CHAPTER I.

Chapter 883,601 wordsPublic domain

HISTORICAL AND LOGICAL ELEMENTS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

s. 149. The Celtic elements of the present English fall into five classes.

1. Those that are of late introduction, and cannot be called original and constituent parts of the language. Such are (amongst others) the words _flannel_, _crowd_ (a fiddle), from the Cambrian; and _kerne_ (an Irish foot-soldier), _galore_ (enough), _tartan_, _plaid_, &c., from the Gaelic branch.

2. Those that are common to both the Celtic and Gothic stocks, and are Indo-European rather than either Welsh, or Gaelic, or Saxon. Such (amongst others) are _brother_, _mother_, in Celtic _brathair_, _mathair_; the numerals, &c.

3. Those that have come to us from the Celtic, but have come to us through the medium of another language. Such are _druid_ and _bard_, whose _immediate_ source is, not the Celtic but, the Latin.

4. Celtic elements of the Anglo-Norman, introduced into England after the Conquest, and occurring in that language as remains of the original Celtic of Gaul.

5. Those that have been retained from the original Celtic of the island, and which form genuine constituents of our language. These fall into three subdivisions.

_a._ Proper names--generally of geographical localities; as _the Thames_, _Kent_, &c. {98}

_b._ Common names retained in the provincial dialects of England, but not retained in the current language; as _gwethall_=_household stuff_, and _gwlanen_=_flannel_ in Herefordshire.

_c._ Common names retained in the current language.--The following list is Mr. Garnett's:--

_Welsh_. _English_.

Basgawd _Basket_. Berfa _Barrow_. Botwm _Button_. Br[`a]n _Bran_. Clwt _Clout_, _Rag_. Crochan _Crock_, _Crockery_. Crog _Crook_, _Hook_. Cwch _Cock_, in _Cock-boat_. Cwysed _Gusset_. Cyl, Cyln _Kiln_ (_Kill_, provinc.). Dantaeth _Dainty_. Darn _Darn_. Deentur _Tenter_, in _Tenterhook_. Fflaim _Fleam_, _Cattle-lancet_. Fflaw _Flaw_. Ffynnell (air-hole) _Funnel_. Gefyn (fetter) _Gyve_. Greidell _Grid_, in _Gridiron_. Grual _Gruel_. Gwald (hem, border) _Welt_. Gwiced (little door) _Wicket_. Gwn _Gown_. Gwyfr _Wire_. Masg (stitch in netting) _Mesh_. Mattog _Mattock_. Mop _Mop_. Rhail (fence) _Rail_. Rhasg (slice) _Rasher_. Rhuwch _Rug_. Sawduriaw _Solder_. Syth (glue) _Size_. Tacl _Tackle_.

s. 150. _Latin of the first period._--Of the Latin introduced by Caesar and his successors, the few words remaining are those that relate to military affairs; _viz._ _street_ (_strata_); _coln_ (as in _Lincoln_=_Lindi colonia_); _cest_ (as in _Gloucester_=_glevae castra_) from _castra_. The Latin words introduced between the time of Caesar and Hengist may be called the _Latin of the first period_, or the _Latin of the Celtic period_.

s. 151. _The Anglo-Saxon._--This is not noticed here, because from being the staple of the present language it is more or less the subject of the book throughout.

s. 152. _The Danish, or Norse._--The pirates that pillaged Britain, under the name of Danes, were not exclusively the inhabitants of Denmark. Of the three Scandinavian nations, the Swedes took the least share, the Norwegians the greatest {99} in these invasions. Not that the Swedes were less piratical, but that they robbed elsewhere,--in Russia, for instance, and in Finland.

The language of the three nations was the same; the differences being differences of dialect. It was that which is now spoken in Iceland, having been once common to Scandinavia and Denmark. Whether this was aboriginal in _Denmark_, is uncertain. In _Scandinavia_ it was imported; the tongue that it supplanted having been, in all probability, the mother-tongue of the present Laplandic.

The Danish that became incorporated with our language, under the reign of Canute and his sons, may be called the direct Danish (Norse or Scandinavian) element, in contradistinction to the indirect Danish of ss. 144, 155.

The determination of the amount of Danish in English is difficult. It is not difficult to prove a word _Scandinavian_. We must also show that it is not German. A few years back the current opinion was against the doctrine that there was much Danish in England. At present, the tendency is rather the other way. The following facts are from Mr. Garnett.--Phil. Trans. Vol. i.

