A Handbook of the English Language

[1] The immediate authority for these descents, dates, and localities is Sharon Turner. They are nearly the same as those which are noticed in Mr. Kemble's _Saxons in England_....

1. Those that are of late introduction, and cannot be called original and constituent parts of the language. Some of such are the words _flannel_, _crowd_ (a fiddle), from the C...

§ 142. _Orthoepy_, a word derived from the Greek _orthon_ (_upright_), and _epos_ (_a word_), signifies the right utterance of words. Orthoepy determines words, and deals with a...

§ 520. The word _Prosody_ is derived from a Greek word (_prosodia_) signifying _accent_. It is used by Latin and English grammarians in a wider sense, and includes not only the...

§ 352. In the following words, amongst many others, we have palpable and indubitable specimens of composition--_day-star_, _vine-yard_, _sun-beam_, _apple-tree_, _ship-load_, _s...

Let the word _smiðum_ illustrate this. _Smið-um_, the dative plural of _smið_, is equivalent in meaning to the English _to smiths_; or to the Latin _fabr-is_. _Smiðum_, however,...

All this was correct in principle; and the consequence is, that the Greek alphabet, although not originally meant to express a European tongue at all, expresses the Greek langua...

§ 6. Out of the numerous tribes and nations of Germany, _three_ have been more especially mentioned as the chief, if not the exclusive, sources of the present English population...

This is because the Norman French, introduced into England by the battle of Hastings, is a language derived from the Roman, and consequently a language of the Latin branch of th...

§ 503. A conjunction is a part of speech which connects _propositions_,--_the day is bright_, is one proposition. _The sun shines_, is another. _The day is bright_ because _the...

The current statement that the syllable -ed, rather than the letter -d is the sign of the præterite tense, is true only in regard to the written language. In _stabbed_, _moved_,...

In the Latin language we have the words _taurus_ = _bull_, and _vacca_ = _cow_. Here the natural distinction of _sex_ is expressed by _wholly_ different words. With this we have...

The view of these words was as follows; viz., that none of them were _irregular_, but that they were all _defective_. _Me_ wanted the nominative, _I_ the oblique cases. _Good_ w...

original addition was not z, but s. This we infer from three facts: 1. From the spelling; 2. from the fact of the sound of z being either rare or non-existent in Anglo-Saxon; 3....

§ 207. The extent to which there are, in the English language, cases, depends on the meaning which we attach to the word case. In the term _a house of a father_, the idea expres...

All that we have at present learned concerning the Germanic invaders of England, is the geographical area which they originally occupied. How far, however, it was simple Saxons...

§ 411. The word _syntax_ is derived from the Greek _syn_ (_with_ or _together_) and _taxis_ (_arrangement_). It relates to the arrangement, or putting together, of words. Two or...

§ 491. The auxiliary verbs, in English, play a most important part in the syntax of the language. They may be classified upon a variety of principles. The following, however, ar...

§ 394. The inflection of pronouns has its natural peculiarities in language. It has also its natural difficulties in philology. These occur not in one language in particular, bu...

For these sounds we have the following sequences: a in _fate_, _é fermé_, ee in _feet_, ü in _übel_ (German), oo in _book_, _o chiuso_, o in _note_. And this is the true order o...

1. _The older form in -s._ In English we say old-er, bett-er, sweet-er; in Old High German they similarly said, alt-iro, bets-iro, suats-iro; but in Moeso-Gothic the forms were...

A. _It is I, your master, who command you_. Query? would _it is I, your master, who commands you_, be correct? This is an example of a disputed point of concord in respect to th...

§ 30. Over and above those languages of Germany and Holland which were akin to the dialects of the Anglo-Saxons, cognate languages were spoken in Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Icelan...

1. The personal pronouns form an extremely natural class, if the pronouns of the two first persons be taken by themselves. This is not the case if they be taken along with _he_,...

The syllables ka and ga are similar syllables. The vowel is in each the same, and the consonant is but slightly different. Hence the words ka and ga are more allied to each othe...

§ 1. The first point to be remembered in the history of the English language, is that it was not the primitive and original tongue of any of the British Islands, nor yet of any...

§ 234. In the relative and interrogative pronouns, _who_, _what_, _whom_, _whose_, we have, expressed by a change of form, a neuter gender, _what_; a dative case _whom_; and a g...

1. The British or Cambrian branch, represented by the present Welsh, and containing, besides, the Cornish of Cornwall (lately extinct), and the Armorican of the French province...

