oh! Eh! ah! 27 Lithe Sechuana, Yoa ! What grief it is J 28 In the Lenni Lenape (North American) the exclamations of sorrow are Ihik! Iwi ! Ihi! Auwik! Ekih ! Kih / 29 In the Cree language, Pittaue ! Would that ! 30 In the Dakota (language of the Sioux), Yung is an interjection of pain. 31 In the Kiriri (South American), are Aqa! Aganori! Ah! alas! Bo! oh! Hi! ah! Ache! oh! Hombro! alas! Yahe ! Osad! 32 250. It is not to be understood, that the interjections here enu-'0'«, 8' 6*co0. 4 Homer uses 'At yap, in the Doric dialect, with the same effect — 'Alyap, ZeO T6 irdrep, xai ' AOr/valri , koj ''AiroAAoj', ToioDtoi 8e«a juot (Tvfuppd.Snoi'es ehv 'Axaiuv. 5 Iii the two last cases it is suggested by Hoogkveex that tl or al signifies the wish, and yap the cause of the wish ; e but at all events the combination forms an interjectional phrase. Social, 25(5. Let us now turn to the social exclamations. It will of course painful. happen that many of those which I have considered as solitary, may also be uttered in the presence of other persons, and even with a direct wish to impress their minds with feelings of pity, indignation, joy, or the like: but the class now to be discussed must be, and always are, directed to some such end. The shriek or groan of agony, bodily or mental, may be forced from us in total solitude, or in the hearing of surrounding multitudes ; but there are exclamations angry or tender, which can only be addressed to tire feelings of our fellow- beings. Let us first consider those which show displeasure at th sir conduct, or aversion to their persons; as in English, Fie! Faugh! Foh! Pah! Poh! Pshaw! Pish! Tush! Tut! Harrow! Avaunt! Aroynt thee! Off! Away with thee! Go to! Shame! &c. In Scotch, Woe worth you,! Rout! In Anglo-Saxon, Tceg ! In Gothic, Wai thus! la German, Fi! Pfui! In Danish,_ify / Veel In Swedish, Bort! Fy sham! We dig ! In Greek, fev,~Apov. 'Eg KOpatcag. In Latin, Eja ! Eho ! Vce tibi ! Apage ! Abi in malam rem ! In Italian, Oibo! Oitu! Oise! Via! In French, Fi! Foin! Abas! Bah! In Spanish, Ah ! Ay ! ! In Portuguese, Irra ! Ndda ! Fora ! Guai ! Ah! In Welsh,' Ffwrdd ! Wfft ! Wb ! In Gaelic, Mulachd dho ! Hah ! Aha ! Mo nair ort ! In Russian, Tefoo! In Hebrew there are inter- jections answering to our Go to! Abominable! Forbid it! In Arabic, to Fie! Poh! Begone! In Turkish, to Get you gone! Get out ! In Armenian, to Woe be to you ! Wretch that you are ! fie ! Pish ! In Sanskrit there are several expressions of contempt and of anger. In mixed Indian, of disdain. In Tamulic, of disbelief and of indig- nation. In Chinese, of anger and contempt. In Annamitic, of com- plaint and of derision. In Siamese, of supplication, of contempt, of anger, and of interruption. In Japanese, of fear. In Malayan, answering to Fie ! Away ! Out ! Woe to tJiee ! Far be it ! Forbid it ! In Tongan, expressive of disgust, anger, vexation, rage, Begone ! Out 1 Old Scots Song. 2 Ovid, Epist. 1, v. 5. 3 Homer, II. 4, 313. 4 Sophocl. Klectra, J 4 1 1 . 5 Homor, II. 2, 370 6 Doctrina Partic. 16, 2, 1. CHAP. IX. J OF INTERJECTIONS. 195 of my sight! In South Australian, of aversion and disagreeableness, Be of I In Wolof, answering to the French Pi! Fidonc! Vat' en! In Yoruban, Sai is a word of defiance, and Ho! of contempt. In Lenni Lenape the interjections of indignation, &c, are Sa ! Gissam ! NisMendam! Ekisch! In Cree, Wa! is applied to several words forming interjections, or interjectional phrases of displeasure, as Wa!-keetim-it! How lazy he is! Wa ! -keit-apitch-eun ! How long thou hast been absent! In Dakotan, Liocheat ! disbelief — Fudge! It is needless to repeat the names of the authors who mention interjections of this class, since they are the same which have been already quoted in the notes, with reference to the preceding classes. I proceed to remark on some of the words just noted. 257. Few words in any language more obviously deserve the Fie! title of interjection than fie ! does in English ; yet Mr. Tooke ranks it among adverbs ! It is certainly connected with the Gothic verb fiyan, Anglo-Saxon feogan, fean, fian, Frankish and Alemannic Jien, figen, all which signify to hate. Probably the verb was formed from the exclamation, of which Wachter gives the following account : — " Pi, interjectio aversantis apud Saxones inferiores et Gallos hodiernos, sicut apud Latinos /w. Germani superiores dicuntj?Am etpfui. Grasci ) — £ v T0 *> avcpog — both relating to persons dead ; and Sophocles says, Shaksp. Cvmbeline, a. iii. sc. 3. 4 Ibid. Winter's Tale, a. v. sc. 1. 5 Odyss. 1, 123. 6 to ixev 8t) x a 'V 61J/ > apX a ' ia f^ t> % Trpo Kovpw 2 2G4. The last of the three interjections above noticed is our word Ila'd I which Johnson desciibes as "a term of salutation now used only in poetry." It is sufficiently familiar to us, however, from its use" in our translation of several passages in the New Testament, where it answers to a third sense of x a ~ l ? E in tlie or, S inal Greek, which is rendered in the Vulgate Ave ! and expresses a feeling of respect, real or feigned, amounting sometimes to veneration, and sometimes to mere common civility. In Roman Catholic countries, the salutation of the Angel to the Mother of our Lord seems to be regarded as almost, if not quite, an act of adoration ; and in this view, certain hours of the day are devoted to its recital; so that individuals of the lower classes are often found, who cannot distinguish the time of evening by hours, but merely by reference to the first, second, or third Ave Maria. In the "earliest specimen of Teutonic writing extant, the Moeso-Gothic translation of certain portions of the Scriptures, we find the x a 'P e °f tlie an S el rendered literally Fagino! 3 rejoice, a word which Dieffenbach traces through the analogies of many Northern languages. 4 But in all the other instances, x a 'P £ is rendered in Gothic, Hails! which is also traced by Dieffenbach through many languages, as signifying "whole," "sound," " well," or the like. 5 It would seem, from the well-known story of " Rowena," that Wa>s hail ! (be well! be in health!) was a festal salutation among the Teutonic nations, whence we have derived the name of the wassail bowl, and the modern custom of drinking healths. The interjection Hail ! appears to have been subsequently employed in old English, as an invocation to the Saints. One of our most ancient poems begins — Hail! Seint Michel with the lange sper! 8 And it is probably from this last custom that the modern use of Hail ! is generally confined to the invocation of supernatural beings, as " Hail ! Muse !" or of the Great Creator Himself, as — Hail ! Source of being ! Universal Soul Of Heaven and Earth ! Essential Presence, hail! 7 265. Dr. Jamiesox explains the Scottish expression Leeze me ! by Leif is me, " dear is to me," observing that me Cm the former phrase) is a dative case ; and elsewhere he gives " leif, ' as signifying dear, 1 Odvss. 5, 205. 2 Ibid. 11, 151. 3 Luke i. 28. 4 Vergleich. Wortbuch goth. Sprache, vol. i. p. 348. 5 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 497. 6 MsfHarl. 913, fo. 5. 7 Thomson, Spring, v. 553. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 203 " leesome," or " lei/sum," desirable, and leman, " a sweetheart, male or female." Unknown as all these expressions are to our modern English, they are all connected with the Anglo-Saxon, and many other Northern tongues, and in part at least with the old English. Jjieb (says Wachter) occurs in all our old dialects. 1 The passage, " Thou art my beloved Son," 2 is rendered in Mceso-Gothic, " Thu is Sunns meins sa liuba," 3 and in Frankish, " Thu bist mein Hobo Sun. 4 Lieb, liuba, Hobo, are probably all connected with the Hebrew Leb, the heart. In the Dutch and Scotch Leif, clear, the b passes into/. In the English Love, it passes into v ; but /is retained in several antiquated and provincial English words — The soule of this synfulle wight Is wonnen into Hevert bright, To Jhesu lefe and dere. s So Bullcalf, having been marked down for a soldier, says, " In very troth, sir, I'd as lief be hanged, sir, as go." 6 Lie/man, too, was con- tracted with us, as in Scotland, into leman, the old word for a lover or mistress. Sir Andrew Aguecheek says to the clown, " I sent thee sixpence for thy leman. 7 The Scottish Leeze me had a further transi- tion of meaning, when followed by the preposition on, as in the popular song — Leeze me on your curly pow ! Bonnie Davie, dainty Davie ! For here it seems rather to ro?an " blessing on your head !" as in the Scriptural phrase, " Blessings are upon the head of the just." 8 And clearly as an interjection, it expresses a feeling different from any that can be given to it as an elliptical proposition. 266. The interjections hitherto considered express feelings which, Relating tc in Bishop Wilkins' language, are " the result of a surprised affection, Jud s ment - moved by the apprehension of good or evil." But there are other feelings which he attributes to an impression on the judgment. Such are those of doubting, of surprise, of bespeaking attention, of acqui- escence, of dissent, and the like. As these belong to human nature, fchey will be found, on examination, to furnish interjections in most languages : though, from the slight nature of the feelings themselves, they have attracted comparatively little notice. 267. Doubt is a state of confused and hesitating judgment. When Doubting, the matter in question is of slight importance, the emotion produced by it is weak, and not unnaturally vents itself in imperfect and in- articulate sounds. This circmnstance led Bishop Wilkins to reckon Km ! among the interjections of doubting. But though some gram- marians may agree with him in this particular, the majority will hardly regard such unvocalized consonants as deserving the name of 1 Gloss. Germanie, voc. Lieb. 2 Mark i. 11. 3 Ulfilas, Mark i. 11. 4 Tatian, Mark i. 1 1 . 5 Halliwell, v. ii. p. 512. 6 See Hen. IV., a. iii. sc. 2. 7 Twelfth Night, a. iii. sc. 2. 8 Proverbs x. 6. 204. OF l.\ i I BJB ! IONS. [CHAP. IX. speech. The case is different when one or more distinct syllables are uttered, as in the Latin Hem 1 and Au! the English Hum! the Greek &pa, and the Maltese Yaganl Like many interjections, i7i»m has a variety of significations, depending on the tone and manner of utterance. It indicates a sort of donbt in Phsedria's soliloquy — Ccepi egomet mecum inter vias, Aliarn rem ex alia cogitare — Occepi mecum cogitare : Semi biduum hie Mancudum est soli sine ilia ? Quid turn postea? 1 The Latin Au ! shows a ludicrous confusion of mind in My sis, the servant maid, who cannot imagine what Davus means by asking her questions about the child — Davus. Dieturan' es quod rogo ? Mysis. Au! 2 The English Hum! which is sometimes written Humph! is called by Johnson* an interjection, and described by him as " a sound im- plying doubt and deliberation," as when Macdu ft' refuses to come at Macbeth's call — The cloudy messenger turns me his back, And hums, as who should say, you'll rue the time That clogs me with this answer. 3 The origin of this interjection will appear under the head of Onoma- topoeia. The Greek c'tpa, among other meanings has that of doubt expressed interjectionally ; of which Hoogeveen gives what he calls " egregium dubitantis et in diversa abeuntis animi exemplum," " a striking example of a mind doubting and turning itself in different directions." 4 Where the Chorus, suggesting a number of ridiculous causes for the non-appearance of the old man, says — Ti iroT ov irpb Qvpwv cpdiuer' &p' riixlv 'O ytpwv ,- 5 The Greek apa, in this use of it, is not unlike the Irish Arrah ! — Arrah! what do you think of us volunteers now ? 6 The Maltese Yagan is described by Dr. Vasallo as " particella di dubbio, e sovente vale forse?" " a particle expressing doubt, and often answering to perhaps, used interjectionally." 7 Surprise. 268. Surprise is felt in numberless shades of intensity, from over- whelming astonishment to the transient impression of mere novelty, and these again modified by delight, anxiety, desire, aversion, terror, and other passions. I need only mention the English J la! La! How! 1 I began to think within myself, on the road, about one thing after another — I thought to myself, Hum I Must I stay here alone with her (or two days? and what next ? — Terence, Enn. a. iv. sc. 2. 8 Terent. Andria, a. iv. sc. 4. — Da. Will you answer my question ? My. Aul a Shaksp. Macbeth, a. iii. sc. 6. 4 Doctrina Particul. 5, 3, 8. 5 Vesp. v. 273. a Morris, Irish Song. " firamm. Maltese, p. 30. CHAP. IX. OF INTERJECTIONS. 205 What! Indeed! Whew! Heyday! Hoity-toity! the Scotch Hech! My certy ! the German Ey! Hum! the French Hon! the Danish Hoad! the Dutch //a/ flei.' EtJ ^ocA.' OcA.' ^lc/i / the Greek 0£v, the Latin i?Aem ! Eho ! the Hungarian Aha ! Oha ! the Malay jangan ton ! the Gaelic Hi ! the Welsh ha ! weldyna ! the Javan Ayou ! the Chinese Hho tsai ! Ee foo ! Ee tsai ! the Yoruba Ha ! Hohii! the Australian Paia! &c. All these, different as they are in expression, clearly indicate surprise in its different phases. Thus, when Dr. Butts has shown King Henry the degrading way in which Archbishop Cranmer is treated by the Lords of the Council, the King exclaims in indignant surprise — Ha ! 'Tis he, indeed ! Is this the honour they do one another? 1 On the other hand, when Servilius applies to Lucius, with a message from Timon, he says, " May it please your honour, my Lord has sent — " Lucius, interrupting him, exclaims with delighted surprise, — " Ha! What has he sent? I am so much endear'd to that Lord: he's ever sending !"* The Scotch Hech ! well expresses the surprise of the dog Luath, on hearing how the dissipated nobility pass their time — Hech man ! dear sirs ! Is that the gate They waste sae mony a braw estate ? 3 The German Ey! is often used ironically to express surprise with admiration, as " Ey ! der kluge mann !" " O ! what a clever fellow !" The Dutch Ei! and Eitoch! sometimes mark surprise with a degree of doubt; as " Ei lieve, eitoch is dat waar!" " Now really! is that true ?" The Greek ) is of the same effect, as j) Savdiae — Hollo ! Xanthias ! 6 In the Romaic, Trpe, y8pt, jU7rpe, ^xwpe, are interjections according to our Hark ye! Mind! from a superior to an inferior; but with some difference of effect ; the last being deemed the most gracious and condescending. 7 Pointing out. 270. For pointing out a particular object, there are many words used interjectionally, as the English, Lo ! Behold ! the Latin En I Ecce ! the Greek llov, the Romaic Nd, the Albanian la ! the Frankish Sehe! Liu! the Mceso-Gothic Sai! the German Siehe! Seht-da! Siehe-da! the Welsh Well! Weldyma ! Weldaccw! the Hungarian Ikon ! Liu ! the Otaheitan Ahione ! the Australian Nangando ! &c. The Latin En ! is evidently from the Doric or (Eolic rirl, used to the same effect. Eneas admiring the paintings of the Trojan war, says — En ! Priamus ! Sunt hie etiam sua prasmia laudi. 8 Pilate, presenting our Saviour to the Jews, says, in the Greek, ue 6 dpdpwTToc, which in the Vulgate is translated Ecce homo ! 9 though from the ordinary use of Eccum ! Eccam ! Eccos ! and Eccas ! it would seem that Ecce, if considered as a verb, should be followed as an accusative case : and a like remark may be made on the Greek 'ife ; whence it is to be inferred, that both i3e and Ecce have undergone a grammatical change, in passing from the verbal to the interjectional form. The Romaic interjection Nd is also changed from the ancient Greek ad- verbial form 'ira, and answers to En ! behold ! but with an accu- sative case, as va n)v yvvaiiea " behold the woman!" 10 The German Siehe da ! literally see there ! is often used like our Lo ! or Look there ! as betokening some degree of surprise in the person uttering it, or calling the attention of the party addressed, " Ich stand und wartete, 1 Hark ye! Nausistrata, before you answer him hastily, hear what I have to say ! — Tcrent. Phormio, seen. ult. s Sbaksp. Hamlet, a. ii. sc. 2. 3 Numbers .\vi. 26. ( Vide Heb. Gram. s. 243.) 4 Genesis xxiv. 42. (Ibid.) 5 Pariz. Papai ad voc. 6 Aristoph. liana;, v. '273. " Leake, Researches, 161. 8 Virgil, Mn. 1, 461. See Priam ! Eren here his praise hath its reward. 9 John six. 5. l0 Leake, Researches, p. 41. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS; 207 unci siehe da ! er kara nicht !" " I stayed and waited, and Lo ! he came not! Siehe da ! wie iibel du gethan hast." " Look there! what mischief you have done !"' The German Da seems to have given occasion to the French Da, which Leroux explains, " Sorte d'inter- jection, qui n'a lieu que dans le style le plus simple, ou dans la con- versation familiere. Elle est toujours jointe a quelqu'autre mot, soit adverbe, ou particule, et sert a affirmer" 2 — La devote Caliste De son mari a fait un Jan — Oui da ! un J anse'niste ! 3 271. For silencing others, in order to command attention, or secrecy, silencing. we have our formal Yes ! of the Courts of Justice ; Hear, hear ! of the Legislature, and other public meetings ; Hark ! Peace I List 1 Hush I Whist I Mum! The Greek language has -irave, oiwira., aiya; the Latin s't 1 Pax ! the French Chut ! the Italian Zitto ! the old German Frid ! the modern German Husch 1 Hich ! H'st ! the Dutch Zagh I Stil ! Zwyg I the Danish Stillo ! Tys ! the Swedish Tyst ; the Turkish Soicsa ! the Hindoostanee Choop ! Choop ! Hisht ! the Malay Diyam ! &c. In the present day, Oh yes ! which is the Norman Oyez ! hear ye ! has lost its verbal character, and has passed into a pure interjection ; and the only relic of the verb, which we retain, is in the judicial commission of " Oyer and Terminer," i. e., to hear and determine certain pending causes. Hear, hear! in its interjectional use, has a double character ; seriously, as testifying approbation, and ironically, as evincing a contemptuous dissent. Shakspeare has made powerful use of some of these interjections; as in Lady Macbeth's agitated exclamation, while her husband is murdering his royal guest — = — Hark! Peace! It was the owl that shriek'd ! 4 So, when the ghost of Hamlet's murdered father adjures his son to listen to the details of the crime — List! list! list! If thou didst ever thy dear father loye. 5 Our Hush ! is said, by Johnsox, to be without etymology ; but it is certainly connected with the Mceso-Gothic Hausei ! hear ! and the German Husch I which Adelung explains, in its secondary use, as " ein Zwischenwort stillschweigenzu gebieten," " an interjection to command silence." In Upper Germany hosch is used for the adjective still, as " die hoschen Walder," " the silent woods. 6 So we use the word hush adjectivally — ■ We often see, against some storm, A silence in the heav'ns, the rack stand still, The bold winds speechless, and the orb below As hush as death. 7 1 Adelung Wortb. vol. iv. p. 204. 2 Leroux, vol. i. p. 335. s Scar 4 Macbeth, a. ii. sc. 2. 5 Hamlet, a. i. sc. 5. 8 Adelung Worterb. ii. 1295, 1334. 7 Shaksp., Hamlet, a. ii. sc. 2. 208 OF INTERJECTIONS. LP. IX. The Moeso-Gothic hausei is the imperative of the verb hausyariy ex. gr. ffausei, Israel ! fen Goth unsar fen ains ist." " Hear, O Israel ! the Lord our God i i ie Lord." 1 This verb, which occurs frequently in the Moeso-Gothic New Testament, is from auso, the ear; and DlEFFENBAi B has traced it through mam s, some retaining bter s, and some changing it into r. In the former class is the Greek our, in the latter the Latin auris ; but this, in the early Latin, wis aunts, as appears from auscultare. The /*, however, prevailed in most Northern tongues, as the Frank ish and Alemannic ora, are, or, the Low Saxon and Dutch oor, the modem German ohr, the Danish tire, the Swedish oera, the Icelandic eyra, the Anglo-Saxon eare, and the English ear. The Italian orecchio, and Spanish ore/a, are corrup- tions of the Latin diminutive auriculus ; and from orecchio comes the French oreille. Hark ! is of the same family. From ohr, the ear, the Germans have formed Htiren ! to hear, and horchen ! to listen ; as the Latins, from ausis, had audire and auscultare ; and so the Anglo-Saxons, from eare, had hyran and heorchian, which are our hear and hearken, or /ia?'& ; and of this last the imperative mood easily becomes an in- terjection. The Scottish exclamation whisht ! may not improbably be of the same origin with hush ! We pronounce this word whist ! and use it, as Johnson observes, 1st, as an interjection, commanding silence; 2ndlv, as an adverb ; 3rdly, as a verb ; and 4thly, as a noun, the name of a well-known game, requiring silent attention. Burns uses whisht as a noun, implying silence — A tight outlandish hizzie, braw, Cam e full in sight. Ye needna doubt I held my whisht ! 2 Nearly similar to this is our word Hist! of which Johnson thus speaks: — " Hist, interj. ; of this word I know not the original: pro- bably it may be a corruption of hush, hush it, husht, /«'s£." Mum ! is reckoned by Johnson as an interjection, as it undoubtedly is; but he adds, "Of this word I know not the original: it may be observed, that when it is pronounced it leaves the lips closed ; a word denoting prohibition to speak." Thus, Sir John Hume, soliloquizing to himself, whilst he is endeavouring to entrap the Duchess of Suf- folk— How now, Sir John Hume ? Seal up your lips, and give no word but mum! This business asketh silent secrecy. 3 From the interjectional use it sometimes passes to the adjectival. When the Duke of Buckingham has in vain endeavoured to prevail on the citizens to declare for Richard, he replies to the inquiry of the latter — 1 Ulfilas. Mark xii. 29. 2 Burns, The Vision. 3 Sfaaksp. Second Part of Henry VI., a. i. sc. 2. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 209 Now, by the holy Mother of Our Lord ! The citizens are mum, say not a word. 1 The -syllable mum is a kind of onomatopoeia, which seems to be at the root of the German mummeln, and mumpfeln, the Dutch mompe- len, the Swedish mumla, the Danish mumle, and the English mumble ; and is probably connected with the Latin murmur, 2 and the English mutter. The Greek navs and eriw7ra are both used by Aristophanes, as imposing silence. When Hercules tells Bacchus that he may find his way to the infernal regions by hanging himself, the latter cries, IIau£, iri'iyripav Xiytic, " Hold your tongue ! you talk of a suffocat- ing way." 3 Again, when Bacchus is sitting in judgment on the Poets, and ^Eschylus exclaims against the calumnies of Euripides, Bacchus cries ouowa, " Silence !" 4 Theocritus uses criya for the same pur- pose, when Gorgo silences Praxinoe, in order to hear the celebrated singer — 217a npa£tVoa, ^iteAAei rhv "kfiwviv aeiSeiy "A Tris'Apytias Qvyarrip iro\vi8pts aoiSos. 5 Of s't, chut 1 and zitto ! I have elsewhere spoken. 6 The old German cry of Fridl is thus explained by VadeianuS: " De obscuris Alemannicorum verborum significationibus. Fredum hoc ipsum est quod nos hodie Friden vocamus, et pacis turbatoribus solet acclamari. Frid ! Frid /" 7 The word Friden, used by this old author, is, in modern German, Friede, signifying public and private peace, as " Frieden halten," " to keep the peace." In Frankish it is Frido; in Lower Saxon, Frcde ; in Swedish, Frid ; in Danish, Fred; in Dutch Frede. Some suppose it to be derived from frey, free, and some from the Mceso-Gothic friyon, to love, as ah, silba Atta friyoth iswis, whilst others derive it from the Hebrew brith, a treaty of union ; and perhaps there may be a general connection between all these. Very many proper names in the Northern nations were compounded with Frid, as our own Alfred, Frederick, Wilfred, &c, all of which implied a love of peace. 272. The emotions which accompanying acquiescence in, or dissent Acqui- from, the assertions of others, or confirmation of our own, are necessa- ^ e t n ^ dls " rily connected with an exertion, more or less distinct, of the intellect ; and consequently their interjectional expression in language, though it may sometimes be effected by a simple articulation, especially among 1 Shaksp. Richard III., a. i. sc. 7. 2 'OvojxaToirfia., id est fictio nominis — mugitus et sibilus, et murmur inde vene- runt. — Quintilian, lib. viii. c. 6. 3 Ranse, v. 722. 4 Ibid. v. 957. 5 Hush! Praxinoe! That skilful singer, the Argive woman's daughter, is just about to sing of Adonis. — Theoc. Idyl, 15, v. 9G. 6 Univ. Gram. s. 412. 7 The word Freden is what we now call Friden ; and hence it is usual to cry out to the disturbers of the peace, Frid ! Frid ! — Goldastus, Alemannicorum Antiqui- tatum, torn. ii. p. 63. 8 For the Father himself loveth you. — Ulfilas. John rvi. 27. [G.] OF i\ikk.m:< liiixs. [CHAP. in. rude and barbarous i pie, more frequently appears as a verb, noun, or adverb, elliptically uttered. With regard to the simple Yea and -lVo of our language, as it has been disputed whether they should be called interjections or adverbs, or should form a class by themselves; I shall only refer, on this point, to my former Treatise, where their grammatical character has been discussed at some length.' In all languages, however, inteijectional expressions will be found, either plainly, or by implication, affirming or denying an assertion ; and that with more or less vehemence. Thus, besides a simple Yes, we have the affirmative Troth! and Faith! In French we. find Certesl oui da! in Italian, Sicuro! in Greek, vai ovro), SrjXov : in Romaic, rat, valfJKe: in Albanian, cit', aovrov, (leprer ; in Latin, Sicl / Certe ! in Welsh, lc! Do! felly y Mae! in Gaelic, Seadh! is e! Dearth! in Hungarian, Ugy! Bizouy! Moudjak! in Malayan, lya! Behkan! Bali! Nischaya! in Chinese Xi! cu uyen! in Otaheitan, E! Oia! Ea! Ai! &c. The French Certes! was adopted by our elder writers, as " Certes ! the text most infallibly concludes it." s Troth is the noun truth, used interjectdonally, and, by an ellipsis, for " in truth." Thus Benedick says, in answer to the Prince, " Troth, my lord, I have played the part of Lady Fame." 3 Faith! is, in like manner, the noun faith, used interjectionally, and by an ellipsis, for "by my faith." So, Hamlet, excusing himself to Horatio, says — Fm sorry they offend you, heartily — Faith ! heartily. 4 In German, Jafreilich ! or J a voohl ! serve to strengthen an affirma- tion. 5 In Dutch the same effect is produced by Ja toch ! or, fa tokher! and, in Swedish, by Ja wist! and all these agree nearly with the French Oui, da ! or our Yes, indeed ! But here, as in most other interjections, a slight change in accent, quantity, and emphasis, may greatly alter the character of the expression. Instead of affirma- tion it may imply doubt; as, in the German, Ja ! ist es wahr? " In- deed! is it true?" Dissent is expressed, contemptuously, by our Tush! Tut! Buz! Fiddlestick! the Scotch Hoot! the Welsh Wft! the Latin Eho ! the German Tuss! Possen! Pah! FiMbogenl the Swedish Tyst! the French Zest! &c. " Of Tush," says Johnson, " I can find no credible etymology." Perhaps this, as well as the provincial German Tuss! and Swedish Tyst! may have been loosely imitated from the Latin Tace ! or the French Taisez-vous ! since it is generally used in answer to, or anticipation of, something said, or likely to be said, by another person. Thus, Roderigo impatiently in- terrupts Iago — Tush! ne'er tell me! I take it much unkindly! 8 1 Univ. Oram, ss 399-402. * Shaksp. Love's Labour Lost, a. iv. sc. 2. ■' rbid. Much Ado about Nothing, a. ii. sc. 1. 4 Ibid. Hamlet, a. i 3 Ja freilich ! Ja wohl ! verstSrken die Bejahraig. Adelung. vol. ii. p. 1406. * Shaksp. Othello, a. i. so. 1. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 211 Tut is supposed by Johnson to be only a different pronunciation of Tush; and, in like manner, serves to answer contemptuously some- thing previously said. Thus, when Bolingbroke addresses the Duke of York, " My gracious uncle," the latter exclaims — Tut! tut! Grace me no grace, nor uncle me no uncle. 1 Buz ! is evidently an onomatopoeia, imitating the buzzing of bees. It is used by Hamlet to interrupt Polonius — Pol. The actors are come hither, my Lord ! Ham. Buz! buz!* The effect of the Scotch Hoot ! is exemplified in the story of the traveller, who, having been confined to the inn at Inverary for several days by rain, peevishly exclaimed, at his departure, " What ! does it rain here always ?" To which the landlord answered, with great simplicity, u Hoot ! na, it snaws whyles !" {Oh! no, it snows some- times.) 3 . The Latin Eho! marks disbelief; as, when the impostor tells Charmides he has been at Arabia in Pontus, the latter exclaims, Eho! an etiam Arabia est in Ponto. 4 So, when Simo suspects Crito's story to be a fraudulent fiction, he says — Eho! tu Glycerium hinc civem esse ais! 5 The German Possen ! means Nonsense ! and expresses slight or jocular contempt, like our interjection Fiddlestick! Indeed, the very word Fiedelbogen (fiddlestick) is not uncommon in German popular sayings ; as, " Wer die Wahrheitgeigt, dem schlagt man der Fiedel- bogen aufe Maul!" "He who blurts out the truth with his fiddle- faddle, will get a rap of the fiddlestick on his mouth." 6 The French Zest ! is a sort of interjection used on various occasions, and particu- larly when a person says anything which is thought to be a false- hood, or an empty boast. In such a case, the interjection Zest! implies that you don't believe him. 7 273. It would be endless to enumerate the various interjectional incidental expressions which arise out of incidental circumstances in all languages. g^Sces. A few examples, however, may be noticed, such as Yo ho ! the cry of sailors in heaving the anchor — Boat ahoy! used in calling a boat. The Greek wott ot, and pviv^aizal, exclamations in rowing. 'I7r7ra7rat, a supposed cry of horses, (answering perhaps in effect to our Tally-ho I and Tantivy!) Craven! the cry of a defeated champion in a trial by battle. Words of like import in other conflicts, as Hold! the German Halte I Genug ! the Italian Basta ! and the old Guanch. ■ 1 Shaksp. Rich. II., a. ii. sc. 3. 2 Ibid. Hamlet, a. ii. sc. 2. 3 Remarks on Local Scenery, vol. l. p. 261. 4 Plautus, Trinum : a. iv. sc. 2. 5 Eiselin, p. 168. 6 Lorsqu'une personne dit quelque chose qui paroit fabuleux. une invention, one menterie, ou gasconade, ce mot Zest! a autant de force que si l'on disoit " Je ne vous crois pas." — Leroux, voc. Zest. 7 Aristophanes, Ranse, v. 210. P 2 212 OF INTBRJEI riONB. [CHAP. IX. Gamal Words meant to accelerate speed, or to moderate it, as the Australian Mautikal parti! and the Maltese Isal Malai, mdlai! make haste; the Italian Piano! and the Maltese Qajla! gently, and the Tongan ffooa! softly! Words of deprecation, as cijTa, of inquiry, as Quceso! Cedo! and of caution as Ware! Gavel Cam! Lullaby! used by nurses — and finally expressions of a vague and scarcely determinate nature, as Heigh-ho! Go to! the French Ca! Sus ! Or sus ! &c. Boat ahoy! is a mere English expression; for I have heard Russian officers, who attempted to imitate it, call out Boat agoy ! it being common with them to change h in foreign words to a ; as in the Hanhut, a vessel so named from a victory obtained near a place of that name on the coast of Sweden ; but which the Russian officers and crew always called the Gangiit. The Greek wott, and wott, o'jt, seem to have been used in giving directions to the rowers; for Bacchus having entered Charon's boat, the latter orders him to row strongly; after some dispute, Bacchus says, KaraiciXeve a), ("Well then, give the order!") which Charon does, in the words, 'Hott ott, «i»07r 07T. 1 The word pu7T7ra7rat was apparently used as an incitement for all the rowers to pull together ; and may probably have had some connection with the verb puieadai, combined with the above-men- tioned interjection irairal; for p&toQai is explained by Hesvchius " to hasten," " to urge on." 'l7r7ro7rat seems to have been used by horsemen in imitation of the preceding interjection, at least if we may so understand the sort of allegorical language with which Aristophanes makes the knights praise their horses — Eira rets Kunras Aafiovres, uicnrtp rifieis ol fiporoi, 'EjxjiaXovTzs avifipva^av, lirirairaL, rls 6/i/3a\ei,- 2 ddly-ho! is a Norman hunter's cry, An taillisl to cover! to the bois taittis, the underwood, called in legal Latin sylva co?dua, and in Italian bosco ceduo ; because, as it is said, " si taglia di tempo in tempo," " it is cut down from time to time." Craven! In a trial of battle, "victory is obtained," says Blackstone, "if either champion proves recreant, that is, yields, and pronounces the horrible word craven" 8 The learned jurist adds, that " this is a word of disgrace and obloquy, rather than of any determined meaning." But the meaning is obvious enough. The conquered champion craves his life ; just as he might in crying Quarter! Mercy! or the like. Bold! was an exclamation of similar import, applied to single combats. Hence, Macbeth says — Lay on, Macduff! And damn'd be he who first cries Hold! Enough!* 1 Aristoph. v. 1105. * Ibid. Equit. v. 598. Then taking the oars, as we mortals do, and bendiDg down on them, they neigh out Hippapae ! who pulls? 3 Blackst. Comm. 3, 340. * Shaksp. Macbeth, a. v. sc. 7. CHAI\ IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 213 And the same may be applied to verbal contests, as it is in Hudi- bras's dispute with Ralpho — ■ Hold! Hold! quoth Hudibras, soft fire, They say, does make sweet malt, good squire. The quirks and cavils thou dost make Are ialse, and built upon mistake. 1 The German verb halten, to hold, is sometimes employed in like manner ; as, halte deine Streiche zurtick." 2 And the same verb supplies the origin of our military interjection Halt ! which in German has the same sound and sense ; for Adelung says, " Halt I das gewohuliche Commando-Wort, wann die Truppen auf einem Marsche stehen bleiben sollen." 3 Gama, gama ! Enough, enough ! This is among the very few words now known of the language of the Guanches, the extinct inhabitants of the Canary islands ; and it is said to have been used by the council in ordering duellists to cease fighting. 4 Manti- katparti is given in the vocabulary of South Australia by Teichelmann and SchUrrmann as signifying " Make haste ! " Perhaps as manti expresses inability, and mantikatpa slow or lazy, it should be rendered " Don't be slow ! " or " Don't be lazy !" Isa ! is given by Vasallo as " Make haste !" and Qajla as Gently ! "Malai, malai!" I have often heard myself, in addition to Isa! as signifying "make haste, quickly!" Ai/-a is used by Electra in deprecation, when she is desired by Orestes, whom she does not know as such, to put down the urn containing the supposed ashes of her brother. Mt; Sfjra izpos dtSiv to\>t/\ fitpyaff-ri, £eVe. 5 Quceso is only the ancient pronunciation of qua>ro, " I ask," and was used in different moods of that verb by Plautus, ex. gr. Mirum est me, ut redeam, te opere tanto quassere. 6 But in the more polished age of Roman literature, only the word quceso remained in use, answering nearly to our interjection Pray I as, " Quceso quid sit mihi faciendum ? " " Pray ! what am I to do ? " r Cedo ! is also an old Latin verb, of which the other portions fell into disuse. It was equivalent to our " Pray tell me," as — Cedo ! quorsum itiner tetinisse aiunt. 8 Pray, tell me, whither they say they held their way. Ware ! i. e. Beware I is the French Gare ! and both agree with the Teutonic waren, and numerous derivatives, the first signification being 1 Butler, Hudib. 1, 3, 1251. 2 Hold thy blows.— Hilpert, voc. Hold, halte. 3 Halt '. the usual word of command if the troops on a march are required to stand still.— Wbrterb. 2, 933. 4 Hodgson's Notes on Northern Africa, 1844, p. 104. 5 Sophocl. Electra, v. 212. I beseech you by the gods, stranger, do not this act to me ! 6 Bacchides, a. ii. sc. 2. 7 Cicero ad Atticum, 11, 15. 8 Pacuvius, fragm. ex Medo. 214 OF l.Ni : RJB i [OSS. [CHAI'. l\. to look toward an object; then to be aware of the approach of danger; tin li ti \ warn others against it; " comme quand on crie Gare, Hence the cry in a farmyard. Ware Hawk ! i.e., beware of the hawk hovering over the poultry, an exclamation which smugglers address to each other at the approach of an Excise officer. Heigh-ho! is reckoned by Johnson an interjection. "An expres- sion," he says, "of slight languor and uneasiness." The example which he quotes, however, shows thai it was at first merely a sound produced mechanically by vocalizing the act of yawning; for it is that of a carrier entering scarcely awake, with a lantern in his hand, and crying " Heigh-hol" An't be not four by the day, I'll be hang'dl"* In a secondary sense, indeed, it expresses a mental weariness, or slight vexation, as that of Beatrice, on finding that she really loves Benedick, whom she had before treated scornfully. By my troth, I am exceeding ill — heigh-hol 9 On this passage Malone observes, that ' : Heigh-ho for a husband ! " is the title of an old ballad in the Pepysian collection. Go to! This expression is also, and justly, designated by Johnson, an interjection. He explains it thus, " Come, come, take the right course! — a scornful exhortation." This explanation, however, does not fully describe the emotion expressed by Dogberry in the play just mentioned. 4 He is a constable, inflated with the dignity of his office, and vain of his talents in the execution of it ; and is, there- fore, vehemently indignant at being called an ass by the offender under examination. To repel this imputation, he enumerates his own good qualities, " I am a wise fellow," — " and one that knows the law, — Go to! and a rich fellow enough — Go to!" b The precise meaning of the expression is not very clear; but the constabli evidently thinks that any one of his statements is enough to disprove the imputation of folly. Being a rich fellow, he cannot be an ass; or knowing the law he cannot be an ass; therefore the calumniator must be silent on this topic,— he must not go on with it, but^o to some other. Again, in the same play, there is a little masqui in which Ursula tells Antonio, who is masked, that she knows him. He denies that he is the person ; but she mentions various circum- stances, proving that she is right, and adds, " Go to I Mum ! you are he!" 6 as much as to say, "you need not go on with those assertions, for I have shown that they are false." The emotion implied in the first of these examples, is somewhat more than scorn, and in the other somewhat less. In the first it is indignation, in the second mere playful reproach. The French Qa ! has an enlivening effect, as in the pleasant old military song — 1 Menage, Origines, p. 341. - Shaksp. Hen. IV., First Part, a. ii. sc. 1. 3 Much Ado about Nothing, a. iii. sc. 4. * Ibid. a. iv. sc. 2. ft Ibid, a, iv. sc. 2. « Ibid. a. ii. sc. 1. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 2 1 5 Malgre la bataille Qu'on donne demain ; Cu! faisons ripaille Charmante Catin ! Which has been imitated, but not quite with the spirit of the original, and without an equivalent to the interjection Qa! Though the fate of battle On to-morrow wait — Let's not lose our prattle Now, my lovely Kate ! In French Dictionaries Qa, as an interjection, is compared with the Italian Orsu ! Su via ! as Qd, travaillons ! " Come, let's set to work !" Qa, allonsl " Come, let's set oft'! Orsus ! in its first sense, signified "Now rise!" but it is also applied as introductory to a question, nearly like our Well ! in "Well! What do you say to it?" 1 Sus ! is evidently the Italian Su! a portion of the Latin super. It is de- scribed "as an interjection, used in commanding a person to stand up. 2 The Italian Su ! is also used, in the familiar style, to encourage one to go on in any undertaking; and when doubled, Su, su! may be con- sidered as equivalent to the French interjection Courage ! 3 274. There is a considerable class of interjectional cries which Brute relate to brute animals, either as directly addressed to them, or as anunals - employed in their pursuit The celebrated Grimm has entered so largely into this subject that I cannot do better than extract from his Deutsche Grammatik the following passage. " Interjections relating to animals have been introduced into language. I do not mean merely as attempts to bring their cries nearer to the articulations of the human voice; but also as expressions peculiar to particular dialects, and transmitted from generation to generation, by which different animals are either lured or intimidated by human beings. These sometimes resemble the natural cry of the animal, but so variously modified, that animals of the same class are accustomed to quite different sounds in different countries. The following may be deemed cries luring animals to food, &c. : — " In Middle High German, Za za za ! (to hunting-dogs), Lower High German, Da da ! (to dogs), Siiten silt silt ! (to horses), other- wise Hilf huf! Hichis! (to colts), Schapen schap schap ! {to sheep), Austrian, Dunkel dunkel ! Hodel hodel ! (to goats), also Luzel luzel ! and in other places Zub zub ! Luk luk ! Koss kilhel koss (to cows), also Helo helobe ! wuzi wuzi ! (to pigs), on the Rhine, Huss, huss da ! in Suabia, Hutz ! in Austria, Hutah ! and Fugfaelfug ! Ninni ninni ! (to cats), also Minz mnz ! Mudel miltz miltz ! Ze zitz ! or Pus pus ! Gusch gusch ! Guss gus ! Gos gos ! (to geese), Hessian and on the 1 Or sus! Interjection qu'on exprime lorsqu'on interroge une personne. Or sus! qu'en dites vous ! — Leroux, v. 2, p. 239. ! Susl Interjection lorsqu'on commande a quelqu'un de se lever sur ses pieds. — Leroux, v. 2, p. 497. 3 Su— particula esortativa-radduppiata— Su! su! Courage !— Alberti, voc. Su. 216 OF INTERJECT [I |[ w. ix. Rhine, Wuffi untUi! Low Saxon, Buffi huffi! Sleswig, i?uscA ruschJ Fit fit I (to goslings), PUe pile! Bile bile! (to ducks), Austrian, Aut out! also sometimes 2Vijrf wai.' Lip lip! I'ijii! (to bens), in other places, Put put! Tick tick! Ticttict! "Intimidating cries are the following. In Middle High German, Schu schu '. (to fowls), in Bavaria, Ze.' (to birds), Buss da ! Buschkt! (to hens), Lithuanian, Tisz ! (to bens). "Peculiar sounds for calling or driving them, arc directed to intelli- gent dogs, borses, and cattle The driver's words w bich direct harnessed oxen right and left should here be mentioned. The mosl asv the right is Hott! Austrian, Hatt hatt ! Low German, Bat hut! Burhaut ! but in Bavaria and Crain, Divoo diau! 1H dist ! i dist I Vov the left, Bai! and Wist! often together, Bautoist! Wisihau! Botta! and Wust! often both together; Suabian, Jist! Austrian,//// Zohi! Tschohi ! Surudee! for left is singular. FRISCH give-, Schwodee ! a vocabulary by Pa u/.kk gives Zwoudee ! Zwustache ! and Hans Sachs, Her! and Zuher ! I do not pretend to understand these strange, and probably very ancient words." So far GRIMM. It is curious that the sound Schu! Schu ! which he mentions as used in Germany for driving away fowls, is not only like what farm-servants in Cheshire and Lancashire use for thai pur- pose, but is nearly the same as that which was employed in ancient Athens, as we find in Aristophanes — IT0P, irov, 's, 'e/xov TO Olktov ; 2oi), . 852. 8 Marshman, Chinese Gram. p. 498. 4 l ,( -'«g es Anecd. of Eng. Lang., ed. 1844, p. 9. 5 Worterh. v. 2, p. 1280. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 217 To let them breathe a while, and then Ciy Whoop! and set them on again. 1 Halloo I Johnson says, is " an interjection, a word of encourage- ment, when dogs are let loose on their game." 2 Hillo I ho, ho, boy I Come, bird, come ! is the cry which a falconer uses to call his hawk down from the air ; and in imitation of this, Hamlet uses the same cry to Horatio and Marcellus, after he has been some time separated from them. 3 In the ' Winter's Tale,' the old shepherd calls to his son, Whoa ! Ho ! Hoa ! and the latter answers, Hilloa ! loa I So ho ! is a very old expression used among huntsmen on discovering a hare ; as appears from the ancient ballad of the ' Huntynge of the Hare ' — The yoman rode and cryed So hoo ! And putte his hare up with his boo." 1 Mercutio jestingly applies this cry to the appearance of the old nurse — Merc. So ho! Roil. What hast thou found ? Merc No hare, sir. 5 275. Hitherto I have considered interjections and interjectional forms Religions with reference only to the ordinary concerns of life: but language owes much to the religious impressions of mankind. These have, in all ages, called forth or modified sudden outbursts of feeling with relation either to the one true Gor>, or to false deities, or to angels, saints, or, in short, to any person or thing which the speaker deems sacred. Superior beings, real or imaginary, are, perhaps, at first addressed solemnly in distinct terms of invocation, prayer, praise, or thanksgiving ; or their names are employed among men in adjuration, attestation, benediction, or the like ; but in course of time, the expres- sions gradually become vague and obscure, are corrupted in form, and dwindle into mere interjections, showing forth nothing but the ebul- lition of the speaker's feelings. I shall begin with those striking acclamations which connect the Christian dispensation with the Mosaic — HaMelujahl and Hosannal These are vaguely known to most of us as interjections, of a sacred and reverential character, ad- dressed to the Almighty and the Saviour. They are, however, of distinct origin in the Hebrew tongue. Hallelujah appears in our trans- lation of the ' Book of Tobit,' where the holy man, predicting the restoration of Jerusalem, says, "And all her streets shall say, Alleluia I and they shall praise Him, saying, Blessed be God, which hath extolled it for ever !" 6 We have retained the Hebrew form also in the ' Book of Revelation :' "I heard a voice of much people in heaven, saving, Alleluia I salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God !" 7 But in the ' Book of Psalms,' where it forms the opening of several of those sacred lyrics, and often their conclu- 1 Butler, Hudib. 1, 2, 165. 2 Dictionary, v. Halloo. 8 Hamlet, a. i. sc. 5. 4 Weber's Metr. Romances, v. 3, p. 285. 5 Romeo and Juliet, a. i. sc. 4. 6 Tobit xiii. 8. 7 Revelation six. 1. 218 OF IMI.1MKCTIONS. [l BAP. IX. sion, our translators have uniformly rendered it, "Praise Lord!" 1 It seems, therefore, to be nol a simple interjection, but an interjectioria) form derived from a Hebrew root, signifying praise, and to be employed in thai sense, in which all created beings, to whom the faculty of contemplating, however imperfectly, the works of the Great Creator, is given, are bound to testify their utmosl admiration of His infinite power, wisdom, and goodness. Hosanna is of a differ- ' aii import; it appears to be adopted from a passage in die Psalms, which Dr. Lee has rendered,"*) Jehovah, save now ! Jehovah, give now prosperity F** The Jewish youths, it is said, were accu& tomed to recite this verse when they tarried branches of palm in pro- cession, the week after the Feast of Tabernacles ; and hence, when our Saviour entered Jerusalem, they preceded Him, as the' expected Mes- siah, crying, "Hosanna to the Son of David!" that is, " May the Son of David save us now!" 3 SrjDDAS, therefore, seems to lie in error when he says, " Hosanna signifies Glory."* Nor is Johnson more accurate in explaining it as " an exclamation of ' Praise to God!'" though he seems to have been led into this error by Milton, who describes the angels answering to the call made on them by the Almighty Father to adore his Son — Heav'n rung With jubilee, and loud Hosannas fill'd Th' eternal regfons. 5 Here, indeed, the blest voices may be supposed to have uttered praises and thanksgivings, or to have glorified God with Hallelujahs ; but there was no need to cry to Jehovah to save them, or to give them prosperity, which, we are assured on the best authority, is the real import of Hosanna ! A great part of heathen worship seems to have consisted of invo- cations, such as 'I») Haiijoy, T»), lij, "Ia.K%, e5 "louche, Euhoel &c. 'OttttSt' 'It; Tlatrjoi', 'I?; nanjov aKovcrri. 6 Again — 'It?, 'Itj tpOtyyecrdt 7 "Icuc%, io'Ici^e, is the acclamation of the Chorus, meant apparently to represent what was practised in the mysteries." The Latin Euhoel is an interjection of the bacchanals, taken from the Greek iv vii : " Well done, my son!" which was applied by Jove to Bacchus, for his exploits in the war of the Titans. In modern times, invocations of the Almighty have often degenerated into mere ejaculations on the most trivial occasions; as when Sganarelle's wife Marline comes in search of 1 Psalm cvi. 1 and 48, &c. 2 Psalm cxviii. 25. See 383. 3 Matthew xxi. 9. * 'tlffavvo. h6\av o-rifxa.tv(i. — Suidas, v. '_', p. .">94, ed. 1619. 5 Paradise Lost, 3, 247. 6 Nor did Thetis, the wretched mother, deplore Achilles, When she heard le' Pa-on ! Ie Pseon ! Callimach. Hymn Apoll. v. 2n. 7 Sound Je, Je. — Ibid. v. 25. 9 Aristoph. Ranee, v. 319. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 219 her husband, she exclaims, " Ah, mm Dieul que j'ai en de peine a trouver ee logis." 1 A century or two ago, a similar abuse of the sacred name of the Lord was common in our own country, even among persons of great respectability. Thus the learned Selden, speaking of a certain Hebraism in our translation of the Bible, says, " It is well enough as long as scholars have to do with it ; but when it comes amongst common people, Lord! what jeer do they make of it!" 2 This exclamation occurs, too, very frequently in the Diary of Mr. Pepys, a person, indeed, of low origin, but of no small official weight and importance. Interjectional forms of adjuration have been common both in ancient and modern times, and these also frequently became mere exclamations, as Mehercle I Equinim I &c. It is commonly thought that Mehercle ! and Mecastor ! were elliptical expressions for " Ita me Hercules adju- vet!" " Ita me Castor adjuvet .'" But M. Dacier gives a more probable explanation of them. He considers the me and e of the Romans to be equivalent to the Grecian adjurations by pa and rj), &c, as per Castorem ! " by Castor !" was the import of Me Castor ! and Mehercle, as per Herculeml "by Hercules !" Ejuno, as per Junonem, " by Juno !" Ecere ! as per Cererem ! " by Ceres !" Epol I as per Pol- lucem ! " by Pollux !" 3 Mediusfidius ! was a similar adjuration : and this, also, is differently explained, for Festus supposes fidius was an ancient form of filius, the son. He, therefore, takes the adjuration to answer to the Greek pa tov Atoe vlov, " by the son of Jove !" meaning Hercules. Others, however, explain it to signify "by Fidius!" (the God of Faith or Fidelity), and this seems probable, from a passage in Plautus, where Demaenetus, being conjured to speak the truth, says — Per Deum Fidium qua? quasris jurato mihi Video necesse esse eloqui quiquid roges. 4 Since I'm conjured by Fidius, I see I must speak out, and answer all your questions. In adjurations like pal pa Ata (by Jove, affirmatively), and 'ov juo Ala (by Jove, negatively), it is well observed by Hoogeveen, that the adjuratory force is given by pa, and the affirmative or negative cha- racter by val or 6v, respectively ; 5 and so, when the adjuration was by any inferior object, as when Achilles swears by his sceptre, affirma- tively, that he will never again go out to fight for. the Grecians : kuI £7rl, piyav vpKov 0/jiovjj.ai — No! fj.a roSe (Ticrjirpov. 6 And when he swears to Calchas that no one shall touch him — 05 /j.a yap 'AirbWcuva 7 — ovris — NttcSffrpaT, oi) )i> Kpa[i(5i]i> (by the cal >1 age ! 2 ). Aristophanes puts in the mouth of Socrates several i rtiher absurd ejaculations, as [xh rijv avaizvoi]v, by the breath I 6 /id to yjioc, by Chaos! liU ->)»' 'aipn, by the air ! Lia Ti]i oliixXtjv, ly the cloud I* Oceasionallv liu is omitted, and the interjection shortened to a single syllable, as Theocritus uses £dv for yay, and that Dorically, for yfjv, the Earth, or Ceres — KT)/U€ \4jOVTl TlavTes aoiSbv &pi£ Sicostratus ! he is not hospitable. 2 Athenaus, lib. is. p. 370, ed. 1657. 3 Nubes, v. 627, * Ibid. v. 812. 5 And they all call me an excellent singer; but I am not easily persuaded by them. No, indeed! — Theocritus, Idyl. 7, 37, &c. 8 By Hercules ! I am undone. I beseech you, Thais, let us go in. — Tcrent. Eumachus, a. v. sc. 2. 7 By Pollux! you have killed me, friends, and not benefited me, since you have thus robbed me of pleasure, and forced from me my mind's most delightful error. — Horat. Epist. 2, 2, L38. 8 Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik, v. iii. p. 307. b Ibid. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 221 Did ride with many a good morrow, And hen for our town! through the borough! HvdibraS, P. 2, C. 2, v. 603. " The knights," adds Grimm, " contented themselves with the mere cry of Schevaliers ! or Ey ! Schafaliers ! Werder helt !" Come on knights ! Be heroes ! " And even here with the distinctive addition of the country, as Schevaliers Parmenie !'" So Shakspeare, in the First Part of King Henry IV. (a. iv., sc. 3) says — God and St. George ! Talbot, and England's right ! 277. In the middle ages, too, an evil custom prevailed, although Perverted strictly forbidden by the law of the church, of swearing by various parts of Christ's body, as his hair, his head, &c. " Si quis per capillum Dei, vel caput juraverit" (says the Decretum Caus. 22, qusest. i., c. 10) " si Laicus anathematizetur." To evade this formidable penalty some absurd perversions of the words were adopted, which rendered the interjections apparently as unmeaning as the Latin pol I or the Greek 3d v. Thus the names of God and Christ were travestied by Gog, Cock, Ad, Od, I, or S. The oath, " By God's body," is perverted into the interjectional forms of Odsbody I Udsbody ! Odsbodikins I and Bodikins I The carrier, in the First Part of King Henry IV. (a. ii., sc. 1), cries out " Odsbody ! the turkies in my pannier are quite starved." The milk- maid, seeing Viola faint, exclaims, " Udsbody I Nan, help, she's in a sound !" 2 Udsbodikvis 1 is a diminutive of the preceding, as in the old epigram on the carter, whose team had been stolen — If, Giles, I've lost six geldings, to my smart; If not, Odsbodikins! I've found a cart ! Bodikins ! is the same shortened ; as when Justice Shallow, in the 4 Merry Wives of Windsor,' says, " Bodikins ! Master Page, though I now be old, and of the peace, if I see a sword out, my finger itches to be one !" Gog's sides ! is " By God's side," in allusion to the side of Christ, which was wounded by the soldier's spear. Thus Hodge says to Dickon, in ' Gammer Gurton's Needle' — • Gog's sides! Dickon, me think Ich hear him. Be Godde'sface! a more distinct oath, occurs in Winton's Chronicle — Evyn in the Peth was Erie Duwy, And til a gret stane that lay by, He sayd, be Godde's faee, we twa The fleycht on us sail samyn ta. UaVsfoot ! By God's foot ! is an interjection of the Scornful Lady, when she finds she has been deluded — Udsfoot! am I feteh'd over thus! 3 1 Grimm's Deutsche Grammatik, v. hi. p. 307. 