1. The Saxon name of the present town of _Whitby_ in Yorkshire was _Streoneshalch_. The present name _Whitby_, _Hvitby_, or _White-town_, is Danish.

2. The Saxon name of the capital of Derbyshire was _Northweortheg_. The present name is Danish.

3. The termination _-by_=_town_ is Norse.

4. On a monument in Aldburgh church, Holdernesse, in the East Riding of Yorkshire, referred to the age of Edward the Confessor, is found the following inscription:--

_Ulf_ het araeran cyrice _for hanum_ and for Gunthara saula. "Ulf bid rear the church for him and for the soul of Gunthar."

Now, in this inscription, _Ulf_, in opposition to the Anglo-Saxon _wulf_, is a Norse form; whilst _hanum_ is a Norse dative, and by no means an Anglo-Saxon one.--Old Norse _hanum_, Swedish _honom_.

5. The use of _at_ for _to_ as the sign of the infinitive mood {100} is Norse, not Saxon. It is the regular prefix in Icelandic, Danish, Swedish, and Feroic. It is also found in the northern dialects of the Old English, and in the particular dialect of Westmoreland at the present day.

6. The use of _sum_ for _as_; _e.g._--_swa sum_ we forgive oure detturs.

7. Isolated words in the northern dialects are Norse rather than Saxon.

_Provincial._ _Common Dialect._ _Norse._

Braid _Resemble_ Br[oa]as, _Swed_. Eldin _Firing_ Eld, _Dan_. Force _Waterfall_ Fors, _D. Swed_. Gar _Make_ Goera, _Swed_. Gill _Ravine_ Gil, _Iceland_. Greet _Weep_ Grata, _Iceland_. Ket _Carrion_ Kioed=Flesh, _Dan_. Lait _Seek_ Lede, _Dan_. Lathe _Barn_ Lade, _Dan_. Lile _Little_ Lille, _Dan_.

s. 153. _Roman of the Second Period._--Of the Latin introduced under the Christianised Saxon sovereigns, many words are extant. They relate chiefly to ecclesiastical matters, just as the Latin of the Celtic period bore upon military affairs.--_Mynster_, a minster, _monasterium_; _portic_, a porch, _porticus_; _cluster_, a cloister, _claustrum_; _munuc_, a monk, _monachus_; _bisceop_, a bishop, _episcopus_; _arcebisceop_, archbishop, _archiepiscopus_; _sanct_, a saint, _sanctus_; _profost_, a provost, _propositus_; _pall_, a pall, _pallium_; _calic_, a chalice, _calix_; _candel_, a candle, _candela_; _psalter_, a psalter, _psalterium_; _maesse_, a mass, _missa_; _pistel_, an epistle, _epistola_; _praedic-ian_, to preach, _praedicare_; _prof-ian_, to prove, _probare_.

The following are the names of foreign plants and animals:--_camell_, a camel, _camelus_; _ylp_, elephant, _elephas_; _ficbeam_, fig-tree, _ficus_; _feferfuge_, feverfew, _febrifuga_; _peterselige_, parsley, _petroselinum_.

Others are the names of articles of foreign origin, as _pipor_, pepper, _piper_; _purpur_, purple, _purpura_; _pumicstan_, pumice-stone, _pumex_. {101}

The above-given list is from Guest's English Rhythms (B. iii. c. 3). It constitutes that portion of the elements of our language which may be called the Latin of the second, or Saxon period.

s. 154. _The Anglo-Norman element._--For practical purposes we may say that the French or Anglo-Norman element appeared in our language after the battle of Hastings, A.D. 1066.

Previous, however, to that period we find notices of intercourse between the two countries.

1. The residence in England of Louis Outremer.

2. Ethelred II. married Emma, daughter of Richard Duke of Normandy, and the two children were sent to Normandy for education.

3. Edward the Confessor is particularly stated to have encouraged French manners and the French language in England.

4. Ingulphus of Croydon speaks of his own knowledge of French.

5. Harold passed some time in Normandy.

6. The French article _la_, in the term _la Drove_, occurs in a deed of A.D. 975.--See Ranouard, _Journal des Savans_, 1830.