These two notions of present and of past time, being expressed by a change of form, are true tenses. If there were no change of form, there would be no change of tense. They are...

§ 268. Compared with the words _lamb_, _man_, and _hill_, the words _lambkin_, _mannikin_, and _hillock_ convey the idea of comparative smallness or diminution. Now, as the word...

Words where the -en is wanting may be viewed in two lights; 1, they may be looked upon as participles that have lost their termination; 2, they may be considered as præterites w...

Others are named as if their population were preeminently _Angle_ rather than _Saxon_; thus, the counties of Norfolk and Suffolk once constituted the kingdom of the East Angles,...

§ 274. In order to understand clearly the use of the so-called infinitive mood in English, it is necessary to bear in mind two facts, one a matter of _logic_, the other a matter...

In certain words, of more than one syllable, it is difficult to say to which syllable an intervening consonant belongs. For instance, does the v in _river_, and the e in _fever_...

§ 371. _Derivation_, like _etymology_, is a word used in a wide and in a limited sense. In the wide sense of the term, every word, except it be in the simple form of a root, is...

§ 336. The verb substantive is generally dealt with as an _irregular_ verb. This is inaccurate. The true notion is that the idea of _being_ or _existing_ is expressed by four di...

§ 194. In the Greek language the word _patær_ signifies a _father_, denoting _one_, whilst _patere_ signifies _two fathers_, denoting a pair, and thirdly, _pateres_ signifies _f...

The bearing of this fact upon the præterites has already been indicated. In a great number of words we have a double form, as _ran_ and _run_, _sang_ and _sung_, _drank_ and _dr...

§ 267. In the generality of grammars the definite article _the_, and the indefinite article _an_, are the very first parts of speech that are considered. This is exceptionable....

§ 283. Compared with the Latin, the Greek, the Moeso-Gothic, and almost all the ancient languages, there is, in English, in respect to the persons of the verbs, but a very sligh...

§ 430. _Pleonasm._--Pleonasm can take place with adjectives only in the expression of the degrees of comparison. Over and above the etymological signs of the comparative and sup...

§ 160. The preceding chapter has exhibited the theory of a full and perfect alphabet; it has shown how far the English alphabet falls short of such a standard; and, above all, i...

§ 176. The word etymology, derived from the Greek, in the current language of scholars and grammarians, has a double meaning. At times it is used in a wide, and at times in a re...

§ 408. The remote origin of the weak præterite in -d or -t, has been considered by Grimm. He maintains that it is the d in _d-d_, the reduplicate præterite of _do_. In all the G...

§ 449. There is a difference between the construction of _my_ and _mine_. We cannot say _this is mine hat_, and we cannot say _this hat is my_. Nevertheless, this difference is...

§ 136. The dependent vowels, as the a in _fat_, i in _fit_, u in _but_, o in _not_, have the character of being uttered with rapidity, and they pass quickly in the enunciation,...

Neither have they any government. They _seem_, indeed, to have it, when they are in the comparative or superlative degree; but it is merely apparent. In _this is better than tha...

§ 439. _Personal pronouns._--The use of the second person plural instead of the second singular has been noticed already. This use of one number for another is current throughou...

§ 455. The reason why the relative must agree with its antecedent in both number and gender, whilst it need not agree with it in case, is found in the following observations.

§ 344. The present participle, called also the active participle and the participle in -ing, is formed from the original word by adding -ing; as, _move_, _moving_. In the older...

§ 237. Preparatory to the consideration of the degrees of comparison, it is necessary to make some remarks upon a certain class of words, which, with considerable differences of...

§ 220. The usual declension of the personal pronouns is exceptionable. _I_ and _me_, _thou_ and _ye_, stand in no etymological relations to each other. The true view of the word...

§ 21. The area occupied by the Saxons of Germany has been investigated; and it now remains to ask, how far the language of the occupants was absolutely identical throughout, or...

§ 375. _Well_, _better_, _ill_, _worse_.--Here we have a class of adverbs expressive of degree, or intensity. Adverbs of this kind are capable of taking an inflection, viz., tha...

This rule is absolute. It only _seems_ to precede the verb in such expressions as _I do not advance_, _I cannot advance_, _I have not advanced_, &c. However, the words _do_, _ca...

§ 257. _Nea-r-est_.--Here the r is no part of the original root, as may be seen in § 251. It has grown out of -ah pronounced as the a in _father_. The true forms are positive, _...

