Chapter 75

THE RELATION OF THE ENGLISH TO THE ANGLO-SAXON, AND THE STAGES OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

§ 96. The relation of the present English to the Anglo-Saxon is that of a _modern_ language to an _ancient_ one: the words _modern_ and _ancient_ being used in a defined and technical sense.

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, is a single Anglo-Saxon word (a substantive, and nothing more); whilst its English equivalent is two words (i.e., a substantive with the addition of a preposition). The letter s, in _smiths_, shows that the word is plural. The -um, in _smiðum_, does this and something more. It is the sign of the _dative case_ plural. The -um in _smiðum_, is the part of a word. The preposition _to_ is a separate word with an independent existence. _Smiðum_ is the radical syllable _smið_ + the subordinate inflectional syllable -um, the sign of the dative case. The combination _to smiths_ is the substantive _smiths_ + the preposition _to_, equivalent in power to the sign of a dative case, but different from it in form. As far, then, as the words just quoted is concerned, the Anglo-Saxon differs from the English by expressing an idea by a certain _modification of the form of the root_, whereas the modern English denotes the same idea by _the addition of a preposition_; in other words, the Saxon _inflection_ is superseded by a _combination_ of words.

The sentences in italics are mere variations of the same general statement. 1. _The earlier the stage of a given language the greater the amount of its inflectional forms, and the later the stage of a given language, the smaller the amount of them._ 2. _As languages become modern they substitute prepositions and auxiliary verbs for cases and tenses._ 3. _The amount of inflection is in the inverse proportion to the amount of prepositions and auxiliary verbs._ 4. _In the course of time languages drop their inflections, and substitute in its stead circumlocutions by means of prepositions, &c. The reverse never takes place._ 5. _Given two modes of expression, the one inflectional_ (smiðum), _the other circumlocutional_[40] (to smiths), _we can state that the first belongs to an early, the second to a late, state of language._

The present chapter, then showing the relation of the English to the Anglo-Saxon, shows something more. It exhibits the _general_ relation of a modern to an ancient language. As the English is to the Anglo-Saxon, so are the Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian, to the old Norse; and so are the French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanese and Wallachian to the Latin, and the Romaic to the ancient Greek.

§ 97. Contrasted with the English, the Anglo-Saxon has (among others) the following differences.

NOUNS.

1. _Gender._--In Anglo-Saxon there were three genders, the masculine, the feminine, and the neuter. With _adjectives_ each gender had its peculiar declension. With _substantives_ also there were appropriate terminations, though only to a certain degree.

2. The definite article varied with the gender of its substantive; _þæt eage_, the eye; _se steorra_, the star; _seo tunge_, the tongue.

3. _Number._--The plural form in -en (as in _oxen_), rare in English, was common in Anglo-Saxon. It was the regular termination of a whole declension; e.g., _eágan_, eyes; _steorran_, stars; _tungan_, tongues. Besides this, the Anglo-Saxons had forms in -u and -a as _ricu_, kingdoms; _gifa_, gifts. The termination -s, current in the present English, was confined to a single gender and to a single declension, as _endas_, ends; _dagas_, days; _smiðas_, smiths.

4. _Case._--Of these the Saxons had, for their substantives, at least three; viz., the nominative, dative, genitive. With the pronouns and adjectives there was a true accusative form; and with a few especial words an ablative or instrumental one. _Smið_, a smith; _smiðe_, to a smith; _smiðes_, of a smith. Plural, _smiðas_, smiths; _smiðum_, to smiths; _smiða_, of smiths: _he_, he; _hine_, him; _him_, to him; _his_, his; _se_, the; _þa_, the; _þy_, with the; _þam_, to the; _þæs_, of the.

5. _Declension._--In _Anglo-Saxon_ it was necessary to determine the declension of a substantive. There was the weak, or simple declension for words ending in a vowel (as, _eage_, _steorra_, _tunga_), and the strong declension for words ending in a consonant (_smið_, _spræc_, _leáf_). The letters i and u were dealt with as semivowels, semi-vowels being dealt with as consonants; so that words like _sunu_ and _gifu_ belonged to the same declension as _smið_ and _spræc_.

6. _Definite and indefinite form of adjectives._--In Anglo-Saxon each adjective had two forms, one _definite_ and one _indefinite_. There is nothing of this kind in English. We say _a good sword_, and _the good sword_ equally. In Anglo-Saxon, however, the first combination would be _se gode sweord_, the second _án god sweord_, the definite form being distinguished from the indefinite by the addition of a vowel.