The chief Anglo-Norman elements of our language are the terms connected with the feudal system, the terms relating to war and chivalry, and a great portion of the law terms--_duke_, _count_, _baron_, _villain_, _service_, _chivalry_, _warrant_, _esquire_, _challenge_, _domain_, &c.

s. 155. The Norwegian, Danish, Norse, or Scandinavian element of the Anglo-Norman (as in the proper names _Guernsey_, _Jersey_, _Alderney_, and perhaps others) constitutes the _indirect_ Scandinavian element of the English.

s. 156. _Latin of the Third Period._--This means the Latin which was introduced between the battle of Hastings and the revival of literature. It chiefly originated with the monks, in the universities, and, to a certain extent, in the courts of law. It must be distinguished from the _indirect_ Latin introduced as part and parcel of the Anglo-Norman. It has yet to be accurately analyzed. {102}

_Latin of the Fourth Period._--This means the Latin which has been introduced between the revival of literature and the present time. It has originated in the writings of learned men in general, and is distinguished from that of the previous periods by--

1. Being less altered in form--

2. Preserving, in the case of substantives, in many cases its original inflections; _axis_, _axes_; _basis_, _bases_--

3. Relating to objects and ideas for which the increase of the range of science in general has required a nomenclature.

s. 157. _Greek._--Words derived _directly_ from the Greek are in the same predicament as the Latin of the third period--_phaenomenon_, _phaenomena_; _criterion_, _criteria_, &c.; words which are only _indirectly_ of Greek origin, being considered to belong to the language from which they were immediately introduced into the English. Such are _deacon_, _priest_, &c., introduced through the Latin; thus a word like _church_ proves no more in regard to a Greek element in English, than the word _abbot_ proves in respect to a Syrian one.

s. 158. The Latin of the fourth period and the Greek agree in retaining, in many cases, the Latin or Greek inflexions rather than adopting the English ones; in other words, they agree in being but _imperfectly incorporated_. The phaenomenon of imperfect incorporation (an important one) is reducible to the following rules:--

1. That it has a direct ratio to the date of the introduction, _i.e._, the more recent the word the more likely it is to retain its original inflexion.

2. That it has a relation to the number of meanings belonging to the words: thus, when a single word has two meanings, the original inflexion expresses one, the English inflexion another--_genius_, _genii_, often (_spirits_), _geniuses_ (_men of genius_).

3. That it occurs with substantives only, and that only in the expression of number. Thus, although the plural of substantives like _axis_ and _genius_ are Latin, the possessive cases are English. So also are the degrees of comparison, for {103} adjectives like _circular_, and the tenses, &c. for verbs, like perambulate.

s. 159. The following is a list of the chief Latin substantives, introduced during the latter part of the fourth period; and, preserving the _Latin_ plural forms--

FIRST CLASS.

_Words wherein the Latin Plural is the same as the Latin Singular._

SECOND CLASS.

_Words wherein the Latin Plural is formed from the Latin Singular by changing the last Syllable._

(_a_).--_Where the Singular termination _-a_ is changed in the Plural into _-ae__:--

(_b_).--_Where the singular termination _-us_ is changed in the Plural into _-i__:--

(_c_).--_Where the Singular termination _-um_ is changed in the Plural into _-a__:--

_Sing._ _Plur._ | _Sing._ _Plur._ | Animalcul_um_ animalcul_a_ | Mausole_um_ mausole_a_ Arcan_um_ arcan_a_ | Medi_um_ medi_a_ Collyri_um_ collyri_a_ | Memorand_um_ memorand_a_ Dat_um_ dat_a_ | Menstru_um_ menstru_a_ Desiderat_um_ desiderat_a_ | Moment_um_ moment_a_ {104} Effluvi_um_ effluvi_a_ | Premi_um_ premi_a_ Empori_um_ empori_a_ | Scholi_um_ scholi_a_ Encomi_um_ encomi_a_ | Spectr_um_ spectr_a_ Errat_um_ errat_a_ | Specul_um_ specul_a_ Gymnasi_um_ gymnasi_a_ | Strat_um_ strat_a_ Lixivi_um_ lixivi_a_ | Succedane_um_ succedanea. Lustr_um_ lustr_a_ |

(_d_).--_Where the singular termination _-is_ is changed in the Plural into _-es__:--

THIRD CLASS.

_Words wherein the Plural is formed by inserting _-e_ between the last two sounds of the singular, so that the former number always contains a syllable more than the latter_:--

_Sing_. _Plur_.

Apex _sounded_ apec-_s_ apic_es_ Appendix -- appendic-_s_ appendic_es_ Calix -- calic-_s_ calic_es_ Cicatrix -- cicatric-_s_ cicatric_es_ Helix -- helic-_s_ helic_es_ Index -- indec-_s_ indic_es_ Radix -- radic-_s_ radic_es_ Vertex -- vertec-_s_ vertic_es_ Vortex -- vortec-_s_ vortic_es_.

