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Webster's English Dictionary: 1828

By Noah Webster: Greatest Linguist Who Ever Lived!

Noah Webster Mastered Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH is DIVINE - NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

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Webster's Great Treatise on Origins of Language: Preface to Dictionary!

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Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Noah Webster Believed the goal of government was to "CHRISTIANIZE AMERICA!"

PREFACE

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever, in all of history;

AN AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,

Noah Webster's Original Preface:

INTENDED TO EXHIBIT:

origin, affinities and primary signification

11. The genuine orthography and pronunciation of words, according to general usage, or to just principles of ANAL80V.

III. Accurate and discriminating definitions, with numerous authorities and illustrations.

TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, AN INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION ON THE ORIGIN, HISTORY AND CONNECTION OF THE LANGUAGES OF WESTERN ASIA AND OF EUROPE,

AND A CONCISE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,
BY NOAH WEBSTER, LL. D.
IN TWO VOLUMES: VOL. 1.

NOAH WEBSTER GREAT QUOTE:

"He that wishes to be counted among the benefactors of posterity, must add, by his own toil, to the acquisitions of his ancestors."

NEW YORK:

PUBLISHED BY S. CONVERSE.

printed by HEZEKIAH HOWE — NEW HAVEN. 1828.

DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT,

Be it remembered, That on the fourteenth day of April, in the fifty-second year of the Independence of the United States of America, Mr. Noah Webster, of the said District, hath deposited in this office the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as Author, in the words following, to wit:

** An American Dictionary of the English Language; intended to exhibit,

I. The origin, affinities, and primary signification of English words, as far as they have been ascertained.

II. The genuine orthography and pronunciation of words, according to general usage, or to just principles of analogy.

III. Accurate and discriminating definitions, with numerous authorities and illustrations. To which are prefixed, an introductory dissertation on the origin, history and connection of the languages of Western Asia and of Europe, and a concise grammar of the English language.

By Noah Webster, LL. D.

In two volumes."

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever, in all of history;

In conformity to the act of Congress of the United States, entitled, "An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned."

And also to the act, entitled, "An act supplementary to an act, entitled ' An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned,' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and etching historical and other prints."

CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me,
CHAS. A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. April 14th, 1828.

PREFACE.

1783, just at the close of the revolution [American Revolutionary War], I published an elementary book for facilitating the acquisition of our vernacular tongue, and for correcting a vicious pronunciation,

Soon after the publication of that work, I believe in the following year, that learned and respectable scholar, the Rev. Dr. Goodrich of Durham, one of the trustees of Yale College, suggested to me, the propriety and expediency of my compiling a dictionary, which should complete a system for the instruction of the citizens of this country in the language.

At that time, I could not indulge the thought, much less the hope, of undertaking such a work ; as I was neither qualified by research, nor had I the means of support, during the execution of the work, had I been disposed to undertake it.

For many years therefore, though I considered such a work as very desirable, yet it appeared to me impracticable; as I was under the necessity of devoting my time to other occupations for obtaining subsistence.

About twenty seven years ago, I began to think of attempting the compilation of a Dictionary. I was induced to this undertaking, not more by the suggestion of friends, than by my own experience of the want [lack] of such a work, while reading modern books of science.

In this pursuit, I found almost insuperable difficulties, from the want of a dictionary, for explaining many new words, which recent discoveries in the physical sciences had introduced into use.

To remedy this defect in part, I published my "Compendious Dictionary" in 1806; and soon after made preparations for undertaking a larger work.

My original design did not extend to an investigation of the origin and progress of our language; much less of other languages. I limited my views to the correcting of certain errors in the best English Dictionaries, and to the supplying of words in which they are deficient.

But after writing through two letters of the alphabet, I determined to change my plan.

I found myself embarrassed, at every step, for want of a knowledge of the origin of words, which Johnson, Bailey, Antonius, Skinner and some other authors do not afford the means of obtaining.

Then laying aside my manuscripts, and all books treating of language, except lexicons and dictionaries, I endeavored, by a diligent comparison of words, having the same or cognate radical letters, in about twenty languages,

to obtain a more correct knowledge of the primary sense of original words, of the affinities between the English and many other languages, and thus to enable myself to trace words to their source.

I had not pursued this course more than three or four years, before I discovered that I had to unlearn a great deal that I had spent years in learning,

[A]and that it was necessary for me to go back to the first rudiments of a branch of erudition, which I had before cultivated, as I had supposed, with success.

I spent ten years in this comparison of radical words, and in forming a synopsis of the principal words in twenty languages, arranged in classes, under their primary elements or letters.

new views of language,

genuine principles

But before I had finished it, I determined on a voyage to Europe, with the view of obtaining some books and some assistance which I wanted; of learning the real state of the pronunciation of our language in England,

[A]as well as the general state of philology in that country; and of attempting to bring about some agreement or coincidence of opinions, in regard to unsettled points in pronunciation and grammatical construction.

In some of these objects I failed; in others, my designs were answered.

It is not only important, but, in a degree necessary, that the people of this country, should have an American Dictionary of the English Language; for, although the body of the language is the same as in England, and it is desirable to perpetuate that sameness, yet some differences must exist.

Language is the expression of ideas; and if the people of one country cannot preserve an identity of ideas, they cannot retain an identity of language.

Now an identity of ideas depends materially upon a sameness of things or objects with which the people of the two countries are conversant.

But in no two portions of the earth, remote from each other, can such identity be found. Even physical objects must be different. But the principal differences between the people of this country and of all others, arise from different forms of government, different laws, institutions and customs.

Thus the practice of hawking and hunting, the institution of heraldry, and the feudal system of England originated terms which formed, and some of which now form, a necessary part of the language of that country ;

[B]but, in the United States, many of these terms are no part of our present language, — and they cannot be, for the things which they express do not exist in this country.

They can be known to us only as obsolete or as foreign words.

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever, in all of history;

On the other hand, the institutions in this country which are new and peculiar, give rise to new terms or to new applications of old terms, unknown to the people of England ; which cannot be explained by them and which will not be inserted in their dictionaries, unless copied from ours.

Thus the terms, land-office; land-warrant; locution of land; consociation of churches ; regent of a university; intendant of a city ; plantation, selectmen, senate, congress, court, assembly, escheat, &c. [etc.] are either words not belonging to the language of England, or they are applied to things in this country which do not exist in that.

No person in this country will be satisfied with the English definitions of the words congress, senate and assembly, court, &c., for although these are words used in England, yet they are applied in this country to express ideas which they do not express in that country. With our present constitutions of government, escheat can never have its feudal sense in the United States.

But this is not all. In many cases, the nature of our governments, and of our civil institutions, requires an appropriate language in the definition of words, even when the words express the same thing, as in England.

Thus the English Dictionaries inform us that a Justice is one deputed by the King to do right by way of judgment — he is a Lord by his office — Justices of the peace are appointed by the King's commission — language which is inaccurate in respect to this officer in the United States.

So constitutionally is defined by Todd or Chalmers, legally, but in this country the distinction between constitution and law requires a different definition. In the United States, a plantation is a very different thing from what it is in England. The word marshal, in this country, has one important application unknown in England or in Europe.

A great number of words in our language require to be defined in a phraseology accommodated to the condition and institutions of the people in these states, and the people of England must look to an American Dictionary for a correct understanding of such terms.

The necessity therefore of a Dictionary suited to the people of the United States is obvious ; and I should suppose that this fact being admitted, there could be no difference of opinion as to the time, when such a work ought to be substituted for English Dictionaries.

There are many other considerations of a public nature, which serve to justify this attempt to furnish an American Work which shall be a guide to the youth of the United States. Most of these are too obvious to require illustration.

One consideration however which is dictated by my own feelings, but which I trust will meet with approbation in correspondent feelings in my fellow citizens, ought not to be passed in silence.

It is this.

"The chief glory of a nation," says Dr. Johnson, "arises from its authors."

WEBSTER SEEKS TO ELEVATE GREAT WRITERS!

Franklin, Washington, Adams, Jefferson, Jay, Madison, Marshall, Ramsay, Dwight, Smith, Trumbull, Hamilton, Belknap, Ames, Mason, Kent, Hare, Siluman, Cleaveland, Walsh, Irving,

but it is with pride and satisfaction, that I can place them, as authorities, on the same page with those of Boyle, Hooker, Milton, Dryden, Addison, Ray, Milner, Cowper, Davy, Thomson and Jameson.

enables me to affirm with confidence, that the genuine English idiom is as well preserved

Examples to prove this fact will be found in the Introduction to this work. It is true, that many of our writers have neglected to cultivate taste, and the embellishments of style ; but even these have written the language in its genuine idiom.

In this respect, Franklin and Washington, whose language is their hereditary mother tongue, unsophisticated by modern grammar, present as pure models of genuine English, as Addison or Swift.

But I may go farther, and affirm, with truth, that our country has produced some of the best models of composition.

The style of President [Adam] Smith ; of the authors of the Federalist Papers [Madison, Jefferson Hamilton]; of Mr. Ames; of Dr. Mason ; of Mr. Harper; of Chancellor Kent; (the prose) of Mr. Barlow; of the legal decisions of the Supreme Court of the United States ; of the reports of legal decisions in some of the particular states ; and many other writings ;

in purity, in elegance and in technical precision, is equaled only by that of the best British authors, and surpassed by that of no English compositions of a similar kind.

The United States commenced their existence under circumstances wholly novel and unexampled in the history of nations. They commenced with civilization, with learning, with science, with constitutions of free government, and with that best gift of God to man, the Christian religion.

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever, in all of history;

[Webster Prophesies:]

our language,within two centuries, will be spoken by more people in this country, than any other language on earth, except the Chinese,

It has been my aim in this work, now offered to my fellow citizens, to ascertain the true principles of the language, in its orthography and structure ; to purify it from some palpable errors, and reduce the number of its anomalies,

{T]thus giving it more regularity and consistency in its forms, both of words and sentences ; and in this manner, to fulfill a standard of our vernacular tongue, which we shall not be ashamed to bequeath to three hundred millions of people, who are destined to occupy, and I hope, to adorn the vast territory within our jurisdiction.

[GREAT QUOTE!]

for the propagation of science, arts, civilization and Christianity

if it can be rescued from the mischievous influence of socialists and that dabbling spirit of innovation which is perpetually disturbing its settled usages and filling it with anomalies ;

if, in short, our vernacular language can be redeemed from corruptions, and our philology and literature from degradation ; it would be a source of great satisfaction to me to be one among the instruments of promoting these valuable objects.

[GREAT QUOTE!]

If this object cannot be effected,

my labor will be lost,

This Dictionary, like all others of the kind, must be left, in some degree, imperfect ; for what individual is competent to trace to their source, and define in all their various applications, popular, scientific and technical, sixty or seventy thousand words !

It satisfies my mind that I have done all that my health, my talents and my pecuniary means would enable me to accomplish.

[GREAT QUOTE!]

continued increase of the wealth, the learning, the moral and religious elevation of character, and the glory of my country.

[GREAT QUOTE!]

To that great and benevolent Being,

amidst obstacles and toils, disappointments, infirmities and depression;

And if the talent which he entrusted to my care, has not been put to the most profitable use in his service,and that any misapplication of it may be graciously forgiven.

New Haven, Conn - N.WEBSTER.

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever, in all of history;

INTRODUCTION. DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE.

Language or Speech is the utterance of articulate sounds or linguistic (?) thoughts.

Accordingly, for the expression and communication of this definition, language belongs exclusively to intellectual and intelligent beings, and among terrestrial beings, to man only ; for no animal on earth, except man, can pronounce words.

This word language is sometimes music (unclear words).

(Unknown words Various sounds) are perfectly understood by the respective species.

So also language is figuratively applied to the signs by which deaf and dumb persons manifest their ideas ; for these are instruments of communicating thoughts.

But language, in its proper sense, as the medium of intercourse between men, or rational beings, endowed with the faculty of uttering articulate sounds, is the subject now to be considered.

Written language is the representation of significant sounds by letters, or characters, single or combined in words, arranged in due order, according to usage.

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE.

[Webster Believed Bible, Creation, Eden:]

We read, in the Scriptures, that God, when he had created man, "Blessed them and said to them. Be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth and subdue it ; and have dominion over the fish of the sea, &c."

God afterwards planted a garden, and placed in it the man he had made, with a command to keep it, and to dress it ; and he gave him a rule of moral conduct, in permitting him to eat the fruit of every tree in the garden, except one, the eating of which was prohibited.

[NEWT NOTE: Though God planting the Garden (chap-2) follows creation of Adam and Eve (chap-1) in simple reading, a careful reading will show that God (a)first planted the Garden, (2)then created Adam, (3)then had Adam name all animals, and finding no companion for Adam, (4)God created Eve; Gen 2:1-23].

We further read, that God brought Adam the fowls and beasts he had made, and that Adam gave them names; and that when his female companion was made, he gave her a name. After the eating of the forbidden fruit, it is stated that God addressed Adam and Eve, reproving them for their disobedience, and pronouncing the penalties, which they had incurred.

In the account of these transactions, it is further related that Adam and Eve both replied to their Maker, and excused their disobedience.

If we admit what is the literal and obvious interpretation of this narrative, that vocal sounds or words were used in these communications between God and the progenitors of the human race, it results that Adam was not only endowed with intellect for understanding his Maker, or the signification of words, but was furnished both with the faculty of speech, and with speech itself, or the knowledge and use of words, as signs of ideas, and this before the formation of the woman.

Hence we may infer that language was bestowed on Adam, in the same manner as all his other faculties and knowledge, by supernatural power; or in other words, was of divine origin ; for supposing Adam to have had all the intellectual powers of any adult individual of the species, who has since lived,

we cannot admit as probable, or even possible, that he should have invented and constructed even a barren language, as soon as he was created, without supernatural aid.

It may even be doubted, whether without such aid, men would ever have learnt the of the organs of speech, so far as to form a language.

At any rate, the invention of words, and the construction of a language must have been by a slow process, and must have required a much longer time, than that which passed between the creation of Adam and of Eve.

[Webster Speculates:]

It is therefore probable that language as well as the faculty of speech, was the immediate gift of God. We are not however to suppose the language of our first parents in paradise to have been copious, like most modern languages; or the identical language they used, to be now in existence.

Many of the primitive radical words may and probably do exist in various languages ; but observation teaches that languages must improve and undergo great changes as knowledge grows and be subject to continual alterations, from other causes by men in society.

A brief account of the origin and progress of the principal languages, ancient and modern, that have been spoken by nations between the Ganges and the Atlantic ocean.

We learn from the Scriptures that Noah, who, with his family, was preserved from destruction by the deluge, for the purpose of re-peopling the earth, had three .sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth.

This fact, a little obscured by tradition, was retained by our rude German ancestors, to the age of Tacitus.*

Japheth was the eldest son ; but Shem, the ancestor of the Israelites, and the writers of the Scriptures, is named first in order.

The descendants of Shem and Ham peopled all the great plain, situated north and west of the Persian Gulf, between that Gulf and the Indian ocean on the east, and the Arabic Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea on the west, with the northern coast of Africa ; comprehending Assyria, Babylonia or Chaldea, Syria, Palestine, Arabia, Egypt, and Lybia.

[NEWT NOTE: Many see Syria as Assyria, simply the later spelling, pronunciation, much as Judeans became Jews.]

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Believing that "TRUTH is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever in history;

The principal languages or dialects used by these descendants, are known to us under the names of Chaldee, or Chaldaic, which is called also Aramean, Syriac, Hebrew, Arabic, Ethiopic, Samaritan and Coptic [Old name for Egypt].

Of these, the Chaldee, and Hebrew are no longer living languages, but they have come down to us in books ; [NEWT NOTE: The Hebrew Language spoken by Jews in modern Israel, AD 2000 era, is Hebrew, but evolved by thousands of years into quite different language, just as the Greek Language of the Golden Era or New Testament is not what is spoken in Greece today. Look how English has changed from Shakespeare in just 300 years!

However, there is much about the ancient Hebrew that is still the same today.]

The Samaritan is probably extinct or lost in the modern languages of the country, but the language survives in a copy of the Pentateuch ; the Coptic is nearly or quite extinct, and little of it remains ;

the Syriac, Arabic and Ethiopic are yet living languages, but they have suffered and are continually suffering alterations, from which no living language is exempt.

These languages, except the Coptic, being used by the descendants of Shem, I call Shemitie, or Assyrian, in distinction from the Japhetic. As the descendants of Japheth peopled Asia Minor, the northern parts of Asia, about the Black (?) and Caspian, and all Europe, their languages, have, in the long period that has elapsed since their dispersion, become very numerous.

[Webster Theorem-1, All languages derived from one source:]

All languages having sprung from one source, the original words from which they have been formed, must have been of equal antiquity.

That the Celtic and Teutonic languages in Europe are, in this sense, as old as the Chaldee and Hebrew, is a fact not only warranted by history and the common origin of Japheth and Shem, but susceptible of proof from the identity of many words yet existing, in both stocks.

But there is a marked difference between the Shemitie and Japhetic languages ; for even when the radical words are unquestionably the same, the modifications, or inflections and combinations which form the compounds are, for the most part, different.

As it has been made a question which of the Shemitie languages is the most ancient, and much has been written to prove it to be the Hebrew, I will state briefly my opinion on what appears to me to be one of the plainest questions in the history of nations.

We have for our certain guides, in determining this question —

1st. The historical narrative of facts in the book of Genesis, and

2d. The known and uniform progress of languages, within the period of authentic profane history.

.. The Scripture informs us that, before the dispersion, the whole earth s of one language and of one oi- the same speech ; and that the descendants of Noah journeyed from the east, and settled on the plain of Shinar, Chaldea.

The language used at that time, by the inhabitants of that time (* Celebrant, carminibus antiquis, Tuistonem deum terr editum, et filium Mannum,originem gentis conditoresque. Manno tres filios assignant. — De Mor. Germ. 2.)

[Ancient Babylonian History Verifies Noah, 3 Sons:]

To Mannus they assign three sons. Noah is here called Man.

INTRODUCTION.

iisf-qucnce of their impious attempts \\\\ whose top might reach to heaven, .ind prevent their dispersion, God - 1 that they could not understand icy were dispersed '■ from thence

plain, must then have been the oldest or tl This must have been the original CI

2. The Scripture informs us of the people to build a tower with a view to make tin i, . > interposed and confound each other; in consequence over the face of all the land."

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Believing that "TRUTH is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever in history;
[Webster Theorem-2, Hebrew is the oldest and root of all others:]

3. If the confusion of languages at Babel originated the differences which gave rise to the various languages of the families which separated at the dispersion, then those several languages are all of equal antiquity.

Of these the Hebrew, as a distinct language, was not one; for the Hebrew nation was of posterior origin.

4. All the words of the several great races of men, both in Asia and Europe, which are vernacular in their several languages, and unequivocally the same, are of equal antiquity, as they must have been derived from the common Chaldee stock which existed before the dispersion.

The words common to the Syrians and Hebrews, could not have been borrowed from the Hebrew, for the Hebrews originated from Heber and Abram, several centuries after Syria and Egypt were populous countries.

This fact is attested by the Scripture history, which declares that when Abram migrated from Chaldea, and came into Canaan or Palestine, "The Canaanite then in the land ;" and when he returned from Egypt, " the Perizzite dwelt in the land."

These declarations, and the history of Abimelceh, and of the war of four kings or chieftains with five ; as also of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, prove Syria to have been, at that time, well-peopled. The language of the inhabitants then must have been coeval with the nation, and long anterior to the Hebrew as a distinct dialect.

It may be added that in the early periods of the world, when no books existed, nations, living mote or distinct, never borrowed words from each other. One nation, living in the midst of another, as the Hebrews did among the Egyptians, may adopt a single word, or a few words; but a family of words thus adopted is occurrence rarely or never known.

The borrowing of words, in modern times, is almost wholly from the use of books.

5. It is probable that some differences of language were produced by the confusion; but neither that event nor any supernatural event is necessary to account for the differences of dialect or of languages, now existing. The different modern languages of the Gothic or Teutonic stock, all originated in the natural course of events; and the differences are as great between them as they are between the languages of the Shemitic stock

6. Soon after two races of men of a common stock have separated and placed themselves in distant countries, the language of each begins to diverge from that of the other, by various means.

-2. The same word will be differently applied by two distant races of men and the difterence will be so great as to obscure the original afiBnity.

-3 Words will be compounded by two nations in a different manner, the same radical words taking a different prefix or suffix, in different languages. The 'wisdom' in English is in German 'weisheit', [wisehead, wisehood] from witwets.

(In English misi ead is in Banish fbrleder, (mm lead, leder.)

-4. The pronunciation and orthography of words will often be so much changed, that the same word in two languages, cannot without difficulty, be recognized as identical.

No person, without a considerable attention to the changes which letters have suffered, would at once suspect or believe the English 'let' and the French 'laisser' to be the same word.

7. As Abram migrated from Chaldea, he must have spoken the Chaldee language, and probably, at that time, the Syriac, Arabic and Egyptian, had not become so different, as to render it impracticable for him to converse with the inhabitants of Palestine and Egypt.

But the language of Abram's descendants, and that of the land of Shinar or the Chaldee must, in the natural course of things, have begun to diverge, soon after the separation ; and the changes in each language being different, would, in the course of a few centuries, form somewhat different languages.

So in the days of Hezekiah the Syriac and Hebrew had become, in a degree, distinct language Kings xviii [I Kings 18:1-40].

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Believing that "TRUTH is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

FACT: His Work contains the most Scriptural references, of any such work, ever in history;

[Webster Theorem-3, European Languages most like Chaldean, Arabic than Hebrew:]

the Chaldee dialect,

is much the most general in the Celtic and Teutonic languages of Europe.

Thus the German only has a sibilant in 'wasser', when the other Teutonic languages have a dental, water. I think also that there are far more words in the European languages which accord with the Chaldee or Arabic, than there are words which accord with the Hebrew.

[Webster Theorem-4, Hebrew the most Deteriorated language:]

If this observation is well-founded, the Hebrew must have suffered the loss of more primitive words than the other languages of the Shemitic family. This however is true, that all of them have lost some words, and in some cases, the Hebrew retains what the others have lost,

8. The Hebrew Scriptures are, by many centuries, the most ancient writings extant.

Hence probably the strange inference, that the Hebrew is the oldest language; as if the inhabitants of Chaldea and Syria had had no language, for ages before the progenitor of the Hebrews was borrowed.

9. The vernacular words in the Celtic and Teutonic languages of modern Europe, which are evidently the same words as still exist in the Shemitic languages, are of the same antiquity ; being a part of the common language which was used on the plain of Shinar, before the dispersion.

The descendants of Japheth peopled the northern part of Asia, and all Europe ; or if some colonies from Egypt planted themselves in Greece, at an early period, they or their descendants must have been merged in the mass of Japhetic population.

[Webster Theorem-5, Greek Language cousin to Celtic and Teutonic:]

Certain it is that the Greek language is chiefly formed on the same radical words, as the Celtic and Teutonic languages.
The Japhetic tribes of men, whose descendants peopled the south and west of Europe, were first established in the country now called Persia, or by the natives themselves, Iran. Of this fact, the evidence now existing is decisive.
The numerous words found in the Greek, Latin, Gaelic, English and the kindred tongues, which are still used in Persia, prove, beyond all question, that Persia must have been the residence of the people whose descendants introduced into Europe the languages from which the modern languages are derived.
The fact proves further that a great body of the original Persians remained in their own country, and their descendants constitute the mass of the population at this day.
In the early stages of society, men dwelt or migrated in families, tribes or clans. The family of Abraham and Jacob in Asia, and the clans of the Gaels Scotland, exhibit to us the manner in which societies and nations were originally formed.
The descendants of a man settled around him, and formed a clan, or tribe, of which the government was patriarchal. Such families often migrated in a body, and often the personal characteristics of the progenitor might be distinctly traced in his descendants for many generations.
In process of time, some of these families became nations ; more generally, by means of wars and migrations, different tribes became blended, and the distinction of families was lost.
In rude ages, the families or tribes of men are named from some characteristic of the people ; or more generally, from the place of their residence.
The Greeks gave the name of Seythia to the north of Europe and Asia, but the primitive inhabitants of the west of Europe, they called KtXroi, Kelts, Celts, a word signifying woods men*
These were descendants from the same ancestors as the Greeks and Romans themselves, but they had pushed their migrations into Gaul, Spain and Britain. The first settlers or occupiers of these countries were driven forward by successive hords, until they were checked by the ocean ; there they made their stand, and there we find their descendants at this day. These may be considered as the descendants of the earliest settlers, or first inhabitants of the countries where they are found.
Among these are the inhabitants of France, south of the Garonne, and those of me north of Spain, called by the Romans Aquitani and Cantabri, in more modern times Gascoigns, Basques, and Cantabrians, who still retain their native language ; and in Great Britain, the Gaels in Scotland, and the natives of the north and west of Ireland, who also retain their primitive language!

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The first inhabitants of the north and west of Europe, known to the Greeks and Romans, to whom we are indebted for our earliest accounts of that region, were the Cimbri, who inhabited the peninsula of Denmark, now called Jutland, and the tribes which belonged to the Teutonic and Gothic races, which were established in Germany and on both sides of the Baltic.

Whether tribes of Celtic origin had overspread the latter countries, before the arrival of the Gothic and" Teutonic races, and all Europe had been inhabited by

* Welsh 'celt', a cover, or shelter, a Celt; celtiad, an inhabitant of the covert or wood ; celu, to conceal, Lat. eelo. In Gaelic the word is coilt or eeilt.

The Celts were originally a tribe or nation inhabiting the north of Italy, or the still more northern territory.

I purposely omit all consideration of the different families, tribes or nations which first peopled Greece and Italy.

In Greece, we read of the rpawc. or rpoi*o, the Hellenes, the Achaians, the Dorians, the Aeolians, the Ionians, the Pelasgi, &c.

In Italy, of the Illyrians, the Liburni, the SicuU, the Veneti or Heneti, the Iberi, Ligures, Sicani, Etrusci, Insubres, Sabini, Latini, Samnites, and many others.

"But as these nations or their descendants gave the name of Celts to the Umbri, or nations that dwelt in the north, in the less cultivated parts of Europe, and to the inhabitants of Gaul ;

[Webster Theorem-6, Japhetic Stock is Modern Kelts (Celts):]

and as all the tribes, under whatever denomination they were known, branches of the great Japhetic stock, I shall call them by that general name, Celts ; and under the general name of Goths or Teutons, shall comprehend the various tribes that inhabited the north of Germany, and the country north of the Baltic or Scandinavia.

A late writer seems to consider the Teutonic races, as the only ancestors of the Greeks and Romans. But from Celtic words, still found in the Greek and Latin ; words not belonging to any of the Gothic or Teutonic languages ; demonstrably certain that the primitive settlers in Greece and Italy, belonged to the Celtic races.

Thus the Greek iifxixtav, Lat. Irachium, the arm, is formed on the Gaelic 'braigh', 'raigh', W. 'brau';, a word not found among the Teutonic nations. So the Welsh 'mociaw', to mock, is found in the Greek 'fiaxim', and French 'moquer', to mock, and Ir. 'mogadh', a mocking ; but not in any of the Gothic or Teutonic languages. Many similar facts prove that the Celtic races were among the earliest inhabitants of Greece.

INTRODUCTION.

the Celts, even to the horders of Savmalia, has been a question much disputed by historians and antiquaries. The German and French writers generally contend that the Celts inhabited all the north of Europe, as far at least as Sarmalia; but some respectable English writers are ot a different opinion.

Now it is agreed that the Welsh are descendants of the Cimbri, inhabitants of Jutland, and their language bears a strong affinity to the Celtic languages, which still exist; a fact that countenances the opinion of the German and Trench writers.

But the dispute is of little moment ; the Celtic, Teutonic and Gothic races being all of the Japhetic stock, migrating from Asia through Asia Minor at different times, and pursuing different courses westward. The first tribes probably sought the warm climates along the north coast of the Mediterranean, and established themselves in Greece and Italy.

Others followed the course of the Danube and its subsidiary streams, till they fell upon the rivers that conducted them to the Baltic. The first inhabitants of Greece and Italy were probably of the Celtic race ; but if they were, it is very evident that tribes of the teutonic or Gothic races invaded those countries before they were civilized, and intermingled with the original inhabitants.

The Pelasgi may have been among the number.

This is an inference which I draw from the affinities of the Greek and Latin Languages, with those of Teutonic origin. The Teutonic and Gothic races impressed their language upon all the continent of Europe west of the Vistula and from that river to the Rhine, or rather to the Seine, anterior to the conquest of Gaul by Julius Cesar.

The same races invading and conquering the south of Europe, in the fourth and fifth century, on the downfall of the Roman Empire, iiilu-iml a portion of their language into the Italian and Spanish,

( ul.i.li ,s ,,11,1, -„,.4-„ishal)le. Tin- Mir . ,,, ■- I .1 ,.)

including Poland and Russia, was probably peopled m in "I nicn who passed into Europe by the country north of till- i:,,\\ ,1 I J 1, (original residence was along the rivers Kur and Araxes. oi- on all mountains between the Euxine and Caspian. The name of the Rutiss or Russians is clearly recognized in the Roxolani of Pliny and Ptolemy, and possibly the ancestors of this race may have entered Europe by Asia Minor.

That the Teutonic races, originally from Persia, inhabited Asia Minor, and migrated westward by that course, is evident from the names which they impressed on mountains, rivers and places —

Such are the Crafriis of Pliny, the Welsh and English crag ;* Perga in Pamphylia, now hurg or bergen ; Thymbreck, the name of a small stream, near the site of Troy ; a word in which we recognize the English brook. It was contracted by the Greeks into ThymbriusA

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[Webster Theorem-7, Sanskrit: Parent of all eastern Languages, family of Greek, Latin, etc.]

It is admitted by all gentlemen, acquainted with oriental literature, that the Sanscrit, or ancient language of India, the parent of all the dialects of that great peninsula, is radically the same language or from the same stock as the Greek and Latin ; the affinities between them being remarkably clear and decisive. If so, the inhabitants of India and the descendants of the Celtic and Teutonic nations are all of one family, and must have all migrated from one country, after the separation of the nations of the Shemitic stock from those of the Japhetic race.t

Whether that country was Persia, or Cashmir, or a country farther east, is a point not easily determined. One important inference results from this fact, that the white men of Europe and the black or tawny men of India, are direct descendants from a common ancestor.

Of the languages of Europe, the Greek was first improved and refined and next to that the Latin. The affinity between these languages, and those of the west and north of Europe is very striking, and demonstrates thei common origin. It is probable however that there are some words in th( Greek derived from Africa, if Egyptian colonies were established in Greece, as historians inform us.

The modern Italian, Spanish, French and Portuguese, are composed chief- ly of Latin words, much altered however both in orthography and inflec- tions. Perhaps nine tenths of all the words now found in those languages are of Latin origin ; being introduced by the Romans, who held Gau" subjection, five or six centuries, and Spain much longer ; or being born cd from Latin authors, since the revival of letters. All these iaiigu;i however retain many words of Celtic origin ; the primitive language not 1, ing been entirely extirpated. In some instances, the same word has b transmitted through both channels, the Celtic and the Latin, and is yet tajncd. Thus in French cider, and in Italian Cfdere, is directly from the Latin cedo ,- while the French, congedier, and Italian, congedare, are com- posed of the same word, with a prefix, derived from the Celtic, and retained in the Welsh gadaw, to quit, to leave. [L. concedo.] And this same verb probably appeal's also in quit, a word common to the Teutonic and to the Cel- tic languages. See Conge, in the Dictionary.

It must be observed further, that the Spanish language contains some words of African origin, introduced by the Carthaginians, before the Roman conquest of Spain, or afterwards by the Moors, who, for several centuries,

were masters of thatcounlry. It contains also some words of Gothic oiigiii. introduced by the Goths who conquered that country, at the downfall of the Roman Empire. The French also contains some words of Teutonic origin, either from the Belgic tribes wlio occupied the country to the Seine, at the time of Cesar's invasion, or from the Franks who estabUshed the dynasty of the Merovingian Kings in the fifth century, or from the Normans who ob- tained possession of the northern part of that kingdom in the tenth century, or from all these sources.

The German, Dutch or Belgic, Anglo-Saxon, Danish and Swedish lan- guages are of Teutonic or Gothic origin.* They are all closely allied ; a great part of the words in them all being the same or from the same roots, with different prefixes or affixes. There is however a greater difference between the Danish and Swedish, which are of the Gothic stock, and the German and Dutch, which are of Teutonic origin, than between two lan- guages of the same stock, as between the Danish and Swedish. The Nor- wegian, Icelandic, and some of the languages or dialects of Switzerland, be- long to the same stock ; but of these I have no particular knowledge.

The Basque or Cantabrian in Spain ; the Gaelic in the north of Scotland, and the Hiberno-Celtic, or native language of Ireland, arc the purest re- mains of the ancient Celtic. From a comparison of a vocabulary of the Gae- lic and Hiberno-Celtic, I find little or no difterence between them ; and from a long and attentive examination of this language, and of the languages *f Teutonic origin, I find less difference between them, than most autliors Iiave supposed to exist.

The Armoric or language of Brittany in the northwest angle of France, and the Cornish, in the southwest of England, are also of Celtic origin. The Cornish is now extinct ; but the Armoric is a living language.

The English as now spoken, is a language composed of words from several others. The basis of the language is Anglo-Saxon, or, as I shall, for the sake of brevity, call it, Saxon, by which it is closely allied to the languages of Teutonic and Gothic origin on the continent. But it re- tains a great number of words from the ancient languages of Britain, the Belgic, or Lloegrian, and the Cymraeg, or Welsh ; particularly from tlie lat- ter, and some from the Cornish. Cesar informs us, that before he invaded Britain, Belgic colonics had occupied the southern coast of England ; and the inhabitants of the interior, northern and western parts, were the ances- tors of the present Welsh, who call themselves Cymry, and their country Cymru, a name which indicates their origin from the

The modern Welsh contains many Latin words introduced by the Romans, who had possession of Britain for five hundred years. But the body of the language is probably their vemaculai- tongue. It is more nearly allied to the languages of Celtic origin, than to those of the Teutonic and Gothic stock ; and of this British language, the Cornish and Armoric are dialects.

It has been commonly supposed that the Britons were nearly extermina- ted by the Saxons, and that the few that survived, escaped into the west of England, now Wales. It is true that many took refuge in Wales, which their descendants still retain ; but it cannot be true that the other parts of England were entirely depopulated. On the other hand, great numbers must have escaped slaughter, and been intermixed with their Saxon con- querors. The Welsh words, which now form no unimportant part of the English language, aflbrd decisive evidence of this fact. It is probable how- ever that these words were for a long time used only by the common peo- ple, for few of them appear in the early Saxon writers.

The English contains also many words, introduced by the Danes, who were, for some time, masters of England ; which words are not found in the Saxon. These words prevail most in the northern counties of England ; but many of them are incorporated into the body of the language, and are used in the United States.

After the conquest, the Norman Kings endeavored to extirpate the Eng- lish language, and substitute the Norman. For this purpose, it was ordain- (ed that all law proceedings and records should be in the Norman language ; and hence the early records and reports of law cases came to be written in j Norman. But neither royal authority, nor the influence of courts, could change the vernacular language. After an experiment of three hundred years, the law was repealed; and .since that period, the English has been, ;for the most part, the official, as well as the common language of the nation. A few Norman words however remain in the English ; most of them in law language.

Since the conquest, the English has not suffered any shock from the in- termixture of conquerors with the natives of England ; but the language has undergone great alterations, by the disuse of a large portion of Saxon words, and tlie introduction of words from the Latin and Greek languages, with some French, Italian, and Spanish words. These words have, in some in- stances, been borrowed by authors, directly from the Latin and Greek ; but most of the Latin words have been received through the medium of the — ^ jiFrench and Italian. For terms in the sciences, authors have generally re- am- ivT II I -1- B o.., c^ , I .t - ^ • i- .u 1 .1. r> 1 sorted to the Greek ; and from this source, as discoveries in science demand ^,I^^X-I^^;^:L^r:;^.1^^^^ ^^ vocabulary of the English language is receiving continual

eighth year. Hence perhaps the name from deal, and»ia

try.

t Clarke's Travels. I * In strictness, the Swedish and Danish are of Gothic origin, and the Gei-

J See the word chuk in the Dictionary. liman and Saxon, of Teutonic origin.

Vol. I. B.

INTRODUCTION.

auglnentation. We have also a few words from the German and Swedish, mostly terms in mineralogy, and commerce has introduced new commodi- ties of foreign growth or manufacture, with their foreign names, which now make a part of our language. — Such are camphor, amber, arsenic, and many others.

The English then is composed of,

1st, Sason and Danish words of Teutonic and Gothic origin.

2d, British or Welsh, Cornish and Armoric, which may be considered as of Celtic origin.

3d, Norman, a mixture of French and Gothic.

4th, Latin, a language formed on the Celtic and Teutonic.

5th, French, chiefly Latin corrupted, but with a mixture of Celtic.

6th, Greek, formed on the Celtic and Teutonic, with some Coptic.

7th, A few words directly from the Italian, Spanish, German, and other languages of the continent.

8th, A few foreign words, introduced by commerce, or by political an

Of these, the Saxon words constitute our mother tongue ; being wordi which our ancestors brought with them from Asia. The Danish and Welsh also are primitive words, and may be considered as a part of our vernacular language. They are of equal antiquity with the Chaldee and Syriac

AFFINITY OF LANGUAGES.

On comparing the structure of the different languages of the Shemitic and Japhetic stocks, we cannot but be struck with the fact, that although a great number of words, consisting of the same or of cognate letters, and convey- ing the same ideas, are found in them all ; yet in the inflections, and in the manner of forming compounds and derivatives, there are remarkable differ- ences between the two great families. In the modifications of the verb, for expressing person, time, and mode, very little resemblance is observable be tween the'm. If we could prove that the personal terminations of the verb, in the Japhetic languages, were originally pronouns, expressive of the pe sons, we should prove an affinity between the words of the two races, in most important particular. Some attempts of this kind have been made ; but not with very satisfactory results.*

In the formation of nouns, we recognize a resemblance between the English termination th, in birth, truth, drouth, [Saxon drugothe] warmth, &c., and the Shemitic terminations n' and ni; and the plural termination en, retained in oxen, and the Welsh plural ending coincide nearly with the Arabic termination of the dual number /, )

and the regular masculine plural termination ^^ ^ as well as with the Chaldee, Hebrew, and Syriac p . And it is justly remarked by Mitford, that in the variety of plural terminations of nouns, there is a striking resemblance between the Arabic and the Welsh. There is one instance, in the modem languages of Teutonic origin, in which we find the Arabic nunnation : — this is the German and Dutch binnen, the Saxon binnan or binnon, signifying

within, Hebrew and Chaldee pa, Ar. ,,-aj without the mark of nunna- tion, when it signifies within ; but when it signifies separation, space, inter- val, the original sense, it is written ... a j > and pronounced, with the nun- nation, like the Teutonic word.

One mode of forming nouns from verbs in the Shemitic languages is by prefixing m. I know of no instance of this manner of formation, in the Ja- phetic languages, except in some names which are of oriental origin. Mars

is said to be fro

I afrii,

but if ;

the word

1 undoubtedly formed in the

cast. So we find Morpheus, the god of sleep, to be probably formed with the prefix m, from the Ethiopic ^04

But as many words in all the languages of Europe and Asia, are formed with prepositions, perhaps it may be found on examination, that some of these prefixes may be common to the families of both stocks, the Japhetic and the Shemitic. We find in German, gemnth, in Dutch, gemoed, from muth,moed, mind, mood. We find mad in Saxon is gemaad; polish, the h^tin polio, is in Welsh caboli; mail in Italian is both maglia and camag- lia; belief in Saxon is geleaf, and in German, glaube. We find that in the Shemitic languages nbo signifies to fill or be full, and we find in the Arabic y^T has the same signification. In Syriac Jl vN, signifies to remove ;

• According to Dr. Edwards, there is a remarkable resemblance between the bhemitjc languages, and the Muhhekaneew, or Mohegan, one of the na- tive languages of New England, in the use of the pronouns as prefixes and affixes to verbs.— Observations, Sfc.p. 13.

f Ludolf, Col. 446, 447.

and ^^o signifies to wander in mind, to be delirious. In Chaldee and Syriac, im is to wonder, precisely the Latin demiror, which is a compound of de and miror.

We find also that nations differ in the orthography of some initial sounds, where the words are the same. Thus the Spanish has llnmar, llorar, for the Latin clamo, ploro, and the Welsh has llawr, for the English floor, llabi, a tall, lank person, coinciding with /aftft?/, llac for slack, and the like. As the prepositions and prefixes, in all languages, constitute an important class of words, being used in composition to vary the sense of other parts of speech, to an almost unUmited extent, it may be useful to give them a par- ticular consideration.

The simple prepositions are, for the most part, verbs or participles, or de- rived from them ; when verbs, they are the radical or primary word, some- times varied in orthography by the addition or alteration of a single vowel, or perhaps, in some cases, by the loss of the initial consonant, or aspirate. Such are the Greek ?tapa, ?t£pt, xata ; the Latin con and per ; the English for, which retain their original consonants. The following, of, by, in, on, un; the Latin ab, ad, pro, pr

In general, the primary sense of the preposition is moving, or moved. Thus to in English and ad in Latin, primarily denote advancmg towards a place or object; as in the sentence, " We are going to town." From, of, ' It. ab, Gr. a?ro, denote motion from a place or object. The French prts, from the Italian ^resso, and tiiis is the Latin participle pressus, pressed; hence it denotes near, close.

In some instances prepositions are compounds, as the English before ; that be or by fore, by the front, and the Fr. aupres, at or at near. Prepositions, from their frequent use, and from the ease with which their primary signification is modified to express differences of position, motion or lation, as occasions demand, have, in many instances, a great variety of applications ; not indeed as many as lexicogi apheis sometimes assign to them, butseveral different, and sometimes opposite significations ; as for ex- amples, the Enghsh /or, with ; tiie Latin con, and the Greek rtopa. For, which is from the root of Saxon faran, Gr. 7topfuO|Uat, to pass, denotes to- wards, as in the phrase " A ship bound /or Jamaica ;" or it denotes in /a»or of, as " This measure is/or the public benefit ;" or " The present is /or a But it denotes also opposition or negation, as \\n forbear, forgive, forbid.

With is a verb, but has rather the sense of a participle. It is found in the Gothic with a prefix, ga-withan, to join or unite. Its primary sense then is joined, close ; hence, in company ; as in the sentences — " go with him," " come with me." It has the sense also of from, against, contrariety, op- position, as in withdraw, withstand, without. In Saxon it had also the sense of towards, as "with eorthan," towards the earth; also of for, de- noting substitution or equivalent in exchange, as " sylan with dieges weorce," to give for a day's work ; also of opposite, over against, as '* with tha s£e," opposite the sea.

Con in Latin generally signifies with, towards or to, denoting closeness or union, approach, joint operation and the like, as in concurro, conjungo, congredior ; but it has also the sense of against or opposition, as in con- tendo.

The Greek rrapa, is doubtless from the root of the English fare, Saxon faran, to go, to pass. It signifies from, that is, departure — also at, to, Lat. ad ; near, with, beyond, and against.

To understand the cause of the different and apparentiy contrary signifi- cations, we are to attend to the primary sense. The effect of passing to a place is nearness, at, presso, pres, and this may be expressed by the parti- ciple, or in a contracted form, by the verb. The act of passing or moving towards a place readily gives the sense of such prepositions as to, and the Latin ad, and this advance may be in favor or for tiie benefit of a person or thing, the primary sense of which may perhaps be best expressed by to- wards ; " a presentor a measure is towards him," — But when the advance of one thing towards another, is in enmity or opposition, we express the sense by against, and this sense is especially expressed when the motion or approach is in front of a person, or intended to meet or counteract another motion. Hence the same word is often used to express both senses ; the context de- termining which signification is intended. Thus/or in English, in the sen- tence, " He that is not /or us is against us," denotes in favor of. But in the phrase "for all that," it denotes opposition. " It rains, but/or all that, we will take a ride,"that is, in opposition to that, or notwithstanding the rain, we will ride.

The Greek irapa, among other senses, signifies beyond, that is, past, and otier, Hebrew 13j\\

INTRODUCTION.

The prepositions wliicli are used, as distinct words, are called separable prepositions, or more generally prepositiom : — those which are used only in composition are called inseparable prepositions. Kor the sake of brevity, I give to all words or single letters, prefixed to other words in composition, the general name of prf^xfs.

One of the best mo

Prepositions, useil in compounds, often suffer the loss or change of a let- ter, for the sake of euphony, or the ease of pronunciation. Thus ad in Latin becomes/ in affero ; con becomes col in colligo ; the Gr. jtapo loses a letter in Ttapniit,, as does am, in many words.

The following sketch of the principal prepositions and prefixes in several limguages of Europe will exhibit some of the affinities of these languages, and in a degree, illustrate the uses of this class of words.

SAXON AND GOTHIC.

^nd. Sax. and Goth, signifies agaitist, opposite. This is the Gr. a»Ti. and Latin ante, not borrowed from the Greek or Latin, but a native word Examples, andstandan, to stand against, to resist. Andswarian, answari- an, to answer ; that is, to speak again, against or in return.

Amb, emb, ym*, usually emb, Saxon, signifying about, around; coincid ing with the Latin ainb, and Gr. a/i^i.. Example, emb-faran, to go around, to walk about; emiutan, about; em6, about, and 6utnn, without. See But Jlmbeht, cmbeht, ymbeht, office, duty, whence we have embassador. Thii in Gothic is andbahtei, and a bailiif, minister or servant is andbahts. The Germans have the word contracted in amt, charge, office, Dutch ampt Dan. ambt. The Gothic ortliography gives rise to the question whether amb, emb, aniavti, Sax. and Goth, ojid, are not radically the same word; and it is very certain that the Gothic and Saxon and, is radically the same word as the Latin in, Dan. ind. So in Gothic, " and wigans," in the ways, into the highways. Luke, xiv. 23. " and haimos" per vicos, through the towns. Luke, ix. 6.

This preposition, amb, is in Dutch om ; in German urn ; in Swedish and Danish om.

At, is a Gothic preposition and prefix, comciding with Eng. at, Lat. ad

Be, in Saxon, as a preposition and prefix, is always written be, or big, an- swering to the English by, a preposition, and be in beset. In Gothic, it is written 6i, by and be, being contractions of big. The primary and principal signification is near, close ; as " stand or sit 6^ me." So in the word by- stander. It is a prefix of extensive use in the Saxon, German, Dutch Danish and Swedish. Its use in denoting instrumentality, may be from the sense of nearness, but more probably it is from passing, like per, through or it denotes proceedin^from, like of, as salvation is of the Lord.

For, in Saxon, as in English, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use In Saxon /or signifies a going, from /aran, to go, to fare. It is radically thi same word as /ore, in the sense of in front, before. Its primary sense i: advancing ; hence moving towards ; hence the sense of in favor of, and that of oppo.sition, or negation. See the preceding remarks.

This word in German is/«r, but, with this orthography, the word is little used in composition. Yet the German has/urfti'He, intercession or praying for; fllrwort, intercession, recommendation, and a pronoun [for-word;] andfur-wahr, forsooth.

In the sense of fore, the German has vor, a word of extensive prefix. Thus in Saxon /oreseoi, to foresee, is in German vorsehen. The identity of tliese words will not be questioned. But in German as in Dutch the preposition ver, which is the English far, and Saxon fyr, is used in composition, in words in which the Saxon and English have/or. Thus for- gifan,toforgive, is in German, vergeben, and in Dutch, vergeeven — Saxon, forgitan, to forget; German vergessen; Dutch vergectejt. Hence we see that the Saxon for, fore, fyr, the English for, fore, far, and tlie German fur, vor and ver, are from Uie same radix.

In Dutch, /or and fore are represented by voor, and ver represents /or

The Danish also unites/or and fore, as does the Swedish.

The French has this word in pour, and the Spanish and Portuguese in por. The latter signifies not only /or, but through, as in Portuguese, " Eu passarei por Fran(;a." " I will pass through France. Here we see the sense of moving. In Spanish and Portuguese this word is written also para, as if from the Greek. It is evidently the same word, probably received through a different channel from that of poi: Now through is the exact sense of the Latin per ; and per is the Italian preposition answering to for and pm: But what is more to the purpose, the Spanish, Italian and Portu-

fuese word, equivalent to the English /or^ire, is in Spanish perdonar ; in talian, perdon

The Greek has rtcpai; and jtopo, probably from the same root, as well a- rtOfifvofiai, ;fopo^

Ga, in Gothic, and ge in Saxon, is a prefix of very extensive use. In Saxon, it is prefixe

It is possible that the first syllable oi govern, from Lat. gubemo, Gr. xvSi(iva.a, may be the same prefix ; or it may be the Welsh prefix go, which occurs in goberu, to work, which the Romans wrote operor. But I know not whether the first syllable of govern is a prefix or not.

There is another word which retains this prefix corrupted, or its equiva-' lent ; this is common, which we have received from the Latin communis. This word in the Teutonic dialects is. Sax. getnane; Ger. gemein ; Dutch, gemeen ; Dan. gemeen ; Sw. gemen. Now if this is the Latin communis, and of the identity of the last component part of the word, there can, I think, be no doubt ; then the first part of the word is the Teutonic ge altered to com, or what is more probable, com is tlie equivalent oi ge, or ge may be a contracted and corrupted form oi cum, com. In either case, we arrive at the conclusion that the Teutonic ge, and the Latin cum, are equivalent in signification.

In, is used in the Saxon and Gothic, as in modern English. It is in Ger- man ein, Dutch and Swedish in, Danish ind, Greek iv, Lat. in, Fr. en. This is radically the same word as on and un, the German an, Dutch aan, and Welsh an. In its original sense, it implies moving, advancing towards, and hence its use as a particle of negation or contrariety. " Eunt in urbem," they are going to the city. " Hebc audio in te dici," I hear these thing.'! said against you. In mcilern military usage, on is used in the same sense of advancing. " The army is marching on Liege."

Mid, in Saxon, signifies with. It is the Gothic mith, German mil, Dutch mede or met, and tlie Gr. jutro; but not retained in English. It seems to have the same origin as mid, middle, amidst. In the Gothic it is used as a prefix.

Mis, a prefix, is the verb miss, to deviate. It is used in Saxon, German, Dutch, Swedish and Danish, in nearly the same sense, as in EngUsh. Its radical sense is to depart or wander.

Of, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use in the Saxon, as in English. It denotes primarily issuing, or proceeding from; hence separation, departure, and distance ; in the latter sense, it is written off. It is the Latin ab, writ- ten by the early Romans af; the Greek orto, the German ab, the Dutch af; Dan. and Sw. of. The Saxons often prefixed this word, in cases where we use it after the verb as a modifier ; as of-drifan, to drive off; as it is still used by the Germans, Dutch, Swedes and Danes. We retain it as a prefix, in ffset and offspring. Sax. of-spring. As it denotes proceeding from, it is the proper sign of the genitive case ; the case expressing production.

qfer, Eng. over, Goth, ufar, G. ttber, D. ot-er, Dan. over, Sw. ofver, is a preposition and prefix, in all the Teutonic and Gothic languages, which I have examined ; and in the same or similar senses. This seems to be the Greek urttp, from which the Latins formed super, by converting the aspirate of the Greek vowel into s. This is probably the Heb. Ch. Syr. Ar. 13;r, to ss, a passing, beyond.

On, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of very extensive use. It is obvi- ously a different orthography of in, and it is used for in, in the Saxon, as " on onginn," in the beginning. It has also the sense we now give to on and upon, with other modifications of signification.

In composition, it signifies into, or towards, as on-blawan, to blow in ; onclifian, to adhere, to cleave to; and it is also a particle of negation, like un, as onbindan, to unbind. This on is only a different spelling of un, in Dutch 071, German un, used as a word of negation. The Gothic has un and «»d, in the like sense, as the Danish has un ; the D. ont. In this sense, un answers precisely to the Greek avti, and as this is sometimes written und in Gothic, as in is written ind, in Danish, there can be little doubt, that in, on, un, avti, are all from one stock. The original word may have been han, bin, or hon ; such loss of the first letter is very common ; and inn, from the Ch. and Heb. rUD, presents us with an example. See in and inn.

The German has an, and the Dutch aan, in the sense of in and on. 0th, is a Saxon preposition and prefix, sometimes written ath and erf, and answering nearly to the Latin ad and re; as in oth-witan, to twit, to throw in the teeth. It has also the sense of from, or away, or against, as in oth- swerian, to abjure. This preposition is obsolete, but we have the remains of it in tunt, and perhaps in a few other words. Sam, samod, a prefix. See the Danish and Swedish infra.

INTRODUCTION.

To, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use in our mother tongue. It occurs as a prefix, in such words as, to-brtBCan, to break ; to-beran, to bring or bear, [ad-ferre.^ We retain it in together. Sax. togcedere; and in to- wards. Sax. toward, towardes ; and in to-morrow, to-day, to-night. The Dutch write it toe, and the Germans zu, and both nations use it extensively as a prefix. In Gothic it is written du, as in du-gimtan, to gin, that is, begin. It would be gratifying to learn whether the Ethiopic 'f' , which is prefixed to many verbs, is not the remains of the same preposition.

f/ra, isa Saxon prefix of extensive use, as a privative or particle of nega- tion. See on and m.

Under, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of considerable use, in the pres- ent English sense. The Germans write it unter, and the Dutch onder, and use it in like manner. The Danes and Swedes write it under, and use i in the same sense.

Up, ujipe, is a Saxon preposition and prefix of considerable use, in the pre sent English sense. The Gothic has uf, in the sense of the Latin sub. The Germans write it ajtfand the Dutch op, the Danes op and tlie Swedes up and all use it as a prefix.

Us, in Gothic, is a preposition and prefix. This is the German aus, anc equivalent to the Latin ex. It is the Saxon ut, the English out, Dutch tiit Swedish ut, and Danish ud, dialectically varied. To this answers the Welsh ys, used in composition, but ys seems rather to be a change of the Latin ex tor the Latin expello is written in Welsh yspeliaw, and extendo is estyn.

Wither, in Saxon, from the root of with, denotes against, or opposition. It is a prefix in Saxon, written in German wider, in Dutch, weder ; Dan. and Swedish veder. It is obsolete, but retained in the old law term withernam, a counter-taking or distress.

In the German language, there are some prepositions and prefixes not found in the Saxon ; as,

Ent, denoting from, out, away.

Er, without, out or to. Dan. er.

JVach, properly nigh, as in nachbar, neighbor ; but its n .signification in composition is after; as ia nachgehen, to go after. Thi sense is easily deducible from its primary sense, which is close, near, from urging, pressing, or following. In Dutch, this word is contracted to »a, in nabuur, neighbor ; nagaan, to follow. The Russ has no also, a prefix of extensive use, and probably the same word. This fact suggests the question, whether the ancestors of these great families of men had not their residence in the same or an adjoining territory. It deserves also to be considered wheth- er this no, is not the Shemitic i, occurring as a prefix to verbs.

Weg, is a prefix used in the German and Dutch. It is the Saxon, Ger- man, and Dutch weg, way ; in tlie sense of away, or passing from, from the

verb, in Saxon, wtegan, wegan, to carry, to weigh, Eng. to wag, the sense f which is to move or pass ; as Ger. t ' " " ■• -

Zer, in German, denotes separation

5 Ger. wegf alien, to fall offer away.

In the Gothic dialects, Danish and Swedish, /»a is used as a prefix. This is the Scottish/ra, Eng. frorti, of which it may be a contraction.

Fram in Swedish, and frem in Danish, is also a prefix. The primary sense is to go, or proceed, and hence it denotes moving to or towards, forth, &c., as in Danish /rem/aj-er, to bring forth ; fremkalder, to call for. But in Danish, /rcmjned is strange, foreign, and it is probable that the English /j-om is from the same root, with a dilferent application. It may be from the same stock as the Gothic frum, origin, beginning, Latin primus, signifying to shoot forth, to extend, to pass along.

Oien, igien, in Danish, and igen, in Swedish, is the English gain in again, against. This is a prefix in both these Gothic languages. It has the sense of the Latin re, as inigienkommer, to come back, to return; o{ against, as migienkalder, to countermand, or recall ; of again, as gienbinder, to bind again. This may be the Latin con.

Mod, in Danish, and mot, emot, in Swedish, is a preposition, signifying to, towards, against, contrary, for, by, upon, out, &c. ; as " mod staden," to- wards the city ; modstrider, to resist ; modgift, an antidote ; modbor, a con- trary wind ; modmnd, the same. This is the Enghsh meet, in the Gothic orthography, moiyan, to meet, whence to moot.

O, in Swedish, is a negative or privative prefix, as in o/idig, immature, in English, not tidy. It is probably a contracted word.

Paa, in Danish, p& in Swedish, is a preposition and prefix, signifying on, in, upon. Whether this is allied to be, by, and the Russ. po, I shall not un- dertake to determine, with confidence ; but it probably is the same, or from the same source.

Samman, signifying together, and from the root of assemble, is a prefix of considerable use in both languages. It answers to the Saxon sam, samod, equivalent to the Latin con or cum. It seems to be allied to same and the La-

Ti/, both in Danish and Swedish, is a prefix, and in Danish, of very ex- tensive use. It is equivalent to the EngUsh to or towards, and signifies also at, in, on, by, and about, and in composition often has the sense of back or re, as in tilbage, backwards, that is, to back ; but generally it retains the sense of to or onward ; as in tilbyder, to offer, that is, to speak or order to ; tildriver, to drive on ; tilgiver, ito allow, to pardon, that is, to give to, and hence to give back, to remit. This is the English till, which we use in the same sense as the Danes, but in English it always refers to time, whereas in Danish and Swedish, it refers to place. Thus we cannot say, " We are going

till town :" but we say, " wait till I come, fill ray arrival ;" literally, " wait to I come," to my arrival ; that is, to the time of arrival. The difference is not in the sense of the preposition, but in its application.

The Scotch retain the Danish and Swedish use of this word ; no slight evi- dence of their origin.

U, in Danish, the Swedish O, is a prefix, equivalent to in, and is used as a privative or negative ; as in uaar, an unseasonable year ; uartig, uncivil.

RUSSIAN.

by.

may possibly be from the :

: root i

account of, by reason of, after, as in za- viju, to see, Lat. video ; zadirayu, from

fo or ve, signifies ir the Eng. be, by. But t

Za, is a prefix signifying/oj viduyu, to envy, from md, visaj^

deru, to tear ; zamirayu, to be astonished or stupified, from the root of Lat. miror, and Russ. mir, peace ; miryu, to pacify, to reconcile ; mirnie, pacif- ic; zamirenie, peace, pacification; zaniirioi/M, to make peace; Arm. mi- ret, to hold, to stop ; the radical sense of wonder, astonishment, and of peace.

Ko, a preposition signifying to, towards, for.

J\\ra, a preposition and prefix, signifying on, upon, at, for, to, seems to be the Germ, nach, Dutch na, as in nagrada, reconjpense ; na, and the root of Lat. gratia ; nasidayu, to sit down, &c.

JVad, a preposition, signifying above or upon.

O, a preposition, signifying of or from, and /or.

Ob, a preposition and prefix, signifying to, on, against, about, as obne- mayu, to surround, to embrace ; ob and Sax. neman, to take.

Ot, is a preposition, signifying /rom, and it may be the Eng. out.

Po, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use, signifying in, by, after, from, &c. as podayu, to give to ; polagayu, to lay, to expend, employ, lay out ; to tax or assess ; to establish or fix ; to believe or suppose ; po and lay. This corresponds with Eng. by, and the Latin has it in possideo, and a few other words. [Sax. besittan.] Pomen, remembrzince, po And mens, mind.

Rad, a preposition signifying/or, or for the love of.

So, a preposition and prefixof extensive use, signifying tcirt, o/,/ro?»; and as a mark of comparison, it answers nearly to the Eng. so or as.

V, with the sound of m, is a preposition and prefix of extensive use. It sig- nifies near, by, at, with, as uberayu, to put in order, to adjust, to cut, to reap, to mow, to dress, Fr. parer, Lat. paro ; ugoda, satisfaction ; vgodnd, good, useful, Eng. good; udol, a dale, from dol.

WELSH.

The prefixes in the Welsh Language are numerous. The following are the principal.

Am, about, encompassing, Sax. amb, Gr. a/ift.

An. See Sax. in.

Cy, cyd, cyv, cym, implying union, and answering to cum, con and co in Latin. Indeed cym, written also cyv, seems to be the Latin cum, and cy may be a contraction of it, like co in Latin. Ca seems also to be a prefix, as in caboli, to polish, Lat. polio.

Cyn, cynt, former, first, as if allied to begin.

Di, negative and privative.

Di^, negative and precise.

Dy, iterarive.

E and ec, adversative.

Ed and eit, denoting repetition, Uke re. Sax, ed, oth.

Es, separating, like Lat. ex. See ys.

Go, extenuating, inchoative, approaching, going, denotes diminution or a less degree, like the Latin sub ; as in gobrid, somewhat dear. This seems to be from the root of English go.

Han, expressive of origination.

Lied, partly, half.

Oil, all.

Rhag, before.

Rhy, over, excessive.

Tra, over, beyond. Lat. trans.

Try, through.

Vm, mutual, reflective.

Ys, denoting from, out of, separation, proceeding from, answering to the Latin ex; as yspeliaw, to expel. So es, Welsh estyn, to extend.

Most of these prepositions, when used as prefixes, are so distinct as to be known to be prefixes.

But in some instances, the original preposition is so obscured by a loss or change of letters, as not to be obvious, nor indeed discoverable, without re- sorting to an ancient orthography. Thus without the aid of the Saxon or- thography, we should probably not be able to detect the component parts of the English twit. But in Saxon it is written edwitan and otkwitan ; the prep- osition or prefix oth, with witan, to disallow, reproach or cast in the teeth.

It has been above suggested to be possible, that in the Shemitic langua- ges, the J in triliteral roots, may be the same prefix as the Russian na, the Dutch na, and German nach. Let the reader attend to the following words.

INTRODUCTION.

video ;

Heb. B3J To look, to behold, to reganl. The primary sense of look, is, (i) reach, extend or throw. Ch. To look ; also to bud or sprout.

Ar. tix J To spring, or issue as water ; to flow out ; to devise or strike

°"lf the first letter is a prefix, the Hebrew word would accord with Lat. ideo ■ the Chaldee, willi video and with butl, Sp. botar, Fr. bouton, boiiter, >ptU, and Eng. iopout, and Fr. bout, end, from shooting, extending.

Ar. Ckxi To J»rf ,• to germinate. See Ch. supra.

Heb. S3J To fall; to sink down; to wither; to fall off, as leaves and flowers; to act foolishly; to disgrace. Derivative, foolish; a fool ; SiJJ Heb. Ch. Syr. Sam. to Jail.

Ch. h2i To make foul; to defile ; that is, to throw or put on.

Ar. V A J '^° shoot, as an arrow ; to drive as camels ; to excel ; also to

die, that is prot)^'''y ">/""• . , „ ^ . , , .

Can there be any question, that fall, foul and fool are this very word without the first consonant ? The Arabic without the first consonant agrees with Gr. eaTOM, and the sense of falling then, is to throw one's self down.

Heb. IQJ To keep, guard, preserve, retain, observe.

Ch. To observe ; to keep ; to lay up.

Syr. and Sam. id.

Eth. h(r\\i To shine.

Ar. lai To keep ; to see ; to look ; to attend.

Remove the first letter, and this coincides with the Greek f jjpjw.

No person will doubt whether hoi to circumcise, is formed on*?!?;.

Ch. ^D3 to cut; tos

Syr. id.

Lat. scrra, serrc

Ar. j^ij To fade, to vanish, to perish, to be empty, to fail.

Heb. nSJ to blow, to breathe. Ch. Syr. Eth. Ar. id. from HB , to blow ,

If the Shemitic J in these and similar words is a prefix or the remains of a preposition, it coincides very closely with the Russ. and Dutch na, and the latter we know to be a contraction of the German nach. Now the German nach is the English nigh ; for no person can doubt the identity of the Ger- man nachbar and the English neighbor.

In the course of my investigations, I very early began to suspect that b,J, J), c, g and k before I and r, are either casual letters, introduced by peculiar modes ofpronunciation, or the remains of prepositions ; mostprobably the lat- ter. I had advanced far in my dictionary, with increasing evidence of the truth of this conjecture, before I had received Owen's Dictionary of the Welsh language. An examination of this work has confirmed my suspi- cions, or rather changed them into certainty.

If we attend to the manner of articulating the letters, and the ease with which bl, br,fl,fr, pl,pr, cl, cr, gl, gr are pronounced, without an interven- ing vowel, even without a slieva, we .shall not be surprised that a preposi lion or prefix, like fie, i>e, pa, po, or ge should, in a rapid pronunciation, lose its vowel, and the consonant coalesce closely with the first letter of the prin- cipal word. Thus blank, prank, might naturally be formed from belank, perank. That these words are thus formed, I do not know ; but there is nothing in the composition of the words to render it improbable. Certain it is, that a vast number of words are formed with these prefixes, on othe- words, or the first consonant is a mere adventitious addition ; for they an used with or without the first consonant. Take the following examples.

Hiberno-Celtic, or Irish, brae or brach, the arm, is written also raigh, Welsh fiiaif, whence ^pa;^iur, brachium. Braigh, the neck, Sax. hraca, Eng. rack, Gr. po;t'5- Praoch, heath, ling, brake, L. erica.

Welsh, llawr, Basque, lurra, Eng. floor.

haUfloccus, Eng. flock or lock.

Sax. hraccan, Eng. to reach, in vomiting.*

Sax. hracod, Eng. ragged.

Ger. rock, Eng. frock.

Dutch, geluk, Ger. ghtck, Eng. luck.

Greek, Folic Dialect, (Spoioi/, for poSor, a rose.

Latin, clunis, Eng. loin, G. lende, W. dun, from Hun.

Eng. cream, Ger. rahm, Dutch, room.

Sax. hlaf, Polish chlieb, G. leib, Eng. loaf.

Sax. hladan, Eng. to lade or load, Russ. kladu, to lay.

Greek. xAtru, Lat. clino. Sax. hlinian, hleonan, Russ. klonyu, Eng to lean.

Greek, Xoyjji/of, Lat. Za,^ena, Eng. ^ngon.

Sax. hrysan, Eng. to rush.

Trench, frapper, Eng. to rop.

Sax. gercBdian, to make ready ; in Chaucer, grcilh, to make ready. Sas. hr(Bd, quick ; hradian, to hasten ; hradties, Eng. leadiiuss.

Spanish, frisar, to curl or frizzle ; rizar, the same.

Sax. gerefa, Eng. reeve, G. graf D. graaf.

Lat. glycyrrhiza, from the Greek ; Eng. liquorice.

But in no language, have we such decisive evidence of the formation of words, by prefixes, as in the Welsh.

Take the following instances, from a much greater number that might be produced, from Owen's Welsh Dictionary.

Blanc, a colt, from llanc.

Blith, milk, from lith.

Bliant, fine linen, from lliant.

Plad, a flat piece or plate, from Uad.

Pled, a principle of extension, from lied.

Pledren, a bladder, from pledyr, that distends, from lied.

Pleth, a braid, from lleth, Eng. plait.

Plicciaw, to pluck, from llig.

Ploc, a block, from Hoc ; plociaw, to block, to plug.

Plwng, a plunge, from llwng, our vulgar lunge.

Glwth, a glutton, from llwth. '

Glas, a blue color, verdancy, a green plat, whence Eng. glass, from lla$.

Glyd, gluten, glue, from llyd.

Claer, clear, from llaer.

Clav, sick, from llav.

Clwpa, a club, a knob, from llwb.

Clwt, apiece, a clout, {romllwd, llwt.

Clamp, a mass, a lump.

Clawd, a thin board, from llawd.

Cledyr, a board or shingle, whence cledrwy, lattice, from Ued.

Bran, Eng. bran, from rhan ; rhanu, to rend.

Brid, a breaking out, from rhid.

Bro^, noise, tumult, a brock; from rhoi;.

Bror, froth, foam, anger, brofi, to chafe or fret, from brwc, a boiling or ferment, from rhwc, something rough, a grunt, Gr. (Jpvj;u.

Bryd, what moves, impulse, mind, thought, from rhyd.

Brys, quickness, brisiaw, to hasten, to shoot along, from rhys, Eng. to rush, and crysiaw, to hasten, from rhys, to rush. [Here is the same word rhys, with tlifferent prefixes, forming brysiaw and crysiaw. Hence W. brysg, Eng. brisk.]

Giaz, [pronounced grath^ a step, a degree, from rhnz, Lat. gradus, gradior.

Greg, a cackling, from rheg.

Grem, a crashing, gnash, a murmur, gremiaw, to crash or gnash, from rhem. Hence Lat. fremo, Gr. /3pf^u.*

We have some instances of similar words in our own language ; such flag and lag ; flap and lap ; clump and lump.

There is another class of words which are probably formed with a prefix of a different kind. I refer to words in which s precedes another consonant, calp, skull, slip, slide, sluggish, smoke, smooth, speed, spire, spin, stage, steep, stem, swell, spout. We find that tego, to cover, in Latin, is in Greek ftyu ; the Latin fallo, is in Greek c^aM.a. We find ftopa^Joj

* I do not follow Owen to the last step of his analysis, as I am of opinion that, in making monosyllabic words to he compound, he often errs. For example, he supposes 6109 a tumult, to be from rlioi;, a broken or rough ut- terance ; a grunt or groan ; and this, to be a compound of rhy, excess, what is over or beyond, and of, a forcible utterance, a groan. I believe rAof to be primitive uncompounded word, coinciding with the English rough.

Owen supposes plad, a flat thing, a plate, to be from Had, with py. Llad he explains, what is given, a gift, good tilings, and py, what is inward or involved. I have no doubt that the first letter is a prefix in plad, but beyond all question, llad is from the same root as lied, breadth, coinciding with Lat. lotus ; both from a common root signifying to extend. But I do not believe llad or lied to be compound words.

Dug, a duke, Owen supposes to be formed on ug, over ; which cannot be true, unless the Latin dux, duco, are compounds. Dur, steel, he derives from ur, extreme, over, but doubtless it is from the root of the Latin durus.

So par, signifying what is contiguous, a state of readiness or preparation, Apair, fellow, or match, Owen makes a compound oi py, and ar ; py, as above explained, and ar, a word of various significations, 911, upon, surface, &c. But there can be no doubt that^ja)- is from the root of the Latin paro, to prepare, being the Latin par, equal ; the root of a numerous family of words not only in the Japhetic languages of Europe, but in the Shemitic lan- guages of Asia. It certainly is not a Welsh compound, nor is there the least evidence to induce a belief that it is not an uncompounded word. Had the learned author of the Welsh Dictionary extended his researches to a va- riety of other languages, and compared the monosyllabic roots in them with each otlier, I think he would have formed a very different opinion as to their origin. I am very well convinced that many of the n ords which he sup- poses to be primitive or radical, are contractions, such as rhy, lie, lly, the last consonant being lost.

INTRODUCTION.

is written also ff/iopaySof ; ami it may be inquireJ whether the English s^j>in, is not from the same root as «>;>'>?, web or woof, rtrtviov, a spindle rtijufu, to spin. Sprout in English is in Spanish brota.

We find the Welsh ysbrig, the EngUsh sprig, is a compound of ys, i prefix denoting issuing or proceeding from, like the Lat. ex, and ir/g, top, summit.

Ysgar, a separate part, a share ; ysgar, ysgarii, to divide ; ysganaw, to separate, is composed of ys and car, according to Owen ; but the real root appears distinctly in the Gr. x£tpo. This is the English shear, shire.

Vsgegiaw, to shake by laying hold of the throat, to shake roughly, is compound o(ys and cegiaw, to choke, from ceg, the mouth, an entrance, choking. This may be the English shake ; Sax. sceacan.

Ysgin, a robe made of skin; ys and cin, a spread or covering.

Vsgodi, to shade; ysgawd, a'shade ; ys and caied.

Ysgrab, what is drawn up or puckered, a scrip ; ys and crab, what shrinks. See Eng. crab, crabbed.

Vygravu, to scrape ; ys and crav, claws, from rhav.

Ysgreg, a scream, a shriek, ysgre^iaw, to shriek, from crei;, a shriek ere(;ian, to shriek, from creg, cryg, hoarse, rough, from rhyg, vye, that ii rough ; the grain so named from its roughness. This is the English rough Lat. raucus. Here we have the whole process of formation, from the root of rough. We retain the Welsh cre(;ia.n, to shriek, in our common word, to creak, and with a formative prefix, we have shriek, and our vulgar screak The Latin ruga, a wrinkle, Eng. rug, shrug, are probably from the same

Ysgrivenu, to write, Lat. scriho, from ysgriv, a writing, from criv, a mark cut, a row of notches ; criviaw, to cut, to grave ; from rhiv, something that divides. Hence scrivener.

Ysgub, a sheaf or besom, ysgubaw, to sweep, Lat. scojxe, from cub. collection, a heap, a cube.

Ysgud, something that whirls ; ysgudaw, to whisk or scud Xerity, Right; ysguth,ysguthaw, the same.

Ysgwth, a push ; ysgwthiaw, to push or thrust ; from gwth, gwthiaw, the same ; probably allied to Eng. shoot. The Welsh has ysgythu, to jet or spout, from the same root. , , „ •

Yslac, slack, loose ; yslaciatv, to slacken ; from llac, loose, slack, Uaciaw, to slacken, from Uag, slack, sluggish ; allied to Eng. lag and slow

Yslapiaw, to slap, to flap, from yslab, what is lengthened or distended, from «o6,a flag, a strip, a stroke. Llabi, a tall, lank person, a striphng - looby, a lubber, is from the same root ; llabiaw, to slap.

Ysled, a sled, from (fed, says Owen, which denotes breadth, but it is pro- bably from the root of slide, a word probably from the same root as lied, thai is, to extend, to stretch along.

Ysmot, a patch, a spot; ysmotiaw, to spot, to dapple, from mod, Eng

Ysmwciaw, ysmygtt, to dim with smoke, from mwg, smoke. So smooth from Welsh mwyth

denial ; gwadu, to deny, or disown. If this deduction is correct, the seHse of denial is a throwing or thrusting back, a repelling. It is so in other words.

Yswitiaw, to chirp, twitter, from yswid, that makes a quick turn. Qu, twitter.

In some of the foregoing words, it appears evident that the Welsh prefix, I alteration of the Latin ex, and the words, in which this is the case.

vere probably borrowed from the Latin, while the Roman ;

i had pos-

fiom cud, ce

Yspail, spoil, from pail, farina, says Owen. I should say from the root of alea, straw, refuse, that is, from the root of peel, to strip. Yspeilwta, to be

I ball, says Owen : but this is the Latin ex

=f, foremost. The

pah pilfering.

Yspeliaw, to expel, from pel. pello, from pello. Ball may be from the same root.

Yspig, a spike, a spine ; yspigaw, to spike ; frompig, a sharp point, zpike. Hence Eng. spigot.

Yspin, a spine, from pin, pen.

Ysgynu, to ascend, Lat. ascendo, fiom cyn, first, chi( radical sense is to shoot up.

Yslw?, a slough, from llwc, a collection of water, a lake Yspar, a spear, from pdr, a cause or principle of producing, the germ or seed of a thing, a spear. This consists of the same elements as ber, a spit, and Eng.-*a»-, and in Italian bar is sbarra. The primary sense is to shoot thrust, drive. . ^ i

Yspinc, a finch, frompinc, gay, fine brisk ; a sprig, A finch. Ysplan, clear, bright ; ysplana, to explain ; ftomplan, that is parted off, ray, a shoot, a planting, a plane; -whence plant , a child; Eng planu, to shoot, as a plant. Hence splendor, W. ysplander.

Ysporthi, to support, from porth, a bearing, a port, passage, j^orta, porta.

Ystac, a stack, a heap ; ysl stuffed or clogged. . .^ rru

Ystad, a state ; ystadu, to stay ; from tad, that spreads, a continuity. J he primary sense is to set.

Fston, that is spread; a stain; tin, 'Lat. stannum; ystaeniaw, to spread over, to stain ; ystaenu, to tin, or cover with tin ; from taen, a spread, a laye Qu. is tin from spreading ?

Ystawl, a stool, from tawl, a cast or throw. The sense is to set, to throw down. TaiBl is the root of deal.

Ystor, a store, that forms a bulk, from tor, a swell, a prominence. Ystorm, a storm, from torm, that is stretched, but the sense is a rushing. Ystrym, a stream, from trym, compact, trim, that is, stretched, straight, from extending.

Ystwmp, a stump, from twmp, a round mass, a tump.

ysmafiOM', to s?uat, from jswarf, a throw, or falling down, from gtvad, a

session of England. But there is a vast number of words, with this prefix, which are not of Latin origin ; and whether ys is a native prefix in the Welsh, may be a question. One thing is certain, that s before another con- sonant, and coalescing with it, is, in a great number of words, a prefix.

The modern Italian affords abundant proof of the extensive use of s, as the remains or representative of ex ; as sballare, to unpack, itnbale ; sbar- 6ato, beardless ; sfta^iere, to abate ; sftrancare, to pluck off branches; scar- icare, to discharge ; scommodare, to inconmiode ; sconcordia, discord ; scor- breakthe horns; scrostare, to pull off the crust; and a great num- ber of others.

Now if the same manner of forming words with this prefix has actually prevailed among the northern nations of Europe, we may rationally suppose that many English words, and perhaps all of this class, are thus formed. Thus scatter may be formed from a root in Cd; shape, from C'b, Cf or Cp; skill, from the root of Lat. calleo ; slip, from the root of Lat. labor ; smart, from the root of Lat. amarus, bitter, Heb. ">n ; smite, from the root of Latin mitto ; span, from the root of pan, to stretch ; spar, from the root of bar ; speak, from the root of Lat. voco : speed, from a root in Pd, perhaps Lat. peto ; steal, from the root of Lat. tollo ; steep, from the root of deep ; stretch, from the root of reach ; sweep, from the root of wipe ; swan, from wan, white ; swell, from the root of to well. Sax. wellan, to boil, &c. That many English and other Teutonic and Gothic words are thus formed, appears to be certain.

These facts being admitted, let us examine a little further. In Russ. svadiba is a wedding. Is not this formed on the root of wed, with s for a prefix ? Svara is a quarrel. Is not this formed on the root of vary, variance, oTofspar? Sverlo is a horer; qu. bore anti veru ; svertivayu, toroU; qu. Lat. verto ; skora, furs, peltry ; qu. Fr. cuir ; skot, a beast ; qu. cattle; skupayu, to purchase in gross ; qu. cheap, Dan. kioben, and its root ; slabei, weak; qu. Lat. labor, lapsus ; slagaytt, to foW; qu. lay, and plico; slivayu, to pour out liquors ; qu. Lat. libo ; slvpayu, to peel off bark or skin ; qu. Lat. liber ; snimayu, to take away ; qu. Sax. neman, to take ; snova, new ; qu. Lat. novus ; snig, sneig, snow, Fr. neige. The Lat. nivis is from this root, with g opened to v. Russ. spletayu, to plait, &c.

The Russ. prefix so occurs in a great number of words ; sobirayu, to col- lector assemble, precisely the Heb. and Ch. 13X.

It now becomes an interesting question, to determine how far any analogy exists, between the languages of the Japhetic and Shemitic families, in regard to prefixes. For example, in the Shemitic languages, 3 is a prefix of exten- sive use, corresponding almost exactly with the English and Dlitch by, the Saxon be, and German bei. This preposition and prefix has several senses in the Saxon which are now obsolete ; but its present prevaiUng sense oc- curs in all the Shemitic languages. r\\iy Dnj5 nn3, by a strong east wind. Ex. xiv. 21. Compare the following definitions of this preposition ; the Sax. from Lye. and the Shemitic from Castle.

Sax. de, e, ex, in, secus, ad, juxta, secundum, pro, per, super, propter, circa. , , ,

Heb. Ch. Syr. in, e, ex, cum, propter, usque ad, adeo ut, ad, super, per, contra, ante.

1. in, per, pro, propter, cum, secundum, apud. in, cum, propter, per, ad, erga. ... Numbers, xiv. 34, it signifies according to, or after ; D'DTI 13003, ac- cording to the number of days. This signification is now perhaps obsolete in English, but was common in the Saxon ; as, " be his majgnum," -"""--ii"" '"

plant , Lat,

standard ; from tag, a state of being

' be tham mEstan ;"

ccording to y the most, is now

his strength ; pro viribis suis,

expressed by, at the most. ,„...,

Now it is remarkable that this word in Hebrew, Arabic and Persic, is the preposition used in oaths, precisely as it is in English. Gen. xxii. 16, '3, By

myself have I sworn. Arabic, ballah or by Allah; Persic,

"" We'know that be in the Saxon bedalan, and Dutch bedeelen, is a prefix, as the simple verb is found in all the Teutonic and Gothic languages. The Hebrew and Chaldee '713 corresponds exactly in elements and m sigmtica-

INTRODUCTION.

lion, with the Saxon ;inil Dutch. Whether the fust letter is a prefix in the latter languages, let the reader judge. See the word deal, which when ced, terminates in t)ie Welsh tawl, a cast off, a throw ; separation; tawlu, to cast or throw off, to separate.

In Chaldee, y}2 signifies to scatter, to disperse. The word has the s signification in the Syriac and Samaritan.

In Ethiopic, the word with ^ prefixed, signifies to wish, love, desire, and with "t" prefixed, to strive, to endeavor, and without a prefix, strife, course, race. Both these significations are from stretching, straining.

In Arabic j^j signifies generally to hasten, to run to; but , J^j signifies to disperse, to sow or scatter seed.

This verb is written in Hebrew IfJ with precisely the .same signification. The Arabic also hajs the verb with this orthography, signifying to sow, and also to beat or strike with a stick.

Now in Syriac ; , dar, signifies to strive, or struggle. Here we have the simple verb, withotit the prefix, with the sense of the Ethiopic, with a prefix. Supra.

We find also the Arabic , i tharra, the simple verb, signifies to sprinkle We find in Chaldee Nm, mT and n\\the simple verb, signifies todis

perse ; in Syriac, the same. In Arabic ) , ^ signifies to sow, like the foregoing verb, and hence to procreate. Both this and the former verb sig- nify also to whiten, a^ the hair of the head, as we say, to sprinkle wjth gray

hairs. The Arabic ^ ^ signifies to drive, to impel, to repel, to contend, to strive ; to shine, to sparkle. And here we have the literal signification of this whole class of verbs; to drive, urge, throw, send; hence to scat ter, to strive, to shoot as rays of Ught, procreate, &.c.

The Hebrew corresponding verb is mt or J?ll to scatter, to sow ; and the word witli tlie like orthography occurs in Ch. Syr. and Ar. This is the Latin sero. And who can doubt that 3 is a prefix in tlie verb ir\\2 above mentioned .'

In Welsh, goberu signifies to work, to operate; gober, work, operation ; formed by the prefix go and per ; go denoting progress towards, approach, and per rendered by Owen, that pervades, a fruit, a pear ; but tlie real eense is to strain, to bring forth, to drive, thrust, urge, &c.

This word, in the Arnioric dialect, is written either gofter or ober Latin operor, whence Eng. operate. The same word is in the Ethiopic, I'Oi gaber, to make, to do. l\\1(\\i agabar, to cause to be made ; •^J^ "] Q 4 tagabar, to work, operate, negotiate ; 1 Q ^ gabar, a make

This is the Heb. and Ch. laj to be strong, to prevail, to establish, and as

a noun, a man; Ar. »*.:? jabara, to make strong, to heal, as a broken bone ; to strengthen.

That this Shemitic word and the Welsh and Ethiopic are all radically one, there cannot be a question ; and the Welsh proves indisputably that go is a prefix. This then is a word formed on 13 or N-13. The Heb. T3N, strong, that is, strained, and T3N, a wing, that is, a shoot, are from the same

root, and in Arabic j. j ? abara, signifies to prick, to sting, and its deriv

pike, a pear, and per, a

lance, a spit, a spear, Lat. verii ; in Welsh also spit, ai-e all doubtless of the same origin.

In Syriac, ^o. ,tsabar, signifies to make, to work or operate. Is tliis the same root with a different prefix ?

The same word in Arabic »aa» signifies to be patient, to bear, to sus- tain.