2 Beaumont and Fletcher, The Coxcomb, a. v. sc. 2. 3 Ibid. The .Scornful Lady, a. v. 222 01' INTERJECTIONS. [< H \1'. ]\. 'Sfootl and 'Foot! are the same shortened. Belleur, vexed at being ridiculed bj Rosaline, says, "I will not I 1 will not!'" '/< '•■' .' i- an exclamation of young Loveless, when surprised at the usurer's unexpected liberality — '/'« / .' this is stranger than an Afrii I By Cock's bones! originally signified "By the I ones of God!" that is, "of Christ*— Thei swere all be cohkes bownes! 3 So in Chaucer — See how he nappeth ! see for cock's bones How he will! tail from his hors at obi . 'SfacJis! signified originally " By < 'hrist's hair!" and was the very oath per Capillum Dei, specially prohibited in the canon law; for j sax in Anglo-Saxon is the hair of the head, whence was Darned the "town of Halifax, i.e., Ixcelig feax, the holy hair. Hence, too, the name of the well-known English family Fairfax, i.e., fair-hair. The word fakes for the hair is still used in the Cheshire dialect. Cock' s passion ! is an evasion of the oath " By the passion of Christ!' As an interjection, it implies only a slight alarm, when used by ( irumio on his master's approach — Cock's passion ! silence ! I hear my master. 4 'S'blood! is "By God's blood!" i. e., "By the blood of Christ!" an oath, which, taken seriously by a Christian, must have been felt as a most sacred obligation ; but we find it as an interjection in the mouths of reprobates, who appear to have had little sense of religion : thus Falstaff, engaged with Prince Henry in a robbery, has had his horse removed by one of his companions, and exhaling his vexation in an interjection, he exclaims, "'S'blood! I'll not bear mine own flesh so far afoot again for all the coin in thy father's exchequer." 8 'S'pretious ! or Ud's pretious ! was " By Christ's precious blood !" This also became an interjection expressing vexation, as when Hylas, who has been deluded by a sham marriage, is told that no marriage has taken place, he cries' out in surprise and disbelief, " 'Spretious ! you'll make me mad. Did not the priest tie our hands fast?" 6 # So the tinker's trull, when jealous of poor Viola, cries " Uu" spretious ! must vou lie ticing?" 7 Zounds ! is " By God's wounds !" Sir Leoline, " the baron rich," thus expresses himself in Coleridge's wild and beauteous poem : — He swore by the wound in Jesu's side ! 8 The more common oath, however, was by the five icound?, viz., 1 Beaumont and Fletcher, The Wild^oose Chase, a. ii. sc. 3. 2 Ibid. The Scornful Lady, a. v. 3 Huntynge of the Hare, f. 1. v. 117. 4 Taming the Shrew, a. iv. sc. 1. : ' Henry IV., First Part, a. ii, sc. 2. 6 Beaumont and Fletcher, Mons. Thomas, a. v. sc 7. ' Ibid. The Coxcomb, a. ii. sc. 1. 8 Christahel, P. 2. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 223 those in the side, hands, and feet; to which frequent allusion is made in ancient heraldic bearings. This awful oath, too, passed into an ordinary expression of alarm or violence; as when Falstaff is told that the travellers are eight or ten in number, he cries, "Zounds! will they not rob us?" 1 So when Petruchio is asked if Katharine shall be his wife — " Ay, by Gog's wounds 1" quoth he. and swore so loud, That, all amaz'd, the priest let fall his book. 2 Oct's nouns ! is another perversion of the same oath ; as we learn from Dame Quickly, when Parson Evans is examining the boy in his grammar — Evans. How many numbers is in nouns ? Will. Two. Quickly. Truly, I thought there had been one more; because they say Oil's nouns ! Merry Wives of Windsor. OcCslife ! 'Slife ! Life ! and OcTslif dings 1 are different evasions of a very solemn oath "By the life of God!" or in scriptural phrase, "As the Lord liveth !" We find them as interjections, casually marking some degree of impetuosity, vexation, or sudden alarm. When Sir Anthony Absolute is indignant at his son's pretended indifference to Lydia's beauty, he exclaims — • 'Odslife ! when I ran away with your mother, I wouldn't, have touche 1 anything old or ugly to gain an empire ! Sheridan, Rivals. 'Life! is an interjection of angry surprise in Thomas Middleton's play "No Wit like Woman's:" — 'Life! had he not his answer? Sir Andrew Aguecheek having been beaten by Sebastian, and mis- taking Viola for him, cries out in alarm — ' Odslifelings ! here he is ! Shaksp. Twelfth Night, a. v. sc. 1. 'Slight ! is " By God's light !" but when used interjectionally, it is often applied on very trivial occasions. When Mark Antonio sees Eugenia pass by, veil'd, he exclaims to his companion — 'Slight! sir, yonder is a lady veil'd ! Beaumont and Fletcher, Love's Pilgrim, a. iv. sc. 1 . Several French interjections have arisen from similar evasive oaths., by the blood, the body, the head, &c, of our Saviour. Palsangguene ! corrupted by the peasants from Par le sang be'ni! " By the blessed blood V i. e., of Christ: thus the peasant Lucas, amused at Sganarelle's droll expressions, says, " Palsangguenne'! v'la un Medecin qui me plait." 3 Parlacorhleu ! originally " By the body of Christ, when dead and livid!" It was afterwards shortened to Corbleu! Parbleu! and Pardieu ! 1 Henry IV., First Part, a. ii. sc. 2. 2 Taming the Shrew, a. iii. sc. 2. 3 Palsangguenne! here's a pleasant doctor !— Moliere, He'd. m. Lui, a. i. sc. 6. 224 OF INTERJECTIONS. [CHAP. IX. fifer trop ma bile !' Corbleu, mon Gendre, ae m'6< la, bile I s Pa .' 'il faul parler des Gens extrava Je viens d'essuyer an des plus fatigans. 8 Pardieu .' J'en ticns, e'est tout de bon !* Morbleu! seems to have been, in like manner, shortened from " Par la mart bleue" reminding us of the iroptyvptog OavaToc of Homer. But used as an interjection, it may express angry surprise ; as when Alceste is indignant at the insincere praise which Philinthe bestows on Oronte's silly verses — PHILINTHE. I never beard verses so well turnVl. Alceste (aside). Morbleu! 5 Tetebleu I and 1 "entrebleu ! belong also to this class. They are both employed by Destouches, the first to mark indignation — Le Com. Moi je ments ? Tetebleu, mon pere, permettez ; and the second to mark contempt — Le Marquis. Treve de colere ! Ou je me facherai — Le Baron. Fachez vous, Vcntrebleu! Ventre ! is sometimes used alone : — Et si j'avois quelque pouvoir, Ventre ! je vous ferai savoir ! Ventre Saint Gris ! was the common exclamation of Henri IV. Its signification is obscure ; but it may possibly have referred, like Ventre- bleu, to the dead body of Christ. Cadedis ! is a Gascon interjection, originally Cap de Dieu I " By the head of God !" the word cap from the Latin caput being used in Gascony to signify the head : thus Menage, explaining the word Cadet, treats it as a diminutive of cap, and says, the Gascons pro- nounce it capdet, meaning a younger son, the eldest son being the proper head of the family. Probably the Latin caput was corrupted first into capt, and then into cap ; and capt with the diminutive particle et, formed capt-et, and by contraction cadet ; whence we use cadet for a younger son of a familv, and of late years as the peculiar title of a student admitted into a military college, preparing to be an officer. Corpo di Bacco ! " Body of Bacchus I" is an Italian exclamation of surprise, which I have often heard from persons of the highest re- spectability ; and which may, perhaps, have been at first adopted by wav of evading the profane use of an oath by the body of Christ. The exclamation Per Bacco I however, is also common, and may possibly 1 P'trlacorbleu! take care not to stir up my bile. — Moliere, Com. Imaginaire. * Corbleu ! my son-in-law, don't stir up my bile. — Ibid. George Jaudin, a. i. sc. 8. 3 Parbleu! if you speak of troublesome fellows, I have just met with one of the most annoying. — Ibid. Misanthrope, a. ii. sc. 5. 4 Pardieu! I have t,'ot it, it is quite right. — Saint Amand. 5 MolilTe, Misanthrope, a. i. sc. 2. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 225 have descended from the times of heathenism, as the similar phrase By Jove! has done in English. Certainly, in neither case is there a serious intention of appealing to deities which are well known to have no existence : it follows that the words are merely interjectional forms of speech. Next to the appeals addressed to the Almighty and the Saviour prior to the Reformation, were those addressed to the Saints and the Virgin Mary, as is still the case in Roman Catholic countries ; but every- where the solemn invocation has passed into a mere interjection. In Malta, for instance, the exclamation Santa Maria ! which is continually heard, especially among the lower classes, neither conveys nor is meant to convey to the mind of the hearer any other impression than that of surprise, or alarm, on the part of the speaker. A similar effect was formerly produced in England by the interjections now obsolete : Marry ! By the mackins ! Birlady ! and provincially By Lakin ! and By Leakins ! If is a remarkable instance of the effect of habit in converting a solemn invocation into a mere interjection, that Bishop Latimer, who was certainly little disposed to worship the Virgin Mary, nevertheless employed her name interjectional ly. " To whome," says he, " did God promise coronam vita?, everlastyng life ? Marye 1 diligentibus, unto them that love him." 1 Here the good bishop uses the word Marye I by no means as an invocation, but merely as expressive of the same sort of feeling as Polonius shows, when, in directing Reynaldo to inquire into the character of Laertes, he says — And there put on him What forgeries you please. Marry ! none so rank As may dishonour him.* 2 By the mackins I "By the maiden!" is used interjectionally by T. Randolph, a satirical poet of the seventeenth century. Mackins ! is a diminutive like the German mddelene, whence also comes our word maiden, often used anciently for the Blessed Virgin ; as when applied to the name of a town or village, as Maiden Neioton, Maiden Bradley, and Maidenhead. There was some years ago an inn called the Maidenhead Inn, at Salisbury, which originallv had for its sign the head of the Virgin Mary. Adelung observes that Ottfried and the other Frankish writers invariably designate the mother of our Saviour by the simple word Magad, the maid. (Worterbuch, v. 3, p. 13.) Birlady ! is used in Beaumont and Fletcher's play of ' The Coxcomb (a. 5, sc. 1), where the Justice addresses Curio, who has brought him some papers — Birlady ! sir, you have rid hard, that you have. In the 'Tempest,' a. hi., sc. 3, we have By'rlakin! and again, in the ' Midsummer Night's Dream,' a. in., sc. 1 ; and this is still further corrupted in the Cheshire dialect, to By lakin ! and By leakins ! but it 1 Latymer, Sermon Seventh, fo. 54, ed. 15G2. 2 Shaksp. Hamlet, a. ii. sc. 1. [a.] q 226 OF INTERJBCTIONS. [''HAP. IX. is obvious that a Cheshire peasant at the present day has not the slightest notion that in using this interject inn he is speaking of the mother of Christ. Of things held sacred, the rood, or cross of Christ, and the m solemn service of the Roman Catholic church, were among the most remarkable. When Brengwain is brought into " a grisly clough," to be killed by the murderers — Sche cri'd merci enough, And seyd, for Cristas Bode ! What have Y done wough — Win wille ye spille mi blode ? Sir Tristrem, Fytte ii. st. 59. Mass I an interjection frequent in our old plays, but now obsolete, was originally an adjuration, Zfy the mass! in which Christ himself was believed to be bodily present. It must, therefore, have been an oath of weighty obligation ; but we find it employed as a mere ejacu- lation of good-humoured approbation. When old Capulet's servant jests on being ordered to fetch logs, his master merrily replies — Mass! and well said. Thou shalt be loggerhead. Borneo and Juliet, a. iv . sc. 4. It may here be observed that the Latin obsecro ! which is often used interjectionally, is equivalent to Per sacra rogo I " I beseech you by the sacred rites !" Quidnam est, obsecro I quid te adiri abuntas ! Fragm. incerti Tragici. As Christians are expressly forbidden to swear by their head — " Neither shalt thou swear by thine head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black," (Matthew v. 36,) — it may perhaps have been con- sidered as a lawful evasion of that precept to swear " by the pan !" or "by the top!" Lone is a greter lawe, by my pan ! Than may be yeuen to any erthly man. Chaucer. Sir Simond de Montfort hath swore bi hys top, Hevede he nou here Sir Hue de Bigot Al he shulde graunte him twelfemonth scot Shulde he neuer more with his fot pot To help Wyndesore. Buttle of Lewes. That a man should pledge his life or his faith to the truth of his assertions is nothing remarkable ; but we find expressions of that kind used interjectionally with greater latitude of import. Mart de ma vie! " Death of my life!" is an exclamation of mere irritated pride, as uttered by the Duke of Bourbon, when the English, under Henry V., invaded France — Mort de ma vie ! if they shall march along Unfought withal, but I will sell my dukedom, To buy a slobbery and dirty farm In that nook-shotten isle of Albion. Shaksp. Henry V., a. iii. sc. 5. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 2-27 Of the pledge of life, however, there is a humorous sort of evasion, Mor nonpas de ma vie I " Death not of my life !" Mornonpasde ma vie ! C'est un malin diable que votre maitre. — Death not of my life, that master of yours is a mischievous devil. Arlequin, Misanthrope. P erf ay I By faith I is intelligible enough, though somewhat super- fluously introduced by Barbour in the opening of his first book of ' The Life and Acts of the most victorious conqueror, Robert Bruce ' — When Alexander the king was dead, That Scotland had to steer and lead, The land six years and more, perfay ! Lay desolate after his day. But it is rather ludicrous to find this interjection uttered by Satan, in the old English poem called ' The Harrowing of Hell ' — Parmafcy ! Ich holde myne Alle tho that bueth her yne. 278. There are several interjections and interjectional forms in old Of doubtful writers, of which the original signification is not easily to be deter- or mined. Such are, By Godde's ore ! By cock and pye I God 1 slid I 'Slid ! Od'sbobs! Zooksl Gemini 1 Ad'sniggs ! Sniggs ! Hey how, and Rum- bylowe ! the German Dopp ! Gott henne I &c. Bi Godde's ore ! appears in the romance of Sir Tristrem — Brengwain the coupe bore Hene rewe that ferly fode, He swore bi Gode's ore In her hond fast it stode. " Ore," says Sir Walter Scott, " is a word of uncertain derivation, and various application." Tyrwhitt explains it as meaning grace, favour, protection. (See a note upon this phrase in Ritson's ' Metrical Romances,' v. hi., p. 263.) Page, persuading Slender to come in to dinner, says — By cock and pye! you shall not choose, sir; Come, come ! Merry Wives of Windsor, a. i. sc. 1. Steevens says that this was a very popular adjuration, and occurs in many of our old dramatic pieces. Justice Shallow also uses it, much in the same way, to Falstafi' — By cock and pye 1 sir, you shall not away to-night. Second Part Henry IV., a. v. se. I. Among different suggestions of the origin of this whimsical exclama- tion, the most probable seems to be that cock was the above-noticed corruption of the sacred Name, and pye was an abbreviation of TUvaE,, a tabular index in the offices in the Romish service. By God' slid ! and 'Slid ! are doubtless expressions of a common origin. Pandarus, pointing out Hector to Cressida, says — By God's lid ! it does one's heart good. Troilus and Cressida, a. i. sc. 2. Q2 OF INTEBJl LP. IX. Slender, timidly approaching Ann.' Page, says — • I'll ni or a bolt on't. 'Slid! 'tis but venturing ! Merry Wivi i - f \\ indsor, a. iii. sc. 4. It can hardlv be supposed that this was originally an oath by God's eyelid; perhaps it was. By God's lithl from the Anglo-Saxon MA, a limb. Od'sbobs! nnless it 1"- a corniption of Od'sbody ! above mentioned, may be a mere arbitrary exclamation. It is used by Mirbel in his bantering conversation with Lvdia Bianca — Hark ye ! hark ye ! Od'sbobs ! you are angry, lady. Beaumont and Fletcher, Wild Goose Chase, a. i. sc. 3. Zooks ! is another equivocal interjection, expressing emotions usually of the lighter kind. In the farce of 'Midas,' Apollo, offering himself as a servant, sings to the farmer — Come ! strike hands ! I'll take your offer ; Further on I may fare worse. Zooks! I can no longer suffer Hungry guts and an empty purse ! The origin of this word is very obscure : it may perhaps have been, " By God's books!" that is, the Gospels, — oaths taken on which (" tactis Sanctis evangeliis ") were deemed peculiarly sacred ; and are at pn sent required (with some exceptions) in the ordinary mode of giving evidence in our courts of justice. Gemini ! was probably an evasive imitation of Jesu ! What Ad'sniggs ! and 'Snigs ! were meant to express I own I cannot guess. These exclamations, however, occur (generally with a ludicrous effect) in various writings of the seventeenth century — " Ad'sniqgs !" cries Sir Domine, " Gemini ! Gomini !" T.U Urfey. But the man of Clare Hall that proffer refuses ; 'Snigs ! he'll be beholden to none but the Muses. G. Stepney. Sniggs ! occurs also in one or two plays of Beaumont and Fletcher. J I and how ! and Rumbelow ! which are found in old poems, both Scotch and English, seem to be merely arbitrary exclamations — With hey and how! rohumbeh ! The young folk were full bold. Peblis to the Play. They rowede hard, and sungge ther too With heuelow! and rwnbeloo ! Richard Ca?ur do Lion. \ our maryners shall synge a rowe Heyhowel and rumbylowe ! Sqvy re of Lowe Degree. Dopp ! in German, is said by Wachter to be an interjection of a i who proposes to make a bargain : " Interjectio ad sponsionem provocantis." The origin is obscure, but WACHTEB is probably right in supposing it to have been the imperative of an obsolete verb, do'ppen, to strike, connected with the Greek radical -v-, in ttvtttui. CHAP. IX.] OF INTERJECTIONS. 229 Hence the interjection Dopp ! is analogous to our expression, " Strike hands J" 1 and it is connected with our word, dub, to make a knight, by the formality of striking him on the shoulder with a sword. This, in Anglo-Saxon, is dubban to ridda ; in Islandic, addubba til riddara ; and in German, Zum litter schlagen. With the Islandic agreed the barbarous Latin adobare, from which the old French adouber was taken, which occurs often in romances, as — Adnnhcz-moi bias meles, dit Gnrin ; Et dit Fromond, Yolentiers, biax amis. Eoman de Garin. Mes d'une chose me dites verite", Se onques lutes Chevalier adoube'. Soman de Girard de Vienne. And Adoube alone is often used for a knight — Ricard s'en vet a Laon la Cite' En sa compagne trois cents Adoubes. Dub is also used by us as a noun — Roman de Garin. As skilful coopers hoop their tubs, With Lydian and with Phrygian dubs. Butler, Hudibras. And this again leads to Rub-a-dub ! an interjectional expression for beating a dram. In modern German we meet with dubhammer, a great hammer used in certain copper- works. " There are some other expressions," says Grimm, " which it is quite impossible to explain ; for instance, the Lower Hessian Gott henne ! the Hainault Speck hen- iienei ! and elsewhere, Ja henne ! and Ja hennenbere ! And how are we to understand Blomenharte ! Blomenheide ! according to the Bre- mish dictionary, an interjection of admiration ; and in the Netherland- ish, Blommerheit ! Blommerhart !"' 2 279. To the examples of interjections and interjectional forms here Conclusion. given, numberless others might be added, were it possible to examine in detail the various languages which have prevailed among mankind. It unfortunately happens that most of the persons, who have hitherto collected materials for Glossology, have thought, with Mr. Lindley Murray, that " it is unnecessary to expatiate on such expressions of passion,'" which they regard, with him, as " scarcely worthv of being ranked among the branches of artificial language." (Eng. Gram., Part ii., c. 10.) On the contrary, enough, I trust, has been shown to prove that the expressions of human passion deserve as truly the attention of the philosopher as the expressions of human intellect. The former class of expressions, as well as the latter, are showm bv Glossology to be used in ancient and modern times by nations barba- rous and civilized, by each sex, by young and old, by the learned and 1 Nam sponsiones, more antiquo, complosis dextris percutiuntur, et hinc is qui ad sponsionem provocat, diceie solet Dopp ! id est, percute ! 2 Deutsche Grammatik. vol. iii. p. 307. 230 OF INTERJECTIONS. [CHAP. IX. illiterate, and, ii' not much employed by the historian <>r the philoso- pher, mi abundantly so by the most energetic orators, and the noblest poets. It is shown that in a great variety of languages (and presum- ably in all) certain modes of speech are employed which show forth the passions, feelings, and emotions of the mind in all their various energies, their nice shades, and their marked distinctions, without formally asserting their existence ; and that this is done sometimes by incondite sounds, sometimes by single words grammatically called interjections, vocative cases of nouns, or imperative moods of verbs; and in other instances by fragments of sentences, or by sentences ellipticallv condensed, or even by whole phrases. We may, if we please, call the incondite sounds and the single words mere interjections, and the other modes iuterjectioual forms ; but these two modes are so nearly identical in effect, that the one may often be substituted for the other, in the same or different languages, and that the more complex forms often degenerate into the more simple. By confining our attention exclusively to the single words usually called interjections, we run a risk of misconceiving the real force and effect of those words themselves in a philosophical view of language. It is owing to such misconception that some writers deem it part of the definition of an interjection to be indeclinable; whereas, I have shown that in various languages a declinable word is often employed as a true interjection. Other persons maintain that interjections have no government of cases, or influence on moods, which is sufficiently disproved by the Latin Hei mihi I and the English ! that I tccre where Helen lies ! These points I shall further notice when I come to speak of Syntax, I shall also show, under the head of Etymology, that some of the simplest interjections pass by transition into nouns or verbs, and are attended, as in the case of the Latin vce, with numerous derivatives. From all these considerations together, it is fairly to be inferred that comparative grammar agrees with universal, in assigning to interjec- tions and interjectional Ibrms of speech an important place in the Philosophy of Language. ( 231 ) CHAPTER X. OF ONOMATOPCEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 280. The earliest impulse, in human life, towards the use of speech, Moaning of is emotion. The next is imitation. We have seen that the interjec- the term " tion is the first vocal expression of emotion ; we shall presently see that the first vocal expression of imitation is the Onomatopoeia. " Imitation," says Aristotle, " is natural to man from his very child- hood." 1 "We may observe this," says the President Des Brosses, " most remarkably in the formation of words. When it is necessary to give a name to an object before unknown, which acts on the sense of hearing, man does not hesitate, reflect, or compare; but he imitates with his voice the sound which has struck his ear. This is what the Greeks called an Onomatopoeia?'* The literal signification of the term, indeed, is nothing more than " word-making ;" from ovo/xa, a word, and 7roi£w, to make : and such also is the meaning of Priscian's term, " Nomen factitium." 3 But neither of these denomina- tions is well chosen; for words may be, and constantly are, made from other motives than imitation. Nevertheless, as the term Onomatopoeia has been adopted by grammatical writers, Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and English, I shall not hesitate to employ it, in the sense, so generally received, of an " imitative word." 281. Two points are here to be considered, first, the natural power Power of of imitating, by the human voice, sounds which strike the ear; and imitatl0n - secondly, the putting this imitative sound into the form of a word. The first point is admirably illustrated by my lamented friend Wordsworth, in one of his " Poems of the Imagination." He is speaking of aJboy standing alone by the glimmering lake — And there with fingers interwoven, both hands Press'd slowly palm to palm, and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument,, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls. 4 Here the imitation is said to have been so accurate, that the birds themselves were deceived — 1 T6 re yap fii/xeTadai crow. These diversities of impression on the senses and the mind, naturally produce a similar difference in their vocal expression, when formed into words. Thus, Mr. Leighton Wilson, speaking of the Negro dialects of Southern Africa, says, "that a handsaw is variously called sero in the Mandingo language, grikd in the Grebo, and egvoasa in the Mpongwee, according to the sound of this instrument, which took the strongest hold upon the imagination of one or the other tribe. So, a bell has the name of bihri in Grebo, talango in Mandingo, woyowoyo in Bambara, diololi and walwal in Julof, agogo in Yebu, and igalingo in Mpongwee." 1 In the same manner we mav account for the different names of a bell — in the Latin tirvtinnabulum, and in the German Gloche. On the other hand, we find similar sounds imitated in a great variety of languages by words of similar or cognate articulation; the weaker being generally marked by the less open vowels, and the stronger often by additional consonants. This is very observable in the words click, clack, clink, clank, cling, clang, all which are Onomatopoeias, imitating sounds more or less similar. cuck, clack, 283. Click is defined by Johnson, " a sharp, small, successive noise;" but it does not necessarily imply succession; it marks only the quickness and slightness of the sound, as "the click" of a pistol. In Dutch, a woman's pattens, from the short rattling noise which they make, are called klikkers. In French etiquette is the short, slight noise made by the clashing of swords. Clack generally means something louder than click, but of the same sharpness and quickness. Thus in Haluwell's 'Archaic and Pro- vincial Words,' we find " clacks of wood," small pieces of wood to clap with; clack, to snap the fingers; clack, a kind of small windmill set on a pole, to turn, and clap on a board, to frighten away birds ; clacker or docket, a rattle to frighten away birds ; clack, the clapper of a mill, wfiich in French is called claquet. The Doric k\d£, a key, was probably so named from the sharp sound it makes when turning in a lock. The German Klack ! or Klacks ! is an interjection expres- sive of the sound made by the fall of a broad and soft substance.* A clack-dish was a wooden dish carried by lepers and beggars, on which 1 Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. i. No. 4, p. 342. 2 Hilpert. ad. voc. C51AP. X.j OF ONOMATOKEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 233 they knocked, to call the attention of the humane. So Lucio says to the disguised Duke — His use was to put a ducket in her clack-dish. 1 Somewhat similar to this is the Scotch cleckin-brod, a board for striking with at hand-ball. 2 This sort of loud sharp sound, when caused by noisy talking, is contemptuously called in English, clack ; in Dutch, clakker ; and in French, claquet. In Italian, where chi answers to our cl, chiaecheria signifies babbling. Dr. Johnson, who often defines a word by an accidental circumstance, defines clack " anything that makes a lasting and importunate noise." It is true that noisy talk may be impor- tunate, and may sometimes be lasting ; but these circumstances are not implied by the word clack, which imitates the sound in its quality, and not in its duration, or in the trouble it occasions. 284. Clink and cling produce a further modification of vocal ex- Clink, cling, pression, by introducing a nasal articulation; but the sounds which they imitate are of the slighter kind. Clink is the sound made by the latch of a door, in a passage of Spenser — Tho', creeping close behind the wicket's clink, Privily he peeped out through a chink. Johnson erroneously suggests that clink here means knocker ; but the knocker is on the outside of a door, and a person peeping out must be within. The clink is a slang term for a gaol, from the sound made in lifting the latch. Die klinke, in German, is the latch, evidently from its sound. Mr. Lowell, an American poet, uses clink for another slight rattling sound, which often occurs at public dinners — A rat-tat-too of knives and forks, a clinkty-clink of glasses. The German verb klingen answers to our verbs tinkle and tingle, as " Ein tonend Erz, oder eine klingende Schelle," " A sounding brass or a tinkling cymbal," (1 Corinth, xiii. 1.) " Das klingen der ohren ;" " the tingling in the ears." It also signifies the rattling of arrows in a quiver. " Der kocher klinget ;" " the quiver rattleth," (Job xxxix. 23.) 285. Clank and clang express various louder sounds. Clank is ciank, clang often used for the noise which prisoners make when walking in fetters. The ' Spectator ' uses it for the sound of marrow-bones and cleavers. In Dutch, "de klank van un klok" is the sound of a church bell. Milton uses clang for the cry of many birds rising at once into the air ; for the noise of sea-mews ; and for the tremendous thunders on Mount Sinai — feather'd soon, and fledge, They summ'd their pens, and soaring th' air sublime, With clang despis'd the ground. Par. Lost, 7, 421. The haunt of seals, and ores, and sea-mews' clang. Ibid. 11, 835. 1 Shakspeare, Measure for Measure, a. iii. sc. 2. 2 Jarnieson, ad. voc. 234 OF ONOMATOIXEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. The wakeful trump of doom must thunder through the deep, With such a horrid clung As on Mount Sinai rang. Hymn on Chr. Nativ. v. 156. So, Homer uses KAuyy?) in describing the flocks of cranes, or other large birds, alighting noisily on the stream of Cayster : the Grecian soldiery ceasing their noise at the voice of the heralds ; the clamorous noise of the swine, driven together into their sties; and the terrific noise of Apollo's arrows, rattling as he advanced — "Evda Ktxl iv6a TroraivTai, ayaWdfituot Trrepvyecffi, K\ayyrjSbf ■n-poK.aQiQpTov. Iliad, 2, 462. 27roi>5?7 8' e^ero hobs, 4priTv6(v 8e naff eSpas, Tlavcrajxevoi KAayyrjs. Iliad, 2, 99. KA.a"y777 8' &o-k(tos S>pro . Odyss. 14, 412. 'EKAayfav 8' &p' oicrrol eV Hfj-wv x^O/ueVoio. Iliad, 1, 46. Burger uses both Ming and klang for the lively sound of cymbals — Und jedes Heer, mit kling und /dang, Mit Paukenschlag, und sing und sang, Geschmiickt mit griinen Reisern, Zog heim zu seinen Hausern. Lenore. According to Julius Pollux (Onomasticon L. 5, c. 13), KXayyavw expressed the cry of hounds in hunting, and icAayyd£w that of cranes in their flight ; from which latter Hippocrates describes a hoarse harsh voice like that of the cranes, by the term K-Xayywcrjc 0wv>). The Latin clangor is applied by Virgil several times to the sound of trumpets — It caelo clamorque virum clangorque tubarum. JEneid, 11, 192. But he also applies it to the noise made by the harpies — At subito, horrifico lapsu, de montibus adsunt Harpyiae, et magnis quatiunt clangoribus alas. Ibid. 3, 425. Clangore, in Italian, is used for the sound of a trumpet, as is clangour in English. Thus Dryden says — With joy they view the waving colors fly, And hear the trumpet's clangour pierce the sky. Shakspeare, however, makes another, and very poetical use of this word in describing the death-cry of Warwick's brother on the field of battle — And in the very pangs of death, he cried, Like to a dismal clangour heard afar, " Warwick ! Revenge ! — Brother, avenge mv death !" Third Part of Hen.' IV., a. ii. sc. 3. In the middle ages, the church bells being called tuba; ecclesiastical (ecclesiastical trumpets), their sound was called clangor, and a belfry thence obtained the name of clangorium. 1 1 Ducange, voc. Clangorium. CHAP. X.] OF 0N0MAT0PC3IAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 235 286. From what has been said, it is evident that an onomatopceia How formed, may be formed not only by a simple articulation or a single syllable, but also by a combination of syllables, as cuckoo, cockatoo, hiccup, ululare, aecording as the sound imitated is more or less prolonged and varied. And as these sounds pass into each other by gradual approximation, so we find gradations of onomatopceia in such words, as cry, schrei, shriek, schrecken, or as tang, twang, tinkle, tingle, rattle, hurtle, &c, and the like. In different languages we find onoma- topoeias quite or nearly similar, because the sounds which they are meant to imitate are the same; but yet there is frequently some difference between them, because the same sound strikes different ears differently. Thus it is the same tuneful note of the nightingale which the English poet describes by jug-jug, and which makes the Persian call the bird Bul-bul. 287. To enumerate the onomatopoeias, which are to be found in ^™ classi- the various languages of the world, would be an endless task, and to classify them minutely would be not more practicable. They not only present themselves in their simple forms, but are to be traced in numerous derivatives and compounds ; and thus they form a much larger element of speech than is commonly suspected. Grimm, who ranks them among interjections, enumerates many in the German language, quoting, among other authorities, Hans Sachs, and the Kindermarchen. 1 A slight attempt at classification might be made by referring them to the different kinds of sounds which they imitate, as produced by inanimate objects, or by insects, reptiles, birds, beasts, or human beings ; remembering, however, that these classes often run into each other ; as it is impossible to say whether the word roar, for instance, was first suggested by the roar of the sea, or of a lion, Tro\v ag ra ttle, hurtle, rustle, rumble, bumble, grumble, ichistle, jingle, clatter, chatter, twitter, pipilo, &c. Our verb, to rattle, is the Dutch ratelea, and German rasseln — Nor recks the storm that blows without, And rattles on his humble roof. Thomson, Winter, 92. Hurtle is only the verb to rattle, with an aspiration prefixed, as in the Anglo-Saxon hrusle, to rustle ; hriddel, a riddle, &c. — The noise of battle hurtled in the air. , eare, Jul. Csesar, a. ii. sc. 2. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 239 Iron sleet of arrowy show'r Hurtles in the darken'd air. Gray. Here Gray has confused Shakspeare's striking passage with one no less poetical by Milton, describing the Parthian horsemen — How quick they wheel'd, and flying behind them shot Sharp sleet of arrowy show'r against the face Of their pursuers. ' Milton, Par. Reg. b. 3, v. 323. In Shakspeare's passage the sense of sound alone is appealed to ; in Milton's that of touch. Gray, a poet of study, and not of deep feeling, jumbles the two together, and adds the sense of sight, by the word " darken d." Our verb, to rustle, is the German ruscheln, from rusch, a rush, so named from the sound of the rushing or rustling wind — A sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind. — Acts ii. 2. The storm without might rair and rustle ; . Tarn didna mind the storm a whistle. Bums, Tam o' Shanter, v. 51. Rumble may perhaps be connected with the Latin rumor. It agrees with the Dutch rommelen and German rumpeln, and generally ex- presses a heavy noise. Thus Lear defies the thunder — Bumble thy bellyfull ! spit fire ! spout rain ! Shakspeare, King Lear, a. iii. sc. 2. Hoor hoe haar darmen rommelen (Dutch). Hear how his bowels rumble! The wolf, who feels large stones in his stomach, cries (in German) — Was rumpelt unci pumpelt In meinem Bauch herum ? Grimm, Kindermarch. The rumble-tumble was a name formerly given to a large basket, attached to the hinder part of a stage-coach, as seen in one of Ho- garth's prints. Grumble is the same onomatopoeia, with an aspirate prefixed, as in the Dutch grommelen. Bumble, as in the bumble-bee, commonly called humble-bee (from its humming noise), is from the radical to bum; in Scotch, to hum as a bee. Some lighter sounds are expressed by the same terminating particle le, as jingle, whistle, &c. ; others, with the termination er, as clatter, chatter, twitter — E'en now, with strange and sev'ral noises Of roaring, shrieking, howling, jingling chains, We were awaken'd. Shakspeare, Tempest, a. v. While the plowman near at hand Whistles o'er the furrow'd land. Milton, Alleg. v. 63. The nicht drave on wi' sangs an' clatter. Burns, Tam o' Shanter. Nightingales seldom sing, — the pie still chatters. Sidney. The swallow people .... there They twitter cheerful. Thomson, Autumn, 844. 240 OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMi I A : WE WORDS. [CHAP. X. vh, tuff, Some other slight noises are imitated with the weak or short vowels, asfiz. . mff,fuff. Fiz is explained b] Bb i cieson, and Halliwell, a slight hissing noise ; in Islandic fysa sufflare : whence fizzle, or fissle, the same sort of noise continued ; and fiz-gig, according to Halliwell, a small quantity dl' dam]) powder set alight by boys for their ami ment; and according to JOHNSON, a kind of dart or harpoon with which seamen strike fish — Canst thou with fizgigs pierce him to the quick? Sandys. " Whiz*' from the sound that it expresses (says Johnson) "to make a hud humming noise." But it is better explained by Grose and Brockett "to hiss, like hot iron in water." None of the ex- amples quoted by Johnson imply loudness in the sound — from the quiver each his arrow chose ; "icoon's was the first : with forceful sway It flew, and whizzing cut the liquid way. Dryden. Whiff expresses a similar sound — But with the whiff and wind of his fell sword Th' imnerv'd father falls. Shahspeare, Hamlet, a. ii. sc. ?.. Three pipes after dinner he constantly smo And seasons his whiffs with impertinent jokes. Prior. Puff is a labial onomatopoeia, expressing first the sound of a Mast which swells the checks, and thence, a small blast of wind. In Dutch, poffen is a colloquial word for blowing — ■ seld-shown flamens Do press among the popular throngs, and puff To win a vulgar station. Shahspeare, Coriol. a. ii. sc. 1. Like foggy south, puffing with wind and rain. Shahspeare, As You Like It, a. iii. sc. 3. This word is connected withpiff and paff, which latter AjDELONG says is an " indeclinable word, imitating the sound of a smothered noise or explosion." He adds, "a slighter sound of the same kind is expressed by piff, and a coarser by puff." ' Fuff is the same onomatopoeia, pronounced with a proximate labial. Brockktt explains it " to blow, or puff; Genu, pfuffen." JAMIESON quotes Gawam Douglas for it to the same effect. Burns employs it for the slight explosion of a nut in the fire — lie bleez'd owre her, an' she owre him, As they wad never mair part; 'Till fuff I he started up the lum ; An' Jean had e'en a sair heart. Hallow E'en. Pa-, tap, 292. Certain sounds occasioned by the striking together of hard ' Ein anabanderlicb.es Wort, welches den Laut cines gedampften bchalles oder Knalles nachabmt; der wenn er kleiner oder feiner ist, durch piff und wenn er grosser ist, durch puff ausgedriickt wird. — Worterbuch, vol. iii. p. G')9. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOKEIAS, Oil IMITATIVE WORDS. 241 bodies are imitated by the vowel a, in pat, tap, clap, slap, snap; and in dash, clash, plash. Pat is erroneously derived by Johnson from the French patte, which he incorrectly translates "a foot;" and thence infers that it may be a Mow with the foot. A slight blow with the fore-paw of a cat might indeed be called a pat ; but a blow with the foot is in English a kick and not a pat. HlLPERT more correctly explains the English substantive pat, " a gentle and quick stroke with the hand," ' and he also renders it by the German tappe, a slap with the hand — Children prove whether they can rub upon the breast with one hand, and put upon the forehead with the other. — Bacon. Tap agrees nearly with pat, on the one hand, and with the Greek rv7r, in tvttto), on the other. Our tap is first a slight blow or touch — This is the right fencing grace, tap for tap. Shakspeare, Second Part Henry IV., a. ii. sc. 1. So in German, tap or taps is a slight blow. 2 Other cognate words and derivations will be mentioned hereafter. Slap imitates a similar but somewhat louder sound, produced by a sharp blow, " properly (says Johnson) with the hand open, or with something rather broad than sharp." To clap is with us primarily to strike the hands together with a similar sound — And they clapped their hands and said God save the king. — 2 Kings xi. 12. The German Map/ answers to our clap and slap. The Dutch klappen to similar sounds, as " Happen met de handen," to clap the hands. " Zyn zweep doen klappen," to crack his whip. So in Danish, " klappe med hsenderne, to clap the hands. The cognate words in several languages are numerous. To rap, " v. n. to strike with a quick sharp blow," Johnson — Knock me at this gate, And rap me well, or I'll knock your knave's pate. Shakspeare, Tarn. Shrew, a. i. sc. 2. This agrees with the French f rapper ; but, to " rap at the door" is expressed by a different onomatopoeia in Dutch, " an een door kloppen, ,J in Swedish " klappa pe portem," in German " an die Thiire Mop/en." We apply to rapping at a door, but not to a rap on the fingers, the interjectional onomatopoeia Rat-a-tat, especially when the sound is l'epeated. Snap is explained by Johnson in its first sense " to break at once, to break short ;" and in a secondary sense, " to strike with a knockin» noise." It is clear that its first use is an onomatopoeia to imitate a sharp quick sound, from various causes, of which breaking is only one. Hence it was perhaps primarily applied to the noise made by a dog's teeth in biting or attempting to bite anything — 1 Der gelinde und schnelle Schlag mit der Hande. — Hilpert, voc. Pat. 2 Hilpert, voc. Tappe. [G.] KC. 242 OF ONOMATOPCE] \s, ou ninvnvK WO LP. X. All mongrel curs bawl, snarl, and map when the foe flies before them. /, ' /.'.•, ! Hence it was applied to a mute animal making a like attempt — If the young dace be a bait for the old pike, I see no reason hut I may , at bin. — Second Part /f< n. / 1 ., a. iii. bc, 2. In another transition the word related to the art of breaking, when it produces a sudden sharp noise — Snapping., lilce too high-stretched treble-strings. — Donne. Or to alike noise made by the sudden collision of two hard bodies, as in the German schnaphan, the lock of a musket, 1 and schnappmesser, a clasp-knife. 2 Again, the shortness of the time was alluded to, as in the German schnaps ; protinus, subito, 8 and the Dutch " met eensnap," in a tri< e. 4 Hence it Is applied to short and quick talking — And snip-snap short. Cowpcr. And to a short and hasty meal, " Lot us take a snap ;" in Scotch, a snack} So a gulp of ardent spirits is called in German schnapps' Crash, clash, 2i»o. Crash belongs to a class imitating noises generally louder than the preceding. Johnson* describes it as "a word probably derived from the thing, to make a loud complicated noise, as of many things falling or breaking at once " — ■ Senseless Ilion Seeming to feel this blow, with flaming top Stoops to his base ; and with a hideous crash, Takes pris'ner Pyrrhus' ear. Shakspearc, Hamlet, a. ii. sc. 2. Clash is of more limited meaning. Johnson calls a clash a " noisy collision of two bodies." It always implies collision, indeed, hut the collision is not necessarily of two bodies only ; as appears from the examples which Johnson himself gives of the verb ; e.g. Those few that should happen to clush, might rebound after the collision. Beaih i. It is related to clatter, of which Johnson gives as the first sense " a clash often repeated ;" but as he had before confined the term clash to the collision of two bodies, it would follow that a clatter would be only the collision of two repeated, which is not the fact. His second sense of clatter is " any tumultuous and confused noise ;" but this seems as much too general as the first is too specific. The true differ- ence between clash and clatter is that, by the particle er the latter always gives a notion of repetition, which the other docs not necessarily implv. The German onomatopoeia, Mdtschen, is related to both these English verbs, and also to the Scotch clatter above mentioned, which 1 Wachter, ad. voc. ' 2 Hilpert, ad. voc. 3 Wachter, ad. voc. 4 Marin, ad. voc. 5 Jamieson, voc. Snack. 6 Adclung, ad. voc. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, Oil IMITATIVE WORDS. 2 13 according to Jamieson means to chat, to prattle, to talk idly, to be a babbler, and tale-bearer. He might have added, to talk noisily in friendly mirth, as in the line before quoted from Burns. The German verb kldtschen is connected, according to Hilpert, with our clatter, clap, clack, crack, smack, and also with the Scotch clatter, when it signifies babbling, gossiping ; the primary meaning of all these onoma- topoeias being a loud noise, and for the most part with repetition. Lash and slash are both primarily from the sound of striking, and secondarily from the act of striking, or the stroke given — From hence are heard the cries of ghosts, the pains Of soun'ding lashes, and of dragging chains. Dryden. Johnson explains to slash, to strike at random, probably because he so understood the line which he quotes from Spenser, of the Knights Hewing and slashing at their idle shades. But slash is the onomatopoeia lash, only modified by the prefix s, which in English makes it apply to the stroke of a sword, whereas lash is by us applied to the stroke of a whip. To slash agrees with the German schlagen, to strike ; of which Adelung says, " it is in its nature a direct onomatopoeia — in form it is an intensive of lagen, legcn." The Anglo-Saxon slagen, and Mceso-Gothic slahan, agree with the German ; the English slash with the Islandic slasa : and according to different idioms the signification is extended from striking, to w T ounding and killing, in which last sense we have it in our slay and slaughter. Plash and splash have the same analogy to each other as lash and slash. Plash agrees with the German platzen, which seems to be a provincial word, and is described by Wachter as " verbum a sono fictum." l From the noise made by treading in marshy grounds with puddles of water, such places were formerly called plashes- — The aquatile, or water-frog, whereof in ditches and standing plashes we behold millions. — Brown. Platzregen, says Martinius, 2 is used in Germany to signify a heavy shower, from the sound which it makes, platzen being a word formed from the sound. Splash is strangely defined by Johnson, " to daub with dirt in great quantities." This may sometimes be the result of splashing; but splash has no necessary connection either with dirt or quantity. A stocking may be splashed with a single drop of mud ; or boys mav splash each other in sport with very clean water. Johnson's definition has misled both Danish and German Lexico- graphers. Hilpert, usually most accurate, translates to splash, " mit Koth bespritzen," to sprinkle with mud ; and a recent Danish Dic- tionary renders it to the same effect " overstaenke med ekaru." Originally plash, splash, wash, and dash were onomatopoeias imi- 1 Wachter, voc. Platzen. s Martinius, voc. Imber. r2 LM4 OP ONOMATOPOEIAS, OB [MITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. tating the sound of water suddenly struck and scattered by the blow. The Wash was the name of the miry road where John Gilpin's horse scattered the water mi both sides — And there he threw the wash about, ( in bo tli side8 of the way, Much like unto a trundling mop, Or a wild goose at play. Cotrper. Washing in England is usually a domestic employment within doors; but in many other places it is carried on in the ancient simple manner, in the running brooks, and often occasions a Bplashing noise. So the Princess Kausica-a, went with her maidens to wash her clothes : — rat 8' cur' airr)vr)s ''EijUaTa x^polv iXovro kou iffcpiptov fj.i\av ufiup 2Te?/3oi/ 5' iv &68pourt. Which Cii a I'M ax has rendered somewhat paraphrastically, but quite in the Homeric spirit — The maids from weak then took Their cloaths, and steepl them in the sable brook, Then put them into springs, and trode them clean With cleanly feet. Odyss. b. 6. v. 126. And so have I seen the Syracusan damsels washing linen at the once sacred fountain of Arethusa ; nor is it even yet uncommon, in many parts of Scotland, to find washing carried on in a similar manner, in or near a brook. Dash is noticed by Johnson as a verb, "the etymology of which," he says, "is in any of its senses very doubtful." Yet in speaking of it as an adverb, he sufficiently shows it to be originally "an onoma- topoeia;" for he there defines it "an expression of the sound of water dashed." And this is evident from the lines which he quotes from Dryden, Thomson, and Bacon — Hark! hark! the waters fall, And with a murm'ring sound, Dash, dash, upon the ground. Dryden. On each hand the gushing waters play, And down the rough cascade all tiiis ab ipso sonita," — but rather from the sound itself. We more commonly apply to the sound of a bee the onomatopo ia buzz, of which I have before spoken among the interjections, and which seems to be connected with the Latin name of a bird called bubio, from the Mil' habere, signifying ite humming noise; just as we call the bieneii-vogel, or bee-bird of the Germans, a liumming-bird — tuque paludiferis bubio bubit aquis. Auct. Philomela;. And in the wat'ry marsh the bubio hums. The sound, which we call buzzing, is very variously expressed in different languages. In German, it is surren, summen, and sumsen ; in Danish, brumme and surre ; in Swedish, brumma and snorra (like our snore) ; in French, bourdonner ; in Italian, rombo ; in Russian, jooj-jat ; in Polish, bee-zee ; in Hindoostanee, phit>h-p>hish-ahut ; in Hun- garian, zengek ami bongok; and in Malay, ddngung. The noise of the grasshopper is confounded by some authors with that of the cicada ; the sounds, however, are very different, and so are the insects. The former dwells in the grass, and is named in many languages fiom its motion there, as in the Swedish grdshoppa, Danish gro3shoppe, G erman grashupfer, French sauterelle, and Italian cavalletto. But in other instances it is named from its sound, as in the German heuschrecke (civ in the grass). The insect called in Latin ci^ida, and in Italian cicala, is the same as the Greek tIttlI, which sits on trees, and makes a continuous noise like that of a knife-grinder. To these Homer com- pares the old Trojan counsellors — .... TtTTiytaaiv (olkotcs, '6it€ ko.9' vAr/i/ Ae//5p€a> £ closely resembles the Tonga sisi. The Latin sibilo is a more prolonged imitation of the same sound. This in Spanish becomes s'ilbar, and in French sifter. The Italian fischiare is a different form of imitation; so are the Danish hocesen, Swedish hwoesa, Polish kszyk, and German zischen, of which last. AdeLUNQ says, "it is a direct onomatopoeia, which, with slight variations, is found in all languages."' It must be confessed, how- ever, that in some cases the variations are very considerable, as in the Hungarian suvolto, and the Hindoostanee phoophkar, though both were, no doubt, intended to imitate the same sound. The croak of the frog is an onomatopoeia imitating its sound, and also the similar sounds uttered by various birds, which will presently be noticed. In the ' Frogs ' of Aristophanes, the onomatopoeias are kouZ, and fipEKiKtt,. In Latin, coaxare, e. g., Garrula limosis Rana coaxat sequis. Auct. Philomel. where it will be observed that the Latin coaxare and coaxat differ from the simple imitative sound »coa£, only by the additions of the verbal terminations are and at; and a similar remark may apply to most of the onomatopoeias, when cited in their verbal or nominal forms. In German, for instance, the verb is quaken where quak closely resembles koUE,. nirds. Lucretius considers the sweet warbling of birds to have first taught mankind the art of singing — At liquidas Avium voces imitarier ore Ante fuit multo quam lasvia carmina cantu Concelebrare homines possent aurisque juvare. lie Her. Nat. 5, 1378. GRIMM reckons among interjections the attempts to bring the cries of beasts and the notes of birds nearer to the articulations of the human voice. 2 Aristophanes introduces many such attempts to imitate the voices of birds, as, in the * Aves,' TioTioTiorioriyE, (v. 739) ; tototototo- TOTOTortyi (v. 748); rib, rib, no, rib (v. 745); rpior6, rpioro, rpioro, rofipiZ, (v. 243); ropo, ropo, ropo, At\<£ (v. 2G.'j) ; TtTiTiTiTipirrpov (v. 315); HoTTO, 7T07TO, 7T07TO, HTOirOIUJl (v. 31]) J 'K7TOTTOI, TTOTTOl, Troiroi, nowol (v. 2228); KiKKafiuv, KiKkafiai (v. 262). 1 Ea ist eine unmittelbare Onomatnpoie, welche sich mit wenig Veranderongen in alien spracben wieder findet. — Worterbuch, iii. 17i!7. '-' Versuuhe thierischen Schrei und Vogelstimmen der menschlichen Articulation tuiher zu briniren. — Deutsche Grammatik, iii. 308. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOrCEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 249 It is probable that the peculiar sounds of some wild birds were imitated before any birds were domesticated ; and again, that of the wild birds, some uttered sounds more distinctly perceived by the ear than others, and more nearly approaching to human articulation. The cuckoo's name in many languages is a mere onomatopoeia of its voice — The cuckoo then on ev'ry tree Mocks married men, for thus sings lie, Cuckoo ! Cuckoo ! — A word of fear ! Shakspeare. The Greek name of the bird is kokkvE,, or, according to Suidas, kovkkoq. In Latin it is lengthened to cuculus (as we have seen above), or cucullus — Cui sa^pe viator Cessisset magna compellans voce cucullurn. Hor. Sat. 1, 7, 31. In Italian, cuculo ; in French, coucou ; in German, kuckuck or guckguck ; in Danish, kukkuk ; in Bohemian, kukaeza ; in Polish, kukulka ; in Russian, kukushka ; in Persian, coocoo ; in Hungarian, kukuk ; in Hin- doostanee, koel ; in Welsh, gwew ; in Gaelic, cuach ; in Islandic, gaukr ; in Norwegian, gog ; in Swedish, gok ; in Anglo-Saxon, gcec and geac ; in provincial German, gugauch and gauch; and in Scottish, gowk. The cockatoo utters a somewhat similar, but more varied, sound, from which its name was derived, as in the Malay, kakatuwa. The oid has very generally attracted notice by its peculiar sound ; but the articulations by which that sound is expressed are various. From these the bird has received different names, and has impressed its hearers with very different feelings. Coleridge (following Shakspeare) describes the sound thus — The owls have awaken'd the crowing cock, Tu-whit ! Tu-whoo ! Christabel, v. 2. The author of Philomela expresses it differently — Noctua lucifugans cucubat in tenebris. And again — Bubulat horrendum ferali carmine bubo. In Hungarian, the word evueuho is rendered huhogatok. To hoot, to shriek, to screech (as well as to scream, above men- tioned) are all onomatopoeias, applied to the cry of this bird, as — The bird of night did sit, Ev'n at noonday, upon the market-place, Hooting and shrieking. Shakspeare, Jul. Csesar, a. i. sc. 3. And boding screech-owls make the concert full. Shakspeare, Second Part Henry VI., a. iii. sc. 2. From its various sounds the bird itself is called in Latin bubo and ulula ; in Greek, /Suae ; in German, exile and uhu ; in Danish, ugle; in Swedish, ugla ; in French, hibou, choice, and huhtte ; in Hindoo- stanee, ooloo and ghoogoo. 250 OK ONOMATOPOSIAS, OE IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. The character given to the cry depends much on the preconceived learer. Tims Shaebpeaee, in a lively description of Winter, says — Then nightly sings the staring owl, Tu-whit I Tu-who ! a meiry note. Virgil, on the contrary, represents it an plaintive — Solaque cuhninibus ferali carmine bubo, Saiie queri, et longas in fletum ducere voces. JEn,. 4, v. 462. Geay, who imitated Virgil's use of the word, queri, has in this, as in many other instances, entirely misapplied the meaning — The moping owl does to the moon rump/, tin Of those who, wand'ring near her secret bow'r, Molest her ancient solitary reign. This supposes that the owl cries only when disturbed, a notion quite contrary to the habits of the bird, and not intimated by ViRGIL, or any other poet who studied nature. The ferali carmen was an expres- sion dictated by popular superstition, which conceived the bird as predicting some approaching evil, and bewailing the danger. The raven, crow, rook, and daw seems all to have been named from their voices. The name of the raven in Danish, ram; in Ano-lo-Saxon, rafn ; in Islandic, krafn ; and in German, rabe, is evidently connected with the Danish raab, outcry. The croak of the raven, or crow, is distinguished in German from that of the frog, the former being sounded krdchzen, the latter quaken. The name of the crow, in German, krdhe, and in provincial German, chra, chrd, hraie ; in Dutch, kray; in Anglo-Saxon, crawe; in Danish, krdge ; in Swed- ish, hrdku ; in Latin, corvus and comix ; in Greek, KopaE, — is in ail these cases an onomatopoeia ; and so, probably, are the Hindoostanee kuowa, and the Malay gagak. The rook is called in Latin comicida, as a diminutive of comix ; so in Hindoostanee it is set-kuowa. The Ano-lo-Saxon hroc is evidently connected with our verb croak, the French croasser, and Latin crocitare. It seems doubtful whether the Latin graculus was this bird or the jackdaw, as in the Roman law, '• Servius omnem vim cui resisti non potest duminum colono pra?stare ait; ut puta fluminum, qraculorum sturnorum," &c. (Digest, xix., 2, 15), where Cujacius observes, " that the graadi must be birds that flv in flocks" (as rooks do). The radical syllable gra is evidently an onomatopoeia, resembling the Swedish name of the bird kuja, the Danish kaa, and our imitation of this voice, caw ! Thus Cooper's translation of Vincent Bourne — He sees that this great roundabout, The world, with all its motley rout, Church, army, physic, law, Its.customs and its businesses — Are no concern at all of Ids — And says — what says he ? Caw ! CHAP. X.j OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 251 111 French, too, this bird is sometimes called chouca for the same reason. The English name of the turtle-dove combines two onomatopoeias from different sources. VARRO cites the Latin name of the bird, turtur, as an onomatopoeia, and correctly, for it is produced by the repetition of the bird's sound, toor, toor, answering to our verb to coo, if repeated. The Greek rpvyiov, in its radical syllable tru, seems to I e also an imitative sound. The plaintive character of the note is expressed by the verb gemo — Nee gemeve aeria cessavit turtur ab ulmo. The word dove, pronounced in Scotch doo, is a different modification of the same imitative sound. In Lower Saxon, duve ; Danish, due ; Gothic, dubo; old High German, duba, tuba, whence the modern German taube is taken, In the older German dialects the word is much varied, as tupa, tuopa, dubha, duva, &c. ; in Hindoostanee it is totroo ; in Malay, kukur. Our verb, to coo, is expressed in Danish, kurre ; in Swedish, kurla ; in German, gurren and riichsen ; and in French, roucouler ; in Hin- doostanee, kookook. It seems to appear in the first syllable of the Latin columba, and is manifestly repeated in cooloo, cooloo, the Tonga name of the bird. The jay, erroneously supposed by some to be the graculus, is in French named geni, of which Court cle Gebelin says (V. 5, p. 508), " C'est line onomatopee." In German it is called heher, " ab incondito clamore he! he !" says Wachter (v. Guguk). The quail, in Italian quaglia, in French caille, derives its name, as Scaliger suggests, from its cry, quai. The hoopoe, in French huppe, in provincial German hupp, hupf, in Latin upupa, is also named from its peculiar cry. The lapwing is called in Scotland peisweip, and in some parts of England peewit, from its sound. The shrike is a name provincially given to the lesser butcher-bird from the shriek which it utters. The crane, in German kranich, in the old Bavarian dialect called craao, in the old Suabian cranch, in the Lower Saxon krahn, in Swedish kran and trann, in Danish trane, in Welsh garan, in Greek yipavoc, appears in these several forms to be meant to imitate the distinguishing sound of the bird. " 1st es wahrscheinlich," says Apelung, " dass er diesen namen von seinem unterscheidenden ges- chreye hat." The same may be said of the heron, at least in its Anglo-Saxon appellation hragn, which, perhaps, was connected with the Italian Aghirone, shortened to Airone, whence came the French heron, and our heron and hern. In Anglo-Saxon the cranes were named yeldo, probably from their sound, as giellan was to yell, to shriek. The clamorous noise of these and other high-flying birds is often mentioned by the poets — OF ONOMATOPCEIA8, OB IMITATIVE WOR1 8. [CHAP. X. Clamor in 8 theriia dispersns nubibus Austri. . ;. 1 82. Loud Bhrieks the Boat n, Winteri 146. The cormorant on high Wheels from the deep, and so the land. Idem. v. 144. The sound of the eagle is described by a yet more forcible onoma- topoeia : — Aquilse clangunt. Auct. Philomel. Among birds distinguished for their song, the nightingale is pre- eminent. Its song is frequently described by the poets with imita- tive sounds, as by Coleiudge — And murmurs musical, and swift, jug, jug ! And the bird itself is named either from its peculiar note, as the Persian, Hindoostanee, and Malay bod-bod, the Albanian bUbUet, the Bulgarian bibilit, and the Wallachian nipilpil ; or from its general power of song, as the Greek 'Anciov, the Romaic 'Andvvwv, and the derivatives from the old Teutonic gal, and Islandic gala, to sing, as the Anglo-Saxon naictegale, Swedish nozctergal, Danish nati the old Suabian nahtegal, and modern German nachtigalU From the same verb gal or wale comes also the name of another bird, the wodeicale. The note of the lark is described by Grimm as tireli! 2 Shak- speare says — ■ The lark that tirra-lirra chants. 3 GRIMM describes that of the swallow as tisch tasch.* Thomson em- ploys the verb twitter for the sound of the same bird — They twitter cheerful. Autumn, v. 844. This verb answers to the German Zwitschern, and the Swedish quittra. " Wie die alten sungen so zwitscherten die jungen." As the old ones sang, so the young ones twittered. (German Proverbs.) This bird is called in the Tonga language beca-beca. Grimm gives schjieb as the note of the sparrow, 5 but peep I and chirp! have, from ancient times, been used i i express thai sound. Catullus, lamenting the death of Lesbia's sparrow, says — Adsolam dominant usque pipilabat. Cam. 3, v. 10. The Scottish king, James I., applies it to the nightingale — Now swete birde say ones to me pepe ! The King's Quair, c. 2, st. 38. Chirp is erroneously considered by Johxson to be an abbreviation of 1 In time of May, the nyghtyngale In wode maketh mery gale. 2 Deutsch. Gram. 3, 308, note. :i Winti i ■' i Tale, a. iv. sc. 2. 4 Grimm, ut sup. b Ibid. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 253 cheer up. It is the German zirpen or tschirpen, which, as has been seen, is applicable also to the cricket's sound, but is specially applied to the sparrow, " cler speiiing tschirpt" "the sparrow chirps' It answers to the Danish pibe, and quiddre, the Polish swierczye, Swedish qunctia, Hungarian pipegek, Russian tchirikat, Hindoo cheenchuuk, Malay chichi, and Tonga gi; all which, however different in articula- tion, are indubitably onomatopoeias. Some birds are named from the similarity of their cry to certain human sounds, as the kekek, a kind of parrot, from kekek, the Malay verb to laugh. So an American bird is called the " whip-poor-will," from the supposed resemblance of its note to those words. In other instances the pecidiar sound occasioned by the flight of birds is expressed by an onomatopoeia, as — The moorcock springs, on whirring wings, Amang the blooming heather. Burns, vol. iii. p. 274, ed. 1813. Of domestic birds, the cock, with its female the hen, has given occasion to the greatest number of onomatopoeias. It is to be observed that these names, cock and hen, are derived from different sources, the former agreeing with the French coq, the latter with the German henne. The crowing of the cock " distinguishes its cry," as Adelukg observes, "very remarkably from that of any other bird." In English the simple verb is to crow, but the continuous sound has been imitated by cockadoodledoo '. — Hark ! hark ! I hear The strain of strutting chanticleer, Cry Cock-a-doodle-doo ! Shakspeare, Tempest, a. i. sc. 3. GRIMM expresses it kikeri-ki, as in the " Kindermarchen " — Kikeri-ki ! Kikeri-ki ! Unsere goldene jungfrau ist wieder hie ! The same sound, as imitated in Mceso-Gothic, is hrukjan. In the Latin crocilare and French croasser, it seems to be confounded with the cry of the crow. In Italian it is pronounced cuccurire, in Bohemian kokrhari, in Malay kuku, in Hungarian kakas. The names of the bird in French coq, in Swedish tupp, in Russian petuch, seem to be connected as one class of onomatopoeias ; the Latin gallus, Italian gallo, and Hungarian gale, form another class connected with the before-mentioned verb gallen ; and therefore do not so much imitate the peculiar sound of the bird as its resemblance to singing, whence the French say, " Le coq chante ;" and give the bird the name of chante-clair, our chanticleer. The German halm agrees with the Gothic hana, written in the Salic laws chana, in Frankish hano, Anglo-Saxon hana, Islandic, Swedish, and Danish hane. These forms are derived by Wachter, Frisch, and others, from the old Persian pronoun han, he ; as merely signifying the male bird. " This derivation," says Adelung, " appears at first sight plausible ; but 254 OF ONOMATOKEIAS, OB IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. when we consider that this pronoun was unknown to the Goths, who nevertheless bad the noun hdna, as had several other tongues, it maybe thought, more probably, to have agreed with the Latin cano, to sing." The words cluck and cackle are evident onomatopo ias, representing the sound of the hen, the former in calling her chickens, the latter on Living an egg. To cluck has been already noticed. To cadde is in modern German gackcrn and gaksen, in Austrian ten, in Lower Saxon kakeln, in Dutch kackelen, in Danish /r//,/V, in Swedish kakla, in Italian checcalare, in French t-aqm-ter, in Gaelic cbtgamnn and ' appear.; to be connected with the Latin ans-er, and the German gans, Danish gaas, Swedish gees, Islandic gas, Wendish gus, Polish ges, &c. On the other hand, the old German auca was the origin of the Italian occa and French oie. In the Suabian dialect gagak was the name of the goose, from the noise which it utters, and which in Hungarian is gagogni. The noise of the cluck is in English quack I and in German quakl "a word," says Wachter, "ab ipsa" natura Anatibus et Ranis suppeditata." From a somewhat similar onomatopoeia, the bird itself is called in Hungarian katsa. In Hindoostanee to quack, is qunqaw. In Malay the duck is termed bebek, which seems to be another onomatopoeia. The peacock lias great similarity in its European names, e. g. the Latin pavo (paico), Anglo-Saxon pawa, Danish paa, Swedish pae, Dutch pauw, German pfan, Bohemian and Polish paw, Russian and Hungarian pava, Welsh pawn, Spanish pawn, Italian pavone, French paon, "welche insgesammt," says Adelung, " eine Nachahmung seines naiiirlichen Gesehreyes sind, welches, besonders bey der p/anhenne sehr deutlich pfa-n lautet." "All which together are an imitation of its natural cry, which, particularly in the hen, very distinctly sounds pfa-n" (Worterbuch, v. 3, p. 712). It is remark- able that the Hindoostanee ta-oos very closely approaches the Greek name of this bird rawc. 299. Of beasts, the dog, the domestic friend of man, has given occasion to many onomatopoeias, imitating its various sounds undei different circumstances. The first name by which a dog is know n to English children is bow-wow, from its most common sound: so in Shakspeare's ' Tempest' (act i. sc. 2) — Hark! hark! Bowgh-wough ! The watch-dogs bark, Bowgh-wough ! CHAP. X.] OF OXOMATOPcElAS, OH IMITATIVE WORDS. 255 The same sound is expressed by Aristophanes Av, av, and by others fiav fiav ; whence the verb fiav^to " ex canum voce quam latrando ediint" (H. Stephantjs, voc. fiav£u>). So the Latin baubare, as by Lucretius (L. 5, v. 1009) — Et cum deserti baubantur in axlibus. In Italian it is abbajarc, in French aboyer, hence in English to bay — I'd rather be a dog, and bay the moon ! and a stag stands at bay whilst the dogs are baying him. In the mediaeval Latin we find baulare, which seems to have subsequently declined to the German bellen, applied to the cry of a dog or a fox. The first syllable of the Greek bXaw, to bark, is, as Dammius ob- serves, "ex sonitu canis efflicta, aqua, et est germanorum heulen," to howl. This agrees, too, with the Latin ululare, reduced in Italian to urlare, and in French to hurler. In Dutch it is huilen, in Swedish hyla, in Danish hyk, in Islandic yla. To this last our word yell seems to bear relation as an onomatopoeia, in the description of the sleeping mastiff- — Never till now she irtter'd yell Beneath the eye of Christabel. Coleridge, Christabel. So of the hell-hounds surrounding Sin — These yelling monsters, that, with ceaseless cry, Surround me. Milton, Par. Lost, 2, 795. The sound of an angry dog, which we call snarling, is in German knarren or gnurren ; and the dog is then said in Latin hirrire, whence our word irritate. Lucretius uses the word gannitus for the sound of a dog's fawning — Longe alio pacto gannitu vocis adulant. Lib. v. v. 1068. The German expression for this is schwdnzelen. " Der hund schwituzelte vor seinem herrn." " The dog fawned upon his master." The noisy cry of a young dog we imitate in our verb to yelp, in provincial German galpen. Of the cat's sounds we have two distinct onomatopoeias, mew and pur. Hotspur in his indignation says — I'd rather be a kitten, and cry mew! Than one of these same metre ballad-mongers. Shakspeare, First Part Henry IV. The Welsh miew, or mew, nearly agrees with the English. The German miauen and mauzen with the Dutch maauwen. The Danish miauve and miave with the Islandic and Swedish miava. The Italian miagolare is contracted into the French miauler and Spanish maullar. The Gaelic niambal agrees with the Malay ni-yung, in adopting n as the initial. It is said that in Chinese the name of a cat is miao. Shakspeare uses the verb mewl (an evident imitation of the French miauler) for a similar sound caused by very young infants — Mewling and puking in the nurse's arms. As You Like It, a. ii. sc. 7. 256 01 ONOMATOPffilAS, OB IMITATIVE WORPS. [CHAP. X. The continuous sound of a cat, when pleased, is expressed by our onomatopoeia to purr, in German schnurren, in Danish hnurre, in Swedish hurre. In some languages it is compared to the continuous sound of a spinning-vs heel ; as, in French, filer, Jain; le row./, is said of a Git purring. So, in the Swedish, spinna. In other instances it is considered asa sort of mewing, as in the Spanish maullar de allegria. The word, in Hindoostanee, is an onomatopoeia of a different form, khoorkhook. The sounds emitted by beasts kept for food furnish several onomato- poeias. The lowing of the cow is, in the Northern English d expressed by the sound moo, and generally, among English children, a cow is first known by this sound. The same sound, substituting the labial b for m, is found in the Greek fiovc, giving name to the species generally; and perhaps the o in ox afforded a similar onomatopoeia. From moo come directly the German muhen, the old French muir 9 the Latin mugire, Italian muggirg, French and Spanish mugir, Greek fivtcuofiai, and Romaic fiovyKpifa. The Anglo-Saxon adopts I for m, in the verb hlowan, whence we have to low, and the Dutch loeyen. The Greek /SoiTc (in the genitive jfiooc) is manifestly a compound of the simple imitative sound bo, and the grammatical particle vq, or oq ; as in the Latin BOV-IS. In Welsh the sound bn alone forms the name of the species. In the Greek /3oaw, and Latin boare, bo forms the radical of the verb. In a fragment of Pacuvius we find the Latin verb written bo-ilnt — Clauiore et sonitu colles resonantes bount. In Romaic the name of the animal is /iocs. Its prolonged sound is imitated in the German brullen, Danish brole, Anglo-Saxon bulgian, French beugler (pronounced also meugler*), and the English bugle, called, not, as Skinner thinks, from the Anglo-Saxon bugan, to bend ; nor, as Junius suggests, from the Latin bumla, a heifer ; but from the French beulgler. From the Anglo-Saxon bulgian comes our verb to bellow (peculiarlv applied to a bull), and perhaps the substantive bull itself, agreeing with the Russian, Polish, and Wendish vol, the name of the same animal. The name of the cow furnishes onomatopoeias still more extensively, being in Anglo-Saxon cu, in Swedish hu, in German huh, in Low German kau and ho, in Danish ko, in Dutch hoi, in Armenian koo, in Ossetic hug, in Laplandish kusa, in Afighan kua, in Hindoostauee guo, &c. The English word ox, as we pronounce it, loses the imitative broad o, which is more fully expressed in the German ochs, a word applied to the whole species ; the same imitative sound appears in the Dutch oss, the Low German osse, Anglo-Saxon and Frisian oxa, old Teutonic ogs, Swedish and Danish oxe, Islandic ukse, Welsh ych, Turkish okus, &c. The la ! or ma ! of the shesp is one of the earliest imitative CHAP. X.] OF OXOMATOPCE1AS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 257 sounds in most languages. Nurses talk to their infants in England of " Ba, ba, black sheep !" and in Scotland of " the sheepie ma's." And it is observed by Schischkoff that the lambs bleat ya ! before they come to utter ba ! l B>), which was pronounced in Greek like b&, is described as the sound of a sheep by Catinus, in a passage preserved by Suidas, 6 <$' rikidioc Coawep irpofictTov, fit}, fir] \iywv fiali^et. " But he, stu- pidly, like a sheep, walks on, crying bae ! bee .'" Hence a she-goat (which produces a similar sound) is called by Hesychius fivKt], and a sheep lh]fi>]i' : but the more common name for sheep and goats was p~//\a. The bleating of sheep was fiS.vx*i or W*} 5 but according to some writers the latter was particularly spoken of goats, and the former of sheep, and the same may be observed of the verbs (3\iix- aofxat and fxr/Kau). To bleat, in Latin, is balare, and anciently (according to Vareo) belare. Hence the Spanish belar, Italian belare, French leler, which gives name to Belier, the Ram. The Northern onomatopoeias sometimes vary the form ; as the Anglo-Saxon blcetan, the German bloken, Danish bra^ge, and Swedish brdka ; the Welsh is brefu, and the Gaelic, for the sound of sheep, meilaich, and of goats meigiollaich. In Hungarian the sound bee still appears in legetek, to bleat, and in Hindoostanee both sounds are retained in mea-mea and bhea-bhea. The sounds of swine are so peculiar as to attract attention in the earliest times, particularly the grunting of the old, and the sqmaldng of the young swine. For the verb to grunt, we have also in English to grunth, in Scotch to grumph, Anglo-Saxon grunan, in German grunzen, Danish grynte, Swedish grynta, Welsh gryngiaw, Gaelic groassal, Greek ypv^w and ypv\\i'((i>, Latin grunnio, Spanish grunar, Italian gruguire, &c, and in Hindoostanee ghoarrana. The name of the animal, when taken from the sound is, in Greek, ypvXXoc, in Romaic yovpovvi, in English a grunter, in Scotch a grumphy, and in the Delaware tongue gosh-gosh. Our onomatopoeia squeak, for the cry of a pig, agrees with the Swedish sqiodka. It is the German quieken. Aristophanes ex- presses it by Koi ! ko'i ! The principal sound of the horse is that which we express by the onomatopoeia to neigh, agreeing with the Anglo-Saxon knegan, the Swedish gndgga, the Islandic gnegg, and the Scotch to nicker. We express a slighter sound of the same animal by the verb to whinny, answering to the Welsh wihi, the German wichem, and the Frankish weio. Luther uses the word hui! (which Wachter" calls " vox naturalis equi,") in his translation of Job xxxix. 28, " wenn die Drom- mete fast klinget, spricht es hui!" By our translators, " he saith among the trumpets, ha! ha!" The Latins expressed these sounds in general by the verb hinnio, whence the French hennir. The Italians 1 Vergleichendes Worterbuch in zweihundert Sprachen, 2 Theil. p. 193. " Mau hort eher den laut ja-a, als bja-a." 258 OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. us.' rignare, and the Dutch runmhen. Our word nag is the old German nago : in mediaeval Latin it was naccus, nachus, or nactus. Th<> etymology of all these words is greatly disputed; but, as Wachteb observes, "salva res est;" we have only to refer to the Islandic gnegg, and we have at once a neigher for the appellation of a horse, by the same analogy which terms the swine a g ranter. The noise of the ass is too remarkable not to have furnished ono- matopoeias in various languages, though with very different articula- tions. We apply the word brag, as well to the loud noise which the stag makes on certain occasions, as to that of the ass ; but the German yanen, explained " des esel's geschrei," " the cry of the ass," does not seem to be generally applied to the stag; for they say, " esel yanen, hirsche schreien." To bray as an ass is in Swedish shrdna, in Danish skryde, in Dutch balchen and ruchekn, in French braire, in Latin rudere, in Italian rugghiare, in Welsh brefu, in Gaelic beciam, in Hungarian orditok, in Hindoostanee renk. The animal its. 'If is named in Egyptian io, evidently from its sound. Of wild beasts in general we do not in English distinguish the sounds by any peculiar onomatopoeias ; for though we say the lion roars, we emplov the same term for the roaring of the sea, and for ' many other noises. So we apply the term holding to wolves and dogs indiscriminately ; but in Latin the sounds of the elephant, the lion, and the tiger have distinct onomatopoeias. " Barrire elephanti di- cuntur, sicut oves dicimus balare, utique a sono vocis." " Elephants are said to barrire, as we say of sheep balare, namely, from the sound of the voice." ' The verb raucare is applied to tigers, and to lions rugire — Tigrides indomiti raucant rugiuntque leones. 2 It may here be noticed that certain small animals have been named from a fancied resemblance of their cries to articulate sounds; as the quis-qui-su, a small quadruped of the North American prairies ; the thit-a-be-bee, a sort of titmouse, so called by the Indians of that country; the Virginian Whip-poor- Will, a bird called in German ziegenmelker, or goatsucker, &c. I may add, that Julius Pollux has a whole chapter on the sounds of birds and beasts. L. 5, c. 13. Human 300. The sounds, natural and artificial, which are produced by mankind, afford scope to numerous onomatopoeias. Many of them, however, are so similar to sounds produced by other causes, that the same word is used in both cases, and it is not always possible to de- termine whigh application was prior in point of time. The hissing of serpents, the hooting of owls, and the growling of bears, have their counterparts in certain sounds of the human voice, and it would be idle to inquire whether man or the blackbird was first said to whistle. Men produce natural sounds partly by the voice, and partly by other 1 Fcstus, de verborum sisrnificatione ; voc. Barrire. 2 Auctor. Philomela?, v. 49. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOKEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 259 organs. By the sound of the voice we more or less plainly mark our state of thought or of feeling. Indistinctness in the utterance of our thoughts is expressed by our terms murmur, hum, croon; imperfect articulation by stutter, stammer, lisp, babble; low secret utterance by whisper, susurro ; light talk by chat, clack; loud noise by halloo, a\a\rj, &c. We express our pleased feelings by such words as laugh, titter, snigger, giggle, chuckle; and our sufferings by to groan, sigh, whine, whimper, ejulare, boo-hoo .' oufl &c. Many sounds, too, are produced by us for other purposes than those of language, as to gargle, whistle, cough, wheeze, hiccup, retch, spit, sneeze, kiss, &c, all or most of which words have been generally regarded as onomatopoeias ; and this is equally obvious when we speak of artificial sounds, as those of the drum, trumpet, fife, hurdy-gurdy, the explosion of fire- arms, the tolling of a bell, the stroke of a whip, or the like. A few of each class may here be noticed. 301. Murmur is strangely explained by Dr. Johnsox as a " low, shrill sound." We turn to his definition of shrill, and find that it is " a word supposed to be made, per onomatopeiam, in imitation of the thing expressed, which, indeed, it images very happily." And what is this ? Why, truly, it is, according to the same author, " sounding with a piercing, tremulous, or vibrating sound." Now, a shrill or piercing sound is the very opposite to a murmur, in its original signi- fication, which is that of a suppressed and obscure sound of the human voice, as when the poet is indulging in solitary and all but silent meditation — He murmurs, near the running brooks, A music sweeter than their own. 1 Or when the fond woman softly breathes out a sad farewell to her lover — Tristis abes, oculis abeuntem prosequor udis, Et dixit, tenui murmure, lingua — Vale ! 2 Sadly thou goest, — tears my sorrow tell, And softly murmurs my sad tongue — farewell ! Our word murmur is from the Greek [xop^vpu), and Latin murmuro, both which are formed by repetition of the sound mur ; of which kind of repetition, as common in the early stages of language, I shall here- after speak more fully. The labial sound mur, in its simple form, appears in the Greek /jivpito, and in the German murren. On the one hand it bears a certain relation to the labial pur above noticed, and on the other hand to the labials mut and muen, in our verbs mutter and mumble. To murmur does not always result from the tender emo- tions ; but often from a discontent which it is not thought safe to utter openly. This signification of the word is well explained by Wachter, " Obloqui occulta et pressa voce, a similitudine sonitus ipsius mur- murantis, qui dum intra se loquitur, videtur eum sonum edere quern 1 Wordsworth, Poems, ed. 1820, vol. iii. p. 10!. 2 'Ovid, Epist. 12, v. 55. s2 260 OF ONOMATOKEIAS, OB IMITATIVE WORD8. [CHAP. X. verbo imitamur." " To censure with a secret and suppressed \ (torn the similitude of the sound of the murmurer, who, whilst he is speaking inwardly, produces the sound which we imitate by this word." 1 This is also the sense of the German murren,saxl of our mutter. " Da murrete das volk wider Mose." " And the people murmured against Moses." (Exod.xv. 24.) What does his ca.sh.ierM worship mutter ! , Tim. Ath. a. iii. sc. 4. By analogy to these sounds, murmur is applied to several similar ones; as by Milton to " the liquid lapse of murm'ring streams,"' and to '• IVi's' industrious murmur :" * by LUCRETIUS to the noise of the sea, 4 to the thunder-clouds, 8 and to the winds. The German language has murmeln,a frequentative verb, like the Latin murmu This in Frankish was murmuln, in Danish murmle, all answi rir our mutter. Of murmeln, Adeltjng says, " es ahuet den Iaut welchen es ausdriickt;" " it imitates the sound which it expresses." Mummeln in German, in Lower Saxon mumpeln, and in Dutch mompelen, is to mumble like a toothless person, " Alsdann sollstdu aus dem staube mit deiner rede mummeln" " Thy speech shall mumble out of the dust," (Isaiah xxix. 4.) Our translation has "whisper;" but the Vulgate has mussito, which, as well as musso and mutio, is nearly related to our verbs above cited, and also to our interjection mum, whence mummers in the West of England are a sort of rustic actors, who depend more on gesture than speech. Their rude holiday play, as they go about from house to house, is called mummery. In old French momerie was a similar entertainment, as mummerey was in old German; and as the performers were masked, momene was in that language a mask. To murmur is in French murmurer, in Italian mormorare, in Spanish mormorar, in Albanian povppovplc. The Greek (besides poppvpio) has yoyyu£w, which is retained in the Romaic; in Welsh it is grwguach, in Gaelic moumhur, in Hungarian morgok, in Hindoostanee icahcuht and chulchula, in Malay chumil and sdrapale. whisper. 302. To whisper is a still softer suppression of the voice than to murmur. In Danish it is hoisk, in Swedish hwiska. The German verb is unspeln, or wispern. Wachter suggests that this is from the sound vis, vis, which (as he says) the teeth give forth in whispering. Adeltjng says it is an onomatopoeia ; and hence he supposes that the name wisperlein is given to the greenfinch '' vermthlich wegen seine stimme," " probably from its note." To a like cause we may ascribe the German flispern and zischeln, which latter is connected with zischen, to hiss, and consequently with the other onomatopoeias mentioned (together with that word) in the preceding section 297. It has also 1 Glossar. Germanic, voc. Murreu. 2 Par. Lost, b. 8, v. 263. 3 Par. Keg. b. 4, v. '248. 4 Et contempsit equis insultans rnurmura ponti. — Pier. Nat. 3, 1045. f ' Tarn magis hinc magno fremitus fit murmnre sa;pe. — Ibid. 6, 100. Magno indignantur murmwe clausi. — Ibid. v. 196. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 261 some resemblance to our words hist ! and whist I before mentioned. The Greek ^tdvpi^u) is employed by Theocritus for the softly-whis- pered words of lovers (Idyl. 27, v. 67) as the Latin susurrus is by Propertius (L. 1, Eleg. 11, v. 13). These as well as the French chuchoter, the Italian bisbigliare, the Spanish chuchear, the Dutch pre- velen, and Unsteren, the Russian shepot, the Polish szeptae, the Hun- garian suttogok, the Hindoostanee phusphusana, the Malay bisik, and the Tongan fafango, different as they are in form, were probably all intended to imitate the sounds produced by whispering in the ear, or by other causes having a like effect. Several of these causes are enumerated together in Milton's exquisite poem of " Lycidas " — Ye valleys low, where the mild whispers use Of shades, and wanton winds, and gushing brooks. And again in Paradise Regained (b. 2, v. 26) — Where winds with reeds and osiers whisp'ring play. And in the same poem, describing Athens — There Ilyssus rolls His whisp'ring stream. And in the Allegro — Thus done the tales, to bed they creep, By whisp'ring winds soon lull'd asleep. So Adeluno, enumerating the causes of a similar sound, specifies the softly-moving foliage of a tree, the purling of a brook, and other like movements. 1 But none of these uses of the word whisper are noticed by Johnson. It should here be observed, that the labial isp connects whisper with our verb to lisp, in German lispeln, in Dutch lispen, in Swedish losspa, and in Danish lespe. Thus in German they sav " lispelnde bdche," "whisp'ring brooks," and "das dumpf lispelnde liiftchen," " the hollow whisp'ring breeze." 303. To croon is a North-country word, for which we have no pre- Croon, cise equivalent in standard English ; and which indeed seems to be used as an onomatopoeia, with great latitude of signification. By Burns it is employed with happy effect in describing Tarn o' Shanter's dreary midnight ride — Whiles haudin' fast his guid blue bonnet, Whiles crooning o'er some auld Scots sonnet. 2 In this sense it is a sort of undersong, something between singing, and merely humming a tune. Halliwell, however, says it is used in the north of England, both for to bellow, or roar, and to murmur softly ; and Jamieson explains it in the Scotch language, not only as used by Burns, but also as to cry like a bull, in a low and hollow tone, and to whine and persist in moaning ; which last is the sense of 1 Das sanft bewegte Laub des Baumes, — das Ra-jschen einer Quelle, — und andere ahnliche Bewegungen. — Worterb. voc. flistern. 2 Tam o' Shanter, v. 33. 2G2 OF ONOMATOPCEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. | I II W. X. ihr Dutch krennen, as " Zy doet, den beelm dag, mit dan krenr, " She does, the whole day, nothing bul moan." With krennen our word otocm seems t.. be allied ; and both arc evident onomatopoeias. 304. To babble is most frequently employed by us in the sense of idle talk, or senseless prattle; but it originated in an onomatopoeia, which is well explained by H. STEPHANOS under the word 0d£w, to speak. ' From this word," says he, " many grammarians derive the verb 0a/3ci£w; but I am persuaded that the latter was the original; and was no less ancient than irainra and /ui/xa, or ^ap/icii ; for as these words are the earliest, and as it were the natural rudiments "t the stammering tongue of a child; so I think that 0a0a is a sort of inarticulate word taken from such stammering; and thence i- formed tlie verb f3a[3u£w, which by abbreviation became /3('<£u>." So far H. Stepiianus. From this repetition of ' atrfxa kulvov, kuXwc, i//a\\u-£, e»' aAaXay/xw. " Sing unto the Lord a new song — sing praises lustily unto him, with a good courage." Psalm xxxiii. 3. (Or, as the Vulgate has it, " cum vociferatione.") Hollabaloo ! an evident onomatopoeia, which Halliwell describes as " a confused noise," is sufficiently imitative of that which it was meant to express ; and I perceive that it is adopted from the vulgar English in Air. BARTLETT's recent " Dictionary of Americanisms," as signifying, in that country, " a riotous noise. The French Charivari, CHA1\ X.] OF OXOMATOPCE1AS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 263 of which, a few years ago, much use was made for political purposes, is a noisy demonstration of disapproval of an individual's conduct, much like the Skimmington procession described by BUTLER, in which One might distinguish different noise Of horns, and pans, and dogs, and boys, And kettle-drums, whose sullen dub Sounds like the hooping of a tub. Hudibras, p. 2, c. 2, v. 587. These noisy tumults have been known in France for some centuries by the name of Charivari; for an Arret of 1606, " fait deffences a toutes personnes faire aucune assemblee illicite et tumulte, qu'ils appel- lent Charivari/." The learned Scaliger and Salmasius disputed about its etymology, which the former derived from calybarium, signi- fying, according to him, " crepitus seris, aut vasorum sereorum, rudi sere aut rudio pulsatorum ;" " the clank of brass, or brazen vessels, when struck by a brass rod." But all this learning was thrown away ; for the word was simply an onomatopofiia, well enough expressing the discordant sounds which it was meant to imitate, and perhaps in its first part connected with the Italian ciarlare, to chatter. 306. The expression of laughter in its various degrees, from the Laugh. loud burst of uncontrolled mirth to the half-suppressed movement of a ridiculous feeling, has a great variety of onomatopoeias ; hence our ha I ha I ha ! to laugh, smile, grin, snigger, titter, chuckle, giggle ; and the Scotch guffaw and whihher. In our modern pronunciation of the verb to laugh, we have dropped the characteristic guttural both in the begin- ning of the Anglo-Saxon and old Gothic Mohan ; the former is retained in the Islandic hlaca, and the latter in the German and Dutch lachen, and old German lahhan ; but both are dropped in the Danish and Swedish lee, which has some relation to the Latin foetus. Of another class of guttural onomatopoeias, the simplest form is seen in the Sanskrit kakh, whence we have the Greek (ca^Xa^i, which Hesychius renders udpwc; yeXd (he laughs impetuously), and the Latin cachinno, to laugh im- moderately. As KCf)(\a£ei seems to agree with our cackle, so KiyXl^ei, to which Hesychius gives the same signification, more nearly resem- bles our chuckle and giggle, the Hindoostanee kheekhiyana, and the Malay kekek, whence (as I have observed) a laughing parrot is named. We have seen that cackle represents the cry of a hen or a goose. From this it was applied to human laughter of a kind resembling that cry. Johxsox represents it as synonymous with giggle, but the difference of the vowels shows that there is a difference in the character of the laugh. One is that of a man who, without restraint, gives loose to his self- satisfaction, as in the instance quoted by Johxsox himself, from Arbuthxot. " Nic grinned, cackled, and laughed, till he was like to kill himself, and fell a frisking and dancing about the room." Whereas giggling is more the act of a girl laughing lightly without sufficient cause for mirth. Hence a giglot is a foolish wench, apt to laugh with- out reason, and not, as Johxsox supposes, lascivious, from the Dutch 2o4 OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OF, IMITATIVE WORDS. CAP. X. There is much similarity of character between giggle and which, Johnson justly supposes, "is formed from the sound;" both imply laughing without much noise; hut the latter implies somewhat nun-' ni' intermission than the former. To chuckle is not, as Johnson supposes, to laugh vehemently or convulsively, but on the contrary, to laugh rather inwardly to one's self, from a sense of secret triumph, with a noise somewhat resembling the clucking of a ben. To snicker or snigger, as properly described by Johnson, is to laugh slily or con- temptuously, and is probably connected with the Scotch nether, to heigh, or laugh with a sound resembling that of a horse. The Scotch whthher, too, is only another form of our titter. The Greek yeXaio, and ueidaii), differ both in origin and signification as much as <>uv laugh and smile; and therefore (piXofisicjic Afpo^irt} shculd not be trans- lated, as it sometimes is, laughter-loving Venus, but Venus ever- smiling, or delighting in smiles. A smile is not accompanied with si mud as laughter is, and therefore neither the Greek /j,eicau), nor the English smile, is an onomatopoeia. Whether or not yeXaw be such seems doubtful. At all events it has little relation to the Gothic hlahan, to laugh ; but may possibly have some to the Anglo-Saxon giellan, to yell, though the sounds expressed are different. The Scottish gaffaw, a horse-laugh, seems to be a sort of compound, gaff, agreeing with the German gaffen, to gape, and aw being a mere imitative sound, like hal ha! ha! In the north of England a gaff is an oaf, probably from gaffen; as a gaby is a silly fellow, probably from the l 1 gabe, to gape. 307. Of all our painful feelings, the most expressive utterance is a groan. In Milton's terrific picture of the Lazar- house, after enu- merating the varied forms of agony and torture, he concludes — Dire was the tossing, deep the groans ." That groan is an onomatopoeia no one can doubt ; and it seems con- nected with the English growl, applied to the sound of an angry bear, and with the German graen, horror, and Danish grue, to shudder with horror. Our sigh is the Danish verb sukke, Swedish suka, German seufzen, (provincially suchten), Anglo-Saxon scian, and Scottish syk; among which, our own sigh, if pronounced as it was anciently, with the guttural termination, approaches the nearest to a correct imitation of the actual sound. Our verbs to whine and whimper are related, much as the German weinen, to weep, and winseln, to whine, are. In Mceso-Gothic queinan is to lament, and " taking this as the primary signification (says Adelung) it would be an onoma- topoeia, expressing the sound which usually accompanies weeping." 2 The Islandic queina retained the qu, which in the Sueo-Gothic was changed to hoine, and in the Swedish to hxind, whence we have our 1 Paradise Lost, b. 11, v. 489. 2 Ware dieses die urspriingliche Bedentung, so wiirde es eine Onomatopoeie des mit dem Weinen oft verbundenen Lautes seyn. — WorUrbuch, iv. 1457. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 265 ■whim. Of the German winseln, Adelung says, " it is formed from weinen by means of a double derivative syllable; for the s gives it an intensive" force, and the ein a diminutive." 1 In like manner we may sav that whimper is doubly arlected in relation to whine, first, by changing the n into m for euphony, and then by adding per as an iterative particle. The Latin ejulare is said to be that sort of loud lamentation or shrieking, which is fitter for a woman than a man. Yet, as Cicero observes, even Hercules was heard to shriek out, in (Eta, when overcome with the acuteness of his pain. 2 Ejulare is an onomatopoeia with manifest relation to ululare ; and indeed the Greek okokvyri is rendered both ejulatus and nlulatus. 3 Boohoo I seems to be an American onomatopoeia, adopted by the witty Judge Haliburton to signify blubbering aloud. Scream, screech, and squeak, which have been already noticed among the sounds of birds and beasts, are also common to mankind. Ouf! is a French onomatopoeia, expressing the sound extorted by wearisome exertion ; as by M. Jourdan, who makes this exclamation after the pretended Turks have kept him a long time bending forward with the Alcoran on his back. 4 308. Among the sounds proceeding from the vicinity of the vocal Gwgle. organs, but not for vocal purposes, that produced by the act of gargling the throat is not the least remarkable. And accordingly we find that it furnishes in many languages a variety of expressive ono- matopoeias. The uvula is called in Greek yapyapewv* and we have- in relation to gargling the Greek yapyapifa, and the Latin gargarizo, with their derivatives. In German gurgeln is to gargle, 6 in Dutch gorgelen, Danish gurgle, Swedish gurgla, French gargouiller, Italian gorgogliare, Spanish gargarezar and gorgonitear. Our gurgle is evidently another form of the same onomatopoeia, as when our poets speak of " gurgling rills;" and perhaps the sound gave rise to the Latin gurges, Spanish gurge, and Italian gorgo, where the waters boiling up resemble in sound our gargling or gurgling. It is observable that the throat itself is, in various languages, of a like origin. In German it is gurgel, of which Adelung says, " es ahmet ohne Zweifel den schall nach," " it without doubt imitates the noise." In mediaeval Latin and Italian gorgia, in Spanish garganta, in French gorge, which our poets have adopted, as in Hamlet, " My gorge rises 1 Es ist von weinen, vermittelst einer doppelten Ableitungssylbe, gebildst ; das s maclit daraus ein Intensivum; die Sylbe ein aber ein Diminutivum. — Worterbuch, iv. 1564. 2 Ipsum enim Herculem viderunt in (Eta, magnitudine dolorum ejulantem. — Tuscul. 2, 7. 8 H. Stephanus, Thesaur. 4, 1527. * Moliere, Bourgeois Gentilhomme, a. iv. sc. 13. 5 Caruncula, quam gutturi, pro tegumento, natura addidit ; nomine a genere soni incRto. — Constantin. voc. yapyupeow. 6 Kelandus illud a sono, quem motus reciprocus in gutture excitat, effingit. — Wachter, voc. gurgeln. 266 OFO.V iAS, OK IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAP. X. at it." We say also, from the French gorger, to be gorged, that is, filled with food to the very fchroal ; and from digorger, to disgorge; and from ew, spout ; German spiitzen, spocken, speutzen ; Anglo-Saxon spcettan, spittan ; Dutch spitten, spuwen, spowen, spuigen ; Danish spytk, Swedish spotta. The French cracher, to spit, seems to be connected with the Anglo-Saxon hro?ca. 312. Our verb to sneeze, is the German niesen, a nasal word, of Sneeze. 1 Vergleichendes Wbrterbuch der gothischen Sprache, vol. ii. pp. 294, 295. 268 OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OB IMITATIVE W [CHAJ? X. which Adeluxg says " es ist ohne Zweifel eine Nachahmuog des mil dem Nieseo verbundenen Lautes,"' " it is without doubt an imitation of the sound connected with the act of sneezing." In Frankisfa nuisan, in Danish ny.se, in Swedish ninsa, in Anglo-Saxon niesan, whence is derived neese, which occurs in the Midsummer Night's Dream, immediately after " yexen in their mirth," (above cited) — ■ and neeze and swear A merrier hour was never passed there. Adeluxg suggests that the nut in sternutare, by exchange, not un common, of s into t, may have been of the same origin ; but this is certainly not the case, for sternuto is the regular frequentative of stemuo, which agrees with the Greek Trapi'v/M. The French iternuer, Italian sternutare, and Spanish estornudar are mere variations of the Latin. Our verbs sniff, snivel, snuff', the Scotch sneeshin, like snore and snort, are all imitative of nasal sounds, and, probably, from this source come the names of the nose itself in many languages ; as the Latin nasus, Italian naso, French nez, old German noz, nas, modern German nase, Dutch neus, Swedish ndsa, Danish ncese, Islandic nes, Anglo-Saxon nasu, nosu, Low Saxon ncese, Russian, Polish, and other Slavonic tongues, noss ; Wallachian nase, Hebrew nas, Sanskrit nasa, Hindoostanee nak, Gipsy naksh, New Guinea nisson, and Mallicolo nussun ; and, in point of form, as the nose projects from the face, so a promontory projects from the mainland; and hence it is called in Anglo-Saxon noes, nesse ; in Swedish, Jices, nos ; in French, nez, as in Grisnez, between Calais and Boulogne ; so our ness, as in Dunge- ness, Inverness; and the Naze, a promontory near Harwich, &c. With sneeze agree in origin, as onomatopoeias, our sniff, sneer, snore, snort, &c. Kiss. 313, Our verb, to kiss, is the German kussen, of which Adeluxg says, " Es scheinit dem mit dem kusse verbundenen schall nachzu- ahmen," " It seems to imitate the sound connected with a kiss ;" and similar onomatopoeias are found in the Greek kvu, kvoo), the Prankish chusen, the Anglo-Saxon cyssan, Swedish hjssa, Danish hysse, and Welsh kusan. Drum. 314. Among instruments used for the purpose of producing sound, the drum, as it is one of the simplest, is found, in a rude form, among the most barbarous nations, and is very generally named from its sound. Our drum is the German trommel, and in some dialects, trummel. Adeluxg says of it, " Die trommel bedeutet cin ding, welches den laut trom oder trum hervor bringt." 2 The word trommel (drum) signifies a substance which,when struck, gives out the sound, trom or trum." In its rudest state, it is no more than a hollow log of wood ; but in the earliest written record which we have of its use, it appears to have taken the form which we commonly call tambourine, and which 1 Vergleichendes Worterbuch dor gothischen Sprache, vol. ii. pp. 294, 295. ■ Worterb. vol. iv. 691. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 269 seems to be meant, in our English translation of the Bible, by the word timbrel. This, in the Septuagint, is called rvfiircLvov, the Latin tympanum, words of wider extent, including the " spirit-stirring drum " of modern warfare. The different onomatopoeias by which it is de- scribed, depend on the impression made on different ears by sounds somewhat similar. Thus, the American Indians call their drums, tom-tom, agreeing with the -op of the Greek Tvpiravov, the tym of the Latin tympanum, the tarn of the French tambour, and the tarn (with a different vocal articulation) of the Italian tamburro, and our tambourine. The Danes and Swedes, like the Germans, Dutch, and English, insert the r ; the Danes saying trombe, the Swedes trumba, and the Dutch trom and trommel ; the Germans apply the word pauke to the drum, but chiefly to the kettle-drum. Of this verb, pauken, Adelung says, " Dieses zeitwort ahmet den schall welches es bezeichnet genau nach." " This verb sufficiently imitates the sound which it signifies." 1 In one passage where the Septuagint uses Tvp-rravov, and our translation, tabrets, the German has pauken. " Du sollt noch frolich pauken," " Thou shalt again be adorned with thy tabrets." 2 In the Otaheitan and other Polvnesian languages, the name given to a dram is (accord- ing to French orthography) pahon, differing but little from the German onomatopoeia. 3 The Russian has a still different imitation of the same sound, viz., baraban, which seems to depend on the repeated strokes on the drum, like our row-de-dow and rub-a-dub. In the Yoruba lan- guage, the war-drum is called gan-gan from a like repetition. 4 315. From the drum we easily pass to the other sonorous warlike Trumpet instrument, the trumpet, the name of which is, in many languages, similar to that of the drum. In German it is trompete ; in Upper German, trummet ; in Luther's Bible, drommete ; in Lower Saxon, trumpette ; in French, trompette ; in Danish and Swedish, trompet ; in Welsh, trwmpt ; in Gaelic, trompa. It seems that a larger kind of trampet was called in old German and Frankish, triumbo, trumbu, and di'iwibo. Adelung, having noticed these, the speaking-trumpet, &c, says, " Alle diese werkzeuge haben, so wie die trommel, ihren namen von dem laute trom, welchen sie hervor bringen," " All these instru- ments have their name, like the drum, from the sound, trom, which they give forth." 5 The trumpet was, probably, first formed from the horn of an animal, whence, perhaps, the Anglo-Saxon truth-horn, our French-horn, the German jagd-horn, and our bugle. Tantarare, which Leroux seems to consider as a French word, "invente pour exprimer le son de la trompette," 6 is at least as old as Ennitjs — At tuba, terribili sonitu, Taratantara dixit. The trumpet then uttered aloud Taratantara, terrible sound. Annalium, lib. ii. frag. 124. 1 Worterb. vol. iii. 676. 2 Jeremiah xxxi. 4. 8 Buschmann, Apercu d. 1. langues d. lies Marquises, pp. 98, 99. 4 Crowther, voc. Qangan. 5 Worterbuch, vol. iv. p. 693. 6 Diction. Comique, vol. ii. 504. 270 OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. [CHAI\ X. lif.-, fee. 316. Tin* "ear-piercing fife" is connected with numerous onomato- poeias. According to Lucretius, the music of the pipe originated in an imitation of certain natural sounds — I'.t Zephyri cava per calamorum sibila primtun ustes docuere cavas taflare cicutas. 1 So Wordsworth's Ruth, in her childhood — had made a pipe of straw, And from that oaten pipe could draw All sounds of winds and floods.' 2 Among early onomatopoeias of this class is the Greek word wiiri^eiv, of which HESYCHIUS says, " Kara fxifirjirii' >/ \££,iq Trenoi-qrui, ri/c tCjv opvzwv riwrijc," " This verb is made by imitation from the voice of birds." I have before observed thatjMJp and peep wore applied to the softer notes of birds. In mediaeval Latin, pipare was thence used for playing on the pipe. " Instar forte gallinarum," says Ducange, " quae Latinis pipare dicuntur." 8 To this class of onomatopoeias belong the Welsh pib, Danish jrihe, and Swedish pipa. The Dutch apply piepen to the sound of young birds and mice. The German pfeifm is applied to the cry of chickens and other young birds, to whistling, and to many similar sounds. Adelung says of it, " Denjenigen hellen laut, von sich geben, welchen dieses zeitwort nachahmet und aus- driicket," " To give out that clear sound which this verb imitates and expresses ;" 4 and from pfeifen, dropping the p, we have taken our word, fife. The German flote, flute, is a different onomatopoeia. "Ohen zweifel," says Adelung, "von dem Latein flo, flare," " Doubtless from the Latin flo, flare." 5 But the Latin flo, to blow, is clearly an onomatopoeia. In Lower Saxon, flote is also used for whistling; with the lips, as is the Dutch fluiten. The Danish floite, is to whistle, hiss, or play on the flute. The Italians restrict flauto to the name of the musical instrument only. Another ancient onomatopoeia, expressing similar sounds, was the Greek SupiyS, which we call the Pan's pipe, agreeing with the Latin susurro in the elementary, sibilant, and labial susurro, and with the Greek verb, ovpivou), avpirrw, or , to whistle. The Pan's pipe was the simplest form of flute, composed of a row of reeds, each having a separate note, sometimes nine, as — %vpivy' &f inoicra KaAhv iyui evvtatywvov. A nine-toned beauteous Syrinx I have made. Theocritus, Idyl. 8. In Virgil's imitation, the pipe has only seven notes — Est mihi disparibus septem compacta cicutis. _ Eclog. 2, 26. 1 De Rerum Natura, 5, 1378. 2 Miscel. Poems, ed. 1820, vol. i. p. 199. a Glossar. ad Script, med. et inf. Latin, voc. pip ire. * Worteibuch, vol. iii. 717. 5 Ibid. vol. ii. p. 221. CHA1'. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. 