7. _Pronouns personal._--The Anglo-Saxon language had for the first two persons a _dual_ number; inflected as follows:

_1st Person._ _2nd Person._ _Nom._ Wit _We two_ _Nom._ Git _Ye two_ _Acc._ Unc _Us two_ _Acc._ Ince _You two_ _Gen._ Uncer _Of us two_ _Gen._ Incer _Of you two._

Besides this, the demonstrative, possessive, and relative pronouns, as well as the numerals _twa_ and _þreo_, had a fuller declension than they have at present.

VERBS.

8. _Mood._--The subjunctive mood that in the present English (with one exception[41]) differs from the indicative only in the third person singular, was in Anglo-Saxon considerably different from the indicative.

_Indicative Mood._

_Pres. Sing._ 1. Lufige. _Plur._ 1. } 2. Lufast. 2. } Lufiað. 3. Lufað. 3. }

_Subjunctive Mood._

_Pres. Sing._ 1. } _Plur._ 1. } 2. } Lufige 2. } Lufion. 3. } 3. }

The Saxon infinitive ended in -an (_lufian_), and besides this there was a so-called gerundial form, _to lufigenne_.

Besides these there were considerable differences in respect to particular words; but of these no notice is taken; the object being to indicate the differences between the _ancient_ and _modern_ stages of a language in respect to _grammatical structure_.

9. To bring about these changes a certain amount _of time_ is, of course, necessary; a condition which suggests the difficult question as to the _rate_ at which languages change. This is different for different languages; but as the investigation belongs to _general_ philology rather than to the particular history of the English language, it finds no place here.

§ 98. The extent, however, to which external causes may accelerate or retard philological changes, is _not_ foreign to our subject; the influence of the Norman Conquest, upon the previous Anglo-Saxon foundation, being a problem of some difficulty.

At the first glance it seems to have been considerable, especially in the way of simplifying the grammar. Yet the accuracy of this view is by no means unequivocal. The reasons against it are as follows:

a. In Friesland no such conquest took place. Yet the modern Frisian, as compared with the ancient, is nearly as simple in its grammatical structure, as the English is when compared with the Anglo-Saxon.

b. In Norway, Sweden, and Denmark, no such conquest took place. Yet the modern Danish and Swedish, as compared with the Old Norse, are nearly as simple in their grammatical structure, as the English is, when compared with the Anglo-Saxon.

The question requires more investigation than it has met with.

An extract from Mr. Hallam's "History of Literature" closes the present section, and introduces the next.

"Nothing can be more difficult, except by an arbitrary line, than to determine the commencement of the English language; not so much, as in those on the Continent, because we are in want of materials, but rather from an opposite reason, the possibility of showing a very gradual succession of verbal changes that ended in a change of denomination. We should probably experience a similar difficulty, if we knew equally well the current idiom of France or Italy in the seventh and eighth centuries. For when we compare the earliest English of the thirteenth century with the Anglo-Saxon of the twelfth, it seems hard to pronounce why it should pass for a separate language, rather than a modification or simplification of the former. We must conform, however, to usage, and say that the Anglo-Saxon was converted into English:--1. By contracting and otherwise modifying the pronunciation and orthography of words. 2. By omitting many inflections, especially of the noun, and consequently making more use of articles and auxiliaries. 3. By the introduction of French derivatives. 4. By using less inversion and ellipsis, especially in poetry. Of these, the second alone, I think, can be considered as sufficient to describe a new form of language; and this was brought about so gradually, that we are not relieved from much of our difficulty, as to whether some compositions shall pass for the latest offspring of the mother, or the earlier fruits of the daughter's fertility. It is a proof of this difficulty that the best masters of our ancient language have lately introduced the word Semi-Saxon, which is to cover everything from A.D. 1150 to A.D. 1250."--Chapter i. 47.

§ 99. This shows that by the middle of the 12th century, the Anglo-Saxon of the standard Anglo-Saxon authors, had undergone such a change as to induce the scholars of the present ago to denominate it, not Saxon, but Semi-Saxon. It had ceased to be genuine Saxon, but had not yet become English.

Some, amongst others, of the earlier changes of the standard Anglo-Saxon are,

1. The substitution of -an for -as, in the plural of substantives, _munucan_ for _munucas_ (_monks_); and, conversely, the substitution of -s for -n, as _steorres_ for _steorran_ (_stars_).

2. The ejection or shortening of final vowels, _þæt ylc_ for _þæt ylce_; _sone_ for _sunu_; _name_ for _nama_; _dages_ for _dagas_.

3. The substitution of -n for -m in the dative case, _hwilon_ for _hwilum_.

4. The ejection of the -n of the infinitive mood, _cumme_ for _cuman_ (_to come_), _nemne_ for _nemnen_ (_to name_).

5. The ejection of -en in the participle passive, _I-hote_ for _gehaten_ (_called_, _hight_).

6. The gerundial termination -enne, superseded by the infinitive termination -en; as _to lufian_ for _to lufienne_, or _lufigenne_.