W e observe, that in the Teutonic and Gothic languages, the same word is used with different prefixes. Thus in our mother tongue, begin is writ- ten gynnan, tlie simple radical word, and aginnan, beginnan, and ongyn- nan ; and in the Gothic, duginnan, which, in English, would be, login.

Should it appear upon investigation, that verbs in the Assyrian languages have the same prefixes which occur in the European languages, the fact will evidence more affinity between the languages of these two stocks than has yet been known to exist.

Let us now attend to the natural causes which may be supposed to have obscured or desUoyed the identity or resemblance of languages which had a common origin.

The afhnity of words, in two or more different languages, is known by identity of letters and identity of significaUon ; or by letters of the same organ, and a signification obviously deducible from the same sense. Letters of the same organ, as for example, b, /,;) and j) are so easily converted, the

one into the other, and the change is so frequent, tliat this circumstance seldom occasions much obscurity. The changes of signification occasion more difficulty, not so much by necessity, as because this branch of philolo- gy is less understood.

1. CHANGE OF ARTICULATIONS, OR CONSONANTS.

The articulations, letters which represent the junctions or joinings of the organs, usually called consonants, are the stamina of words. All these are convertible and frequently converted into their cognates. The English word bear represents the Latin fero and pario, and fero is the Greek fifu. The Latin vcntus is wind in English ; and habeo is hare. The Latin dens, in Dutch, Danish and Swedish is land; and darue in English is in German tanz.

These changes are too familiar to require a multiplication of examples. But there are others less common and obvious, which are yet equally cer- tain. Thus in the Gaelic or Hiberno-Celtic,™ and mb are convertible with V ; and in Welsh m and v are changed, even in different cases of the same word. Thus in Irish the name of the hand in written either ZaniA or lav, and in Welsh maen, a stone, is written also vaen. The Greek is always^ pronounced as the English v, as PouXonai, Lat. volo, EngUsh will, German* wollen ; and the sound of b tlic Greeks express by m(3.

In the Chaldee and Hebrew, one remarkable distinction is the use of a dental letter in tlie former, where the latter has a sibilant. As ni3 cuth in Chaldee is tyij cush in Hebrew ; 3rn, gold, in Chaldaic, is 3ni in He- brew. The like change appears in the modern languages ; for water which, in most of the northern languages, is written with a dental, is, in German, written wasser, and the Latin dens, W. dant, Dutch tand, Swedish and Danish tand, is, in German, zahn. The like change is frequent in the Greek and Latin. "PpaTiu, in one dialect, is (ppaircrw, in another; and the Latins often changed t of the indicative present, or infinitive, into a in the preterit and participle, as initio, mittcre, i/tisi, missus.

L and R, though not considered as letters of the same organ, are really such and changed the one into the other. Thus the Spaniards write blandir for brandish, and escolta for escort. The Portuguese write brando for bland, and branquear, to whiten, for blanch. The Greek has tffayiWm for the Latin flagellum. In Europe however this change seems to be limited chiefly to two or three nations on the coast of the Mediterranean. L is sometimes commutable with D.

We have a few instances of the change of g- or gh into/. Thus rough is pronounced j«/,and trough, traiif.

The Russians often change the d of a noun into the sound of j, or the compound g, in the verb formed from that noun ; as lad, accord, harmony, laju, to accord, or agree ; bred, damage, loss ; breju, to injure.

The Italians and French have also changed a dental into a palatal letter.

ragxone.

any words ; as Italian raggio, a ray, from Lat. radius ; reason, from ratio ; Fr. manger, to eat, from Lat. mando, or manduco.

In the south of Europe, the Greek % has been changed, in some instan- ces, into the Italian or Spanish z, and then by the French into s. It seems that the Spanish z has, at some former period, been pronounced as a guttu- ral. Thus the Gr. pf axcMi, Lat. brachium, the arm, is in Spanish brazo, and the Spaniards have the word from the Latin, or from the same source as the Latin and Greek, the Celtic braic. This word, brazo, the French changed into bras, and from that we have brace and embrace. A similar change occurs in Dnrazzo, from Dyrrachium, and in the Spanish luz, light.

The Teutonic nations often used ft to express the power of the Greek «, and the Latin c, as heart for xapSia, horn for comu. Hence we find that the Saxon hlinian, hleonian or hlynian, to lean, is the Greek kAho), Latin clino. The letter h is now dropped and we wiite the word lean.

In like manner, the Saxon hlid, which we no root as tlie Latin claudo, cludo, Ihp liirfk .'■■ hAhm. And in this word we may ■ ■!

not only to shut, but to praise oi Latin plaudo, are the same, with that the primary sense is to strai.

write lid, is from the same •. wliich is contracted into ' t, that the word signifies 1^ that this word and tlio , the same as laudo, and .uii appears in hlud, loud.

Latin, /and h have been converted, as hordeum for fordeum ; and the Spaniards now write A for/, as Aacer for the Latin facere ; hilo for Jilum ; herir {orferire, Uc.

3. CHANGE OF VOWELS.

The change of vowels is so common, as to occasion no difficulty in deter- mining the sameness of words ; indeed little or no regard is to be had to them, in ascertaining the origin and affinity of languages. In this opinion I accord with almost a^l writers on this subject ; but! have to combat the opin- ion of that elegant scholar, Sir William Jones, who protests against the licen- tiousness of etymologists, not only in transposing letters, but in totally disre- garding the voicels, and seems to admit the common origin of words only "'hen written with the same letters, and used in a sense precisely the same.*

* Asiatic Researches, vol. 3, p. 4S9.

INTRODUCTION.

I am not at all surprised at the common prejuJice existing against etymol- ogy. As the subject has been treated, it is justly liable to all the olyeclions urged against it. But it is obvious that Sir W. Jones had given very little attention to the subject, and that some of its most common and obvious prin- ciples had escaped his obseiTation. His opinion with regard to both articu- lations and vowels is unequivocally erroneous, as will appear from the fol- lowing list of words, taken from modern languages, and respecting the identity of which, that gentleman himself, if living, could not have the slightest doubt.

English. Saxon. Dutch. German. Swedish. Latin. draw, I Jiagau, trekken, tragen, draga, tralio.

give, gifan, geeven, geben, gifva,

feet, j

fot, fet, voet, hook, hoc, haak,

day, dag, dajg, daag,

have, habban, hebben,

[Fr. avoir, ai, as leap, hleapan, loopen.

fuss, haken,

fot.

pes.

hake, tag, dag,

haben, hafva,

, avons, avez, ont.] laufen, lopa.

hranden, brennen, willcn, woUen,

, vclle.

sten, bred, jord, Dan. iord.

burn, byr

will, willan,

stone, Stan,

broad, bred,

earth, eorth,

who, hwa, wie, ho, Dan. hvo.

seek, secan, zoeken, suchen, s5kia, sequor.

bean, bean, boon, bohne, bona, Dan. bonne.

Here are scarcely two words written with the same letters in two lan- guages; and yet no man ever called in question their identity, on account of the difference of orthography. The diversity is equally great in almost all other words of the same original. So in the same words we often find the vowel changed, as in the Lat. facio, feci ; ago, egi ; sto, steti ; vello, vulsi. Nothing is more certain than that the Welsh gwyz, and the English wood, are the same word, although there is one letter only common to them both. It is pronounced gooyth, that is, g, and wyth ; as guard for ward.

3. CHANGE OR LOSS OF RADICAL LETTERS.

There are some words, which, in certain languages, have suffered a change of a radical letter ; while in others it is wholly lost. For example, word, in Danish and Swedish is ord; wort, a plant, is urt ; the Saxon gear, orger, English year, in Danish is aar, in Swedish is &r, in Dutch jaar, and in German jaAr.

In the word, yoke, and its affinities, we have a clear and decisive example of changes in orthography. Yoke, the Latin jugvm, is from the Chaldee, Syriac, and Arabic JU. zug, 'o join, to couple ; a word not found in the He- brew. The Greeks retained the original letters in {u7o!, ?u7ou ; the Latins changed the first letter to J m jugum, and inserted a casual n in j'ungo. From the Latin, the Italians formed giogo, a yoke, and giugnere, to join ; the Spaniards, yugo, a yoke, and junior, to join ; the French, ^'oMg, a yoke, and ^omdre, to join. In Saxon, yoke is geoc or ioc ; in Dutch, juk; G. joch; Sw. ok.

One of the most general chaqges that words have undergone is the entire loss of the palatal letter g, when it is radical and final in verbs; or the open- ing of that articulation to a vowel or diphthong. We have examples in the English bow, from Saxon bugan, to bend ; buy, from bycgan; brow, from Ircg ; lay, I'rom IcBgan, or lecgan ; say, from siegan ;fair, from fceger ; flail, from the' German /eg-c/, Lat. flagellum; French nier, from Lat. nego, ne- gare.

The same or similar changes have taken place in all the modern langua- ges of which I have any knowledge.

The loss and changes of radical letters in many Greek verbs deserve par- ticular notice. We find in the Lexicons, irpayiia, 7rpa7o!, Trpaxuxoi, are refer- red to Trpao-cru, wpatTO, as the theme or root ; Toyua, to laaau ; purup, to pra ; and cpfaytia, to (ppcio-o-o). This reference, so far as it operates as a direction to the student where to find the verb to which the word belongs, and its explana- tion, is useful and necessary. But if the student supposes that these words are formed from the theme, so called, or the first person of the indicative mode, present tense, he is deceived. I am confident no example can be found, in any language, of the palatals 7 and «, formed from the dentals and sibilants, 1 and a, nor is piittop,or any similar word formed by the addition of the dental to a verb ending in a vowel. The truth is, the last radical in pro is lost, in the indicative mode, and inirpaaaiji, nptmu, it is changed. The ra- dical lost in pro is 5 or 9 ; the original word was ptSu or piSoi, and the deriva- tives pnTup, pniopiKn, were formed before the radical letter was dropped in the verb. No sooner is the verb restored to its primitive form, than we recog- nize its connection with the Irish raidham, to speak ; Saxon rad, speech ; 7tedan, to read ; German rath, Dutch raad. Sac.

The original root of irpao-trm, was irpa7M, irpaxu, or irpctKU, and from this were formed irpa7iia, irpaHTixot, before the last radical was changed. No sooner is the original orthography restored, than we see this to be the Teutonic verb.

German brauclien, Dutch gebruiken, Danish hruger, Sw. briilia. Sax. bru- can, to use, io practice, and hence the English broka:

The same remarks are api)licable to ia7na and rao-o-oj ; (ppa7Mo and (ppao-o-to ; alkay-n and aUac-uu ; xapcuTnp and xafaccra, and many other words of like for- mation. In all these cases, the last radical letter is to be sought in the deri- vatives of the verb, and in one of the past tenses, particularly in an aorist. This fact affords no feeble evidence that in Greek, as in the Shemitic langua- ges, the preterit tense or an aorist, was the radix of the verb.*

But it is not in the Greek language only that we are to seek for the primi- tive radical letters, not in what is now called the root of the verb, but in the derivatives. The fact is the same in the Latin, and in the English. The Latin fluctus and fluxi, cannot be deduced (rom fluo ; but the orthography of these words proves demonstrably that the original root wasflugo, or fluco. So in English sight cannot be deduced from see, for no example can be found of the letter g introduced to form the participles of verbs. Sight, in Saxon gesicht, D. zigt, G. sicht, Dan. sigt, Sw. sickt, is a participle ; but the verb in the infinitive, in Saxon is seon, geseon, Ger. sehen, D. zicn, Dan. seer, Sw. se ; in which no palatal letter is found, from which g or ch can be deduced. The truth then is that the original verb was segan, or in Dutch zegen ; the g being lost as it is in the French nier, from the Lat. nego.

In the change ol letters in the Greek verbs before mentioned, the process seems to have been from 7 or » to J, and then to o- and t ; Trfaym, jrpnju, nfac- aa, FpciTTW. This is certainly a process which is natural and common. The Latin brachiuni thus became in Spanish brazo, and then in French bras : and thus in the ItaUan, Alexandria has become Alessandria.

When the last radical of a Greek verb is a dental, it may not be certain whether the original letter was d, or th or t. ' We find the Greek verb oTraK, to draw, forms its derivatives with

It is equally clear that many Greek words have lost an initial consonant. The letter most generally lost is probably the oriental n, but obviously the palatals, 7 and «, have, in many instances, been dropped. There seems to be no question that the Greek o\\oi is the English whole and perhaps all. This in Welsh is oil or holl, in Saxon al or geall ; and this is undoubtedly the Shemitic '73. So the Gr. o>,Auni is the Welsh colli, to lose ; and £iAro may be the EngUsh coi7, Fr. cueillir.

In like manner, the Greek has, in many words, lost a labial initial, answer- ing to the English 6,/or v. The Greek ii5w is undoubtedly the Latin video ; ifyot is from the same root as work ; lim is from the root olvid, in the Latin

divide, and individuus, that is, separate, and from the Arabic, Jv j badda, to separate.

In many instances, the Latin retained or restored the lost letter ; thus ha- maxa, for ojiaja ; harpago for a^ira.-y-n ; harmonia for opuona ; video for £i5w.

If the marks of breathing, called spiritus asper and spiritus lenis, now pre- fixed to Greek words, were intended to represent the letters lost, or to stand in the place of them, they answer this purpose very imperfectly. The spir- itus asper may stand for a palatal or guttural letter, but it does not designate which letter, the n, or the 3 ; much less does this or the other spiritus just- ly represent the labials, 6,/, d or «). Whenever the Latins wrote A in the place of the Greek spiritus, we may conclude that the original letter was n or a cognate letter ; and we may conclude also that the » in video, and in diiyido, viduus, individuus, stands for the original labial lost in iidu, and iJus. But there are many words, I apprehend, in which the lost letter is unknown, and in which the loss cannot be recovered, by any marks prefixed to the words. We may well suppose that hymnus exhibits the correct written form of uuio! ; but what is there in the Greek uipi, to lead us to consider this word as the English woof, and ucpau, to be the same as weave ? Both the Greek words have the spiritus asper.

What proportion of Greek words have been contracted by the loss of an in- itial or final consonant, cannot, I apprehend, be determined with any pre- cision ; at least, not in the present state of philological knowledge. It is pro- bable the number of contracted words amounts to one fourth of all the verbs, and it may be more.

Similar contractions have taken place in all other languages ; a circum- stance that embarrasses the philologist and lexicographer at every step of his researches; and which has led to innumerable mistakes in Etymology. We know that the Swedish &r, and Danish aar, a year, have lost the articulation

g, and that the English y in year, is the representative of g, asj

" * ' ' " jahr : for the g is found in our mother lougue

and in a multitude of words, one language will supply the means of deter

Dutch jaar, and German

* KptUfu, in Greek, is to cry like a crow or rook ; but the last radical is changed fiom 7, as in the second aorist, it forms «pa7iii. Now in Danish, crow is krage, in Ger. krahe, in D. kraai, in Sw. kr&ka; a fact that demonstrates the last radical letter to be a palatal, which in English is opened too, in crow.

INTRODUCTION.

mining the real origin or true orthography which cnnn.i I ■ i. 1 1 iruHl by anotlier. But doubtless many changes have taken pi i i I ' i. ■ evi-

dence is uncertain ; the chain which might conduct \\ I ^ ' ii . I.iithog- raphy being broken, andno meansnow remaining ol II I n 11 _ ■'■.

In no language, has the rejection or change of consonants s n ft

ually to obscure the original words as in the French. So t-M ■ I

been the changes of orthography in that language, that hii

The Italians also have a disposition to reject letters when they interfere with their habits ofpronunciation, and hence we see, in their language, ^ia- no, written (or piano ; fiore (or flore ; fiocco (or flocco; a change that has removed a radical consonant, and thus obscured or ratlier destroyed the affin- ity between the Italian and the Latin words.

Another dilTerence of writing and pronouncing, has been produced by the change of a sibilant letter into an aspirate : or e converso, by the change of an a.spirate into a sibilant. No person doubts whether the Latin super is the Greek uirip ; or o|ia\\M is similh ; or a\\! is sal, salt. The latter in Welsh is halen, hal. So helyg, a willow, in Welsh, is in Latin salix. Thq (Jreek ma is the Latin septem, English seven. This in Persic is C>.x& heft or haft, which approaches the Greek itna. It has been commonly sup- posed, that in this case, the aspirate in Greek has been converted into an s. There are however strong reasons for believing that the change has been the reverse, and that s has been dropped, and its place supplied by an

aspirate. The word seven is, beyond a question, the Sheniitic ^ j^^ i,'2e>, whence nat?, Eng. sabbath ; and the Gaelic sean, old, whence Latin

senex, in Welsh hen, seems clearly to be the Ar. ^ sanna, to be old.

It is then clear that in these words .s is radical. It is probable however that the aspirate, in some cases, has been changed into s.

It deserves to be noticed that the radix of a word is sometimes obscured, in Greek and Latin, by the loss or change of a radical letter in the nomina- tive case. We find in Latin nepos, in the nominative, is nepotis in the gen- itive ; honos, honoris, &.c. In these changes, I suppose the letter restored in the oblique cases to be the true radical letter. Thus adamant has been deduced by our etymologists from the Greek a negative and ianau, to sub- due, on the supposition that the stone was named from its hardness. This is a good example of a great part of all etymological deductions ; they arc mere conjectures. It did not occur to the inquirer that adamas, in the nommative, becomes in the gentive adamantis ; that n is radical, and that this word cannot be regularly deduced from the Greek verb. Any person^ by looking into a Welsh dictionary, may see the original word.

In some words it is not easy to determine whether n before d is casual or radical. In such words as the Latin fundo, to pour, and tundo, to beat there is rea.son to think the n is casual, for the preterit is formed without it, fudt, tutuJt. But ni other words n before d seems to be radical, and the d casual ; as in fundo, fundare, to found. For this word coincides with the Irish bun, foundation, and with the Shemitic nj3, banah, to build. So the English yt«(Z is in Swedish ^inna, and in is in Danish ind.

Another fact of considerable consequence, is, the casual sound of n .-ivcn tog, which produced the elTect of doubling the 7 in Gi-cek, an. I ..I .1, , 7 , u

mg the insertion of n before g in the Latin, as also in the '

Gothic languages. Thus we see the 7 is doubled in the Greik we know, m this case, how the change originated; for the oii.Mi> ,1 v. \\,' 1 m the Gaelic and Irish, agalla. So 7 is prefixed to another palatal or -ut- tural letter in wyx'-', 07x01, £771^10.

A similar nasal sound of g probably introduced the n before s in lin-'o. to hck ,• hnquo, to leave.

We may be confident, in all cases, that n is not radical, when it is dropped in the supine and participle, as in Kctvm, Hctus, from linguo. When n is retained in t.ie supine and participle, there may be more reason for doubt; but m this case, the question may often be determined by the coriespondin

family.

word.

little doubt that lingo and the English "* the Lat. lingua and ligula arc of

This casua insertion of n in words of this class must be carefully noticed by the etymologist, or he will overlook the affinity of words, which are evi- dent y the same. We have many words in English which are written with n belore a g or a k, when the ancient words in the Gothic and Teutonic lan- guages and some of them in the modern Danish and Swedish, are written without n. Thus sink, in Gothic is sigcwan; to think, is thagkyan. It is not improbable that the (Jothic word was pronounced with the sound of n

Vol. I. C

■ ng- as in English. So i

- ^stances, we find the Sw .

jways, as tlinka, ttenker and tycka, tykker, to thinks But in general the Ger-

ans, Danes, Swedes and Dutch write words of this sort with ng.

To show how important it is to know the true original orthography, I will iition one instance. In our mother tongue, the word to dye, or color, is

nw-ndeagan; the elements or radical letters are dg. To determine il'.cr Ibis and the Latin tingo arc the same words, we must first know il]r ■ 11 in tingo is radical or casual. This we cannot know with cer- . ! ■ t'li- form of the word itself, for the n is carried through all the ' I iiMiiis of the verb. But by looking into the Greek, we find the

-, i vM,,Hii with 7, Tiv'/y; and this clearly proves the alliance of the

tiiil «iiii deagan. .'^rr- /(i,r in tin Hirtionary. j We have many Enjili ' lib a rf ha? been inserted before ;?,

3.% ia badge, budge, Iml'. , -,. In all words, I believe, of this

class, the dis casual, tn,.i . .; , > ,„ ,„^ is the radical letter, as pledge from the French pleige ; UK^t 1 1 um tin- .s^xon wecg. The practice of inserUng d in words of this sort seems to have originated in the necessity of some mode of preserving the English sound of g, which might otherwise be sounded as the French g before e. And it is for this reason we still retain, and ought to retain d in alledge, abridge. In like manner the Teutonic c has been changed into the sound of ch, as Sax. wacian, wacian, to wake, to watch; Sax. thac, thatch.

There are some nations which, in many words, pronounce and write g before u or w ; as in the French guerre, for war; guede, for woad ; guet- ter. for wait : in Welsh, gwal, for wall; gwain, for wain ; gwared, for guard, which in EngHsh is ward, Sp. guarda. In some instances, the u or u) is dropped in modern writing, as in the French garcniu, a warren : garde, for guard. ThisditTerence of orthography makes it difficult, in some cases, to ascertain the true radical letters.

CHANGE OF SIGNIFICATION.

Another cause of obscurity in the affinity of languages, and one thai seems to have been mostly overlooked, is, the change of the primary sense of the radical verb. In most cases, this change consists in a slight deflec- tion, or difference of application, which has obtained among diflerent fam- ilies of the same stock. In some cases, the literal sense is lost or obscured and the figurative only is retained. The first object, in such cases, is to find the primary or literal sense, from which the various particular applica- tions may be easily deduced. Thus, we find in Latin, libeo, libet, or lubeo, lubet, IS rendered, to please, to like ; lubens, willing, glad, cheerful, pleas- ed; hbenter, lubenter, willingly, gladly, readily. What is the primary sense, the visible or physical action, from which the iie&ot willing is taken? I find, either by knowing the radical sense of willing, ready, in other cases, or by the predominant sense of the elements lb, as in Lat. labor, to slide, liber, free, &c. that the primary sense is to move, incline or advance towards an object, and hence the sense of willing, ready, prompt. Now this Latin word is the English love, German lieben, Hebe. " Lubet me ire." I love to go ; I am inclined to go ; I go with cheerfulness ; but the affinity between love and lubeo has been obscured by a slight ditTerence of applica- tion, among the Romans and the Teutonic nations.

Perhaps no person has suspected that the English words heat, hate and hest, in behest, are all radically the same word. But this is the fact. Sax. hattan, to heat, or be hot, and to hate ; haitan, to heat and to call ; hatan, to call, to order, to command ; ge-haitan or gehatan, to grow warm, to promise, to vow ; Gothic, gahaitan, to call, to promise ; Dutch, heeten, to heat, to name, to call, bid or command ; German, heitzen. to heat ; heissen, to call; hitzen, to heat, to hoist; Swedish, hetsa, to inflame, to provoke : Dt.viivl, hnlrr. Inlie;ii, to be culled. Behest, we have from the German or ~>''''| >| I'i'I'i Hull loiiuides with the Latin astus torhtnstus, which ' ' I'l' ". ' '" III' <.irnian. //a

■' • • > :>'• I' '"1 h.'di. luimti, and as the Teutonic h often represents the Ljiiti J, ,u m Ian a, cuuui, tlic Danish orthography heder, coincides with the Latin cito, to call. Now what is the radical sense .' Most obviously to stir, agitate, rouse, raise, implying a driving or impulse ; and hence in Latin iBstuo, to be hot, and to rage or storm ; hence to excite, and hence the sense of the Latin cito, quickly, from stirring, rousing to action. In this case hatred, as well as heat, is violent excitement. We find also in the Saxon and Gothic the sense of vowing, that is, of driving out the voice, uttering, de- claring, a sense allied to calling and commanding, and to this is allied the sense of the Latin recito, to recite.

In English befall signifies to fall on, to happen to ; in German the same word, befallen, has the like signification. But in Saxon gefeallan signifies to fall, to rush on, while in German gefallen signifies to please, that is, to suit, to come to one's mind, to be agreeable. The Danish gefalder has the same signification as the German.

We find by the Saxon, that tlie English reck, to care, and reckon, and the Latin rego, to rule, are all the same word, varied in orthography and appU- cation. To hnd the primary sense of reck, to care, we are then to examine the various derivative senses. And we need go no farther than to the Latin rec- tus and English right, the sense of which is straight, for tliis sense is de- rived from straining, stretching. Care then is a straining of the mind.

INTRODUCTION.

a sUetcliing towards an object, coinciding with the primary sense of atten- tion. The primary sense of reckon is to strain out sounds, to speak, tell, relate ; a sense now disused.

The Saxon care, care, ctcrcian, to care, to cark, is connected in origin with the Latin career, a prison ; Ijoth from the sense of straining, whence holding or restraint.

To prove how the jirimary general sense of a word may ramify into differ- ent senses, by special appropriation of the word among separate families of men proceeding from the same stock, let us observe the different senses in wliich leap is used by the English, and by the nations on the continent. In English, to leap is simply to spring; as, to leap a yard ; to leap over a fence. But on the continent it signifies to run. Now it will be seen that this word as used by the Germans cannot always be translated by itself, that is, by the same word, into English. Take for illustration the following pas- .sage from Luther's Version of the Scriptures. 1. Sam. xvii. 17. " Nimm fUr deine bruder diese epha sangen, und diese zehen brod, und lai^'ms heer zu deinen brudern." " Take now for thy brethren an ephah of this parched corn, and these ten loaves, and leap to the camp to thy brethren." Leap, instead of run, is good German, but bad English.* There are two other words in this passage, of which a like remark may be made. The German brod, loaves, is our bread, which admits of no plural ; and sangan is our singed, which we cannot apply to parched corn.

So in some of the Teutonic languages, to warp kittens or puppies, to ivarp eggs, is correct language, though to our cars very odd ; but this is only a particular application of the primary sense, to throw. We say to lay eggs, but to lay is to throtv down.

By this comparison of the different uses and applications of a word, we are able, in most cases, to detect its original signification. And it is by this means, I apprehend, that we may arrive at a satisfactory explanation of the manner in which the same word came to have different and even opposite significations.

It is well known, for example, that the Hebrew word p3, is rendered, in our version of the Scriptures, both to bless and to curse. The propriety of the latter rendering is controverted by Parkhurst, who labors to prove, that in Kings and in Job, where it is rendered, to curse, it ought to be rendered, to bless; and he cites, as authorities, the ancient versions. It is true that in 1 Kings xxi. 10. 13 ; and in Job i. 11, and ii. 5, the seventy have rendered the word by euAo^iu), to bless ; and other ancient versions agree with the Septuagint. But let the word be rendered by bless in the following passa- ges. " Put forth thy hand now, and touch his bone, and his flesh, and he will Wess thee to thy face." " J5tos God and die." How very absurd does such a translation appear. It shows the immense importance of understand- ing the true theory of language, and the primary sense of radical words. Let us then endeavor to discover, if possible, the source of the difficulty in the case here mentioned. To be enabled to arrive at the primary sense, let us examine the word in the several languages, first, of the Shemitic, and then of the Japhetic stock.

Heb. "jia To bless ; to salute, or wish a blessing to.

2. To curse ; to blaspheme.

3. To couch or bend the knee, to kneel. Deriv. A blessing, and the knee. Chaldee, ■]"13 To bless ; to salute at meeting, and to bid farewell at

partin^^

2. To bend the knee.

3. To dig ; to plow ; to set si

The

'.e ; a blei To fall

Deriv. Syriac, V. 27.

2. To issue or proceed from. Math.

3. To bless.

plant for propagation.

Talm. and Rabbin. a cion ; the young of fowls. fall or bow down. Judg,

Samaritan, ii'\\Si To bless.

Ethiopic, fl/!tl To bless. Deriv. the knee.

Arabic, ,^j.j To bend the knee ; to fall on the breast, as a camel.

2. To be firm,' or fixed.

3. To rain violently ; to pour forth r;iin, as the clouds. Gr. Ppix".

4. To detract from ; to traduce ; to reproach or pursue with reproaches to revile.

5. To bless; to pray for a blessing on ; to prosper; to be blessed.

6. To hasten ; to rush, as on an enemy ; to assail.

Deriv. The breast ; the bason of a fountain ; a fish pond, or receptacle of water, as in Heb. and Ch, : also increase ; abundance ; constancy ; splendor; a flash of light.

In the latter sense, usually from Oj. j Heb. and Ch. pi3. The Arabic word supplies us with thecertain means of determining th^ radical sense ; for among other significations, it has the sense of pouring

forth rain ; and this is precisely the Greek ppix". The primary sense then send, throw, or drive, in a transitive sense ; or in an intransitive sense, to rush, to break forth.

To bless and to curse have the same radical sense, which is, to send or pour out words, to drive or to strain out the voice, precisely a< in the Latin ippello, from pello, whence peal, as of thunder or of a bell. The two penses pring from the appropriation of loud words to express pa: iiciilar acts. This depends on usage, like all other particular applications of one general .^iini- fication. The sense in Scripture is to utter words cithir in a good or bad sense ; to bless, to salute, or to rail, to scold, to rrproaeh ; and this very 1 is probably the root of repj-oacA, as it certainly iinftlie LM'mprecor, used, like the Shemitic word, in both senses, pnnjinfr ;iTni cursing, or de-

ecating." It is also the same word as the Enj;li-,li ;))

The sen.se of kneeling, if radical, is to throw, and if from the noun, the sense of the noun is a throwing, a bending.

The Chaldee sense of digging, if radical, is from thrusting in an instrument,

breaking the ground ; but perhaps it is a sense derived from the name of

ihoot or cion, and in reality, to set a shoot, to plant.

The Syriac use of this word in Matthew xv. 19, is intransitive, to issue,

shoot or break forth. So in Arabic, to rush on, to assault. The sense of firmness in Arabic is from setting, throwing down, as in kneeling ; and hence the sense of breast, the fixed, firm part.

That this word has the sense both of blessing and of cursing or reproach- ing, we have demonstrative evidence in the Welsh language. Hheg, in Welsh, is "[13, without the prefix. It signifies a sending out; utterance; a gift or present ; a consigning ; a ban, a curse or imprecation. Rhegu, to give ; to consign ; to curse. From rhtg is formed preg, a greeting, or salu- tation, [the very Hebrew and Chaldee word,] pregeth, a sermon, and pre- gethu, to preach. Here we have not only the origin oi preach, but another important fact, that preg, and of course y^l, is a compound word, composed of a prefix, p or b, and rheg. But this is not all ; the Welsh greg, a cack- ling, gregar, to cackle, is formed with the prefix g on this same rheg. [Dan. krage, a crow.]

In Welsh, bregu signifies to break ; breg, a breach, a rupture. This Owen deduces from bar, but no doubt erroneously. It is from rhegu, and there is some reason to think that break is from p3, rather than from pnS, but probably both are from one radix, with different prefixes.

We observe one prominent sense of the Arabic i»J\\j baraka, is to rain violently ; to pour forth water, as clouds. This is precisely the Greek (3pixM ; word found in all the Teutonic and Gothic languages, but written cither with or without its prefix.

Saxon, riBgn or regn, rain ; regnan, to rain.

Dutch, regen, rain ; regenen, beregenen, to rain upon.

German, regen, rain ; regnen, to rain ; beregnen, to rain on.

Swedish, regna, to rain.

Danish, regn, rain ; regner, to rain.

Saxon, racu, rain ; Cimbric, riekia, id.

Here we find that the English rain, is from the same root as the Welsh rhig, rhegu, and the Shemitic "jlj.

Pursuing the inquiry further, we find that the Saxon recan, or reccan, [W. rhegu,'] signifies to speak, to tell, to relate, to reckon, the primary sense of which last is to speak or tell ; also, to rule, which shows this to be the La- tin rego ; also to care, which is the English reck. That this is the same word as rain, we know fiom the Danish, in which language, regner signi- fies both to rain and to reckon, to tell, to count or compute. In the German, the words are written a little differently ; rechnen, to reckon, and regnen, to rain. So in Dutch, reekenen and regenen; but this is a fact by no means uncommon.

Here we find that the English reckon and reck, and the Latin rego, arc the same word. The pi imary sense is to strain, to reach, to stretch. Care is a stretching of the mind, like attention, from the Latin tendo, and re- straint is the radical sense of governing. Hence rectus, right, that is, straight, stretched.

Hence we find that rain and the Latin regnum, reign, are radically the same word.

Now in Saxon racan, or racan, is the English reach, to stretch or extend, from the same root, and probably reek, Saxon recan, reocan, to fume or smoke ; for this is, to send off.

I might have mentioned before, that the Chaldee n0">3, a cion or branch, is precisely the Celtic word for arm; Irish icoic, or raio:/) ; AVelsh Araif ; whence the Greek (3?axi"i, the Latin brachium, whence the Spanish braio, whence the French bras, whence the English brace. The arm is a shoot, a branch, and branch is from this root oi- one of the family, n being casual ; branch for brach.

He walks, he leaps, he i

In^robusurget iratis precibus." — Horace.

INTRODUCTION.

On this word, let it be further obser\\-cd, or on p-a or p-i3, if radically different, are formed, with the prefix s, the German sprechen, to speak, spracAe, speech ; Dutch spreeken, spraak ; Swedish spr&ka, syroA; Da- nish sprog, speech ; and Swedish spricka, to break; Danish sprekker. The same word with n casual is seen in spring, the breaking or opening of the winter; and here we see the origin of the marine phrase, to spring a mast, Danish springer, to burst, crack or spring. This in Swedish is written without n, spricka, to break, burst, split ; but a noun of this family has n, fpringa, a crack, and spring, a spring, a running.

Now let us attend to other Shemitic words consisting of cognate elements.

Chaldee, -tlil To rub or scrape ; to rub out or tread out, as grain from the car or sheaf; Latin/rico,/rio.

2. To collect and bind, as sheaves; perhaps English, lo rake.

3. To break or break down.

4. To question; to doubt. In Saxon and Gothic fragnan, fragan, signi- fies to ask.

Deriv. Froward ; perverse. Prov. ii. 12. So in English refractory.

This verb is not in the Hebrew; but there are two derivatives, one signi- fying tlie inner vail of the temple ;'so called probably from its use in break- i'ng^Wvit is, interrupting access, or separation, like diaphragm in Engli.sh. The other derivative is rendered rigor, or cruelty ; that which strains, op- presses, breaks down, or rakes, harasses.

With this verb coincides the Irish bracaim, to break, to harrow, that is, to rake.

Syr. 3;.3 To rub, so rendered, Lukevi. 1. Lat. /;ico. A d( sijnities to comminute. 'Deriv. Distortion ; winding ; twisting. Let this be noted.

Ar. ^j.3 To rub, Lat. /ric«.

2. To hate, as a husband or wife ; to be languid, or relaxed.

Deriv. Laxity ; franeibility ; friability.

Heb. p-13 To 6reafr,burst, or rend; to break off; to separate.

Deri\\! A breaking or parting of a road.

Ch. p13 To break.

2. Tb redeem, that is, to free, separate or deliver.

3. To explain, a-s a doubtful question. Deriv. One who ransoms or delivers ; a rupture ; the neck or

breaking connected in tliis

joint of a reed ; a chapter, pni)> a rupture, coinciding

ture ; a joint of the fingers, &c. ; the ankle or section of a book ; explanation ; expositic with the English broke.

Syr. ,0\\.S> To redeem.

2. To depart ; to remove ; to separate.

Deriv. A recess, or withdrawing ; separaUon ; liberation ; redemption ; safely ; vertebra.

Sam. The same as tlie Syriac verb.

Ar. o.i to separate ; to divide; to withdraw; to disperse, [qu. Lat spargo\\] to lay open; to disclose ; to cast out ; to immerse.

Deriv. Separation ; distinction ; distance ; inter\'al ; dispersion ; aurora, as we say, the break of day; also, a garment reaching to the middle of the thigh, qu. frock; also bre'ech.

I have placed these two words together, because I am convinced they are both of one family, or formed on the same radical word. The latter coincides exactly with the Latin frango,fregi,fractum, for n in frango, is undoubt- edly casual. Now in Welsh bregu, to break, would seem to be directly con- nected with "113, yet doubtless bregii is the English break, the German brechen, the Dutch breeken, &c. In truth, the three words -p^, pg and pi3 are probably all from one primitive root, formed with different prefixes, or rather with the same prefix differently written ; the different words bearing appropriate senses, among different tribes of men.

We observe in the Chaldee word the sense of questioning. Perhaps this may be the Gothic /roo^an, to ask, and if so, it coincides with the Latin rogo. the latter without the prefix. In tlie sense of break, we find, in the Greek, pT\\7vuM, without a prefix. j

Most of the significations of these verbs are too obvious to need illustra tion. But we find in the Syriac the sense of distortion, a sense which a first appears to be remote from that of breaking or bursting asunder. Bu this is probably the primary sense, to strain, to stretch, a sense we retain in the phrase, to break upon the wheel, and by dropping the prefix, we have the precise word in the verb, to racfr.

Now if this is the genuine sense, we find it gives the English wreck and wrack, the Danish vrag, Sw. vrak, a wreck. In Saxon, wracan, wrecan is the English wreak, that is, to drive, or throw on ; wrace, is an exile, a uretch. In D.in. vrnger signifies to reject; Sw.vraka, to throw away; all implying a driving force, and that wreck is connected with breakis prob- able for another reason, that the Latin fractus, frango, forms a constituent part of naufiagium, the English shipwreck, which in Danish is simply wag-.

Now if straining, distortion, is one of the senses of this root, the English wring, tcTong, Danish crang, Sw. vr&ng, may be deduced from it, for un- doubtedly n is not radical in these words. The Dutch have wringen, but the German drops the first letter and has ringen, both to twist or wind and

to ring or sound ; the l.itlcr sense from stiainiiig or throwing, as in other cases. Without n, wring would be wrig, and wrong, wrog ; wrung, vorag, Dan. vrag.

In Greek, p

We find also among the Chaldee derivatives the sense of a neck, and a joint. Now we find this word in Irish, braigh, the neck ; in Greek, with- out the prefix, faxn, the spine of the back, Saxon, hraeca, English, the rack, and from the Greek, the rickets, from distortion.

Coinciding with the Greek priyiuw, to break, we find in Welsh rhwgaw, to rend, and coinciding with paxm, a rock, a crag, Welsh, eraig, and connect- ed with these, the Saxon hracod, English ragged, that is, broken ; evidently the participle of a verb of this family.

Hence we find the senses of distortion and root, in a great variety of instances.

The Shemitic p^3, to lighten, to shine or flash, is one of this family. The

sense is to shoot' or dart, to throw, as in all like cases. And under this

;, the Arabic has the sense, to adorn, as a female ; to make bright or

shining ; which gives the English prank and prink, D. pragt, 0. pracht.

Prance is of the same family, from leaping, starting, darting up.

In Greek Ppayu:, short, stands in the Lexicons as a primary word or root. But this is from the root of break, which is lost in Greek, unless in fnym, without the prefix. From ppax"!, or the root of this word, the French lan- guage has abreger, to abridge, and what is less obvious, but equally certain, that from the same root the Latin has brevis, by sinking the palatal let- ter, as we do in bow, from bugan, and in lay, from lecgan ; so thai abridge and abbremate, brief, are from one root.

It should have been before mentioned that the Latin refragor, signifies to resist, to strive against, to deny, whence refractory ; a sense that demon- strates the primary sense to be to strain, urge, press ; and refraction, in optics, is a breaking of the direct course of rays of light by turning them ;

sense coinciding witli that of distortion.

We see then that one predominant sense of break, is, to strain, to distort. Let us now examine some of the bilitcrai roots in rg and rk, wliich, if b

a prefix, must be the primary elements of all the words above mentioned.

Ch. in To desire, to long for. This is the Greek op<7w, and English to reach; for desire is expressed by reaching forward, stretcliing the mind to-

ards the object. So in Latin appeto, and expeto, from peto, to move to-

ards. This coincides nearly with the Latin rogo, to ask, and the Goth. fragnan. Sax. frcegnan.

Syr.^ ; To desire ; and with olaph prefixed,.,^ ] to desire, or long ; also to wet or moisten; also J^ to moisten — Latin rigo, irrigo, to irrigate.

Deriv. Tender, soft, fresh, from moisture or greenness. Qu. Lat recent,

derivative.

Here desire and irrigation are both from one root; desire is a reaching forward, and irrigation is a spreading of water.

This root, in Hebrew JIN, signifies to weave, or connect as in texture and net work ; but tlie primary sense js to stretch or strain.

In Arabic, the same verb _ , \\ signifies to emit an agreeable smell; to

breathe fragrance ; radically to throw or send out ; to eject ; a mere modifica- tion of the same sense. This is the Latin fragro, whence fragrant, with a prefix; but according exactly with the English reek.

"IIN in Ch. Heb. Syr. and Sam., signifies to prolong, to extend. In .\\r. as in Heb. in Hiph. to delay, or retard; that is, to draw out in time.

JH'y in Heb. has been differently interpreted; indeed, it has been rendered by words of directly contrary signification. The more modern interpre- ters, says Castle, render it, to sptit, divide, separate, or break; the ancient interpreters rendered it, to stiffen, to make rigid or rough, to wrinkle or . corrugate. Castle and Parkhurst, however, agree in rendering it, in some passages, to quiet, still, allay. Jer. xlvii. 6. 1.34. In Job vii. 6. our trans- lators have rendered it broken, my skin is broken, [rough, or rigid.] In Job. xxvi. 12. it is rendered by divide. " He divideth the sea by his power." In Vanderhooght's Bible it is in this place rendered by commovet — He agit- ates the sea. The Seventy render it by varrrauo-i, he stilled; and this is tho sense which Parkhurst gives it.

In Isaiah li. 15, and Jer. xxxi. 35, it is rendered in our version hy divide. " But I am the Lord thy God, that divided the sea, whose waves roared."

In Vanderhooght's Bible it is rendered in Isaiah Ii. 15, " I am Jehovah thy God, qui commovens mare, ut perstrepant fluctus ejus." In Jer. xxxi. 35, commovens mare, ut tumultuenter fluctus — agitating or moving the sea, that the waves roar, or may roar. The passage in Isaiah is rendered by the seventy, on a 0;ci a:'Vf c tapacrtrwi rtiv 6a\\acT(7aVy xai nxwv Ta yviiaia avi-ns, agita- ting the sea and causing its waves to roar and resound. In the French trans- lation, the passage in Isai:ih is " qui fend la mer, et ses flots bruient." [I] who divide the sea and the waves roar. In Jeremiah the passage is " qui agite la mer et les flots en bruient." Who agitates the sea and therefore the waves roar. In ItaUan, the passage in Isaiah is rendered " che muovo il mare, e le sue onde romoreggiano." In Jeremiah, " che commuove il mare, onde le sue onde romoreggiano." WTio moveth the sea, wherefore its waves roar, or become tumultuous.

INTRODUCTION.

These dilleient rejideiings show the importance of understanding the lit-] cral or primary sense of words ; for whatever may be the real sense m the passages above mentioned, it cannot be to divide I we are give to vau in the following word, its usual sense of and, it is diflicult to make sense of the word rJI, by translating it, he stUleth: hestilleth the sea audits waves are tumultuous, or he stiUeth the sea that the waves may roar or be agitated ! This will not answer. The more rational version would be, he roughens the sea, and its waters roar, or he drives, impels it into agitaUon. In Lthi- opic the same word signifies to coagulate, to freeze, to become rigid ; and this is undoubtedly the Latin riseo, and with a prefix, /ngeo, and this sig- nification is perhaps allied to Lat. rugo, lo wrinkle ; for as a general rule, the radical sense of wrinkle is to draw, as in contract, cmitraho, and thu seems to be the sense of rigeo. Both these words are allied to rough which is from breaking or wrinkling. This sense would perhaps well suii the context in these two passages, as it would also that in Job vu. 5 . My skin is rough.

Now in Arabic, the general signification of ;?JT is to return, to repeat, to withdraw, which may be from drawing back ; a dififerent application ol the original sense, to strain, stretch, or extend.

The root pn in Chaldee signifies to spit, and this is probably the Latin j

ructo, somewhat varied in application. The signifies to diive off, to reject, to shoot or grov rify or make clear as wine ; precisely the English to rack ; also 1 to pour out. Hebrew p^, to empty, to draw

ame verb in Arabic long as teeth, to stra

a, spittle ; Syriac, to spit, to di

attenuate or make

out, to attenuate ; Sa-

Ethiopic, to be fine, slender,

Pi. j^3, the verb differently pointed, to hew, to out down. Josh. xvii. .5. IS.

2. To cut down with the sword ; to kill. Ez. xxiii. 47.

3. To make fat. 1 Sam. ii. 29. Thus far the Hebrew.

Chal. Sia To create. Gen. i. \\.

2. To cut off. Is. xl. 20.

3. To make fat ; to grow sound or strong. Talm.

Deriv. Fat ; whole ; sound ; strong. Castle.

Syr. ] "^O To create. Gen. i. 1. JVIark xiii. 19.

2. To remove to a distance, and Deriv. distance, distant Castle.

Sam. /fSa To create. Gen. i. 22. Deut. iv. 32. Castle

Ar. ^j.j To create. Job xxxviii. 7. [qu. 4 and 6.]

2. To be' free, or guiltless, not obnoxious to punishment. Num. v. 28. 31, and xxxii. 22. Rom. vii. 6.

3. To free ; to absolve, from i Ex. XX. 7. Num. xiv. 18.

4. To escape ; to forsake.

5. To recover from disease ; to be healed ; to restore to health. Lev. xii 18. Josh. v. 8. Math. iv. 23.

6. To cleanse ; to free from impurities

7. To abstain from.

Deriv. Creator ; free ; unobnoxious ; clean ; empty.

to liberate; to dismiss; to justify.

thin, and i

maritan, to pour out, to draw out, to extend ,

or thin ; Arabic, to be soft, tender, thin. The verb p has a like signifi'

tion, and is perhaps from the same original root. yTTt Hebrew, to spread

stretch, extend. But, says CasUe, all the ancient' interpreters rcnderec

the word, to ordain, establish, make firm ; to strike, to beat, as plates ot

metal. But tlie sense is to stretch, to spread, and the beating is only the

means of extending. Hence y^rrs the firmament, which agrees well with

Lat. regio, an extent ; in Hebrew, properly an expanse. And to reconcile

the ancient and modern interpretations of this word, let it be remembered

HiZi strength znA firmness are usually or always from stretching, tension.

Now let us hear Ainsworth on the word regio. " Regio a rego quod priusquam provincise fierent, regiones sub regibus erant atque ab his re •rebantur." How much more natural is it to deduce regio from the prima ry sense ofrego, which is to stretch, to strain, to extend ! Regio is an ex tent, a word of indefinite signification.

In Chaldee and Arabic this verb signifies to mend, to repair, to make whole, from extending spreading over or making strong. See the root "70 infra. .

We observe that JJT and j;rri agree in original signification, with th' English reach, on the root of which or some of its derivatives was formed stretch. That "pZ, p3 and piS were formed on any of the foregoing bilite ral roots we may not be able to affirm ; but it is certain from the Welsh that the first consonant of the triliteral root is a prefix, and it is certain from the Shemitic languages that the primary sense is the same in the biliteral and triliteral roots, or that all the applications or particular significations may readily be deduced from one general signification

, to separate, to free, to i

To illustrate this subject more full; : Other Shemitic words oi

attend to the various applic

produce into being.

2. To form, by accretion or concretion of matter. Gen. i

3. In Hiph. To make fat ; to fatte

t03.

Heb. t03 To create. This, by most lexicographers, is given as the first signification, in all the Shemitic languages. Parkhurst says, to create ; Droduce into being. Gen. i. 1.

21. batten. 1 Sam. ii To do' or perform something wonderful. Num. xvi. 30. 5. In Niph. To be renewed. In Ka!, to renew, in a spiritual sense Ps. Ii. 12. Castle says,

1. To create from nothing, or to produce something new or excellent from another thing. Gen. i. Is. xlii. 5.

2. In Niph. To be renewed or re-created. Is. xlviii. 7. Ps. cii. 19.

3. To cut off; to take away ; to bear away, or remove ; also to select ; to prepare. Josh. xvii. 15. 18. Ezek. xxiii. 47.

Gesenius says,

1. Strictly, to hew, to hew out. [Ar. to cut, to cut out, to plane.]

2. To form; to make ; to produce. Ar. lj.j The order of significa- tions is, as in the Ar. uii.^^ galaka, to be smooth, to make smooth. 2. To plane. 3. To form, make. Gen. i. 1. 21. 27.

1. Niph. passive of Kal. No. 2. Gen. ii. 4. 8. To be born. Ezek. xxi. 30. Ps cii. 18.

Ar. \\j.j To create.

2. To cut off; to hew or pare.

3. To separate ; to distinguish.

4. To make thin.

5. To oppose ; to strive ; to resist.

6. To provoke; to boast, or make a parade.

7. To distribute ; to disperse. Castle. According to Gesenius, the primary sense of this verb is to hew, to cut out,

and thus to make smooth, and thus to create ; and he deduces these senses in the same order, as he does those of the Arabic verb, which gives the word like. But there is no ground for this opinion ; and doubtless the verb ori- ginated before the use of edge tools.

The predominant senses of this word, ;

we see by the Arabic and Syriac.

Now hewing is indeed separating, and we have the English word pare from this root ; but we must seek for a signification which is more general than that o{ paring, or we shall not be able to account for the sense of mak- ing fat, sound, entire, and strong, nor for that of being born.

The truth undoubtedly is, this word is of the same family with the Eng- lish bear, the Latin pario, and the radical sense is to throw, to thrust, to send, to drive, to extend ; hence to throw out, to produce, as applied to the

th of children or of the world. To throw or drive, is the primary sense of separation and division, that is, to drive off. The English word deal, when traced to its root, presents the same fact. See Deal. To create, is to pro- duce or bring forth, the same sense as that o( birth, applied lo a different object. The sense of hewing and paring is from driving off, separation. In Syriac, we observe the general application, in removal, or departure to a distance. The sense of fattening is derivative, and allied to that of healing making whole, sound, strong, in the Arabic, that is, preparing, bringing 1 good state, or from tension, the usual primary sense of strength and

To obtain a more full and satisfactory view of this subject, let us attend to the same word in the modern languages of Europe.

LATIN.

Paro, to prepare, make ready, procure, design, &c. The radical sense of paro is probably the same as in the Shemitic languages ; to produce, to bring Ibrward. So also ready implies an advancing, and so docsprompt/iess. But the various ways of preparing a thing for use naturally give to the word, in process of time, a variety of particular significations ; each of which results in bringing the thing to the state desired. The compounds oiparo, are ap- pnro, to prepare, to furnish, accouler or set out ; comparo, to prepare or procure, to make equal, to compare, to join, to dress or make ready ; prceparo, to prep-ire; reparo, to repair, to create anew, to regain, to com- pensate ; separo, to separate. Let the Latin uses of this word be compared

th the same Hebrew word in Joshua xvii. 15, where it is rendered cut

down. "Ascend to the wood country and cut down for thyself;" Septua-

gint, iHxaea? I (TiauM, clear for thyself This is one mode of preparation for

In Ezek. xxi. 19, it is rendered choose. Septuagint, iittiajiii, ap-

Parare, to prepare ; to garnish ; to adorn ; to propose an occasion ; parry, or ward off, as a blow ; to defend; to cover from or shelter ; to repo

INTRODUCTION.

(o leach a horse to stop, and in horsemanship, lo stop ; parata, a wanling off, a garnishing ; parato, prepared, ready, prompt, warded ofl or parried, shield- ed, defended.

Apparare, to learn ; apparato, learned, prepared ; apparato, preparation, garnishment.

Parecchio, a preparation; also equal, even, [L. par;] parecchiare, to prepare ; pareggiare, to make equal, to compare ; apparecchiare, to pre pare, to ornament or garnish, to set in order ; appareggiare, to put in com- petition, to match, to equal.

Comparare, to compare.

Disparate, to forget; disparare, sparare, to unfurnish, to disgarnish to make unready, to disbowel, to separate, di'-join, unpair; to discbarge, ai artillery.

/m;)arare, to learn.

Riparare, to repair, to restore to the first state ; to repair, or resort to, or have access to ; to parry, or ward otf ; riparo, reparation, a fort, a bank, fence, mound, remedy, shelter.

SPANISH.

Parar, to prepare ; to stop, detain, prevent ; to end ; to treat or use ill ; to stoke at cards ; to point out the game, as pointers.

Parada, a halt or stopping, end, pause ; a fold for cattle ; a relay, as horses ; a dam or bank ; a stake or bet ; a parade, or a place where troops are assembled to exercise ; parado, remiss, careless, unemployed.

Par, a pair; a peer ; after-birth ; the handle of a bell.

Apnrar, to stretch out the hands or skirts of a garment for receiving any thing ; to dig and heap earth round plants ; to close the upper and hind quar- ter of a shoe to the sole ; to couple male and female animals ; to dub as a ship.

AparadoT, a sideboard, a dresser in a kitchen, a workshop, a wardrobe; aparato, preparation, pomp, show.

Aparear, to match ; to suit one thing to another, [pair.]

Aparejo, preparation, harness, sizing of a piece of linen or board on which something is to be painted, tackle, rigging employed on board of a ship. [Apparel, parrel.]

Comparar, to compare.

Vesparejar, to make unequal.

Disparar, to dischaige, as tire arms.

Amparar, to shelter'; lo protect. [Aragon, to sequester, as goods.]

JEmparedar, to confine or shut up.

Reparar, to repair ; to observe carefully, to consider ; to mend or correct : to suspend or detain ; to guard, defend, protect ; to regain strength or recov- er from sickness ; to right tlie helm.

Separar, to separate.

PORTUGUESE.

Parar, v. i. to stop, to cease to go forward ; to confine upou, to meet ai the end, to touch, to be bounded ; to end, to drive at something, to aim at to come to; to imply, involve, or comprise : " Nao posso parar com feme,' I cannot bear hunger. " Ninguem pode aqui parar," nobody can live oi stay here. [Kng. bear.]

Parar, v. t. to stop, to hinder from proceeding ; to parry or ward off; to turn or change with regard to inclination or morals ; to lay or stake as a wa- ger. Parada, a stopping or place of stopping ; a bet or wager.

Amparar, to protect, shelter, defend, abet.

Comparar, to compare ; comprar, to buy, to procure.

Aparar, to pare, as an apple ; to mend or make a pen ; to parry a blow.

Aparelhar, to prepare, to tit, to cut out or rough hew ; aparelho, tackle ir a ship for hoisting things, Eng. a parrel.

Disparar, to shoot, to discharge, as fire-arms.

J?f/)arar, to repair ; to;jarry in fencing; to advert; to observe ; to mak( amends; to retrieve; to recover ; to recruit; to shelter; reparo, in fortiti cation, defense.

FRENCn.

Pnrtr, to deck, adorn, trim, set off, embellish ; to parry or ward off. " Pa rer de j cuirs," to dress lether ; "TJarerlepiodd'uncheval," to pare ahorse'i hoof.

Parer, v. i. to stop ; paresse, idleness.

Pari, a lay, bet or wager ; parier, to bet or lay a wager.

Appareil, preparation, furniture, train, retinue, [Eng. apparel.] Appa raux, tackle, sails and rigging, [Eng. parrel.]

Pair, a peer, an equal ; pdire, a pair ; apparier, to pair, to match.

S'emparer, to seize, to invade.

Repnrer, to repair.

Sqiarer, to separate.

ARMORIC.

Uberayu, to put in order, to adjust, to mow or reap, air. This word has the common prefix u.

poridan, to cut off.

: to dress as the

Para, to dress, to trim, to stop, to parry, lo prepare

WELSH.

Par, .something contiguous, or that is in continuity; a state of readiness or preparedness ; a pair or couple ; a fellow, match.

/•or, a cause ; the essence, germ or seed of a thing; n spear.

Para, to continue, to endure, to persevere.

Parad, a causing ; parai, that causes to be.

Parawd, prepared, ready ; parodi, to prepare.

That all the foregoing words in the present European languages, [and sev-« eral others might have been added,] are formed from one stock or radix, co- inciding with the l.,atin paro, is a fact that admits of no question. The only doubt respecting the correctness of the wliolc preceding statement, is, wheth- er the Latin paro is radically the same as the oriental ^Oa ; and with regard to this point, 1 should suppose the evidence to be convincing. Indeed there is good reason to believe that the oriental verbs ^n3, 113, 1311, anil 13;r, are all formed from one primitive radix. Certain it is that the English bear comprehends both the Latin/ero and /)orio, and the latter corresponds nearly with ma and Eth. <^l^ to bear.

But admitting only rhat is certain, that all the foregoing European words are from one radix, we are then to seek for a primary meaning from which may be deduced the following significations ; Lat. to prepare ; Ital. to adorn, toparry, to stop, to defend, to repair, to learn ; Span, to prepare, to stop, to lay or stake as a wager, a pair or couple ; Port, to stop, to confine upon or be contiguous, to drive or aim at, to parry, to pare ; Fr. to deck, toparry, to stop, to pare ; Arm. to dress, to prepare, to parry ; Russ. to adjust, to dress, to mow or reap ; Welsh, preparedness, contiguity, a pair, a cause, to con- tinue or endure; and several other significations.

The various significations result from throwing, sending, driving. To separate or remove is to drive or force apart ; hence to parry, and hence to defend. Separation implies extension, a drawing out in length or time ; hence the Portuguese senses of confining upon, reaching to the limit. This gives the sense of par, equal, that is, of the same extent, and hence coming to, and suiting, as in Latin convenio.

Here let it be observed that admitting the word par, equal, to belong to this family, as in the Welsh, we have strong reason to believe that the Shcm- itic T3n, to join, or fit together, to associate, whence as a noun, an associate, is formed from the same root, or }n3 ; for in the Saxon, we find not only /era, but gefera, a companion, fellow ov peer; gefera, answering precisely to the oriental word.

The sense of betting is from throwing down, as we say, to lay a wager. The sense of stopping is from setting, fixing, or from parrying. The sense of adorning is from putting on, which is from sending, or from extension, en- largement, as we say, to set off, and hence it is allied to the sense of show, display, parade. Preparation is from producing, bringing forward, or ad- justing, making right ; and often implies advancing, like ready, prompt, and the latter word, prompt, from promo, to bring forth, affords a good illustra- tion of the words derived from paro.

The senses of cutting oft', paring, and the like, require no explanation.

The Italian, disparare, and the Spanish and Portuguese, disparar, todis. charge fire arms, present the original sense of the root, to send or drive. This sense gives that of the Welsh pdr, a spear, as well as a cause, or that which impels. A spear is a shoot, from the sense of thrusting ; and our word .ipear is probably formed from the rootof Jar and Welsh *«, a spit, a pike, a lance, a spear, Lat. verti. Now in Chaldee, a bar is jn31' from 13;;, to pass, a verb which is probably of the same family with t03. It is further to be observ- ed that in Italian, bar is written both baira and sbarra.

It is observed above that N13 is the English ftearand the Latin pario ; but pario would seem to be the Hebrew mS. parah, to be fruitful, to bear fruit, applied to plants and animals. But this word seems to denote producing in general, rather than the production of children. However this may be, it is certain that bear in English, as well as in Saxon, expresses the sense of both pario and /(TO in Latin. The Latin fero, and the Greek ipipw, signify both to carry and to produce, as young or fruit. Pario, does not. So in the Go- jthic, bairan is to carry, gabairan is to carry and to produce young. In German, fiihren is to carry, and gebaren, to bring fortli, to bear a child. In Dutch, beuren is to lift ; voeren, to carry ; and baaren, to bring forth, as children, to bear, to beget, to cause. Danish, barer, to carry, to support, and to yield or produce. Sw. biira, to carry ; 6arn, a son. Irish, beirim, to bear or bring forth, and to tell or relate, like the Latin /cro, whence Fr. par- ier, to speak.

INTRODUCTION.

Ft appears llicn (hat the English bear and the Saxon from which we have leceivcd it. and the Gothic and the Danish corresponding words unite, in the same orthography, the senses of t>vo words of different ortliography in other languages. I have found other examples of a similar kind. There is there- fore solid ground to believe that all those words arc from one primitive root ; the different modes of writing the word, and the several appropriations hav- ing originated in different families of the great races of men, before langua- ges were reduced to writing ; and when they come to be written, each word was written according to its usual pronunciation, and defined according to its use in each family. And by the intermixture of tribes, two or three derivatives of the same stock might have become a part of the same na- tional language. Unquestionably the Greek cptpto, and tpopico, are branches of the same stock.

We have, in the modern languages, decisive evidence that different verbs may have, and in fact have a common radix. Thus in English list and lust.

Teutonic dialects,

found in almost every language which I have examined.

The Latin pareo, to appear, to come to light, if not a compound word, may be of this family. Paries, a wall, if primarily a partition wall, is of tlie same stock. Per, belongs to this family, as its signification is passing. The Sax. faran, to fare, Gr. Tropiuo^^', seems to be from one branch of this stock, proba- bly ^^iT. Seethe wordyiass in the Dictionary, in the derivative senses of which there are some resemblances to those of S13.

133.

This verb, says Lowth, means to cover, to cover sin, and so to expiate ; and it is never used in the sense of breaking or dissolving a covenant, though that notion occurs so often in the Scriptures ; nor can it be forced into this sense, but by a great deal of far fetched reasoning. See Isaiah xxviii 18. Lowth on Isaiah. Prelim. Diss.

133, says Castle, "texuit, operuit, Anglice, to couer; per metathesin, «pijTr- Tco, xfujm, pecuUariter bitumine, sive glulinosa aliqua materia ohduxit; pica- vit." Gen. vi. 14.

Parkhurst gives to this verb the sense of covering or overspreading, as primary ; and deduces from it the Greek «pu?rTO, and English cover and coffer. He however admits that in Isaiah xxviii. 18, it signifies, to annul, as a cov- enant. He also considers the sense of atonement or expiation to be radical- ly that of cova'ing.

Gesenius agrees with the English Lexicographers, in assigning to this verb the primary sense oi covering or overlaying, as in Gen. vi. 14. He admits that this word has the sense, in Isaiah xxviii. 18, oiblotting out, obliterating But he gives to it the sense of forgiving, in some passages, in which oui version has that of purging away. Ps. Ixv. 3, and Ixxix. 9. In these pas- sages, Castle renders the word, to be merciful or propitious.

In all these authors, there is, I conceive, a radical mistake, in supposing the primary sense to be to cover, and in the opinion that this Hebrew word is the English verb to cover. A still greater mistake is in the supposition of Castle and Parkhurst, that this, by a metathesis, gives the Greek npuirrw.

The English word cover comes to us through the French couvrir, from the Italian coprire, a contiaction of the Latin co-operio, whence co-opcrtus, ItaUan coperto, covered, Eng. covert.* The Latin aperio, is to open, and operio, is to cover, both from pario, or one of the roots in Br, which has just been explained. The root in these words is per or par, and the sense is vari- ed by prefixes ; perhaps ad-pario or ab-pario and ob-pario. Now cover can have no connection with 133, unless this latter word is a compound, with 3 for a prefix. This may be the fact, but the connection, even in that case, is very remote.

Let us see if we can gain any light upon the subject of the primary sense of 133 from the cognate languages.

CftaMee, 133 To deny, to reject. Prov. xxx.9.

2. To wipe ; " She eateth and wipeth her mouth." Prov. xxx. 20.

3. To wash or cleanse. Matt, xxvii. 24. Castle. Syriac, ^2iO To deny. Gen. xviii. 1.5. Luke xii. 9.

2." To wipe, to wipe away, to disannul, to aboHsh. Prov. xxx. 20. I.-;, xxviii. 18. Castle.

.Arabic, . i <:=-, To deny; to disbelieve ; to be an infidel ; to be impious; to blaspheme. Acts iii. 13, 14. 2Pet. ii. 1-5. Jude 1.5.

2. To cover ; to conceal.

3. To expiate ; to make expiation for one, and free him from crime.

Castle.

Now the senses of the Chaldee, Syriac and Arabic, to deny, to reject, to disannul, to wipe, wash , or to cleanse by these acts, cannot be deduced from covering.

In Hebrew, the word has the sense of covering, as the ark, with bitumen or pitch, in Gen. vi. 14; that is, to smear, or pay over, as our seamen now

* In tliis deduction of cotici- from the Latin, I am supported by Lunier, the ablest French etymologist, whose works I have seen.

express it. But it should be considered that the sense of covering is rareiy or never;)rimory ,• it is usually, from the sense of putting on, which is from the sense of throwing or pressing, or it is from overspreading, which is a spreading, stretching or throwing aver; hence the derivative senses of covering and hiding. These latter senses are sometimes derived from others ; but these are the most general. And in this passage of Genesis, the literal sense is probably to put on, or to rub or spread over, a sense which coin- cides with that of tlie Chaldee and Syriac, Prov. xxx. 20, though different- ly applied.

The real original sense of this Shemitic verb is to remove, to separate, by thrusting away or driving off. Hence its application, in the Chaldee, Syr- iac and Arabic, to denial, the rejection of God or truth. To deny or reject, is to thrust away. Hence from the Arabic, caffer, an infidel, oiie who de- nies and rejects the Mohammedan religion; hence Caffraria, the southern part of Africa, the country of infidels ; so called by the'followers of Moham- med, just as the christians gave the name of pagans, to the inhabitants of villages, [pagus,^ who rejected the christian religion.

This signification explains the Hebrew uses of this word. Its literal sense is applied to the cleansing or purification of sacred things, a^i the altar. Lev. xvi. 18. In a spiritual sense, to the purification of the soul, a typo of the pu- rification by the blood of Christ; hence it is rendered atnnennitl. oi expia- tion. Hence probably the sense of appeasing, Gen. xxxii. 21. Prov. xvi. 14, though this may be from removing, or smoothing.

The sense of forgiveness is from thrusting away or giving back, pre- cisely as in the modern languages ; Lat. remitto, to send back or away ; for- give, to give back or away: pardon, in French, Spanish, and Italian, has a like sense, which is more clearly exbitiited by the Dutch vergeeven, Ger- man vergeben; ver being the English /ar, to give fur, to give away, hence, to reject, and remember no more. The sense of give and of the French dmi- ner, is nearly the same as that of 133. To give, is to send, to cause to pass ; and so of donner.

Now it is a question of some moment whether the opinion that 133 is the same as the English cover, has not inclined lexicographers and commenta- tors to render it by this word, in several passages^ where the true sense is to forgive, or to purify by cleansing from sin.

However this may be, the interpretation given above will fully disprove Lowth's assertion, that this word is never used in the sense of breaking or disannulling a covenant. So confident is the learned Bishop on this point that he ventures to call in question the reading, Isaiah xxviii. 18 ; and to suppose the true word to be 13n from 113 to break. With respect to the reading I shall offer no opinion ; but if the present reading is correct, I am confident that no word in the Hebrew language is better fitted to express the sense. Your covenant with death shall be wiped away, abolished, or as in the version, disannulled. And so is the rendering in the Syriac.

If 133 is a compound word and the first letter a prefix, it may be from the

same root as the Arabic j-*-^ gafara, whose signification is to cover. But the primary sense is to throw or put on. It signifies also to forgive, but to forgive is to send back or away, remitto, and not to cover. And I apprehend that for want of knowing the primary sense of such verbs, the word cover has been often substituted for forgive, in the translating of this verb.

'73

No. 1. Heb ^13, S3 To hold, to contain ; Sw. ftSHa. '73S3 To hold, to sustain, to maintain, to comprehend.

Ch. So To measure, that is, to ascertain the contents, or to stretch, and comprehend the whole.

Pah. To feed, to nourish. See '53S.

Deriv. A measure ; also, custom, rite, manner, probably from holding or continued practice.

Syr. In Aph. To measure. Deriv. A measure.

Eth. In (DA To follow; to go behind; Gr. a»,^\\oo8(w; that is, to hold to, or to press after.

Deriv. The hinder part; the poop of a ship ; behind. French, cui.

No. 2. Heb. 773 To finish ; to complete ; to make perfect. Gr. Haioi.

S3 all ; the whole ; Gr. o^os, Eng. all, by the loss of the first letter ; but in Welsh, holl, or oil ; and in Saxon al, eel and geall.

Ch. SS3 To crown ; to adorn

Pih. To perfect; to complete ; to comprehend ; to embrace.

Deriv. Comprehending ; universality ; a general rule, &c.

Syr. ^Xa To crown. Deriv. a crown ; all ; every one.

Sam. IZa As the Chaldee.

Eth. Tl A A The same ; also, to cover.

Ar. y. ^ To be weary or dull ; to be languid ; to tire : also, to crown ; to shine.

Deriv. All ; dullness ; heaviness.

No. 3. Heb. nS3 To hold ; to restrain ; to shut or confine ; to cheek ;

Gr. «M\\i-aj ; Sw. hl^dla.

INTRODUCTION.

,'.ro ; Lat. calo \\ Vi'

) deny.

Ucriv. A place of confinement ; Lat. cmda.

Ch. nSd, nSo, ''73 To hold; lo restrain ; also, to trust ; rely on ; to hope. (See No. 6.) Also, to finish ; to perfd sumc ; to cause (0 fail.

In Aph. To call ; to cry out ; to thunder gnhc; Eng.to call ; Lat. gullus, from crowing.

Syr. ^>, 3 To hold ; to restrain ; to forbid ;

Deriv. all ; a cork, bar or bolt.

Sam. /f Z ii To hold, or restrain.

Kth. tlAA To hold, restrain, or prohibit.

Deriv. Lat. alius ; a fellow, or companion.

Ar. ik.^> To keep; to preserve; to turn the face toward.s a thing and look repeatedly. So in English, to behold. Also, to come to the end, as of life; also, to feed, to devour food ; also, to abound in pasture ; also, to hinder, or detain ; also, to look attentively; also, to sprout ; also, to take up- on a pledge, or upon trust ; supra, Chaldee. (See No. 6.)

No. 4. Heb. th^ To finish; to consume ; to bring to naught; to waste ; to fail. (See No. 8.)

No. 5. Ch. Sas To eat ; to consume ; also, to take ; to hold ; to con- tain. In Aph. to fcerl; to give food ; also, to cull; lo thunder; to roar, or bellow; also, to piibli-li ; lo accuse ; to delame.

Heb. to eat; lo consume.

Sam. tHA- To eat.

Syr. ^O I To publish ; to divulge, as a crime ; to accuse.

Eth. A In A To sufTice, as we say, it is well, Lat. valeo ; also, to be or exist ; that is, to be hclil, or to be fixed or permanent

Ar. to eat ; to devour ; to corrode ; Lat. hclluu.

or distinguish; also to

othe

nfidence,

edge, wisdom, ignorance. These different significations may result from the different effects of the prefi.x on the original verb.

In Syr. ^3x0 t)>e same word, signifies to be foolish, or mad ; to cause lo know, or to give understanding ; to obsei-ve ; to search or know tho- roughly ; to ask or seek to undci-stand ; to disccr err, to sin, to be foolish, or perverse.

In Sam. the same word signifies to look, and to be accustomed. Sec Ca.stelh col. 2.523.

That 73E' is formed on the same root with a different prefix, is obvious and certain, from the correspondence of significations. This word in He- brew signifies to understand, or know ; to cause to understand ; to be wise, or to act wisely ; corresponding with the Ch. SjO above ; and being a mere dialectical orthography of the word. It signifies also to deprive, strip, be- reave ; and lo waste, scatter and destroy ; also, to cast, as fruit or offspring ; also, lo prosper.

Ch. to understand^ and Ch. 773!y to com])lcte, to finish ; also, lo found, to lay the foundation. This isS'?^ with V prefixed.

Syr. to found, to finish, to adorn.

Ar. y^^ iii shakala, to bind under the belly; to gird; to bind the* feet ; to fetter ; lo shackle ; to form, or fashion ; to be dubious, obscure, and intricate; to agree, suit or answer to ; to be like ; to have a beautiful tbiin ; to know, perceive, or comprehend ; lo hesitate ; lo be ignorant. De- rivative, a shackle. See Caslell. Col. 3750.

To this root Castle refers the English skill ; and it is certain the words correspond both in elements and in sense. Now in the Gothic and Teu- tonic languages, the verbs corresponding to these Shemitic verbs, signify in Saxon, scylan, to separate, to distinguish ; Icelandic and Swedish, skilid, lo divide, separate, sever; whence shield, that which separates, and hence defends ; D. scheelen, to differ; schillen, lo peel, or pare ; whence scale and shell. To this root our lexicographers refer skill. The prefix in this word would seem to have the force of a negative, Uke L. ex. Now is it possible to suppose that these words can be formed from a common root ? The sense of sin and folly is probably from wandering, deviating, as in delirium ; and this is only a modification of the primary sense of hj, to stieleh or extend ; that is, departure, separation. Or the t? has, in these senses, the force of a negative.

The sense of knowing, understanding, is usually or always from taking, holding, or extending to; as we say, I take your meaning. In this appli- cation these words would seem to be directly from the Eth. and Ch. 'jDJ lo be able ; the Latin calico, lo be haid, and lo know or be well skilled. That this word SfU is from the same root as h'tJ, nhz, vhs, we know by the Samaritan 2, 3 iJ wliich signifies all, and which is a mere dialectical spelling of the Heb. and Ch. hZ-

The sense of depriving and wasting, in the Hebrew, is from separation, the sense of the Gothic and Teutonic words ; but it is to be noticed that this sense seems to imply throwing, as one mode of parting, and this is also the direct act of founding, lajing the foundation.

When we turn our attention to the Arabic, new affinities are disclosed. The first definition is to bind, to gird, to shackle, and hence the English word. The radical sense of bind is to sUain, the sense of hold. And here we arrive at the origin and primary sense of shall, should ; Saxon scealan, to be obliged ; that is, to be bound or constrained. Hence we see why the words scale, shell and shall are all written alike in Saxon, sceal ; for scale and shell are from peeling, or covering, binding.

From this verb the Saxon has scyld, a crime, or guilt, Lat scelus, and scyld, a sliield. The German has the same word in scliuld, guilt, culpabili- ty, debt ; Dutch, schuld ; Danish skulde, should, and scyld, a debt, a ifault, a crime ; Sw. skuld, the same. This word sculd, skuld, and schuld, is tlie English should, the preterit of the verb

The sense of ability, power, strength, in No. 7, is from straining, stretch- ^languages, and often in the same language, it is necessary lo find the ptima- ing, or holding, as in other words of the hke sense. Hence Lat. calleo, to 'ry action expressed by the root; and in compound words it is necessary to be skilled, and lo be hard, callus. lobserve or ascertain the different effects produced on the original word by

On this rootSj is probably formed ^30, a word differently pointed in the the prefixes. Thus the verb inculpo in Low LaUn signifies lo excuse ; but Hebrew and Chaldee. This word signifies in Hebrew to pervert, to err, some modern writers use inculpate m a directly different sense ; that is, to to be foolish or infatuated, to act foolishly. I' Stone. ....

In Chaldee, to understand, know, or consider: to look or behold; to cause'; In like manner im7)art!6ie has two different significations; that may be to understand; Rabbinic, to be ignorant ; whence its derivatives, knowI-''tm/)arterf,- and in law, not i)ar

this hat is held hole that is compre-

No. 6. Ar. y^S} To trust ; (See No. 3.)

Eth. ® n A with a prefix ; to trust, as above.

No. 7. Heb. hy To be able ; to prevail ; Lat. calico ; W. gallu ; Eng. could.

No. 8. Ch.bo;' To digest ; to consume. (No. .5.)

Ar. J. Ji c To collect ; to tie ; to bind ; to unite ; also, to divide, im- pel, or compel. This is the primary sense of the word, or rather of this root; topless; to strain ; to urge, or impel ; also, to extend. These verbs are different modifications of one radix ; and hence the English hold, call, hollow, heal, hale ; the Latin calo, caulis, calleo, callus ; Greek, KKKa, KnX s or tiak>.os ; and a multitude of words in all the modern languages of Europe.

The sense of holding, restraining, forbidding, hindering, and keeping, are too obvious to need any explanation. They arc from sense is nearly allied the sense of measuring, or ascertaining or contained. That which is contained is all, thi hended, from the sense of extension.

The signification of finishing or perfecting, seems, in a good sense, to be from that of soundness ; a sense which is from stretching or strength. Or it maybe from coming lo the end, UVe finish and achieve, or from shutting, closing. And the sense of consuming, wasting, failing, may be from bring- ing to an end. In Latin, to consume is to take all ; and possibly this may be the sense of this verb. But the Arabic sense of failure would seem rath- er lo be from holding, slopping, or coming to an end.

The sense of eating may be from consuming, or taking apart, but from some of the derivatives of No. 5, I am inclined to tliink the primary sense is to feed, to crowd, lo stuff; tlie primary sense of the root applied to this particular act ; for under Ihe Chaldee root we find words which signify the nutof aspeciesof oak, the Gr. axuA.01, anda collection or crowd of people, [Gr. oxXo!,] both of wliicli aje from collecting or pressing together.

The sense ot s. , ,1- umI l.,>>l,ing is (toiu reaching or casting and stri- king, orfrom !:■''' . . .ii.- eyes on.

The sense 01/ l-o to be that of holding to or resting on.

The English ii.H^i m .,'(/,/ 1 imiu this root.

The sense of calling, >.,iiriiig, and thunder, is from impelling the voice or sound ; a pressing, driving, or straining, applied to sound ; like the Latin appello, from pelli ing.

INTRODUCTION.

impassionate. I am persuaded a vast number of instances of similar diver- sities in the application of prefixes may be found in the Shemitic languages ; and this will account for differences which otherwise seem utterly irre- concilable.

We find in our mother tongue, that the same word signifies to heal, and to conceal, Lat. celo ; Saxon IkbI, health ; htslan, helan, to heal, to con- ceal ; ge-hailan and ge-helan, to heal and to conceal ; Old English hele. Hence we see that the English heal and the Latin celo are the same word differently applied, but from a common signification, which is to make strong or fast, or to hold, from the sense of pressing. Or perhaps the Latin ceh may have this sense of holding, restraining ; and heal may rather be from making perfect. No. 2. Supra.

We may now also see the radical sense of holy ,• Saxon hal and ge-hal, whole, sound, safe ; halig, holy ; halgian, to hallow. If this word contains the sense of separation, or driving off, like Latin sacer, as it may, it is from shutting, confining, or restraining intercourse. But I am inclined to be- lieve the primary sense of holy is sound, entire, coinciding with the radical sense of heal.

Clod, Laudo, Claudo.

In Welsh clod is praise, from llod, a forcible utterance. This is the Eng- lish lottd, and Lat. laudo, which with a prefix becomes plaudo. In Welsh, llodi signifies to reach out, to crave, from the radical sense of llod, to thrust out or extend ; but according to Owen, llodi is from llawd, which signi- fies a shooting out, or a going onward, pi-oductiveness, a lad, and as an ^idjective, tending forward, craving, lewd; llodig, craving, brimming; llodineb, lewdness. Now, beyond all question, these words are tlie Chal. dee, Syriac, Hebrew, and Samaritan nV to beget; to bring forth ; to cause to be be born ; and as a noun, a child of either sex, a lad. The Arabians and Ethiopians use vau or waw, where the Hebrews use yod. The Arabic

corresponding word is »>,!• the Ethiopic ®A,? to beget, to bring forth.

But this is not all. In Greek, the verb hAmu, a conti-action of Auiaa, signifies to praise, to celebrate. Here we have precisely the Welsh llod, above, corresponding with the Latin laudo and plaudo. But the same Greek word xAhio, nKtioa, signifies to shut or make fast. This is the Latin cludo, claudo. The Saxons used h for the Greek x and the Latin c ; and with these words accords the Saxon hlid, a cover ; English a lid ; that which shuts or makes fast. That these words are all from one root, is a fact, apparent beyond any reasonable doubt ; nor is there the least diffi- culty in ascertaining the atfinity, for the radical sense, to reach forward, to thrust, to strain, solves the whole mystery. To thrust, gives the sense of begetting and producing ; to strain or throw out the voice, gives the sense of praise ; and to thrust or press together, gives tlie sense of closing and making fast. In this manner, words, which, at first view, appear to have no connection, will, when pursued through different languages, assimilate and unite, not only without forced analogies, but in defiance of all precon- ceived opinions ; and the reluctant mind is at last compelled to admit their identity.

There is another set of words whose derivation from the same root is very certain, though perhaps less obvious. These are the Danish slutter, to shut, close, conclude, finish, determine ; slutter, a key-keeper, a jailor ; Swedish, sluta, ctaudere,obserare,to shut, or shut up, or end; sZo», a castle ; D. sleutel, a key ; slot, a lock, a castle, a conclusion ; sluiten, to shut, lock, close, stop, conclude ; G. schloss, a lock ; schliessen, to close, conclude, fin- ish, fetter, shackle; schleuse, a sluice; D. sluis, id. Eug. sluice, that is, which shuts or fastens ; Low Latin, exclusa. See Spelman's Glossary. These words are unequivocally formed from the root of claudo, clausi, by the prefix s, just as the Welsh yslac, slack, loose, is formed on llac, and yspeiliaw, on yspail, spoil, and this on the root olpeel. We observe all the Teutonic dialects use the dental t, as the final radical, except the German The Latins use both the dental and a sibilant, claudo, clausi, clausus.

If the Danish lyd, sound, Sw. lyda, to sound, is the same word as Eng- lish loud, these words belong to this family. Cradle.

Another example. The English word cradle, Saxon cradel, is in Welsh cryd, a rocking, a shaking, a cradle. In Welsh, the verbs crydu, cry diaw, crydian, signify to shake, to tremble. These correspond to the Irish creatham, to shake ; Greek xpaSow, to shake, to swing. The Welsh verb: are by Owen, deduced from rhyd, which signifies a moving. Now TJ?T in Hebrew, Chaldee, and Ethiopic, signifies to shake or tremble. The same

word in Arabic ^Cj signifies to thunder ; to impress terror ; to trem- ble ; to shake. This coincides with the Latin rudo, to roar, to bray ; and we know from the voice of the ass, that roughness or shaking is an ingre- dient in the sense of this word. We know it also from rudis, one of the af- finities of rudo. There is also in Arabic i Sj which is rendered to run hither and thither ; to move one way and the other ; to tremble ; to shake. In Hebrew fyn signifies to tremble or shake, and to palpitate Syriac and Eth. to rub or scrape. This connects the word directly with

cradle, through the Hebrew ; and through the Syriac, with the Latin rado. Here again we find the sense of roughness or yvstintr. Then turning tcf

the Welsh, we find grydiau hout, hoop or scream ; grydwst.

"r hoop, and

this from »%(£, the word above mentioned ; so 1 1 : crarfZe, is from the same root as gn/'i/ni''. '<« -' i!r ;, ;iie Italian

gridare; Sp. and Port. gi-iZar ; Sa-con .;. r.-'r,, , , -riitir, I). m. grader ; Dutch kryten ; German greiten. i I - iicb is contracted, by

the omission of the last radical, into <■. ' . .. lance, probably, we

have cry, W. cri. Hence we find ih : • : < . i rry is to utter a rough sound ; and this is connected with the braying of the ass, with shaking, trembling, and with roaring, murmuring, and thunder. The connection in this example, is so marked as to preclude all hesitation as to the identity of the words.

The Shemitic roots mj, Oin, mn, and Tip, all, in some of the languages of that stock, coincide in sense and elements with the English grate, French grafter; and if the first letter is a prefix, they would seem to unite with the Latin rado. But this is a point I would not undertake to determine.

One fact more. The Welsh cri, above mentioned, signifies a cry ; and

an adjective, rough, raw. Now this coincides with the Latin criidiis, in sense ; and crudus with the WeL^h cryd, above mentioned.

The Dan. brygger, English to hrew, are probably connected with break, with freckle, and with rough. So under this root, the Welsh grediatv, sig- nifies to hciit, scorch, parch, whence grcidyll, ;i prriddle. from graid, thai shoots in lays, heat, ardency, from gra, that shoots, or lises, as the nap or frieze of cloth. The latter is probably a contracted word, of the same fam- ly, but not the root, as Owen supposes. But the radical sense implies a shaking, agitation and roughness.

Meet, mete, measure.

Saxon. — W{etan,to put, to place; Fr. meitre. It. mettere, Sp. Port, me- ter, Lat. mitto.

Mtstan, metan, to find, to meet, or meet with ; to paint ; to dream ; to measure, to mete, Lat. metior, metor, Gr. nEipiw, (nrpov, Lat. mensus, with a casual n, that is, mesas. Ft. mesure.