§ 133. 1. Let there be two syllables of which the one ends in m, and the other begins with r, as we have in the syllables num- and -rus of the Latin word _numerus_.

It has been stated, that the indeterminate pronoun _one_ has no etymological connection with the numeral _one_; but that it is derived from the French _on_ = _homme_ = _homo_ =...

§ 488. _The concord of persons._--A difficulty that occurs frequently in the Latin language is rare in English. In expressions like _ego et ille_ followed by a verb, there arise...

3. How far is there a dual number in the Gothic tongues? What is the rule for forming such a plural as _stags_ from _stag_? What are the peculiarities in _monarchs_, _cargoes_,...

§ 382. It is also a common practice of language to depart from the original expression of each particular idea, and to interchange the signs by which they are expressed; so that...

_Transitive verbs._--In transitive verbs the action is never a simple action. It always affects some object or other,--_I move my limbs_; _I strike my enemy_. The presence of a...

§ 321. Attention is directed to the following list of verbs. In the present English they all form the præterite in -d or -t; in Anglo-Saxon, they all formed it by a change of th...

§ 139. In the word _tyrant_ there is an emphasis, or stress, upon the first syllable. In the word _presume_ there is an emphasis, or stress, on the second syllable. This emphasi...

§ 282. Of the divisions of verbs into active and passive, transitive and intransitive, unless there be an accompanying change of _form_, etymology takes no cognisance. The force...

§ 483. The infinitive mood is a noun. The current rule that _when two verbs come together the latter is placed in the infinitive mood_, means that one verb can govern another on...

5. _Eteocles and Polynices killed each other._ What is the construction here? _Ils se battaient, l'un l'autre_--_Ils se battaient, les uns les autres._ Translate these two sente...

It is modal when the noun which follows the verb is not the name of any object affected by the verb, but the name of some object explaining the manner in which the action of the...

3. _Composition._--It is only, however, when _himself_ and _themselves_, are in the _accusative_ case, that the construction is appositional. When they are used as _nominatives_...

§ 461. In all sentences containing the statement of a reciprocal or mutual action there are in reality two assertions, viz., the assertion that A. _strikes_ (or _loves_) B., and...

§ 263. What explains this? The following hypothesis. Some of the best German authorities believe, that the -m, expressive of the superlative degree, was also used to denote the...

§ 289. As compared with the present plural forms, _we love_, _ye love_, _they love_, the Anglo-Saxons had the truly plural forms, _we lufiað_, _ge lufiað_, _hi lufiað_. The Old...

§ 519. Broadly speaking, all adverbial constructions are absolute. The term, however, is conveniently limited to a particular combination of the noun, verb, and participle. When...

§ 438. The preceding examples illustrate an apparent paradox, viz., the fact of pleonasm and ellipsis being closely allied. _The king he is just_, dealt with as a _single_ sente...

§ 481. The present participle, or the participle in -ing, must be considered in respect to its relations with the substantive in -ing. _Dying-day_ is, probably, no more a partic...

§ 444. As _his_ and _her_ are genitive cases (and not adjectives), there is no need of explaining such combinations as _his mother_, _her father_, inasmuch as no concord of gend...

All difficulties about the cases of the interrogative pronoun may be determined by framing an answer, and observing the case of the word with which the interrogative coincides....

Nevertheless such expressions--_one two_ ( = _one collection of two_), _two threes_ ( = _two collections of three_) are legitimate. These are so, because the sense of the word i...

Still, as the imperative form _speak_ is distinguished from the indicative form _speakest_ by the _negation_ of a character rather than by the possession of one, it cannot be sa...

§ 501. All prepositions govern an oblique case. If a word ceases to do this, it ceases to be a preposition. In the first of the two following sentences the word _up_ is a prepos...

_Ellipsis of substantives._--The historical view of phrases, like _Rundell and Bridge's_, _St. Paul's_, &c., shows that this ellipsis is common to the English and the other Goth...

At the first view, this last sentence seems unnecessary. It might seem superfluous to state, that, if there were no such primitive form as _se_, there could be no such secondary...

Here the word _hight_ = _was called_, and seems to present an instance of the participle being used in a passive sense without the so-called verb substantive. Yet it does no suc...

2. It has grown out of the Anglo-Saxon from _wealhas_ = _foreigners_, from _wealh_ = _a foreigner_, the name by which the Welsh are spoken of by the Germans of England, just as...