In all these words the _c_ of the singular number is sounded as _k_, of the plural as _s_.

s. 160. The following is a list of the chief Greek substantives lately introduced, and preserving the _Greek_ plural forms--

FIRST CLASS.

_Words where the singular termination _-on_ is changed in the plural into _-a__:--

_Sing._ _Plur._

Apheli_on_ apheli_a_ Periheli_on_ periheli_a_ Automat_on_ automat_a_ Criteri_on_ criteri_a_ Ephemer_on_ ephemer_a_ Phaenomen_on_ phaenomen_a_.

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SECOND CLASS.

_Words where the plural is formed from the original root by adding either _-es_ or _-a_, but where the singular rejects the last letter of the original root._

_Plurals in _-es__:--

_Original root._ _Plur._ _Sing._

Apsid- apsid_es_ apsis Cantharid- cantharid_es_ cantharis Chrysalid- chrysalid_es_ chrysalis Ephemerid- ephemerid_es_ ephemeris Tripod- tripod_es_ tripos.

_Plurals in_ -a:--

_Original root._ _Plur._ _Sing._

Dogmat- dogmat_a_ dogma Lemmat- lemmat_a_ lemma Miasmat- miasmat_a_ miasma[23]

s. 161. _Miscellaneous elements._--Of miscellaneous elements we have two sorts; those that are incorporated in our language, and are currently understood (_e.g._, the Spanish word _sherry_, the Arabic word _alkali_, and the Persian word _turban_), and those that, even amongst the educated, are considered strangers. Of this latter kind (amongst many others) are the Oriental words _hummum_, _kaftan_, _gul_, &c.

Of the currently understood miscellaneous elements of the English language, the most important are from the French; some of which agree with those of the Latin of the fourth period, and the Greek in preserving the _French_ plural forms--as _beau_, _beaux_, _billets-doux_.

_Italian._--Some words of Italian origin do the same: as _virtuoso_, _virtuosi_.

_Hebrew._--The Hebrew words, _cherub_ and _seraph_ do the same; the form _cherub-im_, and _seraph-im_, being not only plurals but Hebrew plurals.

Beyond the words derived from these five languages, none form their plurals other than after the English method, _i.e._, in _-s_: as _waltzes_, from the German word _waltz_.

s. 162. The extent to which a language, which like the English, at one and the same time requires names for many objects, comes in contact with the tongues of half the world, {106} and has, moreover, a great power of incorporating foreign elements, derives fresh words from varied sources, may be seen from the following incomplete notice of the languages which have, in different degrees, supplied it with new terms.

_Arabic._--Admiral, alchemist, alchemy, alcohol, alcove, alembic, algebra, alkali, assassin, from a paper of Mr. Crawford, read at the British Association, 1849.

_Persian._--Turban, caravan, dervise, &c.--_Ditto._

_Turkish._--Coffee, bashaw, divan, scimitar, janisary, &c.--_Ditto._

_Hindu languages._--Calico, chintz, cowrie, curry, lac, muslin, toddy, &c.--_Ditto._

_Chinese._--Tea, bohea, congou, hyson, soy, nankin, &c.--_Ditto._

_Malay._--Bantam (fowl), gamboge, rattan, sago, shaddock, &c.--_Ditto._

_Polynesian._--Taboo, tattoo.--_Ditto._

_Tungusian_, or some similar Siberian language.--Mammoth, the bones of which are chiefly from the banks of the Lena.

_North American Indian._--Squaw, wigwam, pemmican.

_Peruvian._--Charki=prepared meat; whence _jerked_ beef.

_Caribbean._--Hammock.

_Ancient Carian._--Mausoleum.

s. 163. In s. 157 a distinction is drawn between the _direct_ and _indirect_, the latter leading to the _ultimate origin_ of words.

Thus a word borrowed into the English from the French, might have been borrowed into the French from the Latin, into the Latin from the Greek, into the Greek from the Persian, &c., and so _ad infinitum_.

The investigation of this is a matter of literary curiosity rather than any important branch of philology.