Ametan, gemetan, to meet, to find, to measure.

Gemeting, gemetung, a meeting.

Gemet, gemete, fit, suitable, Eng. meet ; also, painted or portrayed

Gemetegan, gemetian, to moderate; gemetlic, moderate, modest.

Mete, measure, mode, Lat. modius, modus.

Meter, measure in verse, meter. [Not metre.]

Metere, an inventor, a painter.

Mcete, middling, [mediocris,] modest, moderate.

Mot, gemot, a meeting, a council.

Witena-gemot, a council of wise men.

Motian, to meet, especially for debate. Eng. to moot.

Gothic. — Motyan, gamotyan,to meet, to find.

Mota, a place for the receipt of toll or customs.

Dutch. — Ontmoeten, to m^et, to encounler.

Meet en, and ioemeeten, to measure.

Meeter, a measurer.

Gemoeten, to meet; gemoet, a meeting.

German. — Mass, measure, meter ; masse, moderation.

Messen, vermessen, to measure ; messer, a measurer.

Gemass, measure ; also conformable, suitable ; Eng. meet, suitable ; Ger- man gemassigt, temperate, moderate.

Swedish. — M'ota, to meet, to fall on, to come to, to happen. [This is the sense oi finding.']

Mote, a meeting.

Mot, and emot, towards, against; as in motsfS, to stand against, to resist.

Mata, to measure ; mhtt, measure, meter, mode.

Matielig, moderate, middling, frugal, temperate.

Malta, to be sufficient, to satisfy, to cloy.

Vanish.— Mader,tomeet, to convene; made or mode, a meeting ; mod, contrary, opposite, against, to, towards, for, on, by, aside, abreast, as in modsetter, to set against, to oppose ; modsiger, to say against, to contradict ; mod-vind, a contrary wind.

Moed, moden, ripe, mellow, mature. [Qu. Lat. mitis.]

Mode, manner, fashion. [Probably from the Latin.]

Maade, measure, form, style of writing, way, mode, manner, fashion. [This is the native Danish word corresponding to the Lat. modu^.]

Maadelig, moderate, temperate.

MiBt, enough, sufficient ; mietter, to satisfy, or sate, to glut.

From the same root are the G. mit, D. 7net, mede, Sw. and Dan. med, Gr.

iiiTa, signifying imtti.

By the first significa word, which is the En

word, which is the English meet, is also the French mettre and Lat. mitto, tlie sense of which is to throw or send, to put, to lay. Meet is only a modi- jfication of the same sense, to come to, to fall, to reach, hence to find ; as we say, to /a;/ on.

The sense of painting or portraying is peculiar to the Saxon. I am not [confident that this sense" is from finding ; but we observe that metere is reii-

INTRODUCTION.

The sense oi paint then may I

1 find

dered an inventor anil a pa out, to devise or contrive.

The sense of dreamins; is also peculiar to the Saxon. The sense may he todevise or imagine, or it may be to roue, as in some other words of like sig- nification. If so, this sense will accord with the .Syriac j.lc infra.

The other si2;nifications present no difliculty. To meet, is to come to, to reach in proreeiling or in extending; hence to find. The primary seni-e of measure is to (-xteml, to stietch to the full length or size of a thing.

Meet, fit, suitable, Wke par, peer, pair, is from extending or reaching to. So suit is from the Latin sejuor, through the French, to follow, to press or reach toward. See par, under X13. supra.

The English meet and mete appear to be from the Saxon dialect, but moot from the Gothic.

Let it be remarked that in the Saxon, meet and mete, are united in the same orthography ; and in the Dutch the orthography is not very different ; ontmoeten,gemoeten, to meet, and mecten, to measure. Not so in the other languages.

In German, mafis is measure, and tnessen, to measure ; but the scn.se of meet, does not occur. Yet that mass is the same word as meet, fit, varied only in dialect, appears from this, that gemass, with a prefix, is suitable, an- swering to the English meet.

The Swedish and Danish words follow the Gothic orthography ; Swedish mita, to meet, to fall on, to come to, to happen. These significations give the sense of finding, and are closely allied to the senses of the Arabic verb

.\\^ infra.

The Danish verb is mader, to meet, but in both tlie Swedish and Danish, the sense of measure is expressed by a different orthography. Sw. 7nhta, to measure ; matt, measure ; Dan. maadc, measure, mode. In these two languages we find also the sense of sufficiency, and to satisfy. See infra, the

Ar. J^ ^ and Heb. and Ch. XYa.

But in these Gothic dialects, there is one application o( meeting, which deserves more particular notice. In Swedish, mot and emot is a preposition of the same signification as the English against. It is rendered toward, against. So in Danish, mod is contrary, opposite, against, to, toward, by, aside, abreast. This preposition is the simple verb, without any addition of letters, prefix or suffix. We hence learn that the sense of such prepositions is a meeting or coming to, which gives the sense of to or toward ; but when one meets another in Front, it gives the sense of opposition, or contrary direc- tion. This coming to or meeting, may be for a friendly purpose, and hence in one's favor, like /or in English. Thus in Danish, " Guds godhed mod os," God's goodness or mercy towards us. In other cases, mod signifies against and implies counteraction or opposition ; as modgift, an antidote ; modgang, adversity. So for in English signifies towards, or in favor of; and also op- position and negation, as m forbid.

In the Danish we find moed, moden, ripe, mature. We shall see this sense in the Chaldee NOD. The sense is to reach, extend, or come to.

The Latin modus is from this root, and by its orthography, it seems to have been received from the Gothic race. The sense is measure, limit, from extending, or comprel)ending. This then becomes the radix of many words which express limitation or restraint, as moderate, modest , modify ; a sense directly contiary to that of the radical verb.

This leads us a step further. In Saxon, Gothic, and other northern lan- guages, mod, moed, signifies mind, courage, spirit, anger, whence English moody. The primary sense is an advancing or rushing forward, which expresses mind or intention, that is, a setting or stretching forward, and also spirit, animation, heat, and lastly, anger. So the Latin animus,

fives rise to animosity ; and the Greek iiivoi, mind, signifies also, strength, irce, vehemence, and anger. Mania is from the same radical sense.

Let us now connect this root or these roots, with the Shemitic languages.

In Hebrew and Chaldee, HID signifies to measure ; no, a measure. This coincides with the Latin metior, and Gr. (iirpii:, as well as with the Saxon, Dutch, Danish, and Swedish, which all write the word with a den- tal, but the German is mass.

In Syriac ^io signifies to escape, to get free, that is, to depart, a modifi- cation of the sense of extending in the Arabic. A derivative in Syriac sig- nifies a dutj-, toll or tribute ; and we have seen in the Gothic, that mota is a toll-house. It may be from measuring, that is, a portion, or perhaps income.

This word in Arabic A^ madda, signifies,

1. To stretch or extend, to draw out, to make or be long, to delay or give time, to forbear, to bring forth. To extend is the radical sense of measure.

2. To separate, or throw offer out; to secern, secrete or discharge. Hence to become matter or sanies, to produce pus, to maturate. Here we have the origin of the word matter, in the sense of pi;,'!. It is an excretion, from throwing out, separating, freeing, discharging. Here we have the sense of the Latin mitto, emitto.

3. To assist, to supply. This sense is probably from coming to, that is, to approach or visit. " I was sick and ye visited me. I was in prison and ye came tome." Math. xxv.

You I. D.

This application coincides witJi the English meet, but particularly with the Swedish and Danish sense of the word.

4. To make thin, to attenuate ; probably from stretching.

Among the Arabic nouns formed under this root, we hnd a measure, or modius, showing that this verb is the same as the Chaldee and Hebrew ; we find also matter or pus, and lenity. Qu. Lat. mitis.

In Chaldee, NBD or DBB; signifies to come to, to happen, to reach, [to meet,] to be ripe or mature, to cause to come, to bring or produce. The first sense gives that of finding, and tlie latter gives that of maturing, and

we observe tliat matter, or pus, is from the Arabic Jv^ madda, and the sense oi mature from the Chaldee WJD mita. Yet in the use o( maturate from the Latin maturo, we connect the words, for to maturate, is to ripen, and to generate matter.

In Syriac, this verb signifies the same as the Chaldee, to come to; and also to be strong, to prevail, that is, to strain or stretch, the rtidical sense of power.

In Hebrew, NXD has the sense of the foregoing verb in the Chaldee, to find, to come to, to happen. .

In Chaldee, this verb signifies to find, and to be strong, to prevail ; hencr both in Hebrew and Chaldee, to be sufficient. Here we see the Danish and Swedish, matter, and mhtta, to be sufficient. This is also meet, dialec- fically varied.

In Syriac also this verb signifies to be strong or powerful ; also in Pah. to bring or press out, to defecate, which sense unites this word with the Heb. nSD, to press, to squeeze. In Ethiopic, this verb signifies to come, to hap- !ause to come, to bring in, to bring fortli. Now it is evident that NSO, and the Chaldee NBD, are dialectical forms of the same word ; tiie former coinciding with the German mass, in orthography, but with the oUier languages, in signification.

In Chaldee, ySD signifies the middle, and as a verb, to set in tlie middle, to pass the middle, in Syriac, to be divided in the middle. Qu. Is not this a branch of the family of meet?

The Chaldee nox, amad, to measure, is evidently frtmi "TO, with a pre- fix or formative X. This word, in Syriac, signifies like the simple verb, to escape, to be liberated. In Pael, to liberate. - t

In Arabic, this verb y,^\\ amida, signifies, to be tcriiiinated, to end.

whence the noun, an end, limit, termination, Latin niefa, which, Ainsworth informs us, signifies, in a nietaphorical sense, a limit. The fact is the re- verse ; tliis is its primary and literal sense, and that of a pillar and goal are particular appropriations of that sense.

In Hebrew, HOJ signifies a cubit, a measure of length.

The same in the Rabbinic, from no, with a prefix.

In Chaldee, this verb signifies to be contracted, to shrink.

Is not this sense from 10, measure, modus, a limit, or a drawing.

That the Shemitic wortls, nno, twn, NXD and nOK, are words of tin- same stock with meet, mete, Lat. metior, there can be no doubt, but it is not easy to understand why the different significations of meeting and meas- uring, should be uruted in one word, in the Saxon language, when they arc expressed by very different words in the Shemitic, and in most of the Teu- tonic languages. We know indeed that in German a sibilant letter is often used, in words which are written with a dental in all the other kindred langua- ges. But in this case the German mass, measure, mu.st coincide with itj, as must the Swedish mhta, and Dan. maade, and the Saxon metan, Dutch g€- moeten, Goth, motyan, Sw. mbta, Dan. mlder, with the Chaldee XOD, but not with the word SVD.

It may not be impossible nor improbable that all these words are fi-omone stock or radix, and that the different orthographies and applications are dia- lectical changes of that root, introduced among different families or races of men. before languages were reduced to writing.

In th.> I.iitin /»

1,, :., ,,1 ,, I, ,,11 of words .inil tlicir significations, we may fairly in- fer tin Luiiiiiun ' ii;;iii otlb'^ following words. Lat. mitto. French mettre, English mtci, to come to, meet, fit, and niftc, to measure, Lat metior, metor, Gr. nnpci,iuTf'm, Lat. mensvra, Fr. mesure, Eng. measure, Lat. modus, mode. Sax. and Goth, mod, mind, anger, whence moody, Eng. moot, Lat. maturus, mature, and Eng. tnatter.

In Welsh, niarfu signifies, to cause to proceed; to send, [Lat mitto;] to suffer to go off; to render productive ; to become beneficial ; and mad sig- nifies, what proceeds or goes forward, hence what is good; and mad, the adjective, signifies, proceeding, advancing, progressive, good or beneficial. This word then affords a clear proof of the radical sense of good. We have like evidence in the English better, best, and in prosperity, which is from the Greek irp.'(7?ip", to advance.

In Welsh also we find madrez, matter, pus ; madru, to dissolve, to putre- fy, to become pus. That these words are from the same root as the Arabic

INTRODUCTION.

Jv^ supra, I think to be very obvious; and here we observe that the Welsh have one important sense derived from the root, that of good, which occurs in none of the other languages. But the primary sense is the same as that of the other significations, to go forward, to advance; hence to pro mote interest or happiness. Here we have undeniable evidence that thi sense of good, Welsh mad, and the sense of matter, pus, proceed from the

same radix.

LEGO.

The Greek Aiyu is rendered, to speak or say ; to tell, count, or number to gather, collect, or choose ; to discourse ; and to lie down. This last defi nition shows that this word is the English lie and lay ; and from this appli cation, doubtless, the Latins had their lectus, a bed, that is, a spread, a lay

The Latin lego, the same verb, is rendered, to gather ; to choose ; to read ; to steal, or collect by stealing ; and the phrase, legere oram, signifies to coast, to sail along a coast ; legere vela, is to furl the sails ; legere hali- turn, to take breath C legere littus, to sail close to the shore ; legere mililes. to enlist or muster soldiers; legere pugno, to strike, perhaps to lay on with the fist.

It would seem, at first view, that such various significations cannot pro ceed from one radix. But the fact that they do is indubitable. The prima- ry sense of the root must be to throw, stiain or extend, which in this, as ii almost all cases, gives the sense of speaking. The sense of collecting, choosing, gathering, is from throwing, or drawing out, or separating by some such act ; or from throwing together. The sense of lying down is, probably, from throwing one's self down. The sense of reading, in Latin, is the same as that of speaking in the Greek, unless it may be from collect- ing , that is, separating the letters, and uniting them in syllables and words ; for in the primitive mode of writing, diacritical points were not used But probably the sense of reading is the same as in speaking.

The phrases legere ora?n, legere littus, in Latin, may coincide with that of our seamen, to .stretch or lay along the shore or coast, or to hug the land ; especially if this word lay in Sanscrit signifies to cling, as I have seen it stated in some author, but for which I cannot vouch. If this sense is at- tached to the word, it proves it closely allied to the L. ligo, to bind.

That the sense of throwing, or driving, is contained in this word, is cer- tain from its derivatives. Thus, in Greek, cnoUytj signifies to select, to collect ; and also to reject, to repudiate, and to forbid ; which imply throwing, thrusting away.

Now, if throwing, sending, or driving, is the primary sense, then the Lat- in lego, to read, and lego, legare, to send, are radically the same word ; the inflections of the verb being varied, arbitrarily, to designate the distinct ap- plications, just as iopello, appello, appellere, to drive, and appello, appel- lare, to call.

And here it may be worth a moment's consideration, whether several

that of light. So the river Aar, in Europe, is doubtless iVonj the same source as the Orienntal niN, to shine, whence air. And nriJ. which, in Hebrew, signifies to flow as water, as well as to shine, chiefly signi- fies in Chaldee and Syiiac, to shine.

To show the great importance, or rather the absolute necessity, of ascer- taining the primary sense of words, in order to obtain clear ideas of the sense of ancient authors, more particularly of difficult passages in dead languages, let the reader attend to the following remarks.

In commenting on certain parts of Isaiah xxviii, Lowth observes in his Preliminary Dissertation, the difficulty of determining the meaning of niH, in verse loth. In our version, as in others, it is rendered agreement ; but, says Lowth, " the word means no such thing in any pait of the Bible, ex- cept in the -ISth verse following ; nor can the lexicographers give any satis- factory account of the word in this sense." Yet he agrees with Vitringa, that in these passages it must have this signification. The difficulty, it seems, has arisen from not understanding the primary sense of seeing, for the verb generally signifies to see ; and as a noun the word signifies sight, vision ; and so it is rendered in the Latin version annexed to Vanderhooght's Bible. The seventy render it by

Parkhurst understands the word to signify, to fasten, to settle, and he cites 2 Sam. XX, 9, inn, " Joab took Amasa by the beard." Here the sense is obvious ; and from this and other passages, we may infer with certainty, that the radical sense is to reach to, or to seize, hold, or fix. If the sense is to reach to, then it accords with covenant, conveniens, coming to ; if the sense is to fix, or fasten, then it agrees with league, Lat. ligo, and with pact, pactum, from pango, to make fast; all from the sense of extension, stretch- ing, straining. Hence the meaning of niH, the breast; that is, the firm, fixed, strong part. And if the English gaze is the same word, which is not improbable, this determines the appropriate sense of seeing in this word, to be to fix, or to look or reach with the eye fixed.

But we have other and decisive evidence of the primary signification of this word in the obvious, undisputed meaning of triN, the same word with a prefix, which signifies to catch, or lay hold on ; to seize ; hence, behind, following, as if attached to ; and hence drawing out in time, to delay.

Now it is not improbable that the Arabic jL=» hauz, may be a word of the same stock ; and this signifies among other senses, to collect, contract or draw together, to accumulate, to have intercourse or commerce with another. The latter sense would give nearly the signification of the He- brew word.

Lexicographers are often embarrassed to account for the different signifi- cation of words that are evidently derived fioni the same root. Thus, in Hebrew, "W is rendered to sing ; to look, behold, or observe ; and to |ru!e ; and its derivatives, a ruler, a wall, the navel-string, a chain or

words with prefixes, such as slay, flog, and the Latin pz/co, W. plygu, are iSfl'*'^' ^\\ """' '='° " """'t ^T%u ■■"''' ?°^ u T^' """^ '° '""''u' not formed on the ro^t of la„. ihlt. In. or Ink Th/LL .f^/^f, 'sfv !|N<"h'n.g "n be more easy or natural. The sense is m both cases to stretch

not formed on the root of lay, that is, lag or lak. The

of slay. Sax

imen ; and to ! In Latin sei

ach. To sing is to strain the voice ; to rule is to restrain gon heora wedd," they slew their league, or contract ; that is, they struckl;™''" ' '■"'" '° ^"^ '' '° '?^'=''' '"' "> ''""'' '" ''''"'•

a bargain. It signifies also to throw, as to slag one into prison ; also toll '" ^'''"^ *"""' sigmfies to sow, to plant, to beget, to spread ; consero, fall ; to set or lay. The sense of killing is derivative from that of stiiking,!!'" *°"'' ^"<' '" "^'"'^ or join ; desero, to leave off, to desert ; assero, to plant a striking down. jiby or near, and to assert, affirm, and pronounce; dissero, to discourse ;

Flog, Lat. fligo, signifies prim-irWy to rush, drive, strike, Eng. to «cft /li*"*^™' '° '"**'''• '"'"P'""' 5 resero, to unlock, to open, to disclose. Desero, and if formed on the root of lay. is precisely the popular phrase, to lay on. |l*° desert, Amsworth says, is a compound of de and sero, '• ut sit desertum

If plico is formed with a prefix on lay or its root, it must have been ori-i|l"°'* "°" seritur nee colitur." And dissero he supposes must be a meta- ginally pelico, that is, belico. belay. Then to fold, would be to lay on orlP'^'"'''^*' ^^^ °f ** ^*°''''- ^o""' "" *« principles I have unfolded, nothing dosf; to lay one part to another. Now this word is the Welsh pfygu,!'"**^^'^'' *""'"' ^"P'^"*''"'"''^ *'^'*^ ^*'"'''^'- Thesenseofi

fold, which Owen makes to be a compound of nu and ««. The'^iatterii'"*™'* 5 ''*'''''™' • -- ., .

word must be a contraction of %g. ' thrust or drive together; desero is to throw from ; assero is to throw, in

We know that the word reply is from the French repliquer, the Latin """"ds> or to 'lirow out, as in appeMo ; rfmero is to throw words or arguments,

replico. Now, to reply, is not to fold back, but to send back to throw i^'* •'''^ '*"^^ of spreading, expatiating; f«.sero is to throw orthrustin;

back, as words, or an answer ; and this gives the precise sense of %, tojj''««"''''*'o throw or drive from, hence to unlock or open.

throw, to send, which must be the sense of the radical word. It is by resorting to the primary idea of words that we are able to ex-

It is no inconsiderable evidence of the truth of my conjecture, that wel|plain applications, apparently, or in fact, diverse and even contrary. A ve-

constantly use the phrase to lay on, or lay to, as synonymous with ply, ajiry common example of this contiaiiety occurs in words which signify to

word belonging to this family. To pledge, another of this family, is to ioyj,guard or defend. For instance, the Latin mceo signifies to drive ofT, and to pro-

In Welsh, llugiaw signifies to throw, fling, east, or dart ; to pelt ; to drift ; from llui;, a darting, a flash, glance, or sudden throw ; hence llu(;ed, light- ning. Llug signifies also, that breaks, or begins to open, a gleam, a break- ing out in blotches ; the plague. Llwg signifies also, that' is apt to break out, that is bright, a tumor, eruption. These words coincide with Eng- lish light, Lat. luceo ; the primary sense of which is to throw, shoot, or dart ; and these words all contain the elements of ^o.? and fling.

In Welsh, lly(;u signifies to fall flat, to lie extended, or to squat. This is evidently allied to lay and lie.

These senses agree also with that of luck, to fall, or come suddenly ; that js, to rush or drive along.

In Russ. vlagayu is to lay, or put in ; equivalent to the German einlegen.

The Latin ^uo is contracted from flugo; and the radical sense of flotv is

tect, secure, hold, restrain, or keep from dep

5ore.scapm^; twos

partmgo rectly opposite. This is extremely natural ; fororceo signifies to thrust ofT, repel, drive back ; and this act defends the person or object attacked. Or if we suppose the sense of straining to be anterior to that of repulsion, which is not improbable, then the act of straining or holding produces both effects; to repel or stop what advances to assault, and protect what is inclosed or as- saulted. The woi df guard and warren present a similar application of the primary idea; and all languages which I have examined, furnish a multi- tude of similar examples.

These examples illustrate the utility of extensive researches in language ; as all cognate languages throw light on each other ; one language often re- taining tlie radical meaning of a word which the others have lost. Who, for instance, thai is ac(|uainted only with the English use of the verb to have, would suspect thai (his woid and happen arc radically one, and that the primary scn-e is to fall or rush, hence to fall on and seize ? Yet nothing

INTliODUCTlOxX.

is more certain. In the Spanisli lanp;uage the senses of both verbs are re- tained in /laier,- and the VieUh hap iaw gives us the true original signifi- cation.

In Uke manner the primary sense of venio in Latin, cannot be certainly determined without resorting to other words, and to kindred languages. In Latin, the word signifies to come or arrive; but in Spanish, venida,(rom venir, the Latin venio, signifies not only a coming or arrival, but an attack in fencing. Venio coincides in origin with the English /ind ; Saxon find- an ; German and Dutch finden, to find, to fall or light on ; Danish/nder ; Swedish finna, to find, to discover, to meet, to strike against [ofTendere.j The primary sense of tienio then is not merely to come or arrive, but to rush or move with a driving force ; and this sen.se is applicable to coming or goin^.

That the primary sense is to fall or rush, we have evidence in the Latin ventus, and English wind, both from the root of this verb. We have still further evidence in the word venom, which in Welsh is gwcnwyn ; gwen, white, and gwyn, rage, smart, whence gtoynt, wind. Venom is that which frets or excites a raging pain. Hence we may infer that L. venor, to hunt, to chase, is of the same family : and »n i^ rniia, leave, or leave to de- part, or a departure, a leaving, coinriilini; in >iL'ii'rhMtion with/ea»e.

The latter word,«e7ita, proves aiiuih. i l..< i, ih t ihe primary sense of tie- nio is, in general, to move in any ilijt < tion. nil 1I1..1 Ihe Latin sense, to come, is a particular appropriation of that sense.

In ascertaining the primary sense of word*, it is often useful or necessa- ry to recur to the derivatives. Thus the Latin Icedo is rendered to hurt ; but, by adverting to allido, elido, and collido, we find that the original sig- nification is to strike, hit, or dash against. Hurt then is the secondary sense ; the effect of the primary action expressed by the verb.

So the Latin rapio, to seize, does not give the sense of rapidus, rapid, but the sense of the latter proves the primary .sense of rapio to be to rush, and in its application, to rush on and seize.

These examples will be sufficient to show how little the affinities of language have been understood. Men have been generally satisfied with a knowledge of the appropriate sense of words, without examining from what visible or physical action, or ^jnmai!/ sense, that particular application has been derived. Hence the obscurity that still rests on the theory of lan- guage. It has been supposed that each word, particularly each verb, has an original specific sense, or application, distinct from every other verb. We find, however, on a close examination and comparison of the same word in different language;;, that the fact is directly the reverse ; that a verb expressing some action, in a general sense, gives rise to various ap- propriate senses, or particular applications. And in the course of my re- searches, I have been struck with the similarity of manner in which differ- ent nations have appropriated derivative and figurative senses. For exam- ple, all nations, as far as my researches extend, agree in expressing the sense o( justice and right, by straightness, and sin, iniquity, wrong, by a deviation from a 5traight line or course. Equally remarkable is the simpli- city of the analogies in language, and the small number of radical signifi- cations ; so small indeed, that 1 am persuaded the primary sense of all the verbs in any languas;e, may be expressed by thirty or forty words.

We cannot, at tliis period of the world, determine, in all cases, which words are primitive, and which are derivative ; nor whether the verb or the noun is the original word. Mon. Gebelin, in his Monde Primitif, maintains that the noun is the root of all other words. Never was a great- er mistake. That some nouns may have been formed before the verbs with which they are connected, is possible ; but as languages are now con- structed, it is demonstrably certain, that the verb is the radix or stock fron which have sprung most of the nouns, adjectives, and other parts of speed belonging to each family. This is the result of all my researches into th< origin of languages. We find, indeed, that many modem verbs are form- ed on nouns ; as to practice from practice; but the noun is derived from i Greek verb. So we use wrong as a verb from the adjective wrong , but the latter is primarily a participle of the verb to wring. Indeed a large part of all nouns were originally participles or adjectives, and the things which they denote were named from their qualities. So pard, pardus, is from T13 barad, hail ; and the animal so named from his spots as if sprinkled with hail, or rather from the sense of separation. Crape, the Fr. cr^pe, is from crSper, to crisp. Sight signifies, primarily, seen ; it being the participle of seon contracted from sigan. Draught is the parti- ciple of draw, that which is drawn, or the act of drawing ; thought is the participle of think.

As the verb is the principal radix of other words, and as the proper pro- vince of this part of speech is to express action, ahnost all the modifica- tions of tlie primary sense of the verb may be comprehended in one word, to move.

The principal varieties of motion or action may be expressed by the fol- lowing verbs.

1. To drive, throw, thrust, send, urge, press.

2. To set, fix, lay. Buttheseareusually from thrusting, or throwingdown.

3. To strain, stretch, draw, whence holding, binding, strength, power, and often health.

4. To turn, wind, roll, wander.

5. To flow, to blow, to rush.

6. To open, part, spht, separate, remove, scatter. See No. 16.

7. To swell, distend, expand, spread.

8. To stir, shake, agitate, rouse, excil

agitate, rouse, excite. To shoot as a plant; to grow ; allied to No. 1.

10. To break, or burst; allied sometimes to No. 3.

11. To lift, raise, elevate ; allied to No. 9.

12. To flee, withdraw, escape ; to fly; often allied to No. 1.

13. To rage ; to burn ; allied to No. 7 and 8. 11. To fall ; to fail ; whence fading, dying, &c.

15. To approach, come, arrive, extend, reach. This is usually the sense of gaining. No. 34.

16. To go, walk, pass, advance ; allied to No. 6.

17. To seize, take, hold; sometimes alUed to No. 31.

18. To strike; to beat; alhed to No. 1.

19. To swing ; to vibrate. No. 29.

20. To lean; to incline ; allied to the sense of wandering, or departing.

21. To rub, scratch, scrape; often connected with driving, and with roughness.

22. To swim ; to float.

23. To stop, cease, rest; sometimes at least from straining, holding, fas- tening. *

24. To creep ; to crawl ; sometimes connected with scraping. 215. To peel, to strip, whence spoiling.

26. To leap, to spring; allied to No. 9 and 1.

27. To bring, bear, carry; in some instances connected with producing, throwing out.

28. To sweep.

29. To hang. No. 19.

30. To shrink, or contract; that is, to draw. See No. 3.

31. To run ; to rush forward ; allied to No. 1.

32. To put on or together; to unite ; allied to No. 1 and 3.

33. To knit, to weave.

34. To gain, to win, to get. See No. 15.

These and a few more verbs express the literal sense of all the primary roots. But it must be remarked that all the foregoing significations are not distinct. So far from it, that the whole may be brought under the significa- tion of a very few words. The Enghsh words to seiid, throw, thrust, strain, stretch, draw, drive, urge, press, embrace the primary sense of a great part of all the verbs in every language which I have examined. Indeed it must be so, for the verb is certainly the root of most words ; and the verb expres-

3 moJion, which always imphes the application of force.

Even the verbs which signify to hold or stop, in most instances at least, if

tin all, denote primarily to strain or restrain by exertion offeree ; and to lie is primarily to throw down, to lay one's self down. So that intransitive verbs are rarely exceptions to the general remark above made, that all verbs primarily express motion or exertion of force. The substantive verb has more claims to be an exception, than any other ; for this usually denotes, I think, permanence or continued being ; but the primary sense of this verb may perhaps be to set or fix ; and verbs having this sense often express ex- tension in time or duration. So mvu in Greek is to stretch, but the same word teneo in Latin, is to hold ; hence continuance.

Let us now attend to the radical sense of some of the most common verbs.

Speaking, calling, crying, praying, utterance of sounds, is usually from the sense of driving or straining. Thus in Latin, appello and compello, though of a different conjugation from pello, depello, impello, are from the same root ; and although the Latin repello does not signify to recall, yet the corresponding word in Italian rappellare, and the French rappeler, signify to recall, and hence the English repeal. Hence also peal, either of a bell or of thunder. This is the Greek i3aUw, and probably TraUu is from the same root. The sense oi striking is found in the Greek verb, and so it is in the Lat. loquor, Eng. clock. But in general, speaking, in all its modifica- tions, is the straining, driving, or impulse of sounds. Sometimes the sense coincides more exactly with tiidAoi breaking or tmrsting.

Singing is a driving or straining of the voice ; and we apply strain to a passage of music, and to a course of speaking.

■ I am not confident that I can refer the sensation ot hearing to any visible action. Possibly it may sometimes be from striking, hitting, touching. But we observe that hear is connected in origin with ear, as the Latin audio is with the Greek on, "roi, the ear ; whence it appears probable that the verb to hear, is formed from the name of the ear, and the ear is from some verb which signifies to shoot or extend, for it signifies a limb.

The primary sense of seeing, is commonly to extend to, to reach ; as it were, to reach with the eye. Hence the use of behold, for the radical sense of hold is to strain ; and hence its signification in beholden, held, bound, ob- ligated. See the verb See in the Dictionary.

The sense of look may be somewhat different from that of see. It appear* in some instances to have for its primary signification to setid, throw, cast ; that is, to send or cast the eye or sight.

Wonder and astonishment are usually expressed by some word that sig- nifies to stop or hold. Hence the Latin miror, to wonder, is the Armoric tniret, to stop, hold, hinder ; coinciding with the EngUsh moor, and Spanish amarrar, to moor, as a ship.

INTRODUCTION.

3 primarily to fall or rush 1 in Latin tento. See As- sually ex-

To begin is to come, or fall on ; to thrust on. We have a familiar exam pie in the Latin incipio, in and capio ; for Capio on and seize. See Begin in the Dictionary.

Attempt is expressed by straining, stretching, ; say and Essay.

/"oi/jer, sfrengtA, and the corresponding verb, pressed by straining, stretching, and this is the radical sense ol ruling or governing. Of this the Latin rego is an example, which gives rectus, right that is, stretched, straight.

Care, as has been stated, is usually from straining, Aat is, a tension of the mind. . , . ■

Thinking is expressed by setting. To think is to set or fix or hold in thi mind. It approaches to the sense of suppose, Lat. suppono.

And under this word, let us consider the various applications of the Latin puto. The simple verb puto is rendered to prune, lop or dress, as vines, that is, according to Ainsworth, putum, i. e. purum reddo, purgo, by vphicli I understand him to mean, thatputum is either a change of purum, or used for it ; a most improbable supposition, for the radical letters t and r are coramutable. Puto is rendered also, to make even, clear, adjust, or cast up accounts ; ;Jso to think or consider; to suppose ; to debate. Its compounds are amputo, to cut off, prune, amputate, to remove ; computo, to compute to reckon, to think or deem ; disputo, to make clear, to adjust or settle, tc dispute or debate, to reason ; imputo, to impute, to ascribe or lay to, tc place to account ; reputo, to consider, to revolve, to reckon up, to impute The Latin deputo signifies to think, judge or esteem, to account or reckon and to prune ; but the Italian deputare, Spanish diputar, and French depu- ter, from the Latin word, all signify, to send. How can the sense of think and that of lop or prune, be deduced from a common root or radical sense : We find the solution of this question in the verb to depute. The primary sense is to throw, thrust or send, or to set or lay, which is from throwing, driving. To prune is to separate, remove, or drive oiT; to force off; to think is a setting in the mind ; to compute is to throw or put together, either

the mind or in numbers; to dispute is to throw against ' '•''" ■^'

bate, to beat from; to impute, is to throw or put to or on; and to think or throw in the mind, repeatedly. To amputate

apart, like de

I repute, is

to separate by probably, as the also the Dutch

cutting round. Puto then in Latin is from the same English put, or the same word ditferently applied ; pooten, to plant ; pool, a paw, a twig or shoot, Gr. (furov, sic.

In attempting to discover the primary sense of words, we are to carry reflections back to the primitive state of mankind, and consider how rude men would effect their purposes, before the invention or use of the instru- ments which the moderns employ. The English verb to cut, signifies or- dinarily to separate with an edged tool ; and we are apt to consider tins ai the chief and original sense. But if so, how can cut, the stroke of a whip which is a legitimate sense of the word, be deduced from the act of severing by an edged tool ? We have, in this popular use of the word, a clew to guide us to the primary sense, which is, to drive, urge, press, and applied to the arm, to strike. But we have better evidence. In the popular practice of speaking in New England, it is not uncommon to hear one person call to ar other when running, and say, cut on, cut on ; that is, hurry, run faste drive, press on ; probably from striking a beast which one rides on. This is the original sense of the word. Hence we see, that this verb is the Latin cado, to strike, to cut down, somewhat differently applied, and cado, to fall is only a modified sense of the same root, and the compounds incido, to cut and incido, to fall on, are of one family. To cut, is therefore primarily to strike, or drive, and to cut off, if applied to the severing of bodies, before edged tools were used, was to force off, or to strike off; hence the separating in the phrase to cut off 2. retreat or communication.

So the Latin carpo is the English ca/rve, originally to separate by plucking, pulling, seizing and tearing, afterwards, by cutting.

Asking is usually expressed by the sense of pressing, urging. We have a clear proof of this in the Latin pete and its compounds. This verb signi- fies primarily to rush, to drive at, to assault, and this sense, in Dictionaries, ought to stand first in the order of definitions. We have the force of the ori- ginal in the words impetus and impetuous. So the Latin rogo, coincides in elements with reach.

The act of understanding is expressed by reaching or taking, holding, sustaining ; the sense of comprehend, and of understand. We have a pop- ular phrase which well expresses this sense, " I take your meaning or your idea." So in German, begreifen, to begripe, to apprehend.

.Knowing seems to have the same radical sense as understanding.

Pain, grief, distress, and the like affections, are usually expressed by pressure or straining. Affliction is from striking.

Joy, mirth, and the like affections, are from the sense of rousing, excit- ing, lively action.

Covering, and the like actions aie from spreading over or cutting off, in- terruption.

Hiding, is from covering or from withdrawing, departure ; or concealment may be from withholding, restraining, suppressing, or making fast --=-"-- Latin celo.

Heat usually implies excitement; but as the effect of heat as well as of cfdd is sometimes to contract, I think both are sometimes from the same ra- 4ix. Thusco^d and the Lat. caleo, to be warm, and calhts and catleo, to be

hard, have all the same elementary letters, and I suppose them all to be from one root, the sense of which is, to draw, strain, shrink, contract. I am the more inclined to this opinion, for these words coincide with callta, to be strong or able, to know ; a sense that imples straining and holding.

Hope is probably from reaching forward. We express strong desire by longing, reaching towards.

Earnestness, boldness, daring, peril, promptness, readiness, willingness, love and favor, are expressed by advancing or inclining.

Light is often expressed by opening, or the shooting of rays, radiation ; and probably in many cases, the original word was applied to the dawn of day in the morning. fVhiteness is often connected in origin with light. We have an instance of this in the Latin caneo, to shine and to be white.

And that the primary sense of this word, is to shoot, to radiate, that is, to throw out or off, we have evidence in the verb cano, to sing, whence canto, the sense of which is retained in our popular use of cant ; to cant a stone ; to cant over a cask ; give the thing a cant ; for all these words are from one

The Latin virtus, the English worth, is from the root of vireo, to grow, that is, to stretch forward, to shoot; hence the original sense is strength, a sense we retain in its application to the qualities of plants. Hence the La- tin sense of virtus, is bravery, coinciding with the sense of boldness, a pro- jecting forward.

Pride is from swelling or elevation, the primary sense of some other words nearly allied to it.

Fear is usually from shrinking or from shaking, trembling; or some- les perhaps from striking, a being struck, as with surprise. Holiness and sacredness are sometimes expressed by separation, as from common things. The Teutonic word holy however seems to be from the nse of soundness, entireness.

Faith and belief seem to imply a resting on, or a leaving. It is certain that the English belief is a compound of the prefix be and leaf, leave, per- mission. To believe one then is to leave with him, to rest or suffer to rest ith him, and hence not to dispute, contend or deny.

Color may by from spreading over or putiing on ; but in some instances, the primary sense is to dip. See Dye and Tinge.

Spots are from the sense of separating or from sprinkling, dispersion. The radical sense of making is to press, drive, or force. We use make in i true literal sense, in the phrases, make your horse draw, mafce your ser- vant do what you wish.

Feeding is from the sense of pressing, crowding, stuffing, that is, from driving or thrusting. Eating seems to have a somewhat different sense.

Drinking is from drawing, or from wetting, plunging. Drench and drink are radically one word.

Anger, and the like violent passions imply excitement, or violent action. Hence their connection with burning or inflamnuttion, the usual sense of hich is raging or violent commotion.

Agreement, harmony, are usually from meeting, or union, or from ex- tending, reaching to.

Dwelling, abiding, are from the sense of throwing or setting down, or

from stretching; as we see by the Latin continuo, from teneo,

extend.

Guarding and defending, are fiom roots that signify to stop, or to cut off;

or more generally, from the sense of driving off, a repelling or striking

back. In some cases perhaps from holding.

Opposition is usually expressed by meeting, and hence the prepositions wliich express opposition. Thus the Danish preposition mod, Swedish mot or emot, against, contrary, is the English word to m^et.

Words which express spirit denote primarily breath, air, wind, the radi- cal sense of which is to flow, move or rush. Hence the connection between spirit and courage, animus, animosus ; henc^ pa.ssion, animosity. So in Greek ippiviTii, frenzy, is from ippiv, the mind, or rather from its primary sense, a moving or rushing.

So in our mother-tongue, mod is mind or spirit ; whence mood, in Eng- Ush, and Sax. modig, moody, angry. Hence mind in the sense ofjampose, its primary signification, is a setting forward, as intention is from intendo, to stretch, to strain, the sense that ought to stand first in a Dictionary.

Reproach, chiding, rebuke, are from the sense of scolding, or throwing out words with violence.

Sin, is generally from the sense of deviating, wandering, as is the prac- tice of lewdness.

Right, justice, equity, are from the sense of stretching, making straight, from laying, making smooth.

resting.

Falsehood is from falling, failing, or from deviation, wandering, draw- ing aside.

The primary sense of strange a.ni foreign, is distant, and from some verb signifying to depart. Wild and fierce are from a like sense.

Vain, vanity, wane, and kindred words, are from exhamtmg, drawing out, or from departing, withdrawing, falling away.

Paleness is usually from failure, a departure of color.

Glory is from opening, expanding, display, or making clear.

Binding, making fast or close, is from pressure, or straining.

Writing is from scratching, engraving, the sense of all primitive words which express this act.

INTRODUCTION.

A aowd, a mass, a wood, Sic, are from collecting or pressing, or soj allied signification.

Vapor, steam, smoke, are visually from verbs which signify to exhale throw off.

Stepping seems to be from opening, expanding, stretching. Thus passus in Latin is from pando, to open, -but this agrees in origin with pateo, and with tlic Greek irartw. Gradus in Latin coincides witli the Welsh rhawd, a way, andthi*, when traced to its root, terminates in the oriental T1, TXT), Chaldee, to open, stretch or expand: in Syriac (»j radah, to go, to pass. Walking may be sometimes from a like source ; but the word walk signifies primarily to roll, pre.'*.'?, work and full, as a hat, whence walker signifies a fuller.

Softness and weakness are usually named from yielding, bending, with- drawing, as is relaxation. Softness however is sometimes connected with smoothness, and perhaps with moisture.

Sweetness seems to have for its primary sense, either softness or smooth-

Roughness is from sharp points, wrinkling or breaking ; and acidity is from sharpness or pungency, and nearly allied to roughness.

Death is expressed by falling or departure ; life by fixedness or continu- ance, or from animation, excitement.

Selling is primarily, a passing or transfer. Sellan, in Saxon, signifies to give as well as to sell.

A coast or border, is usually the extreme point, from extending.

Law is from setting, establishing.

The primary sense of son, daughter, offspring, is usually a shoot, or as we say, issue. Hence in Hebrew :3 ben, signifies both a son, a cion, a branch, and the youn» of other animals. A son, says Parkhurst, is from nJ3 banah, to,build, and hence he infers that a son is so called, because he builds up or continues his father's house or family. But if so, how does the word apply to a branch, or an arrow .' What do these build up .' The mistake of this author, and of others, proceeds from their not understanding the origiM;il meaning of the verb, which is not to erect, or elevate, but to" throw, to set, to found; and this verb is probably ictainnl in niir word found. .\\ son is that which is thrown or .shot out, a cion nv l.rnuli h llie same, an offset, one an offset of the human body, the olliir ni , |,l,ini, jn.l .in arrow is that which is shot or thrown. Hence probably iln HiIm i u J3vS' oben or even, a stone, W. maen, or vaen, that which is set, so uaiued liuin its compactness or hard-

Qess. And in Arabic j t abana, signifies to think, Lat. opinor, that is, to set in the mind.

Few and small are senses often expressed by the same word. Thus, al- though/eM> in English expresses merely a small number, yet the same word in French, peu, and in the Italian, poco, signifies little in quantity, as well as few in number.

Cause is from the sense of urging, pressing, impelling. Hence it well expresses that which produces an effect ; and hence it is peculiarly expres- sive of that by which a man seeks to obtain a claim in law. A cause ii: court is properly a pressing for right, like action from ago ; and prosecu- tion from the Latin seqiurr, which is our word seek. Hence the Latin ac- cuso, to accuse, to throw ui)on, to press or load with a charge. The Saxon saca, contention, suit in law, is synonymous with cause, and from the root of seek, sequor. It is the English sake.

The word thingis nearly synonymous with cause and sake. See Thing in the Dictionary.

The primary sense of time, heck, chance, fortune, is to fall, to ^„...,., „ arrive, to happen. Tide, time and season, have a like original sense. Tide in Saxon is time, not a flow of the sea, the latter being a secondary and mod em application of the word. This primary signification of time will unfold to us what I formerly could not understand, and what I could find no pei-soi to explain, that is, why the Latin tempora should signify times and the tern pies. It seems that tempora are the falls of the head. Hence also we un derstand why tempest is naturally deducible from tempus, as the primary sense is to fiill, to rush. Hence te7tipestivus, seasonable, that c good time. Season has a like sense.

Hence also we are ted to understand, what has seemed inexpUcable, how the French heureux, lucky, happy, can be regularly deduced from heure, an hour. W e hnd that in Greek and Latin, the primary sense of hour is time. anil time is a coming, a falling, a happening, like the English luck, and hence the sense of lucky ; hence fortunate and happy. The word fortunate IS precisely of the same character.

The primary sense of the Shemitic 13n davar, or thavar, corresponds al- most precisely with that of cause and thing in EngUsh, that is, to stiain, urge, drive, fall or rusli. Hence it signifies, to .speak, and in Ch. and Syr. to lead, to direct, to go\\ern. As a noun, it signifies a word, that which is uttered ; a thing, cause or matter, that is, that which happens or falls, like event from evenio ; also a plague, or great calamity, that is, that which tails, or comes on manor beast, like plague, a stroke or affliction, from striking. And it may be observed, that if the first letter is a prefix answer- ing to the Gothic du, Saxon and English to, in the Saxon to-drifan, to drive, then the iw. 13 coincides exactly with the Welsh peri, to command, which (s retained lu composiUon in Uie Lat. impero. Indeed if the first syUable of

Igufteriio is a prefix, the root of this word may be the same. The object however for which this word is here mentioned, is chiefly to show the uni- formity which men have observed in expressing their ideas ; making use of the same visible physical action to represent the operations of the mind and moral ideas.

Silence, deafness, dumbness, are from stopping, holding, or making fast.

War is from the sense of striving, driving, struggling.

Good is generally from enlarging, or advancing, like prosperotts.

Evil is from wandering, departing, or sometimes from softness, weakness, ni,from the Welsh

flowing or fluxibility, as is tlie case with the L, mall.

The primary sense of the names of natural and material objects cannot always be ascertained. The reasons are obvious. Some of these names are detached branches of a family of words, which no longer form a part of our language, the verb and all the derivatives, except a single name, being ex- tinct or found only in some remote country. Others of these names tiave suffered such changes of orthography, that it is dilBcult or impossible to as- certain the primary or radical letters, and of course the family to which they belong. Numerous examples of such words occur in EngUsh, as in every 'other language. «

I But from such facts as have occurred to me, in my researches, I may ven- ture to affirm with confulcnce, that most names of natural objects are taken from some obvious (ju.iiityor action, or some supposed quality of the thing; ]or from the particular action or operation by which it is produced. Thus tu~ \\mors are named from jiushing, or swelling ; and redness, or red, seems, in some instances at least, to be named from eruptions on the body. The human body is named from shaping, that is, setting, fixing, or extending, and hence .sometimes, the general name of the human race. The arm is a shoot, a push, as is the branch of a tree. A board, a table, a floor, is from spreading, or expanding, extending. Skin, and hark are from peeling, stripping, &c. The names of particular animals and plants cannot always be traced to Ibiir source ; but as far as I have been able to discover their origin, I find animals to be generally named from some striking characteristic of external appearance, from the voice, from habits of life, or from their office. There is reason for believing that the Greek spouSoj and Latin slruthio, or ostrich, is from the same root as the English strut, the strutter ; the primary sense of which root is, to stretch, wliich explains all the senses of the Greek and Latin words of this family. It is certain that the crow is named from its cry, ] and the leopard from his spots.

I Thus planLs were named from their qualities: some from their form, oth- ers from their color, others from their effects, others from the place of their I growth. The English root, Lat. radix, is only a particular application of rod jand ray, radius; that is, a shoot. Spurge is undoubtedly from the root of I the Latin pur go.

j There is reason to think that many names of plants were originally adjec- tives, expressing their qualities, or the name was a compound used for the same purpose, one part of which has been dropped, and the other remaining as the name of the plant. Thus pine, pinus, is from pin, pinna, penna ; tor in Welsh pin is a pin and a pen or style for writing, and pinbren is a pine- tree. The tree then was named from its leaf. Pir has a similar origin and signification.

It is probable or rather certain that some natural objects, as plants and minerals, received their names from their supposed qualities; as in ages of ignorance End superstition, men might ascribe effects to them, by mistake. The whole history of magic and enchantment leads us to this conclusion.

Minerals are, in many instances, named from their obvious qualities, as \\gold from its yellowness, and iron from its hardness. The names can, in [some cases, be traced to their original, as that of gold and of the Latin /«■- \\ru.m ; but many of them, are not easily ascertained. Indeed tlie greatest part of the specific names of animals, plants and minerals appear to be ob- scure. Some of them appear to have no connection with any family of words in our language, and many of them are derived to us from Asia, and from roots which can be found only, if found at all, in the Asiatic languages.

These observations and explanations will be sufficient to show the impor- jtance of developing, as far as possible, tlie origin of words, and of comparing tlie different uses of the same word in different languages, in order to under- stand either the philosophy of speech, or the real force and signification of words in their practical application.

If it should be found to be true, that many of the Shemitic verbs are form- ed with prefixes, Uke those of the European languages, this may lead to new illustrations of the original languages of the scriptures. In order to deter- mine this fact, it will be useful to examine whether the Chaldee and Hebrew 3 is not often a prefix answering to ic in tlie Teutonic languages ; whether J and 3 are not prefixes answering to the ga and ge of the Gothic and Teu- tonic ; whether T, and n, and I, a dialectical form of £3, do not coincide with the Gothic du, the Saxon

If many of the Shemitic triliteral verbs are compound, it follows that the

imary radix has not been detected. At any rate, I have no hesitation in

atfirming that the primary sense of many of the roots in the Shemitic Ian-

INTRODUCTION.

guages, that sense which is almost indispensable to an understanding of many obscure passages in the scriptures, has been hitherto overlooked or mistaken. In order fully to comprehend many uses of the words, it will be necessary to compare them with the uses of the words of the same family in the modern languages, and this comparison must be far more extensive than any hitherto made, and conducted on principles which have not been before duly appreciated and applied.

I have introduced the foregoing comparative view of the several signifi- cations of the same word indifferent languages, not merely to illustrate the general principles of language, but with a special reference to an explana- tion of the etymologies which occur in this work. Should my synopsis ever he pubUsbed, the learned enquirer might pursue the subject at his pleasure.

The results of the foregoing remarks and illustrations may be thus reca- pitulated.

1. The nations which now constitute the distinct families or races of Ja- phet and Shem, are descendants of the common family which inhabited the plain of Shinar, before the dispersion.

2. The families at the dispersion retained a large proportion of the words which were in common use, before that event, and the same were conveyed to their posterity. In the course of time, some of these words were drop- ped by one family or tribe, and some by another, till very few of them are retained in their original form and signification by all the nations which have sprung from the main stock. A few of them however are still found in all or nearly all the languages which I have examined, bearing nearly the same signiiication and easily recognized as identical.

3. Although few of the primitive words can now be recognized, as exist- ing in all the languages, yet as we better understand the changes which have been made in the orthography and signitication of the same radical words, the more affinities are discovered ; and particularly, when we un- derstand the primary sense, we find this to unite words whose appropriate or customary significations appear to have no connection.

4. A great number of the primitive radical words are found in compounds, formed in different languages, with different affixes and prefixes, which ob- scure the affinity. Thus Veritas in Latin is wahrheit in German ; the first syllable in each is the same word, the last, different. In other instances, both difference of orthography, of formation and of application concur to ob- scure the affinity of words. Thus, the English word strong is in Danish streng, signifying stern, severe, rigid, strict; and strenghed [stronghood] is severity, rigor, strictness. Now, n in these words is not radical ; remove this letter and we have strog, streg, which coincide with the Latin stringo, stricttis ; and these words are found to be from the same radix, which signi- fies to draw, to strain, to stretch.

5. It appears that 6, p and/ are often prefixes, either the remains of pre- positions, or casual additions to words, introduced by peculiar modes of pro- nunciation, which prefixes now precede consonants with which they readily coalesce in pronunciation, as I and r, forming triliteral words on biliteral roots ; as in block from Hoc, or lock; play, Saxon jj/egara, from leg or lek, Swedish /efta, Dan. leger ; flow, Lat. fluo, bom lug, or luc, which appears in light, lux, luceo, and in lug, a river, retained in Lugdunum.

6. It appears also that c or k and g, are often prefixes before the same consonants, I and )•, as in Lat. clunis, Eng. loin ; W. clod, praise, from Hod. Latin, laus, laudo ; German gluck, English luck ; Lat. gratia, W. rhad.

7. It appears also that s is a prefix in a vast number of words, as in speed, spoil, swell, sweep ; and it is very evident that st are prefixed to many words whose original, radical, initial consonant was r, as in straight, strict, strong, stretch, from the root of right, rectus, reach, and in stride, from the root of the Latin gtadior, W.rhaz.

If these inferences are just, as I am persuaded they are, it follows tha there is a more near resemblance and a much closer affinity between thi languages of Europe and of Western Asia, than has hitherto been supposed to exist. It follows also that some of the most important principles or rudi ments of language have hitherto escaped observation, and that pliilology i: yet in its infancy. Should this prove, on further examination, to be the stat( of philology, it is reserved for future investigators to examine the original languages of the scriptures on new principles, which may sei-ve to illustrate some obscure and difficult passages, not hitherto explained to the general satisfaction of critics and commentators.

If any persons should be disposed to doubt or contradict these facts, let them first consider that my conclusions are not hasty opinions, formed on isolated facts ; but that they have been forced upon me, in opposition to all my former habits of thinking, by a series of successive proofs and ace lating evidence, during a long course of investigation, in which I have pared most of the radical words, in more than twenty languages, twice and some of them three times.

No part of my researches has given me more trouble or solicitude, than that of arriving at tlie precise radical sigrufication of moral ideas ; such for example, as hope, love,favor, faith. Nor has it been with much less labor that I have obtained a clear knowledge of some of our physical actions. _. is literally true that I have sometimes had a word under consideration for two or three years, before I could satisfy my own mind, as to the primary signification. That I have succeeded at last, in every instance, can hardly -yet, in most cases, I am perfectly satisfied with the results of esearches.

Progress and Changes of the English Language.

lias been already observed that the mother tongue of the EngUsh i» the Anglo-Saxon. The following are specimens of that language as it was spoken or written in England before the Norman conquest. The first is from the Sa.xon Chronicle. The original is in one column, and the literal translation in the other. The English words in italics are Saxon words. The number of these will show how large a proportion of the words is re- tained in the present English.

An. DCCCXCI. Her for se here east, and Earnulf cyning gefeaht with thKm raede-here asr tha scipu co- mon, mid East-Francum, and Seaxum, and Bfcgerum, and hine geflymde. And thry Scottas cwomon to iElfrede cyninge on anum bate, butan aelcum gerethum, of Hibernia; and thonon hi hi bestaelon, forthon the hi woldon forGodes lufan on eltheodinesse bion, by ne rohton hwar.

Se bat wss geworht of thriddan healfre hyde, the hie on foron, and hi namon mid him that hie hsefdon to seofon nihtum mete, and tha comon hie ymb seofon niht, to londe on Corawealum, and foran tha sona to filfrede cyninge.

rray east and Earnulf, the king, fought with the cavalry [ride army] ere the ships come, with the East- Francs, and Saxons and Bavarian*, anrf put them to flight. Jliul thru Scots come to Alfred, the kli'^. in n [an] boat, without any rower.-., liom Hibernia, and thence they privately withdrew [bestole] because that the\\ would, for God's love be [or livej where they should not be anxious — [reck, care.]

The boat teas wrought of ttfo hides and a half [third half hide,] in which they fared [came] and they took with them that they had for sr- ven nights meat, and they come about the seventh night, to land in Cornwall, and fared [went] soon to iElfred, the king.

The following specimen is from the Anglo-Saxon version of Orosius, suppo- ' ■ be made by King Alfred.

Ohthere sasdc his hiaforde, M\\- frede kyninge, tha-t he ealra North- manna north mest bude. He cwaeth that he bude on thsm lande northe- weardum with tha west ss. He sa!de theah thaet that land sy swythe north thanon ; ac hit is eall west buton on feawum stowum sticce jm wiciath Fionas, on huntathe ■intra, and on sumera on fiscothe be there sae. He saede tha;t he a;t sumum cyrre wolde fandiam hu lange thst land north right tege.

Octhere told [said] his lord, king Alfred, that he lived north most ol all the north men. He quoth that he dwelt in the [them] land north- ward, opposite [with] the west sea. He said though, that that land is due north from thence, and that it is all waste except [but] in a few places [stows] where the Fijifis for the most part dwell, for hunting in winter, and in summer (or fishing iu that sea, [by the sea.] He said that he, at some time, would find how long that land lay right north.

Laws of King iEthelbert.

Gif Cyning his Icode to him geha- ;h, and heom mon thsr yfel gedo, II bote and cyning L. scillinga.

Gif in Cyninges tune man mannan I fsleah, L. scill. gebete.

Gif on Eorles tune man ofsleath, XII Scil. gebete.

Gif man scil. gebete

: man ofslsehth, XX |

Gif thuman (of astehth) XX scil. Gif "thuman nsgl of wcordeth III scil. gebete. Gif man scytefinger (of a slahth,) VIII scil. gebete. Gif man middle finger (of a slaehth,) IV. scil. gebete. Gif man gold-finger (of a slaehth,) VI scil. gebete. Gif man then litlan finger (of a sloehth) XI scil. gebete.

If the King shall call [cite] his people to him, and any one [man] shall there do evil, let double com- pensation be made, and Mty shillings to the King.

If in the King's town a man slay la man, let him compensate [boot] I with fifty shillings.

j If in an Earl's town one man slayeth another tnan, let him pay [ twelve shilli7igs for reparation.

I If man, [any one] slayelh any man, let him compensate with twen- I ly shillings.

If the thumb shall be cutoff, twen- ty shillings. If the thumb naii shall be cut off, three shillings shall be the compensation. If any one [off slay- eth, striketh off,] cutteth off the fore finger [shoot finger,] let him com- pensate with eight shillings. If one cutteth off the middle finger, let him pay four shillings. If any one cut- teth off the gold finger [ring finger,] let him pay six shillings. If any one cutteth off the little finger, let pay eleven shiHings.

INTRODUCTION.

Laws of king Eadgar.

We lasrath that a;lc cristen man Ms licarn to cristendome geornlUe wffinige and him pater noster and ciedon taece.

We order or instruct that each christian iium earnestly accustom [wean] his children to Christianity [Christendom] and teach him the Pater Noster and Creed.

We larath that preost ne beo hun- 1 We direct that a priest be not : ta ne hafecere ne tsflere ; ac plegge hunter, nor hawker, nor a gamester on his bocum swa his hade gebirath. but that he apply to his books, as i I becomes his order.

We observe by these extracts that rather more than half the Saxon words have been lost, and now form no part of our language.

This language, with some words iulroduced by the Danes, continued be used by the English, till the Norman confjuest. After that event, great numbers of Saxon words went into disuse, not suddenly, but gradually, and French and Latin words, were continually added to the language, till it be- gan to assume its present form, in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Vet the writings of Gower and Chaucer cannot now be fully understood without a glossary.

But it was not in the loss of nati\\e Saxon words and the accession of French and Latin words alone that the change of our language consisted. Most portant alterations were made in the sounds of the vowels. It is probable, if not certain, that our first vowel a had usually or always the broad sound as we now pronounce it in fall, or in some words perhaps the Italian sound as it is now called, and as we pronounce it in ask. The sound of e was pro- bably nearly the same as it is in French and Italian, and in the northern languages on the continent ol Kmnpo ; which is nearly that of a in favor. The Saxon sound of t wi- pMluii- dr ^;iine as it is still on the continent

the sound of ee or long I. II > l i " was that of our present oo, French

ou, the sound it still li,i>- n. li.li.i] u m most countries on the Europeai continent. It is probable lli.ii the ihaii-c of the sound of u happened in con sequence of the prevalence of the French pronunciation after the conquest for the present sound of u may be considered as intermediate, between the full sound of 00, or French ou, and the French sound of

These changes, and the various sounds given to the same character, now serve to perplex foreigners, when learning English ; and tend, in no small degree, to retard or limit the extension of our language. This is an unfor- tunate circumstance, not only in obstructing the progress of science, but of Christianity.

The principal changes in the articulations are the use of A for c, as in look for locian ,• the loss of A before I, as in loaf from hlaf, lot (or hlot, lean for hlinian ; and the entire loss of the prefix ee or ga. as in deal for ge-dalan, deem for ge-deman; and of

In grammatical structure, the language hassufifered considerable altera- tions. !n our mother tongue, nouns were varied to form ca-ses, somewhat as in Latin. This declension of nouns has entirely ceased, except in the possessive or genitive case, in which an apostrophe before s has been sub- stituted for the regular Saxon termination es. Some of our pronouns retain their declensions, somewhat varied. The plural termination in en has been dropped, in a number of words, and the regular plural termination been sub- stituted, as houses for housen.

In most cases, the Saxon termination of the infinitive mode of verbs, has been dropped, and for gifan, we now write, to give. The variations of the verb, in the several persons, have been materially changed. Thus for the .Saxon—

rite-

Ic lufige, Thu lufast. He lufath.

I love,

We lufiath, Ge lufiath. Hi lufiath.

Ye love,' They love.

Thou lovest.

He loveth or

loves.

In the Saxon plural however we see the origin of the vulgar practi still retained in some parts of England and of this country. We loves, they loves, which aie contractions of lufiath.

In the substantive verb, our common people universally, and most persons of better education, unless they have rejected their traditionary language retain the Gothic dialect, in the past tense.

I was, I We was.

Thou wast, Ye was.

He was. J They was.

However people may be ridiculed for this language, it isof genuine origin, 38 old as the Saxon word were. In Gothic, tlie past tense runs thus —

Ik was, I Weis wesum,

Thu wast, Yus wesuth.

Is was. I Eis wesun.'

n the present tense of the substantive verb, our common people use d'7it

as in this phrase : " he a'n< present." This is evidently a contraction of the

Swedish and Danish, fir, er, present, indicative, singular, of the substantive

verb, vara or veerer, to be, which we retain in are and were.

In Swedish, ban hr, and in Danish, han er, he is. Hence he er not or ar not, contracted into he a'nt or e'nt.

These facts serve to show how far the Gothic dialect has been infused into the English language.

It would be tedious and to most readers uninteresting, to recite all the changes in the forms of words or the structure of sentences which have ta- ken place, since the Norman conquest. Since the invention of printing, changes in the language have been less rapid, than before ; but no art nor effort can completely arrest alterations in a living language. The distin- guished writers in the age of Queen EUzabeth, improved the language, but could not give it stability. Many words then in common use arc now obso- lete or have suffered a change of signification. In the period between Queen Elizabeth, and the beginning of the eighteenth century, the lan- guage was improved in grammar, orthography, and style. The writers in gnof Queen Ann and of George I, brought the language nearly to perfection; and if any improvement has since been made, it is in the style or diction, by a better selection of words, and the use of terms in science and philosophy with more precision.

In regard to grammatical construction, the language, for half a century last, has, in my apprehension, been suffering deterioration, at least as far as egards its written form. This change may be attributed chiefly to the in- luence of the learned Bishop Lowth, whose grammar made its appearance nearly sixty years ago. I refer particularly to his form of the verb, which was a'djusted to the practice of writers in the age of Queen Elizabeth, instead of the practice of authors in the age of WiUiam and Mary, Queen Ann, and George I. Hence he gives for the form of the verb in the subjunctive mode, after the words which express a condition, if, though, &.C. I love, thou love, he love, observing in a note, that in the subjunctive mode, the event being spoken of under a condition or supposition, or in the form of a wish, and therefore doubtful and contingent, the verb itself in the present, and the auxiliary both of the present and past imperfect times, often carry with them somewhat of a future sense ; as " if he come to-morrow, I may speak to him" — " If he should come, I should speak to him." This is true ; but for that very reason, tliis form of the verb belongs to the future tense, or should be arranged as such in Grammars. If he come, would be in Latin si venerit, in the subjunctive future.

But the learned author has entirely overlooked the important distinction between an event or fact, of uncertain existence in the yreaent time, and which is mentioned under the condition of present existence, and a future contingent event. " If the mail that has arrived contains a letter for me, I shall soon receive it," is a phrase that refers to the present time, and ex- presses an uncertainty in my mind, respecting the fact. ** If the mail con- tain a letter for me," refers to a future time, that is, " if the mail of to-mor- row contain [shall or should contain] a letter for me." The first event, conditional or hypothetical, should be expressed by the indicative mode, and the latter by the subjunctive future. The Saxon form of the verb, if he ly, if he go, is evidently a contingent future, and is so used in the laws. This distinction, one of the most important in the language, has been so totally overlooked, that no provision has been made for it in British Gram- mars; nor is the distinction expressed by the form of the verb, as used by a at part of the best writers. On the other hand, they continually use one n of the verb to express both senses. The fact is the same in the com- mon version of the scriptures. Jfhe go, if he speak, sometimes express a present conditional tense, and sometimes a contingent future. In general this subjunctive form of the verb in scripture, expresses future time. " If he thus say, I have no delight in thee," expresses a future contingent event. 2 Sam. xv. 26. " If iniquity be in thine hand, put it far away," ex- presses a fact, under a condition, in the present time. Job xi. 14.

In many iastances, the translators have deviated from the original, in us- ing the subjunctive form of the Enghsh verb to express what in Greek, is expressed in the indicative. Thus Matthew iv. 6. Ei tito; ti rov ©tot, if thou be [art] the son of God.

Ch. V. 29 and 30. Et it o 04)80X^05 aov «f?io5 sxaviaXiifi ae ; if thy right eye offend, [offendeth] thee ; ti >; if|io am j;£ip axaiia^i^ii Bty if thy

right hand offend, [offendeth] thee. So also in Chapter xviii. 8 and 9.

* This is probably the Latin esse. The Latins dropped the first articula- tion V, which answers to our w.

The present tense indicative mode of the Latin verb, with the V restored, would lie written thus.

Ego vesum, I nos vesumus, [was,] tu ves, vos vestis, [was,]

ille vest. I illi vesunt, [was.]

INTRODUCTION.

C'h. xii. 26. El o fforai'o; foe eatavav (xSaXKii, if Satan cast [casteth] out Satan.

Ch. xix. 10. Et ouftdj fftr fj atfta tov avSpuTtOfv fiita tri^ yvvaixo^, if the case of the man be [is] so with his wife.

Ch. xxii. 45. Et mv AofSiS xoXtt a-vtov Kvpior, if David then caH [calleth] him Lord.

2 Coi-. iv. 16. Ec (|u s^fiuf avBfiaHoi Sia^^ufitai, though our outward man perish, [perishes or is perishing.]

In all these passages, the Enghsh verb, in the subjunctive, properly ex- presses a conditional, contingent or hypothetical future tense, contrary to the sense of the original, except in the last passage cited, where the apostle evidently speaks of the perishing of the outward man as a fact admitted, which renders the translation still more improper.

Let us now attend to the following passages.

Matthew vii. 9. H m i;i,v i% v/tap ai'SfUTio;, ov £cw atfijSJj o vioj cwfov aptoti, or what man is there of you, whom if his eon ask [shall ask] bread, will he give him a stone.

Koi cav ixSw aifTjeti, if he ask [shall ask] a fish, will he give him a ser- pent.

Here the original tense is varied to express a future or hypothetical event, yet the verb in English is in the same tense as in the first class of ex- amples ; and what renders the version more objectionable, is, that the verb in the first clause, does not correspond with that in the second clause. There is no possible way of making good English of the translation, but by supposing the verb in the first clause ask, to be in the future tense. So it would be in Latin, and so it is, " si petierit." If thy son shall ask (or should ask) a fish, will he give, (or would he give) him a serpent?

This fault runs through the whole English version of the scriptures, and a distinction of tenses clearly marked in the original languages, is generally neglected in the translation.

Now the most unlettered man in this country, would express the sense in English, with the same marked distinction of tenses, which appears in the Greek. If thou ajf the son of God; if thy right eye offends thfee ; if the case of the man is such ; if David calls him Lord ; or if the sense is under- stood to be future and contingent, if thy son shall ask bread, or if he should ask bread, would be the uniform language of any of the common people of our country. There would not probably be a single exception, unless in the use of the substantive verb, which is often used in the subjunctive form. And the most unlettered man would use the corresponding verbs in the two clauses, if he shall ask, will he give; or if he should ask, would he give. The use of the verb in all similar phrases, is perfectly well settled in this country, and perfectly uniform among the higher and lower classes of men ; unless when the practice has been varied by the influence of Grammars, in which the conjugation of the verb is according to the antiquated practice «f the age of Elizabeth.

1 Tim. v. 4. E( St ti,; XVP"' i'""'" V ixyova txn, if any widow, have [has] children or nephews.

Verse 8. Et fit rtj ruv tStwr xat fxa'Kt^a t'wi' otXftcoi- ov rtpwoft, if any provide [provideth] not for his own, and especially for those of his own house.

This subjunctive form of the verb, if he be ; if he have ; if he go ; if he say ; if thmi write ; whether thou see ; though he fall, which was gene- rally used by the writers of the sixteenth century, was, in a great measure, discarded before the time of Addison. Whether this change was in conse- quence of the prevalence of colloquial usage over grammar rules, or be- cause discerning men perceived the impropriety and inconsistency of the language of books, I pretend not to determine. Certain it is, that Locke, Watts, Addison, Pope, and other authors of the first disUnction, who adorn- ed the close of the seventeenth and beginning of the eighteenth century, generally used the indicative mode to express condition, uncertainty, and hypothesis in the present and past tenses. Thus Locke writes — " If these two propositions are by nature imprinted." " If principles are innate." " If any person hath never examined this notion." " Whether that sub- stance thinks or no." " If the soul doth think in sleep." " If one con- siders well these men's way of speaking." " If he does not reflect." " Unless that notion produces a constant train of successive ideas." " If your Lordship means." Such is the language of Locke.

Now what is remarkable, the learned Dr. Lowth, the very author who has, by his grammar, done much to sanction the subjunctive form of the verb, in such cases, often uses the indicative in his own writings. " If he does not carefully attend to this— if this pleasure aiises from the shape of the composition — if this is not firmly and well established." These verbs are in contradiction of his own principles. On Isaiah. Prelim. Diss.

Addison. " If the reader has a mind to see a father of the same stamp." " If exercise throws off all superfluities — if it clears the vessels — if it dis- sipates a growing distemper." Such is the language of Addison, the most elegant writer of the genuine English idiom in the nation.

" If the thief is poor — if it obliges me to be conversant with scenes of wretchedness." Wilberforcc.

" If America is not to be conquered. Lord Chatham.

" If we are to be satisfied with assertions." " If it gives blind confi- dence to any executive government." " If such an opinion /las gone forth." " If our conduct has been marked with vigor and wisdom." Fox.

" If my bodily strength is equal to the task." •• A negro, if he works for himself and not a for master, will do double the work." " If there i* any aggravation of our guilt." If their conduct displays no true wisdom." " The honorable gentleman may, if he chooses, have the journals read again." " Whether this is a sufficient tie to unite them." " If this meas- ure comes recommended." " If there exists a country which contaiai! the means of protection." Pitt.

" If the prudence of reserve and decorum dictates silence." " If an as- sembly ).s viciously or feebly composed." If any persons are to make good deficiences." " If the King of the French has really deserved these mur- derous attempts." " If this representation of M. Neckar was false." " Whether the system, if it deserves the name." " The politician looks for a power that our workmen call a purchase, and if he finds the power." " If he feels as men commonly feel." Burke.

" If climate ftos such an effect on mankind." " If the effects of climate

ore casual.

" If he finds his coUeclic sufficiently enlightened."

I too small.'

Whether it leads to

Coxe's Ru^s. If he thinks his judgment not

others against his own failings." This is generally the language of John- son.

In regard to this distinguished author, I would observe that, except the substantive verb, there is in his Rambler but a single instance of the sub- junctive form of the verb in conditional sentences. In all other cases the use of the indicative is uniform.

Such also is the language of the most distinguished men in the United States, particularly of those who wrote their native language as they recei- ved it from tradition, and before grammars had made any impression on its genuine construction.

"The prince that acquires new territory, if he finds it vacant." "If we are industrious we shall never starve." " If one has more corn than he can consume, and another has less." Such is the languag-e of Franklin.

" If any persons thus qualified are to be found." " If it is thought pro- per." " If the congress does not choose to point out the particular regi- ment." " If I am rightly informed." " If the army has not removed." " If a proposition has not been made." Such is the language of Wash- ington.

" If any phWosopher pretends." " If he has food for the present day." " If a revelation is not impossible." " If the Christian system contains a real communication to mankind." " If the former of these facts opposes our reception of the miraculous history of the gospel." "If the preceding reflections are just." Such is the language of the late President Smith.*

" ij^any government deems the introduction of foreigners or their mer- chandize injurious." " Unless he violates the law of nations." " If a per- son has a settlement in a hostile country." " If he resides in a belligerent country." " If a foreign Consul carries on trade as a merchant." Such is the language of the ex-Chancellor Kent.

But neither the authors here mentioned, nor most others, even the most distinguished for erudition, are uniform and consistent with themselves in the use of the tenses. In one sentence we find the indicative used, " If it is to be discovered only by the experiment." "If other indications are to be found." In the next sentence, " If to miscarry in an attempt he a proof of having mistaken the direction of genius." Johnson.

'■ If the former be refined — if those virtues are accompanied with equal abilities." Gibbon.

" If love rewardhim, or if vengeance strike." Cowper.

" Or if it does not brand him to the last." Cowper.

" If he is a pagan — if endeavors are used — if the person hath a liberal education — if man be subject to these miseries. Milner.

The following expressions occur in Pope's Preface to Homer's Iliad, in the compass of thirteen lines.

" If heAas given a regular catalogue of an army."

" If he hcts funeral games for Patroclus."

" If UlyssesjJiSJ* the shades."

" If he be detained from his return."

" If Achilles be absent."

" If he gives his hero a suit of celestial armor."

I recollect one English author only, who has been careful to avoid this in- consistency ; this is Gregory, who, in his Economy of JVature, has uni- formly used the indicative form of the verb in conditional sentences of this kind.

The like inconsistency occurs in almost .ill American writings. " If moral disposition lie here." " If preference necessarily involves the knowledge of obligation." " If the proposition is true." " If the propo- sition be confirmed." " If he refutes any thing."

In a pamphlet now before me, there are no less ^an fifty of these incon- sistencies in the compass of ninety pages ; and three of them in one sen- tence.

*The substantive verb is often used in the subjunctive form by writers who never use that form in any other verb. The reason doubtless is that be is primarily the indicative as well as the subjunctive mode of that verb. / be, we be, as used in Scripture. So in German Ich bin.

INTRODUCTION.

Mow, In this case, is a foreigner to understand the author ? and how can such sentences be translated into another language without a deviation from (he original .'

The propriety of using the indicative form of the verb to express a pre sent or past event conditionally, does not rest solely on usage ; it is most correct upon principle. It is well known, that most of the words which are used to introduce a condition or hypothesis, and called most improperly conjunctions, arc verbs, having not the least affinity to the class of wordi »ised to connect sentences. If is the Saxon gif, give, having lost its first letter ; if for the ancient gif. Though is also a verb now obsolete, except in the iniiieralive mode. Now let us analyze this conditional tense of tlie verb. " If the man knows his true interest, he will avoid a quarrel." Here is an omission of the word that after if. The true original phrase was " //■ that the man knows his true interest, he will avoid a quarrel" — that is, give that [admit the fact which is expressed in the following clause] the man knows his true interest, then the consequence follows, he will avoid a quarrel. That in this sentence is a relative or demonstrative sub- stitute lor the following clause. This will more plainly appear by transpo- sing the clauses. " The man knows his true interest ; give that [admit that ;] lie will then avoid a quarrel. Now let the subjunctive form be used " The man knowhis true interest ; give that; he will avoid a quarrel."

Here the impropriety of this form of the verb appears in a strong light. It will appear more clearly by the use of other words of equivalent signifi cation. Grant the man know his true interest, he will avoid a quarrel Allow the man know his true interest. Suppose the man know his true interest. We never use the subjunctive form after the three last" verbi- which introduce the condition. Though is sometimes followed by the in-

The language of Addison, Johnson, and other distinguished writers of the last century, in the use of the indicative, is therefore, more correct than the language of the writers in the age of Elizabeth ; and their practice is principally the common usage of our country at this day.

I have, therefore, constructed a grammar on this usage; bringing down the standard of writing a century and a half later than 'Bishop Lowth. I have done this,_^rs<,onthe authority of strict analogical principles, as above stated ; secondly, on the authority of the best usage of that cluster of dis- tinguished writers who adorned the beginning of the last century ; and thirdly, on the authority of universal colloquial practice, which I consider as the real and only genuine language. I repeat this remark, that general and respectable usage in speaking is the genuine or legitimate language of a country to which the written language ought to be conformed. Lan- guage is that which is uttered by the tongue, and if men do not write the language as it is spoken by the great body of respectable people, they do not write the real language. Now, in colloquial usage, the subjunctive form of the verb, in conditional sentences, is rarely used, and perhaps ne- ver, except when the substantive verb is employed. Our students are taught in school the subjunctive form, if thou have, if he come, &c. and some of them continue, in after life, to write in that manner ; but in the

This colloquial custom accords with other languages. The French say and write s' il est, if he is. The Latins often used the same form, ■' si quid est in me ingenii, judices ;" but the use of the Latin subjunctive depends on certain other words which precede ; as " cum sit civis," as he is a citizen, or, since he is a citizen ; and the present tense is often used to ex- press what we express by an auxiliary. That the Greeks used the indica- tive to express a conditional present tense, we have seen by citations above.

By this arrangement of the verb, the indicative form after ]/ and other verbs inhoducing a condition or hypothesis, may be used uniformly to ex- press a fact or event under a condition or supposition, either in the present or past tenses ; the speaker being uncertain respecting tlie fact, or represent- ing it as doubtful.

If the man is honest, he will return what he has borrowed. If the ship A a« arrived, we shall be informed of it tomorrow. If the bill was present- ed, it was doubtless paid. If the law has been passed, we are precluded from further opposition.

On the other hand, when it is intended to speak of a future contingent event, 1 would always use the auxiliaries that are proper for the purpose. " If it shall or should rain tomorrow, we shall not ride to town." I would never use the subjunctive form if it rain in prose ; and in poetry, only from necessity, as an abridged phrase for if it shall or should rain. In thi" ijer, the distinction between the tenses, founded, may be preserved and made obv

vhich are now constantly con- s, both to natives and foreigners,

tended by the ]

lily of Murr.i'^-'s giaiij

cstablisli a form of the verb in writing, guage ; to fill our books with a conluV; language unsettled. Nothing can be m every where to meet with disci epancics There is another erroneous manner i thors in the language, which seems t

ins been to introduce, or I 'rii- in colloquial lan- 11' I thus to keep the I : iij the student than 111' ,ind practice, common to the best au- aped notice. This is, to

connect a verb in the past tense with a preceding one in the same tense, when the latter verb is intended to express a very different time from the ^/^ former. Thus, " Then Manasseh knew that the Lord, he was God." 2 Chron. xxxiii. 13.

The Latins, in this case, would probably have used the infinitive ; Ma- nasseh novit Jehovam deum esse. In Engli.sh we ought to write and say, " Manasseh knew Jehovah to be God," or, Manasseh A)i«o that Jehovah he is God. In most similar cases, the use of the infinitive in English is as elegant as in Latin. But there are many cases where the infinitive cannot be used. We cannot use it after say ; " he said him to be a good man," is not English ; though he declared, or affirmed, or believed him to be a good man, is elegant.

In order to understand the impropriety of the common mode of using the latter verb, as in the example above cited, it may be remarked, that the pres- ent tense is that which is used to express what exists at all times. Thus we say, God is or exists, whenever we speak of his permanent existence ; we say, gold is yellow or ductile ; iron is a most valuable metal ; it is not <*n- vertible into silver ; plants and animals are very distinct living beings. We do not say, gold was yellow ; iron was a valuable metal ; for we mean ta express permanent qualities. Hence, in the passage cited from Chronicles, the first verb Imeio, referring to a fact past, is correct ; but the last, which is intended to express the permanent being or character of God, should be in the infinitive or the indicative present tense. The following are examples of correct language : " His master had taught him that happiness consists in virtue." Anacharsis, ii. 120.

" Sabellius, who openly taught that there is but one person in the God- head." Encyclopedia.

" Our Savior taught that eternal death is the proper punishment of sin."

Emmo7is.

But very different is the following : " Having believed for many years, that water was [is] an elastic fluid." The following would be still better •: " Having believed water to be an elastic fluid."

So the following : " We know not the use of the epidermis of shells. Some authors have supposed that it secured [secures] the shells from being covered with vermes." Edin. Encyc.

It was jnstyemarked, that marine fossils did not [do not] comprise ve- getable remains." lb. If my readers will turn their thoughts back on their old friends, they will find it diflicult to call a single man to remembrance who appeared to know that life was short [is short,] till he was about to lose it."

jRambler, jVo. 71.

" They considered the body as a hydraulic machine, and the fluids as pass-

g through a series of chimical changes ; forgetting that imimation was [is] its essential characteristic." Darwin.

It was declared by Pompey, lliat if the Commonwealth was [should be] violated, he could stamp with his foot and raise an arniy out of the ground."

Rambler, JVo. 10. the foregoing sentence, the past tense is used for the future contingent. It was affirmed in the last discourse, that much of the honorable practice of the world rested [rests] on the substratum of selfishness ; that society was [is] held together, in the exercise of its relative virtues, mainly by the tie of reciprocal advantage ; that a man's own interest bound [binds] him to all those average equities which obtained [obtain] in the neighbor- hood around him ; and in which if he proved [should prove] himself glaringly deficient, he would be abandoned by the respect, and the confidence, and the good will of the people with whom he had [might have, or should have] to do." Chalmer's Com. Dis. 4.

In the last discourse, I observed that love constituted [constitutes] the whole moral character of God," Dwight's Tlieology.

' And he said, nay, father Abraham ; but if one u-ent [shall or should go]

to them from the dead, they will repent. And he said to him, if they hear

not Moses and the prophets, neither will tliey be persuaded though one

[shall or should rise] from the dead." Luke, xvi. 30, 31.

Independent of parties in the national legislature itself, as often as the

period of discussion arrived, the state legislatures, who will always be not

* Lindley Murray, in the introduction to his grammar, "acknowledges, in general terras, that the authors to whom the grammatical part of this com- pilation is principally indebted for its materials are, Harris, Johnson, Lowfh, Priestley, Beatiie, Sheridan, Walker, and Coote." But on examina- tion, it appears that the greatest portion of the grammatical part is from Lowth, whose principles form the main structure of Murray's compilation. Some valuable notes and remarks are taken from Pritstley's grammar. I

The effect of the study of Lowth's principles, which has been greatly ex- and, in citing authorities, deem it proper to cite the original! A'^OL. I. E.

INTRODUCTION.

only vigilant, but suspicious and jealous guardians of the rights of the citi- zens, against encroachments from the federal government, will constantly have their attention awake to the conduct of the national rulers, and will be ready enough, if any thing improper appears, to sound the alarm to the people."

Let any man attempt to resolve the foregoing sentence, if he can, or ren- der it into another language.

"Cicero vindicated the truth, and inculcated the value of the precept, that nothing was [is] truly useful which ivas [is] not honest."

" He undertook to show that justice was [is] of perpetual obligation."

" The author concedes much of his argument, and admits that the sea was [is] susceptible of dominion." [Better still ; he admits the sea to be suscept- ible of dominion.]

"A nation would be condemned by the impartial voice of mankind, if it voluntarily U'en* [should go] to war, on a claim of which it doubted [should doubt] the legality."

" The Supreme Court observed that they were not at liberty to depart from the rule, whatever doubt might have been entertained, if the case was [had been] entirely new."

'■ He held that the law of nations prohibited [prohibits] the use of pois-

" He iusisted that the laws of war gave [give] no other power over a cap- tive ihan to keep him safely."

" The general principle on the subject is, that, if a commander makes a compact with the enemy, and it be of such a nature that the power to make it could be reasonably imphed from the nature of the trust, it would be valid and iiincliiig, though he abused his trust." Let any man translate this sen- tence into another language, if he can, without reducing the verbs to some coinistency.

•• Congress have declared by law, that the United States were [are] enti- tled to priority of payment over private creditors, in cases of insolvency."

"The Supreme Court decided, that the acts of Congress, giving that gen- eral priority to the United Siates, were [are] constitutional.

" It was admitted that the government of the United States was [is] one of enumerated powers."

" From his p,ist ilesigns and administrations we could never argue at all to those which were future." [This is an odd combination of words.]

" Jesus knowing that the father had given all things into his hands, and that he was come from God and went to God." John xiii. 3.

" Alexander dispatched Eumenes with three hundred horse to two free cities — with assurance that if they submitted and received him, [should or would submit and receive,] as a friend, no evil should befall them."

" The apostle knew that the present season was [is] the only time allowed for this preparation."