§ 392. _Yes_, _no_.--Although _not_ may be considered to be an adverb, _nor_ a conjunction, and _none_ a noun, these two words, the direct categorical affirmative, and the direc...

§ 469. The rule of most practical importance about the articles is the rule that determines when the article shall be repeated as often as there is a fresh substantive, and when...

_This is good_; _then_ (or _next in order_) _that is good_, is an expression sufficiently similar to _this is better than that_ to have given rise to it; and in Scotch and certa...

§ 486. Notwithstanding its name, the present tense in English does not express a strictly _present_ action. It rather expresses an habitual one. _He speaks well_ = _he is a good...

70. Celtic elements 45 71. Latin of first period 46 72. Anglo-Saxon 47 73. Danish or Norse 47 74. Roman of second period 49 75. Anglo-Norman element 49 76. Indirect Scandinavian...

As to the inflection of gender and case, there is no reason why all the numerals should not be as fully inflected as the Latin _unus, una, unum_, _unius_. It is a mere habit of...

6, 7. Jutes, Angles, and Saxons 6 8, 9. Extract from Beda 6, 7 10-13. Criticism 8-11 14, 15. Angles 11, 12 16. Saxons of Beda 12, 13 17. Anglo-Saxon area 13 18, 19. The Frisians...

113. Certain foreign sounds 82 114. System of mutes 82 115. Lenes and aspirates 83 116. Fourfold character of mutes 84 117. Y and w 84 118, 119. Diphthongs 84 120. Compound soun...

411, 412. Syntax 294 413. Personification 294 414. Ellipsis 295 415. Pleonasm 295 416. Zeugma 295 417. _Pros to semainomenon_ 296 418. Apposition 296 419. Collectiveness 297 420...

142. Orthoepy 103 143-146. Principle of an alphabet 103-105 147. Violations of it 105 148. Rules 107 149-151. Details of English 107-109 152. Insufficiency 109 153. Inconsistenc...

classical languages is that the quantities (as far as they go) of the first are measured by the vowel, those of the latter by the syllable. To a Roman the word _monument_ consis...

30, 31. Gothic languages 18 32-34. Divisions of the Gothic stock 18 35. Moeso-Gothic 19 36. Old High German 19 37. Low German 19 38. Frisian and Dutch 19 39. Platt-Deutsch 20 40...

105. Spelling and speaking 77 106. Sounds and syllables 79 107. Vowels 79 108. Divisions 80 109. Sharp and flat sounds 80 110. Continuous and explosive 80 111. General statement...

304. _Stabbed_, &c. 226 305-307. Divisions 227, 228 309. _Bought_, _sought_ 228 309. Forms in -te and -ode 229 310-312. _Bred_, _beat_, &c. 230 313. _Leave_, _left_ 231 314. _Ma...

520. Derivation of the word 371 521, 522. Importance of accent 371 523-526. Measures 372, 373 527. Metrical notation 374 528-535. Rhyme 374-377 536. Blank verse 377 537, 538. La...

194-197. Numbers in English 143, 144 198. Rule 145 199. Remarks 145 200. Addition of -es 146 _Pence_, _alms_, &c. 147 _Mathematics_ 147 201. _Children_ 149 202. Form in -en 150...

207-211. Nature of cases 154-156 212. Accusatives 156 213. Datives 157 214. Genitives 157 215. Instrumental 158 _All the better_ 158, 159 216. Determination of cases 159 217. An...

323-325. Irregularity 238 326. Vital and obsolete processes 240 327. Processes of necessity, &c. 241 328. Ordinary processes 241 329. Positive 242 330. Normal 242 331. _Could_ 2...

180. _Boy_ and _girl_ 134 181. _Man-servant_ and _maid-servant_ 134 182, 183. Forms like _genitrix_ 135 184. Forms like _domina_ 136 185-189. Genders in English 136, 137 190-192...

240. Form in -s 182 241. _Elder_, &c. 183 242. _Rather_ 183 243, 244. Excess of expression 183 245-247. _Better_ 183-185 248. _Worse_ 185 249. _More_ 185 250. _Less_ 185 251-253...

352-357. Nature of compounds 258-261 358-361. Accent 261-266 362. Obscure compounds 266 363-365. Exceptions 266, 267, 268 366. _Peacock_, _peahen_ 269 367. _Nightingale_ 269 368...