Chapter 6

I.--ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY.

1. ETYMOLOGY[2] is the study which treats of the derivation of words,--that is, of their structure and history.

2. ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY, or word-analysis, treats of the derivation of English words.

3. The VOCABULARY[3] of a language is the whole body of words in that language. Hence the English vocabulary consists of all the words in the English language.

I. The complete study of any language comprises two distinct inquiries,--the study of the _grammar_ of the language, and the study of its _vocabulary_. Word-analysis has to do exclusively with the vocabulary.

II. The term "etymology" as used in grammar must be carefully distinguished from "etymology" in the sense of word-analysis. Grammatical etymology treats solely of the grammatical changes in words, and does not concern itself with their derivation; historical etymology treats of the structure, composition, and history of words. Thus the relation of _loves, loving, loved_ to the verb _love_ is a matter of grammatical etmology; but the relation of _lover, lovely_, or _loveliness_ to _love_ is a matter of historical etymology.

III. The English vocabulary is very extensive, as is shown by the fact that in Webster's Unabridged Dictionary there are nearly 100,000 words. But it should be observed that 3,000 or 4,000 serve all the ordinary purposes of oral and written communication. The Old Testament contains 5,642 words; Milton uses about 8,000; and Shakespeare, whose vocabulary is more extensive than that of any other English writer, employs no more than 15,000 words.

4. The PRINCIPAL ELEMENTS of the English vocabulary are words of Anglo-Saxon and of Latin or _French-Latin_ origin.

5. ANGLO-SAXON is the earliest form of English. The whole of the grammar of our language, and the most largely used part of its vocabulary, are Anglo-Saxon.

I. Anglo-Saxon belongs to the Low German[4] division of the Teutonic stock of languages. Its relations to the other languages of Europe--all of which are classed together as the Aryan, or Indo-European family of languages--may be seen from the following table:--

/ CELTIC STOCK..........................as Welsh, Gaelic. | SLAVONIC STOCK........................as Russian. INDO- | / Greek / Italian. EUROPEAN < CLASSIC STOCK \ Latin < Spanish. FAMILY. | \ French, etc. | / Scandinavian:.......as Swedish. | TEUTONIC STOCK< / High Ger:.as Modern German. \ \ German < \ Low Ger....as Anglo-Saxon.

II. The term "Anglo-Saxon" is derived from the names _Angles_ and _Saxons_, two North German tribes who, in the fifth century A.D., invaded Britain, conquered the native Britons, and possessed themselves of the land, which they called England, that is, Angle-land. The Britons spoke a Celtic language, best represented by modern Welsh. Some British words were adopted into Anglo-Saxon, and still continue in our language.

6. The LATIN element in the English vocabulary consists of a large number of words of Latin origin, adopted directly into English at various periods.

The principal periods, during which Latin words were brought directly into English are:--

1. At the introduction of Christianity into England by the Latin Catholic missionaries, A.D. 596.

2. At the revival of classical learning in the sixteenth century.

3. By modern writers.

7. The FRENCH-LATIN element in the English language consists of French words, first largely introduced into English by the Norman-French who conquered England in the eleventh century, A.D.

I. French, like Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese, is substantially Latin, but Latin considerably altered by loss of grammatical forms and by other changes. This language the Norman-French invaders brought with them into England, and they continued to use it for more than two centuries after the Conquest. Yet, as they were not so numerous as the native population, the old Anglo-Saxon finally prevailed, though with an immense infusion of French words.

II. French-Latin words--that is, Latin words introduced through the French--can often be readily distinguished by their being more changed in form than the Latin terms directly introduced into our language. Thus--

LATIN. FRENCH. ENGLISH.

inimi'cus ennemi enemy pop'ulus peuple people se'nior sire sir

8. OTHER ELEMENTS.--In addition to its primary constituents--namely, the Anglo-Saxon, Latin, and French-Latin--the English vocabulary contains a large number of Greek derivatives and a considerable number of Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese words, besides various terms derived from miscellaneous sources.