" What would be the real effect of that overpowering evidence, which our adversaries required, [should require,] in a revelation, it is difficult to foretell"

" It could not otherwise have been known that the word had [has] this meaning."

I told him if he went [should go] to-morrow, I would go with him.

This fault occurs in our hearing every hour in the day.

A like fault prevails in other languages; indeed the English may have been led into it by reading foreign authors. " Mais on a remarque avec rai- son, que I'espace conchoidal etait infini." Lunier. It has been remarked with reason that the conchoidal space was [is] infinite.

But whatever may be the practice of other nations, there would be no dif- ficulty in correcting such improprieties in our own language, if as much at- tention were given to the study of its true principles, as is given to other subjects of literature and science. But if in this particular, there is a Brit- ish or American author who writes his vernacular language correctly, his writings have not fallen under my inspection.

There is another fault very common among English writers, though it is less frequent in the United States ; this is the conversion of an intransitive verb into a passive one. It is surprising that an error of this kind should have gained such an established use, in some foreign languages, as to be incu- rable. Barbarous nations may indeed form languages ; but it should be the business of civilized men to purify their language from barbarisms.

In the transitive verb, there is an agent that performs some action on an object, or in some way affects it. When this verb becomes passive, the .igent and the object change places in the sentence. Thus, John loves Peter, is transitive, but Peter is loved by John, is passive. In the intransitive verb, Ihe case is different; for the action is limited to the agent; and when it is stated that a thing is done, there is no agent by which it is done. I perish is intransitive ; I am perished is the passive form ; but the latter neither ex presses nor implies an agent by which I perish.

This fault occurs frequently in the common version of the Scriptures.

" Yea, whereto might the strength of their hands profit me, in whom old age was [had] perished." Job xxx. 2.

" Their memorial is [has] perished with them." Ps. ix. 6.

" The heathen are [have] perished out of this land." Ps. x. 16-

^' Israel is [has] fled before the Phihstines." 1 Sam. iv. 17.

■' David is [has] fled." 2 Sam. xix. 9.

" The days ivere [had] not expired." 1 Sam. xviii. 26.

" And when the year was [had] expired." 2 Chron. xxxvi. 10.

" I only am [have] escaped alone to tell thee." Job i. 15.

" And it came to pass, when he was [had] returned." Luke xix. 15.

Return is sometimes a transitive verb, and sometimes intransitive. When a sum of borrowed money is returned, the phrase is correct, for this is the passive form of a transitive verb. But when a man is returned, we may ask, who has returned him .' In this case, the man returns by his own act, and he cannot be said to be returned.

" He found the Empress was [had] departed." Coxe.

" They were [had] arrived within three days journey of the spice country." Gibbon, Ch. i. Note.

" Neither Charles nor Diocletian were [liad] arrived at a very advanced period of life." lb. Ch. xiii.

" The posterity of so many gods and heroes was [had] fallen into the most abject state." lb. Ch. ii.

" Silver was [had] grown more common." lb.

" He was [had] risen from the dead, and was [had] just ascended to heaven." Milner, i. 20.

" Hearing that they ti'erf [had] nmccd." /J. 211.

" Claudius — vexed because his wife was [had] become a christian." lb, 274.

" Does not the reader see how much we are [have] already departed from christian simplicity ?" lb. 299.

" My age is [has] departed." Isaiah xxxviii. 12.

" The man out of whom the demons were [had] departed." Luke viii. 35.

" Workmen were [had] arrived to assist them." Milford.

" A body of Athenian horse was [had] just arrived." lb.

This fault is common in Mitford's History of Greece. In the writings of Roscoe, which are more elegant, it occurs, but less frequently.

" The time limited for the reception of the cardinal was expired." Ros- coe, Leo. X.

" He inquired whether the report was true, that a legate was arrived.'^ lb. L. Med.

"Tho nation being [having] once more got into a course of borrowing."

Price on Liberty.

" When he was [had] retired to his tent." Coxe's Russ.

" He was [had] not yet arrived."* lb.

The intransitive verb grow is constantly used by the English as a transi- tive verb, as to grow wheat. This is never used in the northern states, un- less by persons who have adopted it recently from the English.

It seems almost incredible that such errors should continue, to this time, to disfigure the language of the most distinguished writers, and that they should escape animadversion. The practice has evidently been borrowed from the French or Italian ; but surely no lover of correctness can excuse

such violation of the best established principles in our language.

This fault occurs in a few instances, in the writings of the best American authors, as in the writings of Ames and Hamilton. It is however very rare, either in books or in colloquial usage. Even our common people are re- markably accurate in using the auxiliary have with the participles of intran- sitive verbs. They always, I believe, say, a ship has ariived, a plant has perished, the enemy had fled, the price had fallen, the corn has or had grown, the time has expired, the man has returned, the vessel had depart- ed. Such also is the language of our most eminent writers.

" The Generals Gates and Sullivan have both arrived."

Washington's Letters.

" The Indians of the village had fled." B. Trumbull.

" Our Tom has grown a sturdy boy." Progress of Dullness.

" Our patriots have fallen." Discourse of D. Webster, Aug. 182C.

"Our commissary had not arrived." Ellicott,

The exceptions to this correct practice are chiefly in the use of the parti- ciples of come and go. It is very common to hear the expressions he is come or is gone, in which case, the participle seems to take the character of an adjective ; although in most instances, the regular form of expression, he has come or has gone, is to be preferred. So dead, originally a participle, is used only as an adjective ; and deceased and departed are often used in the like manner. We say, a deceased, or departed friend ; but it should be remarked that the original expression was, our fiiend has deceased, or has departed this life ; and this phraseology, by an easy but heedless transition, became is deceased or is departed. In general, however, the conversion of an intransitive verb or form of expression into the passive form, is very rare among the people of New England.

There is a grammatical error running through the writings of so respecta- ble a writer as Mitford, which ought not to be passed unnoticed ; as it seems to be borrowed from the French language, whose idioms are different from the English, but which the English are too apt to follow. This fault is, in using the preterit or perfect tense, instead of the past tense indefinite, usu-

* On this use of intransitive verbs, as the ship was departed, it may I who departed it ? The mail is arrived, who has arrived it .' Th

be asked, departed it ? The mail is arrived, who has arrived it ! The tree if perished, who has perished it ? The enemy was fled, who fled them ? Th^ time iras erpired, who expired it .'

[NTRODUCTION.

ally called raosl improperly, the imperfect. Take the following sentences forj examples. " The conduct of Pelopidas towards Arcadia and its minister a the Persian court — has scarcely been the result of mere caprice or resent ment." The verb here ought to be was.

" The oration [of Isocrates] has been [was] a favorite of Dionysius o Halicarnassus."

This form of expressing the time would be good in French, but is very bad in English. And it may be here remarked, that the tense he was, he ar- rived, he ii'rote, is not properly named imperfect. These verbs, and all verbs of tliis form denote actions finished or perfect, as "in six days God created the he,i\\ en and the earth." Imperfect or unfinished action i: pressed in English in this manner, he was reading, they were writing. The error of calling the former tense imperfect has probably proceeded from a servile adoption of the Latin names of the tenses, without considering the difTerence of application.

There are some errors in all the English Grammars, that have been de rived to us from antiquity. Such is the arrangement of that among the con junctioas, like the Greek on, and the Latin ut. Kai ^xopia rj rtiffuBoao OT't £5'at t'fXf twfftj rot5 ^^aT^Tjfievot^ avtij rtapa Kuptou. And blessed is she w ho believed tliat there shall be a performance of the things which told her from the Lord. Luke i. 45. In our version, or, is rendered /or, but most erroneously. The true meaning and character of 071 will best appear, by a transposition of the clauses of the verse. " There shall be a perfor- mance of the things told her from the Lord ; blessed or happy is she who be- lieved that." Here oti, that, appears to be what it really is, a relative 01 substitute for the whole clause in Greek .succeeiiing it. So in Luke xxii. 18, Afyo yap v^uv on. ov fir) Hiu, &c. I say to you that I will not drink. I will not drink, I say to you that. It is the same in Latin, " Dico enim vobis quod non bibam." (itwd is here a relative governed by dico, and referring to the following clause of the sentence.

So also Matthew ix. 28. JXi^tvirt oft hwafjuu rouro jtoMjuai ; Do ye be lieve that I am able to do this ? [I am able to do this, do ye believe that?]

This error runs through all Grammars, Greek, Latin, French, English, i But how such an obvious fact, that the word that and its correspond! words in other languages, refer to the clause of a sentence, should escape observation, age after age, it is not easy to explain. How could it be suppos- ed that a word is a conjunction which does not join words or sentences That is used, in the passages cited, not to unite two sentences, but to con- tinue the .fome semoiice, by an additional clause.

The relative, when referring to a sentence or the clause of a sentence, is not varied, for a variation of case is not wanted.

So notwithstanding imd provided in English, and poui-pjt que in French, are called conjunctions : but most improperly ; as they are participles, and when called conjunolions, they always form, with a word, clause or sentence, tht rase absolute or independent. Thus, " it rains, but notwithstanding that [it rains,] I must go to town." That fact, (it rains,) not opposing or pre- venting me, that is, in opposition to that, I must go to town ; hoc non ob-

stante.

Thati

■ill ride.

" I will ride, provided you will accompany me the fact, you will accompany me, being provided.

Such is !he structure of these sentences. See my Philosophical and PracUcal Grammar. It is the same in French, pourvu que, that being vided, que referring to the following clause.

There are other points in grammar equally faulty. Not only in English grammar, but in the grammars of other languages, men stumble at the thresh- old, and teach their children to stumble. In no language whatever can there be a part of speech properly called an article. There is no word or class of words that falls within the signification of article, a joint, or that can otherwise than arbitrarily be brought under that denomination. The defin- itive words called articles, are all adjectives or pronouns. When they are used with nouns, they are adjectives, modifying the signification of the nouns, like other adjectives ; for this is their proper olfice. When they stand alone, they are pronouns, or substitutes for nouns. Thus hie, ille, ipse in Latin, when used with nouns expressed, are adjectives; hie homo, this man; ille homo, that man: When they stand alone, hie, ille, they

*'"•?!! '"r P '"'""^- '^^^ ^^'^^ '* *^ ^^"^ '" ""•fi"" languages.

The Enghsh the is an adjective, which, for distinction, I call a df.

adjective, and for brevity, a definitivf. as it dofinps tho ,,0,.=^^ r,,. .1

definitive

which it refers, or rathe

three, four, and every other number in tlie language. Take the followin» examples. °

Bring me an orange from the basket ; that is, any one of the number.

Bring me two oranges from the ba.sket; that is, any two of the number.

Bring me three oranges fiom the basket ; that is, any three of the num- ber ; and so on to any number ad infinitum.

VVhen thus used, an, two, three, are all indefinite ; that is, they are used with nouns which are indefinite, or expressing things not particularly desig- nated. But this is not owing to the essential character of the adjectives, an, one, two, three; for any of them may be used with definite nouns ; and an IS continually thus used.

" I will be an adversary to thine adversaries."

" The angel stood for an adversary against Balaam."

" Make this fellow return, lest in the battle he be an adversary to us."

" Rezon — was an adversary to Israel all the days of Solomon."

" And he spake a parable to them to this end."

" And there was a widow in that city."

" And seeing the multitude, he went up into a mountain."

" I will be a God to thee and thy seed after thee."

"Thou art a God ready to pardon."

Now let any of these phrases be tested by the common definition of on op a, " that It IS used in a vague sense, to point out one single thing of the kind ; in other respects indeterminate." Lowth.

" I will be an adversary to tliine adversaries;" that is, " I will be any ad- versary, one of the kind, but vague or indeterminate."

" Rezon was an adversary to Israel ;" that is, in a vague sense any adversa- ry, indeterminate.

"And he spake a parable to them ;" that is, any parable, indeterminate.

"Thou art a God, ready to pardon;" that is, any God, one of the kind, in a ague sense, indeterminate !

If it should be said, the noun is rendered determinate, by other words in the sentence, and not by an or a, this may be and generally is tnle ; but this .shows that an does not give to the noun its character of definiteness or indefiniteness ; it always retains its proper signification, which is one, and nothing more ; and it is used indifferently before nouns definite or indefi-

This mistake of the character of an is found in other languages; but I was gratified to find a French Grammar in Paris, recommended by the In- stitute, the author of which had discarded the indefinite article.

In English, an or a is, for the most part, entirely useless. Used with a nouii in the singular number, it serves no purpose, except that which the form of the word, in the singular number, is intended to answer. It expres- ses unity only, and this is the province of the singular number. Were it not for habit, " give me orange," would express the sense of " give me an orange," with precision and certainty. In this respect the Latin language has the advantage over the English. But the use of such a short word is not very inconvenient, and the usage cannot be changed. Other languages are subject to the same inconvenience ; even the definite articles, or defini- tives, in Greek and in French, are very often useless, and were it not for usage, would be improper.

which It refers, or rather designates a particular person or thing. But why this should be selected as the only definitive in our language, is very strange ; when obviously this and that are more exactly definitive, desig- nating more precisely a particular person or thing than the. These words answer to the Latin hie and ille, which were always used by the Ro- mans, when they had occasion to specify definite persons or things.

As to the English an or a, which is called in grammars, the indefinite ar-\\ ttcle, there are two great mistakes. ^ being considered as the original' word. It IS said to become an before a vowel. The fact is directly the re-j verse, ^n is the original word, and this is contracted to a by droppins the n before a consonant. j fi o

But an is merely the Saxon orthography o( one, un, unus, an adjective found m nearly all the languages of Europe, and expressing a single person!, or thing. It is merely a word of number, and no more an article than twoji

ORTHOGR.lPirV".

From the period of the first Saxon writings, our language has been suffer- ng changes in orthography. The first writers, having no guide but the ear, followed each his own judgment or fancy; and hence a great portion of Saxon words are written with different letters, by different authors ; most of them are written two or three different ways, and some of them, fifteen or twenty. To this day, the orthography of some classes of words is not en- tirely settled ; and in others, it is settied in a manner to confound the learner and mislead him into a false pronunciation. Nothing can be more disrepu- table to the literary characterof a nation, than the history of English orthog- raphy, unless it is that of orthoepy.

1. The Saxon dipthong «, which probably had a specific and uniform sound or combination of sounds, has been discardeii and ea generally substi- tuted in its place, as brieth, breath. Now ea thus united have not a uni- form sound, and of course diey are no certain guide to pronunciation. In some instances, where tiie Saxon spelling was not uniform, the modern or- Uiography follows the most anomalous and difficult, instead of that which is regular. Thus the Saxons wrote f

2. The letter g in Saxon words, has, in many English words, been sunk ..1 pronunciation, and eitiier wholly lost, or it is now represented by y or w Thus dffl^, or dag, has become day ,- gear is year, bugan is bow, and fteger is/air.

3. The Saxons who adopted the Roman alphabet, with a few alterations used c with its hard sound Uke that of ft. Thus lie, like ; locian, to look. But after the Norman conquest, c before e, i, and y, took the sound of s ■ hence arose the necessity of changing this letter in words and syllables', where it was necessary to retain the sound of ft before these vowels. Thus the Saxon licean, pronounced originally likean, becomes, with our present sound of c before e, lisean; and locian becomes losian. To remedy this

INTRODUCTION.

pvii, our ancestors iutioduced k from the Greek, writing it generally after e, :H in lick, stick, though in some instances, omitting c, as in like and look. Hence in all monosyllables in which a syllable beginning with e or i is ad- ded to the word, as in the past time and participles of verbs, we use k in the place of the Saxon c, as in licked, licking.

Our early writers attempted to extend this addition to words introduced from the Latin and Greek, in which no such reason exists for the use of k Thus they wrote publick, timsick, rhetorick. In these and similar words the Latins used c for the Greek «, as musicus, for noutriHot, and the early En glish writers took both letters, the Roman c and Greek «. This was absurd enough ; but they never proceeded so far as to carry the absurdity Uirough the derivatives ; never writing publickation, musickal, rhetorickal. After long struggle with the force of authority, good sense has nearly banished this pedantic orthography from use; and all words of this kind now appear in most of oar public acts and elegant writings, in their proper sunplicity ; public, publication, music, musical.

In many words, formerly ending in ie, these letters have been discarded from the singular number, and y substituted. Thus remedie, memorie, are now written remedy, memory. But what is very singular, the plural of these words retains the in, with the addition of s, as in remedies. This anom aly however creates no great inconvenience, except that it has been ex

words ending m ey, as m attomies

.J, y ^.„j,^ . .J „.„„e the plural by simply

attorneys. The same rule applies to verbs when an s is added, as in conveys.

1 surveys.

; inserted in , chlorine, chloride, oxyde,Si.c. with-

tended by negligent

words ending in ey properly make the plural by simply taking e same rule applies to verbs when an s is addei t number of words, the vowel e has been discarded as useless ; as in eggs for egges ; certain for certaine ; empress for empresse ; goodnes. lor goodnesse. This is an improvement, as the e has no sound in modern pronunciation. But here again we meet with a surprising inconsistency for the same reason which justifies this omission, would justify and require the omission of e final in motive, jiensive, juvenile, genuine, sanguine, do trine, examine, determine, and a multitude of others. The introduction of in most words of these classes, was at first wrong, as it could not plead any authority in the originals ; but tlie retaining of it is unjustifiable, as the let- ter is not merely useless, but, in very numerous classes of words, it leads to a false pronunciation. Many of the most respectable English authors, a century ago or more, omitted e in such words as examin, determin, famin, ductil, fertil, definit, &c. but these improvements were afterwards rejected to the great injury of orthography. In like manner, a final e ' words of modern coinage, as in alumine, out the least necessity or propriety.

6. A similar fate has attended the attempt to anglicize the orthography of| another class of words, which we have received from the French. At a very early period, the words chambre, desastre, desordre, chartre, monstre, tendre, tigre, entre,fievre, diametre, arbitre, nombre, and others were redu- ced to the English form of spelling ; chamber, disaster, disorder, charter, monster, tender, tiger, enter, fever, diameter, arbiter, number. At a later period. Sir Isaac Newton, Camden, Selden, Milton, Whitaker, Prideaux, Hook, Whiston, Bryant, and other authors of the first character, attempted to carry through this reformation, writing scepter, center, sepulcher. But this improvement was arrested, and a few words of this class retain their French orthography; such are metre, mitre, nitre, spectre, sceptre, theatre, sepulchre, and sometimes centre. It is remarkable that a nation distinguish- ed for erudition, should thus reject improvements, and retain anomalies, in opposition to all the convenience of uniformity. I am glad that so respecta- ble a writer as Mitford has discarded this innovation, and uniformly written center, scepter, theater, sepulcher. In the present instance, want of uni- formity is not the only evil. The present orthography has introduced an awkward mode of writing the derivatives, for example, centred, sceptred, sepulchred ; whereas Milton and Pope wrote these words as regular deriva- tions of fe«

7. Soon after the revival of letters in Europe, English writers began to borrow words from the French and Italian ; and usually with some little al- teration of the orthography. Thus they wrote authour, embassadour, pre- decessour, ancestour, successour ; using our for the Latin termination or and the French eur, and writing similar words, in like manner, though not of Latin or French original. What motive could induce them to write these words, and errour, honour, favour, inferiour, &c. in this manner, following neither the Latin nor tlie French, I cannot conceive. But this orthography continued down to the seventeenth century, when the u began lo be rejected from certain words of this class, and at the beginning of the last century, many of these words were written, ancestor, author, error, Ike. as they are now written. But favor, honor, labor, candor, ardor, ter- ror, vigor, inferior, superior, and a few others, were written with «, and .Fohnson introduced this orthography into his dictionary. Nothing in lan- guage is more mischievous than the mistakes of a great man. It is not easy to understand why a man, whose professed object was to reduce the language to some regularity, should write author without u and errour and honour with it ! That he should write labour with u and laborious with- out it! Vigour, with u, and vigorous, invigorate, without it! Inferiour, superiour, with u, but inferiority, and superiority, without it ! Strange as it is, this inconsistency runs through his work, and his authority has been the means of continuing it, among his admirers, to this

In this country, many of our best writers have rejected the u from all words of this class, and reduced the whole to uniformity.' This is a desirable event; every rejection of an anomaly being a valuable improvement, which sound judgment approves, and the love of regularity will vindicate and maintain. I have therefore followed the orthography of General Wash- ington, and the Congress of the United States, of Ash in his Dictionary, of Mitford in his History of Greece, &c.

S. There is another class of words the orthography of which is not uni- form, nor fully settled, such as take the termination able to form an adjec- tive. Thus Johnson writes proveable with e, but approvable and reprova- ble, without it. So moveable, but immovable and removable ; tameable, but blamable, censurable, desirable, excusable; saleable, but ratable. With like inconsistency Walker and Todd write daub with « and bedawb th 10, deviating in this instance, from Johnson. Todd writes abridge- ment and judgement with e, but acknowledgment without it. Walker writes these words without e, but adds it to lodgement. I have reduced all words of this kind to uniformity.

Johnson writes octoedrical ; Todd octoedral ; Sheridan, Walker and Jones follow Johnson ; but Jones has octahedron, which is not in the other Dictionaries. The Greek, in words of this kind, is inconsistent, for oxiui is changed, in compound words, to oktci. I have followed the Greek com- pounds, and have inserted h which I consider as almost indispensable in the English orthography, as octahedron.

10. Johnson introduced instructer, in the place of instructor, in opposi- n to every authority which he has himself adduced to exemplify his defi- ions; Denham, Milton, Roscommon, Locke, Addison, Rogers, and the common version of the Scriptures. But what is more singular, this orthog- raphy, instructer, is contrary to his own practice ; at least, in four editions of his Rambler which I have examined, the word is uniformly written in- structor. The fact is the same with visitor.

This is a point of little importance in itself; but when instructor had been from time immemorial, the established orthography, why unsettle the practice ? I have in this word and in visitor adhered to the old orthography. There is not a particle of reason for altering instructor and visitor, which would not apply to collector, cultivator, objector, projector, and a hundred other %vords of similar termination.

H. Most of these and some other inconsistencies have been of long con- tinuance. But there are others of more recent date, which admit of no apology, as they are changes from right to wrong. Such Is the change of the old and correct orthography of defense, expense, offense, pretense, and recompense, by substituting c for s as in defence. This change was probably made or encouraged by printers, for the sake of avoiding the use of the old long s ; but since this has been discarded, that reason no longer exists. The old orthography, defense, &.c. is justified, not only by the Latin originals, but by the rule of uniformity ; for the derivatives are always written with defensive, extensive, offensive, pretension, recompensing.

12. No less improper was the change of sceptic into skeptic. In favor of this innovation, it is alledged that the word is from the Greek owtikos. True ; but is not scene derived from the Greek ctkiivti, and scepter from o-xTiTTTpov, and ascetic from oo-htitiiio!, and ocean from msaioi ! Are not all these words in exact analogy with each other, in their original orthography ? Were they not formerly analogous in the English orthography > Why vio- late this analogy ? Why intioduce an anomaly .' Such innovations, by divid- ing opinions and introducing discrepancies in practice, in classes of words of like formation, have a mischievous effect, by keeping the language in per- petual fluctuation.

13. In like manner, dispatch, which had, from time immemorial, been written with i, was changed into despatch, on the wonderful discovery, that the word is derived from the French depecher. But why change one vowel

not the other ? If we must follow the French, why not write despech, or depech ? And why was this innovation limited to a single word ? Why not carry the change through this whole class of words, and give us the benefit of uniformity ? Is not disaster from the French desastre ? Is not discharge from decharger ? Is not disarm from desarmer ? Is not disobey from desobeir ? Is not disoblige from desohliger ? Is not disorder from des- ordre? The prefix dis is more properly EngUsh than de, though both are used with propriety. But dispatch was the established orthography ; why then disturb the practice ? Why select a single word from the whole class, and introduce a change which creates uncertainty where none had existed " ages, without the smallest benefit to indemnify us for the perplexity and discordance occasioned by the innovation ?

It is gratifying to observe the stern good sense of the English nation, pre- senting a firm resistance to such innovations. Blackstone, Paley, Coxe, Milner, Scott and Mitford, uniformly use the old and genuine orthography of instructor, visitor, sceptic and dispatch.

14. The omission of one I in befall, imtall, installment, recall, enthrall, &c., is by no means to be vindicated; as by custom, the two letters //, serve as a guide to the true pronunciation, that of broad a or aw. Accord- ing to the established rules of English pronunciation, the letter a in instal-

* The reformation commenced or received ifc authority at the revolution. See Washington' f 8vo, 179.5.

most decided support and Letters, in two volumes,

INTRODUCTION.

ment would have the souiul it h:is in balance ; it is therefore expedient to retain both letters in all words of this chiss.

15. It is an established rule, in the English language, that monosyllabic verbs, ending in a single consonant, not preceded by a long vowel, and other verbs ending ill a siiiKlc acrcnted consonant, and of course not pre- ceded by a loii'j; v"V, .■] (! MiM, il,r III, ■! roi--..n.iiif, in :,M '!h> .<, : ii ili. r -,

which arc for ' ' •. * ■ 1 1 , ' ■ . _■■:■'".'■■ . < 1 i ,,,■.■'' ■

bar, when tlic\\ ' •' ■ ■ i ■ , .n. :.- ' ■ '' n ■ . : '"i ■- -, " •' -

teth,fiiting; il .! :■!■!'. :n -'. //-,., ;,m,./, :^,,:< . , i, /

compel, form tlic iikc iierivatives; iibcliul, (ibtlhlh. .linlun^ , r.,iii) iiril fonipelleth, compelling. The reason of this rule is, tli.ii \\iiilinut ihis .lupli- cation of the !.>.st consonant, the vowel of the priinilivr word wmiM, in the derivative, be naturally pronounced wrong, that is, with ils i.iii'4 >m\\\\v\\ ; fil- ed, bloting, bared, compeled. Hence we see the reason w hy verbs, hav- ing the long sound of a vowel, do not double the last consonant, as feared, repealed, repeated.

The converse of this rule is, that verbs, ending in a single consonant, but having the accent on the first syllable, or on a syllable preceding the last, o\\ight not to double the final consonant in the derivatives. Thus limit, la- bor, charter, clatter, pardon, deliver, hinder, have for their derivatives, limited, laboreth, chartered, pardoning, delivering, hinderest. But strange as it may seem, the rule is wholly neglected and violated, in most of the words of this class in the language. Thus we observe, in all authors, ballotting, beoelling, levelled, travelled, cancelled, revelling, rivalling, wor- shipped, worshipper, uiipartlhil, inihoircUid, //icWmg, and many others,

;i , iii^ii to one of the oldest and 'lis Dictionary, lays down I ' III all cases, to observe it. . I \\ Ml- to aregularand uniform .•■■I Mom such verbs are written Ur, worshiper, for the purpose of re may be no exception. What "iidittor, alterrer, barterrer, ban- ■ I reason can be assigned why the lit'se words as well as in jeweller, ll.ible to be added is the usual ter-

vhich the last consoii.iii( i- -' ■ best established rules in r the rule for guidance, Im; ' i I have endeavored to ri'ili orthography. In like m i i with a single consonant, establishing a general i i;l' should we say to a man ^^ i terrer, gardenner, lahui , final consonant .should \\i I ' traveller, enameller. Tin i minalion er or or, and noilnn- nn n

Not less remarkable is the |)rac!ice oi

With regard to words which recent discoveries have introduced into the sciences, there may be some apology for differences of orthography, as writers have not established usage for a guide. Hence we find oxyd is writ- ten also oxide and oxyde ; oxygen and hydrogen, are written also oxigene. oxygene and hydrogene. Sulphate, nitrate, &.C., are written also sulphat, nitrat.

In this case, what course is the Lexicographer to pursue .' Shall he adopt tlie method by which Walker attempts to settle pronunciation, and cite authorities in favor of each mode of spelling i' Then the result is, so many names appear on one side, and so many on the other. But who, it may be asked, will undertake to graduate the scale by which the weight of authorities is to be determined .' Numbers will not always decide questions of this sort to the satisfaction of the public.

In this case, I have determined to conform the orthography to established English analogies ; the only authority from which there can be no legitimate appeal. Now, no rule in orthography is better established, than that which we have adopted from the Latin language, of representing the fireek ^lpsi- lojiby the letter y. In the orthography of o,ri/gen and hydrogen, from ojti and uiuf, this rule has been observed; and why should oxyd he an excep- tion ?

With regard to sulphate, nitrate, and other names of that class of com- pounds, I consider the final e as essential to the words, to prevent a false pronunciation ; the vowel a having its first sound as in/ate, though slightly pronounced.

The word chimistry has undergone two or three changes, according to fancy or to conjectural etymology. Men have blundered about the plainest thing imaginable ; lor to detcrniine its true orthography, nothing was neces- sary but to open an Arabic Lexicon. The inhabitants of the South of Eu- rope, who introduced the word, doubtless knew its origin, and wrote it cor- rectly with i, not with y or e ; and had the English been contented to take it as they found it, the orthography would have been correct and uniform.

In introducing words from other languages, it is desirable that the orthog- raphy should be conformed, as nearly as maybe, to established English anal- ogies. For this reason I must approve of tlie practice of Darwin who drops the Latin termination of pyrites, wvitin^ pyrite, witli the accent on the first syllable. Botanic Garden, Canto 2. 350.

Stalactite has in like manner, been anglicized ; and barytes, it is hoped, may suffer the like change. In this manner, the words, in the English form, become susceptible of a regular plural ; barytes and pyrites in two syllables, and stalactites in three : and further they admit of regularlv form-, ed adjectives, pjrific, 6an/(tc, stalactitic, which cannot be regularly form- ed from the Greek terminations.

he wnnl tnlr is nlso ill-fiinricd. The original word on the continent of

i|i i /,('/, ni 'I,'- . Ill I liii , i, II,:;,- of k into c is not merely needless, V. : t : , i I - 'i ' - ■ II , : ilui regular adjective, talcy. Hence ' ■ i' 1,1,1, 1,1 .iwkward compound of a Teutonic

I . ii : ,111, 1, I III, , I I, ) MI- uiird should be written fa/Ar or fa/cfc, will, ii '■ ,11 linii n ■;iii ir ,!.iiv;iiivcs. /a/cfey, (a/ffci?iess. In like manner, :■• u :iii,',. u,iii!.l ,,,liuit the regular adjective zinky, as written

i I ;> . IS (111- siMiil -vstem of the celebrated Swedish naturalist i.s

iiuw ifciiiiiily received, it seems proper to make the new terms, by which the cliisses and orders of plants are designated, a part of our language. Hith- erto these names have not been anglicized ; but from the technical terms, English and American writers have begun to form adjectives which are at variance with the analo<;i, - of ,iin InniiMgr. \\Vi- -, c in books such words as hexandrous, monos'ii'"'!!-^- i"'!tii:iuiiuii-<. ,,iii| .:/iil:, ,i, sinus. The writ- ers who use these word-. -, . m ni,i i,i I,.- ,,\\s 1 ih. ni!|iort.mce of pursu- ing settled rules in the cniniiii; nl wnni-, ;i^ iniu,)i nnty ..uls both in learning and in recollecting new names. The regular mode ot forming adjectives from nouns ending in a or ia, is to add n to the noun, not ous. So we form Italian from Italia ; .American from America. In some cases, the termin- ation ic is used, but rarely or never ous ; or if it is, it is an anomaly.

To arrest, if possible, the progress of these irregularities, and at the same time, to make the more important botanical terms really English, by giving ^ them appropriate English terminations, and further to abridge the language of description, I have ventured to anglicize the names of all the classes anil orders, and insert them in this work.

Thus from monandria, the name of the class containing plants with flow- ers having one stamen, I form monander, the name of an individual plant of that character. From monogynia, the name of the order containing plants with flowers which have one pistil, I form monogyn, [pronounced monojyn] to express an individual plant of that order. The adjectives are formed from the nouns with regular English terminations ; monandrian, monogynian, syngetiesian, diecian, monecian,&Lc.

In describing a plant technically, according to this nomenclature, instead of saying, it is of the class monondria and order monogynia, the botanist will call it a monogynian monander, a digynian pentanaer, a trigynian octan- der, a pentandrian diadelph. These terms designate the class and order, as perfectly as the use of the Latin technical names : and in this manner we unite, in our botanical language, technical precision, with brevity, correct- ness and elegance.

It is with no small regret, that I see new terms formed, without a due re- gard to regular English analogies. New terms are often necessary, or at least very useful ; but they ought to be coined according to the settled prin- ciples of the language. A neglect of these principles is observable in the word systematize, which, not being borrowed from the Greek, ought to fol- low the general rule of English formation, in agreement with legalize, mod- ernize, civilize, animalize, and others, and be written systemize. This is the more important, as the derivatives systemizing, systemization, are of more easy utterance, than those of systematize, and particularly the noun systematization.

I obser\'e in modern works on Natural History, the words crustaceology, and testaceology ; terms that are intended to designate the science of differ- ent kinds of shells, from Crustacea, testacea. But who can countenance the use of such words? Where do we find another instance of similar terms

formed from adjectives .> Why should we violate an established principle in coining words of this family ? Besides, who can endure the derivatives, ci-ustaceological, testaceological, and much less tlie adverbs, if they should ever be wanted ? I have not admitted these anomalous words into this vo- cabulary ; but have inserted the proper words, austalogy, testalogy, which are regularly formed, like mineralogy.

On this head I would subjoin a remark or two on the mode of writing In- dian names of rivers, mountains and places in America, which we have adopted.

The French were the first Europeans who explored the country between the great lakes and the gulf of Mexico, and of course, the first to commit to writing the Indian names which occurred to them in their travels. In do- ing this, they attempte

' This word is, I believe, customarily pronounced Mackinaw, and the riginal may well be sutiered to fall into disuse.

INTRODUCTION.

<5ift'erent sounds, in dillerent languages, sGi\\e to cmLanass the reader who understands only his own.

The irregularities in the English orthography have always been a subject of deep regret, and several attempts have been made to banish them from the language. The first attempt of this kind was made by Sir Thomas Smith, Secretary of State, to Queen Elizabeth ; another was made by Dr. Gill, a celebrated master of St. Paul's School in London; another by Charles But- ler ; several attempts were made in the reign of Charles I. ; an attempt was made by Elphinstone, in the last century; and lastly, another effort was made by Dr. Franklin. The latter gentleman compiled a dictionary on his scheme of reform, and procured types to be east, which he offered to me, with a view to engage me to prosecute his design. This offer I declined to accept ; for I was then, and am still convinced, that the scheme of introdu- cing new characters into the language, is neither practicable nor expedient. Any attempt of this kind must certainly fail of success.

But that some scheme for expressing the distinct sounds of our letters by visible marks, ought to be adopted, is a point about which there ought to be, and I trust there can be, but one opinion. That such a scheme is practica- ble as well as expedient, I should presume to be equally evident. Such is tlie state of our written language, that our own citizens never become mas- ters of orthography, without great dilBculty and labor; and a great part of them never learn to spell words with correctness. In addition to this, the present orthography of some classes of words leads to a false pronunciation.

In regard to the acquisition of our language by foreigners, the evil of our irregular orthography is extensive, beyond what is generally known or con- ceived. While the French and Italians have had the wisdom and the policy to refine and improve their respective languages, and render them almost the common languages of all well-bred people in Europe ; the English Ian guage, clothed in a barbarous orthography, is never learned by a foreignei but from necessity ; and the most copious language in Europe, embodying an uncommon mass of science and erudition, is thus very limited in its fulness. And to complete the mischief, the progress of arts, science and Christianity among the heathen, and other rude or unevangelized nations, is most sensibly retarded by the difficulties of mastering an irregular or- thography.

The mode of ascertaining the proper pronunciation of words by marks, points and trifling alterations of the present characters, seems to be the only one which can be reduced to practice. This mode resembling the use of points in the Hebrew, has been adopted by some of the nations on th tinent ; and I have pursued it, to a certain extent, in designating distinctions in the sounds of letters, in this work. The scheme I have invented is not considered as perfect ; Ijut it will accomplish some important purposes, by removing the most numerous classes of anomalies. With this scheme, the visible characters of the language will present to the eye of a reader the true sounds of words ; and the scheme itself is so simple, that it may be learned in a few moments. To complete a scheme of this kind, a few other altera tions would be necessary, but such as would not materially change the or thography, or occasion the least difficulty to the learner or reader.

After these alterations, there would remain a few words whose anomaliei may be considered as incorrigible, such as know, gnaw, rough, &c., which may be collected into tables and easily learned, and all the other irregul ties may be so classed under general rules, as to be learned with very little labor.

The adoption of this or any other scheme for removing the obstacles which the English orthography presents to learners of the language, must depend on public opinion. The plan I have adopted for representing the sounds of letters by marks and points, in this work, is intended to answer two purposes. First, to supersede the necessity of writing and printing the words a second time in an orthography adapted to express their pronuncia- tion. The latter method pursued by the English orthoepists, as applicable t( most words, is I think not only unnecessary but very inexpedient. The se. cond purpose is, to exhibit to my fellow citizens the outline of a scheme for removing the difficulties of our irregular orthography, without the use of new characters ; a scheme simple, easy of acquisition, and sufficient to an swer all the more important purposes of a regular orthography.

PROMTNCIATIOX.

As our language has been derived from various sources, and little or n( systematic elibrt has been made to reduce the orthography to any regularity tjie pronunciation of the language is subject to numerous anomalies. Each of our vowels has several different sounds; and some of the consonants re- present very different articulations of the organs. That part of the lan- guage which we have received from the Latin, is easily subjected to a few general rules of pronunciation. The same is tlie fact with most of the de rivatives from the Greek. Many words of French origin retain their French orthography, which leads to a very erroneous pronunciation in English; and a large portion of our monosyllabic words of Saxon origin are extremely ir regular both in orthography and pronunciation.

If we can judge, with tolerable certainty, from the versification of Chau cer, the pronunciation of words must have been, in many respects, dilferent . in his age, from that of the present day: particubirly in making a distinct

syllable of e final, and of the termination ed. But no efibrt was probablj ever made to settle the pronunciation of words, till the last century. Ii. England, which was settled by various nations, there are numerous dialect.-

diversities of language, still retained by the great mass of the population.

The first settlers of New England, were almost all of English origin, and

ming from different parts of England, they brought with them sonje di- versities of language. But in the infancy of the settlements, the people lived in towns adjacent or near to each other, for mutual aid and protectiou. from the natives : and the male inhabitants of the first generation frequently assembled for the purpose of worship or for government. By the influence of these and other causes, particularly by that of common schools, the differ- ences of language among our citizens have been gradually lost ; so that in this part of the United States, there can hardly be said to exist a difference of dialect.

It is to be remarked further, that the first ministers of the gospel, who migrated to this country, had been educated at the English universities, and brought with them all the learning usually acquired in those institutions, and the English language as it was then spoken. The influence of these men, who were greatly venerated, probably had no small effect in extin- guishing differences of speech.

Hence it has happened that the traditional pronunciation of the language of well-educated people has been nearly the same in both countries, to this day. Among the common people, whose pronunciation in all countries is more or less corrupt, the diversities in this country are far less numerous than in England.

About fifty or sixty years ago, Thomas Sheridan, an Irish gentleman, who had been the pupil of an intimate friend of Dean Swift, attempted to reduce the pronunciation of English words to some system, and to introduce it into popular use. His analysis of the English vowels is very critical, and in this respect, there has been little improvement by later writers, though I think none of them are perfectly correct. But in the application of his prin- ciples, he failed of his object. Either he was not well acquainted with the best English pronunciation, or he had a disposition to introduce into use some peculiarities, which the English did not relish. The principal objection made to his scheme is that he gives to s the sound oi sh, in sudorific, superb, and other words where .1 is followed by u long. These he pronounces shooderific, shonperb, shooperjluity, &c. This pronunciation of s corres- ponding to the Shcmitic W, he probably learnt in Ireland, for in the Irish branch of the Celtic, s has often the sound of sh. Thus sean, old, is pro- nounced shean. This pronunciation was no sooner published, than con- demned and rejected by the English.

Another most extraordinary innovation of Sheridan was, his rejection of the ItaUan sound of a, as in father, calm, ask, from every word in the lan- uage. Thus his notation gives to a in bar, the same sound as in barren, arrel, bat ; to a in father, pass, mass, pant, the same sound as in/of, pas- sion, massacre, pan, fancy. Such a gross deviation from established Eng- lish usage was of course condemned and rejected.

In his pronunciation of ti and ci, before a vowel, as in partiality, omni- science, Sheridan is more correct than Walker, as he is in some other words; uch for example as bench, tench, book, took, and others of the same classes.

Sheridan also contributed very much to propagate the change of tu into chu, or tshu ; as in natshur, cultshur, virtshue. This innovation was vin- dicated on the supposed fact, that the letter u has the sound of yu; and natyur, cultyur, virtyue, in a rapid enunciation, become natshur, &c. And to this day, this error respecting the sound of u is received in England as truth. But the fact is otherwise, and if not, it does not justify the practice ; for in usage, u is short in nature, culture, as in tun; so that on the princi- "es of Sheridan himself, this letter can have no effect on the preceding articulation.

This innovation however has prevailed to a considerable extent, although Sheridan subjected the change of tu to no rules. He is consistent in apply- ing this change equally to tu, whether the accent follows the t or not. If fu is to be changed to (s7ju, in /«(u;'e, and perpetual, it ought to undergo the same change in futurity, and perpetuity ; and Sheridan, in pronoun- cing tutor, tutelage, tumult, as if written txhootor, tshootelage, tshoomult, is certainly consistent, though wrong in fact. In other words, however, Sheridan is inconsistent with himself; for he pronounces multitshood, recti- tshood, servitshood, while habitude, beatitude, certitude, decrepitude, gratitude, Stc. retain the proper sound of (.

Walker's rule for changing tti to chu, only when the accent precedes, is entirely arbitrary, and evidently made by him to suit his own practice. It has however the good effect of reducing the chus, and removing the outra- geous anomalies of tshootor, tshoomult, &c.

There are many other words which Sheridan has marked for a pronuncia- tion, which is not according to good usage, and which the later orthoepists have corrected. In general, however, it may be asserted that his notation does not warrant a tenth part as many deviations, from the present respectable usage in England, as Walker's ; yet as his Dictionary was republished in this country, it had no small effect in corrupting the pronunciation of some class- es of words, and the effects of its influence are not yet extinct. What the precise effect of Sheridan's scheme of pronunciation was in England, I am not able to determine. But I have had information from the late venerable Dr. Johnson of Stratford, and from the late Dr. Hubbard of New Haven,

INTRODUCTION.

ulio were in Eno-Ianil between the year 17G5 and the revolution, that about 1 classes of words, he entirely rejects. He condemns, as a slovenly enuncia- that period, the change of ( into cliii had not taken place, to anv cMont. It tion, the sound given to d, which, before t and u. Walker directs, in certain began to prevail on the stage and among the younger I.mh inv ,,,1 in, m- [words, to be pronounced like j. He rejects also his notation of ch, or tsh, bers^of parliament, before Dr. Johnson left England, Ame'rica, and Sheridan's Dictionary, published soon

tributed to extend the i the acquisition of a lanj dable and perplexing, immense inconvcnicnc.

and the i m. m-', . i

d.^nirc pi.

(h lin congratulation, flatulent, natural, and all similar words. He rejects I also the affected pronunciation of Sheridan and Walker, in such words as Sttidi. mil l.iiul. Most of the other errors of Walker, he copies, as he does

or changes the est.il

n a few years after the publication of Sheridan's Dictionary, appeared Walker's, the author of which introduces the work to the public, with the following remarks, on the labors of his predecessciis.

" Among those writers who deserve the In^i n .1 - .1. il ,^ -iihject, isMr. Elphinstone; who, in his principles of the 1 I 1 _. has reduced

the chaos to a system, and laid the foundation : " j u I, ir pronunci-

ation. But this ■.ciTitleni:m. liv treating his sul.; 1 v i:ii n /llreted obscuri- ty, and by absni.iU . n: :. " ii: : in niter the w'holc orttiogruphy of the lan- guage, has unlui'i I credit with the public, for the part of his labors which ciri 1 m : , ■ iiuhest praise."

"After him Lh. 1- nuck rLutiibuted a portion of improvement, by his Rhetorical Uictionaiy, but he has rendered his Dictionary extremely im- perfect, by entirely omitting a great number of words of doubtful and diffi- cult pronunciation ; those very words for which a Dictionary of this kind would naturally be consulted." [Let it be noted, that tlie same objection lies in full force against Sheridan, Walker, and .lones.]

" To him succeeded Mr. Sheridan, who not only divided the words into syllables, and placed figures over the vowels, as Dr. Kenrick had done, but by spelling these syllables os they are pronounced, seemed to complete the idea of a Pronouneinu DiitiDu^iry. and to leave but little expectation of im- provement. It iiiiivi he (i.nl. -^ed that his Dictionary is generally superior to every thing lli;it pn < i.li .1 li, nid his method of conveying the sound of of words bv ■ip.llin lb, II] 1. lb, V are pronounced, is highly rational and use

ful. lint ill 1 1 - 1 in . - lie to stop. The numerous instances I have

given nt I I. r \\ . and want of acquaintance with the anal

ogies oi il ! 11, . - II 1\\ show how imperfect I think his Dictiona-

ry is, upuii iliL i\\ liule, .Mii; u liji ample room was left for attempting another that might better answer the purpose of a guide to pronunciation."

" The last writer on this subject is Mr. Nares, who, in his elements of or- thoepy , has shown a clearness of method, and an extent of observation, which deserve the highest encomiums. But he seems, on many occasions,* to' have mistaken the best usage, and to have paid too little attention to the first principles of pronunciation."

Soon after the publication of Walker's Dictionary, appeared the Dictiona- ry of Stephen Jones, w^ho undertakes to correct the errors of Sheridan and Walker. This author objects to Sheridan, that he has not introduced the Italian .sound of a, [as in fath'er,'] in asingle instance, and that Walker has been too sparing in the use of it. He objects that Sheridan has not, by any peculiar marks, pointed out the sound of oi or oy, as in noise and cloy; and that Walker has given distinctive marks of pronunciation to the diphthong mi, which are terrific to the learner, and not well calculated to express the exact soimd. He considers it as no trivial error in Walker's system, that he uses the long e in place of the short y, which gives to asperity, for example, the ludicrous sound of aspereetee. He notices also as a fault in W^alker's scheme, that he makes no difference in the sound of 00 in tool, tooth, and in look, took.

In all these particulars, except that of oi and oy, I think every man who understands genuine English, will accord with Jones. From careful obser- vation, while in England, I know that Jones's notation is far more correct than that of Sheridan or Walker, and except in two or three classes of words, his pronunciation is exactly that which I uniformly heard in England, and nearly the same as that of well-educated gentlemen in New England.

A few years after the appearance of Jones's Dictionary, William Perry published a pronouncing dictionary, in which an attempt is made to indicate the sounds of the letters by certain arbitrary marks. In this work, the au- thor has rejected most of the pecuharities of Sheridan, Walker and Jones, and given the language nearly as it was spoken, before those authors under- took to regulate the pronunciation. This author's manner of designating the soimds of the letters is too complex for convenience, but his pronuncia- tion is nearer to the actual usage in England, than that of either of his pre- decessors before mentioned. His orthography also is more correct, accord- ing to present usage, than that of his predecessoi-s.

During the year past, appeared the dictionary of R. S. Jameson, of Lin- coln's Inn, intended to combine the merits of the most popular dictionaries, and to correct the false pronunciation of Walker, whose notation in some

' In many instances, I suppose the writer means.

Ill- /,i;i.'r I ,1 ..I ib.i-i,,|iliy.

1m ; : ii |ii-ts have analyzed, and in general, have well defined

- 1^ and appropriate uses of the letters of the alphabet. --Ill hi III - III !\\ ■ v. bich appeared a few years before Walker's, is for the most part, correct ; but in describing the sounds of what may be called the diphthongal vowel i, I think he has erred, in making it to consist of the broad ate and e. He admits indeed that the voice does not rest on the sound but he contends that the mouth is opened to the same degree of aperture, is in the same position, as if it were going to sound aw; hut before the voice can get a passage to the lips, the under jaw is drawn up to the position, for sounding e. On this it is justly remarked by Walker, that atv and e are precisely the component elements of the diphthong oi and oy. If the aw is pronounced, I would add, then t and oy must he pronounced exactly alike ; and if aw is not pronounced, then it is not a component part of the diph- thongal vowal i.

Walker contends that this diphthong i, is composed of the sound of the Italian a, as hi fathtr, and the sound ol e. If so, he must have given to a, a very different sound from that which we are accustomed to give it. But* this is a mistake; that sound of a is no more heard in t, than the sound of aw. The sound of i in fight, mind, time, idle, i^ not faweght, mawend, tawem, awedle ; nor is it fdeght, maend, them, aedle. Let any man utter the aw or the Italian a before the e, and he will instantly perceive the error, and reject both definitions, as leading to a false pronunciation. The truth is, the mouth, in uttering i, is not opened so wide as in uttering aw or a; the initial sound is not that of ajo or a ; nor is it possible, by any char- acters we possess, to express the true sound on paper. The initial sound is not formed so deep in the throat as aw or o ; the position of the organs is nearlj', yet not exactly the same. The true sound can be learned only by the ear.

Equally inaccurate is the definition of the diphthongal «, or long u; which these writers alledge to consist of the sounds of e and 00 or yu. It has this sound indeed in certain words, as in unite, union, and others ; but this is a departure from the proper sound of this character, as heard in cube, abuse, durable, human, jury. These words are not pronounced, keoob, abeoose, deoorable, heooman,jeoory. The effort to introduce this affected pronunciation is of most mischievous tendency. The sound of e is not heard in the proper enunciation of the English u, and for that reason, it should not be so stated on paper, nor named yu ; as the error naturally leads to a corrupt pronunciation. Dr. Kenrick remarks that we might as well prefix y to the other vowels, as to «, and pronounce them ya, ye, yi, yo.

But this is not the whole evil ; this analysis of u has led orthoepists to give to our first or long «, two distinct sounds, or rather to make a diphthong and a vowel of this single letter. Thus they make it a diphthong in almost all situations, except after r, where they make it a vowel equivalent to 00 or the French ou. They represent u as being equivalent to ew, that is, e and 00, in cube, tube, duty, confusion, endure, pronounced, kewbe, tewbe, dewty, confewsion, endewre, but in brute, fruit, rude, intrude, ruby, they make u equivalent to 00 ; thus, broote,froot, roode, introode, rooby.

I know not where this affectation originated; it first appeared in Sheri- dan's Dictionary, but it is a most unfounded distinction, and a most mischiev- ous error. No such distinction was known to Dr. Johnson ; he gives the long u but one sound, as in confusion; and no such distinction is observed among good speakers generally, either in this country or in England. I was particularly attentive to the public speakers in England, in regard to this point, and was happy to find, that very few of them made the distinction here mentioned. In that country as in this, the long u has a uniform sound after all the consonants.

The source of the error in this as in another case to be mentioned here- after, may be an inattention to the manner in which the articulations affect the vowels which follow them. To understand this, it will be necessary or useful to examine the anatomical formation of articulate sounds.

" An articulate sound," says Lowth, " is the sound of the human voice, formed by the organs of speech. A vowel is a simple articulate sound."

These definitions seem not to be sufficiently accurate. Articulation, in human speech, is the jointing, juncture or closing of the organs, which pre- cedes and follows the vowels or open sounds, and which partially or totally intercepts the voice. A vowel or vocal sound is formed simply by opening the mouth. Thus in sounding a or 0, the mouth is opened in a particular manner, but without any articulation or closing of the organs. In strictness therefore, a simple vowel is not an articulate sound, as Lowth supposes ; and it is certain that many irrational animals, without the power of articula- tion, do utter vowel sounds with great distinctness.

An articulate sound then is properly a sound preceded or followed or both, by an articulation or junction of the organs. 'Thus ba, ab, and bad, are ar- ticulate sounds ; the vowel being begun or closed, with a junction of the lips, interrupting the voice, in ba and ab ; and in bad the vocal sound being preceded by one articulation and followed by another. The power of arti-

INTRODUCTION.

(•Illation constilutcs Ihc great difference between men and brute? ; the latter being unable to articulate, can utter only vocal sounds. The imperfect ar- ticulations of the parrot and some other animals form no exception that de- serves notice.

I give the name articulation, to the act of joining the organs, and to the character or letter which represents the junction. In the latter sense, the word is equivalent to consonant ; and articulation may be considered the preferable term, as it expresses the fact of closing the organs.

Human speech then consists of vocal sounds separated and modified by articulations of the organs. We open the moutli, in a particular manner, to utter a vowel ; we then close the organs, interrupt that sound, and open the organs to utter a second vowel, and continue this opening and closing, to the end of the word. This process is carried on with surprising rapidity.

Now in passing from an articulation or close position, to an open position for uttering a vowel, it happens often that a very slight sound of e is uttered so as to be perceptible to the ear, eitlier before or after the utterance of the proper vowel. This is remarkably the case with the long vowels preceding r, for such is the nature of that letter, that bare, mire, more, parent, appar- ent, &c., cannot well be pronounced without a slight sound of e, between the long vowel and the consonant. Thus the words above named are pro- nounced nearly baer ,mier ,moer , paerent,appaerent, and bare, mire, really form two syllables, though they are considered to be monosyllables.

A like case, though less obvious, occurs in uttering u, particularly after the labial and palatal articulations. In passing from the articulations, eb, eg, em, ep, or pe, to the sound of le, as in nnite anApure, we are apt insen- sibly to utter a slight sound of e ; and this utterance, which proceeds from the particular situation of the organs, has been mistaken for the first compo- nent sound of the diphthongal «. The same cause has given rise to the pronunciation of e before the vowel in such words as guide, guard, kind, guise. This is precisely similar to the vulgar pronunciation of cow, gown, county, town, &c., that is, keow, geown, keounty, teoum ; a pronunciation formerly common in New England, and not yet wholly extinct. This vi- cious pronunciation, in all words of this kind, whether countenanced by men of low life or of fashionable life, ought to be carefully avoided ; as the slen- der sound of e, in such cases, gives a feebleness to the words utterly incon- sistent with that full, open and manly enunciation which is essential to elo- quence.

The genuine sound of u long, detached from the influence of consonants, is the same in all the words above specified ; and the reason why it has been made a distinct vowel after r, as in rude [rood,] is, that the organs are open, before the sound commences; whereas when it follows most of our conson- ants, the sound is commenced immediately after an articulation, or close posi- tion of the organs, as in mutable and infusion. For this reason, u has more distinctly its diphthongal sound after labials and palatals, than after r; but this accidental circumstance should not be the ground of radical distinctions, equivalent to the sounds of different letters.

There is, in Walker's analysis of the alphabet, an error peculiar to himself- This is, in making a distinction between the short i when it is followed by a consonant, and when it is not ; as in ability. In this case, he calls the first (, in abil, short ; but the second he calls open, and equivalent to e in equal. See principles 107, 544. He also makes the unaccented y at the end of a syl- lable precisely like the first sound of e, in me, meter. Ability then written according to his principles would be abileetee. Never was a grosser mis- take. The sound of i and y in unaccented syllables, whether followed by an articulation or not, is always the short sound of e long, that is, e shorten- ed ; the same sound in quality or kind, but not in quantity. To prove this fact, nothing is necessary but an attention to the manner in which the words little and tiny, are pronounced, when they are made emphatical by utter- ance. They are then pronounced leetle, teeny — and this we hear every day, not only among children, but often among adults. In this change of pronunciation, there is nothing more than a prolongation of the sound of i, which, in the syllables, lit, tin, is short, in leetle, teeny, is long.

In consequence of this mistake. Walker has uniformly made a different notation of i when accented, and followed by a consonant in the same sylla- ble, and when it stands alone in the syllable and unaccented. Thus to the first i in ability he assigns a different sound from that of the second ; and in article, he gives to i the sound of e long, arteecle ; but in articular, articu- late, he gives it the short sound, tik. It is in consequence of this mistake, that he has throughout his Dictionary assigned to i and y unaccented and to y unaccented terminating words, the sound of e long ; an error, which it is ascertained by actual enumeration, extends to more than eleven thousand vowels or syllables ; an error, which, if carried to the full extent of his prin- ciples, would subvert all the rules of English versification. Jones and Perry have corrected this error in their notations, throughout the language.

If it should be said, that Walker did not intend to direct y in this case, to be pronounced as e long, but that his notation is intended only to mark the quality of the sound ; it may be replied, he either intended the sound to be that of c long, according to his express direction, or he did not. If he did his notation is not according to any good practice, either in England or the U. States, and by changing a short vowel into a long one, his notation would subvert the rules of metrical composition. If he did not, his notation is adapted to mislead the learner, and it does mislead learners, wherever his

book is strictly followed. In truth, this notaliun is generally condemned ij England, and universally rejected in practice.''

In the notation of sounds, there is a mistake and inconsistency in all the or- thoepists, which deserves notice, not on account of its practical importance o much, as to expose an error in syllabication or the division of words into yllables, which has been maintained by all writers in Great Britain, fron: time immemorial. The rule is that " a single consonant between two vow- must be joined to the latter syllable." According to this rule, habit, baron, tenet, are to be divided thus, ha-bit, ba-rou, te-net.

This rule is wholly arbitrary, and has for ages, retarded and rendered dif- ficult, the acquisition of the language by children. How is it possible that of discernment should support a rule that, in thousands of words, makes it necessary, to break a syllable, detaching one of the letters essen- tial to it, and giving it a place in the next .' In the words above mentioned^

" , bar, ten, are distinct syllables, which cannot be divided without vio- lence. In many words, as in these, this syllable is the radix of the word ; the other syllable being formative or adventitious. But where this is not the case, convenience requires that syllables should, if possible, be kept entire ; and in all cases, the division of syllables should, as far- as possible, be SHch

to lead the learner to a just pronunciation.

As in our language the long and short vowels are not distinguished by differences of character, when we see a single consonant bet^veen vowels, we cannot determine, from the preceding vowel character, whether the sound is long or short. A stranger to the language knows not whether to pronounce habit, ha-bit or hab-it, Ull he is instructed in the customary pro- •iation. It was probably to avoid this inconvenience that our ancestors wrote two consonants instead of one in a great number of words, as in ban- ner, dinner. In this respect however there is no uniformity in English ; as we have generally retained the orthography of the languages from which we have received the words, as in tutor, rigor, silent, and the like.

Now it should be observed that although we often see the consonant doubled, as in banner, yet no more than one articulation in these cases is ever used in speaking. We close the organs but once between the first and second syllable, nor is it possible to use both the letters n, without pronoun- cing ban, then intermitting the voice entirely, opening the organs and clos- ng them a second time. Hence in all cases, when the same consonant is written twice between vowels, as in banner, dinner, better, one of them only is represented by an articulation of the organs, the other is useless, except that it prevents any mistake, as to the sound of the preceding vowel.

In the notation of all the orthoepists, there is inconsistency, at least, if not

ror. If they intend to express the true pronunciation by using the precise letters necessary for the purpose, they all err. For instance, they write bar'run for bar'on, when one articulation only is, or possibly can be, used ;

also ballance, biggot, biggamy, mellon, mettaphor, mellody. This is not only useless, for the use of the accent after the consonant, as bar'on, bal'ance, big'ot, mel'on, &c. completely answers the purpose of determining the pronunciation ; but it is contradictory to their own practice in a vast ber of cases. Thus they write one consonant only in civil, civic, rivet ; and Walker writes kullonade, doubling /, but kalony, kolonise, with a single This want of system is observable in all the books which are offered to to the pubHc as standards of orthoepy.

A still greater fault, because it may lead to innumerable practical errors, consists in the notation of unaccented syllables. In this particular, there is ■ and discrepancy in the schemes of the orthoepists, which shows the utter impossibility of carrying them into effect. The final y unaccented. Walker makes to be e long, as I have before observed ; while Sheridan, Jones, and Perry, make it equivalent to short i, or at least, give it a short sound, according to universal practice. Walker pronounces the last vowel in natural and national, as a short ; Sheridan, as e short, naturel ; Jones, as u short, naturul. Sheridan's notation may be a mistake, for he gives to al in national, the sound of ul. In the adjective deliberate. Walker and Jones give a in the last syllable its proper long sound ; and Sheridan, the sound of e short, deliberet. Dignitary is pronounced by Sheridan dignite- ry, and Walker and Jones give to a its short sound, as in at. The termina- ting syllable ness is pronounced by Walker and Jones nes, by Sheridan nis,

blessednes, blessednis. The same difference exists in their notation of less ; Sheridan, pronouncing it lis, as in blatnelis, and Walker and Jones,

* From the fact, which Walker relates of himself, Prin. 246, that he made a distinction between the sound of ee in flee and in meet, until he had con- sulted good speakers and particularly Mr. Garrick, who could find no differ- ence in the sound, it might be inferred that his ear was not very accurate. But his mistake evidently arose from not attending to the effect of the artic- ulation in the latter word, which stops the sound suddenly, but does not vary it. It is the same mistake which he made in the sound of i in the second syllable of ability, which he calls short, while the sound of the second i and of y is that of long e. The celebrity of Walker as a teacher of elocution, and his key to tlie pronunciation of ancient names, which, with a few excep- tions, is a good standard work, have led many persons to put more confidence in his English Orthoepy than a close examination of its principles' will support.

INTRODUCTIOIN.

giving e its proper sound. These differences, and many others, run through their worlcs, and appear in a large portion of all the words in tlie language.

Now it is prohahle that all these gentlemen pronounced these words alike, or so nearly alike that no difference would be noticed by a bystander. The mischief of these notations is, that attempts are made to express minute distinctions or shades of sounds, so to speak, which cannot be represented to the eye by characters. A great part of the notations must, necessarily, be inaccurate, and for this reason, the notation of the vowels in unaccented syllables should not be attempted. From a careful attention to this subject, 1 am persuaded that all such notations are useless, and many of them mischievous, as they lead to a wrong pronunciation. In no case can the true pronunciation of words in a language be accurately and completely ex- pressed on paper ; it can be caught only by the ear, and by practice. No attempt has ever been made to mark the pronunciation of all the vowels, in any other language ; and in our language it is worse than useless.

As Walker's pronunciation has been represented to the people of this country as the standard, I sliall confine my remarks chiefly to his work, with a view to ascertain its merits, and correct any erroneous impressions which have been received from such representations.

1. The first class of words which I shall mention, is that in which a has what is called, its Italian sound, as we pronounce it io father, psalm, calm. From a hasty enumeration of words of this class, I find there are two or three hundred in number, in which Walker gives to a its short sound, a

fat, bat, fancy, when, in fact, the most respectable usage in England well as in the United States, gives that letter its Italian sound. This error Jones and Perry have corrected. To he correct in this class of words, we have only to retain the customary pronunciation of the northern States.

2. The notation of the sound of oo by Walker is wrong in most or al the words in which oo arc followed by k, and in some others. Notwith standing the distinction between the long and short sound of oo is clear and well established in a great number of words, yet he assigns the short sound to eight words only, viz. wool, wood, good, hood, foot, stood, under- stood, and withstood. Principles 307. It seems inconceivable that a man, bred or i-csident in London, should assign to oo in book, cook, took, and oth erlike words, the same sound as in cool, boom, boot, food. Jones and Per ry have corrected this notation, and given the pronunciation according to good usage, and just according to our customary pronunciation. While in England, I did not hear a single word of this class pronounced according to Walker's notation.

3. To the letters ch in bench, bttnch, clinch, drench, inch, tench, wrench, and many other words. Walker gives the French sound, that is, the sound of sh, instead of ch, as bensh, insh, &c. It would seem by this and other examples of wrong notation, that the author had been accustomed to some 1 cal peculiarities, either inLondon where all kinds of dialects are heard, or some other place. In this instance, he gives to these words a pronunciation different from that of other orthoepists, and one which I have never heard either in England or in this country. His notation is palpably wrong. our customary pronunciation is universally correct.

4. It has been already remarked, that Walker's notation of the sound of ; and y short, in unaccented syllables, which he directs to he pronounced

every other orthoepist, except Jameson. W'alker admits i to be short when followed by a consonant in the same syllable. Thus the first i in ability is short, but the second i and the y are long e, abileetee. Now observe the consequence. In the plural, abilities, according to his rule, must be pro- nounced abileeteez ; but tlie word is never thus pronounced ; universally it is pronounced abilitiz ; the last vowel sound is in practice immediately followed by a consonant, and by his own rule must be short. Then the re- sult is, y in ability is long e, but ie in the pluralis short i. And for this change of sound no provision is made in Walker's scheme, nor in any other that I have ever seen.

5. In the analysis of the sounds of our letters. Walker alledges the diphthong mi; ow, to consist of the broad a, or aw, and the Italian sound of u. Ac cording to his scheme, about, abound, round, now, vow, are to be pronoun red, abawut, abuwund, rawund, nawu, vawu. But whoever heard this pronunciation ? The fact is not so ; the broad sound of a is not the initial sound of this diphthong ; it is not commenced as deep in the throat, or with the same aperture as aw ; it is a sound that can be learned only by the ear: The pronunciation of tliis diphthong is uniform in both countries.

6. In noting the sound of the unaccented vowels, and those which have tlie secondary accent, there are mistakes without number, in all the schemes which I have seen, and one continued series of differences between the ortlioepists. The following is a specimen

Sheridan.

Walker.

Jcmes,

Deliverense.

Dcliveranse.

Deliveranse.

Dignytery.

Uignetare.

Dignytary.

Anser.

Ansur.

Ansur,

Assembledzh.

Assembladje.

Assembladzhe

Averaje.

Averedzh.

Barrin.

Barren.

Penal.

Penul.

Pennens.

Pennanse.

Penaunse.

Vol. I.

Sheridan. Pennytenshel. Pennytensherry. Persunidzh. Proksymet. Proflyget. Pennetrent.

Akkrymunny.

Allymunny.

Sercmunny.

Walker. Pennetenshal. Pennetenshare. Persunidje. Proksemat. Proflegat. Pennetrant. Akkuzatore. Akkremone. Allemunnc. Seremone.

Jones. Pennylenshul. Pennytenshary. Persunedje. Proksymet. Proflyget. Pennetrant. Akkuzatury. Akkrymunny. Allymunny.' Serymony.

I take no notice of the different letters by wliich these writers express the same sound, one using e where another uses y, hut of the different sounds which they give to the vowels in the secondj third, or last syUable. Now, I appeal to any person who has a tolerably correct ear, whether it is the sound of a that is uttered by good speakers, or any speakers in deliverance and dignitary ? Is it tlie sound of a that we hear in the last syllabic of penance, penetrant, and assemblage ? Do we hear in the last syllable of profligate, the short a, as in fat > So far fiom it, that a public speaker, who should utter the sound of a so that it should be distinctly recognized in any polite audience, would expose himself to ridicule. The sound of the last vowel approaches to tliat of e or u, and the notation of Sheridan is nearest the truth. But any notation is worse than useless ; for without it, there would be no difference in customary pronunciation.

To show the utter impracticability of expressing the unaccented vowels, in all cases, with precision, let the reader observe Walker's notation of a, in the word moderate and its derivatives. In the adjective and verb, the a is long, as in/a

There is another class of vowel sounds that comprises too many inaccu- racies to be overlooked. This is the class in which the first syllable has an unaccented e, as in debate. In all words of this kind, Walker directs the letter e to have its long sound, as in me, mete. Then, become, bedeck, begin, debate, debar, declare, elect, legitimate, mechanic, medicinal, me- morial, necessity, peculiar, petition, rebuke, recant, relate, secure, select, velocity, &.c. are to be pronounced beecomc, beedeck, beegin, deebate, deebar, deeclare, eelect, leegitimate, meechanic, meedicinal, meemorial, neecessity, peeculiar, peetition, reebuke, reecant, reelate, seecure, seelect, veelocity, &c.

According to this notation, the first vowel e in evil, even, and in event, is to have the same sound, being all marked with the same figure. Now, let me ask, where a speaker can be found who pronounces these words in this manner .' Who ever heard of such a pronunciation ? This notation is er- roneous and mischievous, as it is inconsistent with the regular accent, which carries the stress of voice forward to the next syllable, and must, necessa- rily, leave the first vowel with the feeble sound of short i or y. 'This short sound is that which we always hear in such words.

The like error occurs in Walker's notation of i in direct, diminish, and many other words. Walker himself, under despatch, calls the sound of e the short i, but under rule 107, says this sound of t cannot be properly said to be short, as it is not closed by a consonant ; yet it has half its diphthongal ■ ■ ~" ■ " ■ the

sound, Oie sound of e .' .' This reason that i or t

not short, because I

sound is not closed by a consonant, is entirely groundless, and contradicted by the universal pronunciation of thousands of English words. To direct such words to be pronounced decreet, deeminish, is inexcusable. This er- ror corresponds with that specified under No. 4, supra.

Thus, there is neither uniformity nor consistency among the orthoepists in the notation of the unaccented vowels ; and it is hardly possible there should be, for many of the sounds are so slight, in ordinary pronunciation, that it is almost impossible for the ear to recognize the distinctions, and ab- solutely impossible to express them on paper. In truth, as Dr. Ash remarks, in a dissertation prefixed to his Dictionary, the sounds of the five vowels, in unaccented, short, and insignificant syllables, arc nearly coincident ; and it must be a nice ear that can distinguish the difference of sound in the con- cluding syllable of altar, alter, manor, murmur, .latyr. It is for this reason that the notation of such vowels at all savors of hypercritical fastidiousness, and by aiming at too much nicely and exactness, tends only to generate doubts and multiply differences of opinion. If the accent is laid on the prop- er syllable, and the vowel of that syllable correctly pronounced, the true pronunciation of the word will follow of course ; at least, the pronunciation is more likely to be right than wrong, and no mistake will occur, which shall be an object of notice.

Nor can I approve the practice of writing all words, in different charac- ters, to express their pronunciation, as if their proper letters were so many

INTRODUCTION.

liieroglyphics, requiring interpretation. A great part of English words have an orthography suliiciently regular, and so well adapted to express the true pronunciation, that a few general rules only are wanted as a guide to the

7. Another error of notation, in most of the English hooks, is that of the vowel in the first syllable of circle, circumstance, and many other words, the tii'st syllable of which Sheridan first and afterwards Walker and Jones directed to be pronounced ser. This pronunciation 1 liavc never heard ei- ther in England or in this country. Perry's notation makes the syllable sur, according to all the usage with which I am acquainted.

8. Another objection to the books offered as standards of pronunciation, particularly to the dictionaries of Sheridan and Walker, is that the rules are inconsistent, or the execution of the work is inconsistent with the rules. Thus Walker lays it down as a rule. No. 357, that c after the accent and fol- lowed by ea, ia, ie, io, or eous, takes the sound of sh, as in ocean, social, Phocion, saponaceous, which are pronounced as if written oshean, sosheal, Phosheon, saponaslieous. But in the Dictionary, the author departs from the rule, and directs these words to be pronounced as if written oshun, so- shnl, saponashus. So also in gracious, ancient, especial, provincial, tena- cious, rapacious, and I know not how many others, the author depaits from his own rule ; so that either his rule or his practice must be wrong.

And here it may be proper to notice a mistake of the author which has led to an erroneous notation in a great number of words. The mistake is, that he assigns to c and t before the vowels ea, ia, ie, eo, and io, the sound of sA Thus in ocean, he considers c as pronounced like sh ; and in partial he con- siders the sound of sh as proceeding from t only. Now the ti-uth is, that the sound of sft in these and in all similar cases, results from the combination of e, t, or s with the following vowel ; that is, from the rapid enunciation and blending of the two letters. Then the sound of the first vowel being blend- ed with c or t, it ought not to be repeated and form a distinct syllable. To make three syllables of ocean, is to use the vowel e twice. In most cases all the orthoepists agree in pronouncing these combinations correctly in dis- syllables, and primitive words; as oshun, grashus, tenashus, parshal, sub- stanshal, nashun, relashun, preshus, and the Uke. But in a number of words that are primitive in our language. Walker and Jones depart from this rule ; for although they pronounce conscience in two syllables, conshense, yet they pronounce nescience ani prescience, in three, neshyense, preshy- ense. So also when they make tial one syllable in the primitive word, they make two syllables of these letters in the derivatives ; partial is parshal, but partiality is parsheality. Thus one error has led to another, and a large part of all words of this kind are mispronounced. Sheridan and Perry, in this respect, are consistent and correct ; making one syllable only of cia, cie, f 10, tia, tio, both in primitives and derivatives, throughout the language. A single line of poetry ought to settle this point forever.

Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man. Pope.

9. A remarkable instance of inconsistency occurs in the following words. Armature, aperture, breviature, feature, &c., Walker pronounces arina- ishure, apertshure, breviatshure, overtshure; hut forfeeture is forfeetyure, zni Judicature, ligature, literature, miniature, nunciature, portraiture, preficture, quadrature, signature, are pronounced as here written. Car any reason be possibly assigned for such inconsistency .'

10. Obedience and its family of words, Walker pronounces obejeence, obe- jeent, obejeently, but disobedience, disobedient, as here written. Expedi- ent is either as here written, or expejeent ; but expedience without the alter- native. Why this inconsistency ?

11. Obdurate, obduracy, are marked to be pronounced obdurate or obju- rate, obduracy or objuracy ; but objurately, objurateness, without an alter- native. In these last words occurs another error, the a in the third syllable is made short, as if pronounced rat ; a deviation from all good usage.

This notation of obdurate is inconsistent also with that of indurate, and with that of obdvre ; an inconsistency which appears to have no plausible pretext.

The conversion of d intoj before )', is rejected, I believe, in all words, by Jones, Perry and Jameson, and before u is rejected by Perry and Jameson, and in many words by Jones. It is a departure from orthography wholly in- excusable.

12. Walker, Principles No. 92, lays it down as a rule, that when a is pre reded by the gutturals hard g or c, [he should have said palatals,] it is, in polite pronunciation, softened by the intervention of a sound like e, so that card, cart, guard, regard, are pronounced like heard, heart, gheard, re gheard. Now it is remarkable that in the vocabulary or dictionary, the au

regoing guard, DOT in a multitude of other words which fall within the rule, has he

thor has departed from his rule, for in not one of the foregoing words, except guard, DOT in a multitude of other words which fall within the rule, has he directed this sound of e before the following vowel. Had he conformed to his own rule, he must have perverted the pronunciation of car, carbuncle care, carcass, cardinal, cargo, garden, garter, discard, and a long list of other words, too long to be here enumerated. The English orthoepists now confine this prepositive sound of e to guard, guaranty, guardian, guil kind, and a few others. The probable origin of this fault, has been already assigned, in treating of the letter k. It is an affected pronunciation, which Nares calls " a monster, pecuUar to the stage." Indeed this slender sound of e before another vowel, is wholly incompatible with that manly enuncia Pion which is peculiarly suited to the genius of the language. Perry and ,l

13. In the first edition of Walker's Dictionary, the author, under the word tripod, observes, that " all words of two syllables, with the accent on the first, and having one consonant between two vowels, ought to have the vow- "' in the first syllable long." But this was too rash, for such words as cem'- ent,des'ert,prej'ace,pres'ent,profit,reb'el,trop'ic,andaniuhitudc of others,

tand, in the author's book, in direct opposition to his own rule. In a sub- sequent edition, the author, or some otiier person, has qualified the rule by an exception in favor of settled usage. This exception destroys the ^ alue of the rule ; and indeed there is, and there can be no rule applicable to ords of this class. The pronunciation of the first vowel can be known only by the usage.

14. The derivatives of nation and ratio. Walker and Jones pronounce nash'onal, rash'onal. If this should be defended on the ground of the shor- tening power of the antepenultimate accent, then let me ask why we have

' nosh'onal from notion, deuosh'onal from devotion, probash'oner from probation, stash'onary from station ? Why make rules and not apply them ? Why indulge such palpable inconsistences and multiply anomalies ?

15. Possess is, by the English orthoepists, pronounced ^ozzess; but why not then pronounce assess, assist, assassin, conscssion, obsession, with the sound of z? Can any good reason be assigned for makingyossess an excep- tion to the pronunciation of this class of words .' This utterance of sounds through the nose is always disagreeable to the ear, and should be restricted to words in which usage is established. Good taste should rather induce a limitation, than an extension of this piactice. This remark applies also to some words beginning with dis, in which Walker goes beyond other orthoe- pists in giving to s this nasal sound.

16. Walker lays it down as a fact, that u has the sound of e and oo or yu- ' This is true in many words, as in union, unite, unanimity, &c. Hence according to his principle, u in these words is to be pronounced yunion, yunite, without the letter y prefixed. Yet he writes these and similar

ords with y, yunion, whicli upon his principles, would prefix yu to the sound ofyu, and the pronunciation would be yuyunite, '" "

his notation of this sound of u is not uniform ; for i unite without y, though it must be as proper in the compound as in the Ie word. The same inconsistency occurs between use, written yuse, yuze, and disuse, disuze.

17. There is a fault in Walker's notation of o, when it has the sound of oo, the French ou. In the Key, he marks o when it has this sound with the figure 2, and gives niove as an example. Then according to his Key, o alone when thus marked, sounds as oo- But in the vocabulary, he thus

IS both vowels in booh, look, boot, and all similar words. Then accor- ding to his notation, each of the vowels has the sound of oo, and book, look, are to be pronounced boo-ooh, loo-ook. He certainly did not intend this ; but such is precisely his direction, or the result of his notation ; and a for-

gner, without counter-direction, must be led into this pronunciation.

The same fault occurs in his notation of ee, as in meet and seek.

18. Volume, Walker and Jones pronounce volyiwie ; why not then change column into colyum ? Will it be said that in volume the u is long ! This is not the fact; at least I never heard it thus pronounced either in England or America ; it is always short in common usage, and so marked by Perry.

19. Ink, uncle, concord, concourse, concubine, are pronounced by Wal- ker, ingk, ungkl, kongkord, honghorse, kongkubine ; and these odious vulgarisms are offered for our adoption. There can be no apology for such attempts to corrupt our language.

20. The words bravery, finery, knavery, nicety, scenery, slavery, are, by Walker and the other orthoepists, pronounced in tliree syllables, and im- agery, in four ; the final e of the primitive word being detached from it, and uttered with »■ as a distinct syllable. Why savagery has escaped the same fate, I do not know. It is obvious that in negligent practice, these words have often been thus pronounced. But the most correct pronunciation re- tains the original word entire in the derivative, the slight sound of e before r no more constituting a syllable, than it does in /noce and mire. Take the following examples.

Of marble stone was cut An altar carv'd with cunning imagery. Spenser.

When in those oratories might you see Rich carvings, portraitures, and imagery. Dryden.

Your gift shall two large goblets be Of silver, wrought with curious imagery. Dryden.

What can thy imagery of sorrow mean ; Prior.

Pronounced in four syllables, imagery, in these lines, makes a syllable too much, and injures the measure, and in the last example, utterly destroys it. The true pronunciation of Spenser, Dryden and Prior is the same as it al- ways has been in my elementary books.

21. Formerly, the viotis puissance , puissant , had the accent on the sec- ond syllable ; although the poets seem, in some instances, to have blended the four first letters'into one syllable. But the modern change of the ac- cent to the first syllable is not in accordance with English analogies, and it impairs the measure of many lines of poetry in which these words occur. In the adverb puissantly it has a very bad effect.

The foregoing observations extend to whole classes of words, in which the genuine pronunciation has been changed, unsettled and perverted. It would be inconsistent with the limited nature of this Introduction, to enter into an examination of every particular word of disputable pronunciation. It

Ii\\TRODUCTIOi\\.

seems to be inexpedient and useless to bestow, as Walker has d page or a page, on a single word, in attempting to settle some tn or, in many cases, to settle a point tiiat, in tliis country, has disputed.

2, half a

To give a brief statement of the errors, diversities and contradictions of 1 the orthography

I The following lists are not complete, but they comprehend the greatest j number of words in their respective classes. The dates at the head of the columns designate the year when the dictionaries in my possession were Ipublished, indicating nearly, but not exactly, the origin of each scheme. In

the principal schemes of orthoepy, which have been oliered to the publi

within the last half century, two classes of words only will be sufficient, as]lfollowed the common orthograph

specimens.

e given the letters used by each author, in the sylla- the difference of pronunciation ; in the others, I have

jShet'idati, 1784. Abbrevyature, Accentuate, Accentuation, Actual, Actuate, &c. Admikstshur, Adventual, Adventshur, Agriculture, Aperture, Arkitektshur, Armature, Artuate, Attaintshur, Aventshur, Bcfortune. Bountyus, Calenture, Capitulate, Capsular, Captshur, Cartulary, Celature, Cinctshur, Claushur, Commensurate, Commutual, Compactshur, Compostshur, Concretshur, Congratulate, Conjectshur, Conjunctshur, Connatural, Constituent, Constructshur, Contextshur, Conventual, Counternatural, Courtshus, Creatshur, Cultshur, Debentshur, Decoctshur, Dcfcatshur, Dejectshur, Departshur, Dictatshur, Discomfitshur, Discourtshus, Disnaturalize, Disnat'ihured, Divestshur, Dutyus, Effectual, Enraptshur, Estuary, Estuate, Eventual, Expostulate, Factshur, Fastuous, Featshur, Fistula, Flatulence, Flatuous, Fluctuate, Fortune, Fractshur, Fructuous, Futshur, Uarnitshur,

Walker, 1794. Abbreveatshurc, Accentshuate, Accentshuatiou, Acljhual, Actshuate, Admikstshure, Adventshual, Adventshure, Agricultshure,

Architectshuro.

Armatshur.-,

Artshuate,

jVttaintshurc.

Aventshure,

Befortshune,

Bountcheous,

Calentshurc,

Capitulate,

Capshular,

Captshure,

Cartshulary,

Celatshure,

Cinctshurc,

Clauzhure,

Commenshuratc,

Comniutshual,

Compactshure,

Compostshure,

Concretshure,

Congratshulate,

Conjectshuic,

Conjunctshure,

Connatshural,

Constitshuent,

Constructshure,

Contextshure,

Conventshual,

Counternatshural,

Courtsheous,

Cretshure,

Cultshurc,

Debentshure,

Decoctshure,

Defeatshure,

Dejectshure,

Departshure,

Dictatshure,

Discomfityure,

Discourtshus,

Disnatshuralizc,

Di.snatshurcd,

Dive^tshure,

Duteous or Dutsheous,

Efl'ectshual,

Enraptshure,

Estshuary,

Estshuate,

Eventshual,

Expostshulate,

Factshure,

Fastshuous,

Featshure,

Fistshula,

Flatshulence,

Flatshuous,

Fluctshuate,

Fortshune,

Fractshure,

Fructshuous,

Futshure,

Garnitshure,

Jont-s,

1798.

Abbreviature,

Accentuate,

Actual,

Actuate,

Admixture,

Adventual,

Adventure,

Agriculture,

Aperture,

Architectshure,

Armature,

Artuate,

Attainture,

Aventure,

Befortune,

Bounteous,

Calenture,

Capitulate,

Capshular,

Captshur,

Cartulary,

Celatshure,

Cincture,

Clauzhure,

Commenshurate.

Commutshual,

Compacture,

Compostshure,

Concretshure,

Congratulate,

Conjectur,

Conjunctur,

Connatshural,

Constituent,

Constructure,

Contextshure,

Conventual,

Counternatural,

Courteous,

Creatshure,

Culture,

Debenture,

Decocture,

Defeature,

Dejecture,

Departshure,

Dictature,

Discomtityure,

Discourteous,

Disnaturalize,

Disnatshured,

Divestshure,

Duteous,

Effectual,

Enraptshure,

Estuary,

Estuate,

Eventual,

Expostulate,

Facture,

Fastshuous,

Featshure,

Fistshula,

Flatulence,

Flatuous,

Fluctuate,

Fortshune,

Fractshure,

Fructuous,

Futshur,

G;uniturc,

Pet-ry, 1805. Abbrev'iaturc, Accentuate, Accentuation, Actual, Actuate, Admixture, Adventual, Adventure, Agriculture, Aperture, Architecture, Armature,

Attainture.

Befortune,

Bounteous,

Calenture,

Capitulate,

Capsular,

Capture,

Cartulary,

Celature,

Cincture,

Clauzhure,

Commensurate,

Commutual,

Compacture,

Compos ture,

Concreture,

Congratulate,

Conjecture,

Conjuncture,

Connatural,

Constituent,

Constructure,

Contexture,

Conventual,

Counternatural,

Curtcheous,

Creature,

Culture,

Debenture,

Decocture,

Defeature,

Dejecture,

Departure,

Discomfiture,

Discurcheous,

Disnaturalize,

Disnatin-ed.

