Category: Language & Communication
What is meant by a Language? It is a collection of all the words, phrases, grammatical forms, idioms, &c., which are used by one people. It is the outward expression of the tendencies, turn of mind, and habits of thought of some one nation, and the best criterion of their inte...
_Abominable._ This word is from the Latin verb ‘abominor,’ which again is from _ab_ and _omen_. The word involves the idea of what is in a religious sense profane and detestable...
4. CHAPTER III.One very interesting point in the study of language is the cause of the introduction of new, and the falling off of old, words. It is to be observed that a new word is generally...
2. CHAPTER I.Most Philologists have hitherto held the opinion that, in general, no satisfactory account can be given of the origin of language. They can trace a word from one language to ano...
10. CHAPTER IX.The history of English shows that it has been changed from a synthetical, to an analytical language, that in the course of time it has lost nearly all its inflections; and that...
14. CHAPTER XIII.No language is, or ever has been, in the strict sense of the word, _pure_. All languages are continually borrowing and lending--adopting words from foreign sources, and contribu...
5. CHAPTER IV.One point to be observed in the nature and history of words is their tendency to contract in form and degenerate in meaning. A word which, in the beginning of its career, has ge...
6. CHAPTER V.There are, in all languages, certain words which may be called equivocal. Such are either those which are spelled exactly alike and have different meanings, or are spelled diffe...
9. CHAPTER VIII.Since, before the invention of printing, there was no standard of English spelling, our orthography can have no history before that epoch. The variety of forms in which words ap...
3. CHAPTER II.English words which indicate mental actions, feelings, or general abstractions, come to us from a Latin or a French source. These, though not the most numerous, comprise a very...
15. CHAPTER XIV.In old English spelling, we frequently meet with _y_ initial, where we now use _th_; as in ‘_ye_ manners and _ye_ customs,’ &c. This error probably arose from the blundering of...
18. PART I. _Peace_, 12_s._ PART II. _War_, 18_s.=MODERN COOKERY for PRIVATE FAMILIES=, reduced to a System of Easy Practice in a Series of carefully-tested Receipts. By ELIZA ACTON. Newly revised and enlarged Edition; with 8...
16. CHAPTER XV.In the periodical and light literature of the day, we frequently meet with forms of language which have been expressively called ‘slipshod English.’ These are of various kinds--...
13. CHAPTER XII.It is simply impossible to express sound by writing, and therefore all instruction in pronunciation should be given vivâ voce. A pronouncing Dictionary may sometimes afford assi...
11. CHAPTER X.It is worthy of observation that all nations do not express the same idea by the same form of word, i.e. that in different languages the same idea is often represented by a word...
1. CHAPTER XVI.What is meant by a Language? It is a collection of all the words, phrases, grammatical forms, idioms, &c., which are used by one people. It is the outward expression of the tend...
8. CHAPTER VII.The almost universal mania for violent excitement and craving after novelty, which is so marked a feature of modern society, is, perhaps, in no instance more offensively obtrusi...
12. CHAPTER XI.One of the greatest advantages a language can possess, is the power of forming compound words. This materially contributes to its conciseness;--makes it comparatively easy to ex...
7. CHAPTER VI.In the order of nature, names would be first given to concrete objects and their qualities, and to visible acts, i.e. to those things and acts which are made known to us through...