The following are examples of words taken from miscellaneous sources; that is, from sources other than Anglo-Saxon, Latin, French-Latin, and Greek:--

_Hebrew_: amen, cherub, jubilee, leviathan, manna, sabbath, seraph.

_Arabic_: admiral, alcohol, algebra, assassin, camphor, caravan, chemistry, cipher, coffee, elixir, gazelle, lemon, magazine, nabob, sultan.

_Turkish_: bey, chibouk, chouse, janissary, kiosk, tulip.

_Persian_: azure, bazaar, checkmate, chess, cimeter, demijohn, dervise, orange, paradise, pasha, turban.

_Hindustani_: calico, jungle, pariah, punch, rupee, shampoo, toddy.

_Malay_: a-muck, bamboo, bantam, gamboge, gong, gutta-percha, mango.

_Chinese_: nankeen, tea.

_Polynesian_: kangaroo, taboo, tattoo.

_American Indian_: maize, moccasin, pemmican, potato, tobacco, tomahawk, tomato, wigwam.

_Celtic_: bard, bran, brat, cradle, clan, druid, pony, whiskey.

_Scandinavian_: by-law, clown, dregs, fellow, glade, hustings, kidnap, plough.

_Dutch, or Hollandish_: block, boom, bowsprit, reef, skates, sloop, yacht.

_Italian_: canto, cupola, gondola, grotto, lava, opera, piano, regatta, soprano, stucco, vista.

_Spanish_: armada, cargo, cigar, desperado, flotilla, grandee, mosquito, mulatto, punctilio, sherry, sierra.

_Portuguese_: caste, commodore, fetish, mandarin, palaver.

9. PROPORTIONS.--On an examination of passages selected from modern English authors, it is found that of every hundred words sixty are of Anglo-Saxon origin, thirty of Latin, five of Greek, and all the other sources combined furnish the remaining five.

By actual count, there are more words of classical than of Anglo-Saxon origin in the English vocabulary,--probably two and a half times as many of the former as of the latter. But Anglo-Saxon words are so much more employed--owing to the constant repetition of conjunctions, prepositions, adverbs, auxiliaries, etc. (all of Anglo-Saxon origin)--that in any page of even the most Latinized writer they greatly preponderate. In the Bible, and in Shakespeare's vocabulary, they are in the proportion of ninety per cent. For specimens showing Anglo-Saxon words, see p. 136.

II.--ETYMOLOGICAL CLASSES OF WORDS.

10. CLASSES BY ORIGIN.--With respect to their origin, words are divided into two classes,--primitive words and derivative words.

11. A PRIMITIVE word, or root, is one that cannot be reduced to a more simple form in the language to which it is native: as, _man, good, run_.

12. A DERIVATIVE word is one made up of a root and one or more _formative elements_: as, man_ly_, good_ness_, run_ner_.

The formative elements are called prefixes and suffixes. (See §§ 16, 17.)

13. BY COMPOSITION.--With respect to their composition, words are divided into two classes,--simple and compound words.

14. A SIMPLE word consists of a single significant term: as, _school, master, rain, bow_.

15. A COMPOUND word is one made up of two or more simple words united: as, _school-master, rainbow_.

In some compound words the constituent parts are joined by the hyphen as _school-master_; in others the parts coalesce and the compound forms a single (though not a _simple_) word, as _rainbow_.

III.--PREFIXES AND SUFFIXES.

16. A prefix is a significant syllable or word placed before and joined with a word to modify its meaning: as, unsafe = _not_ safe; remove = move _back_; circumnavigate = sail _around_.

17. A suffix is a significant syllable or syllables placed after and joined with a word to modify its meaning: as, safeLY = in a safe _manner_; movABLE = that may be moved; navIGATION = _act_ of sailing.

The word _affix_ signifies either a prefix or a suffix; and the verb _to affix_ means to join a prefix or a suffix to a root-word.

EXERCISE.

Tell whether the following words are primitive or derivative, and also whether simple or compound:--

1 grace 2 sign 3 design 4 midshipman 5 wash 6 sea 7 workman 8 love 9 lovely 10 white 11 childhood 12 kingdom 13 rub 14 music 15 musician 16 music-teacher 17 footstep 18 glad 19 redness 20 school 21 fire 22 watch-key 23 give 24 forget 25 iron 26 hardihood 27 young 28 right 29 ploughman 30 day-star 31 large 32 truthful 33 manliness 34 milkmaid 35 gentleman 36 sailor 37 steamboat 38 wooden 39 rich 40 hilly 41 coachman 42 warm 43 sign-post 44 greenish 45 friend 46 friendly 47 reform 48 whalebone 49 quiet 50 quietude 51 gardener 52 form 53 formal 54 classmate 55 trust 56 trustworthy 57 penknife 58 brightness 59 grammarian 60 unfetter

IV.--RULES OF SPELLING USED IN FORMING DERIVATIVE WORDS.

Rule 1.--_Final "e" followed by a Vowel._

Final _e_ of a primitive word is dropped on taking a suffix beginning with a vowel: as, blame + able = blamable; guide + ance = guidance; come + ing = coming; force + ible = forcible; obscure + ity = obscurity.

EXCEPTION 1.--Words ending in _ge_ or _ce_ usually retain the _e_ before a suffix beginning with _a_ or _o_, for the reason that _c_ and _g_ would have the hard sound if the _e_ were dropped: as, peace + able = peaceable; change + able = changeable; courage + ous = courageous.

EXCEPTION 2.--Words ending in _oe_ retain the _e_ to preserve the sound of the root: as, shoe + ing = shoeing; hoe + ing = hoeing. The _e_ is retained in a few words to prevent their being confounded with similar words: as, singe + ing = singeing (to prevent its being confounded with singing).

Rule II.--_Final "e" followed by a Consonant._

Final _e_ of a primitive word is retained on taking a suffix beginning with a consonant: as, pale + ness = paleness; large + ly = largely.

EXCEPTION 1.--When the final _e_ is preceded by a vowel, it is sometimes omitted; as, due + ly = duly; true + ly = truly; whole + ly = wholly.

EXCEPTION 2.--A few words ending in _e_ drop the _e_ before a suffix beginning with a consonant: as, judge + ment = judgment; lodge + ment = lodgment; abridge + ment = abridgment.

Rule III.--_Final "y" preceded by a Consonant._

Final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a consonant, is generally changed into _i_ on the addition of a suffix.

EXCEPTION 1.--Before _ing_ or _ish_, the final _y_ is retained to prevent the doubling of the _i_: as, pity + ing = pitying.

EXCEPTION 2.--Words ending in _ie_ and dropping the _e_, by Rule I. change the _i_ into _y_ to prevent the doubling of the _i_: as, die + ing = dying; lie + ing = lying.

EXCEPTION 3.--Final _y_ is sometimes changed into _e_: as, duty + ous = duteous; beauty + ous = beauteous.

Rule IV.--_Final "y" preceded by a Vowel._

Final _y_ of a primitive word, when preceded by a vowel, should not be changed into an _i_ before a suffix: as, joy + less = joyless.

Rule V.--_Doubling._

Monosyllables and other words accented on the last syllable, when they end with a single consonant, preceded by a single vowel, or by a vowel after _qu_, double their final letter before a suffix beginning with a vowel: as, rob + ed = robbed; fop + ish = foppish; squat + er = squatter; prefer' + ing = prefer'ring.

EXCEPTIONS.--_X_ final, being equivalent to _ks_, is never doubled; and when the derivative does not retain the accent of the root, the final consonant is not always doubled: as, prefer' + ence = pref'erence.

Rule VI.--_No Doubling._

A final consonant, when it is not preceded by a single vowel, or when the accent is not on the last syllable, should remain single before an additional syllable: as, toil + ing = tolling; cheat + ed = cheated; murmur + ing = murmuring.