Divesture,

Duteous,

Effectual,

Enrapture,

Estuary,

Estuate,

Eventual.

Expostulate,

Facture,

Fastuous,

Feature,

Fistula,

Flatulence,

Flatuous.

Fluctuate,

Fortune,

Fracture,

Fractuous,

Future.

Garniture,

Jameson, 1827. Abbrfeveature. Accentuate. Accentuation. Actual. Actuate. Admixture. Adventual. Adventure. Agriculture. Aperture. Architecture.

Aventure.

Befortune.

Bounteous.

Calenture.

Capitulate.

Capsular.

Capture.

Cartulary.

Celature.

Cingkture.

Clauzhur.

Commensurate.

Commutual.

Compacture.

Concreture.

Congratulate.

Conjecture.

Conjunkture.

Connatural.

Constituent.

Constructure.

Contexture.

Conventual.

Courteous.

Creture.

Culture.

Debenture.

Decocture.

Dejecture.

Departure.

Dictature.

Discomfiture.

Discourteous.

Disnaturalize.

Divesture.

Duteous.

Effectual.

Enrapture.

Estuary.

Estuate.

Eventual.

Expostulate.

Facture,

Feteyer. Fistula. Flatulence.

Fluctuate.

Fortune.

Fracture.

Fructuous.

Futyure.

Garniture,

INTRODUCTION.

Sheridan.

tValker,

Jmies,

Perry,

Jameson ,

1784.

1794.

1798.

1806:

1827.

Gestshur,

Gestshure,

Gesture,

Gesture.

Gratulate,

Gratshulate,

Gratulate,

Gratulate.

Guttural,

Guttshural,

Guttural,

Guttural.

Habitual,

Habitshual,

Habitual,

Habitual.

HorUcultshur,

Horticultshure.

Horticulture,

Horticulture.

Hortulan,

Hortshulan,

Hortulan,

Hortulan.

Illnatshur,

Illnatshure,

Ulnature,

lUnatyur.

Immenshurable,

Immenshurable.

Immenshurable,

Immenshurable.

Immensurable.

Impetuous,

Impetehuous,

Impetshuous,

Impetuous,

Impetjous.

Importunate,

Importshunate,

Importshunate.

Importunate,

Importunate.

Impostshur,

Impostshure,

Imposture,

Impostyur.

Incestuous,

Incestshuous,

Incestuous,

Incestuous.

Indentshur,

Indentshure,

Indenture.

Indrntyur.

Ineffectual,

Ineffectshual,

Inetfectshual,

Ineffectual,

Ineffectual.

Infatuate,

Infatshuate,

Infatuate,

Infatuate.

Insculptshur.

Insculptshure.

Insculptshure,

Insculpture,

Insculptyur.

Insular,

Inshular,

Insular,

Insular.

Insulated,

Inshulated,

Insulated,

Insulated.

Intellectual.

Intellectshual.

Intellectual,

Intellectual.

Jointshur,

Jointshure,

Jointure,

Jointyur.

Junctshur.

Junktshure,

Junctshure,

Juncture,

Junctyur.

Lectshur,

Lectshure,

Lecture,

Lectyur.

Legislatshur,

Legislatshure,

Legislature,

Lcgislatyur.

Mantua,

Mantshua.

Mantua,

Mantua.

Manufactshur.

Manufactshurc,

Manufactshure,

Manufacture,

Manufactyur.

Maturate,

Matshurate,

Maturate,

Maturate.

Menshurable,

Mensurable,

Mensurable.

Meteor,

Meteor or Metsheor,

Meteor,

Meteor.

Misfortshun,

Misfortshune,

Misfortune,

Misfortune.

Mixtshur,

Mixtshure,

Mixture,

Mixtyur.

Moistshur,

Moistshure,

Moisture,

Moistyur.

Morshur,

Morshure,

Morshure.

Mutshual,

Mutual,

Mutual.

Natshur,

Natshure,

Natshur,

Natchure,

Nateyur.

Natshural,

Nattshural,

Natural,

Natural.

Noctshuary,

Noctuary,

Noctuary.

Nurtshur,

Nurtshurc,

Nurtshure,

Nurture,

Nurtyur.

Overtshur,

Overtshure,

Overture,

Overture.

Paintshur,

Paintshure,

Painture,

Pastshur,

Pastshure,

Pasture,

Pastyur.

Peninshula.

Peninshula,

Peninsula,

Peninsula.

Periostshum,

Periosteum,

Periosteum.

Perpetshual,

Perpetual,

Perpetual.

Perpetshuity,

Perpetuity,

Perpetuity.

Pictshur,

Pictshure,

Pictshur,

Picture,

Pictyur.

Piteous,

Pitcheous,

Piteous,

Piteous.

I'lentshus,

Plentshus,

Plenteous,

Plenteous.

Postshur,

Postshure.

Postshure,

Posture,

Postyur.

Postshulate,

Postulate,

Postulate.

Presumptuous,

Prezumtshuous,

Presumptuous,

Presumptuous.

Projectshur,

Projectshure,

Projecture,

Projecture.

Promptshur,

Promptshure,

Prompture,

Promptyur.

PuncUhual,

Punctshual,

Punctual,

Pungtual.

Punctshur,

Punctshure,

Puncture,

Pungktyur.

Pustshul,

Pustshule,

Pustule,

Pustule.

Raptshur,

Raptshure,

Raptshur,

Rapture,

Raptyur.

Recapittshulatc,

Recapittshulate,

Recapitulate,

Recapitulate.

Ritshual,

Ritual,

Ritual.

Ruptshur,

Ruptshure,

Rupture,

Ruptyur.

Sanctshuary,

Sanctuary,

Sangktuary.

Satshurate,

Satsliurate,

Satshurate,

Saturate,

Saturate.

Scriptshur, Sculptshur,

Scriptshure, Sculptshure,

Scriptshure,

Scripture,

Scriptyur.

Sculptshure,

Sculpture,

Sculptyur.

Septshuagint,

Septshuagint.

Septuagint,

Septuagittt,

Septuagint.

Sittshuate,

Situate,

Situate.

Spirittshual,

Spiritual,

Spiritual.

Sportshul,

Sportshule,

Sportshule.

Stattshuary,

Statuary,

Statuary.

Stattshu,

Statu,

Statu.

Stattshur,

Stattshure,

Stature,

Statyur.

Stattshut,

Stattshute,

Statute,

Statute.

Strictshur,

Strictshure,

Stricture,

Stiictyur.

Structshur,

Struetshure,

Structure,

Structyur.

Sumptshuous,

Sumtshuous,

Sumptuous,

Sumptuous.

Shootshur,

Sutshure,

Suture,

Suteyur.

Tarantshula,

Tarantula,

Tarantula.

Tempestuous, Tenshur,

Tempestshuous, Tenshure,

Tempestshuous,

Tempestuous, Tenshur,

Tempestuous. Tenshur.

Tenshure,

Textshuary,

Textuary,

Textuary.

Textshur,

TexLshure,

Textshure,

Texture,

Textvur.

Tinctshur,

Tinctshure,

Tincture,

Tingklyur.

INTRODUCTION.

Sheridan. 1784. Titshular, Tortshur, Tortshuou", Tiitshuralion, TshooinultshuoHS. Unctshuous, Unstatuhutable, Vestshur, Ventshur, Veolentrhelo, Vertshu, Vilshuline, Voluptshuous, Vultshur, Waftshur,

Walker, 1794. Tittshular, Tortsliure, Tortsliuous, Tritshuratioil, Tumultsliuous, Ungktshuous, Unstattshutable, Vestshure, Ventshure, Veolentshelo, Vertshu, Vitshuline, Voluptshuous, Vultshure, Waftshure,

179S.

Titshular,

Tortshure,

Tortshuou.s,

Tritshuration,

Tumultshuous,

Unctuous,

Unstattshutable,

Vestshure,

Ventshure,

Veolonchelo,

Vertshu,

Vitshuline,

Voluptshuous,

Vultshure,

Waftshure,

Perry, 1805. Titular, Torture, Tortuous, Triturate, Tumultuous, Unctuous, Unstatutable. Vesture, Venture, Violoncello, Virtue, Vituline. Voluptuous, Vulture, Wafture.

Jameson, 1827. Titular. Tortyur. Tortuous. Trituration. Tumultuous. Ungktuou.*.

Vestyur. Ventyur. Veolontsello. Virtu.

Voluptuous. VultjTir.

This table of words may perhaps be thought a burlesque on English or- thoepy. It certainly presents a phenomenon altogether novel in the history of language.

Of these live authorities, the notation of Perry, with the exception of a few words ending in ure, is most nearly accordant to the present usage in England, as far as my observations, while in that country, extended. That of Walker is by far the most remote from that usage. From an actual enu- meration of the syllables In certain classes of words in which the vowel is erroneously pronounced. In Walker's scheme, 1 have ascertained that the number amounts to more than twelve thousand, without Including several classes of unaccented syllables, which would swell the number by some thousands. Of this whole number, I did not, while in England, hear one vowel pronounced according to Walker's notation. The zeal manifested In this country, to make his pronunciation a standard, is absolute infatuation, as if adopted in its full extent, it would introduce many differences In the pronunciation of words in the two countries, where sameness now exists ; and even the attempt, should it not be successful, must multiply discordan- cies and distract opinions, and thus place the desired uniformity at a greater distance than ever. Fortunately, Walker's pronunciation has never been generally received in England, and where it has been received, we see, by Jameson's Dictionary, that It Is becoming unpopular and obsolete.

We observe in the following list, that the three first of these orthoepists have no rule by which their pronunciation Is regulated. Hence the want of uniformity in words of like orthography. See bounteous, courteous, du- teous and plenteous. Why should plenteous be reduced to two syllables, when bounteous is pronounced in three ? And what reason can be assigned for the different notation of capitulate and recapitulate?

A remarkable instance of inconsistency In Walker's notation

words of more syllables than two, ending i verted into chure [tshure] i

Thus we find ture con-

Abbreviatshure.

Celatshure.

Contextshure

Admixtshure.

Calentshure.

Debentshure.

Adventshure.

Compactshure.

Decoctshure.

Agricultshure.

Compostshure.

Defeatshure.

Apertshure.

Concretshure.

Dejectshure.

Attaintshure.

Conjectshure.

Departshure.

Aventshure.

Conjunctshure.

DIctatshure.

Impostshure.

Overtshure.

Divestshure.

Indentshure.

Projectshure.

ut in the following

words the terminating syllable

remains unaltered

Illiterature.

Literature.

Prelature.

Intemperature.

Miniature.

Quadriture.

Investiture.

Nunciature.

Serrature.

Judicature.

Nutriture.

Signature.

Ligature.

Prefecture.

Temperature.

In this class of words, Sheridan and Jones are also inconsistent with them- selves, though not to the same extent as Walker. Perry and Jameson re- tain, in all these words, the true orthrography and pronunciation. In these words also. Walker gives to u, in the last syllable, its first or long sound ; but this is an inaccurate notation ; the sound, in actual usage, is that of short u, at least so far as my observation extends, either in England or the United States.

In the following classes of words, as pronounced by Walker, there is either error or inconsistency, or both.

Assidjuou Commodious or commojcus Credjulous, Dividual or dividjual, Fastidious or fastidjeous. Gradient or grajeent. Gradual or gradjual. Guardian or guarjean, HIdeus or hidjeus. Immediacy or immejeasy, Incendiary or incenjeary.

i.ljual.

Mediocrity or mejeocrity. Medium or mejeum. Melodious or melojeus. Meridian or merldjean. Modulate or modjulate, Nidjulation,

Prelujcus, Presidjeal, Procejure, Quotljean, Radiate or rajeate. Radiant or rajeant, Radius or rajeus, Rezidjual, Sardius or sarjeus. Sedulous or sedjiilous, Studious or stujeus. Tedious or tejeus.

Nodjule,

Noctidyal or noctidjeal,

Obejeence,

Obejeeut,

Obduracy or objuracy,

Obdurate or objurate,

Occidjuus,

Odium or ojeum,

Ojus or ojeus.

Ordeal or orjeal,

Penjulous,

Penjulum,

Predial or prejeal.

It would seem that, in a large part of these words, we may take our choice, either to retain the proper sound of d, or to convert it into that of j. This choice certainly makes an odd kind of standard. But why mediate should retain the sound of d, while itntnediacy and medium suffer a change ; or why radiate should be given in the alternative, radiate or rajeate, while irradiate and irradiance are not subjected to any change ; or why obedi- ence should be changed into obejeence, and diiobedience remain unchanged, I am not able to conjecture.

These classes of words exhibit a specimen of the modern orthoepv, so called, of our language ; it is indeed a brief and imperfect specimen, for I have ascertained by actual enumeration, that a catalogue of all the differen- ces of notation in these authors, would comprehend about one dof all the

Is in their vocabularies. Amidst this mass of errors and contradictions, our consolation is that the good sense of the English nation, a learned and re- spectable people, is triumphing over the follies and caprices of fashion, and frowning on this most mischievous spirit of innovation.

In proportion as the importance of settled usages and of preserving invio- late the proper sounds of letters, as the true and only safe landmarks of pro- nunciation, shall be appreciated by an enlightened people, just in that pro- portion will all attempts of affected speakers to innovate upon such estab- lished usages be reprobated and resisted.

The Intentions of the men who have undertaken to give a standard of pro- nunciation, have unquestionably been upright and sincere ; but facts have proved that instead of g"ood they have, on the wliole,done harm; for instead of reducing the pronunciation of words to uniformity, they have, to a consid- erable extent, unsettled It, and multiplied differences. The whole process of these attempts, from Sheridan's first publication, is within my memory, and I am confident, that whatever has been the effect of these attempts in Great Britain, the result of them in the United States, has been to multiply greatly the diversities of pronunciation. And such is the present state of the authorities, offered as standards, that it is impossible from books to gain a correct knowledge of what Is the general usage. If I had no other means of knowing this general usage, than the English books, I should be utterly un- able to ascertain it and should give up the attempt as hopeless.*

Some of the differences of notation. In the several books, may be rather ap- parent thitn real ; but with all due allowance for this imperfection of the schemes, I am persuaded that there are ten dllTerences among these orthoe- pists, where there is one in the actual pronunciation of respectable people in England and the United States ; and In most of them, the notation, if strictly followoil. u ill I.- Ill t.i /<;i differences of pronunciation, where one only now exists 111 ilii Mill;] 1. 1. unice of the two countries.

Tlii- . II, t oi iiuiliiplying doubts and diversities, has resulted from very

1. The limited acquaintance of orthoepists with the general usage, and

* The multiplicity of books for Instructing us in our vernacular language is an evil of no small magnitude. Every man has some peculiar notions which he wishes to propagate, and there is scarcely any peculiarity or ab- surdity for which some authority may not be found. The facility of book- making favors this disposition, and while a chief qualification for authorship Is a dextrous use of an inverted pen, and a pair of scissors, we are not to ex- pect relief from the evil.

IiXTRODUCTION.

tlieii- taking tlie pronunciation of Lomlon, (

t city, for the best usage. Tlie propagation of such a dialectical or pec

! dialect or local practice in

liar practice would of course disturb the uniformity of any other practice, in other parts of England or in tliis country.

2. The difficulty or rather impracticability of representing sounds, and nice distinctions of sound, on paper; especially in unaccented syllables.

3. The partiality of authors for the practice of particular speakers, either stage players or others, which would lead them to denominate that the best practice, which had been adopted by their favorites.

4. A spirit of fastidious hypercriticism, which has led writers to make mi- nute distinctions, that are liable to be disputed, and which tend only to per- plex the inquirer, and generate uncertainty or diversity, where no essential difference had previously existed in practice. This spirit is continually pro- ducing new books and new schemes of orthoepy, and every additional book serves only to increase the difficulty of uniting opinions and establishing uniformity.

This view of the subject is probably the most favorable that can be pre- sented. The real fact seems to be this; these men have taken for the stand- ard, what they were pleased to call the best usage, which , in many cases, is a local usage or some favorite peculiarity of particular speakers, at least if they have had any authority at all ; or they have given the pronunciation which happened to please their fancy, though not authorised by usage. In this manner, they have attempted to bend the common usage to their particular fancies.

It has been in this manner, by presenting to the public local or particular practice, or mere innovation, for a standard, instead of general or national usage, that the authors above mentioned have unsettled the pronunciation of many words and multiplied diversities of practice. These attempts to ob- trude local usage on the public, and bend to it the general or national usage, are the boldest assumptions of authority in language that the history of lite- rature has ever exhibited. In England however these pretensions to direct the pronunciation of the nation have less effect than they have in the United States, for this obvious reason, that in England pronunciation is regulated almost exclusively by the practice of the higher classes of society, and not by books; hence if books do not exhibit the customary pronunciation, the falsity of notation is easily detected, and the work which offers it is neglected. But in this country, where the people resort chiefly to books for rules of pro- nunciation, a false notation of sounds operates as a deception and misleads the inquirer. How long the citizens of this country will submit to these imposi- tions, time only can determine.

The Englisli language, when pronounced according to the genuine com- position of its words, is a nervous, masculine language, well adapted to popu- lar eloquence; and it is not improbable that there may be some connection between this manly character of the language and the freedom of the British and American constitutions. They may perhaps act and react upon each other mutually, as cause and effect, and each contribute to the preservation of the other. At the same time, the language is, by no means, incapable of poetical sweetness and melody. The attempts to refine upon the pronuncia- tion, within the last half century, have, in my opinion, added nothing to its smoothness and sweetness, but have very much impaired its strength of ex- pression as well as its regularity. The attempts to banish the Italian sound of a and to introduce the sound of e before i and «, as in kind, guard, duty, &c. ought to be resisted, as injurious to the manly chaiacter of the genuine English pronunciation.*

In order to produce and preserve a tolerable degree of uniformity, and the genuine purity of our language, two things appear to be indispensable, viz.

1. To reject the practice of noting the sounds of the vowels in the unac- cented syllables. Let any man, in genteel society or in public, pronounce the distinct sound of a in the last syllable of important, or the distinct sound of e in the terminations less and ness, as in hopeless, happiness, and he would pass for a most inelegant speaker. Indeed so different is the slight sound of a great part of the unaccented vowels, in elegant pronunciation, from that which is directed in books of orthoepy, that no man can possibly acquire the nicer distinction of sounds, by means of books ; distinctions which no charac- ters yet invented can express. Elegant pronunciation can be learned only by the ear. The French and Italians, whose languages are so popular in Europe, have never attempted to teach the sounds of their letters by a system of notation, embracing the finer sounds of the vowels.

2. To preserve purity and uniformity in pronunciation, it is necessary to banish from use all books which change the orthography of words to adapt the pronunciation to the fashion of the day. The scheme now pursued is

rendered easy in utterance, has become so feeble in sound as to be unfit for bold, impressive eloquence. From the specimens which I witnessed in the Chamber of Deputies in Paris, I should suppose the orator must depend al- most entirely on his own animation and action for success in popular speak- ing, with little or no aid from the strength and beauty of language. The lan- guage of popular eloquence should be neither the mouthing cantof the stage, nor the mincing affectation of dandies, nor the baby talk of the nursery. Such was not the langharacteristics of Minerva ; Why, she is the goddess of wisdom and of the arts. The sense of-wivos, would give one of her characteristics, and thatof;;iamts and arbeit, the other; but which is the tnif word, I do not know.

Tlif iv. ,, rii , iiiii-;,in, ,'- \\\\I:I, Ii ili^-flv ,Ii-tir!,;-;isli Hercules are his labors and li: ' ''', , ,1 I, , ,:ll ', ' , i ,- ih these accompaniments.

Now II , I, I '. i , , ' I, - I I ,, loot of the Greek *P7ov,

tp-/ci,,, I;, I I- . ,'i,, , w 1,1, li ni,iii I _i , , '0, -, i;~r of work, labor. Whether the last coiisui'iLiu ol ilie name isx\\fi-i or Iroiii ih.il root, I shall not pretend to affirm. Indeed, 1 offer tliese explanations rather asprobable, than as clearly proved ; but they do appear to be probably well founded. Hercules then was a name given to any bold, heroic leader of a tribe of rude men, who was distinguished for his achievements as a warrior ; and this name must have originated in very early ages, when clubs were the principal weapons of war, and instruments of defense. And hence probably the origin of the scepter, as a badge of royalty. Now it is worthy of remark that the war club of rude nations, at this day, especially of the savage nations of the south sea isles, is of the same shape as tlic ancient scepter.

INTRODUCTION.

The Hermes of Harris, according to Dr. Lowth, "is the most beautiful and perfect example of analysis, that has been exhibited since the days of Aristotle." This, in my opinion, is not the character of the work, which, for tlie most part, consists of passages from the works of Aristotle, Ammonius, Apollonius, Priscian, and other grammarians. It is little more than a col- lection of the opinions of the ancient writers on philology, whose meta- physical subtilties rather obscure than illustrate the subject. To show how easily men may be misled liy metaphysics, when applied to the plainest sub- ject imaginable, take the following example from the Hermes.

"Jt respects our primary perception, and denotes individuals as un- known ; the respects our secondary perception, and denotes individuals as known." [This is nearly a literal translation of a passage in Priscian, Lib. 17.]

To illustrate the truth of this observation, the author gives the following example. "There goes a beggar with a long beard" — indicating that the man had not been seen before ; and therefore a denotes the primary percep- tion. A week after the man returns and I say, " There goes the beggar with the long beard ;" the article the here indicating the secondary percep- tion, that is, that the man had been seen before. All this is very well. But let us try the rule by other examples, and see whether it is universal, or whether it is the peculiar and proper office of an or a to denote primary perception.

" The ai tide a, says Harris, leaves the individual unascertained:' Let us examine this position.

" But Peter took him, saying, stand up; I myself also am a man." Now, according to Harris, a here denotes the primary perception, and the individ- ual is unascertained. That is, this man is one, I have never seen before.

" He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a reward - er of them that diligently seek him." Whether a, in this sentence, denotes first perception, I cannot determine ; but sure I am the individual is not left unascertained.

A B says to me, " I have lately dismissed an old servant, who has lived with me for thirty years." Here an may present a primary perception to the hearer, but not so to the speaker. To both, the individual must be well ascertained.

It appears then that this definition of an or a is incorrect, and the pains of these metaphysical writers who form such perfect analyses of language, is little better than learned trifling. On testing the real character of an or a by usage and facts, we find it is merely the adjective one, in its Saxon or- thography, and that its sole use is to denote one, whether the individual is known or unknown, definite or indefinite.

Again Harris translates, and adopts the definition which Aristotle has given of a conjunction. " An articulate sound or part of speech devoid of signification by itself, but so formed as to help signification, by making two or more significant sentences to be one significant sentence."

This is so far from being true, that some of the conjunctions are verbs, equivalent to join, unite or add, in the imperative mode. In like manner, the prepositions called inseparable, and used as prefixes, are all si per se, although by custom, they sometimes lose their appropriate use. For example, re, which denotes repetition, has lost its use in recommend, which is equivalent to commend, without the sense of repetition. But still it has ordinarily an appropriate sense, which is perfectly understood, even when first prefixed to a word. Let any person prefix this word to pronounce for the first time, and direct a boy of fourteen years old to repronounce his ora- tion, and he would perfectly well understand the direction.

Bryant, the author of " An Analysis of Ancient Mythology," whose works I should love to read, if I could have confidence in his opinions, has giver to the public a history of the Cuthites or descendants of Ham, a race oi bold adventurers, who, as he supposes, made expeditions by sea and land, intro- ducing arts, founding cities, and corrupting reUgion by the propagation of Sabianism. For proof of his opinions, he relies very much on etymology and the signification of names. Two or three examples of his deductions will be sufficient to show his manner of proof Ham or Cham, signifying heat and the sun, he deduces from DDH to be hot, to heat. So far he may be correct. But he goes on to deduce from this root, also, as Castle had done before him, the Greek xauna, heat, not considering that this is from naiu, to burn, in which m is not radical, but probably s is (he radical conso- nant, as this occurs in the derivafives. Kavfia has no connection with Ham From Cam or Cham he then deduces the Latin Camera, Gr. xouapa, an arched roof or vault, whence our chamber, though it is not easy to discovei the connection between this word and heat, and from the same root, he de duces Camillus, Camilla, and many other words, without any support foi his opinions, but a mere similarity of orthography in the first syllable. Ir all this, he is certainly wrong.

The Greek ©los, God, he supposes most unwarrantably to be formed from the Egyptian Theuth or Thoth, Mercury.

The sun he supposes to have been styled El-uc ; El [nXips] and uc or oc/i, a title of honor among the Babylonians. This word, says Bryant, tlie Greeks changed into Xonoi', [a wolf,'] and hence the Latin iitx, luceo strange conjecture this, not to call it by a harsher name. Now if Bryant had examined the Teutonic dialects, and the Welsh, he would have seen hii mistake; for the Saxon leoht, liht, Dutch and German licht, are from the common root of the Welsh Hug, a shooting or gleaming, lluciaw, to

throw, llM, a darting or flashing, the root of luceo ; a simple root, that can have no connection with El-uc.

Excepting Faber's work on the Cabiri, I have seen scarcely a book in any language, which exhibits so little etymological knowledge, with such a series of erroneous or fanciful deductions, as Bryant's Analysis. Drum- mond's Origines abounds with etymological deductions of a similar char- acter.

Gebelin, a French writer, in his Monde Primitif, has bestowed much la- bor in developing the origin and signification of words ; but a large part of his labor has produced no valuable effect. His whole system is tounded on a mistake, that the noun is the root of all other words.

Of all the writers on etymology, whose works 1 have read or consulted, Spelman and Lluyd are almost the only ones, in whose deductions much con- fidence can be placed. I do not name Camden, Hicks, Selden and Gibson, as their etymological inquiries, though generally judiciously conducted, were very limited. This is true also in some degree of Spelman and Lluyd ; but the researches of Spelman into the origin of law terms, and words of the middle ages, have generally produced very satisfactory results. From the limited nature of the designs of Spelman and Lluyd, errors may have occa- sionally escaped them ; but they are few, and very pardonable.

I know of no work in any language in which words have been generally traced to their original signification, with even tolerable correctness. In a few instances, this signification is too obvious to be mistaken, but in most in- stances, the ablest etymologist is liable to be misled by first appearances, and the want of extensive investigation. I have been often misled myself, by these means, and have been obliged to change my opinions, as I have advanced in my inquiries. Hence the tendency of my researches has been very much to increase my caution in referring words to their originals ; and such, I am persuaded, will be the lesult of all critical and judicious investi- gations into the history and affinities of language.

A principal source of mistakes on this subject, is a disregard of the identi- ty of the radical consonants, and a licentious blending and confounding of words, whose elementary letters are not commutable. Another source of error is an unwarrantable license in prefixing or inserting letters, for the purpose of producing an identity or resemblance of orthography ; a fault very justly opposed by Sir William Jones.

The learned Dr. Good, in his Book of J^ature, Lecture IX, of the se- cond series, suggests it to be probable that both papa and father, issued from the Hebrew source 2N, N3N, n3N. He then fearlessly ventures to affirm, that there is scarcely a language or dialect in the world, polished or barbarous, in which the same idea is not expressed by the radical of one or the other of these terms. True ; the letter S is found in most words of this signification ; although our knowledge of languages is too limited to war- rant such a broad assertion. But the attempt to deduce all words signifying father from the Hebrew must certainly fail ; for we know from history that a great part of Asia and of Europe was inhabited before the existence of the Hebrew nation. Besides, a large portion of the European population have no word (or father which can be rationally deduced from 3X. The Welsh tdd, whence our daddy, the Gothic atta, Irish aithair, Basque aita, and Laponnic atki, cannot be formed from the Hebrew word, the letter D and T not being commutable with B. One would suppose that a leained physi- ologist could not fail to assign the true cause of the similarity of words, bear- ing the sense oi father and mother, among the nations of the earth. The truth is, the sound of a is very easy and probably the easiest for children, being formed by simply opening the mouth, without any exertion of the or- gans to modulate the sound. So also the articulations b, m, and d or t, be- ■ ig natural and easy, will generally enter into the first words formed by children. The labials are formed by simply closing the lips, and the den- tals, by placing the tongue against the root of the upper teeth ; the position which it naturally occupies in a healthy child. From these circumstances, we may fairly infer, a priori, that such words as ab, aba, papa, tad, mam- ma, must be the first words uttered by children. Indeed, were the whole human race to lose their present names (or father, mother, and nurse, sim- ilar names would be formed by a great portion of mankind, without any communication between different nations.

The author further observes, that the generic terms for the Deity are chiefly the three following, Al or Allah, Theus or Deus, and God. " Be- sides these, there is scarcely a term of any kind, by which the Deity is de- signated, in any part of the world, whether among civilized or savage man. Yet these proceed from the same common quarter of the globe." True : men, and of course words, all came from a common quarter of the globe. But it so happens, that these three terms must have originated among dif- ferent families, or from different sources, for they are all formed with differ- ent radicals, and can have had no connection with a common radix. But it happens also, that not one of these terms, as far as I can learn, exists among the Slavonic nations, who compose a large portion of all the population of Europe, and whose name of God is Bog, a word radically distinct from all which the author has mentioned.

The author proceeds to say, " that the more common etymon for death. among all nations, is mor, mart or mut." But if either of these terms for death, is a native woid among the great GoUiic, Teutonic, and Slavonic fam- ilies, which constitute the half or two thirds of all the inhabitants of Europe,

INTRODUCTION.

ilically

1 have not been able to find it. Besides, wioi- and rrnit are words distinct, and thus originated in different families.

" Sir," says the author, " is, in our lanffuage, the common title of respect ; and the same term is employed in the name sense throughout every quarter of the globe. In the Sanscrit and Persian, it means the organ of the head itself." He finds the word in Arabia, Turkey, in Greek, among the Peru- vians in South America, in Germany, Holland, and the contiguous coi tries. In some of the languages of these countries, I have found no su word; but if it exists, the author's inference, that the name of the head gave r'fe i" llii- !■ im nf respect, (for this is what! understand him to mean,)

is totailv i",! I. lid equally fanciful and unfounded is his supposition,

that. li\\ , , Mil sAei, the pronoun her, and the German herr, lord,

are lo I" i.i i i i sir. In all this, it is demonstrably certain there is no trulli u. 1. i L ji .-.( iiiiil.ince of reality.

Man, the author deduces from the Hebiew rUO to discern or discrimi- nate, [a sense I do not find in the Lexicons,] and hence he infers that the rad- ical idea of man is that of a thinking or reasonable being. With this word he connects Menu, .Menes, Minos, and )ii»o', mens, mind ; a sweeping in- ference made at random from a similarity of orthography, without a distant conception of the true primai-y meaning of either of these words. But what is worse, he appears, if I do not mistake his meaning, to connect with these words, the tane, tanato, or tangi, of the Sandwich isles ; words, which are formed with a radical initial consonant not convertible with m, and most certainly unconnected with man. See the words father, r, the Dictionary.

The author offers some other etymologies and affinities equally remote from truth, and even from probability.

The governing principles of etymology arc, first, the identity of radical letters, or a coincidence of cognates, in difterent languages ; no affinity be- ing admissible, except among words whose primary consonants are articu- lations of the same organs, as B, F, M, P, V and W ; or as D, T, Th and S ; or as G, C hard, K and Q ; R, L and D. Some exceptions to this rule must be admitted, but not without collateral evidence of the change, or some evi- dence that is too clear to be reasonably rejected.

Second. Words in diflerent languages are not to be considered as proceed- ing from the same radix, unless they have the same signification, or one closely allied to it, or naturally deducible from it. And on this point, much knowledge of the primary sense of words, and of the manner in which col lateral senses have sprung from one radical idea, is necessary to secure the inquirer from mistakes. A competent knowledge of this branch of etymolo- gy cannot be obtained from any one, or from two or three languages. It is almost literally true, that in examining more than twenty languages, I have found each language to throw some light on every other.

That the reader may have more clear and distinct ideas of what is intend- ed by commutabte letters, and the principles by which etymological deduc- tions are to be regulated, it may be remarked that commutabte or inter- changeable letters are letters of the same organs ; that is, letters or articu- lations formed by the same parts of the mouth. Thus 6, m and p, are form- ed immediately by the lips, the position of which is slightly varied to make the distinction between these letters. F and v are formed by the lips, but with the aid of the upper teeth. Now the difference of the jointings of the organs to utter these letters is so small, that it is easy for men in utterance to shde from one form into another.

The following examples will illustrate this subject.

Labial letters commuted for other labials. English bear, Lat.fero,pario, G. ipipu, (popeu, D. voeren, G.fuhren. Here is the same word written in different languages, with five differ- ent initial letters.

German wahr, true, L. verus.

Celtic lamh, lav, the hand, Goth. lofa.

L. guberno, Fr. gouverner, Eng. govern.

Dental letters commuted for other dentals. Eng. deu\\ G. thau. Eng. good, G. gut. Eng. dare, Gr. eappsw. Eng. day, G. tag. Eng. thank, D. danken. Eng. brother, D. broeder.

Palatal letters commuted for other palatals. Eng. call, W . galw, Gr. »o\\iw. Eng. get. It. cattare. Greek \\iina, L. hiems, winter.

Dentals converted into sibilants. Eng. water, G. wa^ser. Lat. dens, a tooth, G. zahn. Eng. let, Fr. laisser. Ch. nD, Heb. »13. Sax. tid, time, G. zeit.

Vol. I. G.

Change of Unguals. Eng. escort, Sp. Port, escolta. Fr. blanc, white. Port, branco.

Letters formed by different organs are not oommutable ; hence we are not to admit a radical word beginning or ending with 4, /or v, to be the same as a word beginning or ending with g, d, t, ror s; nor a word whose radical letters are m, n, to be the same as one whose elements are r, d, or s, t. If such words are in any case the same, they must have suffered some anom- alous changes ; changes which are very unusual and which are never to be admitted without the clearest evidence.

When this work was in the press, I first obtained a .sight of a " History of the European Languages," by the late Dr. Alexander Murray, Professor of Oriental languages in the University of Edinburgh.

From a hasty perusal of the first volume, I find this learned professor stud- ied the European languages with much attention and profit. He has gone further into the origin and formation of languages, than any author whose works I have read; and his writings unfold many valuable principles and facte. But he formed a theory which he attempted to support, in my opin- ion with little success : at least, on his principles, all the usual rules of ety- mology are transgressed, and all distinction between words of different radi- cal letters is abandoned. According to his theory, nine words are the foun- dations of language, viz. ag, wag, hwag, bag or bwag, [of which/ag and pag are softer varieties,] dwag, thwag or twag, gwag or cwag, lag and Mag, mag, nag, and hnag, rag and hrag, swag. " By the help of these nine words and their compounds all the European languages have been formed." These are the author's words.

To make out his scheme, he joins ag, having, to wag, move, and forms a diminutive, wagag, to move a little or often. With ba, bear or bring, and la, hold, wagaba signifies literally move-bearing, and wagla is move-having. Then wagaba contracted into wabba, to wave, to weave, and wagla into wala, to turn. From dag, to wet, bedew, comes damp ; from ceag, to chew, comes champ ; fal, joined, wrought together, fiom fag, to work, to join; hwal and hal, to hold, and turn, from hwag ; bat from bagd or bagt ; bigt, abite, from bigt; bladder from blag; modera, mother, the producer, from magd, produced ; bottom from bogd, a stump, root or foundation ; field (vomfagd, -dearth from airtha,acertha, from acer, aker, ager ; field, an un- cultivated plain, from fag, to make to fall.

It seems that in order to maintain his theory, it was necessary to make it appear that g formed a part of all original words, and that this letter has, in modern words, been dropped. The author then introduces this letter into words where it never had any place, such as field, earth, bat, &c. The au- thor's work presents one of the most singular medleys of truth and error, of sound observation and visionary opinions, that has ever fallen under my notice.

On the same principles, he must have inserted the letter g in bear, fero. pario, 803 ; in bend, found, tame, Saiiau, domo ; in dream, wander, turn , &c. ; and supposed them to have been originally beager,fegro, pagrio, JOJ2. bcgnd, fougnd, tagme, idniiam, dogma, dreagm,wagnder, tugrn, &,c.

Now on such a principle as this we might deduce any word in the lan- guage from any other word, or from any root that could be imagined. In short, all such theories are the produce of wild conjecture, and they serve no purpose but to confound the student and bring the study of etymology into contempt.

ACCENTUATIOx\\.

Ac c ENT is the more forcible utterance of a particular syllable of a word, by which it is distinguished from the others. The accented syllable of a word serves therefore as a kind of resting place or support of the voice, which passes over the unaccented syllables with more rapidity and a less distinct utterance.

Accent is of two kinds, or rather of two degrees of force, primary and secondary. Words of one syllable can have no accent. Words of two syl- lables have the primary accent only. Words of three and four syllables may have the primary and secondary accent; but many of them have nosecond- ary accent that deserves notice ; such are dignity, enemy, annuity, fidelity. In words of four, five or more syllables, a secondary accent is often essential to a clear distinct articulation of the several syllables. Thus heterogeneous cannot be well uttered without two accented syllables ; the fourth syllable receiving the principal stress of the voice, and the first clearly distinguished by more forcible utterance, than the second, third, fifth, and sixth.

The accent of most English words has been long established ; and evi- dently, it has been determined by the natural ease of speaking, without the aid of rules or instruction. If any man should ask, why we lay the accent of such words aa elocution, meditation, relation, congratulation, on the last syllable, except one ; the answer is, tliat such accentuation renders the pro- nunciation more easy to the organs of .speech and more agreeable to the ear, than the accentuation of any other syllable. The ease of speaking, and a kind of prosaic melody, resulting from a due proportion of accented and un- accented syllable^, which enables the speaker to bound with ease from one accented syllable to another, without omitting those which are unaccented, are the two great principles by which the accentuation of words has been

INTRODUCTION.

regulated. And it is to be extremely regretted that these principles should, in any instances, be neglected, or forced to yield to arbitrary reasons of deri- vation, or to a pedantic affectation of foreign pronunciation. When we know that the great mass of a nation naturally lall into a particular manner of pro- nouncing a word, without any rule or instruction, we may rely upon this tendency as a pretty certain indication that their accentuation is according to the analogies of the language, by which their habits of speaking have been formed ; and this tendency cannot be opposed without doing violence to those analogies and to national habits.

Thus formerly, the word horizon was universally accented on the first syllable, and this accentuation was according to the settled analogy of the language. But the early poets had a fancy for conlbrniing the English to the Greek pronunciation, and accented the second syllable ; the orthoepists followed them ; and now we have this forced, unnatural pronunciation of the learned in colUsion with the regular, analogous popular pronunciation. By this affectation of the Greek accent, the flowing smoothness of the word is entirely lost.

In like manner, an imitation of the French pronunciation of confesseur, ■jnd sticcessetir, led the early poets to accent the English words on the first syllable, in violation of analogy and euphony; and some orthoepists affect to follow them; but public usage frowns on this affectation, and rejects their authority.

There are many words in the English language, indeed a large part of the whole number, which cannot be reduced under any general rule of accentu- ation, as the exceptions to any rule formed will be nearly as numerous as the words which the rule embraces. And in most instances, we shall find, in the structure of the words, satisfactory reasons for the difference of pronunciation.

DISSYLLABLES.

No general rule can be given for the accentuation of words of two sylb bles. It is however, worth observing that when the same word is both noun or an adjective and a verb, it happens, in many instances, that the noun or adjective has the accent on the first syllable, and the verb on the last Instances of which we have in ab'sent, to absent' ; con'cert, to concert' . cx'port, to expdrt. The reason is, the preterit and participles of the verbs require to have the same syllable accented, as the verb; but if the first syl- lable of the preterit and participles were to be accented, it would be difficult (o pronounce the words, as may be perceived by attempting to pronounce ub'scnting, con'certed, con'ducted, with the accent on the first syllable.

In a few instances, the word has a different accent when a noun, from that which it has when an adjective ; as Au'gust, august' ; gallant', gaVlant.

TRISSYLLABLES.

Words of three syllables, derived from dissyllables, usually retain the ac- cent of their primitives. Thus

Pdet, pdetess; pleas'ant, pleas' antly ; gra'cious, gr&ciously; reldte, re- lated; poU'te,poli'test.

In Uke manner, words of four syllables, formed from dissyllables, gene- rally retain the accent of the primitives ; as in collect'ible from collect', ser'- I'iceable from ser'vice.

In all cases, the preterit and participles of verbs retain the accent of the verbs.

Words ending in tion, sion, tian, cious, tious, cial, cian, tial, tiate, tient, cient, have the accent on the syllable preceding that termination ; as motion, christian, precious, erudition, patient, &c.

Words of more than two syllables, ending in ly, have, for the most part, the .iccent on the antepenult; as gratuity, propriety, prosperity, insensibility. Trissyllables ending in mcnt, for the most part have the accent on the f^rst syllable, as compliment, detriment; but to this rule there are many excep- tions, and particularly nouns formed from verbs, as amendment, command- ment.

Words with the following terminations have th ble except two, or antepenult.

fluous, as super'fluous, mellifluous.

ferous, as bacciferous, argentifero,

-fluent, as circum'fluent.

cracy, as democracy, theoc'racy.

gonal, as diag'onal, sexag'onal.

gony, as cosmog'ony, theog'ony.

chy, as logom'achy, theom'aci

: accent on the last sylla-

'.ogom'actiy, tlieom'achy. -loquy, as ob'loquy, ventril'oquy. -mathy, as polym'athy. -meter, as barom'eter, hygrom'eter. -nomy, as econ'omy, astron'omy. -pathy, as ap'athy, antip'athy. -phony, as eu'phony, sym'phony. —parous, as ovip'arous, vivip'arous. -scopy, as deuteros'copy, aeros'copy. -strophe, as apos'trophe, catas'trophe --: igniv'omous.

voroiis, as carnivorous, graminivorous.

tomy, as anat'omy, lithot'omy.

raphy, as geog'raphy, orthog'raphy.

Compound words, as book-case, ink-stand, pen-knife, note-book, usually have asUght accent, that is, one syllable is distinguished by some stress of voice ; but as the other syllable is significant by itself, it is uttered with more distinctness than the syllables of other words which are wholly unac- cented. And in some words, there are two accents, one on each component part of the word, which are barely distinguishable. Thus in legislative, le- gislator, legislature, the accent on the first syllable can hardly be distin- guished from that on the third ; and if a .speaker were to lay the primary accent on the third syllable, his pronunciation would hardly be noticed as a singularity. Indeed there are some compound words, in which there is so little distinction of accent, that it is deemed unnecessary to mark either syl- lable or part of the word as accented.

As to a great part of English words, their accent must be learned from dictionaries, elementary books, or practice. There is no method of classifi- cation, by which they can be brought under a few simple general rules, to be easily retained by the memory ; and attempts to effect this object must only burden the memory, and perplex the learner.

The differences in the accentuation of words, either in books or in usage, are not very numerous. In this respect, the language is tolerably well set- tled, except in a few words. Among these are acceptable, commendable, confessor, successor, receptacle, recepiory, deceptory, refragable, dyspepsy, which the orthoepists incline to accent on the first syllable. But with re- gard to most of these words, their accentuation is contrary to common usage, and with regard to all of them, it ought to be rejected. The ease of pronun- ciation requires the accent to be on the second syllable, and no effort to re- move it can ever succeed.

The words accessory, desultory, exemplary and peremptory would all have the accent on the second syllable, were it not very difficult, with this accent, to articulate the three last syllables of the derivatives, aceessorily, desultorily, exemplarily, peremptorily. It is for this reason, that the pri- mary accent is laid on the first syllable, and then a secondary accent on the third enables the speaker to articulate distinctly and with tolerable ease the last syllables. If the primary accent is laid on the second syllable, there can be no secondary accent. Yet the natural accent of the primitives being on the second syllable of the three first, and the derivatives little used, we find good speakers often lay the accent on the second syllable ; nor is it easy to change the practice.

This circumstance of regarding the pronunciation of derivative words, in settUng the accent, has been either wholly overlooked, or not sufficiently jobserved in practice. Hence the orthoepists accent the second syllable of khe verbs alternate, demonstrate, contemplate, compensate, extirpate, con- \\fiscate, expurgate. Notwithstanding all authorities however, such is the j tendency to consult ease and melody in utterance, that many respectable speakers lay the accent of these and similar words on the first syllable. The reason of this is obvious, although perhaps it never occurs to the speakers themselves. It is, that when the accent is laid on the second syllable, the two last syllables of the participles, altern'ating, demon'strating, compen'- sated, &c. are either pronunced with difficulty, being wholly unaccented, or they are disgustingly feeble. How very difficult it is to utter distinctly the words alternating, demonstrating, &c. with the accent on the second syllable ; the organs being compelled to change their position and form three, four, five, or six articulations in an instant, to utter the two last syllables! But place the primary accent on the first syllable, and a secondary one on the Ithird, and the voice resting on these, the speaker is enabled to bound with .ease from syllable to syllable and utter the whole word distinctly without I effort, al'ternating, dem'onstruting.

In extirpate, compensate and confiscate, the accent on the second sylla- ble leaves the last syllables of the participle most miserably weak. What a feeble line is this of Pope :

Each seeming ill compen'sated of course.

This evil is remedied by placing the primary accent on the first syllable, and a secondary one on the third ; com'pensated ; com'pensating ; ex'tirpa- ting; ex'tirpated; confiscating; con'fiscated; the full sound of a giving due strength to the last syllables.

It is further to be observed that there are some words which, in poetry and prose, must be differently accented, as the accent has been transferred by usage from one syllable to another within the two last centuries. Nares enumerates more than a hundred words, whose accent has been thus chang- ed since the age of Shakspeare. Of this class of words are aspect, process, sojourn, convex, contest, retinue, converse, the noun horizon, which Mil- ton accents on the second syllable, and acceptable, which he accents on the first, as he does attribute and contribute. But the accent of all these words has been changed ; the seven first have the accent indisputably on the first syllable ; the two last, on the second syllable ; and although some differ- ence of opinion may exist, as to the accentuation oi horizon and acceptable, yet the common popular practice of accenting horizon on the first and ac- ceptable on the second, is according to regular analogies and cannot well be altered. Nor ought it to be; the poetic accent, in both, is harsh and un- natural. This difference of accent is a slight inconvenience ; but custom is the arbiter in language; and when well settled and general, there is no ap» peal from its decisions, the inconvenience admits of no remedy.

INTRODUCTION.

in which the following work

Dr. Johnson was one of the greatest men that the English nation has ever produced ; and when the exhibition of truth depended on his own gigantic powers of intellect, he seldom erred. But in the compilation of his diction- ary, he manifested a great defect of research, by means of which he often (ell into mistakes ; and no errors are so dangerous as those of great men. The authority created by the general excellence of their works gives a sanction to their very mistakes, and represses that spirit of inquiry which would investigate the truth, and subvert the errors of inferior men. It seems to be owing to this cause chiefly that the most obvious mistakes of Johnson's Dictionary have remained to this day uncorrected, and still con tinue to disfigure the improved editions of the work recently published.

In like manner, the opinions of this author, when wrong, have a weight of authority that renders them extremely mischievous. The sentiment con- tained in this single line

Quid te excmptajuvat spinis de pluribus una?

is of this kind; that we are to make no corrections, because we cannot com- plete the reformation; a sentiment that sets itself in direct opposition to all improvement in science, literature and morals; a sentiment, which, if it had been always an efficacious principle of human conduct, would have condem- ned not only our language, but our manners and our knowledge to everlast- ing rudeness. And hence whenever a proposition is made to correct the orthography of our language, it is instantly repelled with the opinion and ipse dixit of Johnson. Thus while the nations on the European continent have purified their languages and reduced the orthography to a good de- gree of regularity, our enemies of reform contend most strenuously for re- taining the anomalies of the language, even to the very rags and tatters of barbarism. But what is more extraordinary, the very persons who thus struggle against the smallest improvement of the orthography are the most ready to innovate in the pronunciation, and will, at any time, adopt a change that fashion may introduce, though it may infringe the regularity of the language, multiply anomalies, and increase the difficulty of learning it. Nay, they will not only innovate themselves, but will use their influence to propagate the change, by deriding those who resist it, and who strive to re- tain the resemblance between the written and spoken language.

A considerable part of Johnson's Dictionary is however well executed ; and when his definitions are correct and his arrangement judicious, it seems to be expedient to follow him. It would be mere affectation or folly to alter what cannot be improved.

The principal faults in Johnson's Dictionary are

1. The want of a great number of well authorized words belonging to the language. This delect has been in part suppUed by Mason and Todd; but their supplemental Ust is still imperfect even in common words, and still more defective from the omission of terms of science.

2. Another great fault, that remains uncorrected, is the manner of noting the accented syllable ; the accent being laid uniformly on the vowel, wheth- er it closes the syllable or not. Thus the accent is laid on e in te'nant as well as in te'acher, and the inquirer cannot know from the accent whether the vowel is long or short. It is surprising that such a notation should still be retained in that work.

3. It is considered as a material fault, that in some classesof words, John- son's orthography is either not correct upon principle or not uniform in the class. Thus he writes heedlessly, with ss, but carelesly, with one s ; de- fence, with c, but defensible, defensive, with s; rigour, inferiour, with u, but rigorous, inferiority, without it; publick, authentick with k, but pub- Hcation, authenticate, without it; and so of many other words of the same classes.

4. The omission of the participles or most of them, is no small defect, as many of them by use have become proper adjectives, and require distinct definitions. The additions of this kind in this work are very numerous. It is also useful both to natives and foreigners, to be able, by opening a diction- ary, to know when the final consonant of a verb is doubled in the participle.

5. The want of due discrimination in the definitions of words that arp nearly synonymous, or sometimes really synonymous, at other times not, is a fault in all the dictionaries of our language, which I have seen. Permeate, says Johnson, signifies, to pass through, and permeable, such as matj be passed through. But we pass through a door or gate; although we do not permeate it, or say that it is permeable. Obedience, says Johnson, is obse- quiousness, but this is rarely the present sense of the word ; so far from it that obedience is always honorable, and obsequiousness usually implies meanness. \\Peculation, says Johnson, is robbery of the public, thefl of pubUc money. But as robbery and theft are now understood, it is neither. Inaccuracies of this kind are very numerous.

6. There are in Johnson's Dictionary, some palpable mistakes in orthog- raphy, such as comptroller, bridegroom, redoubt, and some others, there being no such legitimate words in the language. In other instances, the author mistook the true origin of words, andhas c;

> erred in the orthography, a

7. The mistakes in etymology are numerous; and the whole scheme of deducing words from their original is extremely imperfect.

8. The manner of defining words in Johnson, as in all other dictionaries, is susceptible of improvement. In a great part of the more important words, .and particularly verbs, lexicographers, either from negligence or want of knowledge, have inverted the true order, or have disregarded all order in the definitions. There is a primary sense of every word, from which all the other have proceeded; and whenever this can be discovered, this sense should stand first in order. Thus the primary sense of make is to force or conijiel; but this in Johnson's Dictionary is the fifteenth definition; and this sense ot facto in Ainsworth, the nineteenth.

9. One of the most objectionable parts of Johnson's Dictionary, in my opin- ion, is the great number of passages cited from authors, to exemplify his definitions. Most English words are so familiarly and perfectly understood, and the sense of them so little liable to be called in question, that they may be safely left to rest on the authority of the lexicographer, without exam- ples. Who needs extracts from three authors, KnoUes, Milton and Berkeley,

rove or illustiate the literal meaning of hand ? Who needs extracts from Shakspearc, Bacon, South and Dryden, to prove hammer to be a legitimate English word, and to signify an instrument for driving nails? So under household, we find seven passages and nearly thirty lines employed to ex-

plify the plain interpretation, a family living together, n. most cases, one example is sufficient to illustrate the meaning of a word ; and this is not absolutely necessary, except in cases where the sig- nification is a deviation from the plain literal sense, a particular application f the term ; or in a case, where the sense of the word may be doubtful, and of questionable authority. Numerous citations serve to swell the size Dictionary, without any adequate advantage. But this is not the only objection to Johnson's exemplifications. Many of the passages are taken from authors now little read, or not at all ; whose style is now antiquated, and by no means furnishing proper models for students of the present age.

In the execution of this work, I have pursued a course somewhat difl'er-

t; not however without fortifying my own opinion with that of other gen- tlemen, in whose judgment I have confidence. In many cases, where the sense of a word is plam and indisputable, I have omitted to cite any authori- ty. I have done the same in many instances, where the sense of a word is wholly ob%)lete, and the definition useful only to the antiquary. In some nstances, definitions are given without authority, merely because I hail neglected to note the author, or had lost the reference. In such cases, I must stand responsible for the correctness of the definition. In all such cases, however, I have endeavored to be faithful to the duly of a lexico- grapher ; and if in any instance, a mistake has escaped me, I .shall be happy to have it suggested, that it may be corrected.

In general, I have illustrated the significations of words, and proved them to be legitimate, by a short passage from some respectable author, often abridged from the whole passage cited by Johnson. In many cases, I have given brief sentences of my own; using the phrases or sentences in which the word most frequently occurs, and often presenting some important maxim or sentiment in religion, morality, law or civil policy. Under words which occur in the scriptures, I have often cited passages from our common version, not only to illustrate the scriptural or theological sense, but even the ordinary significations of the words. These passages are short, plain, appropriate, and familiar to most readers. In a few cases, where the sense of a word is disputed, I have departed from the general plan, and cited a number of autliorities.

In the admission of words of recent origin, into a Dictionary, a lexico- grapher has to encounter many difficulties; as it is not easy, in all cases, to determine whether a word is so far authorized as to be considered legitimate. Some writers indulge a licentiousness in coining words, which good sense would wish to repress. At the same time, it would not be judicious to re- ject all new terras ; as these are often necessary to express new ideas ; and the progress of improvement in arts and science would be retarded, by de- nying a place in dictionaries, to terms given to things newly discovered. But the lexicographer is not answerable for the bad use of the privilege of coining new words. It seems to be his duty to insert and explain all words

hich are used by respectable writers or speakers, whether the words are destined to be received into general and permanent use or not. The future use must depend on public taste or the utility of the words; circumstances

hich are not within the lexicographer's control.

Lexicographers are sometimes censured for inserting in their vocabularies, vulgar words, and terms of art known only to particular artisans. That this practice may be carried too far, is admitted ; but it is to be remarked that, in general, vulgar words are the oldest and best authorized words in language; and their use ij as necessary to the classes of people who use them, as ele- gant words are to the statesman and the poet. It may be added that such words are often particularly useful to the lexicographer, in furnishing him

th the primary sense, which is no where to be found, but in popular use. In this work, I have not gone quite so far as John.son and Todd have done, in admitting vulgar words. Some of them are too low to deserve notice.

The catalogue of obsolete words in Johnson has been considerably aug- mented by Mason and Todd. I have, though somewhat reluctantly, insert- ' nearly the whole catalogue, which, I presume, amounts to seven or eight.

INTRODUCTION.

and perhaps, to ten thousand words. Most of these may be useful to the antiquary ; but to the great mass of readers, they are useless.*

I have also inserted many words which are local in England ; being re- tained from the diftercnt languages that have been spoken in that country, but which are no more a part of our present language in the United States, than so many Lapland words. These however occur in books which treat of agriculture and the arts ; books which are occasionally read in this country.

Law-terms, which are no part of the proper language of the U. States, and never can be, as the things they express do not exist in this country, are however retained, as it is necessary that the gentlemen of the bar should understand them ; and it will be time to dismiss them from books, when they are obsolete in practice.

As to Americanisms, so called, I have not been able to find many words, in respectable use, which can be so denominated. These I have admitted and noted as peculiar to this country. I have fully ascertained that most of the new words charged to the coinage of this country, were first used in England.

In exhibiting the origin and affinities of English words, I have usually placed first in order the corresponding word, in the language from or through which we have received it ; then the corresponding words in the languages of the same family or race ; then the corresponding word in the languages of other families. Thus, for example, the word break we have from our Saxon ancestors ; I therefore give the Saxon word first ; then the same word in the other Teutonic and Gothic languages ; then the Celtic words ; then the Latin ; and lastly the Hebrew, Chaldaic and Arabic. This order is not followed in every instance, even of vernacular words, but it is the more general course I have pursued. When there can be no rational doubt respecting the radical identity of words, I have inserted them without any expression of uncertainty. When there appears to be any reason to question that identity, I have mentioned the probability only of an affinity or inserted a query, to invite further investigation. Yet I am aware that many things, which, in my view, arc not doubtful, will appear so to per not versedin this subject, and who do not at once see the chain of evidence which has led me to my inferences. For tliis there is no remedy but fur- ther investigation.

In regard to words, which have been introduced into the language in modern days, I have generally referred them to the language, from which the English immediately received them. A great part of these are from the Latin through the French; sometimes probably through the Italian or Span- ish. In some instances however the order is reversed ; indeed it cannot al- ways be known from which language the words have been received, nor is it a matter of any consequence.

One circumstance however deserves to be particularly noticed; that when 1 refer a vernacular word to the corresponding word in one of the Shemitic languages, 1 would not have it understood that the English word was rfi ed or borrowed from that oriental word. For example, I have giver Shemitic TnS as the verb corresponding with the English break, that is, the same word in those languages; not intending by this that our ancestors bor rowed or received that word from the Chaldeans, Hebrews or other Shemi tic nation. This is not the fact. It would be just as correct for the com piler of a Chaldee or Hebrew lexicon to derive pIB from the English break] or German brechen. So when I deduce coin, through the French, Spanish

or Italian, from the Arabic ^LS , I do not consider the word as borrowed from the Arabic but as proceeding from a common radix. With regard to vernacular words, in any European language, such deduction is always in- correct. Yet errors of this kind abound in every book I have seen, which treats of this subject. The truth is, all vernacular words in the languages of Europe, are as old as the same words in Asia ; and when the same words are found in the Shemitic and Japhetic languages, it is almost demonstiably certain that these words were in use before the dispersion; the nations of both families have them from the common stock, and the words, like the fami lies of men, which use them, are to be considered as of the same antiquity

When therefore I state the words of another language as corresponding with vernacular words in the English, they are offered as affinities, or the same word, varied dialectically perhaps, in orthography or signification, but words from the same root as the EngUsh. Thus under the word bright, I state the Saxon word, and then the corresponding word in the Ethiopic, the participle of a verb ; not that our ancestors borrowed the word from the Ethiopians, but that the verb, from which bright was derived, though lost in the Saxon, is still retained in the Ethiopic. This fact proves that the an- cestors of the Saxons once used the verb, but suffered it to go into disuse, aubstituling shine, scinan, in its place.

It is much to be regretted that British authors and travelers admit into Iheir writings foreign "words without conforming them, in orthography, to regular English analogies. It is owing to this disregard of the purity and

■gular form of orthography in English, that we are perplexed with such ords as burlesque, soup, group, tour, corps, depot, suite, pacha, ennui, and many others. In this respect, modern writers manifest less taste than the writers of former centuries, who, when they borrowed foreign words, wrote them in conformity to English analogies. This practice of blending with the EngUsh many words of an orthography, which in our language is anomalous, is very embarrassing to readers who know only their vernacular tongue, and often introduces an odious difference between the pronunciation of different classes of people ; an evil more sensibly felt in this country, than in Great Britain, where differences of rank exist : in short, it multiplies the irregu- larities of a language, already so deformed by them as to render it nearly impracticable for our own citizens ever to overcome the difficulties of its orthography ; irregularities which foreigners deem a reproach to the taste of a literary nation.

Where is the good sense which should dictate a manly firmness in pre- serving the regular analogies and purity of the language ? Where is there a due attachment to uniformity which constitutes the principal beauty and excellence of a language, and beyond all other means facilitates its acquisi- tion ? I would not refuse to admit foreign words into the language, if neces- sary or useful ; but I would treat them as our laws treat aliens ; I would compel them to submit to the formalities of naturalization, before they should be admitted to the rights of citizenship ; I would convert them into English words, or reject them. Nor would I permit the same word to be written and pronounced in two different ways, one English, the other French. The French suite in English is suit, whether it signifies a set of clothes, or of apartments, or of armor, or of attendants.

In the orthography of certain classes of words, I have aimed at uniform- ity ; but I have not proceeded so far in this desirable reformation of the com- mon spelling, as my own wishes, and strict propriety might dictate. Thus if vicious, from the Latin vitiuni, is written with c, the verb vitiate should regularly be written with the same letter, and we have precedents in the words appreciate and depreciate, from the Latin pretium. In like manner, expatiate should be conformed to the orthography o( spacious ; exceed, pro- ceed, and succeed, should follow the analogy of concede, intercede, and re- cede. These are points of minor importance, but far from being unimportant.

In writing the termination of such verbs as civilize, legalize, modernize, there is a diversity which may be corrected without inconvenience. We indeed have some of the verbs of this class from the French in which lan-

* There is, among some poets of the present day, an affectation of reviv- ing the use of obsolete words. Some of these may perhaps be revived to advantage ; but when this practice proceeds so far as to make a glossary ne- cessary to the understanding of a poem, it seems to be a violation of good taste. How different is the'simple elegance of nrvdcn, Pope, Gray, Gold- smith and Cowper !

uagei

1 ; but most of them we have borrowed directly

from the Latin or Greek, or perhaps from the Spanish or Italian, or they i of our own coinage. As the termination ize is conformable to the Greek original, and as it expresses the true pronunciation in English, it seems expe- dient to reduce the whole class to a uniformity of orthography.

Enterprise, devise, comprise, revise, compromise, and surprise, belong to a different class and retain the orthography of their originals.

There is a fact respecting the pronunciation o{ gn, in cognizance, and re- cognizance, which seems to have escaped observation ; this is, that g was introduced to express a nasal sound, as in the French gn, or Spanish n, but not for the purpose of being pronounced as g. It is probable that the Latins changed con before nosco into co^ for this reason; and it may be inferred from the modern pronunciation ot these words, that the Greeks omitted or softened the sound of 7 in yi^vwo-xcj and yiyv^iiai. However this may be, the old pronunciation of the words was undoubtedly conusance, or conizance, reconizance, and hence in the old writers on law, the letter g was omitted. Indeed there is a harshness in the pronunciation of g in these words, that offends the organs both of the speaker and hearer, and which well justifies the pronunciation of the old lawyers; a pronunciation which we frequently hear, at this day, among gentlemen of the bar.

Whether the Latins pronounced the letter g in such words as benignus, condignus, malignus, it is of no moment for us to determine. In our mode of writing benign, condign, malign, the sound of g must be dropped ; but it is resumed in the derivatives benignity, condignity, malignity : so in de- sign, designate ; resign, resignation*

In noting the obsolete words which amount to some thousands, I may have committed mistakes ; for words obsolete in one part of the Briti.sh dominions, or in some part of the United Stales, may be words in common use, in some other part of such dominions, not within my knowledge. The rule I have generally observed has been to note as obsolete such words as I have not heard in colloquial practice, and which I have not found in any writer of the last century. The notation of such words as are disused may be of use to our own youth, and still more to foreigners, who learn our language.

Under the head of etymology, in hooks, the reader will observe referen- ces to another work, for a more full explanation or view of the affinities of the words under which these references occur. These are references to a Synopsis of the principal uncompounded words in twenty languages ; a work that is not published, and it is uncertain whether it will ever be published. But if It should be, these references will be useful to the philologist, and I thought it expedient to insert them.

* The Spanish puno is the Latin pugnus ; and our word pawn, the Tl.pand, is the Latin pignus. So we pronounce impune, for impugn, French im- pugner, from the Latin pugno, pugna. How far these facts tend to show the Latin pronunciation, let the reader judge.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL GRAMMAR

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In the year 1803, I received a Letter from Lindley Murray, with a copy of his Grammar. The following is a copy of the Letter.

" I take the liberty of requesting that the author of ' Dissertations on the Enghsh Language,' will do me the favor to accept a copy of the new edition of my grammar, as a small testimony of my respect for his talents and character. At the same time, I hope he will permit me to thank him for the pleasure and improvement, wliich I have derived from perusing his ingenious and sensible writings.

" If, on looking over the Grammar, any thing should occur to him, by which he thinks the work may be further im- proved, I will take\\he communication of it, as a particular favor ; and will give it an attentive and respectful con- sideration. Should he prepare any remarks, he will be so good as to send his letter to my brother John Murray, jun., Pearl Street, New York, who will carefully forward them to me. I am very respectfully, &c.

LINDLEY MURRAY."

Holdgate, near York, 1803."

Twenty years before the date of this letter, 1 had prepared and published a Grammar, on the model of Lowth's, with some variations, and on the same principles, as Murray has constructed his. This work passed through many edi- tions, before Murray's book appeared in this country. But before this period, my researches into the structure of language had convinced me that some of Lowth's principles are erroneous, and that my own Grammar wanted ma- terial corrections. In consequence of this conviction, believing it to be immoral to publish what appeared to be false rules and principles,' I determined to suppress my Grammar, and actually did so; although the public continued to call for it, and my bookseller urged for permission to continue the publication of it. As I had the same objections to Murray's Grammar, as I had to my own, I determined on the publication of anew work, which was executed in 1807 ; and with a view to answer Lindley Murray's request, but in a different manner, I sent him a polite letter^ with a copy of my Grammar. I have understood from his friends in New York, that these never reached him ; but he received a copy of my Grammar from his friends, and soon afterward prepared for publication a new edition of his own Gram- mar, in the octavo form. In the preface to this edition, dated in 1808, he informs his readers, that, " in preparing for the octavo edition, the author examined the most respectable publications on the subject of grammar, that had re- ceiithj appeared; and he has, in consequence, been the better enabled to extend and improve his work." On care- fully comparing this work with my own Grammar, I found most of his improvements were selected from my book.

ADVERTISEMENT.

In the first edition of this work, the compiler gave me credit for one passage only, (being nearly three pages of my Grammar,) which he acknowledged to be chiefly taken from my work. In the later editions, he says, this is in part taken from my book, and he further acknowledges that Tifew positions and illustrations, among the syntactical notes and observations, were selected from my Grammar. Now the fact is, the passages borrowed amount to tliirti/ or more, and they are so incorporated into his work, that no person except myself would detect tlie plagiarisms, without a particular view to this object. It may be further observed that these passages are original remarks, some of them illustrating principles overlooked by all British writers on the subject.

This octavo edition of Murray's Grammar, has been repeatedly published in this country, and constantly used in our higher seminaries of learning; while the student probably has no suspicion that he is learning my principles in Murray's Grammar.

For the injustice done to me, by this publication, in violation of the spirit, if not of the letter of the law, for secur- ing to authors the copy-right of their works, I have sought no redress ; but while I submit to the injury, it seems to be my duty to bear testimony against this species of immorality. A man's reputation, and character, and writings, are as much his property, as his land, and it is to be hoped that correct morality will, in due time, place the protection of the former on as high ground as that of the latter.

Being perfectly satisfied that some principles of Lowth's Grammar, which constitutes the body of Murray's, are entirely erroneous, I have prefixed a brief Grammar to this Dictionary ; which is committed to my fellow citizens, as the mature result of all my investigations. It is the last effort I shall make to arrest the progress of error, on this subject. It needs the club of Hercules, wielded by the arm of a giant, to destroy the hydra of educational prejudice. The club and the arm, I pretend not to possess, and my efforts may be fruitless ; but it will ever be a satisfaction to reflect that I have discharged a duty demanded by a deep sense of the importance of truth. It is not possible for me to think with indifference, that half a million of youth in our schools are daily toiling to learn that which is not true. It has been justly observed that ignorance is preferable to error.

Some of the more prominent errors of the English Grammars, are,

1. The admission oiihe article, as a distinct part of speech, and an entire mistake respecting what is called the indefinite article. The word article signifies, if any thing, a. joint ; but there is no class of words, unless it may be the conjunctions, which can, with a shadow of propriety, be brought under that denomination. The words called articles, are, in all \\ang\\iages, adjectives ; words limiting or in some way qualifying the sense of names or nouns. In most languages, they are varied like the nouns which they qualify, and attached to them like other adjectives.

2. The arrangement of words in a class to which they do not belong. Thus, that is called sometimes a pronoun, and sometimes a conjunction, when in fact it is always a pronoun or substitute, and never a conjunction. So also if, though, unless, notwithstanding, are called conjunctions ; which is a most palpable mistake. Notwithstanding, is placed by Murray among the conjunctions. But after he procured my Grammar, he inserted, under his twenty-first rule of Syntax, the following remark. " It is very frequent, when the word notwithstanding agrees with a number of words, or with an entire clause, to omit the whole, except this word ; and in this use oi notwithstanding, we have a striking proof of the value of abbreviations in language," &c. The whole passage, taken from my Grammar, and the two subsequent passages, are too long to be here recited. The remark to be made here is, that the author, by attempting to patch a defective system, falls into the absurdity of making notwithstanding a conjunction, in one part of his book, and in another, he makes it a word agreeing ivith a number of words, or with an entire clause !

3. There is no correct and complete exhibition of the English verb in any British Grammar which I have seen. The definite tenses, which are as important as the indefinite, are wholly wanting ; and the second future in Murray is imperfect. It seems that he had in his first editions inserted this form, thou shall, or ye shall have loved, but in his octavo edition, he informs us that shall in the second and third persons is incorrectly applied. To prove this, he gives the following examples. " Thou shalt have served thy apprenticeship, before the end of the year." " He shall have completed his business, when the messenger arrives." Very true ; but the author forgot that by placing when or after, as an introduction to the sentence, the use o{ shall is not only correct, but in many cases, necessary. When thou shalt or you shall have served an apprenticeship, after he shall have completed his business, are perfectly correct expressions. But in consequence of this oversight, Murray's second future ia defective throughout the whole paradigm.

ADVERTISEMENT.

4. The Syntax of every British Grammar that I have seen, is extremely imperfect. There are many English phrases which are perfectly well established and correct, which are not brought within the rules ; and of course they cannot be parsed or resolved by the student.

5. There are several false rules of construction which mislead the learner ; rules which are in direct opposition to the practice of the best writers.

6. There are some phrases or modes of expression, frequently used by authors, which are not good English, and which it is the business of the Grammarian to correct, but which are not noticed in any British Grammar. Some of these have been considered in the preceding Introduction.

There is a great difficulty in devising a correct classification of the several sorts of words ; and probably no classi- fication that shall be simple and at the same time philosophically correct, can be invented. There are some words that do not strictly fall under the description of any class yet devised. Many attempts have been made and are still making to remedy this evil ; but such schemes as I have seen, do not, in my apprehension, correct the defects of the old schemes, nor simplify the subject. On the other hand, all that I have seen, serve only to obscure and embarrass the subject, by substituting new arrangements and new terms, which are as incorrect as the old ones, and less intel- ligible.

On the subject of the tenses of the verbs, for example, we may attempt philosophical accuracy, and say that there are, and there can be three tenses only, to express the natural division of time \\nio past, present, and future. But a language which should have words to express these three divisions only, would be miserably imperfect. We want to express not only the past, the preseiit, and the future, with respect to ourselves or the time of speaking and writing, but the past with respect to other times or events. When we say, the mail will have arrived before sun-set, we ex- press not only a. future event, at the time of speaking, but an event to be past before another event, the setting of the sun. Hence I have given to that form of words, the denomination of the prior future. So of the past time. He had delivered the letter, before I arrived, denotes an event not only jjast, as to the time of speaking, but past before another event, my arrival. This tense I call the prior-past. These denominations, like the terms of the new chim- istry, define themselves. The old names of the latter tense, i)luperfect ox preterphiperfcct, more than finished or past, or beyond more than finished or past, I have discarded. These small alterations of the old system will, I hope, be well received.

If it should be said, that our verbs have not tenses, because they have not variations of termination to express them ; I would reply, that this may be considered as a mistake, proceeding from an early bias, impressed upon us by the Greek and Latin forms of the tenses. A tense is a term intended to denote a form of verbs used for expressing time or some division of it, and it is just as properly applied to a combination of words for that purpose, as to a modifica- tion of the simple verb. The use of it is entirely arbitrary. Locutus sum are not the less a tense, because two words are employed. It is the time and not the form of words used to express it, which stamps propriety on the denom- ination.

If we attempt to dispense with some of the English tenses, by analyzing them, and resolving them into their prima- ry elements, that is, parsing the words composing them, each distinctly, we shall meet with insuperable difficulties. Let a man attempt to make out the sense of this phrase, he hud been writing, by analysing it. Had alone denotes field, jiossessed, as in the phrase, " he had an estate in New York." Then in the phrase above, it will signify, he held or possessed been writing.

It is alledged that the auxiliary verbs are not secondary, but the most important verbs in the language. The point of importance must be determined by this fact, that by themselves they do not make complete sense ; they leave the sense or affirmation imperfect. He may, he can, he will, he shall, are incomplete sentences, without another verb expressed or understood. They express nothing definite which is intended to be affirmed. When I ask, whether you can lend me a sum of money, and you reply, / can, the verb lend is understood. Not so with the verbs consid- ered as principal. When I say, / ivrite, Itcalk, the sense or affirmation is complete without the use of another verb. Hence it is with perfect propriety, that such verbs as can be used only in connection with others, should be considered as of a secondary character, and being used to aid in forming the tenses, they may very justly be denominated aux- iliars or auxiliaries.

Some of our verbs are used eitiier as principal or as auxiliary, as have and will ; and will takes a diflTerent and reg- ular form when principal ; I will, thou wiliest, he tvilleth or wills an estate or a legacy ; but when auxiliary, thou wilt, he will bequeath his estate.

ADVERTISEMENT.

Will, indeed, in its primary use, expresses volition, as when we say, " I ivill walk or ride ; but as an auxiliary, it often loses this signification. When it is said, " it will rain to-morrow," what relation has will to volition 1

To show the utter futility of attempting to explain phrases by the primary signification of the auxiliaries, take the following example. May and might express power, liberty or possibility ; have and had express holding or possession. On this plan of explanation, resolve the following sentence. " He miffht have had more prudence than to engage in speculation ;" that is, he was able, or had power, to hold or possess, held or possessed more prudence than to engage in speculation.

So the following. " It maij have rained on the land." That is, it has power or is possible, to hold or possess, rained on the land.

All attempts to simplify our forms of the tenses by such resolution, must not only fail, but prove to be perfectly ridic- ulous. It is the combination of icords only that admits of definition ; and these must be exhibited as tenses ; forms of expression presenting to the hearer or reader the precise time of action. This is necessary for our own citizens ; but for foreigners, indispensable, as they want to know the tenses in Enghsh which correspond with the tenses in their own languages.

Nor shall we succeed much better in attempting to detect the primary elements of the terminations which form the variations of the simple verb. We may conjecture any thing ; we may suppose loved to be a contraction of love-did; but in opposition to this, we find in our mother tongue, this termination ed, was od, or ode. Ic liifode, I loved ; we lufodon, we loved. Besides, if I mistake not, this termination is the same as that in the early Roman laws, in which esto was written estod ; and I believe we have no evidence that do and did ever belonged to the Latin lan- guage. But what settles this question, is, that did itself is formed of do and this same termination, do-ed. Here the question may rest.

We may conjecture that the personal terminations of the verbs were originally pronouns, and this conjecture is certainly better founded than many others ; but we find in our mother tongue, the verb love, in the plural number, is written, we hifiath, ge liifath, thi hifiath, all the persons having the same termination ; but certainly the same word was never used to express %ve, you or ye, and they.

I have attentively viewed these subjects, in all the lights which my opportunities have afforded, and I am convinced that the distribution of words, most generally received, is the best that can be formed, with some slight alterations adapted to the particular construction of the English language. Our language is rich in tenses, beyond any language in Europe ; and I have endeavored to exhibit all the combinations of words forming them, in such a manner that students, natives or foreigners, may readily understand them.

I close with this single remark, that from all the observations I have been able to make, I am convinced the dic- tionaries and grammars which have been used in our seminaries of learning, for the last forty or fifty years, are so incorrect and imperfect, that they have introduced or sanctioned more errors than they have amended ; in other words, had the people of England and of these States been left to learn the pronunciation and construction of their vernacular language solely by tradition, and the reading of good authors, the language would have been spoken and written with more purity than it has been and now is, by those who have learned to adjust their language by the rules which dictionaries and grammars prescribe.

PHILOSOPHICAL AND PRACTICAL. GRAMMAR, «Stc.

The Grammar of a language is a collecdon of principles and rules, taken from the established usages of the nationusing that language ; in other words, an exhibition of the genuine structure of the language. These principles and rules iie il. ri\\e.l tiom the natural distinctions of words, or they are ar- bitrary, iiml ill [H !i(i lui Ibcir authority wholly on custom.

A riih \\- .ui r.,|jlilished form of construction in a particular class of words Thus it is J rule iu Kiiglish that the plural number of nouns is formed by adding » or cs to the singular, as hand, hands, cage, cages, fish, fishes.

An exception to a rule is, the deviation of a word from the common con- struction. Thus the regular plural of tnan would be mans,- but the actua plural is men. This word then is an exception to the general rule of form- ing plural nouns.

Grammar is usually divided into four parts — orthography, etymology, syn- tax, and prosody.

Orthography treats of the letters of a language, their sounds and use whether simple or in combination; and teaches the true mode of writing words, according to established usage- Etymology treats of the derivation of words from their radicals or pi fives, and of their various inflections and modifications to express person, number, case, sex, time and mode.

Syntax is a system of rules for constructing sentences.

Prosody treats of the quantity or rather of the accent of syllables, of poetic feet, and the laws of versification.

The elements of language are articulate sounds. These are represented on paper by letters or characters, which are the elements of written language

A syllable is a simple sound, or a combination or succession of sounds ut Icred at one breath or impulse of the voice.

A word consists of one syllable or of a combination of syllables.

A sentence consists of a number of words, at the pleasure of the speakei or writer ; but forming complete sense.

ENGLISH ALPHABET.

The English Alphabet consists of twenty six letters or characters, viz. A a— B b— C c— D d— E e— F f— G g— H h— I i— J j— K k— L 1 — M m— N n— o— P p— Q q— R r— S s— T t— U u— V v— W w— X x— Y y— Z z

Of these, three, a, e, and o, are always vowels ; i and u arc either vowels or diphthongs ; and yisa vowel, diphthong, or consonant. To these may be added to, which is actually a vowel. H is an aspirate or mark of breathing, and the rest are consonants, or articulations.

A vowel is a simple sound formed by opening the mouth, in a particular manner. This may be known by the power we have of prolonging the sound, without changing the position of the organs, as in uttering a, e,and o. When the position of the organs is necessarily varied, during the utterance, the sound is not simple, but diphthongal; as in uttering i and u.

The vowel characters in English have each several different sounds. A has four souiiil^ ; First or long, as in /ate, ale.

2. Shiirt, .1- :ii nt. I), it. ban. This is nearly the fourth sound shortened.

3. 1)1.1, 111, -i II. I///. /(i,7, and shortened, as in toAot.

4. ll.ili.iii, lis [II Jiilfur, calm, ask.

E has two sounds; First or long, as in mete, me, meter.

2. Short, as in met, bet, pen. This is nearly the first sound of a shortened.

E has also the sound of a long, as in prey, vein ; but this is an anomaly.

/has two sounds; First or long, and diphthongal, as in fine, wine, mind.

2. Short, as inpit, ability. This is the short sound of e long.

O has three sounds ; Fir.st or long, as in note, roll.

2. Short, as in not, nominal. This is the short sound of broad aie, as in what, warrant.

3. The sound of oo, or French ou, as in move, tomb, lose.

J/has three sounds; First or long, as in cube, rude, enumerate; a diph- thongal sound. 2. Short, as in cub, but, number.

5. The Italian M, as in bush, bullet; the short sound of oo.

¥ has two sounds ; the first and long is the same as tliat of ?' long, as in defy, rely, try, chyle. 2. Short, as in sym^Hom, pity ; the same as the short sound off. Vol. I. H.

At the beginning of words, y may be considered a consonant, as in year. Wis properly avowel, having the same sound as oo, in Kjoo^the French ou, the Italian, German, and Spanish u. It is the same in English as iu the Welsh. Thus dwell is pronounced dooell. When initial, it has been considered to be a consonant, as in well, will, ooell, ooill; but although the position of the organs in uttering this letter at the beginning of words may be a little closer, it can hardly be called an articulation. In this combina- tion, the two vowels arc rather diphthongal.

Consonants or articulations are characters that represent the junctions, jointings, or closings of the organs, which precede or follow the vocal sounds. Some of them are close articulnliens whieh wbr.lly infereept the voice. Such arefe,p, and <, as in the syll '''.-.' '/ '' I ': . ir ii^nnlly railed mutes, OT pure mutes. Others';.. .. !.• | . I. , _ n ..i -.mnil, as b. rf, and g, in the syllables cd, e(<, I i; 1! ii, : .i.,//!,, muhs.

Others are imperfect articulatiuu.-, aui > niii. Ij imciiu(jiuiii, ilie \\oice, but admitting a kind of hum, a hiss, or a breatliiug; and for lliis reason, they are sometimes called semi-vowels. Such are/, /, m, n, r, $, v, and z,as in the syllables eX, el, em, en, er, es, ev, ez.

J and the soft g represent a compound sound, or rather a union of sounds, which may be expressed by edge, or t^e, as in join, general.

X represents the sounds of ks, or gz.

Th have an aspirated sound, as in thing, wreath ; or a vocal sound, as in thus, thou, breathe.

Sh maybe considered as representing a simple sound, asm esh,she,shall. This sound, rendered vocal, becomes ezh, for which we have no character. It is heard infusion, pronounced fuzhun.

The letters ng in combination have two sounds ; one as in sing, singer ; the other as in finger, longer. The latter requires a closer articulation of the palatal organs, than the former ; but the distinction can be communica- ted only by the ear. The orthoepists attempt to express it by writing g after the ng, &sfing-ger. But the peculiar sound of ng- is expressed, if ex- pressed at all, solely by the first syllable, as will be obvious to any per.son, who will write sing-ger for singer ; for let sing in this word be pronoun- ced as it is by itself, sing, and the additional letter makes no difference,

iless the speaker pauses at sing, and pronounces ger by itself.

The articulations in English may all be thus expressed : eb, ed, ef, eg, ek, el, em, en, ep, er, es, et, ev, ez, eth, aspirate and vocal, esh, ezh, ing.

These articulations may be named from the organs whose junctions they represent — Thus

Labials, or letters of the lips, eb, ef, ev, ep, em.

Dentals, ed, et, eth, es, esh, ez, ezh, en.

Palatals, eg, ek, el, er.

Nasals, em, en, ing.

The letters « and z, are also called sibilants, or hissing letters — to which may be added, esh, and ezh.

Q is precisely equivalent to k; but it differs from it in being always follow- by M. It is a useless letter; for quest might as well be written kuest or kwesi, in the Dutch manner.

A diphthong is a union of two vowels or simple sounds uttered so rapidly and closely, as to form one syllable only, or what is considered as one sylla- ' le ; as oi and oy in voice and joy, ou in sound, and ow in vow.

A triphthong is a union of three vowels in one syllable ; as in adieu.

There are many combinations of vowels in English words, in which one owel only is sounded: as ai, ea, ie, ei, oa, ui, ay, ey,&ic. These may be called digraphs. They can be reduced to no rule of pronunciation.

The combinations au and aw have generally the sound of the broad a, as in fraud, and law. The combination ew has the sound of u long, as in pew, new, crew; and sometimes at the beginning of words the sound of ^u, as in eucharist, euphony.

The letters cl, kl, at the beginning of a word, are pronounced as tl, as in clear. Gl at the beginning of words are pronounced as d/, as in glory.

DIVISION OF SYLLABLES.

The first and principal rule in dividing syllables, is not to separate letters that belong to the same syllable, except in cases of anomalous pronunciation.

GRAMMAR OF THE

The best division of syllables is that which leads the learner most easily to a^ just pronunciation. Thus, hab-it, ham-let, bat-ter, ho-ly, lo-cal, en-gage, an-i-mal, al-i-ment, pol-i-cy, eb-o-ny, des-ig-nate, lam-ent-a-ble, pref- er-a-b!e.

An exception to this rule occurs in such words as vicious, ambition, in which the ci and fi are pioiiouuccil like sh. In this case, it seems prefera- ble todiride tlie wok!- 'r.,~ r,-,,, i;v, nm-bi-tion.