271 But the Latin fistula, as I have before observed, was probably de- rived, not from the sound, but from the form. On the other hand, there are onomatopoeias in various languages, expressing the same sound by very different articulations, as the Hindoostauee chhoochce, and the Tongmfango-fango. The sounds produced by metals struck together afford many ono- B(nI - &c - matopoeias, according to the nature of the instruments, as a bell, a Chinese gong, or the cymbals of the Phiygian goddess. Bells vary greatly in size, and, consequently, in sound, from the light tinkling bells of — The folded flocks penn'd in their wattled cote's, To the tolling of the curfew — Swinging slow, with sullen roar. And the contrast is well marked in the old Oxford catch — Tinkle, tinkle, tinkle, says the little bell at nine, To call the topers home ; But the devil a man will leave his can Till he hears the mighty Tom ! The sound torn, a manifest onomatopoeia, gave name to several large bells, as that at Lincoln, that at Christchurch, Oxford, and some others. The Chinese give to a gong the appellation of tong-tong. The name of a cymbal, in Greek nvfxfiukov, seems to have been formed from the sound, and with analogy to the Tvfnrarov, both instruments being used together in the noisy worship of Cybele — Leve tympanum remugit, cava cymbala recrepant. 1 Our word clock is commonly said to be taken from the sound or motion of a bell when tolling or striking. " Le President Fauchet XII., 17, dit que ce mot est tout Francois, et qu'i'l represent Taller et le venir de la campagne ebranlee." 2 That it is an onomatopoeia, I have no doubt ; but I rather think that the name was given from the oscil- lations of the pendulum, which, in the early clocks, produced a sound not much unlike the clucking of a hen. In mediaeval Latin, we find it written cloca, clocca, clogga, and glocca. Ducange, after enumerating various derivations of these words, very rationally concludes, " vel potius ab ipso sonitu," " or rather from the sound itself." In modern times, it is the German glocke, the Swedish klocke, and the French cloche, which, in the Picard dialect, is pronounced cloque. The large machinery first employed to measure time being generally accompanied with a bell, the French word cloche, like the German diminutive glockchen, or glocklein, was applied even to small bells. 318. Our words gun, cannon, musket, &c, are not onomatopoeias, Bomb, &c. but a bomb is evidently an imitative of the sound, like the Greek (iopPetv, above noticed, the elementary sound bom being applied not only (as has been seen) to the sound of bees, but also to the louder sounds of explosion. We have, besides the word bounce, which 1 Catullus, Atys. v. 29. 2 Menage, Origines, p. 221. 272 OF ONOMATOPCEIAS, Oil IMITATIVE WO [CHAP. X approaches aearly to the sound bom. Skinneb says it is "a word formed from the sound," and Hilpert calls ita"schallwort" — He speaks plain cannon, fire, and smoke, and bounce. S/takspearc, Kim; John, a. ii. sc. 2. The Sandwich Islanders called a musket pool from its noise; and when they heard a cannon they called it a puo-noo! Whisk whip, 319. Our words whisk and whip are onomatopoeias, similar to those mentioned in a former section under the term whisper. They both represent a quick motion, attended with a slight but distinct sound. If we take the imitation of such a slight sound as the primary meaning of these words, we shall easily perceive the analogies which connect their different applications. The quick motion of a besom in brushing away dust, or of a wisp of straw employed by a groom in currying a horse, produces a slight sound, whence the instrun itself is called in English a whisp, or whisk, in Swedish wiska, in Danish risk, and in German uristfi. Such an act of brushing is called in English to whisk, in Danish viske, in German icisclien. A similar sound is produced by the garments of one who moves quickly in or out of a room, whence he is said to whisk in or out, and by moving anv light thing quickly a like sound is occasioned. Hence the ludicrous lines of Butler — Cardan believ'd great states depend Upon the tip of the bear's tail end, Which, as she whisks it tow'rds the son, Strews mighty empires up and down. Hudibras, p. 2, c. 3, v. 895. The beating up of cream with a ichisk is called in Swedish hwispa. and cream so beaten up is called by us whipt cream. Here we see the connection in sound let ween whisk and whip. And it is to be observed that a sound nearly similar is expressed by the word whip, whether it apply to whipping the person as a punishment, or to whipping a top as pastime, or to whipping a horse in a race, or even to whipping cream with a whisk ; and that there is a like active movement, and consequently some degree of sound, when Brisk Susan whips her linen from the rope. Or when of two travellers, one whips up a tree ; or when Hamlet Whips his rapier out, and cries, a rat ! As to being " whipt with sarcasm," this is a merely figurative expression, in reference to the pain of being literally whipt as a punishment. The word whip, as imitating the sound caused by the stroke of a rod, is sometimes used interjectionally ; so Grimm reckons among interjections of the same signification, fickl fickl fitsche ! fatsche! 1 and Plautus makes the slave Sagaristio use the inter- jection tax, not unlike our thwack ! — 1 Deutsche Grammatik, vol. iii. p. 307. CHAP. X.] OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IM1TATIVK "WORDS. 273 Tax! Tax! meo tergo erit, non euro. 'Twill be Thwack ! Thwack ! upon my back — I care not. ! PerstB, a. ii. sc. 3. From thwack Fielding formed the name of Thwachim for the severe tutor of Tom Jones. The noun itself occurs chiefly in ludicrous compositions : — But Talgol first, with hearty thwack, Twice bruis'd his head, and once his back. Hudibras, p. 1, c. 2, v. 795. The verb is in the Anglo-Saxon thaccian. The vulgar word wop (provincially, according to Halliwell, whap) is an onomatopoeia expressing a forcible, and consequently loud blow : it is found in the radical part of the Latin vapulo, as jlog is in that of jlagrum and flagellum. 320. It has thus been shown that imitative sounds are among the Conclusion. first elements of speech, that they are natural to man, and that thev actually exist in numerous languages (and presumably in all) as words or the roots of words. In applying such sounds to speech, we have seen that there is no necessary connection between the sound intended to be imitated, and any definite action of the vocal organs ; for different individuals, hearing the same sound, do not always possess, or at least do not always exercise, the same power of distinguishing it by the ear; nor does one and the same sound, when heard, always strike the imagination of different persons as similar to the sound producible by one and the same action of the vocal- organs, as is evident in the different names given by different African tribes to a saw, from its sound. 1 Moreover, men do not always imitate, or attempt to imitate, a primary sound ; but they more commonly adopt that imitation of it, which they have been accustomed to hear from their associates or instructors. An Englishman expresses the sound of whistling either by the interjection whew .' or by the word whistle. A Hindoo expresses the same sound of whistling by the syllables chooh chooh in chooh- choohiya and choohchoohana* because these different modes of expres- sion have been handed down to them, respectively, through several generations. It follows, as a corollary from this rule, that where we find the onomatopoeias expressing a given sound to be the same, or nearly similar, in any two or more languages, we may infer that the nations using it have been, at some former period, more or less closelv connected, as the Swedish hwisla and English whistle show an ancient connection between those two nations. It is to be observed, that an onomatopoeia, as such, is not necessarily a monosyllable, although the sound imitated may be resolvable into two or more elementary syl- lables. For instance, the word cuckoo is resolvable into a repetition of the word coo ; but the duplication produces a word totally different in signification from the simple coo, which we apply to the voice of a dove. It is not to be supposed that all, or even the majority of i Supra, s. 282. 2 Supra, s, 309. G] 2.7-i OF ONOMATOPOEIAS, OR IMITATIVE WORDS. ['HAP. X. words, can be traced to the mere imitation of sound ; bat that onoma- topceias must necessarily be Dumerous is evident from the great variety of sounds imitated, proceeding (as I have shown) from causes inanimate and animated, irrational and rational, from insects, reptiles, birds, beasts, and human actions, natural and artificial. The small portion of them here given is the first attempt (so far as I know) to bring under a general classification this considerable 1 'ranch of the elements of speech. Yet it is certainly not without interest to the glossologist to trace the onomatopoeia through its different gradations, first, as a mere imitative sound, like that of the boy hooting to the owls, 1 which is not properly to be deemed a part of speech ; secondly, an incondite sound, which, being connected with some human feeling, may be called an interjection, like the fuffl used by Burns; 2 thirdly, forming a noun or verb, as snap, in the Dutch " met een snap ;" 3 fourthly, the root of a derivative word, as mu (which Wachter calls " vox vaccae naturalis") in the Latin mugitus, the lowing of a cow; and fifthly, entering into the formation of a compound word, as klang, in the German wohlklang, harmony. Finally, any onomatopoeia which is peculiar to a given language or dialect is felt, by those who understand it, to give appropriate form and expression to the sentence in which it is employed, as in the worcT croon above cited from Burns. 4 And consequently no one can feel the beauties or niceties of a language, who has paid no attention to the effect of this element of speech. 1 Supra, s. 181. 2 Supra, s. 291. 8 Supra, s. 292. 4 Supra, s. 303. ( 275 ) CHAPTER XI. OF ROOTS. 321. The two forms of articulate speech treated of in the two Connection preceding chapters serve, in their primary use, only to show forth chapters? 61 emotions, or to imitate irrational sounds ; but neither of them, in itself alone, depends on the reasoning faculty, though it may be com- bined with the forms which serve to express that faculty. These latter, together with the interjections, are called words, and are grammatically distinguished into the classes commonly called parts of speech. Of words in general I shall speak hereafter ; but it is neces- sary first to explain that portion of a word which is called its root. 322. In comparing the words of any language which is not purely Origin of the monosyllabic, we usually find a number of them more or less exactly term Koot- agreeing in some one articulation or number of articulations, as amo, amas, amat, amor, amator, amalilis, adamo, deamo, &c, agree in the portion am; or as lovest, loveth, loved, lover, lovely, loveliness, unlovely, beloved, &c, agree in the portion love; or as sang, song, songster, agree less exactly with sing. Nor is this circumstance peculiar to the cultivated languages. We find in the Yoruba (a negro tongue), oru, night, and oruganjo, midnight, agreeing in the portion oru ; and so ose, a sound made by smacking the lips, expressive of grief, and osisi, a poor miserable person, agree in the portion os. In the Cree lan- guage, we find nippow, he sleeps ; nippdsku, he sleeps very frequently ; nenippow, he sleeps frequently ; nanippow, he sleeps at times ; nippdsu, he sleeps a little ; and ndnippdsu, he sleeps a little now and then— all agreeing in the portion nip ; and so, piinmee, grease ; pimme'eicoo, he is greasy; pimme"evoun, it is greasy; pimme'ewissoo, he is greased; pimmeewetayoo, it is greased, &c, agree in the portion pirn. In all these cases (which indeed make up far the greater part of articulate speech), the portion directly or indirectly common to a number of words is called their root, by analogy to the root of a plant ; for as from the latter spring a stem, branches, foliage, and fruit, so from the former spring a noun, verb, pronoun, &c, with their inflections, derivatives, or compounds. The root agrees with the words which spring from it, not only in sound, but in signification ; for it always relates to a mental impression, which may be traced throughout them, der different modifications of person, time, place, cause, effect, like- t2 276 OF KOOTS. [ohap. XI. ness, contrast, &c The analogy of a verbal root to the root of a plant may be seen, boo, in other particulars; for as some plants Bend forth few shoots, or extend over a very short space of ground, whilst others rise aloft — Brum : ■ ' and long, thai in the ground Til,, bended twigs take root, and daughters grow Aliout tin- mother tree, a pillar'd shade High overarch'd, and echoing walks between. /' '■' e Lost, b. 0, v. 11' I i. So we have in the Greek rvroc (agreeing, perhaps, with our word tiny) the root tw, with only two derivatives; whilst in tvtttio the root TV- 1ms a large number of words springing from it, as the verbs tvtttu), rvwiu), tv-6u>, rv7ra£w, KTvireu, with their inflections active, passive, and middle; the nouns rvai], tvttciq, tvtoq, &c, with their cases; the derivatives tv-ikuq, -vxwch]q; the compounds a y-iTvir-w, G-eproTVTrrjc, fiovrvftOQ, ccc. arst 323. The ancient Greek and Latin grammarians paid little or no attention to the roots of words, and hence their notions of what we now call etymology were very vague. Vakko, who here and else- where uses serbum in the sense of "a word," says, " Primigenia dicuntur verba, ut lego, scribo, sto, sedeo," &c. He therefore took the first person singular of the present tense, indicative mood, of a veil/, as a root, and did not reflect that the root of lego was teg : that of scribo, scrib ; of sto, sta; and of sedeo, sed. It does not appear that there was any attempt to arrange Greek words according to their roots until the very learned H. Estienne (commonly called Ste- phanus) undertook it, in his great and admirable Thesaurus Grcecce Linguae, first published in 1572, with dedications to the Emperor Maximilian, King Charles IX., Queen Elizabeth, and the Electors Frederick Count Palatine, Augustus of Saxony, George of Bran- denburg, and their respective universities. His words are these : " Prim iun quidem mea est, nee priiis audita, vocum Graecarum dis- positio, qua earum maxima pars ad suas origines, tanquam rivi ad suos fontes, vel stirpes ad suas radices, revocantur." ' And there is no reason to doubt the justice of his claim to originality. He, how- ever, like Varro, takes the first person singular of the present tense, indicative mood, as a root, not only in such verbs as tvtttw, but, what is still more remarkable, in 'lo-Trj/xi, of which, as well as of the Latin sto, the root is certainly sta (the Sanskrit sthd), and probably there must have been an ancient Creek verb craw, condensed into the Latin sfo ; the root, however, remaining in most of the other inflec- tions, as stits, stabam, stabo, &c. In 1579, John Scapula published his Greek Lexicon, on the same plan. He says, indeed, that Estienne's work did not fall into his hands, until he had nearly completed his ' First, then, that anangement of Greek words is mine, and never before '. by which the greater part of them are traced back to their origins, as streams to their springs, or plants to their roots. — Thesaur. Grcec. vol. i. p. 10. CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 277 own ; but this is extremely improbable. At all events, he, like his predecessor, took tv-ftco, 'itrrrjpi, &c, as roots. It is a conclusive proof of the originality of the Indian system of grammar, that it not only differs from that of the Greek and Latin grammarians, but is far more philosophic, by distinguishing the roots separately from their use in forming nouns, verbs, or other parts of speech. Hence I cannot aoree with those who call a Sanskrit root "the crude verb," which seems to me as inconsistent with true analogy as to call the root of a plant a crude stem. There is a collection of Sanskrit roots by Panixi, whom the Hindoos call the father of Sanskrit grammar, 1 and who lived at a very remote age, probably long before any Greek gram- marian. This collection has had many commentators, one of the latest of whom, named Sayana, lived about a.d. 1350. Panini's fame also spread into distant countries ; a Treatise on his Roots being still extant in the Tibetan language. 2 And from the schools of Panini and two other very ancient grammarians, Katantra and Vopadeva, the celebrated Danish orientalist, Westergaard, collected his great work, Radices Linguae Sanscritce, published in 1841. The Hebrew roots, as such, do not appear to have been collected before the seven- teenth century. They are, however, alluded to in Butler's ludicrous description of the Puritan knight — For Hebrew roots, although they're found To flourish most in barren ground, He had such plenty, as suflie'd — Hudibras, part i. c. i. v. 59. It is somewhat remarkable that among the different explanations which Dr. Johnson gives of " root" he does not mention its use as signifying the radical part of a word. But indeed the nature of verbal roots had been little studied in his time, on any general prin- ciple embracing many languages. One of the first considerable attempts of that kind was the collection of supposed primitive words in the third volume of Court De Gebelin's Monde Primilif, pub- lished in 1775. Since that period, and especially since the Sanskrit system began to be understood in Europe, this part of glossology has been cultivated with great energy, if not always with success, by many eminent continental writers. 324. The root of a word mav be defined — an articulate sound, or Definition. combination of such sounds, expressing, or referring to an emotion, imitation, or general conception, and serving, directly or indirectly, as a common portion to words, in one or more languages, having relation to the same emotion, imitation, or conception. On this definition, several questions may arise. 325. First, it may be asked, what kind of articulate sound, or First what combination of such sounds, may constitute a root. And here I ClUes,1 1 See Mr. Talboys' translation, with valuable notes, of Adelung's Historical Sketch of Sanskrit Literature, p. 17. 8 Journal Asiat. Soc. Bengal, No. 74, p. 151. 278 OF ROOTS. [CHAP. XL must adopt the old distinction of vowels and consonants, which I have shown to result from the form and action of the vocal organs. A very [earned person, however, in a recent work of great research and undoubted talent, repudiates that distinction. " We are taught" (says he) "from our earliest years, to distinguish between vowels and con- sonants, and to regard them as necessarily having a separate existence. This is a notion which must be at once discarded by every one who would make any progress in philology." And again, "The distinc- tion of syllables into consonants and vowels is perfectly arbitrary. Neither a vowel nor a consonant can have any separate existence in spoken language." 1 With unfeigned respect for this learned author, and great admiration of his extensive researches in language, I must take leave to dissent from the reasons on which this particular doctrine is founded. They are thus stated: 1. "The consonant always re- quires a vowel appendage to be pronounced." 2. " The vowel cannot be pronounced without an initial breathing, which is sometimes so strong as to become a definite consonant." Here are three actions of the articulating organs stated — a consonant, a breathing, and a vowel. I have shown that the so-called breathing is always a consonant. Doubtless, neither a breathing, nor any other consonant, can be pro- nounced without a vowel, because they are mere impediments to the direct utterance of the vowel sound. 2 But to say that a vowel cannot be pronounced without an initial breathing is as inaccurate as to say that it cannot be pronounced without any other initial consonant. To pronounce i or a is, in fact, easier than to pronounce hi or ha. In the first case, the breath is unimpeded, and requires little effort; in the second, the breath is impeded, and a greater effort is necessary. A. single 326. Assuming, then, that the distinction of vowel and consonant 3y a le ' is a correct distinction, I say that the root of a word must consist of at least one syllable; but that syllable may be formed by a vowel, either alone, or modified by another vowel, or by one or more con- sonants, according to idiom. First, it may consist (though rarely) of a vowel alone; for a is the root of the Greek verb aw, " I breathe;" and i, of the Latin ire, " to go." Bopp says, " That in the earliest period of language a simple vowel is sufficient to express verbally an idea," and he observes that " this proposition is supported by the remarkable concurrence of nearly all the individuals of the Sanskrit family of languages, in expressing the idea ' to go,' by the root i. ' And though Dr. Lee says, " the roots of words in Hebrew always consist of three letters," yet he afterwards admits that there are cases in which we find primitive nouns with only one letter. Secondly, a root may consist of a vowel modified by another vowel, as ai in the Latin aio, I say, and in Fee ! the Latin interjection, which was pro- nounced wae, as in Scotland ; the v or w being, in fact, a very short vowel sound, and cc or ae another. Thirdly, it may consist of a vowel modified by a single consonant preceding or following it, as our 1 New Cratylus, second edit. p. 145. 2 Supra, sec. CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 279 go and up ; so the Latin do, I give, and the Sanskrit ad, answering to the German es, in essen, to eat. Fourthly, of a vowel preceded or followed by two consonants, as flu in Latin and plu in Sanskrit, to flow ; aks, in Anglo-Saxon, and ask, in modern English. Fifthly, of a vowel between two consonants, a very prevalent form in most languages, as in the Sanskrit pad, answering to ped in the Latin pedis (and to 7ro£ in the Greek ttoSoq), of a foot. So, in the Greek rvir in tvttto), I strike ; the Gothic bug in bugun, to bow or bend ; the German sag in sagen, to say ; the Hungarian lab, a foot, in labatlan, footless ; the Polish pan, a lord or master, in panski, magisterial, &c. Sixthly, of a vowel between several consonants, as our strong, screech ; the Galic bard, a poet, in bardamhuil, poetical ; the German grab, a grave, in grablegung, burial ; the Latin grand in grandcevus, aged ; the Greek fiuer in fiacr-i^, a scourge, &c. Doubtless, the combination of several consonants with a single vowel is not so easily pronounced at first as that of one consonant with one vowel. An infant is sooner able to pronounce tong than strong, or peak than speak. But the power of uttering combined sounds results from practice, a practice to which, in certain cases, whole nations are unused. Nor does this depend on a defect of intellect. The Otaheitans are generally thought to be far superior in intellect to the Negritos of the Indo-Pacific Islands ; yet the latter pronounce English words with much greater facility and accuracy than the former. 1 No one would dream of comparing the Australians, in intellect, with the Chinese; yet the former have many such words as marongorong (the moon in its first quarter) and ngambaru (tattooing), 2 none of which a Chinese would attempt to pronounce. Causes not now ascertainable have given to the Russian language a greater variety of articulations than to either the French or the English; and hence a Russian acquires a facility of utterance, which enables him to speak English more fluently than a Frenchman, and French more fluently than an Englishman. On the other hand, few Europeans can acquire the cluck which a Hottentot utters mechanically, and combines rapidly with other articulations. 327. It has been supposed, that all roots are necessarily mono- Two or uioro syllabic, "La premiere langue" (says M. Court De Gebelin), " n'est syUables ' composee que de monosyllabes," 3 It is probable, indeed, that men, in their first attempts to make themselves intelligible to each other by speech, would, in many instances, employ the shortest sounds ; but this method would often be inapplicable to interjections, and to onoma- topoeias. The Latin interjection eja! is the root of ejulo, ejulito, ejulatio, and ejulatus : the Greek oi/xot, is the root of otpcoyi), 6i/nw£(o, oipbJKTt, and oifiuJKToy. Our onomatopoeia, bubble, which represents the sound of water boiling up, as in the witches' cauldron, 4 or issuing from a spring, is the root of bubbled and bubbler, and in the Scotch 1 Crawfurd's Malay Gram. vol. i. clxxiii. 2 Moore's Australian Vocabulary, ad voc. a Monde Primitifj vol. iii. p. 43. 4 Macbeth, a. iv. sc. 1. 280 OF HOOTS. [chap. XI. dialect, a Bubbly Jooh y is a name given to a turkey, from its noise when angry. Here the syllable fe is an essential part of die imitation ; :t^ it is in gurgle, rattle, and the like; for we cannot say that bub, and gurg, and rat, are the roots of these words ; sine.' they do not appear a> such in tli" inflections, derivatives, or compounds. Pope speaks of " bubbling fountains," and Young of" gurgling rills. - " and Shakspeare of drums " rattling the welkin's ear ;" but we nowhere hear of "bub- bing fountains," or " gurging rills," or " ratting drums." In onoma- topoeias, by iteration of sounds, the same rule applies; for though the Germans use the verb murren, of which mur may be said in that language to be the root, the Latins use only the iterative form murmur, in murmuro, murmuras, murmurator, murmurillo, murmurillum, See. So of the onomatopoeia cuckoo, we do not use the verb coo in the compounds, but cuckoo ; as in Shakspeare \s description of the Spring — When daisies pied, and violets blue, And cuckoo-buds, of yellow hue, Do paint the meadows with delight. 2 So it must unavoidably be with the names given to a saw by cer- tain African tribes, as mentioned in the preceding chapter, if they should be employed (as they probably will be, or have been) with inflections, derivatives, or compounds. In none of these words is the vocal imitation of the sound of a saw confined to a single syllable; and vet they must be taken as roots, since they seem not to be derived from any root in the same or other languages. Second 328. A second question may arise on the difference meant, in the question. aD ove definition of a root, between the terms expressing, and referring to, an emotion, &c. I use these terms, in consequence of an opinion held by some Grammarians, that a root cannot be employed as a word, and consequently cannot alone express any act of the mind ; though it must of course refer to some such act, in all its inflections and derivatives. Now, this is purely a matter of idiom. In English, the syllable love not only serves as a root of lover, loveth, &c, all referring to the emotion of loving ; but it may also be used as a word directly expressing that emotion. In Latin the syllable leg serves as a root of lego, legis, &c, all referring to the conception of reading ; but it cannot be used as a word, directly expressing that conception. Third 329. Thirdly, it may be asked, when does a root serve directly, and question. w h en indirectly, as a common portion to several words? The answer is, that a root serves directly as a common portion of the words in question, when it is found in all of them without change, as the roots am and love, are, in the instances above mentioned ; and a root serves the like purpose indirectly, when it undergoes some change, either in the same language, for the purposes of inflection, derivation, or com- position, or else in transition from one language or dialect to another. These changes consist sometimes in a difference of accent, quantity, or articulation, sometimes in transposing a vowel articulation or con- ' Jamieson, ad voc. 2 Love's Labour Lost. CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 281 sonantal articulation, sometimes in prefixing, inserting, or affixing one or more articulations, or the contrary ; and we often find a root under- going two or more of these changes together. 330. A difference of accent sometimes mark a different dialect in Different the same language, and sometimes a different signification of words, agreeing in articulation. The Scotch accent differs from the English. " It is well known" (says Mr. Mitford), " that those accustomed to Scottish pronunciation from infancy to manhood, can never entirely drop it; insomuch that the most polite of the Scots are distinguished more certainly in England by their speech, than any transmarine people." 1 "The circumflex, with which the Scottish pronunciation abounds " (says Mr. Foster), " is not formed as the Greek, Latin, and English, of an acute and grave, but of a grave and acute, vaog (Gr.), ros (Lat.), round (Eng.), round (Scot.)" 2 A Frenchman wdio wrote some English verses on Shenstone, made natural rhyme to rural; and in a French farce, an English lady was represented introducing her niece as her niaise (foolish girl). Differences of accent are par- ticularly observable in Greek, both as marking dialects, and as dis- tinguishing significations. In the Attic dialect, x«P £ £ (hands), is used for y/ipeg > m tae -^ onc C™g for £evg ; in the Ionic aXrjdia for a\i)deia; in the Doric fiXoaocpoi for ), w (7), and u (8), distinguishing each into long and short ; and taking them both simply, and also with their diphthongs. (1) f = f beiirre (Fr.), butter (Eng.) y = o honneur (Fr.), honoris (Lat.), vblker, volk (Ger.) y = e brother, brethren (Eng.) V = I lbv (Dan.), leaf (Eng.) ^ = dw brother (Eng.), brawd (Welsh). )' = u blood (Eng.), braid (Scot.) (1, 5) )'i = hiems (Lat.) (2,5) x = S *X £IV (G r -)' «'gan (Goth.) (2.4) x = ^ brechen (Ger.), break (Eng.) (4.5) k = g kuat (Alam.), gut (Ger.) 1, 2) P = = b 1. 3) P = -.{ L, 4) P = -V 2, 8 b = = f 2 b = : V 3, 4) f= : V 2S4 OF BOOTS. !'. XI. Dentals — 1, 2. pure, t, d. 3, 4, lisping, 0, ft. 5, 6, 7, 8, Bibilant, s, z, c,j. (1.2) t=d tag (Ger.), day (Eng.) (1, 3) t = tunny (Eng.), 66vvoq (Gr.) (2.3) d = erde (Gen), earth (Eng.) (1,10) t = s saltus (Lat.), aXrruv ( < !r. ) (2, 4) d==S rad (0. Ger.), rathe (O. Eng.) (3, 5) = s Otoe (Gr.), 2to C (vEolic). (5, 6) s = z close, «(//., close, verb (Eng.) (5.7) s = c sleep (Eng.), schlaf (Ger.) (7.8) c=j occasio (Lat.), occasion (Eng.) (3.4) 0=3 bath, bathe (Eng,) Labials — 1, 2, close, p, b. 3, 4, open,/, v. capo (Ital.), calx; (Span.) pellis (Lat.), fell (Eng.) palari (Lat.), wallen (Ger.), to wander, geben (Ger.), gyfan (A. Sax.) geben (Ger.), give (Eng.) (3, 4) f=v feed (Eng.). weiden (Ger.) Linguals — 1, I; 2, r. (1,2) l=r KkifaivoQ (Gr.), lepifiavoe (Attic). JVasals — 1, m ; 2, n ; 3, nj>. (1, 2) m =n hemp (Eng.), hanf (Ger.) (1, 3) m =Vf stimulo (Lat.), sting (Eng.) (2, 3) n = rij ffvyyvufir), avv ay vw fir] (Gr.) Consonants 334. It would seem at first sight, that the remote consonantal remote. articulations were less easily substituted for each other than the proximate ; yet we find such substitutions common in the comparison of different languages, and sometimes even in the same language, or dialect. They may be arranged in five classes, as in the preceding section, but with a change of numeration. Gutturals— -h, x , (, k, g (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Dentals— t, d, 0, =S, s, z, c,j (6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 1-2, 13). Labials— p, b,f, v (14, 15, 16, 17). Linguals — I, r (18, 19). Nasals-^n, n, nj, (20, 21, 22). And first, as to those having a guttural : — (1, 16) h = f hermoso (Span.), formosus (Lat.) (1, 10) h = s ti\c (Gr.), sal (Lat.) (2, 16) x = f zvverch (Ger.), dwarf (Eng.) CHAF. XI.] (2,18W = 1 (3,21) z = nj (4.6) k = t (4, 14) k = p (4.7) k = d (4, 10) k = s (5,15) g = b (5.18) g = l Having a dental : — (6, 11) t = s (6.19) t=T (6, 14) t = p (7, 11) d = s (7, 15) d = b (7, 19) d=r (7, 18) d = l (8, 16) = f (6, 11) t = s (11, 19) z=r Having a labial : — (14, 4) p = k (14,5)p=g (15, 18) b = l (15, 20) b = m (16, 20) f=m (16, 1) f=h (17, 5) v = g (16,2) f= x Having a lingual :— (18,21) l=n (18,5) l = g Having a nasal : — (20) m = b (21) n=l OF ROOTS. hijo (Span.), filius (Lat.) brought, bring (Eng.) keIvoq (Gi\), rijvoc (Doric). cVwc (dr.), 6Vwc (Ionic). bolhverk (Ger.), boulevard (Fr.) kukjan (Goth.), kiss (Eng.) fiaXavog, an acorn (Gr.), ydXavog (iEol.) fioXtc (Gr.), fxoyig (Attic.) rv (Doric), av (Gr.) putum, purum (Lat.) crdliov (Gr.), (Doric). ludo, lusi (Lat.) cite (Gr.), bis (Lat.) gaudium (Lat.), yavpiaw (Gr.) haKpvjia (Gr.), lacryma (Lat.) Oepfiog (Gr.), fep/jog (Attic). av (Gr.), rv (Doric and Lat.) freeze (Eng.), frieren (Ger.) pen (Welsh), ceann (Gal.) Xvirtiv (Gr.), lugere (Lat.) fiofiiToc (Gr.), fioXiTog (Attic), marbve (Er.), tnarmor (Lat.) reif (Ger.), rime (Eng.) forst (Ger.), hyrst (A. Sax.) wasen (Ger.), gazon (Fr.) av%W (Gr.), av^jc (zEol.) irvtvfiiov (Gr.), TrXevficov (Attic). /doXic (Gr.), fioyiQ (Attic). 285 marmor (Lat.), marble (Eng.) kind (Ger.), child (Eng.) 335. The vowel articulations, i and w, preceding other vowels, are Consonant often pronounced so short, as to have the effect of consonants, and a for vowel - like observation may perhaps be applicable to the old digamma of the Greeks, and the V of the Latins. Hence we find each of these short vowels often passing into a consonantal articulation of the same, or a different organ. I = g yolk (Eng.), gelde (Ger.) \v= v water (Eng.), wasser, pron. vasser (Ger.) w=g ward (Eng.), garder (Fr.) 336. A compound consonantal articulation, in one language or dia- Compound consonants. 286 of roots. [ciiAr. xi. lect, often answers, in another, to a simple articulation, or to a dif- ferent compound, ex. gr. : — sk =c fisk (Dan.), fish (EDg.) dz = t zwo (Alam.), two (Eng.) tz = t wart/.c (Ger.), wart (Eng.) tc = k child (Eng.,) kind (Ger.) ks = v ci^,a (Attic), o('x a (Gr.) dz = g tyv'(r) (Ionic), vy>; (. So in Welsh, dant, a tooth, doubles the n and changes t into dd (that is th) in the plural, dannedd. These changes [g.] U 290 OF ROOTS. I HAP. XI. are carried so far in some languages, that in a long word the original root is almost lost sight of. Thus in the participle of the first future passive from the Greek root tvt, we have rv^y^^uiw-, where, out of five syllables, none but the first has any similarity to the root, and even in that the tt of the root is changed to prasquam-perfectum passive, iTiTv\i\ir)v, the root appears only in the third of four syllables, and then the tt is changed into yu. Similar alterations occur in other inflexions from the same root ; and this, in a language considered to be one of the most highly cultivated ever known. Yet some languages, which are commonly deemed barbarous, exhibit as many, and as great variations. In the Lenni Lenapi, from the root luw (say or tell), we have rCMlawiparmk, I did not say to them; 1 and from the root lauch or lauchs (live), we have TidellauchsoJialguneep, he made me live. 2 In the Cree language, from the root sake (love), we have sahgehahgaigoog, love ye them.* Id the Sechuana, from the root reka (buy), we have 'rikabohinckireka, I should have bought. 4 In the Cherokee, from ined (speak), we have diyosdenedsisoi, we will occasionally speak.* In the Japanese, from the root fouho (deep), we have foukakarcuiandaridomo, though it was not deep, 6 &c. &c. causes of 342. The causes of change in roots are various; but I need only notice here the following, viz. : — 1. A physical difference of men in the organs of speaking or of hearing. 2. Imitation. 3. A contraction of significant sounds. 4. Love of change. 5. Assimilation. G. Euphony. 7. Modes of writing. Difference 343. It is a question for further anatomical research, how far the of organs. physical differences of organization in men necessarily produce diversi- ties of articulation. Undoubtedly the vocal organs of children, and of persons aged, or diseased, are inadequate to pronounce certain articu- lations. And it is no less obvious that certain races of men, in the height of their faculties, do in fact pronounce with difficulty, or not at all, some vocal sounds, which men of other races utter with ease and fluency ; but in the greater portion of language, there seems to be no physical reason, why men of all races should not be capable of giving the same vocal effect to the same position of the organs. It can hardly be believed that Englishmen in general of the pre- 1 Zcisberger, pp. 195, 201. 2 Ibid. pp. 132, 134. 3 Howse, pp. 212, 221. - ; An hbeU, pp. 53, 57. 5 Gabelentz, p. 272. 6 Lundresse, pp. 57, 61. CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 291 sent day are physically incapable of uttering the aspirated ch of the Germans, or gh of the Scotch, which their ancestors uttered. That they experience a difficulty in so doing, is true ; but for this we must seek a different cause than the state of their vocal organs. The same reasoning applies to the auditorial organs. Some persons perhaps are so constituted as to be physically incapable of perceiving certain nice shades and distinctions of sound, which to other persons are perfectly obvious : and from the instinctive connection of the vocal with the auditorial faculties, what they never hear distinctly they cannot plainly utter. But we have no reason to believe that this circumstance exists to any great degree in the population of a whole district. We cannot ascribe to Attic ears in general an impossibility of distinguishing, by their natural formation, the rra in yXwaera, from the tt in yXwrra ; or to the iEolians a physical defect causing them to confound the sound of fiaXaiog with that of yciAaroe. 344. It is clear therefore that other causes than those of mere phy- imitation. sical organization must operate to effect most of the changes which we perceive in roots, or their immediate derivatives. And of these the most obvious are, in the first place, a want of minute attention to the sounds heard, or to the mode of imitating them, and subsequently the habit of pronunciation which acquires force by the usage of successive generations. We may observe the first of these processes in the attempts of children to speak ; or of ignorant peasants to imitate the language of their superiors. Thus a child will say, " Donny dood itty boy," for " Johnny (is a) good little boy." So a Wiltshire peasant calls " mashed turnips " " smashed turmets." So in the Negro Testament we find " Hem mamma takki na dem focteboi," for " His mother (mamma) said (talked) to the servants (footboys)."' By a like imperfection of sound heard or expressed, we find words imitated in different languages ; as in the Lettish lakstigalla from the German nachtigall, or the Italian rossignuole from the Latin lusciniola, the nightingale. When in one generation such an imperfect sound has prevailed, it is handed down to successive ages, by tradition ; and as the original imitations vary in different districts, they contribute to form diversities of dialect or language ; as the nachtigal of High German is in the Swabian dialect nahtegal, in Danish nattergal, in Anglo-Saxon, naectegale, and in Swedish, nactergal. This, however, is only one of the causes of the actual diversity of languages. 345. Haste in pronunciation tends to alter roots and their deri- Contraction. vatives by contracting them, as a chay for a chaise, a cab for a cabriolet. Thus the town of Devizes is called by the neighbouring rustics Vize ; the Anglo-Saxon Cantwarabyrig is the modern Canterbury ; the family name of Cholmondeley is reduced to Chumley, as DeSancto Clara is to Sinclair ; and I am inclined to think that Stambonl is a mere contraction of Constautinopolis, as Napoli certainly is of Neapolis. In like manner the prefixed or affixed particles will often be found to be 6 John ii. 5. u2 292 OF i: CHAP. XI. Duplication. Euphony. writing. mere abbreviations of prepositions or pronouns, as the Greek prefix a is sometimes a contraction of ova. So our aboard for on board, a (old English) for "on the bench. 1 " Home sette hi Is bai Horn, 1427. And so, it is probable thai the o in amo is a contraction of ego. 346. Another affection of words, which bas been called assirml tends to give an apparenl change to the root of a compound word. This may take place either in the word itself or in its relation to a preceding or following word, according to idiom. In the word itself, eawui is converted, by assimilation, to ivvvpi. In i to a preceding word the Welsh tad is converted to ddd, as tdd (a father) ei ddd (his father I. In relation to a following word, the Greek r is changed to t) in yuef/ avroift for fiera avrbiq. ;;I7. Duplication (improperly called Reduplication) also chan root, as bas been already exemplified in the German root mur, which by duptication becomes the Latin murmur. .'ids. A mere love of change may sometimes cause an alteration as well in a rool as in a derivative. This disposition has been som< attributed to the lower classes of people; but on the contrary they are t!n' least likely to deviate from the usages of their progenitors: and accordingly we find, that to this day the words and pronunciation of the Anglo-Saxons are retained in various parte of England by the P asantry, though they have long been lost by the higher clas 349. The most prolific source of these changes is the sense of my, or pleasing sound, which varies so much in different times and places, depending entirely on the ear. This seems to be merely accidental in origin; but it obtains a settled force from habit. I know of no reason a priori, why an Attic ear should prefer yXwrra to ■yXQcraa, or Qappfir to Oapaeiv, or why we deviate from our ancestors in saying burn rather than brenne, or why the old Roman Fusii should have been called in later ages Furii; but I am far from saying that such a cause may not be detected by more careful inquiry. 350. There are indeed certain cases in which a difference of pro- nunciation has arisen from different modes of writing the same word: gr. Qpatcla, Thracia, Thrace; where our word Thrace is evidently nol taken from the Greek QpaKia, bul from the Latin Thracia, in which we assume (perhaps gronndlesslj ) that the chad the sound of our s. Tli- old letter 7, has given occasion to much confusion in Scottish and old English words. Thus we give it the force of z in Mackenzie, that of y in Dalyel (often pronounced De'yeT), and that of g in against. 351. Having thus exhausted the questions, which I proposed to examine, arising out of the definition <>l a root, I have' to inquire into the or roe of roots in general. It is very obvious from what ii already .-rated, that an interjection, or an onomatopeeia, though in their primary state they have no rel on b reasoning faculty, CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 293 may nevertheless be employed as words, or roots of words, used in expressing the exercise of that faculty. The interjection eja, as has been .said, is the root of ejulatio ; and the onomatopoeia cuckoo! is used as a noun, in naming the bird which utters that sound. Of these roots, and such as these, there can be no doubt. But they supply a compa- ratively small portion of language. The difficulty is to ascertain in all other cases, how certain combinations of articulate sound came to express thoughts of the mind, or impressions of the senses : and on this point several theories have been suggested. 352. Some authors assume, that there is a power in every letter to Power or express a peculiar emotion or perception ; a notion which furnished letters - the cabalistic writers with many mysterious doctrines. Mr. Whiter adopted a similar theory, but on somewhat different grounds. He argued, that as algebra is founded on the simple principle that equals being taken from ecjuals the remainders must be equal ; so a knowledge of words depends on the simple principle that the letters composing words have each a natural power of expressing some mental impres- sion. But in the first place it is a gratuitous assumption that letters possess any such power ; and secondly the analogy to algebra entirely fails ; for the algebraic principle is an idea of the mind, which is neces- sarily universal ; whereas the supposed glossological principle, were it true, could only be discovered by induction from numberless facts, and must therefore be necessarily but general. Again, if Mr. Winters theory were true of letters, the English alphabet of twenty-six letters must be competent to express little more than half the thoughts, which might be expressed by the Sanskrit alphabet of fifty letters. And it the principle were applied to the articulations represented by letters, a Chinese, who cannot pronounce several of our articulations, must be unable to express (though he still might conceive) many of our thoughts. We may therefore fairly den}' that any such power of expression exists, either in letters or articulations, uncombined. 353. It is an ancient doctrine that the signification of words, and Contract. consequently of their roots, was established among mankind by con- tract ; but to this the same objection lies, as to the doctrine of contract l">eing the foundation of government — namely, that no such contract ever existed, as far as we are informed by history, or can conceive by probable conjecture. 354. Persons of no inconsiderable eminence in literature have held Divine that the language of our first parents was inspired by the Almighty. ins P uatl< But as this is not plainly asserted in the sacred writings, we cannot l>e justified in claiming their authority for such an assumption ; and even were the fact admitted, there would be no reasonable ground for connecting it with any one existing tongue, and much less with the vast variety of tongues, which are or have been spoken throughout the world. 355. Upon the whole, the present state of glossological science Uncertain. does not justify us in asserting with confidence any prima-val origin of I'm I OK HOOTS. [CHAP. XI. verbal roots, except those which are supplied by interjections or. onomatopoeias. In respect to all others, we may truly say, with Dr. Donaldson, "that it is a mystery to us, why particular combinations of letters should be chosen to express certain qualities," 1 or indeed any other conceptions of the human mind. It may be true, that " in the earliesl period of language a simple vowel is sufficient to express ver- bally a conception;" and "this proposition is supported by the remarkable concurrence of nearly all the individuals of the Sanskrit family of languages, in expressing the conception of going by the root i." 1 But as on the one hand the same conception i.- differently expressed in numerous languages of different origin; so on the other hand the same articulation has in different languages different, and even opposite significations. All that we can do at present toward tracing the words of different languages to a common root is first to observe the variations of the same radical sound either in a vowel, or a consonant, or both ; in a vowel, as the Sanskrit sere?, Latin sedere, English to sit ; in a consonant, as pot-ens, possum (i. e. pot-sum), potui (i. e. pot-fni), potero, &c. Or in both vowel and consonant, as the Anglo-Saxon mceng, mcengan, the English mingle, among; all which seem to lie related to the Greek ptayu), Latin misceo, &c. And in the next place, we must observe certain analogies of sound, which differ in the idioms of different languages, but in any one language generally agree. Thus a shadow is in the Islandic skuggi, but in Anglo-Saxon scadu, which in its derivatives is scadewung, sceadugeard, &c, all analogous to our shade, shadow, shadowy, shadoidess, &c. How to find 356. It remains to show how the root of any word is to be distin- 11 ^oot • guished from any other part. And here it is first to be considered whether the word be native or foreign. If a word be introduced from a foreign language, it may indeed serve for a root to certain derivatives or compounds, which may be formed from it; but its own root is to be sought in the language from which it is token, and thence perhaps in another, or others. Take, for instance, the English word Parlia- ment, which has been used in this country for several centuries, in the sense which it still retains. Now this word may be considered as a root, in reference to the derivative Parliamentary, or the compound, a Parliamen t-man. They say, he the constable greatly outran, Ami is qualified now for a Parliament-man. Anstey, Bath Guide. But no part of the word Parliament is its root, in the English lan- guage : and to find this, we must look to the French word Parlement, of which the root seems at first sight to be pari, in parler, to speak; but if we inquire further, we shall find that this is from the Italian parlare, and that from parola, a word or speech ; and parola is con- tracted from the Latin parabola, which is adopted from the Greek irupafioX)), and this last is compounded of -Kaph and y8u\Xw. The 1 Now Crutylus, sec. 224-. z Bopp, i. 10G. CHAP. XI.] OF ROOTS. 295 tracing of roots from one language to another forms great part of the art called (however improperly) Etymology, which will hereafter be considered more at large. On the other hand, if the word, whose root is required, be of native origin, that is to say, if it belong to those which have formed the great staple of the language from its earliest ages, as those English words have, which have come down to us from the Saxon times, we must begin by depriving it of those particles, which, in the same and other words, serve the purposes of inflection, or derivation, either as prefixed, inserted, or suffixed. The remainder will be what some grammarians call the crude form of the word; and this is the root either unchanged, or subjected to some of the differences of articulation above specified. 1 It depends on the idiom of a language, whether a root can be involved in few or many particles. The English language admits of few involutions of a root, seldom exceeding four ; as in the word unforgivingly, where the root, give, has two prefixed particles, un and for, and two affixed, ing and Jy. The North American languages, as has been shown above, generally involve the root in many particles, and subject it to various changes. In Welsh a deriva- tive may not only have particles prefixed and suffixed, but also subject the root itself to change, as in difrychenlyd, unspotted, the root frech, a spot, has not only the negative prefix di, and the affixes en and lyd, but also changes its vowel from e to y. 357. Grammarians have adopted different parts of speech as roots, in what pa- Dr. Lee thinks that the noun substantive should be considered (at of s P eecb - least in Hebrew) to be the root. 2 M. Court de Gebelin considers every primary root to be a noun substantive describing a physical object. 3 Dr. Donaldsox seems to regard adjectives as the primary roots. 4 In the Albanian language, not only nouns substantive and adjective, and verbs, but also adverbs, often show the root in its simplest form, as Ur, cheaply, Hire, cheap. 5 Of those who adopt the verb as a root, H. Stephanus and many others take the first person singular of the present tense indicative for that purpose ; some take the third person singular of the preterite indicative. Mr. Archbell states the (so-called) second person singular of the present imperative, as exhibiting most distinctly the root, in the Sechuana language. " In this situation (says he) the simple root appears, unencumbered by prefix or affix, and yet not wanting in any of its integral parts." 6 This remark may be extended to most, if not all, languages; because the imperative expresses emotion, and therefore leads to a short mode of expression. Hence it is always either a simple root, or a root with a short vowel prefixed or affixed. In Turkish, Mr. Davids says, " the imperative is formed by suppressing the termination of the infinitive, as deug ! (from deugmak), strike ! kork I (from korkmak), fear ! But in common conversation, the sound of the (short) letters ahf and ha 1 Supra, sec. 332, 337. 2 Hebrew Grammar, p. 83. 8 Monde Primitif, vol. iii. p. 57. 4 New Cratylus. 5 Leake, Researches in Greece, p. 290. 8 Sechuana Grammar, p. 7. 296 OF ROOTS. [chap. XI. are often joined to the imperative, as (Puna! hoi-kali!" ' So in Latin wo have jii-mle! and in 'Greek tvttte. But these are merely matters of pronunciation, affecting in a very slight degree, or not at all, the meaning or effect of the word. The same may sometimes lie said of our common prolix a, as in Satan's address to the infernal host — Awake! arise! or be for ever fallen, 2 where, had the metre permitted the use of the imperatives wake! rise! the signification would have been precisely the same. The prefix a before an adjective is often in like manner superfluous, as in Macbeth's mournful exclamation — I 'gin to be aweary of the sun, s where the prefix a serves at most to mark somewhat more strongly the feeling which weary alone would have expressed. Conclusion. 358. From what has been said, it may be concluded that the root of a word, though most commonly a single syllable, may, in certain cases, comprehend more than one syllable ; that it may be susceptible of change both in its vowels and consonants ; and that though, ac- cording to the idiom of some languages, those articulate sounds, which form the root of a word, may be also employed alone as a word, yet generally a root requires the aid of some one or more other articulate sounds, prefixed, inserted, or suffixed, to form a word, and enter into construction as part of a sentence. 1 Gram. Turke, p. 57. * Paradise Lost, 1, 330. 3 Macbeth, a. v. sc. 5. ( 297 ) CHAPTER XII. OF PARTICLES. 359. The term Particle has been employed by most grammarians, Meaning of ancient and modern, to signify certain classes of words, which are said to be indeclinable, such as adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions, and interjections. This use of the term, though sanctioned by long prac- tice, appeared to me objectionable on two grounds : first, because the indeclinable words being reckoned, equally with the declinable, as parts of speech, it seemed inconsistent to term them also particles, that is, something less than parts ; and, secondly, because the gram- matical systems which treat whole words as particles, furnish no specific designation for those portions of articxdate sound which, com- bined with roots, make up the great majority of words in all languages not purely monosyllabic. For these reasons, I many years since employed, and shall continue to employ, the term particle to signify any portion of a icord, unless separately cognizable as a noun or verb, which is either introduced for the mere sake of euphony, or else serves to modify the root lexically, or grammatically. In this sense, the term particle nearly answers to the Greek At^'i^toy, derived from \iZie, Xefr'oe, Ionically, as pqrreicioy, from pijaig, pi'icrioc- 1 Any portion of a word, which may be recognised separately as a noun or verb, is not to be deemed a particle, but will be considered hereafter under the head of compound words. 