7. The substitution of -en for -að in the persons plural of verbs; _hi clepen_ (_they call_) for _hi clypiað_, &c.

The preponderance (not the occasional occurrence) of forms like those above constitute _Semi-Saxon_ in contradistinction to standard Saxon, classical Saxon, or Anglo-Saxon proper.

§ 100. _Old English stage._--Further changes convert Semi-Saxon into Old English. Some, amongst others, are the following:--

1. The ejection of the dative plural termination -um, and the substitution of the preposition to and the plural sign -s; as _to smiths_ for _smiðum_. Of the dative singular the -e is retained (_ende_, _worde_); but it is by no means certain that, although recognized in writing, it was equally recognized in pronunciation also.

2. The ejection of -es in the genitive singular whenever the preposition _of_ came before it; _Godes love_ (_God's love_), but the _love of God_, and not the _love of Godes_.

3. The syllable -es as a sign of the genitive case extended to all genders and to all declensions; _heart's_ for _heortan_; _sun's_ for _sunnan_.

4. The same in respect to the plural number; _sterres_ for _steorran_; _sons_ for _suna_.

5. The ejection of -na in the genitive plural; as _of tunges_ for _tungena_.

6. The use of the word _the_, as an article, instead of _se_, &c.

The _preponderance_ of the forms above (and not their mere occasional occurrence) constitutes _Old English_ in contradistinction to Semi-Saxon.

§ 101. In the Old English the following forms predominate.

1. A fuller inflection of the demonstrative pronoun, or definite article; _þan_, _þenne_, _þære_, _þam_;--in contradistinction to the Middle English.

2. The presence of the dative singular in -e; _ende_, _smithe_.

3. The existence of a genitive plural in -r or -ra; _heora_, theirs; _aller_, of all. This, with substantives and adjectives, is less common.

4. The substitution of _heo_ for _they_, of _heora_ for _their_, of _hem_ for _them_.

5. A more frequent use of _min_ and _thin_, for _my_ and _thy_;--in contradistinction to both Middle and Modern English.

6. The use of _heo_ for _she_;--in contradistinction to Middle and Modern English and Old Lowland _Scotch_.

7. The use of broader vowels; as in _iclepud_ or _iclepod_ (for _icleped_ or _yclept_); _geongost_, youngest; _ascode_, asked; _eldore_, elder.

8. The use of the strong preterits (_see_ the chapter on the tenses of verbs), where in the present English the weak form is found--_wex_, _wop_, _dalf_, for _waxed_, _wept_, _delved_.

9. The omission not only of the gerundial termination -enne, but also of the infinitive sign -en after _to_; _to honte_, _to speke_;--in contradistinction to Semi-Saxon.

10. The substitution of -en for -eþ or -eð, in the first and second persons plural of verbs; _we wollen_, we will: _heo schullen_, they should.

11. The comparative absence of the articles _se_ and _seo_.

12. The substitution of _ben_ and _beeth_, for _synd_ and _syndon_ = _we_, _ye_, _they are_.

§ 102. Concerning the extent to which the Anglo-Norman was used, I retail the following statements and quotations.

1. "Letters even of a private nature were written in Latin till the beginning of the reign of Edward I., soon after 1270, when a sudden change brought in the use of French."--_Mr. Hallam, communicated by Mr. Stevenson_ (_Literature of Europe_, i. 52, _and note_).

2. Conversation between the members of the Universities was ordered to be carried on either in Latin or French:--"_Si qua inter se proferant, colloquio Latino vel saltem Gallico perfruantur._"--_Statutes of Oriel College, Oxford._--_Hallam, ibid._ from Warton.

3. "The Minutes of the Corporation of London, recorded in the Town Clerk's Office, were in French, as well as the Proceedings in Parliament, and in the Courts of Justice."--_Ibid._

4. "In Grammar Schools, boys were made to construe their Latin into French."--_Ibid._ "_Pueri in scholis, contra morem cæterarum nationum, et Normannorum adventu, derelicto proprio vulgari, construere Gallice compelluntur. Item quod filii nobilium ab ipsis cunabulorum crepundiis ad Gallicum idioma informantur. Quibus profecto rurales homines assimulari volentes, ut per hoc spectabiliores videantur, Francigenari satagunt omni nisu._"--_Higden_ (_Ed. Gale_, p. 210).

§ 103. The reigns of Edward III., and Richard II., may be said to form a transition from the _Old_ to the _Middle_; those of Mary and Elizabeth from the _Middle_ to the _New_, _Recent_ or _Modern English_. No very definite line of demarcation, however, can be drawn.

§ 104. The _present_ tendencies of the English may be determined by observation: and as most of them will be noticed in the etymological part of this volume, the few here indicated must be looked upon as illustrations only.

1. The distinction between the subjunctive and indicative mood is likely to pass away. We verify this by the very general tendency to say _if it is_, and _if he speaks_, rather than _if it be_, and _if he speak_.

2. The distinction between the participle passive and the past tense is likely to pass away. We verify this by the tendency to say _it is broke_, and _he is smote_, for _it is broken_ and _he is smitten_.

3. Of the double forms, _sung_ and _sang_, _drank_ and _drunk_, &c., one only will be the permanent.

As stated above, these tendencies are but a few out of many, and have been adduced in order to indicate the subject rather than to exhaust it.

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QUESTIONS.

1. Classify the Celtic elements of the English language.

2. Enumerate the chief periods during which words from the Latin were introduced into English, and classify the Latin elements accordingly.

3. What words were introduced _directly_ by the Danes, Scandinavians, or Norsemen? What _indirectly_? Through what language did these latter come?

4. Give the dates of the Battle of Hastings, and of the reigns of Louis Outremer, Ethelred II, and Edward the Confessor. What was the amount of Norman-French elements in England anterior to the Conquest?

5. Give the languages from whence the following words were introduced into the English--_flannel_, _jerked_ (as to _beef_), _hammock_, _apparatus_, _waltz_, _Seraph_, _plaid_, _street_, _muslin_.

6. Distinguish between the _direct_, _indirect_, and _ultimate_ origin of introduced words. What words have we in English which are supposed to have _originated_ in the Ancient Ægyptian, the Syrian, and the languages of Asia Minor?

7. Under what different forms do the following words appear in English--_monasterium_, [Greek: presbuteros], [Greek: episkopos]. Account for these differences. _Syrup_, _shrub_, and _sherbet_, all originate from the same word. Explain the present difference.

8. Give the _direct_ origin (i.e., the languages from which they were _immediately_ introduced) of--_Druid_, _epistle_, _chivalry_, _cyder_, _mæander_. Give the _indirect_ origin of the same.

9. Investigate the process by which a word like _sparrow-grass_, apparently of _English_ origin, is, in reality, derived from the Latin word _asparagus_. Point out the incorrectness in the words _frontispiece_, _colleague_, and _lanthorn_.

10. To what extent may _Norse_, and to what extent may _Celtic_ words, not found in the current language of English, be found in the provincial dialects?

11. What were the original names of the towns _Whitby_ and _Derby_? From what language are the present names derived? Give the reason for your answer.

12. Show the extent to which the _logical_ and _historical_ analyses coincide in respect to the words introduced from the Roman of the second period, the Arabic, the Anglo-Norman, and the Celtic of the current English.

13. What are the plural forms of _criterion_, _axis_, _genius_, _index_, _dogma_? When is a word introduced from a foreign language _perfectly_, when _imperfectly_ incorporated with the language into which it is imported? Is the following expression correct--_the cherubim that singeth aloft_? If not, why?

14. What is there exceptionable in the words _semaphore_ (meaning a sort of telegraph), and _witticism_. Give the etymologies of the words _icicle_, _radicle_, and _radical_.

15. What are the singular forms of _cantharides_, _phænomena_, and _data_?

16. What are the stages of the English language? How does the present differ from the older ones?

17. Exhibit in detail the inflections of the Anglo-Saxon a) noun, and b) verb, which are not found in the present English. What is the import of the loss of inflections, and their replacement by separate words? What is the nature of such words in nouns? What in verbs?

18. Contrast the syntax of the Anglo-Saxon with the Modern English adjective. What is the English for the Anglo-Saxon words _wit_, _unc_, _incer_?

19. Express, in general terms, the chief points wherein a modern language differs from an ancient one: or, rather, the points wherein the different stages of the same language differ.

20. Investigate the influence of the Norman Conquest on the English. Explain the terms Semi-Saxon, Old English, and Middle English. Compare the stages of the English with those of the other Gothic tongues.

21. Give the Modern English for the following forms and expressions--_munucas_, _steorran_, _to lufienne_. What are the Anglo-Saxon forms of _munucan_, _steorres_, _i-hotte_, _clepen_? Translate the Latin word _omnium_ (genitive plural of _omnis_) into _Old_ English. Translate the Greek [Greek: ho], [Greek: hê], [Greek: to] into Anglo-Saxon, Old English, and Modern English.

22. Investigate the extent to which the Anglo-Norman superseded the Anglo-Saxon subsequent to the Conquest. Is any further change in the grammatical structure of our language probable? If so, what do you consider will be the nature of it?

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