The ultimate known origin of many common words sometimes goes back to a great date, and points to extinct languages--

_Ancient Nubian (?)_--Barbarous. _Ancient Egyptian._--Ammonia. _Ancient Syrian._--Cyder. _Ancient Syrian._--Pandar. {107} _Ancient Lydian._--Maeander. _Ancient Persian._--Paradise.

s. 164. Again, a word from a given language may be introduced by more lines than one; or it may be introduced twice over; once at an earlier, and again at a later period. In such a case its form will, most probably, vary; and, what is more, its meaning as well. Words of this sort may be called _di-morphic_, their _di-morphism_, having originated in one of two reasons--a difference of channel, or a difference of date. Instances of the first are, _syrup_, _sherbet_, and _shrub_, all originally from the _Arabic_, _srb_; but introduced differently, viz., the first through the Latin, the second through the Persian, and the third through the Hindoo. Instances of the second are words like _minster_, introduced in the Anglo-Saxon, as contrasted with _monastery_, introduced during the Anglo-Norman period. By the proper application of these processes, we account for words so different in present form, yet so identical in origin, as _priest_ and _presbyter_, _episcopal_ and _bishop_, &c.

s. 165. _Distinction._--The history of the languages that have been spoken in a particular country, is a different subject from the history of a particular language. The history of the languages that have been spoken in the United States of America, is the history of _Indian_ languages. The history of the languages of the United States is the history of the Germanic language.

s. 166. _Words of foreign simulating a vernacular origin._--These may occur in any mixed language whatever; they occur, however, oftener in the English than in any other.

Let a word be introduced from a foreign language--let it have some resemblance in sound to a real English one: lastly, let the meanings of the two words be not absolutely incompatible. We may then have a word of foreign origin taking the appearance of an English one. Such, amongst others, are _beef-eater_, from _boeuffetier_; _sparrow-grass_, _asparagus_; _Shotover_, _Chateau vert_;[24] _Jerusalem_, _Girasole_;[25] _Spanish {108} beefeater_, _Spina befida_; _periwig_, _peruke_; _runagate_, _renegade_; _lutestring_, _lustrino_;[26] _O yes_, _Oyez!_ _ancient_, _ensign_.[27]

_Dog-cheap._--This has nothing to do with _dogs_. The first syllable is _god_=_good_ transposed, and the second the _ch-p_ in _chapman_ (=_merchant_) _cheap_, and _East-cheap_. In Sir J. Mandeville, we find _god-kepe_=_good bargain_.

_Sky-larking._--Nothing to do with _larks_ of any sort; still less the particular species, _alauda arvensis_. The word improperly spelt _l-a-r-k_, and banished to the slang regions of the English language, is the Anglo-Saxon _l['a]c_=_game_, or _sport_; wherein the _a_ is sounded as in _father_ (not as in _farther_). _Lek_=_game_, in the present Scandinavian languages.

_Zachary Macaulay_=_Zumalacarregui_; _Billy Ruffian_=_Bellerophon_; _Sir Roger Dowlass_=_Surajah Dowlah_, although so limited to the common soldiers, and sailors who first used them, as to be exploded vulgarisms rather than integral parts of the language, are examples of the same tendency towards the irregular accommodation of misunderstood foreign terms.

_Birdbolt._--An incorrect name for the _gadus lota_, or _eel-pout_, and a transformation of _barbote_.

_Whistle-fish._--The same for _gadus mustela_, or _weazel-cod_.

_Liquorice_=_glycyrrhiza_.

_Wormwood_=_weremuth_, is an instance of a word from the same language, in an antiquated shape, being equally transformed with a word of really foreign origin.

s. 167. Sometimes the transformation of the _name_ has engendered a change in the object to which it applies, or, at least, has evolved new ideas in connection with it. How easy for a person who used the words _beef-eater_, _sparrow-grass_, or _Jerusalem_, to believe that the officers designated by the former either eat or used to eat more beef than other people (or at least had an allowance of that viand); that the second word was the name for a _grass_, or herb of which _sparrows_ were fond; and that _Jerusalem_ artichokes came from Palestine.

What has just been supposed is sometimes a real {109} occurrence. To account for the name _Shotover-hill_, I have heard that Little John _shot over_ it. Here the confusion in order to set itself right, breeds a fiction. Again, in chess, the piece now called the _queen_, was originally the _elephant_. This was in Persian, _ferz_. In French it became _vierge_, which, in time, came to be mistaken for a derivative, and _virgo_=_the virgin_, _the lady_, _the queen_.

s. 168. Sometimes, where the form of a word in respect to its _sound_ is not affected, a false spirit of accommodation introduces an unetymological _spelling_; as _frontispiece_[28] from _frontispecium_, _sover_eig_n_, from _sovrano_, _colle_a_gue_ from _collega_, _lant_h_orn_ (old orthography) from _lanterna_.

The value of forms like these consists in their showing that language is affected by false etymologies as well as by true ones.