360. A particle may consist of one or more articulations, and may Position, be placed at the beginning or end of a word, or in Some intervening position. When placed at the beginning of a word it is called a prefix ; when at the end an affix, or (perhaps more properly) a suffix; and when intermediate it may be denominated (as in fact it has been by some writers) an interfix. Thus in the Latin cecidi, ce is a prefix ; in amavi, vi is a suffix. In the Greek ir£Tvc, being guided by the same feeling of euphony which distinguishes the Welsh pen, the head, from the Galic ccann, the head. Of the changes, both in roots and particles, in the Sanskrit language, for the sake of euphony, numerous examples occur throughout Pro- fessor Wilson's learned " Introduction to the Grammar of the Sanskrit Language" particularly in the long and able Chapter on Derivation, pp. 268 to 336. In Welsh certain initial consonants are changed, according to the euphonic effect which the words preceding have on them ; as car, a kinsman ; ei char, her kinsman ; ei gar, his kinsman ; fy nghar, my kinsman : so, pen, a head ; ei ben, his head ; ei phen, her 1 Iliad, 3, 293. 2 Brocket, ad voc. 3 Halliwell, ad voc. 4 Journal Ind. Archip. vol. v. p. 231. * Gram. Kirir. p. 57. 300 OF PARTICLES. [CHAP. XII. head; fy mhen, my head. This variation of the initial consonant is always regular in Welsh, and constantly between letters of the same organ of pronunciation.' Initial vowels, too, are occasionally subject to" change; as, aberth, a sacrifice; ebyrth, sacrifices.* Many other euphonic changes occur in this language. In the Malay language similar causes of euphony take place. Thus the transitive particle before words beginning with ch, j, and d, is men; as, menchdbut, to draw out: before a vowel, or an aspirate, or g hard, it iameng; as, mengganapi, to complete : before b and p it is mem ; as, membayer, to pay : before r, I, m, n, and w it is me ; as, melutar, to fling. 8 Modification. 362. In order to comprehend the use of a particle in modifying a root, we must remember that a root, as such, presents to the mind a conception in its simplest form, without any modification. The root man, for instance, presents to an English mind the conception of a human being; but does not necessarily cause the mind to regard it under any circumstance of person, number, time, place, cause, effect, or the like. Now every conception may occur to the mind under various circumstances ; and for the expression of a conception so circumstantiated, different languages have more or less abundantly provided, either by separate words, or by words or particles added to the roots. The provision by separate words is regulated by the gram- matical rules for the agreement of words in the particular language to which the root belongs. The provision by words added to the roots constitutes the class called compound words ; but, with the exception of these latter, and of bare roots, every word in every language consists of a root, and one or more particles ; both roots and particles, how- ever, being liable to be varied, for the sake of euphony ; and the root, in some rare cases, being either wholly or entirely suppressed, in a course of transition through several languages or dialects, as will be hereafter considered under the head of Etymology. Lexical. 363. By modifying a root lexically is here meant varying its signi- fication ; as the signification of the root true is varied in the adjective untrue, by the negative particle un ; or as the signification of the root man is varied in the substantive/omnan, by the particle of order fore ; or as the signification of the root tell is varied in the verb foretell by the same particle fore. Gramma- 364. By modifying a root grammatically is here meant varying its ticai. grammatical relation, as belonging to a class of words commonly called a part of speech, or to a subdivision of such a class, or declining or conjugating it as a noun or verb. Thus the adverb goodly is varied from the adjective good, by the particle ly ; and the ideal noun friend- ship is varied from the personal noun friend, by the particle ship. Thus, too, the possessive case Johns is varied from the nominative case John, by the particle of declension (Y) ; and the past tense talked is varied from the root talk, by the particle of conjugation ed. Where the signification, or the part of speech, or class of words is varied, the 1 Richards, Gram. p. 4. 2 Ibid. p. 5. 3 Marsdenj Gram. p. 53. CHAP. XII.] OF PARTICLES. 301 process is commonly termed derivation ; where declension or conjuga- tion is effected, the process is commonly called inflection. 365. There are two methods of declining nouns or conjugating Compared verbs : one, the method of inflection by particles ; the other, that of Wlth words declension or conjugation by separate words, namely, the nouns by prepositions and the verbs by auxiliary verbs. A very able gloss- ologist, M. Abel Remtjsat, contended that the distinction between these two methods was not an essential distinction ; meaning (I pre- sume) that it was not a distinction founded on the necessary operations of the human mind. The marks of case are, perhaps (says he), ancient small words joined to the theme by synaeresis ; and, on the other hand, the prepositions answering to them are only marks of case written separately. Hence he denies that the Chinese and Tibetan languages are monosyllabic. Tchoun-Wang-Ti in Chinese, or Koun-gyal-poi in Tibetan (says he), constitutes as truly a polysyllabic word as BaatXtwv in Greek, or Begum in Latin, which convey the same meaning. The writing of the Chinese and Tibetan syllables, separately, whilst the Greek and Latin are written as forming together single words, is (according to him) a mere rule of orthography, which, in fact, does not touch the essential character of the language. 1 If the assertion that M. Remusat qualifies with the word " perhaps" could in every instance be clearly established — if it could be plainly proved that all the inflectional marks of case, and, indeed, all other signs of inflection, were ancient words, or fragments of such words — M. Remusat's in- ference might, perhaps, be accepted. But though this proof has been given in a considerable number of instances, it is still doubted by very eminent glossologists whether these suffice to establish the proposition in question as universally true. " Je ne partage nullement" (says M. W. Humboldt) " 1' opinion que toutes les flexions aient ete dans leur origine des affixes detaches." " I by no means partake the opinion that all inflections were in their origin detached affixes." 2 366. Since particles, lexically modifying a root, vary its significa- whether tion, a question naturally arises whether particles in general were s 'g nificailt? originally significant words, or at least fragments of such words. This question is slightly adverted to by Plutarch. In speaking of the so-called prepositions in composition, he says: "Consider whether they be not rather parts and fragments of worcfc, as those persons who write hastily make their letters incomplete, and shorten many of them. For instance, the two words epfifjvai and kKfifjvai, of whicli the former means " to go in," and the latter " to go out," are manifestly abbreviations of Ivtoq firivni and Iktoq /6j/>'«i." a Little attention, however, was at that time paid to particles, as such ; but in modern times they have been carefullv examined, especially by German writers ; and from their labours it clearly results, that most, if not all, those particles which affect the lexical signification of the roots were 1 Rech. s. 1 Lang. Tartares, p. 353. 2 Lettre a M. A. Remusat, p. 5G. 3 Plutarch, Platonic Question, p. 9. 302 OF PARTICLES. CHAP, XII. themselves anciently roots. Take, f'<>r instance, the English particle fore in the verb foretell ; or the correspondent Latin prop, in prccdico ; or tht' Greek tt(jc, in Trpofrjfxi. Fore (as above observed) lexically varies the signification of the root tell ; for to foretell is something very different from merely to tell. But tin' particle fore is clearly a root in the adjective foremast and the preposition before, and it is used alone as an adverb : ex. gr., That time, bound straight for Portugal, [light fore ami aft we boie. 1 So the Latin prce is a particle in prceceps, "rash, inconsiderate," nearly answering to our phrase " head-foremost," since ceps m<-ans "head" in " triceps apud inferos Cerberus;" 2 but pros is also a root when used adverbially, as in "I prce sequar." " Go before ; I will follow." 8 So the Greek 7rpo, which is a particle in Trp6(priiJ.i, is a root when used prepositionallv, as Trpd vtQv, " before the ships.'" 4 Although the instance above given from Plutarch, of particles considered as fragments of words, was not well chosen, the derivation of many particles from fragments either of words or of other particles is clear. The particle gnus, in benignus and malignus, is manifestly a fragment of genus ; whence these words signify "of a good kind," "of an evil kind." The word genus is employed distinctly in the compound omnigenus, which answers to the ( Hd Norse allskyns, Swedish alskens, and Scottish allkin kind. The prefix a in acorn looks at lirst sight like a particle ; but it is a fragment of a word, for in Anglo-Saxon it is ac-ccarn, that is, oak-corn. The terminating letter // in our veil) learn is a fragment of the particle an, in the Anglo-Saxon learan, to teach, of which the root is leer, or lar, as in lar, lore, Iwrwit, a teacher, &c. In some instances one and the same particle has many different significations. The Latin or may express a person, as victor ; a passive verb, as vincor ; a noun of bodily action or passion, as labor, sudor ; or of mutual action or passion, as honor, timor ; or an external cause affecting the sight, as splendor; the hearing, as clangor; the smell, as fcetor ; the taste, as acor ; and the touch, as color. So the Greek particle a has sometimes a privative force, as in aaorpog, unwise ; sometimes, on the contrary, it has an intensive force, as in the word <\i,v\u) : — 'Hs S'3t6 ttuo &'iSri\ov cV a£uA.o> i/xireaTj v\y. As when consuming fire falls on a woody grove. 5 Sometimes it expresses association, as Plato observes, on to 'Aarj/ialvti TToXXttKoii to b^oii." Sometimes it expresses similarity of origin, as uctXifior, a brother uterine, from diXcjng, uterus. The Latin particle de sometimes indicates descent from above, as in deorsum, descendo ; and hence, looking down on another with contempt, as despicio ; whence comes our verb to despise. Sometimes it has an augmentative 1 Dibdin, Sea Song. 2 Cicero, Tuscul. 1, 5. 3 Terent. Andr. 1,1, 141. * Homer, Iliad, 18, 172. 5 Ibid. 1 1 , 155. 8 Cratylus, p. 278, ed. Ficin. CHAP. XII.] OF PARTICLES. 303 force, as in deamo, " I love vehemently ;" sometimes a negative, as in demens, mad, or, as we say, " out of his mind." 367. The particles of one language may appear in another language Derivation, as words, or as fragments of words, or as particles somewhat changed. Various circumstances in the history of our nation have enriched our language with particles from several foreign sources. Although in English the preposition with always implies connection, we have with, as a particle, implying opposition or negation in the verbs withstand, withhold, and withdraw. But this is a fragment of the Anglo-Saxon wither; in Gothic, vidra ; in Alamannic, xoidhar ; in Low German, wedder ; in Swedish, veder; in German, wider. In our old law language we had witliernam. We retain the Latin particles con and com, in concur, convince, complain, &c. ; from the Greek ava and kcito. come our analogy and categoi'y ; from the French pour our purchase and purveyor ; from the Arabic al our alcliemy and alcoran, &c. Our suffix ard seems to have come, in many words, directly from the French, in which it is seen in havard, babillard, louchard, cornard, and the Norman guischard. With us it occurs in coward, bastard, wizard, dullard, niggard, dotard, braggard, haggard, sluggard, lubbard, drunkard, and in the old words trichard and bayard. The origin is probably to be found in the Teutonic art, "genus, natura, indoles," 1 which Wachter derives from erde, the earth ; but which, I should rather suppose, agrees with the Low-Saxon hart, the heart, the imaginary seat of many human qualities. In several English words, however, the suffix ard or art is only a fragment of ward, a root found in the Ano-lo-Saxon forweard and hindweard, the German warten, the French garde, and the Italian guardiauo ; and it appears as warda in the laws of Edward the Confessor, and as gardingus in those of the Visigoth kino- Wamba. Hence our backward, forward, inward, and outward are popularly pronounced back'' ard, for'' ard, in'ard, and out ard; and the old English designations of office ending in ward have been shortened in some proper names, as Goddard, from Goatward ; Stoddart, from Stodward, and several others. When two particles, agreeing, or nearlv so, in sound, differ widely in signification, it will generally be found to arise from a difference in their etymological origin. Our suffix ness, in goodness, has the effect of expressing an idea or universal conception ; in Dungeness it describes the local peculiarity of a point of land. In the former case it answers to the German affix niss, in Jinsterniss, darkness : in the other case it answers to the French sub- stantive nez, the nose. Our prefix anti, in antipathy, expresses oppo- sition, from the Greek preposition avrl ; in antiquity it is not properly a particle, but a Latin root agreeing with the preposition ante, whence come antiquus and antiquitas. In Latin it would seem at first sight that cilium was a particle of the same effect in supercilium as it is in domicilium ; but in the former it is the substantive cilium, the eyelash; and in the latter it is a combination of particles added to the root dom, 1 Wachter, voc. Art. 304 OF PARI i [CHAP. XII. in the sense of a dwelling. In the English words unhappy and unanimous, the syllable un might be thought a. particle of a common meaning; but though in unhappy it is a real particle, from a Gothic source, expressing negation, in unanimous it is a fragment of the Latin numeral unus, and expresses uniformity. These instances show how necessary it is in languages to distinguish accurately, whether a portion of a word be a root, <>r a particle, and whether from a native, or foreign source, cumulation. 368. We have seen that there may be several particles preceding or following a mot; but languages diller greatly in the degree in which they cumulate particles in a word. Where the modifications of a con- ception may for the most part be expressed by separate words, th< re is manifestly little occasion to combine with a root many particles; and when such modifications can always be expressed by particles, the forms of the language become naturally abundant in inflections and derivations. In an ordinary English verb (exclusive of participles) the variations of form, by combining the root with particles alone, are onlv three (e. g., lovest, loveth or loves, and loved) : in an ordinary Greek verb (exclusive of participles) there are 266 forms so consti- tuted. In nouns substantive the difference is less ; but we have only one variation of case effected by a particle, as John, John's, and one of number, as dog, dogs, or ox, oxen ; whilst in Sanskrit the cases so formed are eight — the nominative, the objective, the instrumental, the dative, the ablative, the possessive, the locative, and sometimes the vocative ; and the numbers are three, the singular, the dual, and the plural, varied in their cases, so as to present in all sixteen forms, be- sides the varieties of declension. In the North American languages the fabrication of words by means of particles is carried to a great length. " The general character of the American tongues " (says M. DnpoNCEAU) " consists in their uniting a great number of ideas under the form of a single word ; whence the American philologists have called them polysynthetic languages." " By means of inflections, as in Greek and Latin, and of prefixed and suffixed particles, as in Coptic, Hebrew, and other Semitic languages; by joining significant particles, as in Chinese ; and sometimes by inserting syllables, or single letters, adapted to excite the idea of a word to which that letter belongs ; or, lastly, by the aid of an understood ellipsis, the American Indians have been able to form language's comprising the greatest number of ideas in the smallest possible number of words." 1 Of these different processes we have abundant evidence in the Lenapi Grammar of Zeisberger, and the Cree Grammar of HowsE. The former gives the positive and negative forms active, passive, reciprocal, and transi- tive, and the positive of the reflected and adverbial, of the Lenape verb pendamen, to hear, amounting to 235 forms. 2 Many of these are long words, with particles prefixed, suffixed, and interfixed, ex. gr., attapenda- 1 M^moire, Syst. Gram. Lang. Ind. p. 89. 2 Gram. Lenape Lang. p. 159-17J. CHAP. XII.] OF PARTICLES. 305 •wachtichit panne, " if they had not heard each other." 1 Mr. HowSE gives 384 different forms of a Cree verb, founded on the root sake, or sdhge, signifying love ; 2 and these also abound in particles, ex. gr., he-sake-ch-eg-as-oon-owoa, " ye are loved." 3 Moreover, it seems that several forms are omitted by both of these authors. Nor are the South African tongues less amply furnished with verbal inflections, for Mr. AppleyaPvD, in his work on the Kafir language, gives a " paradigm of the regular verb teta " (speak), occupying no less than thirty-five octavo pages. 4 Mr. Archbell, in his Grammar of the Bechuana language, 5 gives a paradigm of the verb reka (buy) ; and this, though containing only the simple, and not the compound forms, occupies fifteen octavo pages. Hence it may be inferred, that the arts of declension and conjugation by means of a large accumulation of particles, instead of being the result (as has been supposed) of pro- found thought and meditation by learned inventors of language, rather indicate an origin in a very low state of civilization. 369. The use of particles is in every language idiomatic, except in idiomatic, so far as a word may be borrowed from a foreign tongue. Hence we may observe, — (1.) That languages differ greatly as to their habit of employing particles. In the G reek language particles abound ; in the English they are comparatively rare. (2.) What one language effects by particles, another effects by separate words. In the Latin word amabo, compared with the corre- spondent English expression, "I shall love," the particle ab answers to the English word shall, and the particle o to the English word 1. (3.) What one language effects by a suffix, another does by a prefix. In the Anglo-Saxon wcerleas, compared with our unwary, the suffix of the former, leas, answers to the prefix of the latter, un. The super- lative degree is generally shown in English by the suffix est, as in great, greater, greatest: the superlative in Hungarian is shown by adding to the comparative the prefix leg, as in dreg (old), bregebb (elder), legoregebb (eldest). 6 A diminutive is produced in Italian by the suffix etto, as cavallo, a horse ; cavalletto, a little horse : in Welsh by the prefix lied, as achwyn, to accuse ; lledachwyn, to blame slightly. 7 The plural of a substantive in English is expressed by the suffix s, as a star, stars : in the Coptic and New Zealand it is expressed by ni or na prefixed. 8 (4.) In different languages or dialects, the same relation of things is sometimes shown by particles of different origin. The Alamannic zua (which is the German zu and our to) answers in zuanimis to the Latin ad in adsumis. 9 This is analogous to the use of to for at 1 Gram. Lenape Lang. p. 165. 2 Gram. Cree Lang. p. 212-238. 8 Ibid. p. 227. * Kafir Lang. p. 197-232. 5 Gram. Bech. Lang. p. 53-67. 6 Wekey, Hungar. Gram. p. 10. 7 Richards, voces achwyn and lied. 8 Lee. Hebr. Gram. p. 69. 9 Kero. voc. adsumis. 306 or PARTICLES. [chap. XII. in the Devonshire dialect, as "I live to Paignton," for "I live at Paignton." (5.) In some idioms, a certain particle may lie employed either as a prefix or a suffix ; in others it is restricted to one of these uses. The Anglo-Saxon has occurs as a prefix in leasmod (thoughtless), and as a sums in ux'/punleas (weaponless) : the correspondent English particle less can only be used as a suffix. The Italian particle vole, as in amorevole, is the German vull, lull. In the former language it can be employed only as a suffix; in the latter it is used sometimes as a suffix, fur instance, in freudevott, joyful ; and sometimes as a prefix, for instance, in vollkommen, perfect. (6.) In some idioms, a particle or a word may be employed with equal effect. Thus in English the superlative of high may be expressed either by the particle est, in higliest, or by the word most, in most high. So in Latin we may use doctissimus, or valde doctus. So in French, la meilleure, et la plus belle. (7.) In all languages, which admit of the accumulation of particles, the additions are made in a certain order, according to the idiom of each language. Thus, in Latin, vindex precedes vindi is ; from that comes vindico, and thence vindicans, vindicantis. Thence came in the lower Latin, vindicantia ; in Italian, vendicanza ; in French, vengeance ; and in English, vengeance. And it is observable that, in regard to signifi- cation, each successive particle (after the first) modifies not the primary root, but the word immediately preceding it in the order of derivation. Thus the English root hap is modified in signification by the particle y, in happy ; that word is further modified by ness, in happiness ; and that by un, in unhappiness ; in which last word the original significa- cation of the primary root hap is almost lost sight of. Conclusion. 370. The elements, of which words are composed, were considered by the ancients with reference to their sound only. Hence it was, that they gave the name of elements (a-oiyjiia) to the letters of the alphabet, or rather to the articulate sounds expressed by those letters. But in this and the preceding chapter, the elements of words have been considered with reference to their sense ; and in this view they have been shown to be of two kinds, roots and particles. And since in every language every word (with the exception of those called compound words) is either a pure root, or a root modified by one or more particles, it is obvious that to distinguish one of these elements from the other must be essential to the knowledge of any language. Mr. Richardson, in his Arabic Grammar, after observing that many Persian words are derived from the Arabic, adds, " that by getting by heart a thousand Arabic roots, joined to a knowledge of forming the derivatives, a Persian student may easily gain an acquaintance with, perhaps, twenty thousand useful words, which otherwise no common memory could either acquire or retain." 1 But the spirit of this remark is applicable not only to any two languages, however closely con- 1 Arab. Gram. p. 210. CHAP. XII.J OF PARTICLES. 307 nected, but to every separate language ; for to learn first the roots, and then to apply to each root such particles as the idiom allows, is at once the easiest and the most philosophical mode of acquiring a thorough knowledge of the words of any language. It is the easiest ; because every root thus furnishes a greater or less number of words, and every particle (with some exceptions) affects the roots, to which it is applied, in an analogous manner. And it is the most philosophical ; because it traces the development of our conceptions, expressed by the roots, through all the modifications which they receive from the ]>articles. Nor is the study of the merely euphonious particles with- out its use, in illustrating the peculiarities of different idioms, and sometimes the nicer shades of thought and feeling. x 2 ( 308 ) CHAPTER XIII. OF WORDS. Connection with the preceding. Various designations. 371. Having discussed the elements of Words, both material and formal, I have now to examine words themselves, as composed of those elements. By materi nts I understand those which regard the /natter of won Is. namely, vocal sound, and which have been considered under the heads of Articulation, Accent, Quantity, and Emphasis; by formal elements, I understand roots and particles, on which depend the forms of words, as differently constructed, in the different languages of the world. In this inquiry it will be advisable to notice first the circumstances which relate to words in general, and then those which apply peculiarly to the several parts of speech. 372. It is desirable, in all matters of science, that the terms em- ployed in their discussion, should be well chosen and clearly explained ; and more especially, that several terms should not be employed to signify the same conception, nor the same term to signify different conceptions. Unfortunately these requisites have been little attended to in choosing, or explaining the terms employed to designate what we mean, in common parlance, by the term word. We have, in English, two combinations of articulate sound by which we express this con- ception, viz., word and term ; the former being of Teutonic origin, as I have elsewhere shown,' and the latter being derived from the Latin word terminus, which was a technical expresssion, in relation to logic. In some other languages there is a considerable variety of signs for the same thing signified ; as the Latin dictio, verbum, vox, vocula, vocabulum, locutio ; the Greek 'iirog, Xoyog, nvdog, XUiig, yXtLaaa; the Italian parola, voce, verbo, termine; the French parole, mot, terme ; the Spanish palubra, voz articulado, and verbo. The expressions in the Oriental languages are still more numerous. Thus Mr. Gilchrist gives, in the Hindostanee, bat, buchun, sookftmn, lufz, guol, looghut, buen, barta, hurf, bol,shubd, kidmu; and Mr. Crawford gives, in the Malay, sapatah, papatah, kata, haUmah, tutur, Utah, urita, and others. In all these cases, the words used occasionally as syno- nyms, have, no doubt, various shades of meaning, since they are drawn from different sources ; but as they have a common relation to one general conception, they may often he confounded in reasoning, 1 Univ Gram. s. 71. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 309 more especially when used in translating from one language to another. 373. To define the term word, may appear to most persons super- Former fluous; and, indeed, many writers on language assume that the mean- definitions. inc of word is universally known, and therefore leave it undefined. Mr. Tooke, though he calls his work, "E7T£a UrepoErra, "Winged Words," does not attempt to define the meaning of word, nor can his notion of it be collected from any part of his volumes : other writers have attempted a definition, but with much diversity, and no great success. Dr. Johnson leaves the term word unnoticed in his grammar ; but in his dictionary he explains it as " a single part of speech, a short discourse, talk, discourse, dispute, verbal contention, promise, signal, token, order, account, tidings, message, declaration, purpose expressed, affirmation, scripture, the word of God, and the second person of the ever-adorable Trinity." All these explanations, except the last (which will be noticed hereafter), may be traced to the grammatical signification which the learned lexicographer intends bv the expression, " a single part of speech." But this leaves the nature of a word in obscurity, until we know what the Doctor means by "a part of speech," a phrase on which, as will hereafter be shown, grammarians differ. Lowth says, " Words are articulate sounds used, by common consent, as signs of ideas or notions." Certainly words must consist of "articulate sounds;" but whether their use does or does not result from " common consent," is no part of their definition, though it is a question which may deserve a separate examination. Again, words, no doubt, are " signs " of something that passes in the human mind, but what that something is, it would be difficult to discover from Dr. Lowth's definition. He says they are " signs of ideas or notions ;" but it is not clear what force he means to give to the conjunction or ; probably he means it to signify " otherwise," and considers an idea and a notion to be the same thing under different names, the one from the Greek Idea, and the other from the Latin notio : but whatever may be the meaning of the Greek word, the Latin word certainly regards only acts of the judgment, and not at all of the affections. Yet among the " nine sorts of words " which Lowth states to be in the English language, he reckons the interjection " as thrown in to express the affection of the speaker." If, on the other hand, Lowth meant ideas and notions to be different things, we are wholly at a loss to discover the nature of either. Lindley Murray simply copies Lowth, omitting the word notions, but leaving us still in the dark as to the term ideas. The greatest fault of this definition, however, is its omitting to notice the relation which a word, when employed in the operations of reason, bears to a sentence ; and on which I shall presently remark. Harris gives, as the definition of a word, " a sound significant, of which no part is of itself significant ;" and for this he cites, from Aristotle on Poetry, <&u)vr) (Tri/jLUVTiKi) — yg J-Upoc nvCtv tori Katf avTO or\p.a.VTiKOV. But, in Definition proposed. Explanatory remarks. 310 OK WORDS. [chap, xiii- the first place, Aristotle is giving the definition, not of a word, but of a noun; for the entire passage stands thus : 'Qvopu hi (.art (piovrj (TvvdtTt), fftffxavrucii, &vev }(p6vov, ?/c pipog uvciv itrri xad' avro (rrjjxavTiKov, " A noun is a vocal sound composite, significant, without time, of which no part is of itself significant." 1 Secondly, (pwprj here means not simply sound, but vocal sound. Thirdly, Aristotle calls the noun "composite," as being necessarily com pounded (according to him) of several syllables or letters; and as to the last phrase, he adds this explanation (which it would have been well that Harris had noticed) : " In double nouns, we do not use a part, as of itself signifi- cant; for instance, in the proper name, Qeocdjpoy, we do not use Euipoy as significant." Upon the whole, therefore, I cannot adopt the definition given by Harris. Dr. South says, " As conceptions are the images of things to the mind within itself, so are words, or names, the marks of those conceptions to the minds of them we converse with." But this seems rather meant to be applicable to language in general, than to serve as the definition of a word considered in itself. M. W. von Humboldt, though he probably never heard of South, uses (in part) similar expressions. He says, " by words we under- stand the signs of individual conceptions." 2 Much as I respect the memory of that eminent glossologist, I cannot adopt this as a satis- factory definition. I confess I do not understand what the author here means by an individual conception ; for, on the one hand, a word may be a sign of several conceptions combined either by composition, derivation, or inflection ; and, on the other hand, a sentence may be a sign of a distinct conception resulting from the mutual relation of the words which it contains. Moreover, a word may be the sign of an emotion, whether standing alone, or introduced into the construction of a sentence ; and in either case I apprehend it could not properly be said to be a sign of an individual conception. 374. Having rejected these definitions, it is not without some hesitation that I venture to propose the following : — A Word is an articulate sound, or combination of such sounds, consisting of a Boot, eitlier alone, or combined with one or more particles, or with one or more other words, and expressing an emotion, or conception, either solely, or together with other words, as part of a phrase or sentence. 375. On this definition I have to offer the following explanatory remarks : — (1 .) I say, it is " an articulate sound, or combination of such sounds," to distinguish it from the (puvij avvOeri] (vocal sound composite) of Aristotle, which may perhaps have been correctly used by him in defining a Greek noun. But in Greek, as well as in English, and most other languages, there are words consisting of only one articulate sound, as a, the Greek interjection ; a, the French preposition ; a, the English article ; f;, the Greek conjunction ; e, the Latin preposition ; ' Aristot. Poetic, c. 34. Ed. Tyrwhitt. 2 Uber d. Versch. d. mensch. sprach. p.74. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 311 S, the Latin imperative ; I, the English pronoun ; ! the English, French, and Latin interjection, &c, &c. ; all which are recognized as words by all grammarians. (2.) I say, a word may express "an emotion;" which is true, not only of interjections, commonly so called, but also of the vocatives of nouns, as Lord I God! when used in the humiliation of prayer, or in the grateful joy of thanksgiving. So in the imperative mood, the words hear ! help ! forcibly speak the emotions of one who so ad- dresses the same Almighty power. (3.) I say, a word may express "a conception," which it does in setting forth acts of the reasoning power, not only as a necessary part of speech, that is to say a noun or a verb, but also as an accessorial part. For the conjunction and expresses a conception of continuity ; the preposition for expresses, among other conceptions, that of a motive existing before the mind of the speaker ; the adverb now ex- presses the conception of time present; and so of all conjunctions, prepositions, and adverbs in all languages. (4.) I say, a word effects these expressions " either solely, or to- gether with other words, as part of a phrase or sentence." The Latin interjection vo3 ! standing alone, expresses an emotion of grief, which may be either present, past, or future. Thrown into a sentence with- out governing (as grammarians say) any particular word, it may refer to past causes of sorrow, as in this line — Mantua vcb! miseroe nimium vicina Cremonaj. Mantua To sad Cremona was, alas! too near. 1 The same V03, governing a dative case, and therewith forming an interjectional phrase, assumes the character of a prophetic denunciation of future woe. " Vce tibi, Corozain ! Vo3 tibi, Bethsaida!" " Woe to thee, Chorazin ! Woe to thee, Bethsaida !" 2 Again, observe the effect of the other words in a sentence on the word love. " Beloved " (says St. John), " let us love one another." 3 Here the word love is a verb, embodying the highest precept of the Christian religion in regard to human society. " Love " (says St. Paul) " is the fulfilling of the law." * Here the same word, love, is an idealized substantive, used argu- mentatively, to prove the excellence of that spiritual affection which " worketh no ill to his neighbour." Mr. Holder has well illustrated this effect on words by the instance of the word but. " If I ask you " (says he) " what I mean by that word, you will answer, I mean this or that thing, you cannot tell which ; but if I join it with the words in construction and sense, as, "but I will not," "a but of wine," il but and boundary," " the ram will but" " shoot at the but," the meaning of it will be as ready to you as any other word." In short, it is true, in all languages, that as the signification of a sentence (be it a simple or a complex, a long or a short one,) depends on the mutual relation 1 Virgil, Eel. ix. v. 28. z St. Matt. xi. 21. 3 St. John 1 Ep. iv. 7. * Romans siii. 10. 312 OF WORD . CHAP. XIII. Classifica- tion. Formation words. Radical words. of all its parts; so the signification of one word in a sentence depends on its relation to others in the same sentence. 1 For a sentence is a sign, or showing forth of an act of the mind, which, if clear and distinct, is one complete unity ; and the separate words of which it is composed contribute to the whole signification their respective portions, as integral parts, each receiving from the combination a particular force and effect. The only apparent exceptions to this remark are to be found in sentences not purely enunciative, but admitting inter- jections, expressive of emotion unconnected grammatically with the other words in the sentence. 376. Words have been i educed to classes on different principles. The most ordinary classification in grammatical works is into the parts of speech. These I have already noticed, and shall revert to them in a future chapter ; but previously I shall consider single words classed according to their intrinsic circumstances, as formation, origin, definiteness, mental or physical signification, and whether obsolete, antiquated, or newly brought into use. Of their extrinsic relations to each other, I shall notice analogy or anomaly, identity of sense or sound, generic or specific effect, and reciprocal signification. After these examinations, I propose to consider the effect of repetition of words, in whole or part, which diners greatly in different idioms. 377. The formation of words regards them either as consisting of one or more syllables, or as containing a root with or without par- ticles. Of monosyllabic and polysyllabic words enough has been said for the present. In regard to roots and particles, I have stated that every word in every language must be either a root alone (and is then called a radical word), or a root combined with one or more particles, or else a compound word. When a single root is combined with a particle, or particles, the result may be distinguished as forming either an inflected, or a derivative word ; when two or more roots serve to modify each other, I call the result a compound word. On this system words are distributable into four classes, 1st, radical; 2nd, inflected; 3rd, derivative ; and 4th, compound. 378. By Radical words, I mean those which are actually used as roots of other words, or may possibly be so used, but of which no other root is known from which they may be derived. Thus, I say that the English substantive Man is a radical word, not derived (so far as I know) from any other, but actually serving as a root to manly, manliness, manfully, &c. And I say that the Latin preposition pro? is a radical word, not derived (so far as I know) from any other; and (unless we regard it as identical with pri in primus) not serving actually (though it may possibly) as a root to some conceivable word. It has been made a question whether a language can be wholly com- posed of radical words, and the Chinese has been said so to consist. An observation of M. W. von Humboldt's throws some light on this point. He examines tchi, a Chinese word, or particle, which he con- 1 Univ. Gram. s. 73. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 313 siders as approaching the nearest to what he calls in European languages " a suffix, or flexion." l And he reduces it to three sig- nifications — 1st, the participial sense of" passing;" 2ndly, the effect of a demonstrative pronoun ; and ordly, the same pronominal meaning, but so employed as to render tchi what M. v. Humboldt calls " an empty, or grammatical word." 2 If his reasoning be correct, it may lead to an inference, that in other languages, as well as in Chinese, the vocal sounds, which now serve only as particles, may formerly have been words. And, indeed, the further back they are traced, and the more widely those of different languages are compared, the more pro- bable does it seem that this may have been the case ; not perhaps exactly in their present forms, but in others more simple. At the present day, however, the radical words in most languages form a small proportion, compared with the inflected and the derivative. 379. Inflection is a term derived from the Latin flecto, to bend, inflection. As it is now most commonly understood (and as it will here be used) it signifies the marking of the cases, genders, and numbers of nouns, and of the voices, moods, tenses, numbers, persons, and in some lan- guages even the genders, of verbs, by the combination of one or more particles with a root, or, in certain instances, by a change of vowel, or consonant, in the root itself. It is now commonly called declension when applied to nouns, and conjugation when applied to verbs ; but the use of all these terms has varied at different periods. The first of them employed, as a grammatical term, seems to have been declension (in Latin declinatio or declinatus). Varro, the earliest Latin glos- sologist extant, uses declinatus, from the Greek xkiviiv, and old Latin clinare, " to bend." But his use of it was by no means philosophical. Assuming that the nominative case singular of a noun, or the first person singular of the present tense of a verb, was to be taken as the basis of analysis, he considered either of these to be analogous to a peq^endicular right line, and the other cases or tenses to be analogous to a line declining from the perpendicular. Moreover he divided declensions into natural and voluntary. " Ego declinatus verborum et voluntarios, et naturales esse puto." " I think " (says he) " that the declinations of words are both voluntary and natural." 3 And it is clear from what immediately follows, that he calls voluntary declination what we now call derivation, " ut a Romido, Roma, a Tibure, Tiburtes ;" and that he calls natural declination what is here called inflection of nouns aud verbs, " quae inclinatur in tempora, et in casus, ut ab Romu- lus, Romidi, Romido; et a dico, dicebam, dixeram." Quintilian, in the first century of our era, applied declension to the inflection both of nouns and verbs. " Nomina declinare et verba in primis pueri sciant." " Let boys first learn to decline nouns and verbs." 4 Pris- 1 Lettre a M. A. Remusat, p. 28. 2 lb. p. 35. By an "empty word" this author seems to mean what is here called a particle. 3 De Ling. Lat. I. viii. p. 134, ed. 1788. 4 De Inst. Orat. I. i. c. iv. s. 25. 314 OF WORDS. [chap. Mil. cian, in tlif fourth century, defines conjugation to be the successive ton of verbs. " Conjugatx quens veiborom declinatio," and be explains conjugatio (as if if were a term of recent introduction) in different ways; but prefers the last, " qudd unl e&demque ratione declinationis, plurima conjugantur verba" — "because several verbs are conjoined in one and the same method of tlfrli-nsion." ' Aldus Manutius, in the fifteenth century, defines the verb "pars orationis declinabilis," a declinable part of speech, and reckons conjugation as one of its eight accidents. 2 G. T. Vossius, early in the seventeenth, con- siders declension, " peculiariter, ac presse dicta," — ''when used pro- perly and strictly," to belong to nouns, including pronouns and par- ticiples, 8 and adopts from earlier grammarians the term conjugation as belonging to verbs, and derived from the Greek avi^vyla; which, hnwfver, does not seem to have been used in a grammatical sense, but merely to signify the conjoining of anv two or more things together. The word inflection, in a grammatical sense, seems to be modern. We have, indeed, in Latin, "flectere vocabulum de Graeco;" 4 but that means " to adopt a Greek word with some slight change," as the Latin pettex from the Greek TraXXajctp. The word flectiones, applied to the voice by Cicero, 5 means only the variations of tone in singing. Even in recent times the term inflection has been used with some diversity of meaning. F. von Schlegkl understands by it the in- ternal alteration of the sound of the root, as sing, sang — maim, manner ; and these changes he sets in opposition to prefixes and suffixes, as love, loved, beloved. This view is also adopted by Mr. SPURREL in his Welsh Dictionary. Other writers seem to confine the term flection, or inflection, to terminating particles. It appears to me that it may l>e reasonably extended to anv alteration in the sound of a noun or verb, causing such a difference in its grammatical effect as has been above described. These alterations may be produced internally by a change of vowel, as strike, struck; or of consonant, as wife, wives; or ex- ternally by a prefix, as e in the Greek Itvittov, from tvktu) ; or by an interfix, as il in the Turkish sevilmek, from sevmek ; or by a suffix, as en in the English beaten, from beat. Merely 380. Whether or not a particular class of words, in any given lan- guage, be marked by inflection, is a circumstance merely idiomatic; and, consequently, cannot afford a ground of classification to words in general. Manutius ranks as declinabhs the noun, pronoun, verb, and participle ; and as indeclinables the adverb, preposition, conjunction, and interjection. But admitting this distinction to be allowable in Latin, it is inapplicable to our own and many other languages. Nor, indeed, are all Latin verbs inflected throughout all their moods: the imperatives of dico, duco, facio, fero, are die, due, fac, fer. The Port Royal Latin Grammar says, "these should naturally terminate in e, i Prise. Inst. Gram. 8, 17, 93. 2 Manut. Inst. Gram. p. 74, ed. 1531. 3 De Voc. Anal. 1. ii. c. 1. * Cell. N. Att. 1. iv. e. 3. 5 De Oratore, 3. 25. idiomatic. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 315 like lege ; but they have dropped their final e." Now the reverse is the case. They are pure roots naturally uttered, under emotion, in the imperative mood; and, on the other hand, e is added in lege, and other verbs, for the sake of euphony. 381. The term Derivation is figuratively applied to words, from the Derivation. Latin derivatio, which signifies the flowing of water through a rivus, or channel, from its source. So a derived word flows from its root either immediately by a single particle added, or mediately by the addition of successive particles. In discussing this topic, it is usual to call a derived word a derivative, and it may be convenient to deno- minate the word from which it is immediately derived a derivant. In this view a derivant is either a root, or a word which has flowed from the root by the addition of one or more particles successively. Thus in will, wilful, wilfulness, the root will is a derivant, from which by adding the particle ful flows the derivative wilful ; and this latter, when the further particle ness is added to it, becomes a derivant to the derivative wilfulness. Of derivants we have next to inquire, whether they are native or foreign. Our word incommutable, for instance, cannot be traced to a native root ; but is a derivative from the derivant com- mutable, which is the French commutalle, a derivative from the Latin derivant commutabilis, and tins last is derived by the successive addi- tion of particles through commuto and muto, to the ultimate derivant, the Latin root mut, signifying change. 382. The effect of derivation is to produce in the derivative word Its efifects. one or other of the three following variations from the derivant, viz., either, first, a change of signification, as the derivative untrue differs in signification from the derivant true ; or a change of the part of speech, as the derivative adverb goodly differs from the derivant adjective good; or a change of the class of words falling under the same part of speech, as the derivative substantive gunner, signifying a person, differs from the derivant substantive gun, signifying a thing. There are, indeed, some instances of slight variation in sound, effected by adding a particle, without altering the signification or grammatical effect of a word, as alike for like ; but such instances can scarcely be deemed either inflections or derivations, and are owing to a mere sense of euphony. There are also some additions of particles, as Johnny for John, and the like, which are terms of familiarity chiefly addressed to children, and are merely idiomatic. In derivation, as in inflection, the object is to modify a single root ; but the means employed are somewhat different. The portions of a word used for inflection, whatever may have been their original signification, are in their actual state mere particles ; whereas many of those employed in derivation still continue to be used as words other than nouns or verbs. Among these, the most nume- rous are the so-called "prepositions in composition," which abound remarkably in the Greek language. In the great and valuable Greek lexicon of Robert Constantine, the derivatives effected by means of the preposition ava, amount in number to 1,135, and those in Its Import- ance. From Sub- etantives. 316 OF WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. which some other prepositions are employed, are nearly or quite as numerous. 383. It is obvious, that in all cultivated languages, derivation and inflection must supply the far greater number of words, taking into account the fact that mosl derivative words are also inflected. Lan- guages, indeed, greatly differ in their power of multiplying words from a single root. The richness of the Greek from this source is obvious from what 1ms just been said, ami is, indeed, universally acknowledged. Of the Latm language, Varro says, "if you take a thousand primitive words, you at once lay open the sources of five hundred thousand.'" M. Maudbu has alike remark on the Russian language. He draws up an etymological table of derivatives from mat, to take, amounting in number to nearly three hundred; and he observes, "that in every language the number of derivatives must be incomparably greater than of primitive words." 2 Derivants may be furnished by every part of speech, and even by onomatopoeias. From the onomatopoeia roar, is formed the derivative a roarer ; from the Scottish interjection wae ! is formed the derivative waefu', woeful ; from the Greek adverb ■yQiq, yesterday, is formed the derivative x^airog, belonging to yesterday; from the Latin preposition super, above, is formed the derivative superbus, haughty ; Lean the Latin participle sapiens, knowing, is formed the derivative sapienter, wisely; from the Latin pronoun alius, another, is formed the derivative aliemts, alien. But the greatest number of derivatives, in all languages, is formed from nouns substantive, nouns adjective, or verbs ; these, therefore, will require more particular notice. 384. Grammarians have; distinguished those derivatives, which are formed immediately from nouns substantive or adjective, into six classes: 1. Patronymic; 2. Gentile; 3. Possessive; 4. Diminutive; 5. Augmentative; and lastly, a miscellaneous class called Denomina- tive. I shall first notice those formed from nouns substantive. Patronymics are derivatives regularly taken from the name of the father, as Pelides, the ] .atronvmic of Achilles, from his father Peleus ; but sometimes from the grandfather, as JEacides, from JSaciis, his grandfather; or from the mother, as Arjroiuje, Apollo, from his mother Arjrij, Latona. The method of distinguishing an individual by the name of his father was of very ancient use. Thus we find in the Scythic version of the Behistun Inscription, column 1, line' :;'.», Kuras sakri, " Cyrus' son ;" on which my very learned friend, Mr. EDWIN N orris, makes the following judicious remark: "The word sakri, a son, always comes after its regimen, forming, I think, such a compound as the Greek Pelides and Ik/dides, orthe Russian Patttowoft." 8 In fact, this is exactly similar to our Johnson, Williamson, Sec. Gentile (that is to say, national) derivatives, serve to designate a person's country of origin, as the Latin Appulus, a man of Apulia. t • De Lingna" Latinst, 1. iv. p. 61, ed. 1788. * Ele'mens d. 1. Lang. Russe, p. " Scythic Version, pp. 63, 64. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 317 The derivatives of this class are at first adjectives, as vir Appulus; but afterwards used substantively, by an ellipsis of vir, a man. Possessives denote appurtenance, or belonging to a person, or thins;, as the Greek adjective jjuo-iXikoq, royal (that is, belonging to a king), from (3aaiXive, a king. Diminutives express smallness of size, and often imply delicacy or tenderness, as in the old French joette, a pretty little cheek, from jvwe, a cheek; and fossette, a dimple, from fosse, a foss: — Et se li prend de rire envie, Si sagement, et si belvie, Qu'elle descrive deux fossettes, D'ambedeux parts de ses joettes. Boman de la Rose. These abounded in the earl)' stages of the Latin language. Plautus has labellum, ocettum, digitidus, papilla, &c. He even uses diminutives of diminutives, as paucus, pauxillus, pausilhdus, bella, bellula, •bellatula. Augmentatioes show an excess of size, quantity, or quality, and often with some contempt, as the Italian boccaccia, a large ugly mouth. The class called Denominatives embraces a great variety of relations, in which the derivative may stand to the derivant. I shall mention a few, which fall under the heads of place, time, person, and thing. In reference to place, we have foremast from the derivant mast ; in refer- ence to time, we have antemeridian from the derivant meridian; in reference to person, there are derivatives which mark rank, office, pro- fession, or occupation ; and in reference to tilings, those which mark abstracts and concretes natural and artificial. The Italian marchese, signifying the rank of a marquis, is a derivative from marca, a district anciently governed by an individual of that rank. The Turkish def- terdar, a treasurer, signifies an officer, from defter, a treasure. The English word lawyer is a derivative from law, as a profession. The French fermier, a farmer, from ferme, a farm, marks an agricultural occupation. The Italian bottegajo, a shopkeeper, from bottega, a shop, marks the occupation of a person engaged in retail trade. The Turkish hfeshguer, a shoemaker, from kifesh, a shoe, is one occupied in mecha- nical employment; and the French portier, a porter (in old English, a doorward), from porte, a door, one engaged in the menial occupation of attending to the door. Derivatives, signifying things abstract, are such as the Latin amicitia, friendship, from amicus, a friend. From the English concrete, earth, in its natural state, comes the derivative earthen ; from the Latin candela, a candle, comes the derivative can- delabrum, an artificial concrete. To these may be added derivatives signifying likeness, as angelic, from the derivant, an angel. 