Individiu;; the syii ■ \\ mi e words it seems advisable to keep the

original eniire, uu!.' - i ■ i' oi\\ i ion may lead to a wrong pronunciation. Thus aet-or, help-cr. ^7 , . >-"/ . lu.y he considered as a better division than ac-tor, hel-per, op-pres-^or. But it may be eligible in many cases, to devi- ate from this rule. Thus op-pres-sion seems to be more convenient both lor children in learning and for printers, than op-press-ion.

RULES FOR SPEtlilNG.

1. Verbsof one syllable, ending with a single consonant preceded by a short vowel, and verbsof more syllables than one, ending with an accented consonant preceded by a short vowel, double tiie final consonant in the par- ticiple, and when any syllable is added beginning witli a vowel. Thus,

Abet, Sin, Permit,

Abetted, Sinned, Permitted,

Abetting, Sinning, Permitting,

Abettor. Sinner. Permitter.

2. When the final consonant is preceded by a long vowel, the consonant is usually not doubled. Thus,

Seal, Repeal, Defeat,

Sealed, Repealed, Defeated,

Sealing, Repealing, Defeating,

Sealer. Repealer. Defeater.

3. When the accent falls on any syllable except the last, the final conso- nant of the verb is not to be doubled in the derivatives. Thus,

Bias, Quarrel, Worship, Equal,

Biased, Quarreled, Worshiped, Equaled,

Biasing, Quarreling, Worshiping, Equaling,

Biaser. Quarrelei'. Worshiper. Equaler.

The same rule is generally to be observed in nouns, as in jeweler, from jewel.

These are general rules ; though possibly special reasons may, in some instances, justify exceptions.

CLASSIFICATIOX OF WORDS.

Words are classified according to their uses. Writers on grammar are not perfectly agreed in the distribution of words into classes. But I shall, with one exception, follow the common distribution. Words then may be distrib- uted into cisht classes or parts of speech. 1. The name ornoun. 2. The pronoun orsubsliliite. 3. the adjective, attribute or attributive. 4. The verb. 5. Tlie adverb. 6. The preposition. 7. The connective or cmi- junction. 8. The exclamation or interjection.

The participle is sometimes treated as a distinct part of speech; it Is a de- rivative from the verb, and partakes of its nature, expressing motion or ac- tion. But it sometimes loses its verbal character, and becomes a mere ad- jective, expressing quality or habit, rather than action.

Sames or

JVO'

A name or noun is that by which a tiling is calletl; and it expresses the idea of that which exists, material or immaterial. Of material substances, as man, horse, tree, table — of immaterial things, as faith, hope, love. These and similar words are, by customary use, made the names of things which exist, or the symbols of ideas, which they express without the help of any other word.

Division of Names.

Names are of two kinds; common, or those which represent the idea of a whole kind or .species ; and proper or appropriate, which denote individu hIs. Thus animal is a name common to all beings, having organized bodie: and endowed with life, digestion, and spontaneous motion. Plant and reg rtable are names of all beings which have organized bodies and life, with out the power of spontaneous motion. Fori'l is the common name of all iethereil animals which fly— ^s7i, of animals which live wholly in water.

On the other hand, Thomas, John, William, arc proper or appropriate names, each denoting an individual of which there is no species or kind London, Paris, Amsterdam, Rhine, Po, Danube, Massachusetts, Hudson, Potomac, are also proper names, being appropriate toimUvidual things.

Propel names however become common when they comprehend two more individuals ; as, the Capets, the Smiths, the Fletchers.

" TiPo Hoberts there the pagan force defy'd." Hook's Tasso, b. 5

Limitation of Names.

Proper names are sufficiently definite without the aid of another word to Umit their meaning, as Boston, Baltimore. Savamrjh. \\vi when cc

individuals have a common character, or predominant qualities which create a simiUtude between them, this common character becomes in the mind a species, and the proper name of an individual possessing this character, ad- ndts of (he definitives and of plural number, like a common name. Thus a conspirator is called a Cataline ; and numbers of them Catalines or the Cata- lines of their country. A distinguished general is called a Cesar — an emin- ent orator the Cicero of his age.

But names, which are common to a whole kind or species, require often to be limited to an individual or a certain number of individuals of the kind or species. For this purpose the English language is furnished with a num- ber of words, as an, or a, the, this, that, these, those, and a few others, which define the extent of the signification of common names, or point to the particular things mentioned. These are all adjectives or attributes, having a dependence on some noun expressed or implied.

Rule I. — A noun or name, without a preceding definitive, is used either in an unUmited sense, extending to the whole species, or in an indefinite sense, denoting a number or quantity, but not the whole.

" The proper study of mankind is man." Pope-

Here man comprehends the whole species.

" In the first place, woman has, in general, much stronger propensity than man to the perfect discharge of parental duties." LiJ'e of Cowper.

Here woman and 7nan comprehend each the whole species of its sex.

Note. — The rule laid down by Lowth, and transcribed implicitly by his followers, is general. " A substantive without any article to limit it, is taken in its widest sense ; thus man means all mankind." The examples al- ready given prove the inaccuracy of the rule. But let it be tried by other examples.

"There are fishes that have wings, and are not strangers to the airy re- gions." — Locke, b. 3. ch.6. 12. If the rule is just, timt fishes is to be ■"' taken in its widest sense," then all fishes have wings I

Rule II.— The definitive an or a, being merely one, in its English or- thography, and precisely synonymous with it, limits a common name to an individual of the species. Its sole use is to express unity, and with respect to number, it is the most definite word imaginable; as an ounce, a church, n hip, that is, 07ie ship, one church. It is used before a name which is indefi- lite, or applicable to any one of a species ; as

" He bore him in the thickest troop.

As doth a lion in a herd of neat." Shakspearc.

Here a limits the sense of the word lion, and that of herd to one — but

does not specify the particular one — " As any lion does or would do in

herd."

his definitive is used also before names which are definite and as specific as possible : as, "Solomon built a temple." "The Lord God planted a gar- den eastward in Eden." London is a great commercial city. A decisive battle was fought at Marengo. The English obtained a signal naval vic- tory at the mouth of the Nile.

Note. — When the sense of words is sufficiently certain, by the construc- tion, the definitive may be omitted ; as, " Duty to your majesty, and regard for the preservation of ourselves and our posterity, require us to entreat your royal attention."

It is also omitted before names whose signification is general, and requires no limitation — as '^wisdom is justified of her children" — "anger resteth in the bosom of fools."

The definitive a is used before plural names preceded by few or many — as a few days, a great many persons. It is also used before any collective word, as a dozen, a hundred, even when such words are attached to plural nouns ; as a hundred years.

It is remarkable that a never precedes many without the intervenUon of great between them — but follows many, standing between this word and a name — and what is equally singular, many, the very essence of which is to mark plurality, will, with a intervening, agree with a name in the singu- ' • number ; as

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene." Gray.

" Where matiy a rose bud rears its blushing head." Beattie.

Rule. III. — The definitive the is employed before names, to limit their signification to one or more specific things of the kind, discriminated from [hers of the same kind. Hence the person or thing is understood by the reader or hearer, as the twelve Apostles, the laws of morality, the rules of good breeding.

This definitive is also used with names of things which exist alone, or which we consider as single, as the Jews, the Surt, the Globe, the Ocean ; and also before words when used by way of distinction, as the Church, the Temple.

Rule IN .— The is used rhetorically before a name in the singular num- ber, to denote the whole species, or an indefinite number; as, ''the fig-tree pulteth forth her green figs." Sol. Song.

" The almond tree shall flourish, and the grasshopper shall be a burden. " Or ever the silver cord shall be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken," &.c. I Ecclcsiastes.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

■ Tlie Christian, who, with pious horror, avoided the abominations of the •us or the theater, found himself encompassed with infernal snares," &c.

G-ib. Rom. Emp. ch. 15.

■ The heart likes naturally to bo moved and affected."

CampbelVs JRhet. ch. 2.

; is also used before i

i employed figuratively

Note 1.— Thisdcfii in a general sense; as, • , .,

" His mates their safety to the waves consign. Lusiad, 2.

Here waves cannot be understood of any particular waves ; but the word is a metaphor for a particular thing, the ocean.

Note 2. The definitive the is used before an attribute, which is selected

from others belonging to the same object ; as, " The very frame of spirit; proper for being diverted with the laughable in objects, is so different from! - - "■ philosophizing on them." Campbell's Rhet. 1.2.

that which is necessary for ]

A«m6e

As men have occasion to .speak of a single object, or of two or more indi- viduals of the same kind, it has been found necessary to vary the noun or name, and usually the termination, to distinguish plurality from unity. The different forms of words to express one or more are called in Grammar, num- bers; of which there are in English, two, the singular and the plural. The singular denotes an individual, or a collection of individuals united in a body ; as, a man, a ship, an office, a company, a society, a dozen. The plu- ral denotes two or more individuals, not considered as a collective body ; as, men, ships, offices, companies, societies. The plural number is formed by the addition of s or es to the singular.

Rule 1. When the terminating letter of a noun will admit the .sound of

I coalesce with the i the plural ; as sea, vales ; vow, vows.

2. Whentbr Im. lable of it, tlw .< • houses; grace. i;i i ,

3. When the i, u, ral is formed by add cannot be pronounced ;

I or the last syllable of it, s only is added to for hand, hands ; pen, pens ; grape, grapes ; vale,

. . I ; combine insound with the word orlastsyl- I i.-.i«es the number of syllables; as, house

[' J.'*; rose, roses; voice, voices; maze, mazes, - II, . ss. sft, or eft with its English sound, the plu- 5 to the singular; for a single s after those letters as, fox, foxes; glass, glasses; brush, brushes; church, chtirches. But after eft with its Greek sound, like *, the plural is formed by « only ; as monarch, monarchs.

4. When a name ends with y after a consonant, the plural is formed by dropping y and adding tes ,■ as vanity, vanities. Alkali has a regular plu ral, alkalies.

But after ay, ey, and oy, s only is added ; as, delay, delays; valley, val leys; joy, joys; money, moneys.

Note. — A few English nouns deviate from the foregoing rules in the formation of the plural number

Class 1. — In some names, / in the singular, is for the convenience of utterance, changed into

knife, wife, leaf, calf.

knives, wives, leaves, calves.

self, half, beef, staff, loaf.

selves, halves, beeves.

sheaf,

shelf,

wolf,

whaif,

tliief.

CL.4.SS 2. — The second class consists of words which numbers, with plurals irregularly formed; as.

sheaves.

shelves.

wolves.

wharves.

thieves.

used in both

chad, foot, tooth,

louse,

goose,

beau,

thesis,

emphasi

antithesi

peas or pease, criterioiis or criteria, focuses or foci, radiuses or radii, indexes or indices, calxes or calces, phenomena.

children. hypothe

feet. brother,

teeth. penny,

men. die,

women. pea,

oxen. criterion,

lice. focus,

geese. radius,

beaux. index,

theses. calx,

emphases. phenomenon,

antitheses. Pennies is used for real coins; pence for their value in computati Dies denotes stamps for coining; dice, pieces used in games. — Peas denotes the seeds as distinct objects ; pease the seeds in a mass. — Brothers is the plural used in common discourse; brethren, in the scripture style, but is not restricted to it.

Cherubim and Seraphim are real Hebrew plurals; but such is the pro- pensity in men to form regular inflections in language, that these words are used as in the singular, with regular plurals, cherubims, seraphims. In like manner, the Hebrew singulars, cherub and seraph, have obtained regular plurals.

The influence of this principle is very obvious in other foreign words, which the sciences have enlisted into our service; as may be observed in

the words radius, focus, index, &c. which now begin to bo U5ed with regu- lar English plural terminations. This tendency to regularity is, by all means, to be encouraged ; for a prime excellence in language is the uniformity of its inflections. The facts here stated will be evinced by a few authorities.

" Vesiculated corallines are found adhering to rocks, shells and /ucuscs." Encyc. art. Corallines.

" Many /etiwes are deficient at the extremities."

Var. Zoon. Sect. 1, 3, 9.

"Five hundred denariiises." Baker's Livy, 4. 491.

"The radiations of that tree and its fruit, the principal /oeitsfs of which are in the Maldivia islands." Hunter's St. Pierre, vol. S.

"Tlie reduction of metallic calxes into metals."

Ency. art. Metallurgy.

See also Jl/ediunw, Campbell's Rhetoric, 1, 150 — Ca/jxcs, Darwin's Zoon. 1, 74 — Caudexes, Phytologia, 2, 3 — Irises, Zoon. 1. 444. Reguluses and residuums. Ency. art. Metal.

In authorities equally respectable, we find stamens, stratums, funguses ; and in pursuance of the principle, we may expect to see lamens for lamina ; lamels for lamella; barytc for barytes; pyrite for pyrites; strontite for strontites ; stalactite for the plural stalactites. These reforms are necessa- ry to enable us to distinguish the singular from the plural number.

Class 3. — The third class of irregulars consists of such as have no plural termination ; some of which represent ideas of things which do not admit of plurality ; as rye, barley, flax, hemp, flour, sloth, pride, pitch, and the names of metals, gold, silver, tin, zink, antimony, lead, bismuth, quicksilver. When, in the progress of improvement, any thing, considered as not susceptible of plurality, is found to have varieties, which are distinguishable, this distinc- tion gives rise to a plural of the term. Thus in early ages our ancestors took no notice of different varieties of wheat, and the term had no plural. But modern improvements in agriculture have recognized varieties of this grain, which have given the name a plural form. The same remark is ap- plicable to fern, clay, marl, sugar, cotton, &c. which have plurals, formerly unknown. Other words may hereafter undergo a similar change.

Other words of this class denote pluraMty, without a plural termination ; as cattle, sheep, swine, kine, deer, ho.se ; trout, salmon, carp, perch, and many other names of fish. Fish has a plural, but it is used in the plural sense without the termination ; as,

"We are to blame for eating these fish." Anacharsis 6. 272.

"The^sft reposed in seas and crystal floods,

" The beasts retired in covert of the woods." Hoole T. 2. 726.

Cannon, shot and sail, are used in a plural sense ; as,

" One hundred cannon were landed from the fleet."

Burchctt, A'aval Hist. 732.

" Several shot being fired." Ibm. 455.

" Several sail of ships." " TZim. 426.

In the sense in which sail is here used, it does not admit of a plural

ending.

Under this class may be noticed a number of words, expressing time, dis- tance, measure, weight, and number, which, though admitting a plural ter- mination, are often, not to say generally, used without that termination, even when used with attributes of plurality ; such are the names in these expres- ions, two year, five mile, ten foot, seven pound, three tun, hundred, thou- and, or million, five bushel, twenty weight, &c. Yet the most unlettered people never say, two minute, three hour, five day, or week, or month ; nor inch, yard or league ; nor three ounce, grain, dram, or peck, like singularity is observable in the Latin language. " Tritici quadra- gintamilUa modium." Liv. lib. 26. 47. Forty thousand modiura of wheat. Quatuor milliapondo auri," four thousand pound of gold. Ibm. 27. 10. Here we see the origin of our pound. Originally it was merely weight — four thousand of gold by weight. From denoting weight generally, pondo became the term for a certain division or quantity ; retaining however its lignification of unity, and becoming an indeclinable in Latin. Twenty pound then, in strictness, is twenty divisions by weight ; or as we say, with a like abbreviation, twenty weight.

The words horse, foot and irtfantry, comprehending bodies of soldiers, are used as plural nouns and followed by verbs in the plural. Cavalry is some- times used in like manner.

Class 4. — The fourth class of irregular nouns consists of words which have the plural termination only. .Some of these denoting plurality, are al- ways joined with verbs in the plural ; as the following :

Annals, drawers, lees, customs,

archives, downs, lungs, shears,

ashes, dregs, matins, scissors,

assets, embers, mallows, shambles,

betters, entrails, orgies, tidings,

bowels, fetters, nippers, tongs,

compasses, filings, pincers, or thanks,

clothes, goods, pinchei-s, vespers,

calends, hatches, pleiads, vitals,

breeches, ides, snuffi -?, victuals.

Letters, in the sense of literature, may be aJded to the foregoing list. Manners, in the sense oi behavior, is also plural.

GRAMMAR OF THE

Other words of tliis class, though ending in s, are used either wholly ir the singular number, or in the one or tlie other, atthe pleasure of the writer Amends, wages, conies, economies,

alms, billiards, catoprics, mathematics,

bellows, fives, dioptrics, mechanics,

gallows, sessions, acoustics, hydraulics,

odds, measles, pneumatics, hydrostatics,

means, hysterics, statics, analytics,

pains, physics, statistics, politics,

news, ethics, spherics,

riches, optics, tactics.

Of these, jja/rts, riches, and wages* are more usually considered as plu- ral — netvs is always singular — odds and /neons are either singular or plu ral — the others are more strictly singular; for measles is the name of adis. ease, and in strictness, no more plural than gout or fever. Small pox, for pocks, is sometimes considered as a plural, but it ought to be used as sin] lar. Billiards has the sense of game, containing unity of idea; and eth physics and other similar names, comprehending each the whole system of a particular science, do not convey the ideas of parts or particular branches, but of a whole collectively, a unity, and hence seem to be treated as words belonging to the singular number.

AUTHORITIES.

Pre-eminent by so mttch odds.

With every odds thy prowess I defy.

Where the odds is considerable.

The wages of sin is death.

Much pains has been taken.

Let a gallows be made of fifty cubits high. Bible

Here he erected a fort and a gallows. Lusiad 1. 134

The riches we had in England was the slow result of long industry and wisdom, and is to be regained, &c. Davenant, 2. 12.

Mathematics informs us. Encyc. art. strength of Materials.

Politics is the art of producing individual good by geneial measures.

Beddoes' Hygeia. 2. 79.

Politics contains two parts. Locke, vol. 2. 408.

Locke however uses a plural verb with ethics. "The ideas that ethics are conversant about." — B. 4. 12. 8.

Pains, when preceded by much, should always have a singular verb.

Means is so generally used in either number, every means, all means, this means, and these means, that authorities in support of the usage are deemed superfluous.

Gender.

Milt. P. L. 4. 474.

Hoole Tas. 6. 19. 40.

Camp. Rhet, ch. 5.

Bible.

Enfield Hist. Phil. ch. 2.

Gender, in grammar, is a difference of termination, to express distinc- tion of sex.

There being two sexes, tnale und female, words which denote males are said to be of the masculine gender ; those which denote females, of the fem- inine gender. Words expressing things without sex, are said to be of neuter gender. There are therefore but two genders; yet for convenience the neuter is classed with the genders ; and we say there are three, the mascu- line, feminine and neuter. The English modes of distinguishing sex are these : 1. The regular termination of the feminine gender, is ess; which is ad- ded to the name of the masculine ; as lion, lioness. But when the word ends in or, the feminine is formed by retrenching a vowel, and blending two syllables into one; as actor, actress. In a few words, the feminine gen- der is represented by ix, as testatrix, from testator ; and a few others are ir- regular. The following are most of the words which have a distinct termi- nation for the feminine gender :

Actor,

abbot,

adulterer,

baron,

benefactor,

governor.

priest, poet.

actress.

deacon.

deaconess.

abbess.

duke.

duchess.

adultress.

embassador,

embassadress.

baroness.

emperor.

empress.

benefactress.

tiger.

tigress.

governess.

songster,

songstress.

heroine.

seamster.

seamstress.

heiress.

viscount.

viscountess.

peeress.

jew.

Jewess.

priestess.

lion.

Uoness.

poetess.

master.

mistress.

princess.

marquis.

marchioness.

prophetess.

patron.

patroness.

shepherdess.

protector.

protectress.

.sorceress.

executor.

executrix.

tutoress.

testator.

testatrix.

instructress.

elector.

electrcss.

traitress.

administrator.

administratrix

countess.

widower.

widow.

prmce,

prophet,

shepherd,

sorcerer,

tutor,

instructor,

traitor.

2. In many instances, animals, with which we have most frequent occa- sions to be conversant, have different words to express the dilTerent sexes ;

'Originally wagis, and really singular.

as man and woman; brother and sister ; uncle and aunt ; .son and daughter; boy and girl ; father and mother ; horse and mare ; bull and cow.

Man however is a general term for the whole race of mankind ; so also, horse comprehends the whole species. A law to restrain every man from an offence would comprehend women and boys ; and a law to punish a tres- pass committed by any horse, would comprehend all marcs and colts.

3. When words have no distinct termination for the female sex, the sexes are distinguished by prefixing some word indicating sex ; as a male rabbit, a female opossum ; a he goat, a she goat; a man servant, a maid servant ; a male coquet, a female warrior ; a cock-sparrow, a hen-sparrow.

4. In all cases, when the sex is sufficiently indicated by a separate word, names may be used to denote females without a distinct termination. Thus, although females are rarely soldiers, sailors, philosophers, or mathematicians, and we seldom have occasion to say, she is a soldier, or an astronomer, yet there is not the least impropriety in the application of these names to females, when they possess the requisite qualifications; for the sex is clearly marked by the word she or female, or the appropriate name of the woman ; as *' Joan of Arc was a warrior." " The Amazons, were a nation of female warriors."*

Encyc. art. Amazons.

5. Although the Englisli language is philosophically correct in consider- ing things without life as of neither gender, yet by an easy analogy, the imagination conceives of inanimate things a.s animated and di^tingnished by sex. On this fiction, called ;)£/-soni^cation, depends much of the descrip- tive force and beauty of poetry. In general, those objects which are re- markable for their strength, influence, and the attribute of imparting, take the masculine gender ; those which are remarkable for the more mild and delicate qualities, for beauty and the attribute of producing, become femin- ine ; the sun darts his scorching rays ; the moon sheds her paler light.

" Indus or Ganges rolling /us broad wave." Akenside.

" There does the soul Consent her soaring fancy to restrain." Ibm.

" Now morn he>' rosy steps in th' eastern clime Advancina— "

' The north east spends his rage."

Case.

Case in Grammar denotes a variation of words to express the relation of things to each other. In English, most of the relations are expressed by separate words ; but the relation of property, ownership or possession, is ex- pressed by adding s to a name, with an apostrophy ; thus, John's book ; which words are equivalent to " the book of John." This is called the Pos- sessive Case. In English therefore names have two cases only, the nomi- native or simple name, and the possessive. The nominative before a verb and the objective after a verb are not distinguished by inflections, and are to be known only by position or the sense of the passage.

When the letter s, added as the sign of the possessive, will coalesce with the name, it is pronounced in the same syllable ; as John's. But if it will coalesce, it adds a syllable to the word ; as Thomas's bravery, pronoun- ced as if written Thomasis ; the Church's piosperity, Churchis prosperity. These examples show the impropriety of retrenching the vowel; but it oc- casions no inconvenience to natives.

When words end in es or ss, the apostrophy is added without e; as on eagles' wings ; foi- righteousness' sake.

Pronouns or Substitutes.

Pronouns or substitutes are of two kinds ; those which are used in the place of the names of persons only, and may be called personal ; and those

hich represent names, attributes, a sentence or part of a sentence, or a se-

BS of propositions.

The pronouns which are appropriate to persons, are, I, thou, you, he, she,

e, ye, and who.

/is used by a speaker to denote himself, and is called the first person of the singular number.

When a speaker includes others with himself, he uses we. This is the first person of the plural number.

Thou and you represent the person addressed — thou, in solemn discourse, and you, in common language. These are the second person. In the plu- al, ye is used in solemn style, and you in familiar language.

He represents the name of a male, and she, that of a female, who is the subject of discourse, but not directly addressed. These are called the third person.

It is a substitute for the name of any tlung of the neuter gender in the third person, and for a sentence.

They is a substitute for the names of persons or things, and forms the third person of the plural number.

• The termination or in Latin, is a contraction of vir, a man ; as o" in Eng- lish is of iver, the same word in Saxon. But in common understanding, the idea of gender is hardly attached to these terminations ; for we add er to words to denote an agent, without life, as grater, heater.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

iriio U a rela(ive or personal pronoun, used to introduce a new clause or affirmation into a sentence, which clause has an immediate dependence on the pieciding one. IVho is also used to ask questions, and hence it is called an inlorrOi£;>tive. ; . , .

Ulikh is also a relative, but is of neuter gender. It is also mterrogative.

These pronouns have two cases; the nominative which precedes a verb, and the objective which follows it. They are inflected in the following manner

Sing.

Plu.

Si71g. Plu.

Nominative

Nom.

she they

Objective

Obj. -

- her them

Norn. -

- thou

Nom.

it they

Obj.

thee

you

Obj. -

- it them

Nom. -

you

Nom. -

who who

Ol.j.

you

Obj. -

- whom whom

Nom. -

- he

they

Obj.

him

them

Note. — Mine, thine, his, hers, yours and theirs, are usually considered as the possessive case. But the three first are either attributes, and used with nouns, or they are substitutes. The three last arc always substitutes, used in the place of names which are understood, as may be seen in the note below.*

Its and whose have a better claim to he considered as a possessive case; but as they equally well fall under the denomination of attributes, I have, for the sake of uniformity, assigned them a place with that part of speech.

* That 7ni7ie, thine, his, yours, hers and theirs, do not constitute a poss ive case, is demonstrable ; for they are constantly used as the nominatives to verbs and as the objectives after verbs and prepositions, as in the following passages. " Whether it could perform its operations of thinking and memo- ry out of a body organized as ours is," — Locke, b. 2. 27. " In referring our ideas to those of other men called by the same name, ours may hefalse."—" It is lor no other reason but that his agrees not with our ideas." — ibm. ch. 32 9 and 10.

'• You may imagine what kind of faith theirs was."

Bacon, Unity in Religion

"He ran headlong into his own ruin whilst he endeavoured to precipitate ours." Bolingbroke, Let. to Windham.

" The reason is that his subject is generally things ; theirs, on the contra- ry, is persons." Camp. Rhet. b. 1. ch. 10.

" Yours of the 26th Oct. I have received, as I have always done yours, with no little satisfaction." Wyeherley to Pope

"Therefore leave your forest of beasts for oitrs of brutes, called men." Ibm

" These return so much better outof your hands than they went from mine.'

Ibm

Your letter of the 20th of this month, like the rest of

with

much more wit, sense and kindness than mine can

yours- expres

-tells me s," &c. /6m.

" Having good works enough of your own besides to ensure yoxirs and tlieir immortality."

" The omission of repetitions is but one, and the easiest part oC yours and of my design." Pope to Wyeherley.

" iVIy sword and yours are kin." Shakspeare,

It is needless to multiply proofs. We observe these pretended possessives uniformly used as nominatives or objectives. To say that, in these passagi ours, yours, theirs, and mine form a possessive case, is to make the possessive \\ perform the office of a nominative case to verbs, and an objective ease after verbs and prepositions — a manifest solecism.

Should it be said that a noun is understood ; I reply, this cannot be true, in regard to the grammatical construction ; for supply the noun for which the word is a substitute, and the pronoun must be changed into an adjective. " Vours of the 26th of October," becomes your letter — "he endeavoured to precipitate ours," becomes our ruin." This shows that the words are real substitutes, like others, where it stands for other men or thi7igs.

Besides in three passages, just quoted, the word yaurs is joined by a con- nective to a name in the same case ; " to ensure yours and their immortali- ty." " The easiest part of yours and of my design." " My sword and' yours are kin." Will any person pretend that the connective here joins dif- ferent cases ?

Another consideration is equally decisive of this question. 1( yours, ours, &c. are real possessives, then the same word admits of two different signs of the case ; tor we say correctly, " an acquaintance o( yours, ours, or theirs" — o/ being tlte sign of the possessive ; but if the words in themselves are possessives, then there must be two signs of the same case, which is absurd. t Compare these words with a name in the possessive case — " My house is on a hill ; my father's is on a plain." Here father's is a real possessive case ; the word /loiMe being understood ; and the addition of the noun makes no alteration in the word/a(Aer's ,• " my father's is, or my father's house is."

1 This case does not compare with that of names. We say, a " soldier of the king's," or a soldier of the king's soldieis ; but we cannot say, " an ac- •luaintance of yours acquaintance."

But it must be ob.servcd, that although it and who are real substitutes, never united to names, like attributes — it day — who man ; yet its and whose cannot be detached from a name expressed or implied — as, Hs shape, its figure — whose face — whose \\forks— whose are they ? that is, 'whose works. These are therefore real adjectives.

n the use of substitutes, it is to be remarked, that /, thou, you, ye and we are generally employed without an antecedent name. When /, and the name of the person are both employed, as they are in formal writings, oaths and the like, the pronouns precede the name ; as, " I, Richard Roe, of Bos- ton." In similar language, you and we also precede the name ; as, "" You, John Doc, of New- York." "We, Richard Roe and John Doe, of Phila- delphia."

Vou is used by writers very indefinitely, as a substitute for any person who may read the work — the mind of the writer imagining a person ad- dressed.

He and they are used in the same indefinite manner; as, " He seldom lives frugally, who lives by chance." " Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted."

He and they, in such sentences, represent any persons who fall within the subsequent description.

PVho and whom are always substitutes for persons, and never for things or brutes. Whose is equally applicable to persons as to things.

Whoever is often employed as the nominative to two verbs ; as, " Whoever expects to find in the scriptures a specific direction for every moral doubt that arises, looks for more than he will meet with." Paley, Phil. ch. 4. Mine, thine and his are equally well used as substitutes, or as attributes. " The silver is mine, and the gold is mine." Hag. ii. 8. " The day is thine, the night also is thine." Ps. Ixxiv, 16. " The lord knoweth them that are his." 2 Tim. ii. 19. In these examples the words, mine, thine, his, may be considered as substitutes — " The silver is mine," that is, my silver.

In this character the words usually follow the verb; but when emphati- cal, they may precede it ; as " His will I be." 2. Sam. xvi. 18. " Thine, Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory." " TTiine is the king- dom." 1. Ch. xxix. 11.

These words are also used as attributes of possession ; as, " Let not mine enemies triumph." " So let thine enemies perish." " And Abram remov- ed his tent.»' Mine and thine arc however not used in familiar language ; but in solemn and elevated style, they are still used as attributes.

" Mine eyes beheld the messenger divine." Lusiad. B. 2.

There is another class of substitutes, which supply the place of names, attributes, sentences or parts of a sentence.

It.

In the following sentence, it is the substitute for a name. " The sun rules the day ; it illumines the earth." Here it is used for sun, to prevent a re- petition of the word.

In the following passage, it has a difTerent use. " The Jews, it is well known, were at this time under the dominion of the Romans." Porteus, Led. S. Here it represents the whole of the sentence, except the clause in which it stands. To understand this, let the order of the words be varied. " The Jews were at this time under the dominion of the Romans, it [all that] is well known.

" It is a testimony as glorious to his memory, as it is singular, and almost unexampled in his circumstances, that he loved the Jewish nation, and that he gave a very decisive proof of it, by building them a sjTiagogue." ibm.

To discover what is represented by the first it, we must inquire, what is a glorious testimony ? Why, clearly that he loved the Jewish nation, and gave them a decisive proof of it, by building them a synagogue. It then is a substitute for those clauses of the sentence. The second it refers to the same clauses. In the latter part of the sentence, he gave a magnificent proof of it — of what ? of what is related in a preceding clause — He loved the Jewish nation — of that he gave a decisive and magnificent proof. Here it represents that member of the sentence.

As for the pulling of them down, if the affairs require it." Bacon on Ambition. Require what ? " The pulling of them down" — for which part of the sentence, it is a substitute.

" And how could he do this so effectually, as by performing works, which it utterly exceeded all the strength and ability of men to accomplish." Por- teus,' Led. 5.

What utterly exceeded ? To what does it refer ? Let us invert the or- der of the words — " as by performing works to accomplish which exceeded all the strength of men." Here we find to accomplish, a verb in the infin- itive, is the nominative to exceeded, and for that verb, it is a substitute.

This inceptive use of t< forms a remarkable idiom of our language, and deserves more particular illustration. It stands as the substitute for a sub- sequent member or clause of a sentence ; and is a sort of pioneer to smooth the way for the verb. Thus, " It is lemarkable, that the philosopher Seneca makes use of the same argument." Partem Led. 6. If we ask, what is remarkable.' The answer must be, the fact stated in the last clause of the sentence. That this is the real construction, appears from a transposition of the clauses. "The philosopher Seneca makes use of the same argument. that is remarkable." In this order we observe the true use of that, which

GRAMMAR OF THE

is also a subsUtule for the preceding clause of the sentence, and it becomes redundant. The use then of the inceptive it appears to be to enable us to begin a sentence, wi(lir.:it y>].:' iir; r, v,-:b as the introductory word ; and by the use of ii and Wio' ' : i- iibsequent members of the sentence,

the order is inverted \' ■ nut; obscurity.

It is to be noticed i,i j.uU'r substitute, iJ, is equally proper to

begin sentcnr;. V.I: ,, in.-ol a ;>ereo« is afterwards used; as, " It

was John H I,. ' i powers of eloquence." But if we transpose

the words, .1 , , ' ' ihat, the substitute which begins anew clause,

next after iIj ■ , ,i >■ ';.l, we must use /leforthe inceptive — "He, who or that exliiliur.l Muh pdvicrs of eloquence, was ,Iohn."

In interros^ilive scutences, the order of words is changed, and it follows the verb. Wlio is it that has been thus eloquent?

Tlicre is a sentence in Locke, in which the inceptive it is omitted. " Whereby comes to pass, that, as long as any uneasiness remains in the mind. £. ch. 21. In strictness, this is not a defective sentence, for that may be considered as the nominative to comes. Whereby that comes to pass which follows. Or the whole subsequent sentence may be considered as the nominative — for all that comes to pass. But the use of the inceptive it is so fully established as the true idiom of the language, that its omission is not to be vindicated.

This and that., these and those.

This and that are either definite attributes or substitutes. As attributes, they are used to specify individuals, and distinguish them from others ; as, " This my son was dead and is alive again." '■ Certuiidy Wi/.s was a right- eous man." " The end of (Aaf man is peace." ■■ \\\\ /',< / iiim liy whom

the son of man is betrayed." This and that hay j' ' .\\.\\ those.

The general distinction between this and tliu>. 1 ' - , :i object

to be presenter near in time or place ; that, to if .,'< ni. ;'..i' ;Ih ; distinc- tion is not always observed. In correspondence bowt.'\\t-'r with this distinc- tion, when, in discourse, two things are mentioned, this and these refer to the last named, or nearest in the order of construction ; that and those to the most distant ; as,

" Self love and reason to one end aspire,

Pain their aversion, pleasure their desire ;

But greedy that [self love] its object would devour.

This [reason] taste the honey and not wound tlie flower." Pope.

" Some place the bliss in action, some in ease.

Those call it pleasure, and contentment these." Ibm.

The poets sometimes contrast these substitutes in a similar manner, to de- note individuals acting or existing in detached parties, or to denote the whole acting in various capacities ; as,

" 'Twas war no more, but carnage through the field. Those lift their sword, and these their bosoms yield."

Hoole's Tasso. b. 20. " Nor less the rest, the intrepid chief retain'd ; n>ese urged by threats, and those by force constraiu'd." Ibtn.

There is a peculiarity in the use oi that ; for when it is an attribute, it is always in the singular number; but as a substitute for per.sons or things, it is plural as well as singular, and is used for persons as well as things more frequently than any word in the language ; as, |

" I knew a man that had it for a by-word, when he saw men hasten to a conclusion, ' Stay a little that we may make an end the sooner.' "

Bacon on Dispatch.

Here that is the representative of man, and (( stands for the last clause of the sentence or by- word.

" Let states that aim at greatness take heed how their nobility and gen- tlemen multiply too fast." Bacon.

Here that is a substitute for a plural name. So also in the following. " They that are whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." " They that had eaten were about four thousand" — "they that are in the flesh" — " they that weep"- — '* bless them that curse you."

Another very common use of this and that, is to represent a sentence or part of a sentence ; as,

" It is seldom known that, authority thus acquired is possessed without insolence, or that, the master is not forced to confess that, he has enslaved himself by some foolish confidence." Rambler, JVo. 68.

In this sentence, the first that represents the next member — " Authority thus acquired is possessed without insolence, that is seldom known." It rep- resents the same clause. The second that represents all which follows, in- cluding two clauses or members. The third that is the substitute for the last clause. In strictness the comma ought always to be placed after that ; which punctuation would elucidate the use of the substitute and the true construction ; but the practice is otherwise, for that, in this and like sen- tences, is either a nominative or an objective. The first that in the fore- going sentence is the nominative, coinciding with it, or in apposition to it ; and when the clauses are transposed, the inceptive it, being redundant, is dropped, and that becomes the nominative. The same remark is applicable to the second that ; the verb and first clause, it is seldom known, being understood. The third that is the objective after confess. " The master has enslaved himself by some foolish confidence— he is forced to confess that — all that is seldom known."

Such is the true construction of sentences— the definitive that, fnstead of being a conjunction, is the representative of a sentence or distinct clause, preceding that clause, and pointing the mind to it, as the subject which fol- lows. And it is'as definite or demonstrative in this application to sentences, as when it is applied to a name or noun.

The following sentence will exhibit the true use of that as a substitute — " He recited his former calamities ; to which was now to be added that he was the destroyer of the man who had expiated him.

Beloe's Herodotus, Clio, 4.5.

AccorJiiiu- to our present "ranmiars, that is a conjunction ; if so, the pre- ceding vcri, //,,.. Iii u, 1 [.<.•.].•■ word. But the sense is, " to which

was to be > ■ .; '1 I'od in the following words.

The II -^r , - ''stitute are more clearly manifest, when

it denotes \\ ,. Matt. ii. 23. Here that If.

equWiilent to that purpost , i 'il- and dwelt in Nazareth, /or

the jmrpose expressed in ir'i.ii / / ,/ // and jffticA represent the last clause in the sentence — " He shall be called a Nazarene." The excellence and utility of substitutes and abbreviations are strikingly illustrated by this use of that.

This substitute has a similar use in thi^ Introihietory sentence. That we may proceed — ,:,!-. The true construc- tion is, jBm( Wiaiu'e 7«o^ proceed — hill .> I ; I lie shown, denoting supply or something more or further— - .\\ .lintepretation of the expression is — More that — or fiirthei Ih-i ir, i.i f<, /.i.icted. It is the sim- ple mode our ancestors used to express addition lo \\vhat has preceded, equiv- alent io the modern phrase, let us add, or we may add wh-at follows, by way of illustrating or modifying the sense of what has been related.

That, like who and which, has a connecting power, which has given to these words the name of »-cZa«(»e ,■ in which character, it involves one mem- ber of a sentence within another, by introducing a new verb ; as, " He. that keepethhis mouth, keepeth his'life." Prov. xiii. In this passage, that keepeth his mouth, is a new atfirmation, interposed between the first nom- inative and its verb, but dependant on the antecedent nominative.

" The poor of the Hock, that waited upon me, knew that, it was the word of the Lord." Zech. xi. 11. In this passage we have that in both its char- acters — the first that is a substitute for poor of the flock ; the second, for the last clause of the sentence, it was the word of the Lord.

This exposition of the uses of that enables us to understand the propriety of that that joined in construction.

" Let me also tell you that, that faith, which proceeds from insufficient or bad principles, is but little better than infideUty." In this passage, the first that is a substitute for the whole subsequent part of the sentence ; the se- cond that is an attribute agreeing with faith— "That faith which proceeds from bad principles is little better than infidelity — let me tell you that." Hence it might be well always to separate the two words by a comma. We now distinguish these words by a stronger emphasis on the last.

"He, whom thou now hast, is not thy husband ; in that saidst thou truly." John iv. 18. That is, in that whole declaration.

From these passages and the explanation, we learn that that is a substi- tute, either for a single word or a sentence ; nor has it any other character, except when an attribute.

This is much less frequently a substitute for sentences than that, but is used in this character, as well as in that of an attribute ; as, " Let no prince measure the danger of discontents by this, whether they be just or unjust ; for that were to imagine people to be reasonable, who do often spurn at their own good ; nor yet by this, whether the griefs whereupon they rise be in fact great or small." Bacon on Kingdoms.

Here this, in each part of the sentence, is the representative of the clause in Italics succeeding.

" Can we suppose that all the united powers of hell are able to work such astonishing miracles, as were wrought for the confirmation of the christian religion ? Can we suppose that they can control the laws of nature at pleas- ure, and that with an air of sovereignty, and professing themselves the lords of the universe, as we know Christ did .' If we can believe this, then we deny," &c. We observe here, this represents a series of sentences.

In some cases, this represents a few words only in a preceding sentence, as in the following — " The rule laid down is in general certain, that the king only can convoke a parliament. And this, by the ancient statutes of the realm, he is bound to do, every year or oftener, if need be."

Blacks. Comment. B. 1. ch. 2.

If we ask, what is the king bound to do ? The answer must be, convoke a parliament ; for which words alone this is the substitute, and governed by do.

The plurals, these and those, are rarely or never used as substitutes for

MHiich.

7-fTiicA is also a substitute for a sentence, or part of a sentence, as well as for a single word ; as, "if there can be any other way shown, how men may come to that universal agreement, in the things they do consent in, which I presume may be ilone." Locke oti Viid. B. 1. 2.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Wliich, in this passage, represents all which precedes — u-hich or all that is above related, maybe done.

" Anolh>r reason that makes me doubt of any inn', pi m li- I ; : ];., •■■]■ -. is, that I think there cannot any one moral rule l" I I , may not justly demand a reason; tf/u'cA would li.

absurd, if they were innate, or so much as self-ci-i'l" : .' i . .;

principle must needs be." /■'"' * 'r- '■'<

In this passage, the first v;hich represents the next prerclm^ |.,.ri oi ihr sentence, aman may jui^tly demand a reason — which jiuinr <;/ ./. 'nint.lnia « reason would be 'ridiculous — The second «'/iic/i is a sllll^lllnll• lor v//- evident ; which, that is, self-evident, every principle must be.

" Judas declared him innocent, which he could not be, had he, in any re- spect, dccei\\ ed the disciples." Porteus, Led. 2. Here which represents tlie aitiibuto innocent.

That would c([ually well represent the same word, with a connective. " Judas declared him innocent, and that he could not be," &.c.

" We shall fiml the reason of it to be the end of language, which being to communicate thou;;hts" — that is, end of language, and for those words, is uhich the substitute.

What.

This substitute has several uses. First, it has the sense of that which ; as, " I have heard what has been alledgcd."

Secondly — VVTiat stands for any indefinite idea; as, " He cares not what lie says or' does." " We shall the better know what to undertake."

Locke on Und. 1. 6. Tliirdly — M'hat is an attribute, either in the singular or plural number, and denotes somethins uncertain or indeterminate ; as, " In what character, Kutler was admitted into that lady's service, is unknown."

Johnstin's Life of Butler. " It is not material what names are assigned to them."

Camp. Rhet. 1.1. •' I know not what impressions time may have made upon your person."

Life of Cowp. Let. 27. " To see what are the causes of wrong judgment." Locke 2. 21.

Fdurlhly — IVhat is used by the poets preceding a name, for the or that which, but its place cannot be supplied by these words, without a name be- tween them ; as,

" What time the sun withdrew his cheerful light. And sought the sable caverns of the night." Hoole's Tasso. b. 7. That is, at the time when or in which.

Fifthly — A principal use otichat is to ask questions ; as, " What will be the consequence of the revolution in France ?"

This word has the singular property of containing ttvo ca.'ies ; that is, it performs the office of a word in the nominative, and of another in the objec- tive case ; as, •' I have, in ii-hat goes before, been engaged in physical in- quiries fartlu 1 111. HI I i iplr.I." Locke 2. 8. Here what contains the ob- ject after (n .m ' ■ 1 r tog-oes.

H'AaMs n 1 ' i n ,h an attribute and a substitute ; as, " It was

agreed that //■''' - ~ v\\ . i r alioard his vessels, should be landed." Mick-

le's Discovery «/ Jiidia. fi'J. Mere what goods, are equivalent to the goods U'hich ; for what goods include the nominative to two verbs, were and should be landed. This use of tlie word is not deemed elegant.

As.

.3s, primarily signifies like, similar ; the primary sense of which is even, equal. It is used adverbially in the phrases, as good, as great, as probable ; the sense of which is tike or equally good, great or probable. Hence it fre- quently follows si/f/i . •• Send him such books as will please him." But in tills and similar phrases, as must be considered as the nominative to will please ; or we mn^t su|)|jii^e iin ellipsis of several words. "Send him such books as(/u b.','', . n Ij', ', w ;i| pi, ase liim,or as

" We havr ' i ■ . I to repose on its veracity with such humble

confidonci- ..~ - Illy." Johnson's Life of Cowley.

■' MI I'l. ji \\ . Ii Cod is concerned to see inflicted on sin is on-

ly -:. ' .1 irovernment."

• ' 'ill themselves with such probable conclu3ioi\\s

ii,v\\\\.i. -ii:.,. , i;' i..i i(,, |.i i Ileal purposes of life."

■ The malcontents made such demands as non.-

In the last example, if as is to be considered as . I .. .; i -u .:

it is in the objeclive case.

These and similar phrases are anomalous; and we can resolve them only by supplying the ellipsis, or by considering as in the nature of a pronoun,' and the nominative to the verb. j

In the following form of expression, we may supply it for the nominative.

Doevery thing fls was said about mercury and sulphur." Encyc.l

•• As it was said."

In poetry, as supplies the place of st*c7i.

"From whence might contest spring and mutual rage,

.is would the camp in civil broils engage." ' Hoole's Tasso.'

In prose we would say, " such contest and rage as."

.7.5 sonictinic! refers to a sentence or member of a sentence, and some-

ii . - i* 1 ' ' ' 1 y be supplied by which. "On his return to Egypt, os I

i ' lie authority, he levied a mighty army." Beloe, Herod.

''I .! "On his return to Egypt, he levied a mighty army,

" ' .' li'ij I 'iiM'd from the same authority.

./s niun (II ;;ins a sentence. " Jls to the three orders of pronouns already mentioned, they may be called prepositive, as may indeed all sub.stantives." Harris. That is, concerning, respecting the three orders, or to explain that \\\\ liich respects the three orders, &c.

Both.

Both is an adjective of number, but it is a substitute also for names, sen- tences, parts of sentences, and for attributes.

\\braliam took sheep and o.ten, and gave them unto Abimelech, anil both of them made a covenant."- Genesis xxi. 27.

Here both is the representative of Abraham and Abimelech. '• He will not bear the loss of his rank, because he can bmr the loss of his estate; but he will bear both, because he is prepared for both."

Baling, on Exile. In the last example, both represents the parts of the sentences in italics.

nious." Mickle,p. 159.

As an attribute, it has a like position before names ; as, " Tousa confessed he had saved both his life and his honor." Viro. IfiO.

" It is both more accurate, and proves no inconsiderable aid to iIk- liibt understanding of things, to discriminate by ditTerent signs such as arc liniy different." Campbell's Rhet . \\.:a.

In this passage, both represents more accurate, and the following member of the sentence ; but tlie construction is harsh.

The necessity which a speaker is unilcr, of suiting himself to his audi- ence, both that he may be understood by them, and that liis words may lave an influence upon them." Camp. Rhet. ch. 10.

Here both represents the two following clauses of the sentence. The definitive the is placed between both and its noun ; as, " To both the pre- ceding kimis, the term burlesque is applied." Camp. Rhet. 1. 2.

Same.

The attribute same is often used as a substitute for persons and sentences or parts of a sentence ; as, " Nothing appears so clearly an object of the mind or intellect only, as the future does, since we can find no place for its exis- tence any where else. Not but the same, if we consider, is equally true of the ^josf." Hermes,p. \\V2.

In this ill constructed sentence, same has reference to all which is pre- dicated of the future tense — that is, that it is an object of intellect only, since we can find no place for its existence any where else — The same, all this, is true of the past also.

" For iraeeaud generous ever are the same." Lusiad, 1.

Many,fex!;, all, any. These words we often find used as substitutes for names. " For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many." 'Matt. xxiv. 5. " Many are called, but few chosen." xx. 16. " All that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent shall be unclean .seven days." .V«»i. xix. 14. " If a soul shall sin against any of the. commandments." Lev. iv. 2. " Neither is there any, that can deliver out of my hand." Deut. xxxii. 3?.

First, last, former, latter, less, least, more, most,

are often used as substitutes.

" The victor's laurel^ as the martyr's crown.

The first I hope, nor less the last I prize." Hoole's Tasso. 6. S. '• The last shall be first, and the^rsf last." Matt. xx. 16.

" It will not be amiss to inquire into the cause of this strange phenome- non ; that, even a man of diseernnienl should write without meaning, and not be sensible that be hath no meaning; and that judicious people sliould I . . ; \\, ■ I I ii'i ' ... : •! u in this way, and not discover (he defect. Both ; 1 ' much more than the last." Camp. Rhet. 2. 7.

I i ,11 \\\\o clauses of the sentence, preceded by that —

. re surprising. First a.Tii last st:>.ni in the placj

lehemence are often confounded, the /aHer being con-

-i ! - I'i Ihe former. Camp. Rhet. 1.1.

I . . !. 111. I to go thither with less than the appointed equipment."

M.ckle. I. i.M. Heie/e.>.s supplies the place of e?u!/)me«^ and prevents

the necessity of its repetition.

"To the relief of these, Noronha sent some supplies, but while he was preparing to send more, an order from Portugal arrived." Mickle, 1. 180. Here more is sufficiently intelligible without a repetition of the name — supplies.

GRAMMAR OF THE

•' And the diildicn ol' Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less.'

Exod. xvi. 17 "I cannot go beyond the word of tlie Lord, my God, to do less or more.'

JVunib. xxii. 18

"Then began he to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty work;

were done." JV/a«.xi. 20

" Was not tliis love indeed ?

We men say more, swear more, but indeed

Our shews are more than will." Shahs. Twelfth JVight

Such. " Jabal was the father o( such as dwell in tents." Gen. iv,

'•Thou shalt provide able men such as fear God." iJ.c. xviii,

"Objects of importance must be portrayed byolyectsof importance; such

as have grace, by things graceful." Ca7np. Rhet. 1. 2

Such here supplies the place of a name or noun, but it retains its attribu

tivc sense and the name may be added.

Self and o-mn.

Self is said to have been originally an attribute, but is now used as an in tensive word to give emphasis to substitutes and attributes. Sometimes it is used as a noun. In the plural, it forms selves. It is added to the attributes my, your, own, as myself, yourself,* ourselves; and to him, her, them, as himself, herself, themselves. And though annexed to substitutes in the ob- jective case, these words are indifferently in the nominative or objective. Self is never added to his, their, mine, or thine.

the compounds himself, herself, thyself, ourselves, themselves, may be placed immediately after the personal substitute, as he himself wrote a let- ter to the minister, or immediately after the following verb or its object, as " He wrote a letter himself," — "he went himself to the admiralty." In such phrases himself not only gives emphasis to the affirmation ; but gives to an implied negative, the force of one expressed. " He went himself to the minister," carries with it a direct negation that another person went. In negative sentences, it has a different effect. " He did not write the letter himself," implies strongly that he wrote it by an agent, or had an agency in procuring it to be written.

These compound substitutes are used after verbs when reciprocal action is expressed ; as, " They injure themselves."

Itself is added to names for emphasis ; as, " this is the book itself."

Own is an attribute denoting property, used with names to render the sense emphatical ; as, " this book is my owti."

Otvn is sometunes a substitute; as, " He came unto his own and his own received him not." Johni. 11.

" This is an invention of his own."

One, other, another, none.

The attribute one is very often a substitute ; other is used in the same manner, and often opposed to 072e. "All rational or deductive evidence is derived from one or the other of these two sources." Camp. Rhet. ch. 5.

To render these words more definite, and the specification of the alternative more explicit, the definitive rte is placed before them; as, "either he will hate the one and love the other."

,3nother has sometimes a possessive case ; as, " the horse is another's " but this form of speech is but little used. '

Another is the Saxon an, one, and other — one other. It is an attribute but often used as a substitute. " Let another praise thee and not thine own mouth." prov. xxvii. 2.

JVone [no one] is often a substitute ; as, "Ye shall he down and none shall make you afraid." Lev. xxvi. 6. It is used in the plural as well as the singular number.

The cardinal numbers are all used as substitutes, when the thino-s to which they refer are understood by the train of discourse, and no ambiguity is created by the onussion of the name ; as, " The rest of the people also cast lots, to bring one of ten to dwell in Jerusalem." j\\-eh. xi. 1.

One has sometimes the possessive form ; as, " One's person is to be protected bylaw;" and frequently the plural number; as, "I have commanded my sanctified ones, and I have called my mighty ones." /so. xiii. 3.

* In this compound, we have a strong confirmation of what I have ailed, ed respectmg the arrangement of you in the singular number, when used of a smgle person. Self is invariably In the singular— setoes in the plural. ^ow ityov. is to be classed with plurals in all cases, we must, to be consist- ent, apply yourselves to a single person. Yet we make the proper disUnc- tion— yourself is applied to one person— yourselves to more. But upon the principle of our grammars, that you must always be joined to a verb in the plural, we are under the necessity of saying " Vou yourself were," when we address a single person— which is false construction. Whatever verb therefore IS used with you when applied to an individual, must be considered as a verb in the singular number.

One, when contrasted with other, sometimes represents plural names, and is joined with a plural verb, as in this passage, "The reason why the one are ordinarily taken for real quahties, and the other, only for bare powers, seems to be," &,c. Locke, b. 2. ch. 8. 25.

One and another, have a peculiar distributive use in the following and the like expressions; "Brethren, let us love one another." The effect of these words seems to be, to separate an act affirmed of a number collectively, and distribute it among the several individuals — " Let us love — let each one love the other." " If ye have love one to another" — " by love serve one anoth- er." One another, in this phraseology, have the comprehensive sense of every one. " By love serve" — every one serve the otlier. Each is used in a like sense — They loved each other — that is — they loved— each loved the other.

Several.

Several is an attribute, denoting originally one thing severed from others. But this sense seems to be now confined to technical law language ; as a "joint and several estate." In common use, it is always plural, expressive of an indefinite number, not very large. It is frequently a substitute ; as, " Several of my unknown correspondents." Spectator, 281.

Some.

The attribute some is often used as a substitute ; as, " Some talk of sub- jects they do not understand ; others praise virtue who do not practice it."

Johnson. Each, every, either, neither.

Each is a distributive attribute, used to denote every individual of a num- ber, separately considered ; as, " The king of Israel and the kingof Judahsat each on his throne." " Thou also and Aaron, take each of you his censer."

The /our beasts had each of them six wings."

In these passages, each is a substitute for the name of the persons or ob- jects, one separate from the other.*

Eveiy denotes all the individuals of a number considered separately. It is therefore a distributive attribute, but sometimes a substitute, chiefly in the law style ; as, " every of the clauses and condiUons." It is generally follow- ed by the name to which it belongs, or by the cardinal number one.

We sometimes see every separated from its name by the definitive the and an attribute of the superlative degree ; as, " every the least variation."

Locke.

Either and neither are usually classed with the conjunctions; but in strictness, they are always attributes or substitutes. Their correlatives or and 7ior, though considered as conjunctions, belong to the latter class of words ; or being merely an abbreviation of other, and nor being the same word with the Saxon negative prefixed, as will be hereafter shown.

Either and or denote an alternative ; as, " I will take either road at your pleasure." That is, I will take one road or the other. In this use, either is an attribute.

Either is also a substitute for a name ; as, " Either of the roads is good." It also represents a sentence or a clause of a sentence ; as, " No man can serve two masters, for either, he will hate the one and love the otlier, or else," &c. Matt. vi. 24. To understand the true import of either, let or be also reduced back to its original orthography, " for either, he will hate the one and love the other ; other else he will hold to the one and despise the other." Here we are presented with the sentence as it would have stood in the Saxon ; and we see two distinct affirmations, to the first of which is prefixed either, and to the last other. These words then are substitutes for the following sentences when they are intended to be alternative. Either and or are therefore signs of an alternative, and may be called alternatives.

Either is used also for each ; as, " Two thieves were crucified — on either side one." This use of the word is constantly condemned by critics, and as constantly repeated by good writers ; but it was the true original sense of the word, as appears by every Saxon author.

Either is used also to represent an alternative of attributes ; as, " the emo- tion must be either not violent or not durable." Camp. Rhet. 1. 2.

JYcither is not either, from the Saxon ne-either; and nor is ne-other, not other. As either and or present an alternative or a choice of two things, so neither and nor deny both or the whole of any number of particulars ; as, " Fight neither with small nor great." 1 Kings, xxii. 31. Which sentence when resolved stands thus ; " Fight not either with small, not other with great." Such is the curious machinery of language !

JVeither is also used as an attribute and as a substitute for a name ; as, " JVeither office is filled, but neither of the offices will suit the candidate."

Note. — Or, either, nor and neither are here explained in their true origi- nal character ; but when they stand for sentences, it is more natural to con- sider them as connectives, under which head I have arranged them.

In general, any attribute [adjective] which describes persons or things with sufficient clearness, without the name to which it strictly belongs, may

* Each is as applicable to a hundred or thousand as to two. " The prince had a body guard of a thousand men, each of whom was six feet high."

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

)>(• used as a substitute ; as, " The rich have many fi lends ' — " Assocuiti with the uitseand good"—" The future will resemble the pa.it"—'' Such i (he opinion of the learned."

Attributes or Adjectives.

Attributes or Adjectives, in grammar, are words wliich denote flic quali ties inherent in, or ascribed to things ; as, a bright sun ; a splendid equip age; & miserable hut; a niusmficcnt hon^i- : ai. hmiest man; an amiable woman; liberal chdrity ; /ii!sr\\ h , ,i >," " ''ii~

As qualiUes may exist ii. liiil. I' i may be compared with

each other, suitable iiiodo^ ..i -]» . ', - i -spress these compara- tive degrees. In English, rmiM all iihh,- .>n i /7„<<; degrees of compar- ison, and a few admit of fum: There are thcretore four degrees of com- parison.

The/)-s< denotes a slight degree of the quality, and is expressed by Uie termination ish ; as reddish, brownish, yellowish. This may be denomina- ted the imperfect degree of the attribute.

The second denotes such a degree of the attribute as to constitute an abso- lute or distinct quality ; as red, brown, great, small, brave, tvise. This is called the positive degree.

The third denotes a greater or less degree of a quality than e.\\ists in another object, with which it is compared ; as greater, smaller, braver, tmser. This is called the comparative degree.

The fottrth denotes the utmost or least degree of a quality ; as bravest, zmsest, poorest, smallest. This is called the superlative degree.

The imperfect degree is formed by adding ish to an attribute ; as yellow, yellowish. If the attribute ends in e, this vowel is omitted ; as white, whitish.

The comparative degree is formed by addina r to adjectives ending with e, as wise, wiser; and by adding cr to words cij.linu uuli an articulation, as cold, colder ; or by prefixing more or less, w- /.i i. /»>/, /. ^ luihle.

The superlative degree is^formed by addin- / lo ilnu^.nding withe,

as wise, wisest; and es< to those which end uilli mi niiLciihuion, as coW, coldest ; or by prefixing tnost and least, as?mist brave, teasi charitable.

Every attribute, susceptible of comparison, may be compared by more and most, less and least.

All monysyllables admit of er and est, and dissyllables when the addition maybe easily pronounced ; as happy, happier, happiest; lofty, loftier, loftiest. But few words of more syllables than one will admit of er and est. Hence most attributes of more syllables than one are compared by more and ntost, less and least ; as more fallible, most upright, less generous, least splendid.

When attributes end in y after a consonant, this letter is dropped, and i substituted before er and est ; as lofty, loftier, loftiest.

A few attributes have different words or irregular terminations for-expres- sing the degrees of comparison ; as good, better, best ; had or evril, worse, worst ; fore, former, first ; less or lesser, least; much, more, most; near, nearer, nearest or next ; old, older, oldest or eldest ; late, later, latest or la^t.

When qualities are incapable of increase or diminution, the words which express them do not admit of comparison. Such are the numerals, first, second, third,&t.c., and attributes of mathematical figures, as square, spher- ical, rectangular ; for it will readily appear, that if a thing is/rs( or square, it cannot be more or less so.

The sense of attributes however is not restricted to the modification, ex- pressed by the common signs of comparison, but may be varied in an indefi- nite number of ways, by other words. Thus the attiibute very, which is the French tirai, true, formerly written veray, is much used intensively to express a great degree of a quality, but not the greatest; as very wise or learned. In like manner are used much, far, extremely, exceedingly, and most of the modifiers in ly.

Some attributes, from partitular appropriate uses, have received names, by which they are distinguished. But the usual classification is by no means correct. The following distribution seems to result from the uses of the words named.

An or a, the, this, that, these, those, other, another, one, none, some, may he called definitives, from their office, which is to limit or define the extent of the name to which they are prefixed, or to specify particulars.

My, thy, her, our, your, their, and tnine, thine, his, when used as attri- butes, with names, are possessive attributes, as they denote possession or ownership. /«sandi»Aose, if ranked with attributes, belong to the same class.

Each and every are distributives, but they may be classed with the de- finitives.

Either is an alternative, as is or, which is now considered merely as a connective.

Own is an intensive adjective. The words to which self is affixed, him- self, myself, themselves, yourself, yourselves, ourselves, thyself, itself, may be denominated intensive substitutes, or for brevity, intensivcs. Or they may be called compound substitutes.

Verb.

The verb is a primary part of speech, and next to the name or noun, is of the most importance. The uses of the verb are,

1st. To affirm, assert, or declare ; as, the sun shines ; John loves study ; God is just ; and negatively, avarice is not commendabU'.

Vol. I. ■ I.

2(1. To comiTK 3d. Toprav. 1 4th. Toiiiqiiii From the vai.

attend, let us observe.

' ' ; as, may the spirit of grace dwell iu us. K. docs it rain .' Will he come ? iiiiitications of verbs, have originated several divisions or t-l ! i , nne in English which seems to be correct

and Mill, n iiiU i ,;r, i , ,,, is, into transitive and intransitive. To th(<< I I I ' lion of the verb be, with certain auxiliaries

and \\> : .' ' ^ ;- I . ! :t pas.sive verb.*

1. \\ ' . , ' ir , uiinii or < lit rgy, which is exerted upon

soiiir (i!.j, (I, ..! in I in. iirj ■■:'!•.•■ r'liri In Miiiiral construction, the word

cx|)jc- in; i!i: MiM ■'■;. Inll'iiv- 1; li.- intei-vcntion of any other

wo:.l, i!ni:i:ii 111 I, I iua\\ I . :,. . . I'hus, " ridicule provokes

angiT," i; a cniiii.l. I, i-iniiiiviii.a, , .',,"'. i 'I l^l lit or uominative wofd, which causes l!i. a.ti ai ; /.rmv-/.. i^ilir mi l. .a ailiniiatioii of an act ; a?i- g-er is the objcti ^i.lii.'t iiK.iiii.'.al, Inllnim- ihr !i.in-iiiM_- vcrbprotJ»/ce.

The wind III -pi- a>]iiii." i- ilir iHiriiiaii"n ni an ad nf the wind exerted onaship. rfidi/ is llu- a;;.;nl ; ;i,v)^,r/,s, tin- veil, ; anil ■./(/;(, the object.

2. An intransitive verb denotes simple being or existence in a certain state, as to be, to rest ; or it denotes action, which is limited to the subject. Thus, "John sleeps," is an affirmation, in which John, the nominative to sleeps, is the subject of the affirmation ; sleeps is a verb intransitive, affirming a particular thing of John, which extends to no other object.

3. The 7)assi»c verb in English is formed by adding certain auxiliaries and participles to the verb be. It denotes p.assion orsuflering; that is, that the subject of the affirmation or nominalive i< alledril Ijy the action affirmed; as,

John is convinced ;" "Laura i^ li. < i m I . ii in-d."

In this form of the verb, the a- 1 I iimge places. Inthetran-

sitive form the agent precedes ili iliject follows; as, "John

has convinced Moses." In the jia- i, r i .i .a Hi. order is changed, and the agent follows the verb preceded by a preposition ; as, " Mosea is convinced by John."

To correspond with their nominatives, verbs are used in both numbers, and with the three persons in each.

As action and being may be meiiinin. i a< pn -ipul, past and future, verbs have modifications toexpress time. ^^llH h an . ilkil tenses. And as action and being mai^be represented in \\ i- \\\\ a\\-, ii iljs have various modifica- tions to answer these purposes, calli. il iihuli s m muuds. Hence to verbs be- long person, number, tense and mode.

The persons, which have been already explained, are I, thou or you, he. he, it, in the singular number; in the plural, we, ye or you, they. The numbers have been before explained.

Tenses.

There are .six tenses or modifications of the verb to express time. Each of these is divided into two forms, for the purpose of distinguishing the defi- nite or precise time from the indefinite. These may be thus explained and

lemplified.

Present Tense, indefinite.

This form of the present tense affirms or denies action or being, in present time, without limiting it with exactness to a given point. It expresses also facts which exist generally, at all times, general truths, attributes which are 1 permanent, habits, customary actions, and the like, without reference to a specific time ; as, God is infinitely great and just; man is imperfect and de- pendent ; plants spring from the earth ; Vudsfly ; fishes swim.

Present Tense, definite. This form expresses the present time with precision ; usually denoting ac- tion or being which corresponds in time with another action; as, lam wri- ting, while you are waiting.

Past Tense, indefinite. This form of the past tense represents action which took place at a given time past, however distant and completely past ; as, " In six days, God crea- ted the heavens and the earth." "Alexander conquered the Persians." " Scipio was as virtuous as brave." " The Earl of Chatham was an elo- quent statesman."

Past Tense, definite, [imperfect.] This form represents an action as taking place and unfinished in some spe- cified period of past time ; as, " I was standing at the door when the proces- sion passed."

*The common distribution into ac^iue, neuter and passive, is very objec- tionable. Many of our neuter verbs imply action in a pre-eminent degree, as to run, to umlk, to/y ; and the young learner cannot easily cbnceive why such verbs are not called active.

GRAMMAR OF THE

Perfect Tense, indefinite.

This form of the perfect tense represents an action completely past, and often at no great distance, but the time not specified ; as, " I have accom- plished my design." But if a particular time is named, the tense must be the past ,■ as, " I accomplished my design last week." " I have seen my friend last week," is not correct Enghsh. In this respect, the French idiom is different from the English, for "J'ai vu mon ami hier" is good French, but "I have seen my friend yesterday" is not good English. The words must be translated, " I saw my friend yesterday." No fault is more common than a mistranslation of this tense.

It is to be noted however that this perfect indefinite tense is that in which we express continued or repeated action; as, "My father has lived about eighty years." " The king has reigned more than forty years. " He has been frequently heard to lament." Life of Cowper. We use it also when a specified past time is represented, if that time is expressed as apart of the present period. Thus, although we cannot say, " We have been together yesterday," we usually say, " We have been together this morning, or this evening." We even use this tense in mentioning events which happened at a greater distance of time, if we connect that time with the present ; as, " His brother has visited him once within two years." " He has not seen his sister, since the year 1800."

Perfect Tense, definite.

This form represents an action as just finished; as, ' a history of the revolution in France."

Prior-past Tense, indefinite, [pluperfect.]

This form of the prior past tense expresses an action which was past at or before some other past time specified; as, " he had received the news before the messenger arrived."

Prior-past, definite.

This form denotes an action to be just past, at or before another time spe cified ; as, " I had been reading your letter when the messenger arrived,"

have been reading

Future Tense, indefinite.

This form of the future tense gives notice of an event to happen hereafter as, " Your son will obtain a commission in the navy." " We shall have fine season."

Future Tense, definite.

This form expresses an action which is to take place and be unfinished at a specified future time ; as, " He tcill be preparing for a visit, at the time

This form of the futu ture time specified ; as

Prior-Future, indefinite.

re tense denotes an action which will be past at a fu- , " They will have performed their task, by the ap puiuieu Hour.

Prior-Future, definite.

This form represents an action which will be just past at a future speci fied time ; as, " We shall have been making preparations, a week before our friends arrive."*

In the use of the present tense, the following things are to be noticed,

1. The present tense is customarily used to express future time, when by any mode of expression, the mind is transported forward to the time, so as to conceive it present; as, "I cannot determine, till the mail arrives soon as it is light, we shall depart." " When he has an opportunity, he will write." The words tilt, when, as soon as, carry the mind to the time of an event to happen, and we speak of it as present.

2. By an easy transition, the imagination passes from an author to his writ- ings ; these being in existence and present, though long after his decease we substitute the writer's name for his works, and speak of him as living, or in the present tense ; thus, Milton resetnbles Homer in sublimity and in- vention, as Pope resenift/es Virgil, in smoothness of versification. Plato is fanciful ; Aristotle is profound.

*The common names and distribution of the tenses, are so utterly incor- rect and incompetent to give a just idea of their uses, that I have ventured to offer a new division, retaining the old names, as far .as truth will warrant. The terms prior-past, and prior-future, are so perfectly descriptive of the tenses arranged under them, that I cannot but think they will be well re- ceived. The distincUon of indefinite and definite is not wholly new ; but I have never seen the definite forms displayed, though they are as necessary as the indefinite forms. Indeed, I see not how a foreigner can learn our lan- guage, as the tenses are commonly distributed and defined.

3. It gives great life and effect to description, in prose or verse, to repre- sent past events as present ; to introduce them to the view of the reader or hearer, as having a present existence. Hence the frequent use of the pres- ent tense for the future, by the historian, the poet and the orator : " She spoke ; Minerva burns to meet the war ; And now heaven's empres.'s calls the blazing car ; At her command rush forth the steeds divine. Rich with immortal gold, the trappings shine." Iliad, 5.

The definite tenses, it will be observed, are formed by the participle of the present tense, and the substantive verb, be. This participle always ex- presses present time, even when annexed to a past or future tense ; for, / was writing, denotes that, at the past time mentioned, the action was pres- ent; I shall be writing, denotes future time, but an action then to be present.

The past tense of every regular verb ends in ed; d being added to a verb ending in e, and erf to a verb with other terminations; as hate, hated ; look, looked.

The future tense is formed by the present tense of shall and will; for, I shall go, he will go, are merely an appropriate use of / shall to go, I will to go. See an explanation of these words under the head of auxiliaries.

There are other modes of expressing future time ; as, " 1 am going to write" ; " I am about to write." These have been called the inceptive fu- ture, as they note the commencement of an action, or an intention to com- mence an action without delay.

We have another mode of expression, which does not strictly and posi- tively foretell an action, yet it implies a necessity of performing an act, and learly indicates that it will take place. For example, " I have to pay a um of money to morrow." That is, I am under a present necessity or obli- gation to do a future act.

The substantive verb followed by a radical verb, forms another idiomatic expression of future time ; as, " John is to command a regiment." " Eneas went in search of the seat of an empire which was, one day, to command the world." The latter expression is a future past ; that 'i»,past to the nar- rator, but future as to the event, at the time specified.

Modes.

Mode, in grammar, is the manner of representing action and being, or the wishes and determinations of the mind. This is performed by inflections of the verb, or by combinations of verbs with auxiliaries and participles, and by their various positions.

As there are scarcely two authors who are agreed in the number and de- nominations of the modes in English, I shall ofler a distribution of the verbs, and a display of their inflections and combinations, somewhat different from any which I have seen.

1. The first and most simple form of the verb, is the verb without inflec- tions, and unconnected with persons. This form usually has the prefix to; as to love.

This form of the verb, not being restricted to person or number, is usually called the Infinitive Mode.

2. Another use of the verb is to affirm, assert or declare some action or existence, either positively, as he runs, or negatively, as you are not in 'health. This form is called the Indicative Mode.

3. Another office of the verb is to command, direct, ask, or exhort ; as arise, make haste, let us be content. This is called the Imperative Mode.

4. Another form of the verb is used to declare the power, liberty, possi- bility or necessity of acting or being, by means of certain words called aux- iliaries, as may, can, must, &c. This form is called the Potential Mode; as, / may or can write ; he tnust wait.*

5. Another use of verbs is to represent actions or events which are un-

certain, conditional or contingent; as, if he shall go; if they would attend.

' ■ Mode, but would better be denominated the

and Potential become conditional, by means jof words used to express condition; as if, though, unless, whether. I The Modes then are five ; the Infinitive, the Indicative, the Impera- tive, the Potential, and the Subjunctive.

It may also be observed that the combinations and arrangements of our verbs and auxiliaries to express negative and interrogative propositions, are really 7nodes of the verb, and a place might be assigned to the verb for each purpose, were it not for the inconvenience of having modes of modes. For the sake of distinction, I denominate these verbs interrogative and negative, and have exhibited the conjugation of each.

Participles.

Participles are derivatives from verbs, formed by particular terminations, and having the sense of verbs, attributes or names.

There are two species of participles; one denoting present lime, and formed by adding ing to the verb, as turn, turning, or when the verb ends with e, by dropping that letter and adding ing, as place, placing. But e is

* This mode is inserted in compliance with the opinions of many Gram- marians, but in opposition to my own. It is in fact the indicative mode, af- firming the power, &c. of acting, instead of the act itself.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

retainpil in ilyeing from dye, to color, to distinguisti it from ilying, the parti- ciple of die; in which word, yis used to prevent the duplication of i. In singeing from singe, e is retained to soften g, and to distinguish the word from singing; so also in twingeing.

This participle of the present tense is used, as before observed, to form the definite tenses. But it often loses the sense of the verb, and becomes an attribute ; as a loving friend, lasting friendship. In this use, it admits of comparison by more or less, most and least ; as more lasting, less saving most promising.

This participle also becomes an adverb or modifier by receiving the ter- mination ly, as lovingly, laughingly; and this species of modifiers admits of comparison, as more lovingly, most charmingly.

This participle also becomes a name and admits of tlie definitive; as, "the burning of London in 1666." In this capacity, it takes the plural form ; as, "the mier^ouJiHgs of the Nile ;" "he seeth all his goings." And some- times the plural is used when a modifier is attached to the participle ; as, " the goings out, the comings in." Ezek. xliii. II. But this use of the par- ticiple is not esteemed elegant, nor is it common.

In a few instances, the participle in ing becomes a name by receiving the termination ness; as willingness, from willing.

The other species of participle is formed from the verb, by adding d or erf, and in regular verbs, it corresponds exactly with the past time ; as loved, preceded. This may be called the participle of the perfect tense.

This participle, when its verb is transitive, may be joined with the verb be, in all its inflections, to form a passive verb, and the participle, in such combination, is called pctssive.

But this participle, when formed from an intransit ive verb, cannot, except in a few instances, be joined to the substantive verb, or used in a passive sense; but it unites with the other auxiliaries.

This participle often loses its verbal character, and becomes an attribute ; as a concealed plot, a painted house. In this character it admits of compari- son, as " a more admired artist," " a most respected magistrate ;" and a fc

these verbal attributes rec pointedly, more conccitnlh/ Those verbs, whose pi-i lar. All which deviate li" ticiples of the perfect tcn-r found in the sequel.

ation ly, and become modifiers, as >/■

iple end in ed, are deemed regu- deemed irregular, and their par- n and g. A list of them will be

Auxiliaries.

In English, a few monosyllabic verbs are chiefly employed to form the modes and tenses of other verbs, and from this use, are denominated auxilia- ries or helping verbs. These are followed by other verbs, without the prefix to, as " he may go ;" though they were originally principal verbs, and some of' them still retain that character, as well as that of auxiliaries.

The verbs which are always auxiliary to others, are nmy, can, shall, must; those which are sometimes auxiliaries, and sometimes principal verbs, are will, have, do and be. To these may be added need and dare.

May conveys the idea of «&«% or permission; as, "he may go, if he will." Or it denotes possibility ; as, " he may have written or not."*

Can has the sense of to be able.

Shalt, in its primitive sense, denotes to be obliged, coinciding nearly with Might ; which sense it retains in the German. But this signification, though evidently the root of the present uses of this word, is much obscured. Th( following remarks will illustrate the several usesof «'iH and shall.

Will h.is a common origin with the Latin volo. Hence the German wol len, the old English woH, and the present contraction won'*, that \\s,woll-not.\\

This was originally a principal verb, and is still used as such ii guage. It denotes the act of the mind in determining, or a deter for he teills to go, and he will go, are radically of the same import.

* The primitive idea expressed by inay was power ; Sax. magan, to be able, f It is supposed that the Roman ti was pronounced as our w, wolo.

When a man exprcs-^cs his own detcrminalion of inind, I will, we are ac- customed to consider tlie event, or act willed as certain ; for we naturally connect the power to act, with the intention; hence we make the declara- tion of will a ground of confidence, and by an easy association of ideas, we connect the declaration, with an obligation to carry the determination into efTect. Hence will expressed by a person himself, came to denote a promise.

But when a person declares the will of another, he is not supposed to pos- sess the power to decide for him, and to carry his will into effect. He merely offers an opinion, grounded on infoi-mation or probable circumstances, which give him more or less confidence of an event depending on another's will. Hence will in the second and third person simply foretells, or expresses an opinion of what will take place.

Sliall, in some of its inflections, retains its primitive sense — to be obliged

or bound in duty ; but in many of its uses, its sense is much varied. In the

first person, it merely foretells ; as, " I shall go to New- York to-morrow."

In this phrase, the word seems to have no reference to obligation ; nor is it

)nsidercd by a second person as imposing an obligation on the person utter-

ig it. But when shall is used in the second and third persons, it resumes

3 primitive sense, or one nearly allied to it, implying obligation; as when

superior commands with authority, you shcUl go ; or implying a right in the

second and third person to expect, and hence denoting a promise in the

speaker ; as, " you shall receive your wages." This is radically saying,

' you ought to receive your wages ;" but this right in the second person to

•eceivc, implies an obligation in the person speaking to pay. Hence shall

n the first [lerson foretells ; in the second, /(romise.s, commands, or expresses

determination. When shall in the second and third persons, is uttered with

iphasis, it expresses determination in the speaker, and implies an authority

enforce the act. " You shall go."

Must expresses necessity, and has no variation for person, number or tense.

Bo is a principal and a transitive verb, sisiTiifying to act or make; but i< used in the present or past tenses as an auxiliary to give emphasis to a dec- laration, to denote contrast, or to supply the place of the principal verb.

)uld have been impossible for Cicero to inflame the minds of the people to so high a pitch against oppression, considered in the abstract, as he

II y did inflame them against Verres the opjnessor 10. Here did expresses emphasis.

t was hardly possible that he should not distinguish you as he has done." Coup. Let. 40. Here done stands in the place oi distinguished you. For it must be oliserved that when do is the substitute for another verb, it sup- plies the place not only of the verb, but of the object of the verb.

" He loves not plays

As thou dost, Anthony."

That is, as thou lovest plays.

Do is also used in negative and interrogative sentences ; the present and past tenses of the Indicative Mode being chiefly formed tiy this auxiliary :

, " I do not reside in Boston." " Does John hold a commission ?"

Have is also a principal and transitive verb, denoting to possess ; but much used as an auxiliary, as " He has lately been to Hamburg." It is often used to supply the place of a principal verb, or participle, preventing a repetition of it, and the object after it ; as, " I have not seen Paris, but my brother has," that is, has seen Paris.

Equally common and extensive is the use of be, denoting existence, and

nee called the substantive verb. Either in the character of a principal

rb, or an auxiliary, it is found in almost every sentence of the language.

The inflection of a verb, in all the modes, tenses, numbers and persons, is termed Conjugation. The English verbs have few inflections, or changes of termination ; most of the tenses and modes being formed by means of the auxiliaries.

Note. — In the following conjugations, a small n in an Italic character, is inserted in the place where not should stand in negative sentences. The place is generally occupied by never, but not in every case. It is be- jlieved this letter will be very useful, especially to foreigners. The learner [may conjugate the verb with or without tiot, at pleasure.

Camp. met. 1.

2d. Person,

May. — Present Tense . Singular. Plural.

1st. Person, I may n We may n

C Thou mayest n C Ye niay n ( You may n* ( You may n

*" It may be remarked once for all, that thou and ye are the second person used in the sacred style, and sometimes in other grave discourses. In all other cases, you is the second person of the singu- lar number, as well as of the plural. It is not one of the most trivial absurdities which the student must now encounter at every step, in the study of En-

CONJITGATION OF XtlE AUXILIARIES.

Singular. Plural.

C mas. He may re They may n 3d. Persoti,2fem. She may n ( neut. It may n

glish grammar, that he meets with you in the plu- ral number only, though he finds it the represen- tative of an individual. Now if you is always plu- ral, then you yourself is not grammatical, but ab- surd; the true expression then must be, you your- selves, applied to an individual. Then I must say to a friend, who visits me, please to seat yourselves, Sir. This Is equal to the royal style, tee Ourself'

Singular.

I might n ( Thou mightest n \\ You might ;i

He might n

Past Tense. '•• Plural.

We might re J Ye might n ( You might 7i They might n

Can.— Present Tense.

I can re { Thou canst [ You can re

He can n

J Ye can n { V ou can n They can ti

Singular. 1 could n

Plural.

We couUl n

J Ye couM n

C Thou couldst n

I You could u i You could

He could n They could re

Shall.— Present Tense.

I shall n We shall n

i Thou Shalt re ( Ye shall n

I You shall n { You shall u

He shall n They shall re

Past Tense.

I should n We should n

C Thou shouldst n < Ye should ti

I You should II ( You should n

He should » They should re

Will .—Present Tense. I will re We will n

C Thou wilt re C Ye will n

I You will n I You will n

He will re They will re

Past Tense. I would n We would re

( Thou wouldst re ( Ye would re

I You would re \\ You would re

He would n They would re

Note. — Will, when a principal verb, is regu- larly conjugated ; I will, thou wiliest, he wills Pa-st tetxse, I willed.

Must. Must has no change of termination, and is join- ed with verbs only in the following tenses. Present Tense. I must re love We must re love

( Thou must re love { Ye must re love \\ You must re love ( You must re love He must re love They must re love

Perfect Tense. I must re have loved We must re have loved r Thou just re have Jy^^^^j^j^^^^I^^^^j

l^bveT'' " ''^"M You must re have loved

He mustnhave loved They must re have loved

Do. — Indicative jl/ode— Present Tense.

I do re love We do n love

C Thou dost re love C Ye do n love

( You do n love ( You do re love

He does or doth re love They do re love

Past Tense.

I did re love We did re love

C Thou didst re love ( Ye did n love

\\ You did re love I You did re love

He did n love They did n love

Infinitive Mode. Participles.

To do. Doing, done, having done.

Note. — In the third person singular of the pre- sent tense, doth is used in sacred and solemn lan- guage; does in common and familiar languagi This verb, when principal and transitive, has all the tenses and modes, 1 have done, I had done, 1 will do, &c.

HAVE.-Infinitive Mode, Present Tense.- To have.

Perfect Tense. — To have had.

Participle of the Present Tense. — Having.

Of the Perfect Tense.— Had.

Compound. — Having had.

Indicative Mode. — Present Tense.

GRAMMAR OF THE

Perfect Tense.

Singular. Plural.

I have re had We have n had

C Thou hast re had ( Ye have re had

I You have re had ( Y'ou have re had

He has or hath re had They have re had

Prior-past Tense. I had re had We had re had

C Thou hadstre had C Ye had re had

I You had n Iiad { You had re had

He had re had They had re had

Note. — In these tenses, the perfect and prior- past, this verb is always principal and transitive. Future Tense. In this tense the verb is principal or auxiliary with the same form of conjugation.

The following form foretells. I shall re have We shall re have

C Thou wilt re have CYcwillrehave

) You will re have { You will re have

He will re have They will n have

The following form promises, commands or de- termines.

I will re have We will re h,ave

C Thou Shalt re have ( Ye shall re have

I You shall re have ( You shall re have

He shall re have They shall re have

Prior-Future This tense foretells, and is used only when the verb is principal.

hall 7t have had fThou Shalt or wilt re J have had

1 You shall or will re 1 You shall or will re have |_ have had He shall or will re 'They shall or will re

have had have had

Note. — Will is not used in the iirst person of is tense ; it being incompatible with the of a promise. We cannot say, " I will have had possession a year, on the first of October next; but I shall have had, is a common expression. Imperative Mode.

I have n ^ Thou hast re t You haven He has or hath re*

Past Tense. I had re i Thou hadstre (You had re He had re Note. — In the foregoing te used either as a principal verb <

We have re ; Ye have re

■ They have

C Ye had re

I You had re They had re ises, this verb is r an auxiliary

Have you n or do re you

Let me re have Let him n have

Thou mightestre have Thou shouldst re have Thou couldst re have Thou wouldst re have You might re have You should re have You could re have You would re have He might re have He should re have He could n have He would re have

Ye might >i havi? Ye should n have Ye could re have Yc would II have You might re have You should re have You could re have You would n have They might re have They should re have They could n hai?e They would n have

Perfect Tense. In this tense, have is a principal verb only. Imaynhavehad We mayn have had

; Thou mayest re have had C Ye may re have had > You may re have had { You may 7i have had " He may re have had They may re have had

Prior-past Tense — the principal verb only. " might re ha ' " -^r ^

might re have

had

' Thou mightest re have

had ' You might re have had You |

" He might re have had In the same manner would.