* * * * *

s. 169. In _lambkin_ and _lancet_, the final syllables (_-kin_ and _-et_) have the same power. They both express the idea of smallness or diminutiveness. These words are but two out of a multitude, the one (_lamb_) being of Saxon, the other (_lance_) of Norman origin. The same is the case with the superadded syllables: _-kin_ is Saxon; _-et_ Norman. Now to add a Saxon termination to a Norman word, or _vice vers[^a]_, is to corrupt the English language.

This leads to some observations respecting--

s. 170. _Introduction of new words_--_Hybridism._--Hybridism is a term derived from _hybrid-a_, _a mongrel_; a Latin word _of Greek extraction_.

The terminations _-ize_ (as in _criticize_), _-ism_ (as in _criticism_), _-ic_ (as in _comic_), these, amongst many others, are Greek terminations. To add them to words of other than of Greek origin is to be guilty of hybridism.

The terminations _-ble_ (as in _penetrable_), _-bility_ (as in _penetrability_, _-al_ (as in _parental_)--these, amongst many others, are Latin terminations. To add them to words of other than of Latin origin is to be guilty of hybridism.

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Hybridism is the commonest fault that accompanies the introduction of new words. The hybrid additions to the English language are most numerous in works on science.

It must not, however, be concealed that several well established words are hybrid; and that, even in the writings of the classical Roman authors, there is hybridism between the Latin and the Greek.

The etymological view of every word of foreign origin is, not that it is put together in England, but that it is brought whole from the language to which it is vernacular. Now no derived word can be brought whole from a language unless, in that language, all its parts exist. The word _penetrability_ is not derived from the English word _penetrable_, by the addition of _-ty_. It is the Latin word _penetrabilitas_ imported.

_In derived words all the parts must belong to one and the same language_, or, changing the expression, _every derived word must have a possible form in the language from which it is taken_. Such is the rule against Hybridism.

s. 171. A true word sometimes takes the appearance of a hybrid without really being so. The _-icle_, in _icicle_, is apparently the same as the _-icle_ in _radicle_. Now, as _ice_ is Gothic, and _-icle_ classical, hybridism is simulated. _Icicle_, however, is not a derivative but a compound; its parts being _is_ and _gicel_, both Anglo-Saxon words.

s. 172. _On Incompletion of the Radical._--Let there be in a given language a series of roots ending in _-t_, as _saemat_. Let a euphonic influence eject the _-t_, as often as the word occurs in the nominative case. Let the nominative case be erroneously considered to represent the root, or radical, of the word. Let a derivative word be formed accordingly, _i.e._, on the notion that the nominative form and the radical form coincide. Such a derivative will exhibit only a part of the root; in other words, the radical will be incomplete.

Now all this is what actually takes place in words like _haemo-ptysis_ (_spitting of blood_), _sema-phore_ (_a sort of telegraph_). The Greek imparisyllabics eject a part of the root in the nominative case; the radical forms being _haemat-_ and _saemat-_, not _haem-_ and _saem-_. {111}

Incompletion of the radical is one of the commonest causes of words being coined faultily. It must not, however, be concealed, that even in the classical writers, we have (in words like [Greek: distomos]) examples of incompletion of the radical.

* * * * *

s. 173. The preceding chapters have paved the way for a distinction between the _historical_ analysis of a language, and the _logical_ analysis of one.

Let the present language of England (for illustration's sake only) consist of 40,000 words. Of these let 30,000 be Anglo-Saxon, 5,000 Anglo-Norman, 100 Celtic, 10 Latin of the first, 20 Latin of the second, and 30 Latin of the third period, 50 Scandinavian, and the rest miscellaneous. In this case the language is considered according to the historical origin of the words that compose it, and the analysis (or, if the process be reversed, the synthesis) is an historical analysis.

But it is very evident that the English, or any other language, is capable of being contemplated in another view, and that the same number of words may be very differently classified. Instead of arranging them according to the languages whence they are derived, let them be disposed according to the meanings that they convey. Let it be said, for instance, that out of 40,000 words, 10,000 are the names of natural objects, that 1000 denote abstract ideas, that 1000 relate to warfare, 1000 to church matters, 500 to points of chivalry, 1000 to agriculture, and so on through the whole. In this case the analysis (or, if the process be reversed, the synthesis) is not historical but logical; the words being classed not according to their origin, but according to their meaning.

Now the logical and historical analysis of a language generally in some degree coincides, as may be seen by noticing the kind of words introduced from the Anglo-Norman, the Latin of the fourth period, and the Arabic.

* * * * *

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