385. Derivatives formed immediately from nouns adjective either From Adjec- produce a change in the grammatical character of a word, or else vary tives - its signification. The grammatical character is altered by producing a different degree of comparison, as the Latin durior, harder, and duris- simus, hardest, from durus, hard ; or, by forming a personal substantive, Vert 318 OF WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. as sacerdos, a priest, from sacer, sacred ; or a substantival abstract, as the French ricliesse, from riche, rich; or a substantival concrete, as the Latin caverna, a cavern, from cavus, hollow; or a verbal infinitive, as the Anglo-Saxon sumrtian, to blacken, from sweart, black; or an ad- verb, as the Greek aotyuQ, wisely, from ao(f>6g, wise. Of those which alter the signification, without changing the grammatical character, some relate to a quality simply, as tin' English roughish, from rough. Others relate to a quality with reference to the person, as the Latin ebriosus, given to inebriety, from ebrius, drunk. Some express tender- ness, as yAvk'»/(uo)', the proper name Glycerium, from yXvxvc, sweet. Verbs from 386. The immediate derivatives from verbs may be either verbs, nouns substantive, or nouns adjective. Of verbs from verbs, some express a wish to do the act expressed by the derivant, as the Latin esurio, I wish to eat (or, am hungry), from edo, I eat. Some a beginning to do the act, as the Latin horresco, I shudder, from horreo, I am horrified. Some a slight degree of action, as the Latin sorbillo, I sip, from sorbeo, I suck up. Some a frequency of action, as the Latin pensito, I revolve in my mind, from pendo, I weigh. Some a return of action, as the Latin redeo, I return, from eo, I go. Some an increased action, as the German horchen, to listen, from horen, to hear. Some an opposite act, as the German widerstehen, to stand in oppo- sition, from stelien, to stand. Some show the cessation of action, as the Greek a7ra\y£w, I cease to grieve, from aXyioj, I grieve. Some the completion of an act, as the German vollenden, to bring completely to an end, from enden, to end. Some the failure of an act, as the German misshandeln, to misma- nage, from handeln, to manage. Some the non-existence of an act, as the Latin nolo, I will not, from volo, I will. Some a power of causing an act to be done, as the Turkish sevdur- mek, to cause to love, from sevmek, to love. Some a reciprocity of action, as the Greek avruptXtw, I love reci- procally, from (j>i\iu), I love. Some an impossibility of action, as the Turkish itchimemek, to be unable to drink, from itchmemek, not to drink. In certain instances, the derivant verb has become obsolete, and appears only in the derivative, as the old Latin verb pleo appears in expleo, impleo, compleo, depleo. " Plentur antiqui etiam sine prseposi- tionibus dicebant," says Festus. 1 Snbstnntivos 387. Nouns substantive derived immediately from verbs are also 1 l)e Verbor. signif. voc. plentur. from Verbs. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 319 frequent in most languages. I shall mention a few of the heads to which they may be referred. Certain acts necessarily refer to place. Thus in Latin, latebra, a place of concealment, is derived from lateo, I lie hid. Others refer to time. Thus the Greek irpofrJTrjt;, a prophet, is de- rived from 7rpo0r//it, I foretell. Every act must have an agent. Hence from the Latin verb ago, I do, comes actor, the person who does the act. Acts mav generally be contemplated in the abstract ; hence from the Latin verb cupio, I desire, comes cupido, desire. Some acts give name to the instrument by which they are performed, as the Latin tribulum, a thrashing machine (originally terilmluni), from te>v, to bruise ; whence comes, in a figurative sense, our word tribulation. Some acts furnish derivant verbs to derivative substantives from the effect produced ; as candeo, I shine, has the derivative candela, a candle. Some from the substance required for doing the act, as the English substantive fodder is a derivative from the verb to feed. Some from the habitual occupation of an individual in doing the act, as the Latin scriba, a scribe, from scribo, I write. 388. Adjectives derived immediately from verbs may express their Adjectives qualities actively or passively. If actively, the adjective may express om eT s ' the act of the verb, either simply or intensively, or as causing it, or as evincing a capacity for it, or as showing a disposition towards it, or as practising it in a remarkable degree, or as exercising it habitually. The simple act of living is expressed by the Latin adjective vivus, alive, from the verb vivo, I live. The act of wandering is expressed intensively by the Latin adjective errabundus, much-wandering, from the verb erro, I wander. The quality of causing terror is shown by the Latin adjective terri- ficus, from the verb terreo, I affright. Capacity for flying in the air is shown by the Latin adjective vohi/xr, capable of flying, from the verb volo, I fly. Disposition towards butting is shown by the Latin adjective petiti- ons, inclined to butt (as Lucretius calls the lambs agni petulci 1 ), from peto, to strike at. The displaying of boldness in a remarkable degree is shown by the Latin adjective audax, bold, from the verb audeo, I dare. The exercising acts of nurture habitually is shown by the Latin ad- jective almus, nourishing, from the verb alo, I nourish. Adjectives derived from verbs may express passively the quality of fitness to become the object of the act, or that of a tendency to undergo it, or that of liability to it, or that of actually receiving it. Fitness to become the object of love is shown by the Latin adjective amahilis, from the verb amo, I love. Tendency to become the object of laughter is shown by the Latin adjective ridiculus, from the verb rideo, I laugh. 1 De Rer. Nat. 1. ii. v. 368. 320 01 WORDS. ]■ Ii u'. XIII. Liability to be rolled is shown by the Latin adjective volubilis, easily rolled, from volvo, I roll. The actual receipt of adoption is shown by the Latin adjective adop- ticus (adopted), from the verb adopto, I adopt. It is to be observed, however, that some derivatives, in certain lan- guages, may be understood both in an active and passive sense, as tin- Latin immemorabUis is applied to a person who does not remember, or to a thing which cannot be remembered. In the first sense, Plautus says — Sibi moderatrix i'uit, atque immemorabUis. 1 But Lucretius uses it in the second sense — Immemorabile per spatium transcurrere po.sse.* It is to be observed, too, that though in derivatives from verbs, I have (for brevity) mentioned the derivant verbs, as they are most com- monly recognised, namely, by the first person singular of the present tense, or by the infinitive mood ; yet, strictly speaking, the derivation is often taken directly from other portdous of a verb, or even from its particles, supines, &c. Thus, the proper derivant of eswio is not the present tense edo, but the future participle esurus. The proper derivant of errabundusis is said by Vossius to be the imperfect tense errabam ; 3 but that may be doubted, for none of the derivatives in bundus refer to a past time exclusively, and Servius explains etrabunda by the present participle errantia.* The effect of this particle, however, was disputed among the Roman grammarians ; for C.esellius (like Servius) considered it to have the force of a present participle ; whilst Teeentius Scaurus thought it implied the simula- tion of the act in question ; but Apollinaris (with whom Aulus Gellius agrees) explained the participle bundus, more plausibly, as giving an extensive force, from the verb abundare, to abound. 8 Other modifications of a single root, by means of derivation, may doubtless be found in the idiomatic forms of different countries ; but those above given suffice to show, that this mode of combining particles with roots is capable of affording to, language an extraordinary degree of richness, energy, and beauty. wnj> 0und 389. By the term a Compound Word, as here used, is meant a word, in which two or more roots, or derivatives from different roots, are so combined as to modify each other in signification. It is true, that a single root, combined with a particle, either for inflection or deri- vation, is, strictly speaking, a compound ; but as it performs in language a different function from the combination of two or more roots, each modifying the other, I have thought it advisable to distinguish those different sorts of words by different appellations. Where two compo- nent parts of a word are either both nouns, or both verbs, there can be 1 Cistellaria, a. ii. sc. ii. v. 3. 2 De Rer. Nat. 1. iv. v. 192. 3 De Analogia, 1. ii. c. 33. * Ad Virgilii Eclog. vi. v. 58. 5 Noct. Attic. 1. si. c. 15. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 321 no doubt but that the word belongs to the class here called compounds. For instance, in the English word horseman, the portions horse and man are both roots, and both may be separately used as nouns sub- stantive. In the Latin word patefacio, I lay open, the portions pate (for patere) and facto, are derivatives from different roots, and may both be separately used as verbs. In the English word household, the portions house and hold are both roots, and the former may be separately used as a noun substantive, and the latter as a verb. In the Latin word respublica, a republic, the portion res is a root, and may be separately used as a noun substantive, and the portion publica is a derivative from a different root, and may be separately used as a noun adjective. In the Latin word suaviloquus, sweet-spoken, the portions suavi and loquus are derivatives from different roots ; the former may be separately used as a noun adjective, and the latter represents loquor, which if used separately is a verb. Nor can onlv nouns and verbs be used, in forming compound words. A participle may be compounded with a noun substantive, as in the Latin word plebiscitum, a plebeian law, where scitum is a participle of the verb scisco, to enact. A numeral may be compounded with a noun substantive, as in the Latin triumvir, one of three magistrates ; or with a noun adjective, as in the Latin sexangulus, hexangular. An adverb may be compounded either with a verb, as satisfacio, or with a noun substantive, as satis- factio, or with a participle, as wellborn, or with another adverb, as henceforth, or with a phrase, as nevertheless. 390. Though a compound word must always be taken as an integer Their effect. in the construction of a sentence, it may sometimes be doubtful whether a word should be deemed a compound, or should be divided into its constituent parts. In this respect, compound words are of different kinds. Those which afford room for such a doubt, are where the con- stituent parts would stand in the same relation to each other, if used separately, as they do when compounded. Of this kind an example was shown above, in the case of the words " gallant-mast :" and such compounds I should call imperfect. On the other hand, I should call a word a perfect compound, when its constituent portions would bear to each other a different relation from that which they would bear if used separately. The compound a horseman, for instance, will not admit of being used separately, as signifying a man having the quality of a horse, or as signifying a horse partaking the nature of a man, or as signifying a being, partly horse and partly man, like the imaginary centaurs of old. The fact is, that all perfect compounds stand in place of short phrases; as a " horseman," signifies "a man" (actually or usually) " riding on a horse," the verb " riding" being dropt bv ellipsis. So, " a household," does not signify " a house which holds" anything, nor anything which "holds a house;" but "the persons, which are held in a house." In similar cases, the corresponding terms in other languages are often derivatives, as a horseman answers to the Latin eques, and the French chevalier. But this does not happen in [g.] y Simple or multiple. Agglutina- tion. 322 OK WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. • compound adjectives which have only an indirect relation to the substantives, which they qualify. Thus in Shakspeare's 'Rape of Lucrece,' the situation of the chaste wife, in the grasp of the ravisher, is elegantly described — Her / ity-pleading ryes aw sadly fixt On the remorseless wrinkles of his face. Here the eyes do not plead pity as an attribute of the person pleading; 1 ut they plead to obtain pity on the part of him to whom they are directed. So in Cowper's exquisite poem on Alexander Selkirk — But the sound of the church-going bell These valleys and rocks never heard. Here the bell does not go to the church: it only sounds to call the worshippers who go thither; and the allusion renders the compound more striking. 391. Where an inflected, derivative, or compound word is merely formed as above described, that is to say, an inflected or derivative word with a single particle, and a compound word with two roots alone, they may respectively be designated simple ; but where a further element is added to their construction, as by combining one or more particles with a simple inflected, or derivative word, or one or more roots or particles with a simple compound word, the result may then be designated a multiple inflection, derivation, or compound, as the case may be. All such words are called by Priscian, decomposita, de- compounded words. 1 He adds, that of these decomposita " there are some, of which the simple composita are not in frequent use." 2 Thus the Romans employed the term defensor, but not fensor — repleo, but not pleo, &c. These however were exceptional cases. According to general usage, the multiple is framed upon the simple. Thus in Greek, tvwtu> is a simple inflection of the root tvw, and from tvtttm is formed the multiple inflection Itvktov. In Latin, demens is a simple derivative from the root mens, and from demens is formed the multiple derivative dementia. In English, horseman is a simple compound of the roots horse and man, and from horseman is formed the multiple compound horsemanship. 392. The term agglutination has been applied to the combination of roots and particles, in forming a word, either for inflection, deriva- tion, or composition, when some portion of the root or particle is dropped ; more especially if a change also takes place in the articula- tion of one or more of the component portions. We have instances of this in the ordinary expressions cant, wo'nt, sha'nt for cannot, will not, shall not. In cant, we not only drop the first n, but substitute a long a for a short one, and after the second n we drop the o. In wdnt, Ave drop I, and retain instead of the short i in will, a long o from the 1 " Figuraquoque dictionis in quantitate comprehenditur : vel enim simples est, vel composita, vel decomposita, quam Gra;ci trapaawQiTov vocant." — Inst. Gram. 1. v. C. 11. 2 " Sunt tamen quaidam quorum simplicia in usu frequenti non sunt." — Ibid. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 323 Anglo-Saxon icolde. So in sha'nt, I is dropped, and the short a of sliatt is lengthened. Such agglutinations are frequent in names of persons and places, as Chumley for Cholmondeley, Ciceter for Ciren- cester. So in Latin, capsis for cape si vis, lupercalia from luere per caprum; and solitaurilia, from sue, ove and tauro. " Sed hsec" (says Quintihan) " non tarn ex tribus (vocibus) quam ex particulis trium eoeunt." 1 In the North American languages, as I have shown above, agglutination is carried to an extreme length, and forms to learners their chief difficulty. 8 393. The distinction of origin is to be found in most, if not all As to origin, known languages. And what Quintilian says of his time and country, is applicable, a multo fortiori, to our own. " Verba aut latina aut peregrina sunt. Peregrina porro ex omnibus prope dixerim gentibus, ut homines, ut instituta etiam multa venerunt." 3 " Our words are either native or foreign. The foreign have come, I might almost say, from every country ; as men themselves, and even some institutions have done." We may add, that the daily increasing intercourse of distant nations with each other, in the present age, enlarges in each language the intermixture. In this view, words may be classed as native, foreign, and hybrid. 394. In most large countries, at least in those at all advanced in Native civilization, the native language may be divided into its cultivated and words ' uncultivated portions. By cultivated, I mean that portion which is spoken by the best orators, and written by the best authors, and un- derstood by well-educated persons of all ranks, and which is gene- rally regarded as the standard language, for the time being. By un- cultivated, I mean those forms of any language, which are discussed in the above chapter on Dialects. The standard of a language varies considerably in the course of time. The authorised translation of the Holy Scriptures was perhaps, in the reign of King James I., regarded as the best specimen of the standard English language then existing : and it still demands careful study, from all who would attain a com- plete command of our tongue. The same may be said of Luther's translation, with reference to the German language. But at present neither the words, nor their arrangement, in either of these translations, can be implicitly adopted, without striking the hearers or readers, as a peculiar deviation from the standard language of the day. Take an example of a somewhat later date. Bishop Jeremy Taylor, one of the most exquisite prose writers of the reign of Charles II., uses the word considerable in a sense which, though accordant with the Latin verb considero from which it is taken, is at present antiquated. He says. " it is considerable, that God, and the Sinner, and the Devil all join in increasing the difficulty and trouble of Sin ■* meaning that this circum- stance is worthy of consideration. Such was, no doubt, the first sense in which the word considerable was introduced into the English lan- 1 Inst. Chat. i. 5. 2 Sup. s. 91. 3 Ibid. 4 Life of Christ, Disc, 15. Y 2 32 1 of m [chap. xiii. age from the French; for in Cotgrave's French Dictionary (Ed. L650) its explanation is " considerable, to be considered, advised on, or thought of." But at the presentday we only use it in the subordinate cnportant, valuable, rather great than small." Dr. .Im1ih-.hi gives us all these last-mentioned senses; but leaves us to our own judgment, for the use of the word in any, or all of them. 395. Dialectic words, that is, such as belong to the uncultivated •portion of a language, may be distinguished into local and personal, as has been - n above. 1 Among the latter, are vulgarisms, and low colloquial words, of which the ordinary dictionaries seldom deign to take notice; or if noticed, often explain them incorrectly. Thus Dr. Johnson explains jorden, a pot, and derives it from the Anglo-Saxon gor . Now, according to Bosworth, gor is gore, clotted blood, dirt, mud, or dung; and den or denn, is a valley, a cave, a resting place, and allowing it to mean (as Johnson says it does) a receptacle, the compound word can never be applied to what all the authorities quoted by him prove it to signify, viz., a urinal; but the word was probably adopted with a ludicrous allusion to the overflowing of the river Jordan. Mr. HALLIWELL, though devoting his valuable work especially to archaic and provincial words, sometimes misses their precise significa- tion. Of the word palaver he only says it is " to fatter." Mr. Brockett says, it is "to use a great many unnecessary words." In fact, it is the Spanish palabra, " a word ;" and it is used by the English lower classes, to signify any kind of talk, which they either do not comprehend, or think is meant to deceive them ; but the motive, or necessity is to be judged by the accompanying circumstances. In the once popular song of ' Poor Jack,' the word palaver implies in the hearer neither disrespect, nor want of confidence, but merely want of comprehension — Why, I heard our good chaplain palaver, one day, About souls, heaven's mercy, and such. 2 Again, Mr. Halliwell is rather lax in his definition of joram, " a large dish or jug of any eatables, or liquids." He should at least have added that it is more especially (if not exclusively) applied to a drink- ing vessel, which is circulated round a table, such as a punch-bowl, or the like; as in the old farce of the Golden Pippin — When bick'rings hot, 'mong goodwives got, Break out at their gameyorum, M j ;old n rub,', their rage to cool, Is ■• [»ush about the joram!" Here the satirical humour would be lost, if the joram did not mean a drinking vessel, in which all might share. The expressions of ridicule or disrespect which occur in the vulgar language of distant times and countries have a great similarity of effect. An awkward player on the fiddle is called, in vulgar English, a scraper : in vulgar German, schrapen 1 Supra, s. 2 Dibdin's Sea Songs. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 325 is so to play ; and Verrius tells us that a similar expression was used by the old Romans. " Rasores fidicines antiqui appellabant, qui, ut ait Verrius, ita appellari videntur, quia radere ictu chordas vid< antur. 1 Aristophanes describes an ill-taught young man contradicting his father, and calling him Japhet. MtJ5' avTtnrtiv tQ irarpl /xridiu, ^.r)5' 'laTterou Kahiffavra. Nubes, v. 994. In the last century the term of contempt for a father was old Squaretoes. Drink it away and call for more, Let old Squaretoes pay the score. Old Drinking Song. In the present day, a vulgar young man shows the same disrespect to his father, by addressing him familiarly as Guv 1 nor, a slang term ap- plied by thieves to the jailer. 396. Quintilian calls all words barbarisms, which deviate from the How far standard or cultivated portion of a language : and he directs them to no be avoided by an orator. " Prima barbarismi, ac solcecismi fceditas absit." 2 But occasions often occur where an ignorance of their mean- ing leads to much inconvenience. I have known counsel, in a collision case, greatly confused by not understanding the nautical term close- hauled, which is applied to a sailing ship when her head is laid as close as possible to the point from which the wind blows. A learned judge was much surprised by the assertion of a Newcastle witness, that he was " born in a chare." The word chare meaning, in the Newcastle dialect, a narrow lane. And I remember seeing a judge on the west- ern circuit puzzled by a witness, who, in speaking of certain sheep, ^ alwavs called them hogs ; until his lordship was informed, that in that part of the country a sheep under a year old was called a hog-sheep, and for shortness, a hog. 397. In most civilized countries there is a greater or less distinction Distinctions of words, according to the intimacy or difference of rank between the of rank ' &c speaker or writer, and the person addressed. In Bengalese, in a re- spectful address to superiors, the third person is generally applied instead of the second. 3 In English it is only the greatest degree of intimacy that excuses one person's addressing another in the second person singular of a verb. Our grammarians in general overlook this circumstance; but Wallis long ago noticed it. " It is to be observed too" (says he) " that the custom has obtained among us (as among the French and others now-a-days), that when any one addresses another, though only a single person, yet he employs toward him the plural number. But we then say you, and not ye ; and if any one addresses another in the singular number, it is commonly either from disdain or from familiar affection." 4 To certain persons of rank or official station the possessive of the second plural is used with an addition of title, and then the verb agreeing with it is in the third person, as to the 1 Festus, voe. Rasores. 2 Instit. Orat. lib. i. c. 5. 3 Halhed, B. G. p. 184. 4 Gram. Ling. Anglic, ed. 1765, p. 98. 326 OF WORDS. [chap. XIII. Queen, "your majesty commands ;" to a magistrate, " your worship decides," &c. Our Quakers, wishing to avoid this ceremonial, often fall into the error <•!' using the accusative of the pronoun instead of the nominative, as " Friend, dost thee know?" &c. On the other hand, in Italy tin' obsequiousness is carried so far, as not only to address a single individual with the third person singular, and several individuals together, with the third person plural; but the titles vossignoria, your lordship, and even excelhnza, excellency, are addressed to persons in a very ordinary rank of life. In several barbarous languages ditii nut words are used l>v the different sexes. In the Quicha tongue a son is called by tlie fuller churi, by the mother hua/iua ; a daughter is called by the father ussusi, by the mother huahua ; a brother is called by a man pana, by a woman huaoque ; a sister is called by a brother tura, by her sister nana. In England children of the middle and upper ranks call their mother mamma, in France maman. In England such children call their father papa, whilst children of the peasantry call him daddy. In Friezland heit and mem are used for father and mother, though the proper Dutch names are voder and moeder. A very re- markable instance of the coexistence of different languages or dialects occurs in Java. It was first particularly noticed by the Swedish traveller Thunberg, who visited that island in 1775, and who gives copies of a letter from a native prince to the Dutch governor-general, in three dialects, which he calls the language of the mountaineers, the vulgar Javan or Malay, and the language of the court. 1 But Thunberg knew so little of the Malay, that he said it appeared to him to be an Arabic dialect. 2 W. Humboldt's able Dissertation on the Kavi, one of the Javan dialects, is well known ; and the recent dissertation of Mr. Crawfurd, prefixed to his Malay Grammar, places the whole of the languages used at Java in a clear light. These, according to him, are four : first, the Malay, which differs from the Javanese proper, and is the common medium of commercial intercourse throughout the Eastern Archipelago; secondly, the vulgar Javanese; thirdly, the ceremonial or court-language; and fourthly, the Kavi, which is at present entirelv confined to certain compositions, chiefly dramatic, of a mythological character, and is supposed by Mr. Crawfurd to be an antiquated Javanese. 3 The ceremonial language is the only one of its kind among the languages of the East. It is called by the Javanese krama, " the polite," in contradistinction to ngoJto, " the vulgar or vernacular." The sovereign and his family address others in the vulgar tongue, while they themselves are addressed in the cere- monial. Mr. Crawfurd analyses the latter, and gives specimens of words in it differing altogether from the vulgar, but taken some from the Malav and some from the Sanskrit, though by fir the greater por- tion of tliis dialect is common Javanese, a little altered in sound or In short this ceremonial language of Java seems analogous to 1 Voyages, vol. i. p. 308. 2 Ibid. p. 252. 3 Dissertation, p. xxxviii. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 327 what the court language of England might have become, had the euphuisms of John Lilie taken root there in the time of Elizabeth, and been in part Latinized by the pedantry of the first James, and in part Frenchified by the dissolute followers of the second Charles. A custom prevails in Thibet and Middle Asia, and also in Polynesia (says Mr. Logan), of temporarily disusing words, which enter into the sovereign's name. In China a similar practice was introduced, B.C. 249 ; and on the accession of the present emperor the character chu, which forms part of his name, was ordered to be written in a mutilated form whenever it is used for common purposes. 1 398. There is no community which can subsist for any great length Foreign of time, without the introduction of foreign words into its language. word: >- The causes for this are various ; among the chief is religion. By this were the Greek and Latin words connected with the Christian faith spread over a large portion of the globe. By this were the Arabic terms of the Koran first heard in the interior of Africa, and in the steppes of Tartary. " Mussulmanism, established for a long time among most of the Turkish nations, may be reckoned " (says M. Abel Remusat) " among the causes which have most powerfully contributed to the alteration of their idioms, by introducing into them a great number of Arabic and Persian words, destined to fill the voids of a language not over abimdant ; to express religious ideas ; and to desig- nate objects peculiar to the countries whence the Turks drew their knowledge of Islamism." 2 Similar remarks apply to the sacred language of Brahminism, many words of which are spread through great part of the continent and isles of Asia. " Sanskrit " (says Mr. Crawfurd) " is found in Javanese, in a much larger proportion than in any other language of the Archipelago ; and to judge by this fact, and the numerous relics of Hinduism still found in Java, this island must have been the chief seat of the Hindu religion in the Archipelago, and probably the chief point from which it was disseminated over the rest of the islands." 3 In the present Javanese the proportion of Sanskrit words is about 110 in 1000. Words thus introduced often remain for many centuries after the religion has been eradicated, and perhaps forgotten by the great mass of the people. Who, but comparatively few scholars among the many millions that speak English, is aware that Wednesday implies the worship of Odin ? So, the practice of augury among the Romans was derived from avigerium, and that from avis and gero, meaning to predict future events by observino- the motions of certain birds. Hence the Augurs were those who pro- fessed that art of prediction, and augurare was to predict by those means. Now the practice has for many centuries ceased, and is quite forgotten in Europe ; yet we retain, in the general sense of predicting from appearances, the English to augur, the German augurire, the 1 Journal of the Indian Archipelago, v. 231. 2 Recherch. Lar.t;. Tart. p. 249. 3 Dissert, p. xa.\L\. 328 OF WORDS. [chap. XIII. French augurer, the Italian augvrare, and the Spanish agorar. So Shakspeare makes Proteus say — thy tare, and thy lichaviour, Which, if my augury deceive me not, Witness good bringing up. 1 Next to religion, as a cause of introducing foreign words and phrases, comes commerce. Hence we have borrowed from our trading customers such words as percentage, average, bankrupt, &c. In our military affairs, we have colonel, bayonet, bivouac, and many other foreign words, adopted at different times. In maritime matters most of our terms are French or Dutch, as an admiral, a frigate, to luff, to veer, &c. The administration of the English law furnishes whole dic- tionaries of words mostly either Latin or Norman-French, from the ancient " Termes de la Ley," to the "Law Dictionary" of Tomlins. Our civil government has naturalised the word m/narchy from a Greek, and legislation from a Latin source. For scientific purposes, we daily form derivatives from Greek roots, as homozopathy and palaeontology. In the common affairs of life, we take from the French such words as a depot, a bon mot, and a soiree ; and in the poetical style, from the Latin, consummate is employed with great beauty by Milton in a passage elsewhere quoted for another purpose — So from the root Springs lighter the green stalk, from thence the leaves More aerie, last the bright, consummate flow'r. Par. Lost, v. 479. Where a derivative word is from a foreign source, a teacher should be- particularly careful to explain to the learner its origin. How many schoolboys are there, who have been long repeating the Greek Aorist tenses, without knowing that they signify an indefinite time, from a privative, and opog a boundary ! Inaccuracies. 399. The transferring of whole words from one language to another, whether it be done by means of speech or writing, must frequently be imperfect, either in sound or sense, or both. If the transfer be made in writing, the word is often so changed in pronunciation as to be scarcely recognized. This is particularly the ease in proper names of men or places. We write Paris as the French do ; but we do not pronounce it like them. A Dutchman writes the English name Dawes as we do, but he pronounces it as we pronounce Davis. The late Bishop Burgess, when a young man, edited Dawes's Miscellanea Critica. Some time afterwards, travelling in Holland, he met with some learned men, who asked him many questions about a Mr. Davis (as he understood them), and they were much surprised at his saying he knew no such person. On the other hand, if the word be written differently from the original, it leads, as W. v. Humboldt observes, to a difference in the speech. 51 When we write Copenhagen, we make it 1 Two Gentlemen of Verona, a. iv. sc. 3. 2 Yeriinderungen in der Schrifi ruhren zu Veranderungen in der Sprache. — W. Humboldt, Zusains. p. 5. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. .329 in pronunciation a very different word from the Danish original Kiobenhavn. The chances of error are much increased when the words are merely caught by ear, for then botli the speaker and hearer may contribute to misapprehension. Hence we cannot rely with much confidence on the vocabularies of savage tribes collected by ordinary travellers ; and hence too the extraordinary corruptions of English and French words by the barbarous natives. Dr. Latham has given some specimens of the curious changes which European words undergo among the Chinuks of North America ; such as hakatshum for hand- kerchief, paia for fire, tumola for to-morrow, siapul for the French chapeau, and some equally curious changes of sense, as tola for silver, because silver was only known to them as the substance of a dollar, pronounced by them tala. Kintshosh (King George) for an English- man, oluman (old man) for a father. To the French words they generally prefixed the article as a part of the noun. Thus they called a mouth labush (la bouche) a table, latapl (la table), the teeth letan (les dents). These last words are analogous to the expressions of our ignorant persons, who call an umbrella a numberella ; or to that of Captain Cook, who called the island of Taiti, Otaheite, the o in the Taitan language standing in the place of an article. So when an old farmer asked his daughter to help him to a egg, and she told him he should say an egg, he replied, " Well, then, give me two neggs." Tyrwhitt thus explains nale, in the Friar's tale, by Chaucer — ■ They were inly glad to fill his purse, And maken him gret testes at the nale. This Tyrwhitt considers to be merely a corruption, which has arisen from the mispronunciation and consequent miswriting, atte nale for at an ah, the word ale being used for an alehouse ; or rather (as I sup- pose) for a meeting to drink ale, as Whitsun-ale, which Halliwell explains " a festival held at Whitsuntide, still kept up in some parts of the country." On the other hand, Tyrwhitt supposes ouches to be used for nouches in the Gierke's tale of Grisilde — A coroune on hire had they han ydressed, And set it full of ouches gret and smal. Nouches being perhaps the same as nuscas, in the laws of the Angli and Werini, that is Thuringians. Tit. 6, s. 6. " Mater moriens dimittat fibse spolia colli, i. e., murenas, nuscas, monilia," &c. A different but common error, in the sense of words caught by ear, is the giving a general sense to some particular expression. The common Maltese use the English expression " shove off" for ordering a dish to be removed from the table, or a garment to be taken off the person ; the origin of this expression is, that when the Maltese boats crowded inconveniently round a man of war, the sentry ordered the boatmen to shove off. So the Chinuks adopted from the English the word pilton for a madman, because an English sailor named Pilton became insane.' So also the natives of New Ireland call a rope pilpili, because 1 Dr. Latham. 330 OF WORDS. r< H \i\ XIII. they heard the sailors often call to each other to puU the rope. Nor tin errors of this kind occur only to uncivilised people. M. Dupin supposes thai we use the French word promenade to signify a gravel walk in a pleasure ground,' because he had probably seen some persons taking a promenade (that is walking for amusement with some degree of regularity) on such a gravel walk. A foreign word is often re- ceived in one language or dialect from another in a secondary sense, whilst the primary sense is unknown or forgotten. Dr. K'rapf gives an instance of this in the word wasimu, which, in the Suaheli dialect, signifies mad, but in the Sambara the same word signifies evil spirits. 2 Thus in English many persons who use the word lunatic for mad, are wholly unaware that it relates to the Latin word Luna, the moon, to whose influence madness was anciently ascribed. 400. In the transition of foreign words to different countries, it does not always happen that those countries which are nearest to the local source of the word retain it most accurately. Italy, France, and Spain, though much nearer than Wallachia to the source of the Latin language, deviate more than the latter does from the original Latin of certain words, ex. gr. — Latin. Italian. French. Spanish. Wallachit digitus, verbum. mensa. ditto. parola. tavola. doigt. mot. table. dedo. palabra. meda. digit. wuorbe. masa. rogare. albus. pregare. bianco. prier. blanc. pregar. bianco. ruoga. alb. 3 After a word has passed from one language to another with some slight alteration, it may be still further changed in the course of time. Thus the Latin nuptice, marriage, was in old French nopces, which in the present day is noces, dropping the characteristic p of the Latin radical word. So the Latin cognoscere became in French cognoistre, and afterwards dropping both the g and s, connoitre. But the greatest changes occur in words which have travelled through several different languages, undergoing some alteration at every stage, until the first • radical sound is entirely lost. Of this our words wig and perulte afford a striking instance. The root of both is pel or fsl. Macbeth says : — The time has been, my senses would have cool'd To hear a night-shriek ; and my fell of hair Would at a dismal treatise rouse, and stir As life were in't. Macbeth, a. v. so. 5. In the Anglo-Saxon, fell is the skin ; and so in Chaucer — And said [that] he and al his kinne at ones Were worthy to be brent, both fell and bones. Troll, and Cress, i. 90. 1 Vovages, part iii. 1824, vol. i. p. 121. « Proc. Ch. Miss. Soc. 1853, p. 59. 3 Adelung. Mithr. vol. iii. p. -111. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 331 In German, Wachter explains fell, " tegumentum animalis natnrale," " the natural covering of an animal." It is allied to the Greek (peWuc, cork, the covering of a cork tree. In Welsh pil is our word peel, the rind of a vegetable. In English we have felhnonger, a dealer in hides or skins ; and peltry from the French peUeteria, the dealing in such wares. The Latin has both pellis, the skin, and pilus, a hair. From pi 1 us comes the Spanish pelo, a hair, with many derivatives, among which \speluca, a wig. From peluca is taken the Italian perruca; from that the French pemtque; and from that the Dutch parncik. It seems that from the Dutch (pronounced par-wick) the English first took jieriwig (for Shakspeare speaks of a " periwig-pated fellow"); but the fashionable people, at a somewhat later period, adopted peruke, from the French. This also has now become obsolete, and of periwig we have dropped the two first syllables, retaining only wig. Abbre- viations of this kind are frequent. Within a very few years after the invention of an. omnibus it became in common speech a bus, and in like manner a cabriolet was shortened to a cab. Nor is this at all peculiar to Englishmen. In Malay we have for ampadal, the gizzard, padal ; for nwang, money, wang ; for tiyada, no, tada and ta. 1 The Sanskrit name of the nutmeg is jatiphala ; in Malay and Javanese it is shortened to pala* 401. The first requisite, towards the useful adoption of a foreign idea, word, is to understand it perfectly in the original. A failure in this respect may entail great confusion and obscurity in the language into which it is introduced. I will exemplify this in two very important words, Idea and Law. There are few foreign words more frequently occurring in English discourse than idea; and still fewer of which the original and proper signification is so generally misunderstood. It is a common error, that Plato invented both the term idea, and the philosophical system founded on it. But the term was certainly used long before his time by several Pythagorean philosophers, par- ticularly Epicharmus, Archytas, and Aristceus ; and Plato himself ascribes to another Pythagorean, Timceus the Locrian, the following explanation of it: — to per ei/jlev ayivarov re, kcu atcivarov, kcu fiivov TE, Kai TO.Q TCIVTU) (j)V(TlOQ, VOO.TOV TE, KCLI Tapdc)£iy/ia TUV y£V(i)/ilivU)V, OKoaa ev fXETafio^q. ivrl, roiovrov yap re rav 'iciav XiyEadai te, cat vo£~tffQui. s " The being ungenerated, and unchangeable, and perma- nent, and the like, and a model of generated things which exist in change; such is that which we call, and understand to be an idea." It is clear then, that Plato, and his predecessors the Pythagoreans, regarded ideas as certain necessary laws or forms of the mind ; as, for instance, the idea of a circle, which, to use the words of Timseus, is ayivarov, not generated by experiment or observation, in comparing the sun, a chariot wheel, a round table, and other circular objects ; but on the contrary, it is the TrapaCEiypa, or model, to which we 1 Crawf. Gram. 65. 2 Crawf. Diss. cxc. 3 Plato, Opera, p. 1089, eJ. Ficin. .; 12 OF WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. mentally refer them all as the test of their circularity. This form or law of circle in the mind is bicivrirov, not moved or affected by any change from causes external or internal; and it is fiivov, permanent, the same now that it was thousands of years ago, and as it will lie thousands of years hence. I cite this explanation of the Platonic or Pythagorean doctrine witli no reference to its philosophical merit or demerit; but simply to show the original meaning of the Greek word idea. Now let us see how this unfortunate word has been treated by those who have introduced it into the English language. Mr. Locke says, " Whatsoever the mind perceives in itself, or is the immediate object of perception, thought, or understanding, that I call an Idea." If therefore the mind perceive in itself -a desire to drink', or to game, or to rob, or murder any one, this is an idea; if a glass of beer, or a dice-box, or my neighbour's purse, becomes to me an imme- diate object of perception, this likewise is an idea ; if I think of taking a ride, or of building a house, or of feasting on turtle or venison, this is an idea; if I understand Mr. Locke's book on the understanding, the book itself, being the immediate object of my understanding, becomes an idea. Now the comprehending under one common head all these mental acts, and external objects, may or may not be in- genious ; but why call that head by a Greek term, with which it has no more to do than with any other word in that or any other lan- guage? The consequence is seen in the utter confusion that has appeared in all the psychological speculations formed on Mr. Locke's doctrine of ideas. Mr. Hume, for instance, considers an idea to be nothing more than & fainter kind of impression. Dr. Watts says it is " a representation in the mind of something that we have seen, felt, heard, &c, or been conscious of." 1 Idea then, according to this author, is only another word for Memory. He develops his notion at some length ; and among other things, he tells us that " those ideas which represent bodies are generally called images]' a notion which the Abbe Condillac readily embraces, and improves upon, in his usual manner. " Les sensations'' (says he), " considerees comme representant les objets sensibles, se.nomment idees, expression figuree, qui au propre signifie la meme chose qu' images." " Sensations, con- sidered as representing sensible objects, are called ideas, a figurative expression which properly signifies the same thing as images."* Dr. Johnson, according to Boswell, was particularly indignant against the almost universal use of the word idea, in the sense of notion or opinion ; thinking it clear that idea can only mean something of which an image can be formed in the mind. Now the conception of an image of a sensible object not only does not correspond with that of an idea, in Plato's sense, but does correspond with what he calls a (pavTctafia, or appearance; and though an idea is necessarily true, a (fx'tvTairjjia may be either true or false. For thus speaks the Eleatic stranger, in the Sophista; ri 2e £)>), ciavoia re, KaX c6£«, kcii tyavTaaia, 1 Logic, part i. c. 1. 2 La Logique, part i. c. 3. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 333 iis.v ; oi'K ijeri cijXov, un rubra yivr) \pevci} re teat a\i]6ij iravd >//iwv iv rate \Lv\a~ic tyrlyvtrai ; ! " What shall we say of cogitation, and opinion, and phantasy? Is it not plain, that all such things may be either true or false, as they arise in our minds?" Instances of this confusion might be carried much further ; but the above are sufficient to show that, until very recently, the authors who have succeeded Mr. Locke have wandered, in various directions, far away from the original meaning of the foreign word, Idea. In common discourse, the latitude taken in the use of this word is almost unlimited. 402. The real origin of our word Law is frequently misappre- Law. hended. It is commonly said to be from the Anglo-Saxon laga, which is so far true ; but laga was not a word of native origin, and was in fact unknown to the Saxons in England till the time of Canute ; prior to which epoch the Anglo-Saxon laws were variously termed ce, asetnysse, chinas, or geradnysse. We sometimes find rihte men- tioned : but that was evidently from the Latin rectum. In Canute's laws laga first occurs, introduced, no doubt, by the monks from the Latin lex, which word had previously undergone various changes of signification. So far as we can discover anything approaching to certainty in the ante-consular history of Rome, it seems that the first notion that the Romans had of laws was that of a command, expressed by jus, from the verb jubeo jussi, and that ancient word remained in use to the latest times. The accounts which we have of Leges Region, royal laws, at that period, may be set down as fabulous ; and the first written laws, of which we know anything certain, were made after the expulsion of the kings, when the people, or at least that class which was called on to give sanction to legislative acts, heard them read at a public meeting. This reading was called a lex from lego, I read. And for many centuries afterwards, the term lex was con- fined to laws so enacted, whilst senatus consulta, edicta, &c. had also a binding force. When the emperors did away with popular legis- lation, it was declared that their ordinances should have the force of leges, that is, should have the same binding authority, which the written laws read to, and sanctioned by the people, anciently possessed. These imperial laws, under the name of Constitutiones, were collected, by order of Justinian, in his Code ; and to these he caused to be added, in the Digest, extracts from the works of eminent lawyers, to which also he gave the force of law. Meanwhile the original term jus had obtained a more extensive scope, signifying what we call law in general, and being thus contradistinguished to the Leges, which were specific acts of legislation. This distinction is preserved to the present day in most continental countries ; as between droit and loi in France, dritto and legge in Italy, recht and gesetz in Germany ; but in England we unfortunately confound jus and lex under the common term, law ; a circumstance which causes much con- fusion in the administration of justice, in those dependencies of the 1 Plato, Opera, p. 184, ed. Fit-in. abuse. 334 01 WORDS. [l HAP. XIII. British Crown, where the judicial system is founded on the Koman law. The same circumstance renders it difficult correctly to translate treatises on English law into any of the continental tongues, or to translate continental law-books into English. The practice which lias lately prevailed of using the letters D. C. L. to signify " Doctor of Civil Law," may be tolerated, if confined to the English language; but if taken {or Doctor CivUis Legis, it involves the solecism of using Lex civilis for Jus civile, a fault in Latin phraseology only paralleled by the terms Lex Salica, for Jus Salicum, Lex Burgundianum for Jus Burgundionum, and the like, employed by the barbarians, who over- ran the Roman empire. CTseand 403. The use and abuse of foreign words in any lane-imp. depend on their superior fitness, or the contrary; and that fitness is to be determined on the ground either of signification, or of euphony. With respect to signification, DUCANGE observes that there is no language so prolific, and so fortunate as not sometimes tc) want words of its own, wherewith to express things strange to itself.' And my learned friend, Mr. BOTES, has suggested a rule, that if by the introduction of a foreign word we can set forth the conception, which we wish to express, more accurately by a single shade, we are justified in so doing. It was, perhaps, for this reason, that the English translators of the Bible introduced into the first verse of Genesis the word treated, from the Latin creavit, rather than shaped from the Anglo-Saxon sceop ; because the latter might seem to imply that God only gave shape or form to pre-existing matter; whereas to create conveyed the true idea, that both matter and form owed their existence to the Almighty will. So long as we have a native word sufficiently ex- pressive of any intended conception, it is mere affectation to i foreign word, unless it be manifestly more euphonious. Quintilian considers the introduction of a foreign word into a Latin discourse to be a barbarism. " Barbarismum pluribus modis accipimus. Unum in gente, quale sit, si quis Afrum vel Hispanum Latina? orationi inserat." 2 Yet Cicero, the most eloquent, and most philosophical of the Romans, had the weakness, at least in his Epistles, to introduce Greek words, without the slightest necessity, either on the ground of euphony, or of signification. For instance, " Ubi kiri-tvypa magnum nullum fieri posset, ouirortvyua, vel non magnum, molestum futurum sit, quid opus est 7rapaKivcvv£veiv^' " Lor when no great advantage can be gained, and even a slight error may be injurious, what need is there to run the risk ?" 3 In this passage all the Greek words might have been supplied by Latin equally forcible, equally well-sounding, 1 "Nulla enim csttam faecunda felixque lingua, quajnon careat aliquando, quibus res hand sibi rulgares exprimantur, propriis vocabulis." — Gloss, prasf. p. xii. * " We understand barbarism in various ways. One is in reference to the nation ; as, for instance, if a person should introduce an African or Spanish word, in a Latin oration." — Inst. Orat. lib. i. C. 5. 3 Kpist. ad Attic, lib. liii. ep. 27. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 335 and more generally intelligible. I admit that where a foreign word is more euphonious than a native word of tlie vei~y same signification, its adoption may add to the pleasure of sound, which is by no means to be disregarded in language. At all events, where such a word has been long used, and has become perfectly intelligible, it would be pedantic to reject it, for a harsher one of native origin, either new, or obsolete. On this ground, I am disposed to prefer the substantive a manual, which has been above two centuries in use, to a handbook, which, though of Saxon origin, had become obsolete. Foreign words, whether well or ill introduced at first, may become in course of time useful adjuncts to history. The names alpha, beta, &c. given by the Greeks to their letters, being without signification in Greek, but all of them significant in Hebrew, and other Phoenician languages, indis- putably prove, that the Greek alphabet, and consequently all others in Europe, were of Phoenician origin. Mr. Crawfurd has argued very ingeniously on the greater or less intercourse of the Malays with several other nations, from the various words in their language derived from foreign sources, and from their own words spread, or not spread, to neighbouring lands. Thus he shows that the domestication of wild animals must have taken place very early among the Malays and Javanese, only one (the goose) having a foreign name. 1 On the other hand, tobacco, which appears from records to have been introduced into Java in 1610, shows its American origin by the name lambaku* Most of the theological words are Sanskrit, showing that the Hindoo religion prevailed very early among the Malays and Javanese ; but the tribes converted to Mahomedanism make large use of the Arabic words relating to that faith. 3 It may be observed that not only foreign words but foreign phrases ai'e sometimes adopted in our language as words, ex. gr. nonplus, nonpareil, videlicet, facsimile, &c. The last- mentioned word, however, is not in Johnson ; though he has the un- couth word facinorousness, apparently coined by himself from the Ciceronian facinorosus* 404. Besides words wholly native or wholly foreign, there is in Hybrid many languages a class in which one part of a word is native and an- " urdb - other part foreign. These have been called hybrids. " Hybrida " (says R. Stephanus) " vox est ex diversis linguis conglutinata :" 5 "A hybrid word is one conglutinated from different languages." The term hybrid original! v implied contempt, being derived from vfipie, insolence, and that from birsp, above. Hence, probably, it was used by persons of a dominant race, to characterise the issue of a connection with one of baser origin; and thence it was applied to brute animals and plants, and subsequently to a mixed language. But I mean it here to be solely understood of single words, in which one part belongs to one language, and another to another. This may be in different forms. A noun may be modified by a particle either preceding or 1 Dissertation, p. clxxxiii. i Ibid. p. exci. 3 Ibid. p. exevii. 