There is no future tense, distinct from that of the indicative mode.

Conditional or Subjunctive Mode.

The Conditional or Subjunctive Mode is the

me as the Indicative, with some preceding word

expressing condition, supposition or contingency.

These words are, if, though or although, unless,

except, whether, lest, albeit.

If is a. corruption of gif, the imperative of gifaii, the Saxon orthography of give.

Plural. Have ye re, have you re Do re you have

request or exhortation,

the solemn style ; ha

ust, in the nature of things, be addressed to the second person ; nor can these phrases, let me have, let xis have, be considered, in strictness, as the first person of this mode, uorlet him have, astheihini; but they answer to the first and third persons of this mode in other languages, and the mere nam- ing of them is wholly immaterial.

The true force and effect of the verb, in this mode, depend on its application to characters, and the manner of utterance. Come, go, let him go, if uttered with a respectful address, or in a civil manner, may express entreaty, request or exhort- ation. On the other hand, such words uttered with a tone of authority, and addressed to inferiors, express command.

Potential Mode. — Present Tense. I In the following tense, this verb is either auxil- iary or principal.

I may or can n have We may or can re have

C Thou mayest or canstre ( Ye may or can re have ] have ]

( You mayor canre have ( Youmayorcanrehave He may or can re have They may or can n

have Must is used in the foregoing tense, and in the perfect also.

Past Tense. In this tense, the verb is principal or auxiliary. I might re have We might re have

I should re have We should re have

I could re have We could re have

I would n have Wc would n have

ixon theah, signifie

Though, the permit, allow. Mthough

compound of all and though, give or allow all. The old word thof, still used in some parts of Eng- land, is the imperative of the Saxon thajian, to al- low. Unless is the imperative of the Saxon on- lysan, to loose or dissolve. Except is the impera- tive of that verb. Lest is from lesan, to lease or dissolve. Albeit is a compound of all, be and if, let it be so.

These words, if, though, answer in signification and use, to the following : admit, grant, allow, suppose, as signs of a condition or hypothesis. " If you shall go," is simply, "give, you shall go;" that is, give that condition or fact ; allow or sup- pose it to be so.

It has been, and is still customary for authors

to omit the personal terminations of the second

d third persons of the verb in the present tense,

form the subjunctive mode; if thou go, if he

write.

The correct construction of the subjunctive mode is precisely the same as that of the indica- tive ; as it is used in popular practice, which has preserved the true idiom of the language; if thou tiast, if he has or hath ; to denote present uncer- tainty. But a future contingency may be ex- pressed by the omission of tlie personal termina- tions ; if he go, that is, if he shall go. Be. Be is a verb denoting existence, and therefore called the substantive verb. It is very irregular, being derived from different radicals, and having undergone many dialectical changes.

Infinitive Mode, Present Tense.— To ie.

Perfect Tense.— To have been.

Participle of the Present Tense. — Being.

Of the Perfect.— Seen.

Compound. — Having been.

Indicative Mode.— Present Tense.

I am re We are re

C Thou art re (Ye are re

> You arc re ( You are re

fit is re

The foregoing form of the pre enerally used by good wrilcrs.

They :

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

ing form is the most ancient, anJ if still veiy gen- eral in popular practice.

I be n Wc lie )i

Vou be n Ve or you be n

Heisn They ben

Tlwu beest, in the second person, is not in use. Past Tense. I was « We were n

C Thou wast n C Ye were re

\\ Vou was or were n { You were Ji He was ft They were n

Perfect Tense. I have n been We have been

{ Thou hastn been ( Ye have been

) You have n been { You have n been

He hath or has n been They have n been

Prior-past Tense.

I had n been We had n been

( Thou hadstJt been ( Ye had n been

) Vou had n been ( You hadn been

He had « been They had n been

Future Tense.

I shall or will n be We shall or will n be

i Thou Shalt or wiltJi be ( Ye shall or will n be

) Vou shall or will n be ( You shall or will n be

He shall or will n be They shall or will n be

Prior-future Tense. I shall n have been We shall n have been

("Thou .shall or wilt n f Ye shall or will »i have I have been J been

] You shall or will n] You shall or will n I have been I. have been

He shall or will n have They shall or will » been have been

Imperative Mode. C Be n ; be thou n ; do n thou be, or Command < do n be ; be ye n ,• do n you be, or

( do you n be, or do n be.

Exhortation C Let me n be, let him n be, let us n

Entreaty ( be, let them n be.

Potential Mode.

I may or can n be We may or can n be

^ Tljou mayst or canst n ^^ ^^^ ^^ ^^„ ^ ^^

You may or can n I

be ^ You may or can n be He may or can n be They may or can n be Must is used in this tense, and in tlie perfect also.

Past Tense. I might n be We might n be

(, Thou mightest n be ( Ye might n be I You might n be \\ You might n be

He might n be They might n be

In the same manner witli could, should and ■would.

Perfect Tense. I may or can have « We may or can n have been been

Ye may or can n have

Past Tense. // I was We were

i Thou wast ( Ye were

) Vou was or were \\ You were He was They were

The foregoing tenses express uncertainty, wliether a fact exists or existed ; or they admit the fact. The following form is used for tlic like purposes :

Ifl be We be

C Thou be ( Ye be

I You be \\ You be

He be They be

But this is more properly the form of the condi- tional future ; that is, the verb without the sign of the future— i/Ae be, for if he shall be. The following is the form of expressing sujiposi- m or hypothesis, and may be called the Hypothetical Tense. Ifl were We were

j Thou wert ( Ye were

I Vou was or were I Vou were He were They were

" Ifl were," supposes I am not; "if I were noV' supposes I am.

other tenses are the same as in the indica- tive mode.

The Conjugation of a Regular Verb.

Love. — Infinitive Mode, Present Tense.

To love.

Perfect Tense.— To have loved.

Participle of the Present Tense. — Laving.

Of the Perfect.— toBcd.

Compound. — Having loved.

Indicative Mode. — Present Tense, indefinite.

I love n We love n

C Thou lovest re (Ye love rt

I You love 71 ( You love re

He loveth or loves n They love n

With the auxiliary do. I do n love We do n love

C Thou dost n love ( Ye do n love

( You do n love ( Vou do re love

He doth or docs re love They do n love

Definite. I am re loving We are re laving

iiig

rThou mayest or canst ("l 1 n have been J

I Vou may or can n have | 1 [ been (^

You may or can re have been He may or can n have They may or can 7i been have been

Prior-past Tense. I might n have been We might re have been C Thou mightest re have C Ye might nhave been < been J Vou might n have

^ You might n have been ( been He might n have been They might re have

been In the same manner with could, would and fhould. There is no future tense in this mode. Subjunctive Mode. This Mode is formed by prefixing any sign of condition, hypothesis or contingency, to the indie ative mode in its various tenses. Present Tense. If I am We are

( Thou art ^ Ye are

I Vou are ( V'ou are

He is They are

I loving

C Ve are n \\ V ou are n loving ( You are re loving

He is n loving They are n loving

Past Tense, indefinite. I loved n We loved n

C Thou lovedst n J Ye loved re

I You loved re ( Vou loved n

He loved re They loved n

With the auxiliary did.

I did re love We did n love

C Thou didst re love C Ve did re love

( You did re love I Vou did n love

He did re love They did n love

Definite. I was n loving We were re loving

( Thou wast re loving C Ye were n loving ( You was re loving ( You were re loving

He was re loving They were re loving

Perfect Tense, indefinite. I have n loved We have n loved

Thou hast n loved C Ye have re loved

You have re loved ' \\ You have n loved

He has or hath n loved They have re loved

Definite. I have n been loving We have re been lov-

ing

re been lov

He has

hath

lov

rVehavei ■ing I ing .•mg j Vou havi

t loving been They have n been

lov

ing

Prior-past, indefinite.

I had n loved We had re loved

: Thou hadst re loved C Ye had re loved

Vou had 71 loved I Vou had n loved

' He had rt loved They had re loved

{Ye had re been lov- ing You had n been lov- ing He had re been loving They had ;ibeenlov-

ing Future Tense, indefinite. The form of predicting. I shall re love We shall n love

C Thou wilt n love ( Ve will 7i love

I You will « love ( You will n love

He will n love They will re love

The form of promising, commanding and deter- mining.

1 will re love We will n love

C Thou shalt re love C Ve shall re love

( You shall re love ( You shall n love

He shall re love They shall n love

Definite. I shall or will n be lov- We shall or will re be ing loving

(Thou shalt or wilt re be ("Ye shall or will n be loving J loving

You shall or will re be] You shall or will n loving (^ be loving

He shall or will re be lov- They shall or will n ing be loving

Prior-future, indefinite. I shall n have loved We shall n have loved

{Thou shalt or wilt re have [" Ye shall or will n loved J loved

You shall or willTi have) Vou shall or will n loved (^ have loved

He shall or will re have They shall or will n loved have loved

Definite. I shall n have been lov- We shall »ihave been ing loving

iThou shalt or wilt re have f Ye shall or will n been loving J have been loving

You shall or will re have | You shall or will n been loving l^ have been loving

He shall or will re have They shall or will re been loving have been loving

Imperative Mode. Let me n love Let us n love

Love re Love 7i

Do re love Do 7i love

Do thou re love Do ye or you n love

Do you n love Let them 7i love

Let him 71 love In the place of let, the poets employ the verb without the auxiliary. " Perish the lore that deadens young desire."

Beat. Minst. That is, let the lore perish. " £e ignorance thy choice, where knowledge leads to woe." Ibm.

Potential Mode. — Present Tense, indefinite. I may or can n love We may or can 77 love

C Thou mayst or canst 77 C Ve may or can n love ? love 2 Vou may or can 7»

( You may or can re love ( love He may or can 71 love They may or can n

love Must is used in this tense and in the perfect.

Definite. I may or can re be loving We may or can n be loving

iThou mayst or canst re be fYe may or can n be loving J loving

Vou may or can re be lov- i You may or can 71 be ing t loving

He may or can re be lov- They may or can 71 ing be loving

Past Tense, indefinite. I might re love We might n love

C Thou mightest re love C Ye might re love ( You might n love I You might n love

He might 11 love They might re love

GRAMMAR OF THE

With couhl, would and should in tliesame man

Definite. I might n he loving We might n be lovinf^

' Thou mightest n be lov- f Ye might n be loving ing < You might n be lov

' You might n be loving ( ing [ing

He might n be loving They might n be lov- With could, would and should in the same man

1 iii

fThou maj < canst n ( You may i

Perfect Tense, indefinite. We ;Ye ' You ■ They

f have > loved

1 may can n \\ He may or can n J Defi I may or can ii have

been loving f Thou mayest or canst 1 n have been loving

, have

We may or can

been loving ' Ye may or can n have ) been loving Du may or can ra S Youmayorcannha have been loving ( been loving He may or can n have They may or can been loving have been loving

Prior-past Tense, indefinite. I might n have loved We might n have loved Thou mightest n have C Ye might n have

loved 1 loved

You might n have \\ You might n hav

loved ( loved [loved

He might « have loved They might n h:

Definite. I might n have been

loving Thou mightest n have

We might 71 have been

loving Ye might nhave been

loving You might n have

been loving They might n have

been loving

been loving J You might n have f been loving He might n have been

been loving

With could, would and should in tlie same man ner, in the two last forms.

The potential mode becomes conditional by mean of the modifiers, if, though, unless, &c. prefixed to its tenses, without any variation from the foregoing inflections. This may, for distinction, be called the Conditional Potential.

Subjunctive Mode. — Present Tense. If, though, unless, whether, suppose, admit, fyc. I love n We love 7i

< Thou lovest n i Ye love n

I You love n { You love n

He lovethorlovesji They love « Some authors omit the personal terminations in the second and third persons — if thou love, if he love. With this single variation, which I deem contrary to the principles of our language, the subjunctive mode differs not in the least from the indicative, and to form it the learner has only to prefix a sign of condition, as if, though, unless, &c. to the indicative, in its several tenses. With this exception, however, that in the future tense, the auxiliary may be and often is suppressed. Thus instead of

If I shall or will love We shall or will love

S Thou Shalt or will love J Ye shall or will love l You shall or will love ( You shall or will love He shall or will love They shall or will love

Authors write, //; «■<•. I love

We love

S Thou love

< Ye love

) You love

I You love

He love

They love

This form is properly used, when shall or will may precede the verb, and when the verb is pre- ceded by a command or admonition ; as, " See that none render e\\i\\ for evil to any man."

1 Thess. V. 15.

In the subjunctive mode, there is a peculiarity in the tenses which should be noticed. When I say, if it rains, it is understood that I am icncer- tai/i of the fact, at the time of speaking. But

when I say, '' If it rained, we shouM be obliged to seek shelter," it is not understood that I am un- certain of the fact; on the contrary, it is under- stood that I am certain, it does not rain at the time of speaking. Or if I say, " if it did not rain, I would take a walk," I convey the idea that it does rain at the moment of speaking. This form of ourj tenses in the subjunctive mode has never been the subject of much notice, nor ever received its due explanation and arrangement. For this hypothet- ical verb is actually a present tense, or at least in-i definite — it certainly does not belong to past time. I It is further to be remarked, that a negative sen- tence always implies an affirmative — " if it did not rain," implies that it does rain. On the contrary, an affirmative sentence implies a negative — " if it did rain," implies that it does not.

n the past time, a similar distinction exists ; for " if it rained yesterday," denotes uncertainty in the speaker's mind — but " if it had not rained yes- terday," implies a certainty, that it did rain. Passive form of the Verb. Indicative Mode. — Present Tense. I am Ji loved We are n loved

SThou art n loved ( Ye are n loved You are n loved ( You are n loved He is n loved They are n loved

Past Tense. I was n loved We were « loved

^ Thou wast n loved C Ye were )i loved

( You was or were n loved ( You were n loved He was n loved They were n loved

Perfect Tense.

I have n been loved

( Thou hast n been loved ( You have n been loved

We have » been

Ye have n been

loved You have n been loved

He has or hath n been They have n been

loved loved

Prior-past Tense.

I had n been loved We had n been loved

Thou hadst n been loved ( Ye had n been loved

Y'ou had n been loved I You had n been loved

He had n been loved They had n been

loved

Future Tense.

I shall or will ti be loved We shall or will n be

Thou shalt or wilt n be

loved ( Ye shall or will n be

loved

> loved

You shall

or will n be

\\ You shall or will n

loved

( be loved

He shall

)r will n be

They shall or will n

loved

be loved

Prior-future

Tense.

I shall n

have been

We shall nhave been

loved

: Thou shalt or wilt w T Ye shall or will n ) have been loved 1 have been loved

\\ Y'ou shall or will n S You shall or will n f have been loved f have been loved

He shall or will n have They shall or will n been loved

Imperath Let me n be loved

Be thou or you n loved Do you n be loved' Let him n be loved

have been loved • Mode.

Let us n be loved Be n loved Be ye or you n loved Do you n be loved Let them n be loved

Potential Mode. — Present Tense, may, can or must n be We may, can or must

loved

■ Thou mayest, canst or I must n be loved I You may, can or must

n be loved He may, can or must n

be loved

n be loved Ye may, can or musti

n be loved You may, can or must

n be loved They may, can or

must n be loved

Past Tense.

I might n be loved We might Jt be loved

( Thou n\\ightest nhe loved C Ye might n be loved

( You might n be loved ( You might n be loved

He might n be loved They might n be

loved

With could, should and would in the same manner.

Perfect Tense.

We may, can or must n have been loved

Ye may, can or must 71 have been loved

You may, can or must 71 have been lov-

been

CYe

J You They

might n

■ith could, would and

I may, can or must n

have been loved Thou mayest, canst or must n have been loved You may, can or must n have been loved He may, can or must »s They may, can have been loved must n have been

loved Prior-past Tense. I might n ( Thou mightest ( You might n He might n In the same manne should.

Subjunctive Mode. — Present Tense. If, Src. I am n loved We are n loved

C Thou art n loved ^ Ye are n loved ( You are n loved ( You are » loved He is 71 loved They are n loved

Or thus : If, iV<". I be n loved We be »i loved

{ Thou be )i loved C Ye he n loved I You be n loved ( Y'ou be n loved He be n loved They be n loved

Past Tense. If, Src. 1 was n loved We were n loved

f Thou wastn loved C Ye were n loved

< You wasor were n }

( loved ( You were n loved

He was ?i loved They were n loved Or thus : If, Sfc. I were n loved We were n loved

( Thou wert »( loved ( Ye were n loved \\ You were n loved ( You were « loved He were n loved They were n loved Perfect Tense. If, Src. I have ra been loved We haven been loved C Thou hast n been C Ye have n been lov- 1 loved * ed

j You have 7i been J You have n been f loved ( loved

He has or hath n They have ?i been loved loved

Prior-past Tense. If, ^c. I had n been loved We had n been loved C Thou hadst n been C Ye had n been loved 5 loved )

J You had n been j You had n been lov- f loved ( ed

He had n been They had n been lov- loved ed

Future Tense. If, Src. I shall, will or We shall, will or should 7ibe loved should n be loved fThou Shalt, wilt or C Ye shall, will or shouldst n be lov- should n be loved

< ed J

I You shall, will or You shall, will or t should n be loved [^ should n be loved He shall, will or They shall, will or should n be loved should « be loved Prior-future Tense. If, Src. I shall or should n We shall or should n have been loved have been loved TThou shalt or shouldst fYe shall or should n J n have been loved J have been loved I You shall or should »J ] You shall or should 1^ have been loved (^ n have been loved He shall or should n They shall or should have been loved n have been loved

The future is often elliptical, the auxiliary being omitted. Thus instead of

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

If, SfC. I be 11 loved We be n loved

( Thou be n loved ( Ye be n loved \\ You be n loved \\ You be n loved He be n loved They be n loved

An exhibition of the verb in the interrogative form, with the sign of the negative.

Indicative Mode. — Present Tense, indefinite.

Love In? Love we n ?

^ Lovest thou it ? < Love ye n ?

( Love you n 7 \\ Love you n ?

Loveth or loves he n ? Love tliey n ? The foregoing form is but little used. The fol- lowing is the usual mode of asking questions. Do I n love > Do we n love ?

( Dost thou n love ? < Doye n love ? \\ Do you n love ? \\ Do you n love ?

Does or doth he n love ? Do they « love ?

Definite .

Am I « loving .' Are we n loving ?

J Art thou 71 loving ? J Are ye n loving ?

^ Are you n lo\\ ing .' ^ Are you n loving ?

Is he n loving ? Are they n loving .'

Past Tense, indefinite. Did I n love .' Did we n love .'

( Didst thou n love >. < Did ye n love ? ^ Did you n love .' < Did you n love ?

Did he n love ? Did they n love .'

The otlier form of this tense, loved he ? is sel- dom used. Definite.

Was I n loving .' Were we n loving ?

( Wast thou n loving ? t Were ye n loving ? ? Was or were you ?i < I loving ? ( Were you n loving ?

Was he n loving? Were they n loving?

Perfect Tense, indefinite. Have I n loved? Have we n loved ?

< Hast thou n loved ? < Have ye n loved ? I Have you »i loved ? ( Have you n loved ? Has or hath he n loved ? Have they n loved ? Definite. Have I n been loving? Have we n been lov-

[ing ? ing ?

■ Hast thou n been lov- C Have ye nbeenloving! ' Have you n been lov- < Have you n been lov- ' ing i ing?

Has or hath he n been Have they n been lov- loving ? ing ?

Prior-past, indefinite. Had I n loved ? Had we ?i loved ?

Hadst thou n loved ? < Had ye n loved ? Had you n loved ? ( Had you n loved ?

Had he n loved ? Had they n loved

Definite. Had I n been loving ? Had we n been loving ; 'Hadst thou Jt been < Had ye Ji been loving? loving ? \\ Had you n been loving;

' Had you n been loving? Had they n been lov. Had he n been loving ? ing?

Future Tense, indefinite.

Shall I n love ? , Shalt or wilt thou S love ?

> Shall or will you V. l,,ve ?

Shall we n love ? ■ Shall or will ye n love

Shall or will you » ' love ?

Sh.)ll

Shall r n be loving ? r Shalt or wilt thou n be ) loving ?

\\ Shall or will you n be ' loving ?

Shall or will he n he loving ?

Shall we n be loving ? Shall or will ye n be

loving? Shall or will you n be

Shall or will they n be loving ?

Prior-future, indefinite.

Shall I re have loved: Shalt or wilt thou n

have loved ? Shall or will you n

have loved ? Shall or will he t

have loved ?

Shall we n have loved ? Shall or will ye n have

loved ? Shall or will you n

have loved ? Shall or will they n

have loved ?

The definite form of this tense is little used.

Will, in this tense, is not elegantly used in the first person.

The interrogative form is not used in the imper- ative mode ; a command and a question being in- compatible.

It is not necessary to exhibit this form of the verb in the potential mode. Let the learner be only instructed that in interrogative sentences, the nominative follows the verb when alone, or the first auxiliary when one or more aroused; and the sign of negation not, (and generally never,) immediately follows the nominative.

IRREGULAR VERBS.

All verbs whose past tense and perfect participle do not end in ed Bemed irregular. The number of tliese i

I about one hundred and seventy seven. They aie of three kinds.

1. Those whose past tense, and participle of the perfect are the same as the present ; as, beat, burst, cast, cost, cut, hit, hurt, let, put, read, rent, rid, set, shed, shred, shut, slit, split, sjnead, thrust, sweat, wet. Wet has sometimes wetted; heat sometimes het ; but the practice is not respectable. Light and qidt have lit and quit in the past time and participle, but they are also regular.

2. Verbs whose past time and participle are alike, but different from the present; 3iS, meet, met ; sell, sold.

3. Verbs whose present and past tense and participle are all different ; as, hnow, knetp, known.

A few ending with ch, ck, x,p, II, ess, though regular, suffer a contraction of ed into t ; as, snatcht for snatched, checkt for checked, snapt for snapped, mixt for mixed, dwelt for dwelled, past for passed. Others have a digraph shortened ; as, drearn, dreamt ; feel, felt; mean, meant ; sleep, slept ; deal, dealt. In a few, v is changed into/,- as bereave, bereft ; leave, left.

As some of the past tenses and participles are obsolete or obsolescent, it deemed proper to set these in separate columns for the information of the

IRREGULAR VERBS.

Infin.

Past tense.

Participle.

Past tense obs. Part, o

Abide

abode

was

been

Arise, rise

arose, rose

arisen, risen

Awake

awoke, awaked

awaked

Bear

bore

borne

bare

Beat

beat

beat, beaten

Begin

begun, began

begun

Bend

bended, bent

Bereave

bereaved, bereft bereaved, bereft

Beseech

besought

Bid

hid

bid

bade bidden

Bind

bound

bounden

Bite

bit

bit, bitten

Bleed

bled

Blow

blew

blown

Break

broke

broke, broken

brake

Breed

bred

Bring Build

brought

builded, built

built

Burst

burst

Buy

bought

Cast

cast

Catch

catched, caught catched, caught

Chide

chid

chidden

Chuse.choose

chose

chose, chosen

1 Ir>fin.

" Past tense.

Participle. Past tense obs. Part. obs.

Cleave, to stick cleaved

cleaved clave

Cleave, to Cling

spUt cleft

cleft clove cloven

clung

Clothe

clothed

clothed clad

Come

came, come

come

Cost

cost

Crow

crowed

crowed crew

|Creep

crept

jCut

rut

cut

Dare

durst, dared*

dared

Deal

dealt, dealed

Dig

dug, digged

did

done

Draw

drew

drawn

Diive

drove

driven, drove drave [drunk

Drink

drank

drank drunken,

Dwell

dwelt, dwelled

Eat

cat, ate

eat, eaten [ved

Engrave

engraved

engraven, engia-

fell

fallcn

Feel

felt

Fight

fought

Find

found

Flee

fled

Fling

flung

Fly^

flew?

flown

Forget

forgot

forgot, forgotten forgat forsaken, forsook

Forsake

forsook

Freeze

froze

frozen, froze

Get

got

got, gotten gat

Gild

gUded, gilt

gilded, gilt

Gird

iirded, girt

girded, girt

Give

gave

given

went

gone

Grave

graved

graved, graven

Grind

ground

Grow

ia7

grown

Have

had

Hang

hanged, hung

Hear

heard

Hew

hewed

hewed, hewn

Hide

hid

hid, hidden

Hit

hit

Hold

held

held holden

* When transitive, this verb

is always regular; as, "he dared him."

GRAM3IAR OF THE

Infill.

Hurt Keep

Knit

Know

Lade

Lay

Lead

Leave

Lend

Let

Lie (down)

Lose

Make

Meet

Mow

Read

Rend

Rid

Ride

Ring

Past tense ubs. Part, ubs

Run

Saw

Say

See

Seek

Sell

Send

Set

Shake

Shape

Shave

Shear

Shed

Shine

Shew

Show

Shoot

Shrink

Shred

Shut

Sing

Sink

Sit

Slay

Sleep

Slide

Sling

Slink

Slit

Smite

Sow

Speak

Speed

Spend

Spill

Spin

Spit

Spread

Spring

Stand

Steal

Sting

Stink

Stride

Strike

String

Strive

Strow

Strew

Swear

Sweat

Swell

Swim

Swing

Take

Teach

Tear

Tell

kept knit knew

lent

let

lay

lost

made

met

mowed

paid

rid

rode, 1 rung

saw sought

shook

shaped

shaved

sheared

shed

shone, shined

shewed

showed

shod

shot

shrunk

shred

shut

sung

sat

slung slunk slit, slitted

sowed

sped spent spilled, spilt

spit

sprung stood

stride, strode struck

strove

showed

strewed

swore

sweat

swelled

swum, swam

swung

took

taught

told

kept knit known laden

met

mowed, mown

paid

set

shaken, shook

shaped

shaved

sheared

shed

shone, shined

shewn

shown, showed

shod

shot

shrunk

shred

shut

sunk

sat

slain

slept

slid

slung

slunk

slit, slitted

smitten, smit

sowed, sown

spoke, spoken

sped

spent

spilled, spilt

spun

spit

spread

sprung

stood

stole, stolen

stung

stunk

strid

struck

strung

striven

strowed, shown

strewed

swung taken, took taught torn, tore told

ipake

Infin. Think Thrive iThrow Thrust Tread Wax Wear Weave Weep

Pa,

ept on ound

Participle. thought thrived thrown

trod, trodden waxed worn, wore woven, wove wept

Past tense obs. Part.

wound

Work worked,wrought worked, wrought

Wring wrung, wringed wrung, wiinged

Write wrote, writ writ, written

Note 1. — The old forms of the past tense, sang, spake, sprang, forgat, &c. are here placed among the obsolete ivonls. They are entirely obsolete, in ordinary practice, wheth. r |">]' H -i ■ i ;- liilo ; and it seems advisable not to attempt to revive them. I: : i I'l; reason for omitting them,

there is one which is not i ■ . '.. ii,l. The sound of a in these

and all other like cases, w.i- u;] mm!I\\ h- lunada or aw ; which sound, in the Gothic and Saxon, as in the niodeir! Scotch, corresponded nearly with in spoke, swore. Spoke is therefore nearer to the original than spake, as we now pronounce the vowel a with its first or long sound, as in sake.

Note 2. — In the use of the past tense and participle of some of these verhs, there is a diversity of practice ; some authors retaining those which others have rejected as obsolete. Many words which were in use in the days of Shakspeare and Lord Bacon are now wholly laid aside ; others are used only in books; while others are obsolescent, being occasionally used ; and a few of the old participles, having lost the verbal character, are used only as adjectives. Of the last mentioned species, are fraught, drunken, [molten, beholden, shorn, clad, bounden, cloven. Holpen is entirely obso- lete. Holden, swollen, gotten and forgotten, are nearly obsolete in com- mon parlance. Wrought is evidently obsolescent. Stricken is used only in one phrase, stricken in age or years, which we learn from the bible ; but in every other case, is inelegant and pedantic.

Bishop Lowth has attempted to revive the use of many of the obsolescent past tenses and participles, for which he has, and I think deservedly, incur- red the severe animadversions of eminent critics. " Is it not su.-jjrising," says Campbell on Rhetoric, b. 2, ch.2, "that one of Lowth's penetration should think a single person entitled to revive a form of inflection in a par- ticular word, which had been rejected by all good writers of every denom- ination, for more than a hundred and fifty years." This writer declares what Lowth has advanced on the use of the past tense and participle, to be inconsistent with the very first principles of grammar. He observes justly that authority is every thing in language, and that this authority consists in reputable, national, present usage.

Independent of authority however, there are substantial reasons in the language itself for laying aside the participles ending with en, and for re- moving the difTerences between the past time and participle. In opposition to the opinion of Lowth, who regrets that our language has so few inflec- tions, and maintains that we should preserve all we have, I think it capable ■of demonstration that the differences between the past time and participle of the past tense of our irregular verbs, is one of the greatest inconveniences in the language. If we used personal terminations to form our modes and tenses like the Greeks, it would be desirable that they should be carefully

tained. But as we have no more than about half a dozen different termi- nations, and are therefore obliged to form our modes and tenses by means of auxiliaries, the combination of these forms a part of the business of learn- ing the language, which is extremely difficult and perplexing to foreigners. Even the natives of Scotland and Ireland do not always surmount the diffi- culty. This diflBculty is very much augmented by the difference between the past tense and the participle. To remove this difference, in words in which popular usage has given a lead, is to obviate, in a degree, this incon- venience. This is recommended by another circumstance — it will so far reduce our irregular verbs to an analogy with the regular, whose past tense and participle of the perfect are alike.

number of words, the dropping of n in the participle, will make a convenient distinction between the participle and the adjective ; for in the llatter, we always retain en — we always say, a written treatise, a spoken lan- guage, a hidden mystery — though the best authors write, a " mystery hid from ages ;" " the language spoke in Bengal."

Besides, whenever we observe a tendency in a nation to conti act words, we may be assured that the contraction is found to be convenient, and is therefore to be countenanced. Indeed if I mistake not, we are indebted to such contractions for many real improvements; as write from gewrite; slain from ofslegen ; fastened from gefastnode ; men from mannan ; holy from haligan, &c. And as a general remark, we may be assured that no language ever suffas the loss of a useful word or syllable. If a word or syllable is ever laid aside in national practice, it must be because it is not wanted, or because it is harsh and inconvenient in use, and a word or sylla- ble more consonant to the general taste of a nation or state of society, is substituted.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Such is the fact with our participles in en ; the e being suppressed m pro- nunciation, we have the words spokn, icrittn, holdn, in actual practice. Nothing can be more weak, inefficient and disagreeable than this nasal sound of the half vowel n ; it is disagreeable in prose, feeble inverse, and in music, intolerable. Were it possible to banish every sound of this kind

from ihe language,

rable. At any rate, when people in generat have laid a.side any of these sounds, writers, who value the beauties of language, should be the last to revive them.

Defective Verbs.

Verbs which want the past time or participle, are deemed defective. Of these we have very few. The auxiliaries may, can, will, shall, nntst, having no participle, belong to this cla.ss. Ought is used in the present and past tenses only, with the regular inflection of the second person only — / ought, thou oughlest, he ought. We, you, they ought, quoth is wholly ob- solete, except iii poetry and burlesque. It has no inflection, and is used chiefly in the third person, with the nominative following it, quoth he.

Wit, to know, is obsolete, except in the infinitive, to introduce an expla- nation or enumeration of particulars ; as, " There are seven persons, to wit, four men and three women." Wot and leiat are entirely obsolete.

Adverbs or Modifiers.

Adverbs arc a secondary part of speech. Their uses are to enlarge, re- strain, limit, define, and in short, to modifi/ the sense of other words. Adverbs may l)e classed according to their several uses.

1. Those which qualify the actions expressed by verbs and participles; as, "a good man lives ^ioit.s(y ;" " a room is c?C|£fan% furnished." Here piously denotes the manner oj living ; elegantly denotes the mannerof be- ing furnished.

In this class may be ranked a number of other words, as when, soon, then, where, whence, hence, and many others, whose use is to modify verbs.

2. Another class of adverbs are words usually called prepositions, used with verbs to vaiy their signification; for which purpose they generally follow them in construction, as to fall on, give out, bear with, cast up; or they are prefixed and become a part of the word, as overcome, underlay. In these uses, these words modify or change the sense of the verb, and when prefixed, are united with the verb in orthography.

A few modifiers admit the terminations of comparison; as soon, sooner, soonest ; often, oftcner, oftenest. Most of those which end in ly, may be compared by more and most, less and least ; as more justly, more excellent ly ; less honestly, least criminally.

Prepositions.

Prepositions, so called from their being put before other words, serve to connect words and show the relation between them, or to show the Thus a man of benevolence, denotes a man who pos ( liii^i was crucified between two thieves. Receive i\\f\\ mvi- ii to Thomas.

Hisi (MihiTion, are to, for, by, of, in, into, on, upon, ir

as connectives. Their use is to express ni alternatives. Thus, " Either John or Ii . an alternative sentence ; the verb or pre li but not to both ; and whatever may br ti thus joined by or, the verb and predioriI( 1 ' One very common use of ur, is to jo'

vord

iidlshallcallthcm the Exchange," is ■ . i.ne or the other, r :,i.3or propositions

,1;,.

condition of thing' sesses benevoI«-nc the book /ro»i .l"i The prepositiHi! (imoHff, belli; , „ with, tlinnmli. ol

a, be

prefix, return, subjoin, ^c. These may be called prefixes. Connectives or Conjunctions.

Connectives are words which unite words and sentences in construction joining two or more simple sentences into one compound one, and continu- ing the sentence at the pleasure of the writer or speaker. They also begin sentences after a full period, manifesting some relation between sentences in the general tenor of discourse.

The connectives of most general use, are and, or, either, nor, neither, hut, than. To which may be added because.

And is supposed to denote an addition; as, " The book is worth four shil lings and sixpence." That is, it is worth four shillings, add sixpence, oi with sixpence added. " John resides at New York, and Thomas, at Bos ton." That is, John resides at New York, add, [add this which follows,] Thomas resides at Boston. From the great use of this connective in join- ing words of which the same thing is affirmed or predicated, it may be just- ly called the copulative by way of eminence.

The distinguishing use of the connective is to save the repetition of words ; for this sentence, " John, Thomas and Peter reside at York," con- tains three simple sentences ; '■ John resides at York," — " Thomas resides at York," — "Peter resides at York;" which are all combined into one,] with a single verb and predicate, by means of the copul

added by way of explanation or definition. Thus, " No di •

can more fatally disable it from benevolence, than ill-him

ness." Rambler, J\\i~o. 74. Here peevishness is not inteml.

thing from ill-humor, but as another term for the same idea. In lhi> o.i-j,

m- expresses only an alternative of words, and not of signification.

Iher andur are affirmative of one or other of the particulars named, so neither and nor are negative of all the paniculars. Thus, " For 1 am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor highth, 7ior depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God." Rom. 39. Here neither is in fact a substitute for each of the following particulars, all of which it denies to be able to effect a certain purpose — not either of these which follow shall separate us from the love of God. It is laid down as a rule in our grammars, that nor must always answer to nei- ther; but this is a great mistake, for the negation o{ neither, not either, ex- tends to every one of the following alternatives. But nor is more general- ly used, and in many cases, as in the passage just recited, is far the most mphatical. But is used for two Saxon words, originally by mistake, but now by es- tablished custom ; bet or bote, the radical of our modern words better, boot, and denoting sufficiency, compensation, more, further, or something addi- tional, by way of amendment ; and buton or butan, equivalent to without or except.

In the former sense, we have the word in this sentence ; " John resides at York, but Thomas resides at Bristol." The primitive sense here is, John resides at York ; more, add or supply, Thomas resides at Bristol. It does not signify opposition, as is usually supposed, but some addition to the sense of what goes before.

In the latter sense, or that of butan, it is used in this passage, " He hatli not grieved me, but in part." 2 Cor. ii. 5. That is, " He hath not grieved me, except fn part." The first assertion is a complete negation ; the word but, (butan,) introduces an exception. " Nothing, but true religion, can give us peace in death." Here also is a complete negation, with a saving introduced by but. Nothing, except true religion.

These were the only primitive uses of 6ut, until by means of a mistake, a third sense was added, which is that of only. Not knowing the origin and true meaning of but, authors omitted the negation in certain phrases where it was essential to a true construction ; as in the following passages, " Our light affliction, which is but for a moment." 2 Cor. iv. " If they kill us, we shall 6uf die." 2 Kings, vii.

The but, in these passages, is buton, be o>it, except; and according to the true original sense, 7iot should precede, to give the sentence a negative turn. " Our Ught affliction is not, but (except) for a moment." " We shall not, but die." As they now stand, they would in strictness signify. Our light affliction is except for a moment — We can except die, which would not be sense. To correct the sense, and repair the breach made in the true English idiom, by this mistake, we must give but a new sense, equivalent to only. Thus we are obliged to patch and mend, to prevent the mischiefs of innovation.

The liistory of this word but should be, as Johnson expresses the idea, " a guide to reformers, and a terror to innovators." The first blunder or inno- ation blended two words of distinct meanings into one, in orthography and pronunciation. Then the sense and etymology being obscured, authors proceeded to a further change, and suppressed the negation, which was es- sential to the buton. We have now therefore one word with three different and unallied meanings ; and to these may be reduced the whole of John- son's eighteen definitions ofbut.

Let us however ti'ace the mischief of this change a little further. As the word but is now used, a sentence may have the same meaning with or with- out the negation. For example : " he hath ?wt grieved me, but in part," and " he hath grieved me, but in part," have, according to our present use of but, precisely the same meaning. Or compare different passages of scripture, as they now stand in our bibles. He hath not grieved me, but in part. Our light affliction is but for a moment.

This however is not all ; for the innovation being directed neither by knowledge nor judgment, is not extended to all cases, and in a large pro- iporlion of phrases to which but belongs, it is used in its original sense with a preceding negation, especially with nothing and none. " There is none good, but one, 3iat is God." Matt. xix. 17. This is correct — there is none good, except one, that is God. " He saw a fig-tree in the way, and found nothing tliereon but leaves only." Matt. xxi. 19. This is also correct — " he found nothing, except leave* ;" the only is redundant. " It amounts to no more but tliis." Locke, Und. b. 1. 2. This is a correct English

Eitherlni or have been already explained under'the head of substitutes,! Phrase; "it amounts to no more, except this;" but it is nearly obsolete, for in strictness they are the representatives of sentences or words; but as j Hence the propriety of these phrases. "They could not, hut be known or has totally lost that character, both these words will be here considered I be fore." Locke, 1. 2. " The reader may be, nay cannot choose but be Vol. I. J.

GRAMMAR OF THE

very fallible in the understanding of it." Locke, 3. 9. Here but is used inll its true -onse. They eould not, except this, be known before. That is, thei'n fontrary was not possible. The other phrase is frequently found in Shaks-|;i, peare and other old writers, but is now obsolete. They cannot choose butj > that is, they have no choice, power or alternative, except to be very fal- lible.

But is called in our grammars, a disjunctive conjunction, connecting sentences, but expressing opposition in tne sense. To illustrate the use of this word which joms and diyoins at the same time, Lowth u;ives this ex- ample ; " You and I rode to London, but Peter staid at home. ' — Here the Bishop supposed the but to express an opposition in the sense. But let 6wi be omitted, and what diflerence will the omission make in the sense .' "Youj and I rode to London, Peter staid at home." Is the opposition in the sense! les? clearly marked than when the conjunciion is used ? By no means. And the truth is, that the opposition in the sense, when there is any, is never expressed by the connective at all, but always by the following sentence or phrase. " They have mouths, but they speak not ; eyes have they, but see not." Psalm cxv. 5. Let 4t«< be omitted. " They have mouths, they speak not ; eyes have they, they see not." The omission of the connectives makes not the smallest alteration in the sense, so far as opposition or difference of idea in the members of the sentence is concerned. Indeed the Bishop is mo.=t linfiirtunntr in the examplr Jr 1. rtrl in il!n«trate his rule ; for the cop- ulativi ami ihay !"■ \\i-r,\\ lor / ;;/ ;'.,.'', ' ■ ,.t alteration in the sense — " Voii and ( loilf tn Loiiilnii. ■• ; . : , i ' ■: home." In this sentence the iipijj uliju is as cuiiiplclrl-, . >, . .J ,, .! ..,/.' was Used; which proves that the opposition in Ihe senst- lus nu iiepc-mlL-nce on the connective.

Nor is it true that an oppo-ition in the seuse always follows 6ut. "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word which proceedeth out of the mouth of God." Matt. iv. 4. Here the la-t clause expresses no oppo- sition, but merely an additional fvf Tlr <:■; • ■ i^ ■:■ r.f hut when used for bote,is supply, more, further, s' ''' ' anplete the sense ;

it may be in opposition to wli.:' '■ ; ' : Liuation only. In

general, hoxvcvcr. the word //;(/ i. ■■<•• ,.,• , , > ', n . ; I , ,:,re a clause of a senlrn". . i'.'r- '■■■' 'o in'ri 'i'. ■;■ .1 new ami -Mine w ii.ii ilnirrunt idea, by way

of '',1 ■■' :'. pieceding clause. This use is very naturally

drilii' 'I I ^i " ' i~r of the word, something further which is toi

mak. ■11 ',:>:>■':■ " ',|'''|'' a ^lai has preceded.

ThiDi i< a coiinicuie oi luiuparison ; "John is taller than Peter."

Because is a mere compound of by and cause — by cause. " It is the] 21. Now case of some to contrive some filse periods of business, ftecawse they mayiadjective seem men of dispatch." Bacon on Dispatch. See also j?po(7i. 7. 6. Thisljtile ; prol

from nouns ami adjectives by the termination izi : system, systemize; moral, moralize. When the p . u'.vel, the consonant ( is pretixed to the terminatioc

I goodness, from good ; gror

. ; - i ,.■'', l.om nouns and adjectives by the addition of en orn; ;;uH-ii. uiJ..'ii, from length, wide.

Verbs ior:/ied by fy; asbrutify, stratify, from bi'ute, stratum. Nouns foi-nied from adjectives by ness ; ; from gracious.

8. Nouns formed by dom and ric, denoting jurisdiction; as kingdom, bishopric, from king and bishop. Dom and ric, are nouns denoting jurisdic- tion or territory.

9. Nouns formed by hood and ship, denoting state or condition ; as man- hood, lordship, from man, lord.

10. Nouns ending in ment and age, from the French, denoting state or act ; as commandment, parentage, from command, pai"ent.

11. Nouns in er,o»- and ee, used byway of opposition, the former denoting the agent, the latter the receiver or person to whom an act is performed ; as assignor, assignee; indorser, indorsee.

12. Adjectives formed IVom nouns by the addition of y; as healthy, from health ; pithy, from pith : or ly added to the noun ; as stately, from state- Ly is a contraction of like.

13. Adjectives formed from nouns by the addition of/uJ ,• as hopeful, from hope.

11. Adjectives formed from nouns or verbs by ible or able ; as payable, from pay ; creditable, from credit ; compressible, from compress. Jible de- notes power or capacity.

15. Adjectives formed from nouns or adjectives by ish; as whitish, from white; blackish, from black; waggish, fom wag.

16. Adjectives formed from nouns by less, noting destitution ; as father- less, fi'om father.

17. Adjectives formed from nouns by ous ; as famous, from fame ; gra- cious, from grace.

18. Adjectives formed by adding some to nouns ; as delightsome, from delight.

li). Adverbs formed from adjectives by ly ; as sweetly, from sweet. 20. Nouns to eTpipis f males formed by adding ess to the masculine gen- der; ash.'i:, - f:r„>ii'

! ' ■ sirne directly from the Latin, others formed from ■ , from responsible ; contractility, from contrac-

Englisb

riticism to the contrary notwith-

orriKu hy adding a/ to nouns; as national, from nation, standing; but it is now obsolete. 23. Adjectives ending in jc, mostly from the Latin or French, but some

of them by the addition of ic to a noun ; as balsamic, from balsam ; sul- Exclamations. phuric, from sulphur.

24. Nouns formed by ate, to denote the union of substances in salts ; as Exclamations are sounds uttered to express passions and emotions ; usu- jcarbonate, in the chimical nomenclature, denotes carbonic acid combined ally those which are violent or sudden. They are called interjections, ,y,\\f]^ another body.

words throum in between the parts of a sentence. But this is not alwaysj' 25. Nouns ending in ite, from other nouns, and denoting salts formed by the fact, and the name is insignificant. The more appropriate name is, ex- j the union of acids with other bodies; as sulphite, from sulphur. clamaiions; as they are mere irregular sounds, uttered as passion dictates i 26. Nouns ending in ret, formed from other nouns, and denoting a sub- and not subject to rules. ||stance combined with an alkaline, earthy or metallic base; as sulphuret,

A few of these sounds however become the customary modes of expres-lcarburet, from sulphur and carbon. sintr particular passions and feelings in every nation. Thus in English, joy,-' 27. Nouns formed fiom other nouns by adding cy; as ensigncy, eaptain- surpiisc and tiriitare expressed by oh, uttered with a different tone andj,(.y^ from ensign, captain.

counlenauce. .'lias expresses grief or great sorrow— pisA, i)sAa«', express i ^-ords are also formed by prefixing certain syllables and words, some of iitempt. Sometimes jerbs, names, and^ attributes aj-e uttered by wa^ o{,^]^^^ siiinificanf by themselves, others never "used but in composition; as xi„.ii Tir.i— „i Tji„„- .„„r /-!„„ - ^ pre, con, mis, sub, super : and great numbers are formed by the union two words ; as bed-room, ink-stand, pen-knife.

1 and sub-

detached manner ; as. Hail ! Welcome ! Bless me ! Gr cious heavens !

In two or three instances, exclamations are followed by stilulcs in the nominative and objective; as, O «/io?/, in t1 ah me, in the objective. Sometimes that follows O, expressing a wish ; " ' that the Lord would guide my ways." But in such cases, we may conside ivish or some other verb to be understood.

Derivation.

However numerous may be the words in a language, the number of rad tal words is small. Most words are formed from others by addition of ce

Syntax.

Syntax teaches the rules to be observed in the construction of sentences.

A sentence is a number of words arranged in due order, and forming a

complete atfirmation or proposition. In philosophical language, a sentence

consists of a subject and a predicate, connected by an affirmation. Thus,

" God is omnipotent," a complete propodtion oi- sentence, composed of God,

_^^ „,..^... „ „„ „.. „. ^^. ,'lie subject, omnipotent, the predicate or thing affirmed, cormected by the

tain words or syllables, which were oHeinalTy 'distinct words,""but "wWc'h !verb is, which forms the affirmaUon. , . „

have lost their distinct character, and are now used only in combinalionij The predicate is often included m the veto ; as, " the sun shines, with other words. Thus er in lover, is a contraction of wcr, a Saxon word;! A simple sentence then contams one subject and one personal verb, that denoUng man, [the Latin vir ,-] ness denotes state or condition ; ly is an ab-jlis, the noun and the verb ; and without these, no proposition can be tormed. breviation of like or liche ; fy is from facio, to make, &c. A compound sentence consists of two or more simple sentences, joined by

Most of the English derivatives fall under the following heads :— | connectives. The divisions of a compound sentence may be called inem-

1. Nouns formed from nouns, or more generally from verbs, by the addi-l|bers or clauses.

tion of r, er or or, denoting an agent; as lover, hater, assignor, flatterer,!; Sentences are declaratory, as, I am writing, the wind h\\ov/s— imperative, from love, hate, assign, flatter. In a few instances, words thus formed arenas, go, retire, be quiet— inten-ogative, as, where am I ? who art thou .—or less regular; as glazier, from glass; courtier, from court; parishioner, fromjicondifionoj, as, if he should arrive, parish. I The rules for the due construction of sentences fall under three heads :

2. Nouns converted into verbs by the prefix to ,• as from water, cloud, tojFJrsi, concord or agreement-Second, government— r/iird, arrangement water, to cloud. ijand punctuation.

3. Adjectives converted into verbs in the same manner ; as to lame, tOj| In agreement, the name or noun is the controlling ' . ool, to warm, from lame, cool, warm.

ojl in agreemeni, me nattte or iiuuu is mt. v.winiv.iii.^ „v.iu, »J it carries wit/i (lit the verb, the substitute and the attribute. In government, the verb is

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

id ; but name? and prcposilions have their share of ioflu-

■ h

It or Concord.

Rule I.-

The .

Note S. — We sometime': see a nominative introducing a sentence, the sense suddenly interiupted, and the noininalive left without its intended verb ; as, " Tlie name of a procession ; what a great mixture of indepen- dent ideas of persons, habits, tapers, orders, motions, sounds, docs it con- tain," he. Lnrke, 3.5.13. This form of expression is often very striking in

;iiv -I 'i-^ '-o. The first words being the subject of the discourse and

ii r to usher in the sontence, to invite attention ; and the

. in the fei-vor of aniniaUon, quitting the trammels of a 1m , I. rushc~ forward to a description of the thing mentioned.

iiiiii 1.1L-. .1.1 i..i liioie striking idea; in the form of exclamation.

Rule 11. — A name, a nominative case, or a sentence, joined with a par iimiple of the present tense, may sl.uid in construction witho Ijing i\\\\

be asked, who inherited! " I have, notwithstanding this discouragement, attempted a dictionary

verb must agree with its nominative in number and person Examples.

In solemn style. " Thou hast loved righteousness." Heb. i. 9

" Thou Shalt not steal." Commandment

"Art thou called, being a servant ?" 1 Cor. vii. 21

" But j/e are washed, but i/« <""e sanctified." 1 Cor.vi.ll .^^^,, ..._.. ..„...^, „ ..„ ^ .„o^, „. ,j - r-

In familiar language. I v-'rite; John reads; JVetoton was the first ofjltjcipie of the present tense, may stand in construction without a verb, form

astionomers. ' ' -»--7..j. ... . *_ __ « „ „,

vh ' ' ' '' ''

is £«meufs, which is the nominative to thellofthe English I

verb "m/ien/«/. Who recommended the quiet of a private station ? •W'*il " Whatever .substance begins to exist, it must, during its eristencc /a-- « «-

"I " What J cessarily I of| "Ther

Johnson's Preface. ts existence, nc- Locke, 2. 27. 28.

custom to the

be the same

Note 2.— Let the following rules be observed respecting the position ofll " xhe penalty shall be fine and imprisonment, any law ( the nominative. \\\\contrary notwithstanding."

I. The nominative usually precedes the verb in declaratory phrases ; as,. The latter phraseology is peculiar to the technical law style. In no other " God created the world ;" " the law is a rule of right." But the nomina- L^jg^ joes notwithstanding follow the sentence. But this position makes tivc maybe separated from its verb, by a member of a period; as, "ii6(!7"'.!/,|| no difference in the true construction, which is, "any law or custom to the say the fanatic favorers of popular power, can only be found inadcmocra- Lontrary not opposing" — the real clause independent, cy." Anarcharsis, ch. 62. L n \\g very common, when this participle agrees with a number of words,

n. Tlie nominative often follows an intransitive verb, for such a verb|Lr a whole clause, to omit the whole except the participle ; and in tliis use can have no object after it, and that position of the nominative creates no jof noteitAstanding-, we have astriking proof of the value of abbreviations ambiguity; thus, " .\\bove it stood the Seraphim." /». vi. "Gradual sinks !;„ language. For example: "Moses said, let nc the breeze." Thomson. , . I morning. JVotwithstanding, they hearkened i

III. When the verb is preceded by Acre, there, hence, thence, then, thus yet, so, nor, neither, such, the same, herein, therein, wherein, and perhaps.

But after a single veil

by some other words, the nominative may follow the verb, especially be; as, " here are five men ;" " there was a man sent from God ;" " hence arise wars ;" " thence proceed our vicious habits ;" " then came the scribes and Pharisees ;" " thus saith the Lord." " Yet required not I bread of the governor." JVcA. v. 18. " So panteth my soul after thee, O Lord." Psalm xlii. " Neither hath this man sinned nor his parents." John ix. " Such were the facts ;" " the same was the fact." " Herein consists the excel- lency of the English government." Blackstone's Comm. b. 1.

IV. When an cmphatical attribute introduces a sentence, the nominative may follow the verb ; as, " Great is the Lord, glorious are his works, and happy is the man who has an interest in his favor."

V. In certain phrases, which are conditional or hypothetical, the sign of the condition may be omitted, and the nominative placed after the auxili: ry ; as, " Did he but know my anxiety," for if he did but know—" Had known the fact," for if I had known—" Would they consent," for if they would, &c.

VI. When the words whose, his, their, her, mine, your, he. precede the verb with a governing word, the nominative may follow the verb; as, " Out ofivhose modifications have been made most complex modes."

Locke, 2. 22. 10.

VII. In interrogaUve sentences, the nominative follows the verb wh alone, or the first auxiliary ; as, Believest thou ? Will he consent ? Has been promoted ? The nominative also follows the verb in the imperative mode ; as, go thou ; " be ye warmed and filled." "■■* "*■•"■■ " ' the nominative is commonly omitted ; as, arise, flee

Note 3. — In poetry, the nominative is often omitted in interrogative sen tences, in cases where in prose the omission would be improper; as, "Live there who loves his pain." Milton. That is, lives there a man or person.

Note 4. — In the answer to a question, the whole sentence is usually | omitted, except the name, which is the principal subject of the interroga tion; as, " who made the chief discoveries concerning vapor? Black."

Note 5. — In poetry, the verb in certain phrases is omitted, chiefly such verbs as express an address or answer ; as, " To whom the monarch" — that is, said or replied.

Note 6. — When a verb is placed between two nominatives in different numbers, it may agree with either, but generally is made to agree with the first, and this may be considered as preferable ; as, " His meat was locusts lindependent. and wild honey." " /( [piracy] is the remains of the manners of ancient This omission Greece." Anarch, ch. 36.]!in ar.y other ca^

Note 7. — Verbs follow the connective ttan, without a nominative ex- ;' ur'h I',, -."i pressed: as, " Not that any thing occurs in consequence of our late los-, r more afflictive than jca.'; to be expected." Lifeof Cowper, Let.iVl ■

" He felt himself addicted to philosophical speculations, with more ardor m i, . ; v ,i . than consisted with the duties of a Roman and a senator."

Murphy's Tacitus, 4. 57.

"All words that lead the mind to any other ideas, than are supposed really to exist in that thing." Locke, 2. 25.

These forms of expression seem to be elliptical ; " more afflictive than that which was to be expected." That which or those which will gener- ally supply the ellipsis.

leave of it till the unto Moses." Ex. xvi. 19. 20. Here notwithstanding s'tands without the clause to which it be- longs; to complete the sense in words, it would be necessary to repeat the whole preceding clause or the substance of it — " Moses said, let no man leave of it until the morning. JVotwithstanding this command of Moses , or notwitjistanding Moses said that which has been recited, they hear- kened not unto Mo.ses."

Folly meets w ith success in this world ; but it is true, notwithstanding. that it labors under disadvantages." Porteus, Lecture 13. This passage at length would read thus — " Folly meets with success in the world ; but it is true, notwithstanding folly meets with success in the virl-l. ibt •! Ichors

under disadvantages." By supplying what is really m]!-' ■ . •; rily well understood, we learn the true construction; so lii.ii . ' /i?

is a participle always agreeing with a word or clause, i .i.i - I ... i..!.!- stood, and forming the independent clause, and by a cu^.on.uij c;ii(<-i=, it stands alone in the place of that clause.

Such is its general use in the translation of the Scriptures. In the fol- lowing passage, the sentence is expressed — " Notwithstanding I have spo- !ken unto you." Jer. xxxv. That is, "This fact, I hare spoken unto you, not opposing or preventing." Or in other words, "In opposition to this fact."

It is also very common to use a substitute, this, that, which or what, for the whole sentence; as, " Bodies which have no taste, and no power of af- fecting the skin, may, notwithstanding this, [notwithstanding they have no taste, and no power to aflect the skin,] act upon organs which are more delicate." Fourcroy, Translation.

I have included in hooks, the words for which this is a substitute.

"To account for the misery that men bring on themselves, notwithstand- ing that, they do all in earnest pursue happiness, we must consi.ler how things come to be represented to our desires under deceitful appearances." * iocAe, 2. 21.61.

Here that, a substitute, is used, and the sentence also for which it is a substitute. This is correct English, but it is usual to omit the substitute, when the sentence is expressed—" JVotwithstanding they do all in earnest pursue happiness."

It is not uncommon to omit the participle of the present tense, when a participle of the perfect tense is employed. " The son of God, while cloth- ed in flesh, was :

biect to all the frailties and inconveniences of human na-

, Dje

sin excepted." Locke, 3. 9. That is, sin being excepted — the clause

more frequent when the participle provided is used, than

" In the one case, provided the facts on which it is

f. Nil''!- I '<> -riru-iently numerous, the conclusion is said to be morally cer-

r !l (III lihet. I. m. Here being is omitted, and the whole

, i^ independent — " The facts on which it is founded are

..,< ,, , ; ;/ ,, :;i,-rous, that 6e!Hg prodded, the conclusion is morally cer- tain. Provuled, in such cases, is equivalent to giren, admitted or sup- posed.

" In mathematical rea-^oning, provided you are ascertained of the regu- lar procedure of the mind, to aSrm thai the conclusion is false, implies a contradiction." Ibm. 134.

In this phrase, that may follow provided — provided that, you ai-e ascer- tained, &c., as in the case oi notwithstanding, before meationed; that be-

GRAMMAR OF THE

ia^ a definitive substitute, pointing to the following sentence — that which follows being provided.*

It is not uncommon for autliors to carry the practice of abridging discourse so far as to obscure the common regular construction. An instance fre- quently occurs in the omi-!sion both of the nominative and the participle in the case independent. For example : " Conscious of his own weight and importance, his conduct in parliament would be directed by nothing but the constitutional duty of a peer." Junius, Let. 19. Here is no noun expressedj to which conscious can be referred. We are therefore to supply the neces-, sary words, to complete the construction — " He being conscious" — forming! the clause independent. [

Rule III. — A sentence, a number of words, or a clause of a sentenccj may be the nominative to a verb, in which case the verb is always in the third person of the singular number; as, "All that is in a man's power in this case, is, only to observe what the ideas are which take their turns in the understanding." Loeke 2. 14. Here the whole clause in italics is the nominative to is.

■' To attack vices in the abstract, without touching persons, may be safe I'ighling indeed, but it is fighting with shadows." Pope, Let. 48.

•' I deny that men's coming to the use of reason, is the time of their dis- covery." Locke, 1. 2.

" TTiat any thing can exist without existing in space, is to my mind in- comprehensible." Darwin, Zoon. sect. 14. Here the definitive substitute mav be transferred to a place next before the verb — " Any thing can exist, \\bler, JVo. 58, - - -.-.-■' ■? .. . j^^j^ ^.

may „^ ..^..„ ^ — -—j r, —

without existing in space," that [whole proposition] is incomprehensible.

Rule IV. — The infinitive mode may be the nominative to a personal verb ; as, " to see is desii-able ;" " to die is the inevitable lot of men." Some- times an attribute is joined with the infinitive ; as, " to be blind is calami- tous." In this case the attribute has no name expressed to which it refers The proposition is abstract, and applicable to any human being, but not ap- plied to any.

Rule V. — In some cases the imperative verb is used without a definite nominative ; as, " I will not take any thing that is thine — save only that which the young men have eaten." Gen. xiv. 23. 24.

" Israel burned none, save Hazor only." Josh. xi. 13.

" I would that all were such as I am, except these bonds. Jlcts xxvi. 29.

" Our ideas are movements of the nerves of sense, as of the optic nerve in recollecting visible ideas, suppose of a triangular piece of ivory.

Darwin, Zoon. sect. 39.

This use of certain verbs in the imperative is very frequent, and there is a peculiar felicity in being thus able to use a verb in its true sense and with its proper object, without specifying a nominative ; for the verb is thus left applicable to the first, second or third person. I may save or except, or you may except, or we may suppose. If we examine these sentences, we shall be convinced of the propriety of the idiom ; for the ideas require no appli- cation to any person whatever.

Rule VI. — When the same thing is affirmed or predicated of two or more subjects, in the singular number, the nominatives are joined by the

I this sentence, resi-\\ dence at Oxford is a predicate common to three persons ; and instead of three affirmations — John resides at Oxford, Thomas resides at Oxford, Peter resides at Oxfoid, the three names are joined by and, and one verb in the plural applied to the whole number.

" Reason and truth constitute intellectual gold, which defies destruc- tion." Johnson. "Whyaie whiteness Ani coldness in snow?" Locke. '• Your lot and mine, in this respect, have been very different." ' Cowp. Let. 38.t

Note 1. — The rule for the use of a plural verb with two or more names in the singular number, connected by and, is laid down by critics with too much positiveness and universality. On original principles, all the names, except the first, are in the objective case ; for it is probable that and contains in it the verb add. " John and Thomas and Peter reside at York," on prim- itive principles must be thus resolved — "John, add Thomas, add Peter re- side at York." But without resorting to first principles, which are now los or obscured, the use of the singular verb may be justified by considering the verb to be understood after each name, and that which is expressed, agree- ing only with the last ; as, " Nor were the young fellows so wholly lost to a .

What will the hypercritic say to this sentence, " Either sex and every age ii^as engaged in the pursuits of industry." Gibbon, Ro?n. Emp. ch. 10

[s not the distributive effect of either and every, such as to demand a siugu- ar verb? So in the following: " The judicial and every other power is ac- countable to the legislative." Paley, Phil. 6. 8.

Note 2. — When names and substitutes belonging to ilifferent persons, are thus joined, the plural substitute must be of the first person in prefer- to the second and third, and of the second in preference to the third. /, you and he are represented by we ; you and he, by you. Pope in one of his letters makes you or / to be represented by we or you. " Either you or ■ are not in love with the other." The sentence is an awkward one, and ot to be imitated. Rule VII. — When an affirmation or predicate refers to one subject only mong a number, which are separately named in the singular number, the subjects are joined by the alternative or, or nor, with a verb, substitute and name in the singular number; as, " Either John or Peter was at the Ex- change yesterday; but neither John nor Peter is there to day."

Errors. — " A circle or square are the same in idea." Locke, 2. 8.

" But whiteness or redness are not in the porphyry." Ibm.

" Neither of them [Tillotson and Temple,] are remarkable for precision."

Blair.

Substitutes for sentences, whether they represent a single clause, or the

parts of a compound sentence, are always in the singular number ; as, " It is

true indeed that many have neglected opportunities of raising themselves

to honor and to wealth, and rejected the kindest offers of fortune." Ram-

nd that rcl'er to the clauses which follow — " /* is

cted tlie kindest offers," &c.

y have i

Rule VI H. — Collective or aggregate names, comprehending two or more individuals under a term in I lie singular number, have a verb or sub- stitute to agree with them in the singular or plural ; as, the council is or are unanimous ; the company was or were collected ; this people, or these people.

No precise rule can be given to direct, in every case, which number is to

used. Much regard is to be had to usage, and to the unity or plurality

of idea. In general, modern practice inclines to the use of the plural verb

" substitute ; as may be seen in the daily use of clergy, nobility, court,

council, commonalty, audience, enemy and the like.

The clergy began to withdraw themselves from the temporal courts."

Blackstoae's Coram. Introduction. Let us take a view of the principal incidents, attending the nobiUty, ex- clusive of their capacity as hereditary counselors of the crown."

Blackstone's Comm. 1. 12. " The commonalty are divided into several degrees." Ibm.

" The enemy were driven from their works."

Portuguese .Ssia. Mickle. 163. "The chorus 7)re/?a7"e resistance at his first approach — the chorus sings of the battle^thc chorus entertains the stage." Johnson's Life of Jttilton. The nobility are the pillars to support the throne."

Blackstone's Comm. 1. 2.

Party and army.

language.

oined with a verb in the

' Provided that, says Johnson, is an adverbial expression, and we times see provided numbered among the conjunctions, as its word is in French. What strange work has been made with Urammar

t Is this last example an evidence that mine is in the possessive case !

t This was also a very common practice with the best Greek and Roi writers. JiTens cnim, et ratio, et consilium, in senibi's dsf. Cicero, de Senec. ca. IM. "!?ed etiani insius terra; vis ae natura dclectat. Ibm. 15,

singular number. Constitution cannot be plural. Church may be singu- lar or plural. J\\Iankind is almost always plural.

The most common and palpable mistakes in the application of this rule, oc-

Lr in the use of sort and kind, with a plural attribute — these sort, those kind. This fault infects the works of our best writers ; but these words are trictly singular, and ought so to be used.

When a collective name is preceded by a definitive which clearly limits he sense of the word to an aggregate with an idea of unity, it requires a verb and substitute to agree with it in the singular number; as, a company of detached ; a troop of cavalry was raised ; this people is become a great nation ; that assembly teas numerous ; " a government established by that people." Blackstone's Comm. 1. 2.

Yet our language seems to be averse to the use of it, as the substitute for names, even thus limited by a, this or that. " How long will this people provoke me, and how long will it be ere they will believe me for all the signs that I have shewed among them 7" JVum. xiv. 11. " Liberty should leach every individual of a yeopie ; as they all share one common nature." Spectator, JVo. 287. In these passages, it in the place of they, would not be relished by an English ear ; nor is it ever used in similar cases.*

Rule IX. — When the nominative consists of several words, and the last of the names is in the plural number, the verb is commonly in the plural also ; as, " A part of the exports consist of raw silk." '• The number of oysters increase." Golds. Anim. JVat. vol. i, ch. S. " Of which seeming equality we have no other measure, but such as the train of our ideas have lodged in our memories." Locke, 2. 14. 21. " The greater part of philosophers have acknowledged the excellence of this government."

Anarch, vol. 5. 2T2.

Rule X. — Pronouns or substitutes must agree with the names they rep- resent, in number, gender and person ; as.

* The Romans used a greater latitude in joining plurals with collective names, than we can. " Magna pars in villis rcpleti cibo vinoque." Liv. 2. 26. Here is an attribute plural of the masculine gender, agreeing with a, noun in the singular, of the feminine gender.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

'• Mine answer to them that do examine me is this." 1 Cor. ix. )3.

•' T%ese are not the children of God." Horn. ix. 8.

" Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, when ye come into the land whither I bring you." JVumb. xv. 18.

"This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inherit- ance." Matt. xxi. .38.

" Esther put on her royal apparel— sAe obtained favor in his sight — then the king said unto her." Esth. v.

"A river went out of Eden to vpater the garden, and it

I parted — ' Gen. ii. 10. 6?e«. iii. 12.

" The woman whom thou gavest to be with me. ■

"Ignatius, who was bishop of Antioch, conversed with the apostles." Paley, Evid. sect.

-A letter, which is just received, gives us the news."

•'O thou who rulest in the heavens."

IVIio and whom are exclusively the substitutes for persons ; u-hose is of «ll genders, and as correctly applied to things as to persons

" The question whose solution I require."

" That forbidden fruit whose mortal taste."

''A system whose imagined st'.ms."

" these are the charnun;; agonies of love. Whose miseries deligh ."

It, though neuter, is used as the substitute for infant i tinction of sex in the lirst period of life ijcing disregarded.

Formerly which na-i used as a subslitiue (or persons ; ,i- authors. III. I , |. m:1'., in fhe vulgar version of the -,:i, .;.!>■ ' i,i:_li'\\ men ii !' ' .- i ' ' But this use of the won! i- : : ! I I

iVli.iii I:- ' hi- persons, when a question i- .: ii : tioii ;m • II ' '■ : .1 ..■'■,,",'; lit' the men was it; I know nm »■,/,,, p, i ;\\-,i-

IVho i-' soujftiiius ii^od in the substitute for things, bui most unwarr;im- ably. "The countries wno—." Vavenant on Rev. 2. Vi. "Tlie towns who—." Hume Cnntin. 11. ch. 10. "Thi- lat-tion or party who — ." Equally faulty is the use of who and whom for brutes ; " the birds who — ."

The use of it for a sentence, seems to have given rise to a very vague ap- plication of the word in phrases like this : How sliall 1 contrive it to attend conn? How fares if with you? But such phrases, whatever may have given rise to them, are used chiefly in familiar colloquial language, and are Seemed inelegant in any other style.

A more justifiable use of it is seen in this sentence: "But it is not this

nryden.

Milton.

Goldsmith.

rs fiv,

to the verb, and the other is governed by the verb or a preposition in the objective ease, or by a noun in the possessive ; as, " Locke, whom there is no reason to suspect of favoring idleness, has advanced." Ramb. 89. Here reason is the nominative to is, and whom is governed by suspect.

" Take thy only son Isaar, whom thou lovest." Gen. xxii. Here are two substitutes, one the nominative to the verb, and the other governed by it in the objective.

" God is the sovereign of the universe, whose majesty ought to (ill us with awe, to whom we owe all possible reverence, and whom we arc bound to obey."

It is not unusual to see in periods, a third clause introduced within a se- Icond, as a second is within the fust, each with a distinct substitute for a Inorainativc; as, " Those modifications of any simple idea, which, as has been said, I call simple modes, arc distinct ideas." Locke, 2. 13.

Involution to this extent may be used with caution, without embarrassing a period ; but beyond this, if ever used, it can hardly fail to occasion obscu- rity. Indeed the third member included in a second, must be very short, or it will perplex the reader.

Substitutes are sometimes made to precede their principals : thus, " When a man declares in autunm, when he is eating them, or in spring when there arc none, that he loves grapes — ." Locke, 2. 20. But this arrangement is usually awkward and seldom allowable.

Kui.E XIII.— When there are antecedents in different persons, to which a nominative substitute refers, the substitute and verb following may agree with either, though usage may sometimes offer a preference ; as, "lam I'; I..mI (lilt make all things; that stretch forth the heavens alone; that ; . I ; I 1 (he earth," &c. Isa. xliv. Here /and Lord are ofdiUercnt

; 1 I hut may agree with either. If it agrees with /, the verbs

.1 1 ii II (he first person : " I am the Lord that make." If Mat agrees uilh Lord in llie third person, the verb must be in the third person : " I am the Lord that maketh." But in all cases, the following verbs should all be of the same person.

Rule XIV. — The definitive adjectives, this and /ftoi, the only attributes which are varied to express number, must agree in number with the names to which they refer ; as, this city, that church ; these cities, those churches.

This and

connective ; as in tl sence that distinguishes them into species; it is men who rangcj by (Ais and other diseases." Life of Washington, Z. S. That is, by this Locke, 3. 6. ."(i.rdisease and other diseases. The sentence may be varied thus, by this dis

Here it is in the singular, though referring to men in the plural. The cause or origin of this, in our language as in others, may perhaps be found in the disposition of the mind to combine the particular agents employed in performing an act, into a single agent. The unity of the act or effect seems to predominate in idea, and control the grammatical construction of the substitute.

Rule XI. — In compound sentences, a single substitute or relative, who, which or that, employed to inlroducf a new clause, is the noiniiKitive to the verb or verbs belonging (■» (I: i' » l.ui -i', . trl i" nilhi .. rniiiin ;. J w iin ii ;

iise and others ; but the first form is the most common, and it occasions i obscurity.

Other adjectives and participles, used as adjectives, are joined to the names wlii.-b tbi-y qualify without inflection ; as, a wise man, wise men ; an

amiiiM. iliill."! i.iii.ril,. I'niMnn. ,1 irii-ived truth, or received truths ; a

Shblill- ii . I '■• III li:i,M.. I ;: • I •!, I.

iwin:,';

■s r,:

nes of men and things /eio were present; the wise are

" The thirst after cuiiosili 83. "He who suffers nt good." Ibm. "Theyt/ii flesh." Rom. viii. 5. "

' I I I ,1 .', ' I . , • , i L, I ir plural form, and are qualified by

! i i; i I , :.; ,,1 I, ,11, , iwo jinites or infinites, unirer-

■■ I ;!h' iii-h, iiii iiiii,! till- K'liiu- i.i ;li. . I,'.. '4, ,./,;;,. I'll. .■.'■..,,' -,r,i,,', , ': iri'ii I, n: "The extraordinary great." those irho urr the most nchly endnwed' Bin ke on the . ■Sublime, -.ifH. - Thr blue profound." Akenside. by nature, and [are] accomplished by their own industry, how few arell When nouns are joined by a copulative, an adjective preceding the first is there whose virtues are not obscured by the ignorance, prejudice or envy (applied to the others without being repeated ; as, " From ^reat luxury and of their beholders." Spiel. .Va. 2.5j.| licintiousness, converted to sfricf sobriety and frugality of manners." En-

In a few instances, the substitute for a sentn . II rii i-i i, mi < 'n I '. / ' :( n c'/eaf belongs to licentiousness as well as to luxury, as the nominative to a verb, before the senlei . i , , < '; i i \\ ', — Adjectives are usually placed before the nouns to which

sents; as, "There was therefore, ji'Aicfe is 1 1 1 > :; as, a tctse prince ; an ofte(/ie»^ subject; a pious clergyman;

life pursued by them, different from that wliic ii 'ii\\ I i.n I .i' r.,:. >,\\ ,,;,.,, -oMin-.

Evid. ch. 1. Here which is the representative of the \\^hole of the last part' Kx-ccplion 1. When some word or words are dependent on an adjective, of the sentence, and its natural position is after that clause.

The substitute what combines in itself the offices of two substitutes, which, if expressed, would be the nominatives to two verbs, each in distinct subsequent clauses ; as, " Add to this, tvhat, from its antiquity is but little known, has the recommendation of novelty." Hermes, pref. 19. Here what stands for that, which; and the two following verbs have no other nominative.

This use of what is not very common. But what is very frequently used as the representative of two cases ; one, the objective after a verb or prepo- sition, and the other, the nominative to a subsequent verb. Examples :

" I heard what was said." " He related rckat was seen."

" We do not so constantly love what has done us good."

Locke, 2. 20, 14.

" Agreeable to what was afterwards directed." Black. Com. b. 2. ch. S.

" Agreeable to what hath been mentioned." Prideaur, p. 2, 6, 3.

" There is something so overruling in whatever inspires us with awe." Burke on the Sui)lime, 304. In these sentences what includes an object after a verb or preposition, and a nominative to the following verb. " I have heard that, which was said."

Rule XII. — When a new clause is introduced into a sentence, with two pronouns, or with one pronoun and a noun, one of them is the nominative

it follows the noun; as, knowledge requisite for a statesman; furniture convenient for a family.

Exception 2. When an adjective becomes a title, or is emphatically ap- plied to a noun, it follows it ; as Charles the Great ; Henry the First ; Lewis the Gross ; Wisdom incomprehensible.

Exception 3. Several adjectives belonging to the same noun, may pre- cede or follow the noun to which they belong ; as a learned, wise and raar- ■tial prince, ora prince Uai ill' ' vx ) n' m.irtial.

' Exception 4. The v, r n i .tcs the noun from its adjective :

as, war is e.vpensive ; -mi i ,-

Exceptions. An einpl : is n!(en used to introduce a sen-

tence, in which case it |ii I ' I ii || i|ii ill!;. -. Ill ! iMiii'limes

at a considerable distance , , , • , ; de thai

event ; /octunafc is thai v ,, -i ,

Exceptiond. Theailjriin, .■, ■, , :. i i n - i„"ir. I.y Mp.

which never precedes it in constniciion ; as. ■•,-,11 the nations of Europe." Such and many are separated from nouns by a ; as, " such a character is rare;" "many a time."

All adjectives are separated from nouns by a, when preceded by so and las, as ".10 rich a dress," "as splendid a retinue;" and they are separated by a or the, when preceded by hotc and however, as " how distingubhed an

GRAMMAR OF THE

just the com- ; and the noun

get of bravery," --liow brilliant the prize," "how plaint."

The v/ori soever may be interposed between the adje as, " how clear soever this idea of infinity ;" "how remote soever it may seem." Locke.

Double is separated from its noun by the ; as " double the distance" — the in such cases, never preceding double. But a precedes double, as well as other adjectives.

^11 and singular or every precede the before the noun in these phrases — " All and singular tlie articles, clauses and conditions" — " All and every of the articles" — phrases of the law style.

Rule XVI. — Adjectives belong to verbs in the inlinitive mode ; as, " to see is pleasant ;" " to ride is more agreeable than to walk ;" " to calumniate is detestable." ~

Sometimes the adjective belongs to the infinitive in union with another adjective or a noun; as, *'to be blind is unfortunate ;" " to be a coward is disgraceful." Here the attribute unfortunate is the attributive of the first clause, to be blind, ^c.

RuLK XVII. — Adjectives belong to sentences, or whole propositions. Examples :

" Agreeable io this, we read of names being blotted out of God's Book.''' Burder's Oriental Customs, 375.

What is agreeable to this ? The answer is found in the whole of the last clause of the sentence.

" Antiochus — to verify the character prophetically given of him by Dan- iel, acted the part of a vile and most detestable person, agreeable to what hath been aforementioned of him." Prideaux, part 2. b. 3.

" Her majesty signified her pleasure to the admiral, that as soon as he had left a squadron for Dunkirk, agreeable to what he had proposed, he .should proceed with the fleet." Burchei's JYav. Hist. 439.

" Independent of his person, his nobility, his dignity, his relations and friends may be urged," &c. Guthrie's Quintilian.

" No body can doubt but that these ideas of 7ni.xed modes are made by a voluntary collection of ideas put together in the mind, independent from any original patterns in nature." Locke, 3. 5.

" Whereupon God was provoked to anger, and put them in mind how, contrary to his directions, they had spared the Canaanites."

Wliiston's Josephus, b. 5. eh. 2.

" Greece, which had submitted to the arms, in her turn, subdued the un- derstandings of the Romans, and contrary to that which in these cases com- monly happens, t'ne conquerors adopted the opinions and manners of the conquered." Enfield, Hist. Phil. b. 3. 1.

"This letter of Pope Innocent enjoined the payment of tithes to the par- sons of the respective parishes, where any man inhabited, agreeable to what was afterwards directed by the same Pope in other countries."

Blackstone's Comm. b. 2. ch. 3.

"Agreeable to this, wc find some of the Anglo-Saxon ladies were ad- mitted into their most august assemblies."

Henry, Hist. Brit. b. 2. eft. 7. and 6. 4. ch. I. sect. 4.

" As all language is composed of significant words variously combined, a knowledge of them is necessary, previous to our acquiring an adequate idea of language." Encyc. art. Grammar.

" His empire could not be established, previous to the institution of pret- ty numerous societies." Smellie, Phil. JVat. Hist. 339.

" Suitable to this, we find that men, speaking of mixed modes, seldom imagine, &c. Locke, 3. 5. 11.

"JVo such original convention of the people was ever actually held, an- tecedent to (he existence of civil government in that country."

Paley, Phil. b. 6. ch. 3.

Note. — Writers and critics, misapprehending the true construction ofj these and similar sentences, have supposed the attribute to belong to the verb, denoting the manner of action. But a little attention to the sense of such passages will be sufficient to detect the mistake. For instance, in the example from Enfield, the attribute contrary cannot qualify the verb adopt- ed ; for the conquerors did not adopt the opinions of the conquered in a man- ner contrary to what usually happens — the manner of the act is not the thing affirmed, nor does it come into consideration. The sense is this, the fact, that tfte conquerors adopted the opinions and manners of the con- quered, was contrary to what commonly happens in like cases. The at- tribute belongs to the whole sentence or proposition. The same explana- tion is applicable to every similar sentence.

In consequence of not attending to this construction, our hypercritics, who are very apt to distrust popular practice, and substitute their own rules for customary idioms founded on common sense, have condemned this use of the attribute ; and authors, suffering themselves to be led astray by these rules, often use an adverb in the place of an adjective.

" The greater part of philosophers have acknowledged the excellence of this government, which they have considered, some relatively to society, and others as it has relation to the general system of nature."

Anarch, ch. 62.

"The perceptions are exalted info a source of exquisite pleasure inde- pendently of every particular relation of interest."

Studies ofJVature, 12.

In the first of these examples, relatively is used very awkwardly for u.i relative, or as rekitiiig, oi a? it relates, or in relation ; lor the word has a direct reference ii. _■ , , / 1///.- / /

In the second . \\ . ; i ; •■ i.hntly is used as if it had been intended

to modify the vii !'■ , , ••'■pWoxis are independently exalted. But the manner of f i!: i:: 'm liiino- described. It is not that the per-

ceptions are exalted in ;iri m : |. i, ■ ...

of a relation to interest ; Inn i. a source of exquisite plio.-, m . Equally faulty is the follo\\..'i, i

'^ Agreeably to this law, chiUrc

nor in a manner independent perceptions are exalted into of every relation of interest.

ind to support their parents."

Paley, Phil. lodify the action of verbs, and to with the action by which they

Deut. XV.

Rule XVIII.— Adjectives : express the qualities of things i are produced. Examples :

" Open thine hand wide."

We observe in this passage, that wide, the attribute of hand, has a con- nection with the verb open ; for it is not " open thy wide hand," but the at- tribute is supposed to be the effect of the act of opening. Nor can the mod- ifier, widely, be used ; for it is not simply the manner of the act which is intended, but the effect.

" Let us wiilc slow and txncl." Guthrie's Quintilian, 2. 375.

Wc II. 1.:. |M il;,,,.^ - i' :;,, I. ./.,/(•/(/ for s/ozi', as describing only the man- ner of iv . - .; ,' I : lie substituted for ™«f/. for tills word is intendi.l '■'■ i . H ' - . mng, in the correctnc^s of what is writ- ten. 'I'll. ."li. , ui . , \\|i;, ■,. i;i,' idea with a happy jirecision nnii brevity.

As this is one of the most common, as well as most beautiful idioms of our language, which has hitherto escaped due oliscrvation, the following au- thorities are subjoined to illustrate and justify the rule.

" We could hear distinctly the bells^which sounded sweetly soft and pensive." Chandler's Travels, ch. 2.

" A southernly wind succeeded blowing/;esft." Ibm. vol. 2. 3.

" His provisions were grown very short." Burchet's JVav. Hist. 357.

" When the caloric exists ready combined with the water of solution."

Lavoisier, Trans, ch. 5.

" The purest clay is that which burns white." Encyc. art. Chimistry.

" Bray, to pound or grind small." Johnson's Diet.

" When death lays «ias(e thy house." Beattie's Minst.

" All which looks very little like the steady hand of nature."

Paley, Phil. ch. 5.

" Magnesia feels smooth; calcarious earths feel dry; lithomarga feels very greasy or at least smooth, yet some feels dry and dusty."

Kirwan, vol. 1.12.180.

" By this substance, crystals and glasses are colored blue."

Chaptal, TVam. 299.

" There is an apple described in Bradley's work, which is said to have one side of it a sweet fruit, which boils soft, and the other side a sour fruit, which boils hard." Darwin, Phytol. 105.

" Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring." Pope.

" Heaven opened wide her ever during gates." .Milton, P. L. 7.

" The victory of the ministry cost them dear." Hume, Contin. 11. 9.

" Ani just as short of reason he must fall." Pope.

" Thick and more thick the steely circle grows." Hoole's Tasso. b. 8.

" Ancus marched strait toFidens." Hooke, Bom. Hist. 1. 6.

" The cakes eat short and crisp." Vicar of Wakefield.

" A steep ascent of steps which were cut close and deep into the rock." Hampton's Polybius, 2. 265.

" It makes the plow go deep or shallow."

" The king's ships were getting jeodi/."

" After growing old in attendance."

" The sun shineth watery."

" Soft sighed the flute."

" I made him just and right."

" He drew not iiigh unheard." —

" When the vowel of the preceding syllable is pronounced short." Murray's

" Here grass is cut close and gravel rolled smooth. Is not that trim r

Boswell, Johnson, 3. I

" Slow tolls the village clock — deep mourns the turtle."

Beattie's JWinstrel.

" If you would try to live independent." Pope, Let.

" He obUged the Nile to run bloody for your sakes.""

fVhiston's Josephus, 3. 5.

" Correct the heart and all will go right." Porteus, Lect. 3.

The poets sometimes use adjectives in this manner, when modifui-- would express the idea. Sometimes they are induced to it by the measmr and not unfrequently by the obvious superiority of the adjective in expii - sing the idea with force and precision.