4 Orat. Catil. -l, 10. 5 Thes. Lat. ad toc. 336 of words. [chap. en. following. Quintilian gives the instance, first, of biclinium, where the Latin particle bi precedes and modifies a noun, from the Greek verb K-\o'w; ami, secondly, of c; \ where the Greek particle en\ pre- cedes and modifies a noun from the Latin noun toga. 1 In other cases different parts of speech may lie combined, in various ways; and not only two, but more parts of speech may mute to form a hybrid word. Nor is this peculiar to what are called the learned languages. I shall presently show combinations, not only of Latin with Greek, but of Latin with Teutonic, Italian with Latin, Italian with Arabic, Arabic with Malay, Sanskrit with Arabic, Sanskrit with Malay, American with English, and what may, perhaps, be less expected, American with Greek. Their causes. 405. The causes which produce such words are various — political changes, religious or commercial intercourse, custom, a supposed ana- logy, jesting, affectation of learning, and various other circumstances. When the Lombards invaded Italy, they heard the Latin word donum, a gift, and they combined with it their preposition icieder, against, whence came the Italian guiderdonare, and our guerdon, as I have else- where shown, through all their transitions. 2 When the monks drew up laws for the northern barbarians, they often juml 'led Latin and Teutonic in the formation of a word, as taurus trespellinus, " a bull belonging to three villages ;" where trespellinus is from the Latin tres, three, and the Teutonic pett-hus, or bell-hus, a belfry. 8 When the Arabs held Sicily, they called Etna, Gibl, " the mountain." On their expulsion, the rustics of the country added to this Arabic word the Italian monte, and formed Mongibello, the present local appellation. Names of places are peculiarly liable to such combinations of different tongues, by the suc- cessive occupiers of the country. The town of Chesterfield is the site of a Roman castrum, afterwards called by the Saxons ceaster, to which is added the English field. A learned critic has pointed out a mixture of different languages in the name of Longstroth-dale (a district in the north-west part of the deanery of Craven, in Yorkshire), which con- tains the Celtic strath, a valley, and the English long, and dale. He adds, as a still more remarkable combination, Mountbenjerlaw, the name of the mountain at the head of the Yarrow. Here we have the Eng- lish mount, the Gallic Ben Yair (Mountain of the Farrow), and the Lowland Scotch law, a mountain. 4 The religious and commercial intercourse of the Javanese with the Hindoos and the Mahomedans has produced such hybrids as bunibuhana, composed of a Malay and a Sanskrit word, each signifying sound or noise ; 5 tnujung, a trident, from the Sanskrit numeral three, and the Malay ujung, a point. 6 So prihal is from pri, the Malay word for state or condition, and hal, the Arabic, with the same meaning. 7 406. Custom has much to do in giving or refusing authority to 1 Instit. Orat. lib. i. c. 5. 2 Univ. Grammar, 6. 338. ■■ Lex Salica, Tit. iii. s. 7. 4 Quarterly Review, No. CX. p. 380. s Crawfard, Malay Gram. p. 81. 6 lb. p. 64. i lb. p. 81. chap, xiii.] of words. 337 hybrid words. In certain cases we refuse, and in others permit, the union of foreign particles with native nouns, or vice versa. Thus, kin and et are particles used in English to imply diminution ; and we say lambkin, for a little lamb, and lancet, for a small lance-shaped instru- ment. But we cannot say lambet or lancekin, because kin is a Teutonic particle easily combined with lamb, a Teutonic word, and et is a particle from the Italian etta, easily combined with lance, from lancia, an Italian word. On the other hand, there are in English many particles of Greek or Latin origin mixed with Teutonic nouns, and vice versa, which custom has rendered familiar to us, and which we therefore apply to other hybrids by analogy. The Greek preposition avri, ao-ainst, has been so long known in such words as antidote, antipodes, antipathy, &c, that its force is easily felt in the later words, anti- Jacobin, anti-Gallium, and anti-MacMavel. So the Greek particle ism has been so long used in baptism; witticism, atticism, &c., that we easily apply it in the present day to the new hybrid words, communism, socialism, and the like. The Latin particle non has been long prefixed to words of Latin origin as nonjuror, nonplus, nonresi- dent, and is therefore understood without difficulty in the hybrids non- pareil, nonpayment, nonage. The termination ment, from the Latin particle mentum, forms part of the hybrid w T ords parliament, settlement, &c. in daily use. The Latin ante, before, in antechamber, from the Latin camera, a chamber, is equally intelligible in anteroom, from the Anglo-Saxon rum, room. We even carry the principle of analogy still further. We not only apply our termination an to Latin words ter- minating in anus, as Romanus, Roma?i ; but by analogy to so well known a word, we translate Arabs, an Arabian; Siculus, a Sicilian, and many others in like manner. We apply the termination ous, an- swering to the Latin osus, not only to the Latin gratia, as gracious, from gratiosus ; but also to beauteous, though there is no pulchrosus in Latin, and though bellosus does not signify beautiful, from bellus, but warlike, from bellum, war. All these hybrid words, when established by long custom, become as it were naturalised to our language, of which, indeed, they form no inconsiderable part. 407. I have spoken of jesting as a cause of hybrid words. It is Jesting evident that this can neither add to the permanent stock of a language, nor is it intended so to do. Nevertheless, we cannot omit to notice it ; since even so great a master of language as Cicero occasionally coined a hybrid word, in sport. Thus, bantering Atticus, on certain pecuniary transactions in which the latter had engaged, he says : " Keque enim ista tua negotia provincialia esse putabam, neque te in tocullionibus habebam " — " For I neither thought that those affairs of yours were of provincial magnitude, nor did I, on the other hand, rank you among petty usurers." 1 Here the word tocullionibus is a hybrid, formed from roKvWitDv, a supposed diminutive of the Greek tokojt))g, a usurer, to which Cicero adds the Latin termination ibus. The jesting imitations 1 Epist. ad Att. lib. ii. ep. 1. [G.] Z 3:]8 OF WORDS. i HAP. Xlll. of Latin verse, called Macaronic, by their original author Folegno, who wrote early in the sixteenth century, under the name of Merlinas Co- caius, abound throughout with hybrid words, e. g. — 1). iegnatus equi pungit sperone fiancos. 1 Disdainful, he pricks with his spur the hone's flanks. Here the Italian words disdegno sn&fianco are mixed with Latin particles. Affectation 408. The case is different, when, with an affectation of learning, the of learning. nonie nclature of a science, or the name given to a scientific invention is made up of a confused mixture of foreign words, Greek, Latin, Nor- man-French, &c., as the ease may be; for this is a mere jargon, which word Menage derives from the Spanish gerigonza, a corruption (as Covarruvias thought) of Grecigonza, meaning that persons talking a language not understood were supposed to be speaking Greek. Jargon does not appear as an English word in Cotgrave's Dictionary, published bv Howell, in 1650 ; but as a French word he explains it by " Gib- ridge, Pedler's French, a barbarous jangling." Swift attributes to the puritanical preachers " an enthusiastic jargon ;" and of what kind that was we learn from Butler — It was a party-colour'd dress Of patch'd and piebald languages. 2 So, the law Latin of our Norman courts was made up by tacking Latin particles to Norman words, as " I. C. Ballivus hundredi de Chillesford attachiatus fuit ad respondendum." 3 So, in anatomy, my learned friend Dr. S. B. WATSON complains of the wanton way in which " the tongue that Shakspeare spoke" is dealt with, by certain writers on that science. They tell us of a pteryo-maxittary bone, a pteryo-palatine canal, and a gastro-duodenalis muscle ; pteryo being from the Greek wripvl, "a wing;" maxillary, from the Latin maxilla, "a jaw;" and palatine, from the Latin palatum, " the palate ;" gastro, from the Greek yatTTTjp, " the belly ;" and duodenalis, from the Latin dttodenus, '' the twelfth." Numberless other fabrications of the like kind occur in scientific works of this class, which are not only offensive to a correct taste, but must tend to disgust the student, and even to entangle and pervert the judgment of the teacher. In the official Catalogue of the Great Exhibition of 1851, an ingenious instrument, for determining the velocity of a ship at sea, was described by the hybrid term, a velocimeter, from the Latin velox, swift, and the Greek /.iirpov, measure. The inventor (who was probably a naval officer) may, perhaps, have been misled by a supposed analogy to the word chr< mometer, not being aware that the latter is regularly compounded from two Greek words, Xoovoq, time, and fiirpor, measure. Such an error is excusable in a gentleman whose studies may have lain but little in classical learning, but what shall we say to so strange a hybrid as linguistic ? ,isti& 409. The French word linguistique purports to signify, as we are for the first time told by the Dictionnaire de l'Academie, in the edition 1 Merlini Cocaii Macaronics, p. 78. Ed. 1585. « Hudibras, part i. c. i. v. 95. 3 Madox, Firma Burgi, p. 59. chap, xiii.] of words. 339 of 1835,- " the science of general grammar applied to different lan- guages. Here we see a hybrid word, of more than ordinary barba- rism, employed to designate the very science, which the word itself openly violates. I say, of more than ordinary barbarism, for the Latin substantive lingua is here combined, not merely with one, but with two Greek particles, tar-qc and ikoq. In the Latin language lingua, the tongue, has several derivatives, but all formed with Latin particles. The Greek larrjc is a particle forming derivatives from verbs in i£w, and signifying a person who habitually performs the act of the verb, as a.TTtKi£b), I speak or act like an Athenian ; a.TTiKt(TTr)g, one who speaks or acts like an Athenian ; 7ro\efii£w, I carry on war ; TroXEfj.i(TT7)s, a warrior, one who carries on war. The Greek ikos is a particle forming adjectives which signify, as above mentioned, the proper or usual quality of a given substantive, as 'nnrog, a horse, iir-KiKoq, belonging to a horse. And, in the regular course of Greek derivation, both particles may be employed in the same word. Take, for instance, Ao'yoe, in the sense of an account. Thence comes the verb Xoy/^w, I reckon up an account; thence Xoytorr/e, an accountant, one who reckons up accounts; thence XoyioriKOQ, belonging to an accountant; and (by an ellipsis of ri\vr] or £7rior>/jur;) ?/ Aoyiorio/, may signify the art or science of an accountant ; as »/ ypafifiariKtj, i) fxov- aita'i, the art or science of a grammarian, a musician, &c l In Latin, the particle ista answers to the Greek iotjjj,* ; and this ista is fitly em- ployed in words wholly derived from the Greek, as logista, answering to the Greek Aoytorj/e ; but of hybrid words in ista, with a Latin radi- cal, I know no earlier instance than artista, a mediaeval word cited by Ducange, 2 and which seems to have been used in the universities of the thirteenth century to designate all the students, except those of the law. 3 Hence came the Italian artista, the French artiste, and the German and English artist, all which words were eventually established by custom. At a much later period (probably in the seventeenth cen- tury), linguista, linguiste, and linguist, similar hybrids, were also esta- blished by custom in Italy, France, and England. But it is carrying the confusion of tongues much too far, when a hybrid is heaped on a hybrid, as in the case before us. Here we have first a Latin substan- tive, lingua, conglutinated (to use Stephanus's phrase) with a Greek particle, and so forming the first hybrid, linguiste ; and this hybrid is again conglutinated with another Greek particle to form a second hybrid, the adjective linguistique ; and, finally, this adjectival form is converted by ellipsis into an abstract substantive. The fundamental error of the author of this new hybrid, whoever he may have been, was in supposing that he might apply Greek particles to a Latin word as liberally as the Greeks applied their own particles to their own words. The result rivals in incongruity Mountbenjerlaw or Longstroth- 1 Bos. Ellips. p. 469. Ed. Schceflfer. 2 Ducange, voc. Ars. 3 " Auch die Universitat der Artisten, d. h. aller Nichtjuristen, hatte ihre Sta- tuten." — Savigny, Mittelalter, t. iii. p. 163. z 2 indefinite. OF WORDS. CHAP. XIII. dale, without their excuse of having been caused by rustic ignorance, or by political revolutions. Let it be considered, too, that if wo allow lie, it will serve as a precedent for the sci< oces of dentistique aud oculistique, and our harp and pianoforte players will become pro- fessors of harpistique and pianistique. Ill weeds thrive apace, it is Jittle more than twenty years since Knguistique found its way into any French book of authority. I am not aware of any such earlier than that of 1835, above quoted. It dues not appear either in Gattel's French Dictionary, in 1813, or in Lavkaux's, in 1820, esteemed the besl tin n known; uor even in Laveaux's DicHonnaire des Difficult <'s, publi 1822. Linguistic, the English translation of this French barbarism, is not admitted into RlCHARDSON's full and valuable Dictionary, nor into Walker's Pronouncing Dictionary, edited, and greatly enlarged, by the Rev. J. Davis, in 1852. But I am sorry to add, that it has been recently sanctioned by an eminent writer on language, and it therefore becomes necessary to enter an early protest against its use. Definite or 410. Words may be distinguished as definite, or indefinite. It is a mistaken notion that every word should be definitely significant, for words represent mental impressions, a large proportion of which are indistinct. And occasions are continually occurring, where it is not desirable, and often not possible, to employ words without a great latitude of signification. Take, for instance, the Latin circiter, " about," with reference to quantity. Its just application to a particular <-.\~c must be left to equitable decision, according to circumstances. Hence certain tribunals lay down the rule, that "circiter importat etiam quartara partem minus, arbitrio judicis." — " About may apply to even a fourth part less (than the quantity in question) at the discretion of the judge ;" as if I sell a quantity of corn for about a bushel. On the other hand, there are occasions when a perfect distinctness is necessary in the words used. The negroes of the Yoruba country have an acute proverb — "Okete ni ojo gbogbo lion mo, on ko mo ojo miram." — '•The Okete says, I understand a specified day: another day I don't understand." 1 The use of indefinite words for definite is often pro- ductive of very evil consequences. How many slanders, how many false and mischievous statements are circulated under cover of the French "o« dit" the German "man sagt," the Italian il si dice," and the English " they say !" Those important words " the people," and " the public," if reduced to their true meaning, would often be found applicable to that small class, or faction only, to which the person using them belongs. It seems extraordinary in the present day that such loose and vague expressions as fame, rumour, and the like, should ever have been deemed sufficient grounds for putting a person on his trial for an alleged offence. Yet not only has this been the case from very early tunes in the Roman canon law, even when the person, "mala opinione infamatus," was a priest; 2 but the 113th canon of 1 Crowther, Yoruba Yocab. voc. Okete. " 2 Decretum Pais. 2, Caus. 2, Qu. 5, c. 13. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 341 the Church of England states that certain officers are sworn to present as well the crimes and disorders of criminous persons, as also the common fame which is spread abroad of them. 1 The learned com- mentator, however, judiciously adds, " that the oath ex officio being now abolished, it is not safe to present any person upon ' common fame ' only, without proof." 411. Of all the indefinite words in the English language there is Mature, no one to which a greater variety of significations has been attributed than the word Nature ; and no one of which the abuse has done more injury to science, to morals, or to religion. It is not surprising that those among the heathens, who troubled themselves but little about religion, should vaguely ascribe the cause of all things to some un- known power, which they termed tyvaiQ, from the verb fvw, to plant, produce, create, &c. — Qiffis KepaTa ravpois, '07r\as 8' eSwKev 'Imrois, IloSwKiriv Xaycoo?s Aeovcri x* ir i a ' 6S6vtcdv. k. t. A. In other words, " that which causes the bull to have horns, the horse to have hoofs, the hare to have swiftness of foot, the lion to have wide extended jaws, &c, &c, that (whatsoever it be) we call Nature." Other persons, who thought they could solve this mystery by reflec- tion, declared that Nature, the great source of all things, was merely a fortuitous combination of matter and space — Omnis ut est igitur per se Natura, duabus Consistit rebus, nam Corpora sunt et Inane? For self-existent Nature can embrace Two things alone, which Matter are, and Space. And as these two constituents include all sensible objects, it was said that everything was Nature. " Sunt autem" (says Cicero) " qui omnia Naturae nomine appellent." 4 — " There are persons who call all things by the name of Nature." Such was the origin of Pantheism. The wisest and greatest of the ancient philosophers rejected these vague and senseless doctrines. 9i'/.viii. 26. 4 Jerem. xxxiii. 25. '" Matth. vi. l'7. 6 Proleg. Logic, p. 102. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 345 daily for many thousand years, though we do not doubt that it will rise to-morrow, yet our consciousness presents to us no such ground of absolute necessity. Nay, we are fully persuaded that a morrow will come, wlien to us, at least, "all the host of heaven shall be dis- solved, and the heavens shall be rolled together as a scroll." l Never- theless I say, that the sun has hitherto risen, by virtue of a law imposed on it by the Creator, and that so long as it may continue to rise, it will rise by virtue of the same law; for such I consider to be the result of the idea of law as defined by Hooker, which idea is itself (as I conceive) a primary law of the human mind. 413. I have above adverted to the changes in force and effect, to Change in which words are subjected in the lapse of time ; but these I must une ' more particularly notice as affording grounds for classification. When we consider the state of a language at any given period, we shall find that a portion has become obsolete, another portion, though not wholly lost, is in a great measure disused, as antiquated ; the great majority of words continue in long-established use ; but a number of words entirely new are from time to time introduced. It would be very desirable that these four gradations should be marked in the dictionaries of all cultivated languages, if not with exact precision, which, perhaps, would in some cases be difficult, yet so as to guard the student, especially if a foreigner, from any gross error in confounding the lan- guage of one age with that of another. For this purpose it is not suffi- cient to cite authorities from writers of different dates ; for whilst some expressions of Chaucer or Wiclif would pass current at the present day, others, even of Swift or Addison, have already fallen into disuse. 414. Words wholly obsolete are easily distinguishable, and are Obsolete, commonly so marked in the best dictionaries. Their meaning, indeed, is often disputed, as in the instance of contentment above cited ; 2 so in the discussions between Servius Sulpicius, Vano, and Valerius Soranus, on the signification of the Latin favissce capitoliiice, which seems to be still left in doubt. 3 The old Roman word perduellis was superseded by hostis, to signify an enemy. 4 Chaucer's word swinke is superseded by our modern labour — And of my swinke yet blered is min eye. 5 The French haultban, a tax formerly levied on bakers in Paris, 6 is quite obsolete, the tax itself having long ago ceased to be exacted ; so the old Scotch drogaries for the modern word drugs.' 1 415. Words may be said to be antiquated which, though not Antiquated. wholly obsolete, were formerly used in a sense somewhat different from that which they bear in the present day. This is the case with many words of our best old writers, as has been shown above in the words "contrition" and "considerable" used by J. Taylor, and "it 1 Isaiah xxxiv. 4. 2 Sup. s. 70. s A. Gell. Noct. Att. 1. ii. c. 10. 4 Gaius, Dig. 50, 16, 234. 5 Canterb. Tales, v. 1699. 6 Cotgrave, ad. voc. 7 Jamieson, ad. voc. 346 OF WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. resteth" by Hooker, Bacon, and Milton. So in the preface to the « Book of Common Prayer,' it is said, " Some be so -newfangled that they would innovate all things." Hooker, in the preface to his ' Ecclesiastical Polity.' says, he had " with travaU and care performed the Apostle's advice," and he speaks of " the civil regim / ' of Geneva," meaning what we now call "the civil government." Expressions such as these, though perfectly accurate when they were written, and still easily understood, would give a character of pedantry to any composition of the present day, and might even mislead persons not well acquainted with the history of the language. It was observed of the celebrated Professor Hugo of Gottingen, that he "materially facilitated the study of the progress of the Roman law, by the care and accuracv with which he distinguished the different significations which were' attached to the same word at different periods of the Roman history." 1 As an instance of such changes we may notice the verb censeo. Cicero says, " Sed tu Atti, consideres censeo diligenter, utrum censorum judicium grave velis esse, quam Egnatii?" " But I advise you, Attius, to consider diligently whether you would wish that the judgment of the censors should have weight, or that of Egnatius." 2 Papinian, who lived above 200 years later, says (when a father had imposed an illegal condition on his daughter's dowry), " Privatorum cautionem legum auctoritate non censeri ;" " That the conditions imposed by private individuals are not to be invested with the authority of laws." 3 Here it is clear that the legal doctrine of Papinian would be much misunderstood if it were inter- preted by the meaning which Cicero gives to the word censeo. In these changes, words are sometimes depressed in signification, and sometimes elevated. The word demon anciently signified the men of the golden age, who, after death, were supposed to be raised to the dignity described by Hesiod — To\ p.cv 5at/j.ov(s etffi, Aibs fieyd\ov dia BavXas, 'EffOXul, iirixQivioi (pvAaices 6vr)Ta>v e.i/dpwirw' O't pa ut it would sound pedantic or ridiculous to sa\ "the dung-cart was drawn by its steed." POCOCKE asserts, that the Arabic language has above a thousand words signifying a sword. 1 Gouus says, it has above five hundred signifying a lion. 4 SlMONIS says, he has reckoned in Greek forty-six words signifying rough, and above fifty signifying obscure. 3 No doubt, in all these cases a nice discrimination would give to each word its peculiar force and meaning. If the con- ception be of a mental object, which, as such, cannot be brought to the test of sensible experience, it will be still more difficult to find any two words which do not express distinguishable shades or modifica- tions of the same idea, when applied to different circumstances. A schoolmaster asked a little boy, " Don't you love me?" "No, sir," said the child, " I like you ; but I low my mamma." Pity has for its synonyms, in Mackenzie's Dictionary of Synonyms, "commiseration, compassion, painful sympathy, sympathy, condolence, mercy, cle- mency." It is clear that circumstances might occur, in which any one of these words could not properly be substituted for the others. Col- lections of synonyms have been made in many different languages. In the Greek, AMMONIUS, who lived in the fourth century, wrote 7repl ofioiait' ical ciatpepui' \Heuv, " on similar and differing words" (ed. Valckenaer, 4°, Lugd. Bat. 1739). Of Latin synonyms, there is a good collection, with judicious remarks, in Dr. Crombie's Gymnasium. Of French Synonyms, the Abbe GlRABD was the first (above a century ago) to make a valuable collection. He says, with truth, in regard to his own language, " Je n'ai copie personne. Je ne crois pas raeme qu'il y ait encore eu personne a copier sur cette matiere." 4 In 1706, came forth the first English work on synonyms, by Dr. TftUSLER, who did little more than adapt Girard's distinctions, as far as the difference of the languages would permit, to English phraseology. The present century has seen several similar collections, the best of which was Mr. Taylor's, in 1813. A few pages are dedicated by MARTINEZ to Spanish synonyms, comprehending not only nouns substantive and 1 Notes to Abulfaragius, p. 153. 2 Lexicon Arabico Latinum ; col. 105. 3 Introductio in Lii j. < Srsec. p. 14. 4 Synonymes Francois, Pref. p. x. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 353 adjective, and verbs, but also pronouns and adverbs ; and, in some instances, the synonymous agreement of a word with a phrase, as despacio compared with poco a poco. 1 421. Some words are erroneously regarded as synonyms, which False are not so in fact. The English word spouse has been represented as synonyms synonymous with a "married person," either husband or wife; whereas in truth it signifies exclusively a person betrothed, but not yet married. It is a translation of the Latin sponsus and sponsa, which were derived from spondeo, to stipulate. For it was an ancient usage of the Romans for a man and woman to stipulate together for a future marriage. 8 Hence in the law and custom of this country (and, indeed, of all Christian Europe), for many centuries, spouses were persons be- trothed bid not married. Yet in process of time, the designation was often applied to married persons ; and Johnson even defines the word spouse, " one joined in marriage, a husband or wife." 3 A like error was applied to the word espousals. By the proper definition, espousals were a mutual promise of future marriage ;* they were, therefore, necessarily contracted per verba de futuro, " in words of future time ;" whereas a contract of marriage per verba de prcesenti was, by the law of England, until the year 1753, an actual, legal, and valid marriage: 5 and on this distinction often depended the most important interests of individuals and of families. 422. The converse of a synonym is a word, which, with the same, Homo- or nearly the same sound, expresses different meanings. Words of P boncs - this sort are called, by recent writers, Homophones ; from the Greek 6/noc, " like," and qxovij, " vocal sound." Collections of such words have been made in several languages. It may have been observed that the treatise of Ammonius above mentioned comprehended Greek homophones as well as synonyms. Thus he says fiatncalvu) signifies both to envy, and to calumniate. Mayor, he says, is used by iEschines for a certain kind of medicine, and by Herodotus for a person employed in sacred services. Among the manuscripts extant in Thibet, there is a treatise by Sadhu Kirti, entitled Hjam Divangs, on words having the same sound but different significations. 6 The words, which are most commonly noticed as belonging to this class, are words signifying totally different objects ; but strictly speaking, the class includes also those which present the same conception in different relations ; as our word Action, which may signify the quality or state of acting, or an 1 Gram. Espagn. pp. 206—216. 2 Sponsalia dicta sunt a spondendo, nam moris fuit veteribus stipulari et spondere sibi axons futuras. Unde et sponsi sponsaeque appellatio nata est. — Digest, lib. xxiii. t. i. fir. 2 et 3. 3 Johnson, ad voc. 4 Sponsalia sunt mentio et repromissio nuptiarum futurarum. — Digest, lib. iii. t. i. fr. 1. 5 Letter to Lord Brougham on Irish Marriages, 1844, p. 7. And see the Opinion of Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, in the Queen against Millis, 22 Feb. 1844. 6 Journal Asiatic Society, Bengal, pp. 74, 151. [G.] 2 A 354 OF WORDS. [ch LP. XIII. act or thing done, or operation, or the series of events represented in a fable, or gesticulation, or a lawsuit, or a battle by land or sea. Words of the firsl kind will often be found on examination to be de- rived from different languages or dialects: of these an obvious example is furnished by our word Rent, which signifies — 1. A rent caused by tearing, as in cloth, ox. gr., "No man pattern a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise the new maketh a rent." 1 In this sense, the word is from the Anglo-Saxon rendan, to rend, or tear, which seems to be connected with the German reissen, of the same meaning. 2. A rent paid for the hiring of a house, land, &c. In this the word is from the Latin re /it as, or redditus inserting//. /,'■ -///,. s is a participle from redeo, I return, whence reditus prcedii means the sum which the farm returns annually, " proventus qui quotannis redtt."' Redditus is a participle from reddo, I render, as "redd sunt Caesaris Caesari" — " render unto Caesar the things which be Caesar's."* Words of this kind sometimes differ slightly, or not at all in pronun- ciation, as male from the Latin masculus, "masculine," and mail from the French male, "a sack for carrying letters," &c. Homophonic words of the other kind are much more numerous. They arise from the natural transitions of thought and feeling in the human mind. The thought of doing an act implies the existence of an agent, and that of the act done, or to be done. The feeling of an impulse involves a sense of acquiescence or of resistance : and there are numerous other relations of thought or feeling (to which I shall hereafter advert), which give occasion in one language to separate words, whilst, in another language a common word expresses both of the allied concep- tions or emotions, and we can only perceive by the context, to which it applies. Thus in a case before the late Lord Chief Justice Tenterden, a question arose, as to the meaning of the word Commission ; and his lordship observed, that it might signify either, " 1st, a trustor authority exercised; or 2dly, the instrument conveying the authority or trust: or ordly, the persons by whom the trust or authority is exercised ;" and that in such case " the court must collect from the context of the sentence in which the word occurs, and of the other parts of the instrument, in which of the three senses it was used." 4 There are various other senses of commission, as of a sum charged by commer- cial agents, a fee paid to certain judicial officers, a verbal authority given, &c. ; and various modes of determining them are employed, ac- cording to their respective circumstances. It would be neither desirable nor indeed possible to exclude words of this kind from any cultivated language; but their abuse too often leads to most pernicious conse- quences ; as is particularly observable in the above remarks on the word Nature. and 423. Another important distinction of words in relation to each specific. 1 Luke v. 36. ' ilvin, Lexic. Jurisdic. ad voc. 3 Luke .vxii. 21. * 4 Baruewal] and Crcsswtll's Keports, 855. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 355 other, is that of their generic or specific signification, as shown by the same or different words. The Latin word beneftcium, in its proper generic use, signifies " any benefit whatever," and the Latin confero is " to confer," in general ; but in the middle ages beneftcium was em- ployed to signify specifically what was otherwise called feudum, a feudal grant of land from a superior to an inferior, for which the latter was bound to render homage to the former : and confero was, at the same time, used specifically to signify the issuing of such a grant. Now it happened in the year 1158, that Pope Adrian, in a letter to the Emperor Frederick, used the words " imperialis insigne corona; conferens" and intimated that he would willingly do him " majora beneficial The emperor indignantly resented these words, as imply- ing that the imperial dignity was a feudal grant conferred on him by papal authority. Adrian, however, disclaimed this meaning, and asserted that by the word benejicia, he merely meant benefits in general ; and that he used confero to signify the act, which he had officially performed, of placing the crown on the Emperor's head, at his corona- tion. 1 We, in a free country, have an instinctive abhorrence of slavery. But the generic term Slave includes a great variety of specific relations, which should be carefully distinguished in our reasoning on them. There appear to have been among our Saxon ancestors two species of slaves, the Servus, or household slave, and the Villanus, or rustic slave : 2 and the villanus was afterwards distinguished into the villein in gross, and the villein regardent. 3 Among the Greeks there were the EoiiXoc, Bepairuji', Xorp?jc, SiKerne, avlpa-noZov, dopvaXwroe, and in different countries the El'Xwrcc, Tltviarai^ KAapaircu, Mvwfrai, &c. 4 Among the Hindoos, slaves are of fifteen kinds, Gerhejat, Keereeuf, Lubdehee, Daydvaupdhd, Eenakul Belirut, Ahut, Mookhud, Joodeh Perraput, Punjeet, Opookut, Perberjdbesheet, Gheerut, Bhekut, Berbdk- rut, and Beekreet? 424. A correlation exists in the mind between certain thoughts, Reciprocal, and also between certain feelings, which gives occasion to a class of words that may be called reciprocal ; as in the natural correlation of parent and child, the social of master and servant, the commercial of buying and selling, the political of freeman and slave, the legal of plaintiff and defendant, the military of belligerent and neutral, the scientific of teaching and learning, the local of above and below ; and numerous others, all which are differently provided for in different languages, the con-elation being sometimes marked by separate words, as in the cases just mentioned, and a common term being sometimes used to mark indifferently either of the related conceptions. The parental relation gives occasion in our own and every other language to the separate words Father and Mother, and we apply the common word Parent to 1 Pabst Hadrians Entsc-huldigung wegen des wahren Verstands derer Worte benc- fictum et confene. — Senkenberg, Corp. Jur. Feud. Ger. p. 528. 2 Spelman, voc. Servus. a Blackst. Com. * Julius Pollux, lib. iii. chap. viii. 5 Halhed, Gentoo Law, chap. viii. s. 1. 2 a 2 356 of words. [chap. xiii. express that relation in both sexes, but the latter provision seems to be wanting in most barbarous languages. So as to lie connubial relation, we have the correlative terms Husband and Wife, bul we have in English no common term for both, except that of "married persons;" whereas the French, besides Mori and Femme, have the common term les Epoux. In some languages there is an obvious analogy of sound between words expressing an analogy in natural relationship; as in the Hungarian Fiver, brother, Aacrr, sister; Ipa, father-in-law, Napa, mother-in-law. In Latin, I have reckoned up sixty-three distinct terms, several of which can only be rendered in English by an awkward circumlocution : as Triavus, a great-grandfather's great-grandfather. Trineptis, the great-granddaughter of a great-grandson, or great-grand- daughter. 1 So we have in Greek avtxpiacijg answering to our "first cousin once removed." In the Hindu law, Sapinda is any one within the sixth degree of ascent or descent. Samonadaca includes relations so far as their births and family names are known.* I observed in Scotland, that where the precise degree of relationship was obscure, and perhaps distant, the individual was in common discourse called a connection. The great distinction between relationships by consangui- nity and affinity, is by many persons little understood. Consanguinity is relation by blood. " Affinity is relation by marriage," 3 so that my wife's sister by consanguinity is my sister by affinity. In the social relations of master and servant, the terms used vary according to the political institutions and usages of different countries, but there must necessarily be a correlation in the terms used, the Scrvus must have a Dominus ; and when freed, the Libertus must have a Patronus. The Apostle says, in the original Greek, 01 coiiXoi vitukovete toIq Kvpioic (literally, slaves, obey your lords,) which in our translation is softened down to " servants, be obedient to them that are your master 's." 4 On the other hand, the word servant is superseded in the United States by the more refined expression, a help. What the correlative term is for the person helped, I do not know. In commercial relations, men began with barter, a term equally applicable to both parties concerned ; but as soon as a common medium of exchange was agreed on (whether of cowries, or lumps of metal, or lastly of coined money), the acts of " buying and selling," and the persons of " buyer and seller," were necessarily distinguished in language; though some terms applicable to both parties were also employed, as "to deal," " bargain," &c. In political relations, the term " freeman" implies the existence, some- where or other, of persons not free, under some of the various modifi- cations of non-freedom above alluded to. The opposite to " sovereign" is subject : and though in one sense the term people may comprehend both sovereign and subject, yet the term " the sovereign people" must 1 Harris's Institutes of Justinian, lib. iii. t. G. * Sir W. Jones, Inst. Menu, chap. v. 60. 3 1 Blackst. Com. 434. 1 Ephes. vi. 5. chap, xnr.] OF WORDS. 357 always be a solecism ; just as it would be absurd to say the black white-, though in a certain sense both black and white may be termed colours. Again, the sovereign may be a tyrant, or a just king; and Languet forcibly says, " Tyranni regibus, injusti principes justis e* diametro opponuntur." "Tyrants are the diametrical opposites of kings, unjust princes of the just." 1 In legal phraseology, the ■plaintiff is necessarily contradistinguished to the defendant, the actor to the reus; but they are both comprehended under the term Pars, "a party to the suit." So, with us, the court, which decides on the law, is contradistinguished to the jury, which determines the fact ; and an ordinary juror is contradistinguished to a talesman. It is remarkable, that different as the Roman procedure in general was from our own, it yet admitted, in certain cases, a practice not dissimilar to our choice of talesmen. For Ulpian says, "nonnunquam solent magistratus populi Romani, viatorem nominatim, vice arbitri, dare." "The magistrates of the Roman people use sometimes to nominate a traveller, in place of an arbitrator." 2 But he adds, " this is rarely done, and only in case of urgency." In the modern law of war, neutrals are properly contradistinguished to belligerents; but these terms are of comparatively recent date. Grotius calls the neutrals, " in bello medios," " mediates in a war." 3 Bynkershoek describes them simply as " non hostes," "not enemies:" 4 and he briefly, but energetically states their duty — " Horum officium est omni modo cavere, ne se bello interponant, et his quam illis partibus sint vel asquiores, vel iniquiores." " Their duty is by all means to take care, that they do not interpose in the war ; nor show themselves more favourable, or more unfavourable to either party" 5 — a doctrine everywhere allowed in theory, but alas ! almost everywhere disregarded in practice ! In all sciences, and in all arts, the acts of teaching and learning must be reci- procal ; and most cultivated tongues supply such terms, as "to teach," and " to learn," docere and discere, dicJcioxw and fiavQuvu)- Nevertheless our verb learn is from the Anglo-Saxon Iceran, " to teach." In old English, we have " scole to lerne chyldre in," for " school to teach children in," and to learn or lam is still used provincially for to teach. 6 " They don't know, and they wo'nt let me lam 'em," says the Irish hedge-schoolmaster. In the Malay language, ajar is both to learn and to teach. 7 In reference to local relation, the meaning of susque deque was disputed in the time of Aulus Gellius; 8 but it clearly meant, as explained by Dacier, " to care not whether things looked up or down ;" sms being used for upwards, and de for dowmvards ; as in suspicio, and despicio, and in sursum and deorsum. Thus the Parasite says to the slave Parmeno — 1 Vindicire contra Tyrannos, Qu. 3. 2 Ulpian, Digest, v. 1, 82. 3 De Jur. Bel. and Pac. iii. 17. 4 Quast. Jur. Pub. lib. i. c. 9. 5 Ibid. 6 Halliwell, ad voc. 7 Crawfurd, voc. ajar. 8 Noct. Attic, lib. xvi. c. 9. ■'i-". c OF WORDS. ' . xiii. Sex ego te totns, Parmen ■ Ne 8U '" CUrsites. I'll give thee rest for six months, l'armeno, From running up and dowi . 11 425. The repetition of the same sounds, which is sometimes called iteration or duplication, and sometimes, though improperly, reduplica- tion, is found in all languages, ancient and modern, barbarous and polite, and produces many remarkable effects. Dr. Lei: says, " the i < petition of nouns or particles is often recurred to (in Hebrew) for the purpose of denoting distribution, diversity, comparison, or the like." ' Mr. CRAWFURD says, " the practice of reduplication is so fre- quent in Malay, that it requires to be separately considered." 8 He then proceeds to enumerate the various forms of repetition which are admitted in that language, and which, together with those allowed by other idioms, I shall here notice. First, the mere sound is repeated. Secondly, an entire word is repeated, either adjective or substantive, in the literal or a figurative sense. Thirdly, a substantive or adjective is abbreviated. Fourthly, a radical is repeated with a particle prefixt, suffixt or interfixt, serving to show relation or negation. Examples of all these forms will appear in considering the different effects of repetition, in different languages, as to signification, ■ve 426. It has been seen that many onomatopoeias necessarily require a repetition of sounds, as in our cuckoo; a parallel to which is found mgugumi, the name of a bird in Western Australia, whose note re- sembles that of the cuckoo. Another bird in that country is called from its note wida-icida. Among the Mantchu Tatars, kaka-kiki is used to express laughter; and tuk-tuk the palpitation of the heart. Indeed repetitions of sound from this cause are frequent in most lan- guages. Intensity. 427. A still more general cause of repetition is the wish to express a feeling more forcibly. With this view we repeat the adverb wry, as "very very good;" and Ave repeat our exclamations, hear! hear! bravo! bravo! encore! encore! In Hungarian, igen igen ember is " a very good man." In Hebrew, Dr. Lee observes that " if one word may be qualified in its signification by the addition of another, a similar result will be obtained when any word is repeated; and the effect will be the same, whether both such words are written out at length, or whether they are combined in one." 4 Thus in Ecclesiastes, c. vii, v. 24, what our translation renders " exceeding deep," is in the original !TitO^ ITlESS, deep deep. In the Narraganset (N. American) language the name of God is Manit Manitoo, " Spirit of Spirits." In French, bonbons are sweetmeats. In Italian, or era is " immediately," "at this moment of time." In Malay, bdsar bdsar is " very great." In Wolof, ntkioi ntkioi, "green green," is the name of a green paro- 1 Terent. lam. a. ii. sc. 2, v. 46. 2 Hebrew Grammar, art. 222, No. 5. 3 Malay Grammar, p. 57. 4 Hebr. Gram. art. 169, Ko. 1. CHAT. XIII. J OF WORDS. 359 quet ; answering exactly to the French ver-vert in Gvesset's well-known poem. In Yoruban, pelle pelh is " very gently," and rondon rondon is " very pale." In Western Australia, kallang kallang is " very hot." In Taitian, tea-tea is " very white." So is funfun in Yoruban. In Cayuscan, thlaththlako has the same signification. In Bornu, zumzum is " hot," and shumshum is " fermented liquor." In Bechuana, ceu is "white," ceu thata, "whiter or whitest," and ceu thata thata, the " whitest emphatically." In some instances, repetition may give a word the effect of a diminutive, as in the Susu language di is " a child," didi " an infant." In the Mandingo language, dingo is " a child," dindingo " an infant;" and ba is " a river," baba " a rivulet or minor stream." Again, repetition may express an indifference or uncertain state of feeling, as in the Italian cost, cost ! in the Bohemian gakz takz, tak ■ tak, and in our correspondent expression so, so ! In French, miton-mitaine is said of a remedy or expedient, which does neither good nor harm. In Malay, kala is " time," and kalu kala, " perhaps," i. e. time will show. 428. In some languages a simple repetition expresses the plural Plurality. number of things or persons. In Malay, orang orang signifies " men," raja raja " princes," longlongan, " fireworks," riris riris, " continuous drops of rain." And so a collective quantity of anything, as in the Taitian hunt, "a hair," hum hum, " the hair of a person's head." 429. In many languages repetition expresses frequency, either as a Frequency, general notion, or as the name of an act implying frequent motion, or of something produced by or employed in producing such motion. The adverb " frequently " is, in Hungarian, ottan ottan. In Malay, gupuk gupuk is " hastily." In West Australian, ilak ilak is " imme- diately." In Javanese, voanti wanti is " incessantly." In Wolof, leg- leg is " frequently." In Tongan, fa fa is " to grope about." In Yoruban, fake fake is " palpitating." In German, schlingschlang is " slinging the arms in walking." In Malay, kata kata is " chatting," agreeing in effect with the talkee-talkee of the West Indian negroes. Pehi-pohi, in Marquesan, is " to beat." Fatoo-fatoo, in Tongan, is " to fold up." Toni toni, in Marquesan, is " to sew. Fango fango in Tongan, is " to blow the nose." Kuhhee kubhee, in Hindoostanee, is " now and then." Minta, in Malay, is " to ask ;" minta minta is " a beggar." In Tongan, holo is " to rub," holo-holo is " a towel." In West Australian, butak butak is " to wink frequently." In Tongan, Jala Jala is " to dazzle." In Malay, dug a is " to think ;" duga duga " to meditate." 430. Reciprocal action is expressed in our see-saw and roly poly. Reciprocity, In West Australian, binbart-binbart expresses " rolling from side to ^Xij^,'^]^','' side." In Mpongwe, timbia rimbia is the same. In Malay, tulung- tinulung is rendering each other mutual assistance. In West Austra- lian, bur-bur is exact resemblance. In Yoruban, ornnio is "a child," and ommo ommo is " a grandchild." 431. The notions of order and confusion are alike capable of ex- Order, confusion. 3G0 OF WORDS. [chap. xin. Figurative, With a connective. Analogous forms. pression by the repetition of similar sounds ; order is shown in dis- tributive numerals. In Persian and Turkish, yek-yek is " one by one ;" in Hindoostanee, dua dns is " ten by ten;" in Mongol, hhougor Wmgar is " two by two." So in the distribution of substantives, in the Yoraban language, agba agba is " man by man." In Laplandish, yapest yapai is " from year to year;" in Hungarian, eszendorol eszendore the same. In Malay, muda mudahan is "easily," and suka suka is " sepa- rately." In Yoruban, haha kaba is " irregularly." In Hindoostanee, jugra-rugra is " a (confused) brawl." In Malay, tiba-tiba is " un- awares." In Tongan, fa-fa is " to grope about," and hekc heka is " slippery." 432. It is to be observed that the repetition sometimes gives a figurative sense to a word, as in Malay, kuda is a horse, kuda kuda a wooden frame, which we call in English a horse, to dry linen on ; ular a snake, idar ular a brook, from its serpentine course ; mata " the eye," mata-mata " a scout." In Tongan, matta is " the eye," and egi is " a chief," matta-matta-egi is " stately," one who has the appearance of a chief. In Yoraban, ennu is the mouth, ifenn (that is fi ennu ko ennu, mouth to mouth, as in kissing) is used to express agreement. 433. In most of the above examples the repetition is of a word, in whole or part, simply ; but in some there is a connecting particle. This latter form of repetition occurs in many languages both cultivated and uncultivated. We have the phrase hand to hand — In single opposition, hand to hand, He did confound the best part of an hour In changing hardiment with great Glendower. 1 In Italian, a mano a mano is " successively." In German, hand in hand is " united." In low French, flic et flac expresses repeated slaps. In Hindoostanee, lab " the brim," lub a lab " brimfull ;" wukt " time," icukt be ivukt " now and then," roo " face," roo bu roo '' fac- to face." Our " here and there" is in Hungarian, imit is, amot is. In Laplandish it is tobben ya tobben. In Yoruban, ogbon is " sense or cunning," ogbonkogbon is " duplicity." Sometimes the connective is abbreviated, as in ogbonkogbon just mentioned, where kogbon is a con- traction of ki ogbon. So in Yoruban, ojo is " a day," ojojo (for ojo ji ojo) " a long time." Sometimes a negative is added to the connective, as in Hindoostanee, ga koosh, ga na koosh, " now glad, now sad." 434. Analogous to the repetition of the same word, in whole or part, is the kind of pleonasm, which is not uncommon in Greek, of employing together a noun and verb of the same signification, as oovXeiav SovXeveiv, to serve as a slave, noXtfiov TvoXtfxiiv, to war as a warrior. " Manifestain his" (says Wkiskk) " est simplicitas antiquam redolens setatem — nam priusquain populus artibus bonis excolitur, et dicendi maxime artem tractare incipit, multa in sermone adhibet, quaj deinceps elegantiorum hominum polita oratio respuit." " There is in 1 Shakspeare, Hen. IV. Part I. a. i. sc. 3. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 361 these a manifest simplicity savouring of antiquity — for before a people is furnished with the liberal arts, and particularly before it begins to cultivate the arts of speech, it employs many unnecessary words which afterwards the polished oratory of a more refined age rejects." 1 So we find in Latin authors, like pleonasms of various parts of speech, such as " etiam quoque," " nunc jam," " propere ocyus," " id prop- terea" (for ideo propterea). Thus in Terence — Id propterea nunc hanc venientem sequor. Therefore, on this account, I now follow him coming hither. 2 Similar superfluities of expression occur in some of the older English poets, as Fairfax, speaking of the rich armour brought to Argantes — He don'd them on, nor long their riches eye'd. 3 I am much inclined to think that not only what is called the augment in Greek verbs, as re in rervfa, but the like prefix in Latin verbs, as ce in cecini, are remnants of a more ancient form, in which a root was repeated, to express the past time of a verb, as TvirrvTra contracted to rvTvira, rvTv(pa rervipa ; and cincini to cicini, cecini ; which would not be more extraordinary than some of the repetitions above mentioned for expressing plurality in substantives, or a superlative quality in ad- jectives. At least, I have never met with any more probable suggestion of a cause for either the Greek augment or the Latin prefix ; and it appears to me to be connected with the Sanskrit formation of the third or indefinite preterite of certain verbs, agreeably to Bopp's remark : " The past time is expressed in the (Greek) perfectum, as it is in the Sanskrit third preterite by reduplication. Here, too, as in Sanskrit, the absorbed accidental letters are thrown off, rervira, or rirvfa- In Sanskrit tutupa, from tup." 4 435. The effect of repetition of sounds, as agreeable to the auditorial Alliteration. faculties of mankind, in all stages of the development of that faculty, is shown, not only by the repetition of the same words, but by what is commonly called alliteration. Alliteration is defined by Johnson, "the beginning of several words, in the same verse, with the same letter;" but this definition is far too limited. Alliteration is neither confined to verse, nor does it apply solely to the beginning of words, but is no less frequent at the end, furnishing our modern rhyme ; and when in the middle, it contributed to the metre of our Saxon ancestors. It is true, that " there are instances of it " (as Johnson justly observes) " in our oldest and best writers ;" and it often appears in their poetical works with striking effect. Thus Milton, in his noble description of the creation, says — 1 Pleonasmi (had, s. 15 a. 2 Andria, a. ii. sc. 5. 3 Tasso's Jerusalem Delivered, vii. 12. 4 Die Vergangenheit wird im Perfect : so wis im Sanskrit bey dem dritten Prat, durch die Reduplikation ausgedriickt. Audi worden hier, wie im Sanskrit, die aufgenommenen zufalligen Buchstaben abgeworfen, rervira oder TtTvrtion is flop for flap, which is an onomatopoeia, from the sharp noise made by anything that strikes suddenly against another, when held only by one side or end; and thence it is applied first to the motion, as the flapping of a bird's or insect's wings against the air, and secondly, to anything capable of such motion, as the flaps of a waistcoat, or hat, or 1 Winter's Tale, a. iv. sc. 3. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 367 of a fable, a fiy-flap, a flap-eared dog, &c. So when the border of a woman's dress flaps repeatedly against the mud, and becomes draggled, it is provincially said to go flij>pity-flop. 44 0. Many words of an alliterative form are in reality contracted Criscroas, compounds. Criscross is the name given by the vulgar to the mark 6f a cross, by way of signature, made by those who cannot write. It is an abbreviation of Christ's cross, and the alphabet (according to Brockett) was formerly called Christ's cross row; probably from a superstitious custom of writing it in the form of a cross by way of charm. Hotchpotch is the Scottish mode of writing the word which in our law terms is spelt hotchpot, in French hochepot, and in provincial English hodge-podge. It is a well-known dish, in which many articles of food are mixed together. Various etymologies are suggested for the word. I think it is most probably a compound of the French hocher, and pot. In our north country dialect, to hotch is to shake together. In French hocher is to shake ; so that hochepot may signify different things shaken together in a pot. And in this sense it seems to agree with the Dutch hutspot, for a dish of the same kind, where huts is from hutselen to shake together. Lakewake is given by Grose as a northern word signifying the watching of a dead body. This in Chaucer is spelt Licheicache, when describing the funeral of Arcite — Ne how Arcite is brent to ashen cold, Ne how the lichewache was yhold All thilke night. Knightes Tale, v. 3959, &c. Liche is from the Gothic leiks and Anglo-Saxon lie, the body ; and wache is from the Gothic wakan and Anglo-Saxon wacian, to watch. Chaucer (as Tyrwhitt justly observes) confounded the Lichewakes of his own time with the funeral games of the Homeric age. From this liche is derived the Leechway given by Grose as an Exmoor word for the path in which the dead are carried to be buried. Lake, in lakewake, is evidently corrupted from the substantive liche, or lie, for the sake of alliteration with the verb wake. In some instances it has been further corrupted to latewake. 442. I have spoken above of the repetition of a word with a Pit-a-pat, &c. connecting particle ; but there is also a form of alliteration prevalent in most languages, between a significant and non-significant part of a word, with a connecting particle, as in pit-a-pat. This word is par- ticularly applied to the quick pulsation of the heart, as in the Beggar's Opera — When a good housewife sees a rat In the trap in a morning taken, With pleasure her heart goes pit-a-pat. Dr. Johnson, who had no notion of the effect of alliteration as the origin of words, suggests that this is probably from the French pas a pas, or patte patte, to neither of which expressions it has the least 368 OF WORDS. [chap. XIII. relation. The significant portion is pat, an onomatopoeia; and pit is merely prefixed, with the general effect of alliteration, intimating a repeated action of the heart, &c. Spick and spaa new. This may possibly have been first applied to a lance new both in the spike, (the pointed head,) and in the span or handle. But if so, it is of different origin from span new, in which span, spun, or spon is the past participle of spin. To spin in Mcese- Gothic and Anglo-Saxon is spinnan; in Islandic spinia ; in Swedish spinna ; in Danish spinde. Ihre explains sping spang, plane" novus. Chaucer has span new, as when Troilus speaks ir> praise of Cressida — This tale was aie span new to beginne. 1 Here span is evidently from spin, as in the old rhyme — When Adam delved, and Eve span, Who was then the gentleman ? In the romance of Kj/ng Alisaunder it is spon neowe, when Alex- ander dismisses the Persian with honour, who had attempted to kill him — Ritheliche he doth him schrede In spon ncoice knyghtis wcde. 8 Bot of Bale (the remedy of evil) is applied, in old English, to the Saviour — Now he, that is Bot of Bale, Helpe yow well, and so he schall.* Whicketfor Whachet, or Quitteefor Quottee, according to Grose, are Kentish expressions for an equivalent return, a quid pro quo. fiack- me-Reesle, according to Jamieson, is a Fifesbire and Perthshire word, answering to our higgledy-piggledy. The same meaning is expressed in Hindoostanee by Idhur ka oodhur. In the Tongan language, tangi is to weep, and tangi-fe-toogi is to bemoan, to beat the face with grief. In French, flic et flac is an expression serving (according to LEROUX) to represent a few slight slaps, as " Elle lui a donne deux ou trois soufflets, flic et flac, sur la joue." " She gave him two or three slight slaps on the cheek." So " entre le ziste et le zeste" is " passably, between good and bad, neither too much nor too little." The significant part here is zeste, a bit of orange-peel put into a glass of any liquor, to give it (as we say) a zest or relish. Young says of vanity — Their zest of pleasure, and their balm of woe. Abbreviated 443. Certain alliterative words originate in the abbreviation of phrases. phrases. Thus a Fi fa, and a Ca sa are colloquially used by at- torneys for the writs of Fieri facias, and Capias ad satisfaciendum. Nizey Prizy was, in my time, the vulgar term of the Wiltshire peasants for the assizes, from the clause Nisi prius audita. 1 Troilus and Cressida, b, iii. v. Ifi71. 2 Kyng Alisaunder, v. ! a Sir Amadas, v. 184. CI1A1 . XIII.] OF WORDS. 3G0 Iltccius Doctius is used in Butler's description of the lawyer con- sulted by Hudibras — An old dull sot, who told the clock, For man} - years, at Bridewell-dock, At Westminster and Hicks's Hall, And hiccius doctius play'd in all. 1 This has been suggested to be a contraction and corruption of hie est inter doctos? But more probably it is a mere variation, by jugglers and others, from Hocus pocus, which some derive from Ochus Bocchus, a demon of the Northern mythology ; but others more probably suppose it to have been first used at the time of the Reformation, in ridicule of the Latin words " hoc est corpus" applied by the monks to the sacramental bread. Rigmarole is no doubt a corruption of the above-mentioned expres- sion of " rede-o-mv-rolle." 3 444. In the proverbial phrases of most nations, alliteration is a Proverbial r l l phrases. conspicuous feature, ex. gr. — In Greek, Aivov XtVw avvcnrraie — " You add flax to flax : you add one weak reason to another." In Latin, " Laudari a laudato viro" — " To be praised by a praise- worthy man." In French, " Homme mort ne mord pas" — " The dead do not bite." In Italian, " Chi va piano, va lontano " — " Fair and softly goes far." In Spanish, " Al hierro caliente batir de repente " — " Strike while the iron is hot." In Portuguese, " Lingoa doce como mel, coracao amargoso como feV — " Tongue sweet as honey, heart bitter as gall." In English, " Tit for tat" In German, " Geschenktem Gaul, siehe nit ins Maul" — " Don't look a gift horse in the mouth." In Swedish, " Fast bundit, fast funnit" — " Fast bind, fast find." In Esthonian, " Libbe keel, herrikse meel " — " Honey in the mouth, venom in the heart." In Hungarian, " Mez a nyehinn, mereg a mellyeben " — (the same.) Besides the alliterative words in the present and former chapters, I have noted many others, in various languages, which will be men- tioned hereafter. 445. Glossology is indebted, in various degrees, to the different Modes of collectors of words. The first contributors are the travellers and ^o^s. 1 " 8 missionaries, who form vocabularies more or less comprehensive. Next to these come the collectors of words relating to particular sub- jects ; and finally, the Lexicographers, whose labour's embrace a whole language. On the vocabularies of travellers and missionaries is 1 Hudibras, part iii. chap. iii. v. .077. 2 Halliwell, ad voc 3 .Supra, s. 434. [G.] 2 B 370 OF WORDS. [CHAP. XIII. founded great part of the admirable Mithridates of Adeluno, and also ^t' the extensiv< ical work of Hervas, the Catahgo de las Lenguas de las naciones conocidas. Our judicious circum- navigator Cook collected specimens of many barbarous tongues before unknown: and his example lias been followed by subsequent voy- agers: one of the latest of whom, Captain Washington, pul forth (anonymously) a very useful vocabulary of different dialects of the Esquimaux. By far the largest contributions of this kind, however, have been mail' by monks and missionaries, for spreading Chris anion-- the heathen. Of these, the earliest extant is the Frankish, of the Monk Kero, preserved by Goldastus. 1 From such souro s, recent writers have compiled vocabularies of several barbarous tongues, such as the Taitian, by W. Humboldt; the Marquesan, by Buschmann; the South Australian, by TeiCHELMANN and SCHURMANN, &c. &c. Partial collections of words of certain classes have been made from very early limes ; as of words relative to particular subjects ; of words used by particular authors; or at particular periods of time, or of particular dialects, or of particular grammatical forms. The Ono- on of Julius Pollux distributes the words, of which it treats, under fifteen heads, according to so many different subjects, royal, domestic, naval, military, &c. Rhetorical words were explained and illustrated by ZosiMUS of Gaza, and Harpocration ; rhetorical, poetical, and other uncommon words by Photius and Hksychius. Other Greek compilers illustrated respectively medical, juridical, phi- losophical, and theological words. Subsequent times furnished con- cordances to the Holy Scriptures. Of these, the earliest is said to be a Latin one, without date or name of author, but which appears to have been taken as a model for several that subsequently appeared in the learned languages. The first, in our own language, was bv Morbeck, who was followed by Gotten, Bernard, Newman, and at length by Crudex, whose Concordance is still in repute. The words employed by particular authors, ancient and modem, have supplied subjects to several compilers. Of this kind, among the Greeks, were the Xt'Eeii 'O^tripiKod (Homer's words) by APOLLOXIUS, edited, with a Latin translation, by Villoisox in 177:!. the Xiteie UXarajvitcai (Plato's words) by Tm.iX's, and also by PalamedES. So in the sixteenth century, the words of Cicero, by Nizolius, and in recent times, the Lexicon Homericum, and also the Pindaricum, bv Dammius, ami the Lexicon Ionicum (of Herodotus), by ^Emilius Pop.tus. In this view the Glossaries subjoined to various historical and legal works are very useful ; for instance, those added to the seven first volumes of Pertz's Monumenta Germania; Historica ; that of F. Pithou to the Capitulars, and also to the Salic Law ; and that of F. LlNDENBROG to the Codex Legum Antiquarum. In like manner, the mere Indexes to the Delpbin editions of the classic authors will be found to a certain degree serviceable; as will Todd's index to the 1 Iierum Alaman. Scriptoves, vol. ii. }>. 71. CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 371 words of Milton, and Mrs. Cowden Clarke's to those of Shaks- peare. On ancient Latin words, that by lapse of time had become obscure, we have the work of Festus, which was an abridgment of one written by Verrius, in the reign of Augustus, and of which Paulus, in the time of Charlemagne, made the Epitome now extant. In later times, many similar collections have appeared ; from the great work of Ducaxge, on the Mediaeval Latin, to the Archaic English words in Mr. Halliwell's recent compilation. In France, there have been not only collections of ancient words, but also one or two of Neologisms, (new fabrications,) especially those introduced in the revolutionary period. Many collections of provincial words, in different languages, have been noticed in previous chapters of this treatise : and similar works existed among the ancients. Lupercus of Bervtus wrote on Attic words, as did Pacatus, and Polion, the Alexan- drian ; these three being among the authors from whose productions Suidas compiled his general Lexicon. Lastly, among partial col- lections of words, are to be noticed those restricted to certain gram- matical forms, as that by Ammoxius of synonymous and homophonic words, above mentioned ; and that by Cyrillus (or rather Philo- poxus), of words which in different senses receive different accents, both which collections are subjoined to the Greek Thesaurus of H. Stephanus. 446. The compilations which embrace whole languages we com- Dictionaries, monly call Dictionaries or Lexicons, the former from a Latin, the LexK0U ^> ii ' J - latter from a Greek root ; and both these terms are well established by modern custom, though alike unknown to classic literature. The ordinary terms applied in ancient times were, Collections, Onomastica, or the like. Sometimes, indeed, figurative expressions were used, as in Greek, "the meadow of words," by Pamphilius; so in Persian, "the seven seas;" in Arabic, "the ocean;" but in later times, Thesaurus, the treasure (or rather treasury), became a very common designation, being used in Greek by Hexry Estiexxe ; in Latin by his father Robert ; in Hebrew by Pagxixi ; in the Turkish, Persian, and other Eastern languages, by Mexinski, &c, &c. Henry Estienne indeed complained that in the use of this title to his work some per- sons had endeavoured to forestall him; 1 but his complaint, whether well or ill founded, was wholly disregarded. The two old Greek collections, which he himself edited, bore the title of Glossaries. The Etymologicon Magnum, quoted by Eustathius in the twelfth century, and edited by Musurus in the fifteenth, is merely what we now call a Greek lexicon arranged alphabetically, with small pretensions to etymology, in its modem sense, as may be judged by its derivation of alpha, irupa to aXfiv to tuptoxw, itouitov yap twv aWiov dTOL-^eiuiv 1 In hoc opere pracstare conatus sum, qua? ipsum Thesauri nomine non indignum reddant. Eum quidem certe titulum mihi prseripere jam olim conati erant quidam, quum me de hoc opere aggrediendo cogitave obaudiissent. — Tlies. Gr. Ling, ad Lectorem Epistola, p. 17. 2 b 2 372 p. xni. Ivjii'i))}. "from a.\, to find, because it was found out before all the other letters!" There are two principal modes of arra works of tins kind 1st, tin alphabetical order of words by their initial Letters; or 2ndly, tin- deduction oi derivatives from their Tin' latter, if carefully drawn up, is undoubtedly the most philo- sophical, and most serviceable towards affording the Btudent, who is somewhat advanced in his learning, a comprehensive view of the structure of tin- language; but for ordinary purpos illy to the younger students, the former is superior, and has consequently been almost universally adopted. The alphabetical arrang generally follows the common order of the alphabet. Suidas, how- ever, iu his Greek lexicon (for what reason does not appear), deviated from that metbod, placing the diphthong at before i, and i liefore 6, and cu before 7T, and also varying in different ways the order of the [ary letters. Our English lexicographers often confound i -with j, and " with r, though in pronunciation the articulations in each I !v different. Johnson says, " I is in English com both as a vowel and a consonant; though since the vowel and conso- nant differ in their form as well as sound, they may be more properly accounted two letters." 1 We may surely ask, when two alphabetical signs differ ' oth in form and sound, what it is that makes them one letter? Hence Johnson's words follow in "most admired disorder "as to sound. We proceed from jabber to ice, and from idyl to jealous, and so on, shifting from j to i, and from i to j throug alpha- bet. And a like confusion happens with a and v : we begin with v, and presently come to liberty, and proceed from udder to veal; and all this for no other reason than that the Roman alphabet had only i and u, to each of which letters, when applied to our language, our monkish instructors chose to give two totally distinct articulations. The alphabetical order of words differs in different languages : thus in Welsh, ch comes between c and d ; ff between/ and g ; ng between g and h ; II between I and m; ph between p and r; th between t and u; and this alphabet contains no k, q, v, x, or z, except as applied to foreign words. In Polish there are two a's, two c's, two e's, two I's, two n's, two o's, two s's, and three z's ; though the difference, in some instances, is so slight as to be often overlooked. Similar observations may be made on the alphabets of most other European tongues; still it is desirable that in a dictionary the order of the alphabet to which it belongs should be followed. The great diversities among alphabets render it necessary, in many cases, to explain the proper pronunciation; and hence have arisen the pronouncing dic- tionaries, of which the latest and best in English, is Walker's, liefore tied. But here a new difficulty present- itself. Every author has his own method of explaining sounds. Thus Mr. Walker, in a note on the word command, says, "Mr. Sheridan was certainly of opinion that the unaccented o might be pronounced like u, as he has 1 Diction. Gram, ad lite ram. CHAP. XII].] OF WORDS. 373 so marked it in command, commence, commission, and commend, though not in commender; and in compare, though not in comparative; but in almost every other word where this o occurs he has given it the sound it has in constant. Mr. Scott has exactly followed Mr. Sheridan ; and Dr. Kenrick has uniformly marked them all with the short sound of o. Why Mr. Sheridan and Mr. Scott should make' any difference in the first syllables of these words, where the letters and accents are exactly the same, I cannot conceive." Such are the discrepancies, even where the lexicographers treat of their own language; I nit the confusion is increased when a foreign writer attempts to explain the English pro- nunciation to his countrymen. Thus the o in command is expressed by Mr. Walker as £, which he had previously stated to be the o in love. Bv Mr. Hilpert, in his very able German and English dictionary, it is also expressed by ^, but this he explains to be "der doppelte ton des o, mit dem halben tone des a," which, to an English ear, is not very intelligible. These circumstances tend strongly to show the necessitv which exists for a standard alphabet, to ascertain the present sounds of words, at least, in the languages of modern Europe. A good dictionary may embrace mueh more than the mere articulation of words. The accents should always be marked, and generally are so, but not always with sufficient care. The French language is understood to have two accents, the acute and the grave ; but even in the most celebrated French dictionaries the application of these accents seems very capricious. In the ' Dictionnaire de Trevoux? sacrilege has a grave accent; in the ' Dictionnaire de V 'Academic, it has an acute accent. In the former, feve has an acute accent; in the latter a grave one. The ' Dictionnaire de l'Academie ' differs in its different editions : in that of 1778, it writes secretement with an acute accent; in that of 1811, secretement with a grave. In a Latin dictionary the quantities should all be marked, or, at least, those where the quantity is not known by a grammatical rule. The Thesaurus of R. Stephanus, generally marks the principal syllables ; but it often leaves other syl- lables unmarked, so as to occasion to young students much uncertainty. Thus in the word bipeddlis, the a alone is marked ; but we are left to discover elsewhere that the first i and the e are both short, as — Ad summum totus moduli bipedalis. 1 Some lexicographers have, with laudable industry, traced the use of individual words historically, from the earliest period at which they can be found ; but it must be remembered that the earliest form of a word now extant, may not be really the most ancient use of that word in the language under examination, much less can it show the word's derivation from a foreign root. The history of a word, to be really instructive, should trace it from the ix>ot through its successive deriva- tions in due order. A dictionary, in some respects valuable, may, no doubt, be formed without any pretensions to etymology ; but if the 1 Horat. Sat. ii. 3, 309. 374 OF WORDS. P. XIII. derivation of a word be given al all, it should be given correctly and fully : ii is of small use to give, as Dr. Johnson usually docs, a single step in derivation ; for instance, he says, to achieve is from the French achever, to complete; bul this gives us no information of the primary signification of the word in either language, and consequently assists bul little in tin' use of the derivatives. Here the root is the word chef, the head, seldom now used but figuratively, for a chief or head of a family, or office, and formerly for the end of a place, time, or business. Cotgrave lias the expression, "venir a chef d'un affaire, to compasse, finish, or overcome a businesses" and (Joint de Gebelin, deriving chef from the Celtic cap, the head, explains achever, conduire a chef, au bout. Hence, though Johnson's first sense of the word achieve is correct, viz., "to finish a design prosperously," the second is erroneous, viz., " to gain, to obtain," which is only supported by the inaccurate use of it in Prior's line — Show all the spoils by valiant kings achiev'd. The kings did not achieve the spoils; they achieved the wars by which the spoils were obtained ; they brought those wars to a chef, a successful termination. It would, further, be proper to state, that in the modern use of the English word achieve, it is seldom employed but with reference to martial achievements; hence the word Hatch- ment, for the coat-of-arms of a deceased person, originally signified the armorial bearings commemorating the martial achievements of himself or his ancestors. Compilers. 447. It is worthy of observation that whilst the compilation of dictionaries, comprehending a whole language, has often required the united exertion of learned bodies, by command or under the special patronage of their respective governments, some of the best works of this kind have been produced by the energetic labour ami talents of private individuals. Such was the case with the unrivalled Worter- buch of the elder AdeLUNG, and such was the origin of all our English dictionaries, from that of Bishop COOPER in the sixteenth century, to the recent work of Mr. RICHARDSON. In China, a dictionary of the written language was first compiled bv order of the Emperor Vu-Ti, about 140 years prior to the Christian era, and long before any similar collection in Europe ; this, and six successive ones, were formed, down to A.D. 1710, when the present great ' Imperial Dictionary,' in 32 volumes, was compiled from all the preceding, by the collective labour of nearly a hundred persons, and the characters explained were above 43,000. The ' Dictionnaire de /' Acadhnie,' in France, was the work of the whole of that learned body, as was the ' Dizionario detta Crusca,' that of the must eminent Italian literati ; and the great Spanish Dictionary that of the Spanish Academy. Yet it has too often happened that where an individual has devoted the most precious talents and the best energies of a whole lifetime to a task so essential to the interests of literature, he has not only failed to obtain an ade- CHAP. XIII.] OF WORDS. 375 quate remuneration for his labours, but has been left to close his days in penury and distress. Whilst I am writing, my eye is caught by the Greek lexicon of Robert Constantin, in two folio volumes, containing together 1785 double-columned pages of a small type, and giving, in alphabetical order, almost every Greek word that can anywhere be met with, and authorities for the various significations of each. The author of this most laborious and valuable work was born at Caen in Normandy, A.D. 1530, and after many distresses, died in extreme poverty, at the age of seventy-five, in Germany. The two Estiennes (Stephani), father and son, are equally entitled to the gratitude of the literary world : the Latin Thesaurus of Robert (the father) appeared in four volumes folio, in 1532 ; the Greek Thesaurus of Henry (the son) in five volumes folio, in 1570. Both these meritorious individuals were subjected to persecutions and vexations of various kinds : Robert fled to Geneva, and died there at the age of fifty-six ; Henry breathed his last, at the age of seventy, in the Hospital at Lyons. " Such " (says a French writer) " was the deplorable end of one of the most learned men that ever existed !" I have spoken freely of the defects and errors in Dr. Johnson's Dictionary ; but it must be remembered that the English language could never boast, until his time, of a collection of its words accompanied with authorities for their different significa- tions, by our best writers. His work was one of immense labour ; and we cannot but lament that, during great part of the time which he devoted to it, he was in fact writing, from day to day, for bread. ( 376 ) CHAPTER XIV. OF PARTS OF SPEECH. Meaning of the term. Natural progress. 448. Hitherto I have considered a Word as a separate exercise of vocal power : I have now to examine its grammatical relations to other words as a " Part of Speech" But it has been seen, that in this term the word Speech has been used in a greater or less extent of signification. It sometimes includes the expression of our whole mind, as well feelings as thoughts. In this sense it seems to answer to Aristotle's dictum, earrt fxkv ra kv rjf <{>vrj twv kv rrj i/^X 7 ''' iraQj]- uariov ovfifioXa : l and such is the sense in winch I prefer employing it throughout this treatise. But grammarians in general restrict its use to the expression of thoughts, that is, of the reasoning power, and consequently exclude the interjection from the parts of speech. Hence they employ the term Partes Orationis as synonymous with Partes Sentential, "Parts of a Sentence." " Oratio" (says Priscian) " est ordi- natio dictionum congrua, Sententiam perfectam demonstrans."" But when we come practically to examine the various languages of the world, we find that in all of them, human emotions are put into words as well as human thoughts ; and often with sufficient distinctness of impression on the mind of the hearer. 449. The efforts of the young and of the ignorant towards developing their mental powers are gradual ; and hence the imperfect language of an infant may often throw a light on that of a savage. When a child is born into the world, it finds itself in a chaos of conscious impressions, which present, as it were, an Illimitable ocean, without bound, Without dimension, where length, breadth, and height, And time, and place are lost. 3 This chaos contains the elements of all the future feelings and thoughts of the human being. Common experience shows that the child first evinces a consciousness of its personal existence by cries, which express its Feelings, and from which originates the interjection. It has been already seen that the interjection exists in all languages. We may, therefore, for our present purpose, regard it as the first part of speech. The exercise of the reasoning power is more gradual. Here we must distinguish what I have called Cone ; from 2 De Interp. c. 1 . * Inst. Gram. 1 3 Milton, P. L., ii. 892 CHAP. XIV.] OF PARTS OF SPEECH. 377 the former being only an element of the latter. Before I can think of any thing, I must regard it as one thing. 450. In the diversity of terms employed by different writers to conception. signify the various faculties of the human mind, their operations, and results, it is not easy for an individual to find, in every instance, a term, which shall be generally and readily understood, in the sense which he intends it to bear. I have used the term conception to express " that faculty which enables the mind to contemplate one portion of existence separately from all others." 1 And I have also spoken of a conception as a result of the operation of that faculty. In some languages different words are used to distinguish a mental faculty from its object : as in the Greek, vowaiQ is distinguished from vonfjia.. But the English idiom allows words terminating in tion, from the Latin tio, to express as well a faculty, as its result. We use, for faculties, the words sensation, perception, intuition, volition; and we use for their results a sensation, a perception, an intuition, a volition. It has been suggested, that for the result of the faculty of conception, we should adopt the word concept, sanctioned by some late French writers. 2 But in this I cannot acquiesce. The novelty of the word in English would produce no small confusion ; whereas at present the context generally shows whether by the word Conception the faculty or its result is intended. And if we adopt concept, we shall, by parity of reason, be required to adopt a host of other new words, such as a sensate, a percept, an intuite, a volite, &c, &c, all foreign to the genius of the English language. 451. I revert to the consideration of a child's opening faculties. Operates by Some time elapses after birth, before the child begins (in the language laws * of the nursery) " to take notice." But it is not, during all this time, in a state of mental torpor. Minute observation of children will show that the mind gradually awakes to its nascent powers. No sooner does it inwardly feel its own self-existence than it becomes also aware of an external world. There is an 1, and a Not I: and on both it exercises the faculty of conception. Probably conceptions of the external world are those which succeed most immediately after the notion of personal identity. Each of these forms what is com- monly called an external object. It appears as one conception, not because it is naturally and necessarily one, but because by the laws of mental existence the individual is led to conceive it as one. Such is the theory of mental action which I maintain, and which is opposed to every system founded on objective impressions passively received by the mind from without. " What" (I have asked, and I repeat), " what constitutes one object ? Is it the Feeling, or Thought, which takes place in a minute, a second, or any other portion of time ? Is it the impression made on one sense, or on one part of the organ of that sense ? Is it the sensation of warmth, for instance, experienced by the whole body, or that of light experienced by the whole eye ? 1 Univ. Gram., s. 18. 2 Mansel, Prol. Logic, p. 10. unlimited. 378 OF PARTS OF SPEECH. [CHAP. XIV. Is it the impression made on the retina byahouse; by the door of the house; by the panel of the door, oi the pane of the window ? Is it the altitude of the building, or the colour of the brick? These questions are endless, and perfectly insoluble, if that which makes an object one thing to the mind be not an aci of the mind itself." 1 It is an act of the mind, not accidental, arbitrary, or capricious, but governed by certain laws applicable to their appropriate objects. The laws of space regulate one large class of our conceptions; the laws of time regulate others; and there is a vast number of our conceptions wholly independent of both these, but governed by the laws cither of our intellectual or spiritual nature. No doubt, the laws themselves operate at first unconsciously to all of us; and to many persons they remain through life ill-developed, and therefore vague and obscure, contributing only to form weak and wavering opinions, and never pro- ducing That sober certainty of waking bliss, 2 which is felt in contemplating the pure truths of science and religion. Application 452. The mental (acuity of conception, though it enables the mind to contemplate a portion of its conscious existence as one, is not on that account limited to any particular extent or comprehension in such portion. A second of time is as much one, in contemplation, as a century. A flash of lightning — which doth cease to be Ere we can say it lightens 3 — ■ may be no less contemplated and reasoned upon as one conception, than may a revolution of the planet newly discovered on the extreme verge of our system. We may reckon as one sum the mites cast by the poor wddow into the Treasury, or all the wealth of Ormus, or of Ind, Or where the gorgeous East, with richest hand, Show'rs on her kings barbaric pearl and gold. 4 Nav, we may conceive as one the smallest atom in the boundless works of creation, and we may and must conceive as one tire Almighty Power, by whom all things are created. Multiplicity 453. Neither does the conception of Unity exclude a constituent ofparts. multiplicity of parts. Cast your eye from the summit of the Jura mountains! Behold the striking view which once seen will ever remain impressed on your memory as one magnificent picture! Yet it is made up of numberless objects, beautiful, rich, grand, sublime. There lies spread out, as far as the eye can reach, the whole valley of the Rhone, the lake of Geneva, the noble river issuing from it, the towns on its banks, the villages, hamlets, cottages, pastures, and full in front the mighty mass of the Alps, crowned by Mont Blanc, with all its precipices and snowy peaks, now mingling undistinguishably 1 Univ. Gram., s. 20. 2 Milton, Comus, v. 263. 8 Shaksp., Kora. and Jul., a. ii. sc. 2. 4 Milton, Par. Lost, b. 2, v. 2, &c. CHAP. XIV.] OF PARTS OF SPEECH. 379 with the clouds of rising vapour, now brilliantly illuminated with the rays of the sun. The vast variety of objects only heightens the solemn feeling of unity, in the grandeur impressed on the whole scene. 454. A very important distinction of conceptions is that which I Particular have stated in my former treatise as dividing them into particular, and geueral - general, and universal. 1 A particular conception, in the strict and proper sense, is that of an object perceived for the first time as occu- pying a certain limited portion of time or space, or both. This answers nearly to the German Anschauung, which Mr. Mansel renders Intuition. 1 But it must be remembered that the term " particular " is commonly used in a looser sense, to which I shall advert hereafter. The term a general conception answers to the German Begriff, which the learned gentleman last mentioned renders a concept. It is formed by comparing the first particular impression with other similar ones, and deriving thence a general conception similar to all, but differing from each in some one or more points. Thus, when a child sees for the first time a dog, he has a particular conception of an animal of a certain size, form, colour, &c. He afterwards sees one dog differing from the first in size, another differing in form, another in colour ; and the conception resulting in his mind from the whole is that of a Dog, as a species ; it is a general conception, which not only is not the same with the first, or any subsequent particular conception, but must necessarily differ from them all : and yet, setting aside the points of dilierence, it is applicable to all the dogs which the child may see in the course of his life. Now it is of the utmost importance to keep in view the difference between a particular conception (Anschauung) and a general conception (Begriff), for many of the disputes which have arisen on what are improperly called abstract ideas, depend on a confusion of these mental operations. 455. Nor is it less important to distinguish between a general and General and a universal conception. In a universal conception, we contemplate universal - a permanent, immutable, necessary law of the mind. This kind of conception I call an Idea, understanding that term in the sense in which it was used by Plato. Aristotle, indeed, seems to confound the universal with the general ; for he says, tori to. fiev KadoXov twv TrpaypuTcof- ra ce kclO tKaarov- Xiyw be icadoXov per, o ewl irXeiorwv TricpvKe Karriyope'Lcrdai- ko.0 eKacrrov le v pi). " Some things are universals, but others singulars : and I call universal that which may be predicated of many things, but singular that which cannot." 3 Now this want of discrimination between the universal and the general leads to great errors in reasoning ; since these two forms of con- ception are not only different, but in some respects opposite ; for universal conceptions are altogether subjective : they furnish not only the laws by which objective conceptions are limited, such as the laws J Univ. Gram., s. 32. 8 Prol. Logic, p. 8. 3 De Interpret., c. 7. 380 OF PARTS "| [CHAP. XIV. of time and space, bul also those by which the mind itself lives, and moves, and has its being. They do nol result, as general conceptions lo, from external experience; but they arc the innate powers, which, in their several spheres, render external experience possible. It' 1 had no universal conceptions of righl and wrong, of beauty and deformity, of cause' and effect, I could never acquire them by the experience of conceptions, either particular or general. The particular is at first as distinct as it ever becomes, and the general differs but gradually from the number of particulars which it embraces; whilst the Idea is felt at first as little more than an instinct, " a vague appetency towards something, which fills the young poet's eye with tears, he knows not why;" 1 but which gradually becomes more and more clear and dis- tinct, as it is the subject of deeper meditation. Cause. 456. Whence do we get our idea of Cause? Certainly not from the conceptions of external objects, for these teach us nothing but succession. But there exists in the mind an Idea of power, which is first felt instinctively in the consciousness of our own power over the objects of our will. The will, therefore, we regard as a Cause, and we regard the change in the object as an Effect. Thus, the will to raise my arm is a cause, and its elevation is an effect ; and I transf t my personal experience of causation to external objects, by what Mr. MANSEL aptly calls " the universal tendency of men to identify, as far as may be, other agents with themselves." 2 Beauty. 457. What is Beauty ? It is an Idea with which the mind is more or less animated in its earliest outward experiences. The child sees it in the endearing smile of the mother. In the further course of intellectual advancement it may develop itself, until the mind Becomes a mansion for all lovely forms, The memory is as a dwelling-place For all sweet sounds and harmonies. 8 And, lastly, in our highest conceptions of spiritual excellence, beauty appears White, radiant, spotless, exquisitely pure. 4 Right 458. Again, wdiat is Right ? It results from the innate idea, which the human being has, that he is, from the very nature of his existence, subject to Law. What the lather or mother bids the child do, it is right in his eyes to do; and hence the unfortunate little creature, ■whose parents send him out to beg or steal, has, at the moment, an imperfect idea that be is doing right in obeying the only law of which he is conscious. Alas ! he is soon taught that there are other laws, known only to him by their means of coercion — the law of the strongest among his companions, and the law of the land, which he is taught to regard as an enemy. Not much more distinct is the idea of 1 Coleridge, Treatise on Method. 2 Mansel, I'roleg. Logic, p. 142. 3 Wordsworth, Tintern Abbey. * Idem, Sonnets, part i. No. xii. CHA.P. XIV.] OF PARTS OF SPEECH. 381 right to the formalist, who limits it solely by that same law of the land — Qui consulta patrum, qui leges, jnraque servat ;' for all who have dealings with him may perchance find that he is inwardly base, mean, or malignant — videt hunc omnis domus, et vicinia tota Introrsus turpem. 2 Those persons alone act from the pure idea of right who, in the words of the apostle, ij'CEtKi'vvrai to toyov rod vojxov ypanTOV kv rats KcipclaiQ avrwt — " show the work of the law written in their hearts." 3 That which is written in the hearts of men by God is an idea or uni- versal conception of right, to the purity and holiness of which human law can make but faint approaches. 459. If it be asked how far this distinction of conceptions into par- Howex- ticular, general, and universal can be expressed in words, I answer, P resse ■ that no vocal expression can be given to conceptions of the first kind. We cannot allot separate names to every particular conception ; but to general and universal conceptions we may ; and, in fact, of these the great bulk of every language consists. Thus the English word dog alone does not mean merely the particular conception of an animal once seen or heard, but the general conception of a species to which the. animal so seen or heard belongs. So the word triangle alone does not mean the particular conception of this or that triangle, right- angled, acute, or obtuse, but it means a general conception of the class to which all these belong. And so the word virtue alone does not express a conception of this or that virtuous act, but a universal con- ception applicable to those and many others. 460. Conceptions have another distinction, which exists in all human Substantive minds, and which Harris thus clearly describes : — " All things what- Adjective, ever exist, either as the energies or affections of some other thing, or without being the energies or affections of some other thing. If they exist as the energies or affections of something else, then are they called Attributes. Thus, to think, is the attribute of a man ; to be white, of a swan ; to fly, of an eagle, &c. If they exist not after this manner, then are they called Substances. Thus, man, swan, eagle, &c, are none of them attributes, but all of them substances." 4 " This division of things into substance and accident," says Harris, " seems to have been admitted by philosophers in all ages." 5 Mr. Tooke, however, as we have seen, considers it immaterial whether we employ the expression of a substance, or an attribute. Yet this distinction is felt by the earliest experience of an infant. He not only feels his personal substantiality, which is permanent, but his temporary and mutable qualities. He is hot or cold, pleased or pained, hungry or satiated 1 Horat. Epist., L. 1, Ep. 1G, v. 41. 2 Ibid. v. 44. s Romans, c. ii. v. 15. 4 Hermes, p. 29. 5 Ibid. p. 30. 382 OF PARTS OF SPEECH. [CHAP. XIV. with nourishment. Hence arise in language the Noun Substanti\ the Noun Adjective; though the forms by which they are expressed may, in many languages, be widely different. The assertion that ■ American languages exist without adjectives, is founded on a misapprehension of the manner in which conceptions of any sort are expressed in speech. The simple conception is always expressed by the root; and the root may be mixed up, or not, with various particles, according to the idiom of the particular language. In English, the substance dog and the quality red are expressed by separate radical words; in Latin, the substance dog is expressed by the root can, in cam's, and the quality red is expressed by the root ruf, in rufus; but the Latin idiom does not here permit the root to be used as a radical word, and, therefore, combines it with a particle, which gives the one the effect of a noun substantive, and the other the effect ofa noun adjective. "The European adjective, as expressed in the Algonquin dialects," says Mr. HowsE, "is, in its most simple form, a verb." ' This shows, not that the Algonquin tribes have no conception of an adjective, nor that they cannot express that conception in speech, but, on the contrary, that they do express it by particles added to the root of a word, which word, by the aid of other particles, expresses also an assertion. Thus, in theCree language, the quality romid is signified by the root wow ; but the Cree idiom does not allow this root to be ex- pressed separately, as the English word round may; neither does it allow the root to be used with an adjectival particle as the Latin rotundus is : but it requires a combination, unknown to the European languages, of the adjectival root with verbal particles, rendering it in efiect equal to a proposition ; as woweesu, he is round ; woweeow, it is round, &c. So the root kovo expresses the adjectival conception rough ; in kowissu, he is rough; kowow, it is rough, &c. 2 In the Leniii Lenape language, verbs ending in ehmdam indicate a disposition of the mind, as schiwelendam, to be sorry ; wuleleridam, to be glad, 3 where the root schiw manifestly signifies the quality " sorry," and the root icul signi- fies the quality " glad." Of this root wul, Mr. Dui'OxgKAU has given thirty-four derivatives ; and he observes of Lenni Lenape derivatives in general, that " the roots are easily discoverable." * That it is the root which expresses the simple conception is further evident from the Chinese characters ; for " in Chinese a character is a substantive, an adjective, a verb ; in short, it expresses a conception, without refer- ence originally to any part of speech, and its grammatical character is determined chiefly by the connexion in which it stands." 5 On all these grounds it is clear that the conception of substantial existence is found among all races of men, and is expressed in most languages differently from the conception of attribute or quality. Where it is 1 Cree Grammar, p. 245. s Ibid., p. 25. 3 Zeisberger, Len. Lenap. Gram., p. 112. * Duponjcau, Lang. Amer., p. 128. 5 Marshman, Chin. Gram., p. 389. CHAP. XIV.] OF PARTS OF SPEECH. 383 expressed by separate words, the one is a noun substantive, and the other is a noun adjective. 40 1. The name Pronoun is commonly given by grammarians to a Pronoun. class of wmds which represent or stand in the place of nouns. The pronouns personal, as I, thou, &c, stand in the place of nouns sub- stantive, and may be called pronouns substantive : other pronouns, as my, this, wlio, &c, stand in the place of nouns adjective, and mav be called pronouns adjective. Pronouns personal must be expressed in all languages, either by separate words, or by particles. In English, the pronoun of the first person is expressed by the separate word I ; in Latin, the same pronoun may be expressed by the separate word ego ; but this is only used for the sake of emphasis. More commonly this pronoun, when connected with a verb, is expressed by the termi- nating particle o, as in amo, I love, where the Latin particle o answers to the English word /. Similar observations are applicable to the pronouns of the second and third person ; but in these respects the idioms of different languages widely differ, as will be more fully shown hereafter. Of the personal pronouns, the primary source and origin is the conception of the speaker's own person, which, as has been said above, is the very first conception that is fully comprehended by every infant ; and Mr. Mansel well observes, that " this self-per- sonality can be analyzed into no simpler elements, for it is itself the simplest of all." 1 I cannot, therefore, accede to the doctrine that " all pronouns must have been originally demonstrative," that is, words indicative of particular positions with reference to space as a "primary intuition; 2 for this is only an inference from the more general proposition, " that every act of consciousness is subordinated to the two conditions of thought, the intuitions of space and time." 3 The word " intuition," indeed, is equivocal, and, therefore (as I think), objectionable ; but if it be here meant to signify a necessary element of every act of consciousness, I apprehend that neither space nor time is such an element ; for neither of them is involved in the simple con- sciousness of existence. They are indeed essential to bodily sensation. But in how many states of consciousness do we wholly disregard the when and the ichere ! Not only if we are absorbed in delicious reverie, like Andrew Marvell in his garden, Annihilating all that's made To a green thought, in a green shade •* but in the very earliest exertion of our mental faculties ; for the sub- jective precedes the objective. The child has in himself the conscious- ness, which we exr^ess by the words " I exist ;" but he can only o-ain the consciousness " I am here,'" or " there," by reference to an external world. " He knows " (as Dr. Donaldson has justly said) " that he himself exists, and believes that there is something which is not him- 1 Proleg. Logic, p. 129. 2 New Cratyl., pp. 214, 216. 3 Ibid. p. 81. 4 Marvell's Poems. 384 OK PAET8 OF SPEECH. [< EAP. XIV. self." 1 Bui his knowledge is prior to his belief. A coi the pronoun of the firsl pi rson singular must exisl in every mind with the least glimmering oi reason; bul the other personal pronouns can onlv be conceived in the social state. These, therefore, may b monstrative. That sympathy, which is a law of our nature, compels us to ascribe to those with whom we converse a like character <>f per- sonality to that by which we are ourselves animated. In all languages, therefore, expressions are found correspondent to our words J and them. In all languages, too, the conception of the person or thing spoken of has appropriate expressions, answering to our h , she or it, cither as separate words, or as involved in other words. The a tival pronouns, I have elsewhere distinguished as positive and relative. The positive are either possessive, as mine, thine, &c, or definitive. The definitive are either demonstrative, as this, that; whence in some languages comes the definitive article (the), or else p irtitive or distri- butive, to which latter belong the numerals: and among the definitives may be reckoned, in some languages, the reflective self. The relative pronouns are subjunctive, or interrogative. Of all these I shall treat more distinctly in a future chapter, as I also shall of the articles and the numerals. Verb. 462. The parts of speech hitherto considered (except the interjec- tion) are so far significant, that they serve to express conceptions; but this (as has been seen) is not sufficient to express a thought, without some further addition; for, as Aristotle observes, "the word man signifies something ; but not that this something exists or does not exist; but there will be an affirmation or a negation, if something be added." 2 The something necessary to be added for this purpose is the part of speech called in English the Verb, in Latin verbum, and in Greek prjua. It includes the copula of the logicians, inasmuch as it connects the subject of a proposition with its predicate. But this is not the whole of its functions. 'I have elsewhere distinguished the properties of the verb into the essential and the accidental. In all languages are to be found verbs, and in all languages their essential properties are the same; though in accidental properties they may widely differ. Those which I deem essential are the following : — 1. To signify an attribute of some substance. 2. To connect such attribute with its proper substance. 3. To assert directly or indirectly the existence or nonexistence of the connection. The Greek prjpa, which agrees in essentials with our verb, is thus defined by Aristotle : p7/xa ion to Trporrarjiiu'irdt' xpo™>'> ov fxipoq bvdkv trrjfiah'et X M P 1 -' Ka ^ *-(ttiv cut tu>v KaO tripov Xeyofiivui' ax][iCiov. " The verb is that which consignees time, but of which no « NewCratyl., p. 61. 2 &i>9ponros (Tripa-iva piv tj, 6AA.' ov% on iariv, 'o t>vK Zonv a\\' ecrrai tcara- ipaais, % air6 ore fj.ev v6f][ia &i/ev rod aXrjBeveiv 3} ipevSeaBai, ore 8e ^5tj q> avayKt) rovrccv virapxcw darepov '6vroi Kal ev rfj (pccvy, irepl yap avvQecriv Kal Hialpeo'tv ecrri rh rpevSos re Kal rb b.\rjdes. Ta fxev oiiv bvojj.ara avra Kal ra. p-(\p.aro. eoiKe rw 6.vev avvQerrews Kal Siaipeceocs vvi'juart. — De Interp., c. 1. [G.] 2 c OF PARTS OF SPEECH. [CHAP. XJV. oapere, as partaking of the nature of a noun, and also of a verb, is found in that and many other languages, and has been reckoned by most grammarians as a distinct part of speech. Substantially it is a noun adjective differing only from other adjectives by expressing a quality in action, as the man is running or walking differs grammati- cally from the man is poor, or rich. In various languages it does not exist as a separate word ; but yet its signification is involved in other words, as in the Cree language " the English adjective, and present and past participles, are expressed by a personal verb:"' ex. gr., ach-foo, "he is moving;" 2 ache'-che-gdtdyoo, "it is altered." 3 In other languages (as in Greek), the participle furnishes separate words to express the attribute of a verb, in all its varieties of time, but without asserting their existence, as will be more fully shown here- after. Adverb. 464. The Adverb is called in Latin adverbium, and in Greek ETTi/jpripta, because it serves to modify attributes in their various forms, verbal, adjectival, participial, &c, and even other adverbs, as " he sleeps well" " he is very wise," he is running swiftly" " he is not here" &c. " Adverbs " (says Dr. Donaldson) " are merelv oblique cases of nouns, pronouns, or adjectives, which express generallv the time, place, cause, form, or manner of an action." 4 We find adverbs in the Cherokee language, as navi, nearly ; usvhi, yesterday ; suualei, to- morrow. 5 In the Cree language they appear both as separate words, and also as involved in certain verbal forms, as naspach. wrong; nenaspachooskak, he thwarts me. 6 Preposition. 465. I have elsewhere' said, that a " Preposition is a part of speech employed in a complex sentence, and serving to express the relation in which the conception named by a noun substantive stands to that named by another noun substantive, or asserted by a verb," 7 From the absolute necessity of some such part of speech, it is found either as a separate word, or as a part of 'other words, or both, even in the most uncultivated languages. The vast number of derivatives by means of prepositions in Greek, it is quite unnecessary to mention. In the Cree language we find both separate prepositions, aud also derivatives from them, as sdpoo, through; sapoonum, he puts it through. Wtiska, around; newaskanissoon, I surround myself (with something). 8 Conjunction. 466. The Conjunction, whether considered as connecting words or sentences, is clearly to be found in all languages, in the least degree cultivated. In the Cree language they occur in different modifications, copulative, disjunctive, conditional, concessive, &c, as me'iia, and ; magga, but; keesjnn, if; dta, although; which will be fully considered hereafter. ! Howse, Cree Gram., p. 251. 3 [bid. 5 V. Gabelentz, p. 229. " Univ. Gram., s. .'31 ".. '-' Ibid, p. 159. 4 New Cratyl., p. 479. Howse, Cree Gram., p. 33. B Howse, dec Gram., p. 34. CHAP. XIV.J OF PARTS OF SPEECH. 387 467. Though a conception, at the first view, may appear to belong Transition, to any one of the above-mentioned parts of speech, yet it is most necessary, in all languages, to advert to the principle of Transition. From the analogies in the action of thought, similar analogies take place in words, and thus one and the same word passes from one part of speech to another. Mr. Tooke incurred, on this point, an early and fatal error. In his Letter to J. 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