* " Cruentam etiam fluxisse aquam Albanani, quidam auctores erai Liv. lib. 27. 11. Some authors related that the Albaii river ran bloody.

Encyc. art. Agriculture. Lusiad, 1. 91. Sped. JVo. 282. Bacon. Apoph. Thomson, Spring. Milton, 3. 98. Ibm. 645.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

When two qualifying word: though appUed to a verb ; as,

It !■,

Ihe i(j]i imil lea

ire wanted, tlie latter rnay be He beat time tuleiahly exact."

Goldsmith, An. JVat. ch. 12.

found diminished in weight exactly equal to what the

Lavoisier, ch. 3.

I'r, ,••"•'■,■ r!riir." Goldsmith.

' /■ ■■: .1." Tlwmaon. Spring.

I 111. |)lc very til " Vatlel, Trans. 2. 7.

! u( no idvnbial foim of the adjective in

II t •' <

' h the regular

Boole's Tasso. 7.

sons of the l)e?t sense — do not a little encourage me." Spectator, 124. " It great deal better ;*' a trijle stronger ; the last of which expressions is colloquial.

Rule XXI. — The adjectives each, every, either and neither, have verbs and substitutes agreeing with them in the singular number ; as,

" Each one was a head of the bouse of his fathers." Josh. xxii. 1-t.

" Kvery one that Jindeth me, shall slay me." Geii. iv. 14.

" And lake every man his censer." A'um. xvi. 17.

" Nadab and Abihu took either of them his censer." Lev. x. 1.

" AVther of the ways of separation, real or mental, is compatible to pure pace." Locke, 2. 13.

Jirrors. " Let each esteem others better than themselves." It ought to be himself.

1 1,, n III, |... : '..^ "There are bodies, eac/i of which arc so small." lMclte,2.8. It ought

Of nature and lieiAiudijartiitJ c„i„, to be is.

Worthier I'd sing." Jikenside, Pleas, of Imag. 1. 323. Note. — .\\ plural verb, which affirms something of a number of particu-

' So while we taste the fragrance of the rose, lars, is often followed by a distributive which nssigns the affirmation to the

Glows not her blush the/airer.'" TJm. 2. 77. particular objects or individuals. Thn^ " If im •'d'! have, each a peculiar

" When we know our strength, we shall the better know what to under-jiearth." Hence we may considc; , .. /, .. i! , i n^vtivc to has understood

take with hopes of success." Locke, I. 6.^}, — " If metals have, if each met. il I ;> .ith." There is no other

" And he that can most inform or best understand him, will certainly be j way of resolving the phrase. Tin . i \\ ... -^ion is common, though

Aielcoiiied." Rambler, JVo. 99. j quite useless; as Ihe last clause, ■ ii i ..lii i... i..l li.is," is sufficient. It has

" How much nearer he approaches to his end." not the merit of an abbreviation. Thi-, phrase, •' Let us love one another,"

" I have dwelt the longer on the discussion of this point." lis of a similar construction, but it is not easy to find a substitute of equal

Junius, Let. 17.||brevity. "The next contains a spirited command and should be pronounced muchij Rule XXII. — Nouns of measure or dimension stand without a govcrn- his,her." Murray's Grammar.* Ang word, followed by an adjective ; as, "a wall seven feet high and two

"Leviathan, which God of all his works ijfeet thick ;" "a carpet six yards wide ;" "a line sixty fathoms long;" " a

Created htigest that swim th' ocean's stream." Milton, 1. 201. kingdom five hundred miles square ;" " water ten feet deep."

" But mercy tii-st and last shall brightest ^iliine." Ibm. 3. 134. I " An army forty thon^^nn.' ttnnr" i ; n -imilTv phra.se.

•■ Such opinions as seemed to approach nearest [to] the truth." Note. — Double coni|> . " . .. ';. ^'t ■ most straitest, most high-

Enfield, Hist. Phil. 2. 59.1'est, being improper an.l n I . . . . I The few which were

" Her smiles, amid the blushes, lovelier show ; [formerly used are obsol. i. (I . . , . ,. im-i !>■ in spelling wyrsa, is obso-

Amid her smiles, her blushes lovelier glow." Hoole's Tasso. 6. 15.. lete ; but lesser, a mistake lo. Us^-a, i, sull ux^\\, as well as its abbreviation.

Authors, misguided by Latin rules, and conceiving that every wordj /ts.«.

■which is used to qualify a verb, must be an adverb, have pionounced many The superlative form of certain attributes, which in the positive degree,

of the passages here recited and similar ones to be incorrect ; and in such|;contain the utmost degree of the quality, as extremest, chiefest, is improper

as are too well established to bear censure, they call the adjective an arf-'^and obsolete. But authors indulge in a most unwarrantable license of an-

verb. Were it not for this influence in early education, which impresses aljncxing comparison to attributes whose negative sense precludes increase or

notion that all languages must be formed with the like idioms, we should jdiminution ; as in these sentences, "These are more formidable and more

never have received an idea that the same woi-d may not modify a noun, zniimpassable than the mountains." Goldsmith, An. J\'at. ch. 2. "This dif-

adjeclive and a verb. Ificulty was rendered still more insurmountable by the licentious spirit of

So far are the words here used from being adverbs, that they cannot be our young men." .Murphy, Tacit. Oral. 35. "The contradictions of im-

changed into adverbs, without impairing the beauty, weakening the force, piety are still more incomprehensible." Massillcm, Serm. to the Great.

or destroying the meaning of the passages. Let the sentences be put to the Similar to these are numerous expressions found in good authors — more

test — Magnesia feels smoothly — the cakes eat shortly and ciispV — t'..- p ;t pnssible, more indispensable, le.ss universal, more uncontrollable; and

pies boil softly or hardly — glows not her blush English ear rejects Ibis alteration at once ; the sci Nor can the adjective be separated from the verli — " Amid li.i " li ■ , 1. ■ . . blushes, being lovelier, glow" — this is not the sense ; nor will ii miswer m wil say, " Her lovelier blushes glow" — this is not the idea. The sense is, thatjj I the attribute expressed by lovelier, is not only a quality of blushes, but a! ten quality derived, in a degree, from the action of the verb, glow. llln i

Thus, clay burns white — objects may be seen double — may rise high — lUt;

, in which the sign of comparison i

! the epithet ; for the word itself cxpres.

iisht to boar some emphasi--, which, if a qualifying word is prefixed,

.n.,,-.!lv '.. )i:,i-i fiv, ,! t.i that word.*

I ! , I . ■ -.■ seems to be too well established to be al-

a of more ani moat, less 3.ui least perfect. . K I w" :.' Ill ,. i.i.jie precision of thought to apply a term of

ribute less possible, less surmountable, less

1 low — grow strait, or thick, ot thin, or fat, or lean — one may speak louddcontrollable, rather than a term of increase to a negative attribute,

1 shines clear — the.^ner a substance is pulverized — to grow wiser, to plunge deeper, spread rvider — and similar expressions without number, constitute a well established idiom, as common as it is elegant.

Rule XIX —Some adjectives are used to modify the sense of others and of participles ; as, a very clear day ; red hot iron ; a more or most excellent character ; more prcssiug necessity ; most grating sound. " Without com- ing any nearer." Locke. " A closer grained wood." Lavoisier, TVans. " Full many a gem of purest ray serene." Gray.

" Some deem'd him wondrous wise." Bcaltic's .Minstrel.

In these expressions the last attribute belongs more immediately to the noun i'\\p .^-iii- iiv ,1.1 ilily ; and the first attribute qualifies the second.

Ni.' I' , .1 'V .'.' aitributes are used to modify a third, or the princi- pal on, i i iiiierin which external force acts upon the body is veryhr . . .will." Rambler, A'o. 7S

Kr 1 . . \\ . , I'. .'.^ are used to qualify the sense of adverbs ; as, a city «..- ' I. llnded; the soldiers were most amply rewarded; a

donati.ii ... I ! lly bestowed; a house less elegantly furnished; a

man lli.- /../v' |...i. . .: i\\ .lisposed.

We have a lew otii. r words which are often used to modify adjectives as well as verbs ; as, a little ; a great deal ; a trifle. " Many letters from pe

deeyt : deejilii .

■ The vices which enter deeper or ■/ /■ and deepest, should be more t.- in the two passages 1 have ci-

.1.- is pronounced s/iuitij" — " Ihe liighU/!" This alteration will put

Note 2. — In English, two nouns are frequently united to form a new noun; as earth-woini, drill-plow, ink-stand, book-case. In some cases, these compouii.; i. ' \\ . 'i !i...i cirectually blended into one term ; in other cases, they ai.' ' i i I'ir component parts by a hyphen. In other

cases, words ... . ' Iv lirst term forms a sort of occasional adjec-

tive to the sc(..i, . : I ' // ',,' Kst, or family-consumption.

Note 3. — Kiom a disposition to abridge the number of words in discourse, we find many expressions which are not reducible to any precise rule, formed at first by accident or ellipsis. Such are, at first, at last, at best, at worst, at most, at least, at farthest, at the utmost. In these expressions there may have been an ellipsis of some noun ; but they arc well establish- ed, brief and significant, and may be numbered among the /)m(0«s of Mer-

Note 4.— Wcbave c.-ilain ;

djectives which follow a verb and a noun to which Ihey bi-I..i : m i. ^ . i |.ncede Ihe noun. Such are, adry, afeared. afraid, alone, ii' . ' n. alive, asleep, mvake,athirst, aloft, aghast,

afloat, askeu. ,1 ■ /it, plenty, worth; lo which may be added,

amiss, agrouniK ... .. - . .nid a few others which may be used as at- tributes or moiMiii is. \\\\ e .say, one is adry, ashamed, alive or awake; but never an a/iry person, an ashamed child, &.c. We say, "A proclamation was issued pursuant to advice of council." But we can in no case place pursuant before a noun.

* This clTect may proceed also from another consirleration. If the adjec- tive alone is used, its sense precludes the idea of increa.se or diminution — it expresses all that can be expressed. But admit comparison, and it ceases to express the utmost extent of the quality.

GRAMMAR OF THE

Worth not only follows the noun which it qualifies, but is followed by ajiguage by grammar, and neglect usages which are much better authority, I denoting price or value ; as, a book worth a dollar or a guinea ; it is land the basis of correct grammar. " Pieces of iron arranged in such a way

well worth

'It

worth observation." Beloe's Herodotus,

Erato. 98. If a substitute is used after worth, it must be in the objective case. It is worth them or it.

But worthy, the derivative oi worth, follows the usual construction of ad- jectives, and may precede the noun it qualifies ; as, a worthy man.

Regimen or Government.

Rule XXIII.— One noun signifying the same thing with another, or de- scriptive of it, may be in apposition to it ; that is, may stand in a like charac- ter or case, without an intervening verb; as, Paul, the apostle; John, the baptist ; Newton, the philosopher ; Chatham, the orator and statesman.

Note I. — In the following sentence, a noun in the plural stands in appo- sition to two nouns in the singular, joined by an alternative. "The terms of our law will hardly find words that answer them in the Spanish or Ital- ian, no scanty languages." Locke, 3. 5. 8.

Note 2. — Nouns are not unfrequently set in apposition to sentences ; as, " Whereby if a manhad a positive idea of infinite, either duration or space, he could add two infinites together ; nay, make one infinite infinitely big- ger than another: absurdities too gross to be confuted." Locke, 2. 17. 20. Here the absurdities are the whole preceding propositions.

" You are too humane and considerate ; things few people can be charged with." Pope Let. Here things is in opposition to temane and considerate. Such a construction may be justified, when the ideas are correct, but it is not very common.

" The Dutch were formerly in possession of the coasting trade and freight of almost all other trading nations; they were also the bankers for all Eu- rope : advantages by which they have gained immense sums." Zimmer- man's Survey, 170. Here advantages is put in apposition to the two first members of the sentence.

Rule XXJV. — When two nouns are used, one denoting the possessor, the other the thing possessed, the name of the possessor precedes the other in the possessive case ; as, " In my Father's house are many mansions." Men's bravery ; England's fleet ; a Christian's hope ; Washington's pru- dence.

Note 1. — When the thing possessed is obvious, it is usual to omit the noun ; as, " Let us go to St. Paul's," that is, church ; " He is at the Presi- dent's," that is, house.

" Nor think a lover's are but fancied woes." Coioper.

That is, a lover's woes. " Whose book i"; this ? William's."

Note 2. — When the possessor is described by two or more nouns, the sign of the possessive is generally annexed to tlie last; as, " Edward, the se'cond of England's Queen." Bacon on Empire.

" In Edward the third's time." Blackstone's Comm. b. 1, ch. 2.

" John the Baptist's head." Matt. xiv.

" jj member of parliament's paying court to his constituents." Burke.

But if the thing possessed is represented as belonging to a number sever- ally specified, the sign of the possessive is repeated with each ; as, " He has the surgeon's and the physician's advice." " It was my father's, moth- er's, and uncle's opinion."*

Note 3. — When of is used before the possessive case of nouns, there is a double possessive, the thing possessed not being repeated ; as, " Vital air was a discovery o/Pitesf/e^'s." "Combustion, as now understood, was a discovery of Lavoisier's." The sense of which is, that vital air was one of the discoveries of Priestley. This idiom prevents the repetition of the same word.

Note 4. — The possessive may be supplied by of, before the name of the possessor; as, "the hope of a christian." But <)/' does not always denote possession ; it denotes also consisting of, or in, concerning, &c. and in these cases, its place cannot he supplied by the possessive case. Thus cloth of wool, cannot be converted into wool's cloth ; nor a cup of water, into water's cup ; nor an idea of an angel, into an angel's idea ; nor the house of Lards, into the Lord's house.

Rule XXV. — Participles are often used for nouns, and have the like effect in governing them in the possessive case; as, "A courier arrived from Madrid, with an account of his Catholic majesty's having agreed to the neutrality." " In case of his Catholic majesty's dying without issue." " Averse to the nation's involving itself in another war." Hume, Contin vol. 7, 6. 2, ch. 1. " Who can have no notion of the same person's possess- ing Aifkreui accomplishments." Spectator, J\'o. 150

This is the true idiom of the language ; yet the omission of the sign of the possessive is a common fault among modern writers, who learn the Ian

part.

1 seemed most favorable for tlie combustion being communicated to every

Lavoisier, Trans. exception." Ibm. These

* The contrary rule in Murray is egregiously wrong ; as exemplified in this phrase, " This was my father, mother and imcle's advice." This is not English. When we say, " the king of England's throne," the three words, king of England, are one noun in ctlect, and can have but one sign of the possessive. But when two or three distinct nouns are used, the article pos- sessed is described as belonging to each. " It was my father's advice, my mother's advice, and my uncle's advice." We can omit advice after the two first, but by no means, the sign of the possessive.

There is no reason for hydrogen being expressions are not English.

Rule XXVI. — Transitive verbs and their participles require the object- ive case or the object of action to follow them : as, '• In the beginuiug, God created the leaven and the earth."

" If ye love jne, keep my commandments." "0 righteous fatlier, the world hath not known thee."

Sometimes the object and often the objective case of substitutes precedes the governing verb ; as, " The spirit of truth, whoyn the world cannot re- ceiue." " Whom ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you."

Whom and which, when in the objective ca.se, always precede the verb. In verse, a greater license of transposition is used, than in prose, and uns are often placed before the governing verb. " But through the heart Should jealousy its venom once diffuse." Thomson.

" She with extended arms his aid implores." Ibm.

A noun with whatever, whatsoever or whichever, preceding, is placed be- e the governing verb ; as, "whatsoever positive ideas we have."

Locke, 2. 17. -We have some verbs which govern two words in the objective

Not case ; as.

Miltm, 10. 744. Life of Cmtyper.

Did I request thee, maker, from my clay To mould me man?"

" God seems to have made hitn what he was."

"Ask Aim his opinion." " You have asked me the news'

Will it be said that the latter phrases are elliptical, for " ask oj him his opinion .'" I apprehend this to be a mistake. According to the true idea of the government of a transitive verb, him must be the object in the phrase under consideration, as much as in this, " Ask him for a guinea ;" or in this, " ask him to go."

This idiom is very ancient, as we often see it in the Latin. " Intcrroga- tus sententiam." Liv. 26. 33. "Se id Scipioncm orare." Ibm. 27. 17. "Auxilia regem orabant." Ibm. lib. 2S. 5. The idiom in both languages had a common origin.

Note 2. — Some verbs were formerly used as transitive, which are no longer considered as such ; as, " he repented him" — " flee thee away" — " he was swerved" — " the sum was amounted," &c. which are held im- proper.

Cease, however, is used as a transitive verb by our best writers. " Cease this impious rage." Milton. " Her lips their music cease." Hoole's Tasso.

Rule XXVII. — Intransitive verbs are followed by the name of the act or effect, which the verb expresses in action ; as, " to live a life of virtue ;" "to die the deathoi i\\ie righteous;" "to dream dreams;" " to run sl race ;" " to sleep the sleep of death."

We observe, in these examples, life is the 7iame of living supposed to be complete, as race is the name of the act of running when accomplished.

Note. — Nearly allied to this idiom is that of using, after verbs transitive or intransitive, certain nouns which are not the objects of the verb, nor oi precisely the same sense, but which are either the names of the result of the verb's action, or closely connected with it. Examples : " A guinea weighs five penny weight, six grains ;" " a crown weighs nineteen penny weight;"* " a piece of cloth measures ten yards."

" And on their hinges grate har.sh thunder." "And rivers run potable

gold." " The crispid brook ran nectar." "Groves whose rich trees wept

odorous gums and balm." " Grin a ghastly smile." Milton.

" Her lips blush deeper sweets." Thomson.

" To ascend or descend a flight of stairs, a ladder, or a mountain."

" To cost a guinea."

Under this rule or the following may be arranged these expressions. " Let them go their way." " When matters have been brought this length." Lavoisier, Translation. " We turn our eyes this way or that way." " Reckoning any way from ourselves, a yard, a mile, &c."

Locke, 2. 17.

Similar to this idiom are the phrases, to go west or east — pointing north or south, north-west or south-east, and the like, which I find to be Saxon phrases and very ancient.

In some instances verbs of this sort are followed by two objects; as, " a ring cost the purchaser an eagle."

Rule XXVIII. — Names of certain portions of time and space, and espe- cially words denoting continuance of time or progression, are used without a governing word ; as, " Jacob said, I will serve thee seven years for Rachel." " And dust shalt thou cat all the days of thy life." " And he abode with

* The radical idea of teeight is carry, bear or sustain, from the Saxon wteg, a balance. The idiom in question has its originial in that idea — a guinea weighs five penny weights, six grains — that is, carries or sustains that weight in the scales. How much of the propriety, and even of the beauty of language is lost, by neglecting to study its primitive state and (principles '.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

him the space of a mmith." " The teee of hie yielded her month." " In those days F Daniel was mourning three full weeks' " Whosoever shall urge thee to go a mile, go with him twain." " To walk Amile, or a league."

" EtTects occurring every moment to ourselves." . " You have asked me news a hundred times." Pope.

Words expressing particular or precise points of time, are usually prece- ded hy a preposition ; as, " at that hour ;" " ou that day." But to both these rules there are exceptions.

Rule XXIX. — The verb he has the same ca.se after it as before it; or two substitutes connected with be in construction are in the same case. " Jt is/, be not afraid." "Thou art she." "It is Ac." " Who was he?" " Who do men say that / am .'" " JVhom do they represent me to be.' But " Whom do men say that I am," is incorrect.

Ru L E X X X . — Transitive verbs and their participles admit of a sentence, a clause or number of words as their object; as, "He is not alarmed so far as to consider how much nearer he approaches to his end."

Rambler, JVo. 78.

Consider what ? The whole following clause, which is the object of the verb.

" If he escapes being banished by others, I fear lie will banish himself." Pope, Let. to Swift.

Here being banished stands in the place of a noun, as the object after «»capes.

wrvH Rule XXXI.— T

"" ciple ; a.s, " he love:

abandon a vicious lit

•Add to this, whal./i very drcumstance, tin In this sentence tlie i\\lv and is the actual objcci .

■' Suppose then (Ac

s but little known, has from that nf novelty." Hermes, Preface. ■■ in italics, is what is to be added, irb add. to have had a creator" — " Suppose Paley, Ev. 1.

the disposition which dictated this council to continue " For that mortal dint,

Save tie who reigns above, none can resist." Milton, 2. 815.

" I wish I could give you any good reasons for your coming hither, ex- cept that, /earnestly invite you." Pope, Let.

" Lord Bathurst is too great a husbandman to like barren hills, except they are his own to improve." Pope, Let. Sept. 3, 1726.;

In these and similar passages, the object of the verb is a whole proposi- tion or statement, in a sentence or clause of a sentence. In this passage, "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish," the fact excepted is af- firmed in a single verb. Take away this fact " that you shall repent," and the consequence must be, you will perish. This is one of the modes of ab- breviation in language which I have so frequently mentioned, and which constitutes a principal excellence of the English.

We observe, in some of the passages here cited, the pronoun that, after the verb. This is probably the true original construction ; the substitute, that, pointing to the whole following clause. " He cou Id do no mighty works there, save that, [except that single fact which follows,] he laid his hand on a few sick and healed them."

Note.— It may be here observed that in some of the passages cited the verb has no definitive nominative; the verbs save, except, suppose, add, !fc. are in the imperative mode, but the address is not made to any particular person or persons. Ani this probably has led authors to class save and ex- cept among conjunctions, prepositions or adverbs, or to consider them as used adverbially ; for it has been already observed that the class of adverbs has been a sort of common sink to receive all words which authors have not been able to comprehend. I

Is it not strange that suppose, add, admit, allow, and other verb.s, which are constantly used in the same manner, should have hitherto escaped the same doom .' In the passages above cited from Paley, suppose is used pre- cisely in the same manner, as except and save in others. Indeed nothing but the most inexcusable negligence could have led critics to this classifica- tion of sane and except— (or in many passagesof scripture, these very words, in the sense in which they are called conjunctions or adverbs, have an ob- ject lolloHinii them, lik« other transitive verbs; as, " Israel burned none of them, sar, Hazor only." Josh. xi. l.S. " Ye shall not come into the land, .save I „l, I: iiiul .1, shun." JVum. xiv. 30. " I would that all were as I am, except tli,s, l,,.,iih:- jtcts, xxri.

This u-i- 1.1 Mrli< without a definite nominative occasions no inconven- ience ; for the address is not made to any p,irticular person, but is equally '•" apply it. See the subject further expL ' "

applicable to any unde '

rule

ifiiiilive mode follows, first, anotlier verb or parti- lurish the social alfections ;" " be persuaded to 'he is willing to encounter danger;" "he was [proceeding to relatehis adventures."

2dly. The infiniUve follows a noun ; as, " The next thin-r natural for the [mind to do." Locke. " He has a task to perform."

I 3dly. It follows an adjective or verbal attribute; as, " a question difficult to be solved." " it is delightful to contemplate the goodness of Providence." "God is viorihy to be loved and trusted." "Be prepared to receive your fiiend."

4thly. It follows as ; thus, " an object so high as to be invisible ;" " a question so obscure as to perplex the understanding."

5thly. It follows than after a comparison; as, " Nothing makes a man sus- pect much, more than to know little." Bacon on Suspicion.

6thly. It follows the preposition/oj-, noting cause or motive ; as, " What went ye out /or to see?" Matt. xi.

Tills is the true original idiom, but it is usual now to omit /or; as, " he went to see a reed shaken with the wind." In every phrase of this sort,/n/- is implied in the sense ; but the use of the word is vulg.ir.

The infinitive mode is independent, standing as a substitute for a whole; phrase ; as, " It is not once in ten attempts that you can find the case you seek, in any law book ; to say nothing of those numerous points of conduct concerning which the law professes not to prescribe." Paley, Phil. ch. -1.

Rule XXXII. — The verbs, bid, make, see, hear, feel, let, with the auxil- aries, may, can, must, shall and will, and dare and need, when used as aux- iliaries, are followed by the infinitive without the prefix to ; as, " he bids me come;" " we cannot make them understand;" " let me see youwrite;" "we heard liim relate the story;" " we felt the earth Uemble." " Which (hey \\e\\.pass." Locke. " He may go, can go, must go, shall go, will go." " I dare engage; 1 dare say." " He need not be anxious."

Note 1.— In the uses of dare and need, there are some pecuharities which deserve remark.

When dare signifies to defy or challenge, it is regular in the tenses and persons, is a transitive verb, and is followed by the infinitive with the usual prefix ; as, " he dares me to enter the list." But when it is intransitive, denoting to Aare courage, it more generally drops the personal terminations, has an anomalpus past tense, and is followed by the infinitive without to; in short it has the form of an auxiliary, and in the German, it is classed with the auxiliaries. Examples: " I dare engage." Pope's Works, Letter to Gay. " I dare not confess." Swift to Gay. " I dare say." Locke. "But my Lord, you dare not do either." Junius, Let. 28. '■• Dursil venture to deliver my own sentiments." Hume, Es. 7.

The past tense, when regular, is followed by the infinitive with the usual prefix. " You have dared to throw more than a suspicion upon mine." Junius, Let. 20. The same remark may be extended to the future tense. He will not rfaie to attack his adversary."

In like manner, need, when a transitive verb, is regular in its inflections; , " A man needs more prudence" — " The army needed provisions." But hen intransitive, it drops the personal terminations in the present tense, is formed like an auxiliary, and is followed by a verb, without the prefix to ; as, " Nobody need 6e afraid he shall not have scope enough." Locke, 2.22.9. i" I need not j?o any farther." Ibtn. "Nor need we wonder." Ibm. "The lender need be under no fear." Anarch, ch. 69. " There need be no diffi- culty." Heddoes, Hygeia, I. 27. " She need dig no more." Spectator, .Vo. 121. " A man need not be uneasy on these grounds." Boswell, 3. 41. " He need not urge to this honorable court." Judge Chase.

lu the use of this verb, there is another irregularity, which is pecuUar, the verb being without a nominative, expressed or implied. " Whereof here needs no account." Milton, P. L. 4. 235. "There is no evidence of the fact, and there needs none." This is an established use of need.

Note 2.— The infinitive mode has, in its sense and use, a near affinity to a noun and often has the construction of one. It is much employed to intro- duce sentences which are the nominatives to verbs, as well as the objects following them ; as, " To will is present with me, but to perform that which is good I find not." Here the first infinitive is the nominative to is, and the second begins the sentence which is the object afler^nd.

Note 3. — A common mistake in the use of the infinitive is, to use the perfect tense after another verb in the past time, when in fact one of the verbs in the past time would correctly express the sense ; thus, " It would have been no difficult matter to have compiled a volume of such amusing pre-

' ■ " Cowper to Hill, Let. 29. Here the first verb states the time

The following passage in Locke, 2. 27. 2. contains another iP^!' ^''^" " "'*'* ""' difficult to compile a volume ; at that time the compi-

verb used in the same manner : " Coiild two bodies he in the same place at the same time, then those two parcels of matter must be one and the same, take them great or little."

The error of considering sore as an adverb or conjunction, has however produced a mulfitude of mistakes in construction, as in tb.>..- i,nc^:,._r.>.. • " Save Ae who reigns above." Milton. "Which no man kii.v\\ i . t

Ae that receiveth it." iieti. ii. 17. The nominative Ae cannot lu

any principle of true construction. We ought to he Aim, the .^ verb. Except might have been used, andthis word beins cull. I .. i^.i ,ju^: tion, would have required after it the objective else. Biit both -"..i= -r„i verbs, and ought to have the same construction. Vol. I. K.

lation couM not be past ; the verb therefore should have been to compile, which is present and always indefinite.

In the following passage, we have a like use of verbs which is correct. " A free pardon was granted to the son, who teas known to have offered in- ilignities to the body of Varus." Murphy's Tacitus, fi. I. Here 'the offer- '::s of indignities was a fact precedent to the time stated in the verb icas 'niiwn; and therefore the verb, to have offered, is well employed.

Rule XXXIII. — The infinitive signifying motive or purpose, often in- ioiluces a clause or sentence which is not ihenoininative orobjecli'

I verb; as, " To see how far this reaches, and what are the causes of

)any

j|VtiL,, a=., J. u Oct: nitw lai iiii> readies, auQ wnai are me causes Of wrong lijudgment, we must remember that things are judged good or bad in a double

GRA3IMAR OF THE

.»eiise." Lode, 2. 21. 61 . " To present property from being too unequally distributed, no pei-son should be allowed to dispose of his possessions to the ])rpiudice of his lawful heirs." Anarch, ch. 62.

Note. — This form of sentence -seems to be derived from the use o{ for before the verb,/oi- to see. The modern practice is to prefix some noun, as ill order to see, or " With a view to prevent."

Rule XXXIV. — In the use of the passive form, there is often an inver- sion of the order of the subject and object ; thus, " The bishops and abbots were allowed their seats in the house of Lords."

Blackstone, Comm. b. 1, ch. 2.

Here the true construction would be, " Seats in the house of Lords were allowed to the bishops and abbots."

"Theresa was forbid the presence of the emperor." Murphy's Tacitus, 2. .540. Note. — This is a common phrase. It may be resolved thus : The presence of the emperor wa* forbid to Theresa — or, Theresa was forbid to approach the presence of the emperor.

KuLE XXXV. — The participle of the present tense without a definitive a or the, or with any possessive attribute, usually retains the sense of its verb, and has the objective case after it; as, "The clerk is engrossing the bill." "The love we bear our friends is generally caused by our finding the same dispositions in them, which we ieel in ourselves."

Pope's Letters.

" In return to your inviting me to your forest." Ibm.

But when the participle is preceded by a or the, it takes the character and government of a noun, and in most cases, must be followed by of; as, "The middle station of life seems to be most advantas:eously situated for the gain- ing of wisdom. Poverty turns our thoughts too much upon the supplying of our wants, and riches, upon enjoying our superfluities."

Spectator, JVo. 464,

In many cases this participle becomes a noun, without a or the ; as, " It is more properly talking upon paper, than u^ting." Pope, Let

Note. — The foregoing rule is often violated by our best writers, and to make it universal is (o assume an authority much too dictatorial. " Some were employed in bloiving of glass ; others in weaving of linen."

Gibbon, Rom. Emp. ch. 10.

Rule XXXVI. — Participles of the present tense, either single or in un- ion with the participle of the perfect tense, often perform, at once, the office of a verb and a noun ; as, " The taking from another what is his, without his knowledge or allowance, is called stealing." Locke, 2. 28. 16.

" By the mind's changing the object to which it compares any thing."

Locke, 2. 25.

" To save them from other people's damning them." Wycherley to Pope.

" Such a plan is not capable of being carried into execution."

Anarch, ch. 62.

" They could not avoid submitting to this influence."

Baling, on Hist. Let. 8.

Note 1. — The participle in ing, though strictly active in its signification, is not unfrequently used by modern authors in a passive sense ; as, " More living particles are produced — than are necessary foi- nutrition or for the restoration of decomposing organs," that is, organs suffering decomposition. Darwin, Zoon. sect. 39. 9. " From which caloric is disengaging," that is, undergoing the process of separation. Lavoisier, Translation. " The num- ber is augmenting daily." Ibm. " They seemed to think Cesar was slay- ing before their eyes rather than that he was slain." Guth. Quin. 2. 18. " The nation had cried out loudly against the crime while it was commit- ting." Boling. on Hist. Let. 8. " My lives are re-printing." Johnson to Boswell, 1782.

Many of this kind of participles have become mere attributes ; as writing paper ; looking glass ; spelling or pronouncing dictionary. Wanting and owing have long had the character of passive participles, with the sense of wanted, iiwed.

Note 2. — The use of two participles in the place of a noun is one of the most frequent practices of our best writers ; as, " This did not prevent John's being acknowledged and solemnly inaugurated Duke of Normandy." Hen- ry, Hist. Brit. b. 3. The participle being with an attribute, supplies the place of a noun also. " As to the difference of being more general, that makes this maxim more remote from being innate." Locke, 1. 2. 20.

Rule XXXVII. — Participles, like attributes, agree with a sentence, a part of a sentence, or a substitute for a sentence ; as, " Concerning relation in general, these things may be considered." Locke, 2. 25.

Here concerning relates to the whole of the last clause of the sentence — ■' These things may be considered" — all which is concerning relation in general.

" This criterion will be different, according to the nature of the object which the mind contemplates." Enfield, Hist. Phil. 2. 15.

That is, the dilTerence of criterion will accord with the nature of the ob- ject.

" According to Hierocles, Ammonius was induced to execute the plan ol a distinct eclectic school," &.c. Ibm. p. 63.

Here the whole statement of facts in the last clause was according to Hie- rocles ; that is, it accorded with his testimony.

" I have accepted thee, concerning this thing also." Gen. 19.

" I speak concAning Christ and the church." Eph. v. 32,

" Thus shalt thou do unto thcLcvitcs, touching their charge."

Aum. viii. 26.

Rule XXXVIII. — Participles often stand without a noun, sentence or substitute, on which they immediately depend, being referable to either of the persons indefinitely ; as, " It is not possible to act otherwise, considering the weakness of our nature." Spectator.

Note — Johnson, in his Dictionary, calls this a kind of conjunction, and adds — " It had been more grammatically written considered; vu, French ; but considering is ahvays used."

This criticism indicates an incorrect view of tlie subject. Considered, cannot be used without a change in the structure of the sentence — "The weakness of our nature being considered." But to make this form of ex- pression correspondent to the other clause, that ought also to be varied, and definite person introduced ; thus, " It does not appear (to us) possible to act otherwise, the weakness of our nature being considered." But this amend- ment would be of no advantage.

To comprehend the use of such expressions, we should consider that men find it useful to deal in abstract propositions and lay down truths without re- ference to persons. This manner of discoursing is often less invidious than to apply propositions or opinions to persons. To accomplish this purpose, have devised words and modes of speech which enable them thus to communicate their ideas. In the passage cited, the first clause contains a general abstract proposition, equally applicable to any person—" It is not possible to act otherwise." That is, it is not possible for me, for you, for ,, or for her ; but it might be invidious to specify persons. It is not pos- e for John or Thomas to act otherwise, he considering the weakness of nature. Hence the proposition is left without application ; and it fol- lows naturally that the persons who are to consider the cause, the weakness of our nature, should be left indefinite, or unascertained. Hence co?i- sidering is left without a direct application to any person.

Whatever foundation there may be for this explanation, the idiom is com- mon and well authorized.

" Generally speaking, the heir at law is not bound by the intention of the testator." Paley, Phil. 23.

" Supposing that electricity is actually a substance, and taking if for granted that it is different from caloric, does it not in all probability contain caloric, as well as all other bodies ?" Thomson, Chim. art! Calnrir.

Here is no noun expressed or implied, to which supposing and taking can be referred ; we would be most naturally understood.

" Supposing the first stratum of particles to remain in their place, after their union with caloric, we can conceive an affinity, &.c." Am. Here supposing may be refened to tve, but is tliis the real construction ?

" For supposing parliament had a right to meet spontaneously, withoui being called together, it would be impossible to conceive that all the mem- bers would agree," &c. Blackstone, Comm. B. 1. 2.

" The articles of this charge, considering by whom it was brought, were not of so high a nature as might have been expected."

Henry, Brit. B. 4. ch. 1.

" It is most reasonable to conclude that, excepting the assistance he may be supposed to have derived from his countrymen, his plan of civilization was the product of his own abilities." Enfield, Hist. Phil. 1. ch. 9.

" None of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing." JVeh. iv. 23.

" And he said unto them, hinder me not, seeing the Lord hath prospered my way." Gen. xxiv. 56.

" Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds." Col. iii. 9.

" Comparing two men, in reference to a common parent, it is easy to frame th^ ideas of brothers." Locke, 2. 25.

" Granting this to be true, it would help us in the species of things no farther than the tribes of animals and vegetables." Locke, 3. 6. 23.

Rule XXXIX. — Adverbs or Modifiers are usually placed near the words whose signification they are intended to affect.

First. They are placed before adjectives : as, truly wise ; sincerely up- right ; unaffectedly polite.

Secondly. They usually follow a verb when single ; as, he spoke elo- quently : and if a verb is transitive with an object following, the adverb follows the object ; as, " John received the present gratefully."

To this rule, the exceptions are very numerous, and not to be classed under general heads. " So it frequently happens." " Men often deceive themselves." Indeed, in many eases the position of the modifier makes no difference in the sense, and may be regulated entirely by the preference of sound, in the general structure of the period, provided it is not such as to mislead the reader, in the application of the word.

Thirdly. When one auxiliary and a participle are used, the modifier is usually placed between them or it follows the participle ; as, " he was gra-

ciously received," or " lie was received graciously." The first is the most elegant.

Fourthly. When two auxiliaries are used, the adverb is usually placed after the second ; as, " We have been kindly treated." But it may follow the participle, as " We have been treated kindly ;" and in some cases it may precede the auxiliaries, as " -Vnd certainly you must have known."

.hmiun. Letter 8.

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

Fifililv. Wlien ailverbs are emphatical, they may introduce a sentence, anil l» - |. 1 h 1 n ,111 the word to ivhieh they belong ; as, " Haw complete- ly t\\,\\ I liviman virtues Aarf taA-CTi possession of his soul!" po,i ;. - I |,fi-itiou of the nioditicr is most frequent iu interroga- tive .uhI r-,, ■!,.-, I. 3 jihrases.

The adverb alirays is usually placed before a verb.

JVever commonly precedes a single verb, except be, which it follows ; as, " We are never absent from Church on Sunday." It is sometimes placed before an auxiliary, as " He never has been at court;" but it is more cor- rectly and elegantly placed after the first auxiliary, as " He has never been at court," "he has never been intoxicated."

This word ha-s a peculiar use in the phrase ; " Ask me never so much dowry." Gen. xxxiv. " The voice of charmers, charming never so wise- ly." Ps. Iviii. The sense i-j, '• Ask me so much dowry as never was asked brfore ;" an abbreviation siri

Blackstone, Comm. B. 3. eh. 9.

The use of here and there, in the introduction of sentences before verbs, forms an authori/cd idiom of the language ; though the words may be con- sidered as redundant. The practice may have originated in the use of the liand in pointing, in the early stage of society.

Here, there, and where, originally denoting plaee, are now used in re- ference to words, subjects and various ideas of which place is not predica- blc. " It is not so with respect to volitions and actions ; here the coalesence is intimate." Hermes, ch. 8. " We feel pain, in the sensations, where we expected pleasure." Locke, 2. 7. 4.

Hence, whence, and thence, denoting the place from which a departure is stated, are used either teith or without the preposition/ram. In strictness, the idea of /inm is inclculcil in the words, and it ought not to be u.sed. These word* .il- i i i "iily in reference to jdace, but to any argu- ment, subjccl. . • ! - nirse.

Hither, thitir . i ■ - - . ^'enoting to a place, are obsolete in popular

practice, and ul-ul,-. .m u< writing; being superseded by here, there, ■where. This change is evidently the effect of the all-controlling disposi- tion of men to abridge speech, by dismissing useless syllables, or by substi- tuting short words of easy pronunciation for those which are more difficult. Against this disposition and its effects, the critic remonstrates in vain ; and we may rest assured that common convenience and utility are better guides in whatever respects the use of words, than the opinions of men in their closets. No word or syllable in a language, which is essential, or very use ful, is ever lost.

While Is a noun denoting time, and not a modifier. In this phrase, " will go while you stay," the word is used in its primitive manner, without government, like many other names of portions of time — a month, a week

We are accustomed to use, as modifiers, a little and a great ileal. " The many letters I receive, do not a little encourage me." Spectator, JVo. 124 Many names are used in like manner, as modifiers of the sense of verbs " You don't care six-pence whether he was wet or dry." Johnson

Rule XL. — In polite and classical language, two negatives destroy the negation and express an affirmative ; as, " JVor did he not perceive them,'" that is, he did perceive them. This phraseology is not common nor agreea- ble to the genius of our tongue.

The following is a common and well authorized use of negatives. " Hii manners are not inelegant," that is, are elegant. This manner of expres- sion, however, when not accompanied with particular emphasis, denotes i moderate degree of the quality.

Note. — In popular language, two negatives are used for a negation, ac- cording to the practice of the ancient Greeks and the modern French. This idiom was primitive, and was retained in the Saxon ; as, " Oc se kining Peada ne risadc nane while." Sax. Chron. p. 33. And the king Peada did not reign none while, that is, not a long time. The learned, with a view to philosophical correctness, have rejected the use of two negatives for one negation. The consequence is, we have two modes of speaking directly op posile to each other, but expressing the same thing. " He did not owe nothing," in vulgar language, " and he owed nothing," in the style of the learned, mean precisely the same thing.

Rule XLI. — Prepositions are followed by the names of objects and the objective case ; as, /rum New York to Philadelphia ; across the Delaware ; ouer land; 6^ water;

The preposition to is supposed to be omitted after verbs of giving, yield ing, affording, and the like ; as, " give them bread," instead of give bread M them. " Afford him protection ;" " furnish her with books." But tliis idiom seems to be primitive, and not elliptical.

From is sometimes suppressed ; as in this phrase, " He was banished the kingdom."

Home, after a verb denoting motion to, is always used without to ; as, " We are going home."

Afler the attribute near, to is often omitted ; as, " To bring them nearer tlic truth." Massillon. Also after adjoining ; as, " a garden adjoining a river."

The preposition is sometimes separated from the word which governs ; as, ' With a longing for that state which he is charmed with," instead of with which he is charmed.

n many cases, the relative pronoun may be suppressed, as " I did not see the person he came with," that is, «'iWt M.)/io»rt he came ; and in other cases, what is employed for the word governed, as " I know not what per- son he gave the present to."

This separation of the preposition from the word governed by it, and the ppression of the substitute, are most common and most allowable in collo- quial and epistolary language. In the grave and elevated style, they arc elegant, and never to be admitted to the prejudice of perspicuity ; a.i in the following passage, "Of a space or number, which, in a constant and endless enlarging progression, it can in thought never attain to."

Locke, 2. 17. 8. A separation of the preposition to such a distance from the word with which it is connected in construction, is perplexing and inelegant.

Note. — In the use of who as an interrogative, there is an apparent devi- ation from a regular construction — it being used without distinction of case ; Who do you speak to ?" " Who is she married to ':" " Who is this re- served for ;" " Who was it made by .'" This idiom is not merely colloquial; is found in the writings of our best authors. It is the Latin cui and quo. Rule XLU. — Prepositions govern sentences and clauses or members of , " Without seeking any morejustitiable reasons of hostility." Hume, 1. 3.

' Besides making an expedition into Kent." Hume, 1. 36.

' From what has been said." Blair, Serm.

' To the general history of these periods will be added, &c."

Enfield, Prelim. ' .^bout the beginning of the eleventh century." Ibm.

' By observing these rules and precautions." Ibm.

' In comparing the proofs of questionable facts." Ibm.

' For want of carefully attending to tlic preceding distinction."

Jinfield, Hist. Phil. b. 2. ' -ifter men became christians." Paley, Evid. ch. 1.

' Before you were placed at the head of affairs." Junius. Let. 8.

' Personal bravery is not enough to constitute the general, without he animates the •vhole army with courage." Fielding's Socrates, p. 18S.

Pray, get these verses by heart against I see you." Chesterfield, Let. After having made me believe that I possessed a share in your affec- tion." Pope, Let. " Ambition, envy, — will take up our minds, without we can possess our- Ives with sobriety." Spectator, jXo. 143. Note. — We obsei-ve, in the foregoing passages, the preposition has two uses. One is to precede a word to which other words are annexed as ne- cessary to complete the sense — " about the beginning." Here the sense is complete ; the time is not designated. To define the time wiiich is the object of the preposition about, it is necessary to add the words — " of the eleventh century"— «6o«f that time. So that the whole clause is really the object after the preposition.

The other use of the preposition is to precede nouns, verbs or other words which are not the object of the preposition, but which have a construction independent of it ; as, " after men became christians." Here men is the nominative to became ; yet the whole proposition is as really the object gov- erned by after, as the word hour, in the phrase, after that hour. " Against I see you," is a phrase of like construction. No single word is an object or in the objective case after against ; but the whole affirmation is the object. " Without we can possess ourselves," has a like construction, and though superseded, in a degree, by unless, a word of similar import, is a true En- glish phrase. After [this fact] men became christians — Against [that time when] I see you — Without [this fact] we can possess ourselves.

Rule XLIII. — The modifiers of sentences, if, though, unless, and lest, may be followed by verbs in the future tense, without the usual auxiliaries, shall, will or should; as, "If his son ask bread, will he give him a stone ?" " If he asft a fish, will he give him a serpent ?" " Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him." " He shall not eat of the holy things, unless he wash his flesh with water." " Lest thou say I have made Abram rich." Except has a like effect upon the following verb ; as, " I will not let thee go, except thou bless me." Wluther ha.s been numbered also among the conjunctions, which require the conditional mode, but by an egregious mis- take. It is not a connective, nor does it imply a condition or hypothesis, but in alternative.

Rule XLIV. — Connectives join two or more clauses or members in a compound sentence; as, "Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from .speaking guile."

Here are two clauses united by and, which continues the sense and pre- vents the repetition of the verb keep.

"I sought the Lord, antZ he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears." Here are three clauses combined into a sentence or period by the help of and ; but a new verb is introduced in each, and the second connec- tive prevents the repetition of the substitute he only.

" A wise son heareth his father's instruction ; but a scorner heareth not rebuke." Here but joins tlie t(vo clauses, but a new character i.i the nomi- native to a distinct verb, in the second clause, which exhibits a contrast to the first, and no word is omitted.

GRAMMAR OF THE

Rule XLV.— Connectiv 10 the same verb, expi-essed live verb or a preposition in the same case. Connectives also join verbs, -tdjectives, and adveri)S. Kxample:

" Peter and John went up into the Temple."

Connectives join attributes and modifiers; as, "He is wise and virtuous, *' An orator pleads eloquently and plausibly."

The connectives perform a very important office in abridging language, by enabling us to omit words which must otherwise be repeated. Thus when I say, " I esteem religion and virtue," two affirmations, •' I esteem re- ligion, I esteem virtue," are actually included in the sentence.

When several words or clauses succeed each other, it is not uncommon to omit the connective ; as, " We hear nothing of causing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be cleansed." Paley, Evid.

After the connective than, there may be and usually is an ellipsis of a verb, a noun, or other words ; as, " There is none greater in this house than I." Gen. xxxix. 9. That is, than I am.

"Only in the throne will I be greater than thou." Gen. \\\\\\. That is, than thou shalt be.

" He loves his money more than his honoi," that is, more than he loves his honor.

" The king of the north shall return and set forth a multitude greater than the former." Dan. xi. 13. That is, than the former multitude.

" I will pull down ray barns and build greater." Luke xii. That is, greater barns.

Sometimes other words may be suppressed without obscuring the sense ; as, " It is better for me to die than to live." Jonah iv. That is, better than for me to live.

Precise rules for the ellipsis of words, in all cases, cannot be given. In general, a writer will be governed by a regard to perspicuity, and omit no word, when the want of it leaves the sense obscure or ambiguous, nor when it weakens the strength of expression. But the following remarks and examples may be of use to the student.

1. When a number of words are joined in consti'uction, the definitive ifiay be omitted, except before the first ; as the sun, moon and stars ; a house and garden. So also when two or more attributes agree with the samel name ; as a great, wise and good prince. But when attributes or names are particularly emphatical, the definitive should be expressed before each ; as the sun, the moon and the stars.

2. The repetition of names adds emphasis to ideas ; as, " Christ, the pow- er of God and the wisdom of God," is more emphatical than " Christ, the power and the wisdom of God."

3. An adjective belonging to two or more nouns joined by a connective, may be omitted except before the first ; as my house and garden ; good qualities and actions. " rAejr interest and solicitation— " Ratnbler,5Q. Nor does it make any difference that the nouns are in different numbei adjectives have no distinction of number, the same word may be applied to the singular number and the plural ; as a magnificent house and gardens ; his bouse and lands. But when a precedes the first adjective, this construc- tion is not elegant.

4. In compound sentences, a nominative pronoun or noun may be omitted before all the verbs except the first ; as, I love, fear and respect the magis- trate — instead of, I love, I fear and I respect. The substitute may some- times be suppressed ; as the man I saw, for the man ivhom i saw.

5. An adverb need not be repeated with every word which it qualifies, the connective and rendering it unnecessary ; as, he spoke and acted grace- fidli/. Here gracefully belongs to speaking as well as to acting.

A preposition may be omitted after a connective ; as, he walked over the hills and the valleys, that is, over the valleys.

After like and near, to is usually omitted ; as, " Like three distinct powers in mechanics." Blackstone's Comm. 1. 2. That is, like to three. " Such opinions as seemed to approach nearest the truth." Enfield, 2. 59. That is, nearest to the truth.

Likewise* after join and adjoin, to is sometimes omitted ; as, " a garden adjoining the river."

For is omitted by the poets after mourn. " He mourn'd no recreant friend, no mistress coy." Beatlie.

PUNCTUATION.

Punctuation is the marking of the several pauses which are to be ob- served, in reading or speaking a sentence or continued discourse. By means of pauses, a discourse is divided into periods or complete sentences, .md periods into clauses or simple sentences, and these, into phrases.

A period is a sentence complete, making perfect sense, and not connect- ed in constniction with what follows. The pause after the period is mark- ed by a point [.] and in speaking, is distinguished by a cadence or fall of the

The members of a period, or clauses and phrases, are all more or less con- nected in sense, and according to the nearness of the connection, are mark- ed by a comma [,] a semicolon [ ;] or a colon [:]

The comma is the shortest pause, and is often used to mark the construc- tion, where very little interruption of voice is allowphle

I A simple sentence or clause contains an affirmation, a command or a iquesuou, that is, one personal verb, with its nominaiive and adjuncts. By adjunct^ is meant any phrase or number of words added by way of modify- ing or qualifying the primary words. Thus when it is said, " Cicero was an orator of a diffuse style," the latter words, of a diffuse style, are the ad- jmict of orator, and the whole forms a complete simple sentence, with one verb or affirmation.

A phrase contains no assertion, or does not amount to a proposition.

Comma. Rule I. In general the parts of a simple sentence or clause are not to

be separated by any point whatever ; dition of life." But when a simple phrase or phrases, modifying the affir , " To be very active in laudable p istic of a man of merit ""

Hope is necessary in every con- is long, or contains a distinct it may be divided by a comma; is the distinguishing character- . revengmg an injury, a man is but even with his enemy." In most cases, where a short pause will give distinctness to ideas, a comma is well placed after an important word ; as, " To mourn with- out measure, is folly; not to mourn at all, insensibility." The pause after measure, in this sentence, is essential to the sti engtli of the expression. " The idea of beauty is vague and undefined, different in different minds, and diversified by time or place." Rambler.

Rule II. When a connective is omitted between two or more words,

hether names, adjectives, pronouns, verbs or modifiers, the place is sup- plied by a comma ; as, " Love, joy, peace and blessedness are reserved for the good." " The miseries of poverty, of sickness, of captivity, would, without hope, be insupportable." Rambler. " We hear nothing of caus- ing the blind to see, the lame to walk, the deaf to hear, the lepers to be cleansed." Paley. " He who loves, serves and obeys his maker, is a pi- ous man." " Industry steadily, prudently and vigorously pursued, leads to wealth." " David was a brave, martial, enterpiising prince." " The most innocent pleasures are the most rational, the most delightful and the most durable."

Rule HI. Two or nvore simple sentences closely connected in sense, or dependent on each other, are separated by a comma only ; as, " When our vices leave us, we flatter ourselves we leave them." " The temperate man's pleasures are durable, because they are regular." " That all the duties of morality ought to be practised, is without difficulty discoverable, because ignorance or uncertainty would immediately involve the world in confusion and distress." Rambler.

Rule IV. The sentence independent or case absolute, detached affir- mations or phrases involved in sentences, and other important clauses, must be separated from the other parts of a sentence, by a comma; as, "The envoy has returned, his business being accomplished." The envoy, hav- ing accomplished his business, has returned." " Providence has, I think, displayed a tendeiness for mankind." Rambler. " The decision of patron- age, who was but half a goddess, has been sometimes erroneous." Ibm. " The sciences, after a thousand indignities, retired from the palace of pat- ronage." Ibm. " It is, in many cases, apparent." Ibm.

Rule V. A comma is often required to mark contrast, anfithesis, or re- markable points in a sentence, and sometimes very properly separates words closely dependent in construction ; as, " a good man will 'love himself too well to lose, and his neighbor too well to win, an estate by gaming." " Prosperity gains friends, and adversity tries them." " It is harder to avoid censure, than to gain applause."

" Though deep, yet clear; though gentle, yet not dull."

Rule VI. A single name in apposition is not separated by a comma ; as, " the Apostle Peter:" but when such name is accompanied with an ad- junct, it should be separated ; as, " Parmenio, a friend of Alexander's, hear- ing the great offers that Darius had made, said, " Were 1 Alexander, I would accept them." " So would I," replied Alexander, " were I Par- menio."

Rule VII. Terms of address, and words of others repeated, but not in- troduced as a quotation, are separated by a comma ; as, " Wherefore, Sirs, be of good cheer." " My son, hear the counsel of thy father." "Thus halt tliou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

Exodus.

Rule VIII. Modifying words and phrases, as however, nay, hence, be- ides, in short, finally, formerly, &c. are usually separated by a comma ; as, ' It is, however, the task of criticism to establish principles." Rambler.

Semicolon.

The semicolon is placed between the clauses of a period, which are less losely connected than such as are separated by a cojnma.

First. When the first division of a sentence completes a proposition, so as to have no dependence on what follows ; but the following clause has a dependence on the preceding, the two parts are separated generally by a semicolon ; as, " It may he laid down as a maxim, that it is more easy to take away superfluities than to supply defects ; and therefore he that is cul- pable, because he has passed the middle point of virtue, is always accounted a fairer object of hope, than he who fails by falling short." Rambler. In this sentence the part of the sentence preceding the semicolon is a perfect

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

period in itself, and miglit have beeu closed with a full point ; but the au- (voice, and the longest pause used between sentences. It closes a discourse 5ior has added' another division, by way of inference, and this is dependent :also, or marks a completion of a subject, chapter or section, on the first division. The author proceeds— " The one has all that perfec- ; The full point is used also after initials when used alone, as after N. S. tion requires, and more, but the excess may be easily retrenched ; the other\\for New Style ; and after abbreviations, as Croc. Anglic, for Crocus All- wants the qualities requisite to excellence." Here the first division makes l[glicanus.

t complete proposition ; but the antithesis begun by the numeral one, is not complete, without tlie last division.

" Economy is no disgrace ; for it is better to live on a little, than to out- live a great deal." , , , v . . <•

" Be in peace with many ; nevertheless, have but one counselor of a thousand."

" A friend cannot be known in prosperity ; an enemy cannot be hid in ad- versity."

In general then, the semicolon separates the divisions of a sentence, when the latter division has a dependence on the former, whether the for-

1 the sentence or an abrupt turn; as.

To these may be added.

The dash [ — ] which marks a break i ** If thou art he — but O how fallen !"

The interrogation point [.'] that closes a sentence which asks a question ; as, " How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity .'"

The exclamation point [!] which is used after sudden expressions of sur- prise, or other emotions; as, "O happiness ! Our being's end and aim I"

The parenthesis ( ) and hooks [ ] include a remark or clause not essential to the sentence in consti-uction, but useful in explaining it or introducing an mportant idea. They mark a moderate pause, and the clause included is

iner has a dependence on the latter or not. j.read with a depressed tone of voice ; ;

Secondly. When several members of a sentence have a dependence on^ "Know then this truth (enough I each other, by means of a substitute for the same principal word, and the | Virtue alone is happiness below." Pope.

clauses, in other respects, constitute distinct propositions, the semicolon ,! n ^jn be readily seen that the sentence is not at all dependent on the may be used ; as, " Wisdom hath builded her house ; she hath hewn out ' parenthetical clause ; but the converse is not true, for that clause has a de-

her seven pillars ; she hath killed her beasts £he hath also furnished her table." Prov. ix

Colon. The Colon is used when the sense of the division of i

tigled her wine ;

■ man to know)

pendence more or less remote on the sentence. Thus, enough for 7nan to know, is not intelligible without connecting it with the parts of the sentence preceding and following. So in this passage ; " If any one pretends to be so sceptical, as to deny his own existence (for really to doubt of it, is manifest- ly impossible) let him enjoy his beloved happiness." Locke, 4. 10. 2. The

, as to admit of a full point, but something is ^dded by way of illustration .^^^ .^ .^ ^ substitute for existence. V ^V

as, " A brute arrives at a point of perfection that he can never pass m a ^,.^^ ^ ^^ j,^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^

few years he has all the endowments he is capable of and were he tohve ;^^^ seliicolon, colon and full pointfmay bear to each other the propor- .„„ ...„„.,„. ,„„.„ „.„„M h„ .h, same thmg he is at P'^^e" -^^^^ ^^^ | tion of one, two, four and six ; and the interrogation point and exclamation

'^ >- • 'jpoint may be considered each as equal in time to the colon or period. But

Period. "° precise rule can be given, which shall extend to every case ; the length

ten thousand i

The Period or full point marks c

nplctic

of the pauses must depend much on the nature of the discourse, and their re- 1 of the sense, a cadence of the Ispective proportions may be often varied to advantage by a judicious speaker,

DIRECTIONS

PRONUNCIATION OF WOMO^.

els are the first or long, and the second

Examples of the first or long sound.

a in make, fate, grace.

c in me, mete, meter.

i in pine, bind, strife.

o in note, hold, port.

u in true, duty, rude.

y in dry, defy, imply. The principal things to be regardec

Examples of the second or short sound. a in mat, ban, grand, e in bet, men, send. i in bit, pin, miss, o in not, boss, bond, u in dun, must, refund, y in pity, cycle, synonym

in learning the pronunciation of Eng- lish words, are the accent and the sound of the vowel of the accented syl- lable.

Rule I. This mark ' called an accent, designates the accented syllable. II. The accent placed immediately after a vowel indicates the vowel to have its first or long sound, either at the end or in the middle of a syllable ; as in sa'cred, prc'cept, ri'ot, po'et, mu'sic, cy'press ; de- gra'de, reple'te, divi'de, explo'de, intru'de. HI. A horizontal mark or point over a vowel shows it to be long, and when no accent is found in the word, this mark designates the ac- cented syllable; as in discourse, encroach, bestow, enroll, suitable.

IV. An accent placed immediately after a consonant, or combination of consonants in the same syllable, indicates that the vowel of that syl- lable, if unpointed, is short; as in hab'it, ten'et, con'duct, ul'cer, sym'bol ; adapt', intend', predict', despond', abrupt'. Exceptions.

1. A pointed vowel has the sound designated by the point or points ; as in full'ness, al'terable, book'ish, convey'.

2. a before II, Id and Ik, in monosyllables or accented syllables, has its broad sound like aw; as in befall', bald'ness, walk'ing.

3. before II is long ; as in enroll'.

V. An accent immediately after a diphthong, or after a syllable con- taining one, designates the accented syllable, but the diphthong has its proper sound; as in renew', devour', avow', appoint', annoy'. \'I. This mark ' called in Greek the grave accent, placed before a vowel, indicates that vowel to have its ItaUan sound, as in >ask, b'ar, fa- ther, m'ask. In words of two or more syllables, when no other ac- cent is used, this designates the accented syllable ; as in ^answera- ble, b'argain. VII. Two accents immediately before c, / or s, indicate that c, t or s, in pronunciation, coalesces with the following vowel, and form the sound of sA or zh, which closes the syllable, and of course the pre- ceding vowel is short. Thus, vi"cious, ambi"tion, are pronounced vish'us, ambish'on ; vi'sion is pronounced vizh'un. VIII. C before a, o and m, and in some other situations, is a close articula- tion, like k, and in the vocabulary of this work, whenever it is equiv- alent to A:, it is marked thus C

Before e, i and y, c is precisely equivalent to s, in some, this ; as in cedar, civil, cypress, capacity. IX. E tinal answers the following purposes.

1. It indicates that the preceding vowel is long ; as in hate, mete, sire, robe, lyre ; abate, recede, invite, remote, intrude.

2. It indicates that c preceding has the sound of s, as in lace, lance, and that g preceding has the sound of j, as in charge, page, challenge.

3. In proper English words, e final never forms a syllable, and in most words, in the terminating unaccented syllable, it is si- lent and useless. Thus, motive, genuine, examine, juvenile, reptile, granite, are pronounced motiv, genuin, examin, juve- nil,reptil, grauil.

In a few words of foreign origin, e final forms a syllable ; a? in syncope, simile. These are noted in their place. X. E final is silent after I in the following terminations, ble, cle, die, fle, gle, kle, pie, tie, zle; as in able, manacle, cradle, ruffle, mangle, wrinkle, supple, rattle, puzzle, which are pronounced a'bl, man'aci, cra'dl, ruPfl, man'gl, wrin'kl, sup'pl, puz'zl. XI. In the termination en, e is usually silent ; as in token, broken, pro- nounced tokn,brokn. XII. The termination ous in adjectives and their derivatives is pronounced us ; as in gracious, pious, pompously.

XIII. The combinations ce, ci, ti, before a vowel, have the sound of sh ; as

in cetaceous, gracious, motion, partial, ingratiate, pronounced ceta- shus, grashus, moshon, parshal, ingrashate.

But ti after a consonant have the sound of ch ; as in christian, bas- tion, mixtion, pronounced chrischan, baschan, mixchun. So in combustion, digestion.

St after an accented vowel are pronounced like zh ; as in Ephe- sian, confusion, pronounced Ephezhan, confuzhon.

When cior ti precede similar combinations, as in pronunciation, negotiation, they may be pronounced ce, instead of she, to prevent a repetition of the latter syllable ; as pronunciashon, instead of pro- nunshashon.

XIV. Gh, both in the middle and at the end of words, are silent ; as in

caught, bought, fright, nigh, sigh ; pronounced caut, baut, frite.

Exceptions. In the following words gh are pronounced as/ — cough, chough, clough, enough, hough, laugh, rough, slough, tough, trough. XV. When wh begin a word, the aspirate A precedes M> in pronunciation, as in what, whiff, whale, pronounced hwat, hwif, hwale ; id having precisely the sound of oo, French mi.

In the following words, iv is silent — who, whom, whose, whoop, whole, whore.

XVI. H after r has no sound nor use ; as in rheum, rhyme, pronounced

reum, ryme.

XVII. K and g before n arc silent ; as in know, gnaw, pronounced no, naw.

XVIII. W^ before ris silent; as in wring, wreath, pronounced ring, reath.

XIX. £ after m is silent ; as in dumb, numb, pronounced dum, num.

XX. L before k is silent ; as in baulk, walk, talk, pronounced bank, wauk, tank.

XXI. Ph have the sound of/; as in philosophy.

XXII. The combination no- has two sounds; one, as in sing, singer; the other, as in finger, linger, longer. The latter is the more close pal- atal sound; but the distinction can only be learned by the ear.

XXIII. The letters c/, answering to kl, are pronounced as if written tl ; clear, clean, arc pronounced tlear, tlean.

Gl are pronounced as dl; glory is pronounced dlory.

XXIV. ,/V after m, and closing a syllable, is silent ; as m hymn, condemn.

XXV. P before s and t is mute ; as in psalm, pseudology, ptarmigan, pro-

nounced s;\\m, sudology, tarmigan.

The letter y unaccented and terminating words of more syllables than one is short, like I in pity and ability. This letter, in the plural number of nouns and in the third person singular of the present tense of verbs, is dropped, and ie substituted and followed by s. The termination thus formed is pronoun- ced iz ; as from vanity, is formed vanities, pronounced vanitiz ; from the verb to pity is formed pities, pronounced piUz.

But when y in monosyllabic verbs, and accented y in other verbs ends the word, the termination ies in the third person is pronounced izc; as in flies from fly, defies from defy. So cries, both the verb iuid noun, is pronounced crizp.

PRONUNCIATION OF WORDS.

has its proper sound after the following consonants/, p, t, k, €, and //; as- pirate, whether they end the word or are followed bj' c final ; as in rhiefs caps, streets, franks, hates, hopes, fates, flakes, breaths, wreaths. It has (he sound of z, after 6, c followed by e final, rf, g, g!i, I, m, n,n, r,s and ss z, V, aw, ay, ew, ey, ow, oy, sh, ng, th vocal, eh, oe, ie, both in nouns anil verbs, and whether these letters end the word or are followed by e final ; a- in robs, robes, races, rods, rides, rags, rages, toils, dreams, sighs, rains, bars waves, roses, passes, mazes, laws, days, newt, preys, vows, joys, brushes, ftngs, breathes, churches, foes, goes, ijies.

Sc before e, i and y, have only the sotnid of the single letter s or e. Thus scene is pronounced sene; sciolist, siolist.

S before m, in the terminations, asm, earn, ism, has the sound of z; as ii fpasra, telesm, baptism.

The pronunciation of the word which is radical or primitive in English ii lo be observed in the derivatives. Thus the letter s is directed to be pro Bounced as z in bruise, and this direction is to be observed in all its deriva lives. Earth being directed lo he pronounced erth, all its derivatives and compounds are to follow the same direction. So freight is pronounced yra^e.

POINTED LETTERS.

A has the short sound of aw; as in alter, what.

€ [ke] is the sairie as k ; as in cape, access.

E whether by itself or followed by i or y, has the sound of c

long ; as in lohere, there, vein, survey, i has the sound of e long, or ee ; as in machine. O has the sound of oo, or French ou; as in move. lias the sound of sliort it ; as in come, wonder. QQ have the short sound of oo ; as in book, look. __ y has the .sound of oo ; as above, as in full, pull. CH have tlie French sound, like sh; as in chaise.

G has the sound of ^■. TH have their vocal sound ; as in thou, this.

V has the sound otyu; as in unite, use, pronounced yunite,yuse In digraphs or combinations of vowels, of which one only is pronounced, the mark over one vowel designates the sound, and the other vowel is qui escent ; a.s in bear, boat, course, soul, blood, bilw, low, crow, bestow.

The digraphs ea, ee, ei, ie have uniformly the sound of long e ; as in meat, feet, seize, siege.

Before the letter r. there is a slight sound of e between the vowel and the consonant. Thus bare, parent, apparent, mere, mire, more, pure, pyre, are pronounced nearly baer, paerent, appaerent, me-er, mier, moer, puer, pyer. This pronunciation proceeds from the peculiar articulation r, and it occa- sions a slight change of the sound of a, which can be learned only by the ear. The vowels in unaccented syllables are either short, or they have thcirl first sound slightly pronounced. Thus in the words produce, domestic, a has its first sound, but pronounced rapidly and without force. In syllables which have a secondary accent, the vowel is often long, and little distin-j guishable from that in syllables having the primary accent ; as in legislature,' in which a in the third syllable has its long sound. I

In syllables wholly unaccented, the sounds of the vowels are so rapidly uttered, that they cannot be designated by written characters ; they are all sounded nearly alike, and any attempt at a proper notation of such evanes cent sounds serves only to perplex or mislead the learner.

Words of anomalous pronunciation, not falling under the foregoing rules,

jre printed in an orthography which expresses their true pronunciation,

The Welsh z has the sound of the vocal tk, in thou.

In the expression of the sounds of foreign words in English characters,

iheio IS often an insurmountable difficulty, as there are sounds, in some Ian

guages, which English characters, according to our use of them, will not express with precision. But in regard to etymology, such exact expression of .sounds is not necessary. For example, in regard to the affinity of words, it is wholly immaterial whether the Hebrew 3 is expressed by b, v, or bh; whether 1 is expressed by d, th, or dh ; whether D is expressed by h or ch ; and whether p is expressed by k, q, or qu. So in Arabic it is immate- rial whether j^ is expressed by th or ds, and ri by g or kh.

The Arabic vowel ^arta, I am informed, is differently pronounced by the Persians and Arabians; the one nation pronouncing it as the English a in mate; the other, generally, as a in fall. I have expressed it by a or aw.

It was desirable that the Russ, Saxon, Swedish, and German words should be printed with the appropriate types ; but the utility would have liardly compensated for the expense of suitable fonts, and no essential incoHveni- ence can result from the want of them; the English characters being suffi- cient to express the sounds of the letters, with all the exactness which et)'- mology requires.

ABBREVIATIONS EXPLAINED.

a. stands for adjective.

adv. „ for adverb.

con. ,, for connective or conjunction.

exclam. „ for exclamation, or interjection.

n. ,, for name or noun.

Obs. „ for obsolete.

prep. „ for preposition.

pp. „ for participle passive.

ppr. „ for participle of the present tense,

pret. ,, for preterit tense.

pron. „ for pronoun.

". J. „ for verb intransitive.

'•. '. ,, for verb transitive.

./Ir. „ for Arabic.

yirm. m „ for Armoric.

Ch. „ for Chaldee.

Corn. „ for Cornish.

Dan. „ for Danish.

D. „ for Dutch or Belgic.

Eng. „ for England or English.

Eth. „ for Ethiopic.

Fr. „ for French.

G. or Ger. „ for German.

Gr. „ for Greek.

Goth. „ for Gothic.

Heb. „ for Hebrew.

Ice. „ for Icelandic.

.''■• „ for Irish, Hiberno-Celtic, and Gaelic.

11. „ for Italian.

Lat. or L. „ for Latin.

Per. „ for Persic or Persian.

Port. „ for Portuguese.

Ptiss. „ for the Russ language, or Russian.

Sam. „ for Samaritan.

Sans. „ for Sanscrit.

Sax. „ for Saxon, or

Sp. „ for Spanish.

Sw. „ for Swedish.

Syr. „ for Syriac.

TV. „ for Welsh.

Anglo-Saxon.

ALPHABETS.

Hebrew and Chaldee. Aleph N

Samaii

Beth

Gimel

Daleth

Vau

■K

Zain

Clieth

Yod

Caph

Lamed

Mem

D D

Nun

1 J

Samech

Ain

Phe

r\\S

Tzaddi

•m

Koph

Resch

Sin Shin

l\\

-J > j >

fcli

Names.

Elif

Jim

Dal

Dhal

Wau

Kha

Tha

Kef

Lam

Mim

Nmi

■tjtanting

Ain

Gain

Tsad

Dhad

Kaf

Sin

Shin

The

The Arabic vowels are only three, viz. Fatha ^ a, e. Kesra ~ e, i. Dhamina J The diacritical signs are Jesm Jj_ or quiescent Slieva. Teshdid _^ or Dagesh forte. Nunnation or double final vowels, j^~ ^, showing that they are to be pronounced

The Persians use the Ar Short.

o iJi J J'

Names. Olaph

Beth

Gomal

Dolath

He \'au Zain

Heth

i \\

medial. \\

^i^-

Yud

Coph

—

Lomad

^'^,

Mim Nun Semcath

V-

V\'\\

^3.^

Tsode

vi-

Kuph

Rish

i I

— i

ibic alphabet with the addition of Pe J ; Che ^ ; Ghaf ■ Long. Ethiopic.

, en or in, i and Zhe

Long.

Alph

Bet

Gemel

Den

Hoi

Waw

Zai

Haut

nba

Ogd

yha

f\\ c Ay l\\o

a be HI by pbo

Ige Tgy -^go

£de jrdy ^do

yhe yhv 1/ho

Aa (Vu A.1

nba fVbu n,bi

T ga ^ gu 1 gi

S da J?, dii j^ di

Uha l>hu yhi

wa (D, \\vu "^ wi T wa T we (D' vvy p wo

H za I+. zii H, zi H za H, ze Th zy h zo rhha d>hu dxbi rhba rh,be ^hy rbho Hharm '*7ha -V hn "^hi -^ha -^ be -^hy

Mai

Nahas

Saut

Ain

Pait

Psa

Zadai

Zappi

Kaf

JRees

Saat

Tawi

niu ''^mi t^ma '^me /^niy

U] sa U> su 111, si m sa IH, se ^ sy MJ so Oa Ou <\\i 0,0. o^e 6y Po d!:fa .ka

i- ta i^tu 'titi ^ta -tie '=hty i^to

Note. — In the foregoing alphabets, the order of the Arabic and Ethiopic letters is conformed to that of the Chaldee and Hebrew. The reader will observe two or three defects, which are owing to the imperfection of the fonts of type.

AMERICAN DICTIONARY

OF THE

ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

i/a is the first letter of the Alphabet in of the known languages of the eartli ; in the Ethiopic however it is the thirteenth, and in the Runic the tenth. It is naturall; the first letter, because it represents the first vocal sound naturally formed by the human organs : being the sound uttered with a mere opening of the mouth without constraint, and without any effort to alter the natural position or configuration of the bps. Hence this letter is Ibund in many words first uttered bv infants ; which words are the names of the objects with which infants are first concerned, as the breast, and the parents. Hence in He- brew DK am, is mother, and ax ah, is father. In Chaldee and Syriac ahba is father ; k Arabic, aba ; in Ethiopic, abi ; in Mala- yan and Bengalese, lappa ; in Welsh, tad, whence we retain daddy ; in Old Greek and in Gothic atta ; in Irish, aithair ; in Can tabrian, aita ; in Lapponic, atki ; in Abys sinian, abba ; in Amharic, aba ; in Shilhit and Melindane, Afi-ican dialects, baba and papa is found in many nations. Hence the Latin mamma, the breast, which is, ii popular use, the name of mother ; in Swe dish, amma, is a nurse. This list might be greatly extended ; but these examples prove A to be the first natural vocal sound, and entitled to the first place in alphabets. The Hebrew name of this letter, aleph signifies an ox or a leader. A has in English, tliree sounds ; tlie long or slender, as in place, fate ; the broad, as in wall, fall, which is shortened in salt, what ; and the open, as in father, glass, which is shortened in rather, fancy. Its primitive .sound was probablv aw. A is also an abbreviation of the Saxon an or ane, one, used before words beginning with an ar- ticulation ; as a table, instead of an table, or one table. This is a modern change; for m Saxon an was used before articula-

tions, as well as vowels, as, an tid, a tune an gear, a year [See An.] This letter serves as a prefix to many Eng lish words, as in asleep ; awake ; afoot aground ; agoing. In some cases, this is a contraction of the Teutonic ge, as in asleep, aware, from the Sa.xon geslapan, to sleep ; gewarian, to beware ; the Dutch gewaar. Sometimes it is a corruption of the Saxon on, as again fi-om ongean, awake from on- wacian, to watch or wake. Before parti- ciples, it may be a contraction of the Celtic ag, the sign of the participle of the present tense ; as, ag-radh, saying ; a saying, ago mg. Or this may be a contraction of on, or what is equally probable, it may have proceeded from a mere accidental sound produced by neghgent utterance. In some words, a may be a contraction of at, of, in, to, or an. In some words of Greek original, a is privative, giving to them a negative sense, as in anonymous, from a and ovo/ia name. Among the ancients, A was a numeral .ieno tmg 500 ; and with a dash A 5000. In the Hebrew, Syr. Ch. Sam. and Ar. it denotes one or unity. In the Julian Calendar, A is the first of the seven dominical letters. Among logicians. A, as an abbreviation, stands for a universal aflirmative proposi- tion. A asserts ; E denies. Thus in bar- hara,a tlu-ice repeated denotes so many of] the propositions to be universal. The Romans used A to signify a negative orj dissent in giving their votes ; A standing for antiquo, I o])pose or object to the pro- posed law. Opposed to tliis letter were U R, uti rogas, be it as you desire — the words used to express assent to a proposi- tion. These letters were marked on wooden ballots, and each voter had an aflirmative and a negative put into liis! hands, one of which at pleasure he gavel as his vote.— In criminal trials, A stood for absolvo, I acquit : C for condemno, I con-|

denm ; and AT L for non liquet, it is not evident ; and the judges voted by ballots thus marked.— In inscriptions, A stands for Augustus ; or for ager, aiunt, aurum, ar- gentum, &c. A is also used for anno, or ante ; as in An- no Domini, the year of our Lord ; anno mundi, the year of the world ; ante merid- iem, before noon ; and for arts, in artium magister, master of arts. Among the Ro- mans, A U C stood for anno ab urbe condi- ta, from the building of the city or Rome. In algebra, a and the first letters of the al- phabet represent known quantities— the last letters are sometimes used to repre- sent unknown quantities. In music, A is the nominal of the sixth note in the natural diatonic scale — called by Guido la. It is also the name of one of the two natural moods ; and it is the open note of the 2d string of the violin, by which the other strings are tuned and regulated. In pharmacy, a or aa, abbreviations of the Greek ana, signify of each separately, or that the things mentioned should be taken in quantities of the same weight or meas- ure. In chimistry, AAA stand for amalgama, or

amalgamation. In commerce, A stands for accepted, as in case of a bill of exchange. Mercliants also number their books by the letters — ^A, B, C, instead of figures. PubUc ofiicers number their exhibits in the same manner ; as the document A, or B. Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek Alphabet, are used in Scrip- ture for the beginning and end — represen- tative of Christ. In mathematics, letters are used as represen- tatives of nimibers, Hues, angles and quan- tities. In arguments, letters are substitu- ted for persons, in cases supposed, or stat- ed for illustration, as A contracts with B to deliver property to D.—h\\ the English

ABA

jJuaseolonjy " a landlord has a hundred a year," " the sum amounted to ten dollars rt man," a is merely tlie adjective one, and this mode of expression is idiomatic ; a hundred in o [one] year ; ten dollars to a

AAM, n. [Ch. riDN, or xnK a cubit, a measure containing 5 or 6 palms.] A measure of liquids among the Dutch equal to 288 English pints.

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"THEN" by inherent definition - it must be "GOD-BREATHED!"

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DEDUCTING the above from the simple fact: That GOD EQUATES HIS WORD WITH HIMSELF!

"In the Beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God, . . ." John 1:1 (and other Scriptures),

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The Adversary’s Goals:

SCRIPTURE: "The ‘Devil’ ... walketh about seeking whom he may DEVOUR." 1 Pet 5:8

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QUESTION: Do you Believe the Devil Succeeds?___ Or Fails?___

God the Father’s Goals:

SCRIPTURE:

sent NOT

TO CONDEMN

THE WORLD

BE SAVED!

SCRIPTURE: "Beloved, be NOT ignorant of this ONE THING, ...The Lord is... NOT WILLING that ANYshould perish, but that ALL should come to REPENTANCE. 2 Pet 3:9

QUESTION: Do you Believe Father God Succeeds?___ Or Fails?___

God the Son’s Goals:

SCRIPTURE:

come to seek and to SAVE that which is lost!" Luk 19:10

but to SAVE the world.

SCRIPTURE: "And I, if I be lifted up from the Earth, I WILL DRAW ALL men unto Me." John 12:32

QUESTION: Do you Believe God the Son (Jesus Christ): Succeeds?___ Or Fails?___ center>

God the Spirit’s Goals:

SCRIPTURE:

"'I ’WILL’'

when He is come 'He ’WILL’' testify of Me:

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SCRIPTURE: (1)Of Sin, because they believe not on me; ... (2) Of Righteousness, because I go to my Father; ...(3)Of Judgment, because the 'Prince of this World' IS JUDGED!^[A] John 16:8-10

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Who Achieves STATED GOALS? GODHEAD or Satan?

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[26] "RAPTURE-READY™" – Modern Christianity Is A Mess!

[27] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – The “Anti-Christ Home Page

[28] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – TOP-TEN Messages To Maximize Your Ministry

[29] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Calling All Christians Unite, Christ Commands!

[30] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Christianity Is Confusing and Getting WORSE! WHY?

[31] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Every-Minister A Hero

[32] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Legal Abortion: Is It Good for Christians?

[33] "CHRISTIPEDIA™" – Southern Baptists Dying: WHY?

[34] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Satan’s TOP-TEN Greatest-Lies! Do You Believe Any?

[35] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Truth Test-3 Questions For Christians

[36] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – Evangelicals Call for Government School Exodus!

[37] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "Hall of Faith" Christian Activist Ministers, 20th Cent."

[38] “BIBLIPEDIA™" –The Early Christian-Church Outlaws Homosexuality!

[39] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – PREACHERS! Do You Know About PULPIT FREEDOM SUNDAY?

[40] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – GOD-GIVEN Rights, Guaranteed in Bible: Called “Civil & Human” Rights

[41] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "Rush Limbaugh Quotes" on Christ and Christianity!

[42] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "TALK-RADIO REPUBLICANS, "Republican Power and Catholics!"

[43] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "GREAT COMMISSION MANDATE!" Some Sobering Questions;

[44] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "Hall of Faith" Christian Activist Ministers 20th Century"

[45] “BIBLIPEDIA™" –The Early Christian-Church Outlaws Homosexuality!

[46] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – PREACHERS! Do You Know About PULPIT FREEDOM SUNDAY?

[47] “BIBLIPEDIA™" – GOD-GIVEN Rights Guaranteed in Bible: Called “Civil & Human” Rights

[48] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "Rush Limbaugh Quotes" on Christ and Christianity!

[49] “BIBLIPEDIA™" - "TALK-RADIO REPUBLICANS, "Republican Power and Catholics!"

[50] “AMERIPEDIA™" - George Washington Used 30-THEOLOGICAL TERMS, 3000 Times!

ASSOCIATION DISCLAIMER

Under re-construction and growing greatly,

MBF

*Cambridge Theological Seminary:

Cambridge Theological Seminary is a "Church" and recognizes no agency or religious institution apart from the local Church:

FACT! Jesus Christ only claimed ONE INSTITUTION as His Own, HIS CHURCH! (Matt 16:18); Thus Scripturally, we recognize no religious institution apart from Christ's Church, be it a SEPARATE Bible College, Seminary, University, Mission Board, TV-RADIO Media Ministry, etc., etc.,

JESUS ORDAINED NO ORGANIZATION-INSTITUTION EXCEPT HIS CHURCH, ESTABLISHING ITS PURPOSE, GOVERNMENT and AUTHORITY!

that is NOT CHURCH is NOT SCRIPTURAL.

FACT!

TRAINED MINISTERS as part of HIS CHURCH

to train-educate Ministers!

FACT!

it is NOT Scriptural School, and has NO RIGHT to train-educate Ministers, Christian School Teachers!

FACT!

Training and Ordaining Ministers,

"Doctor" has NOTHING to do with medicine

"Doctor" in the Greek is "Master Teacher"

"Doctor's of the Law"

word "Degree!"

both Scriptural Concepts and words of Doctrine

DOES NOTE preclude Christ's Church from retaining - and using - what has ALWAYS been ours!

CAMBRIDGE WEBSTERS 1828 DICTIONARY

The Greatest English Dictionary

PREFACE

The ‘Lens’ Through Which All Knowledge Is Understood;

THE WORD of GOD, AXIOM-1:

God's Eternal Guarantee!

"Heaven and Earth Shall Pass Away; But GOD'S WORDS Shall NOT Pass Away!" --Jesus the Messiah, AD-33 (Matthew 5:18)

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Cambridge Greatest English Dictionary™

Approx 3,000 Pages; Approx 71,000 Entries; Multitudes of Scriptural References;

"LETTER-A"

Webster's English Dictionary: 1828

By Noah Webster: Greatest Linguist Who Ever Lived!

To Check a Word in Cambridge Concise Bible Dictionary, Come Back Here;

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Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH is NOT POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

PREFACE

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

AN AMERICAN DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,

Noah Webster's Original Preface:

INTENDED TO EXHIBIT:

TO WHICH ARE PREFIXED, AN INTRODUCTORY DISSERTATION ON THE ORIGIN, HISTORY AND CONNECTION OF THE LANGUAGES OF WESTERN ASIA AND OF EUROPE,

AND A CONCISE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, BY NOAH WEBSTER, LL. D. IN TWO VOLUMES: VOL. 1.

NOAH WEBSTER GREAT QUOTE:

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

PREFACE.

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

Noah Webster:

The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages: Believing that "TRUTH MUST NOT BE POLITICALLY CORRECT!"

Also Believing The Word of God Is: "INSPIRED-INERRANT!"

INTRODUCTION. DEFINITION OF LANGUAGE.

ORIGIN OF LANGUAGE.

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

A Master of Twenty or more Different Languages:

Greatest English Dictionary

Noah Webster: The Greatest Linguist Ever!

"Heaven and Earth Shall Pass Away; But GOD'S WORDS Shall NOT Pass Away!"
--Jesus the Messiah, AD-33 (Matthew 5:18)

AND A CONCISE GRAMMAR OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE,
BY NOAH WEBSTER, LL. D.
IN TWO VOLUMES: VOL. 1.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE